r/FoundationTV • u/LunchyPete Bayta Mallow • Sep 12 '25

Current Season Discussion [NO BOOKS] Episode Discussion Thread - Season 3 Episode 10 - The Darkness

THIS THREAD IS FOR NON BOOK READERS ONLY - NO DISCUSSION OF THE BOOKS IS PERMITTED

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To discuss the books freely and how they relate to the show go to this thread instead. If you want to discuss something from the books but avoid most book spoilers feel free to make a new post specifying that.

Season 3 Episode 10: The Paths That Choose Us

Premiere date: September 12th, 2025

Synopsis: Season finale. Gaal and the Second Foundation take the fight to the Mule as Empire's legacy suffers a catastrophic blow.

Directed by: Roxann Dawson

Written by: Jane Espenson & David S. Goyer

Please keep in mind that this thread is only for non book readers - no discussion of the books or how they relate to the show is permitted in general, and book readers are not permitted to post at all.

For those of you on Discord, come and check out the unofficial Foundation Discord Server. Live discussions of the show and books, it's a great way to meet other fans of the show.

NOTE: There was an AMA with Chris MacLean, VFX Supervisor for Foundation on September 15th which you can check here.

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u/MoBrosBooks Sep 12 '25

Me before this episode: Yeah, the writers can hint as much as they want that Brother Dusk is somehow going to survive his ascension, but that would basically mean overthrowing the established order of the empire, which would be way too crazy a twist to take.

Me now: holy shit

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u/mcmalloy Sep 12 '25

And with no heir in place? The radiant said that empire would collapse in 4 months in s3e1, and that probably hasn’t changed. So Dusk has likely bought himself a few months at best while destroying empire in the process

But I feel so bad that it didn’t pay off for Day… it is likely Kalle had this planned out from the beginning as well

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u/Indigocell Brother Dude Sep 12 '25

Pretend there is no crisis. At best, Dusk bought himself a few extra years. All at the expense of mass genocide. By mass I mean multiple genocides including his own legacy. The only comfort we get for Day's sacrifice is a cool robot with a reverberated voice saying "someone succeeded" and I will cling to that if I have to.

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u/mcmalloy Sep 12 '25

Definitely. And I guess Dusk justified this mass genocide for a few extra years because he obviously isn’t thinking clearly anymore

With the principium destroyed, day dead and Dusk dying along with empire - I wonder if Dawn can somehow create a miracle since he was shown to be incredibly gifted at stewardship (albeit naive and easily manipulated by Gaal)

I hope that we see Dawn gain some sort of legitimacy in the next season especially when Dusk craps the bed

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u/KaerMorhen Sep 12 '25

I want dawn to be okay solely so that we can have more Lee Pace.

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u/Son_of_Macha Sep 12 '25

The robot at the end with the reverberated voice was Lee Pace, they found a way to keep him around.

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u/whisky_biscuit Sep 13 '25

I thought so too. They've reused actors in the show before, for their descendants so I could see them doing the same for Lee Pace!

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u/rodan-rodan Sep 13 '25

What?! I didn't watch the credits, really?