Foundation

Previously on Foundation...

Phara's after a warship.

The Invictus?

Sal, my suit's no good. Thrusters aren't responding.

Hugo.

You're gonna help us redirect the ship.

And then we'll guide it right into the beating heart of Trantor.

You are the reverberations of a dead man's ego.

According to Zephyr Halima, I am soulless.

I must appeal to the triple Goddesses themselves.

I will walk the great Spiral.

You can still solve a puzzle...

...even with a piece missing.

Raych was always meant to be here. Not you.

I am so tired of this.

I think I can feel the future.

Ilex!

After they were gone, there were no children left.

Only warriors.

I pushed this scarred body of mine till I was named the Grand Huntress of War.

I outlived my life's expectancy three times over.

The Weald Gods wouldn't let me die till I got my revenge.

And when I was ready...

they sent me a second gift.

The Invictus ?

It blinked into orbit like a prayer.

And I knew then...

...the gods did not just approve of my mission to destroy the Empire,

they engineered it.

You saw what happened to your people.

For the sins of a few, the Empire wiped out half your world.

If you strike at Trantor, the entire Outer Reach will suffer.

You simply have no concept of revenge, do you?

I don't care about mankind.

This ship is going to be my voice.

You will help me navigate its next jump.

And if you don't,

my hunters will kill every man,

woman and child left on Terminus,

starting with your mother.

You already sacrificed your father.

You wouldn't sacrifice her as well.

The trade-off is simple, Warden.

Destroy Trantor...

and maybe, just maybe,

your precious Foundation survives what comes after.

Isn't it remarkable what a person will do for a little time?

How long have you been able to do this?

As long as I can remember.

Most of the time it's just a feeling.

Like with this, but...

other times it comes in dreams.

I used to dream about a wave.

A wave so big...

all I could do was hold my breath and let it take me.

I knew it would crush my home, my family, my whole world.

I could never get rid of that dream, Hari.

It haunted me.

I needed to know that it wasn't going to happen in real life,

so I taught myself math.

I calculated every probability and physical force I could think of,

desperate to see a way around it.

But I couldn't find one.

That dream drove you to mathematics,

which only proved it wasn't a dream at all, but a premonition.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn

that you have some sort of intuitive processing ability

that puts you ahead of the math.

It would explain Abraxas.

I solved Abraxas because I worked my ass off.

Yes, I'm saying you're extraordinary.

It's getting hotter.

Friction as we enter the debris field.

The ship's radiators will bleed off the heat.

Initiating heat transfer system. Stabilizing.

Why are you going to Helicon, Hari?

What were you and Raych planning?

I've already told you.

No, I made a supposition which you didn't deny.

Because you were right.

Are you really going to continue keeping me in the dark?

One could argue I should've done so from the beginning.

What's that supposed to mean?

If we're not careful,

this prescience of yours has the potential to skew psychohistory completely.

Look what happened to you and Raych.

You're here, he's not.

That didn't come out right. Let me take that back.

What I'm trying to say

is that mankind's survival is predicated on us reaching Helicon.

I thought our survival depended on the Foundation.

It is, to an extent.

But only if its sister organization is established as well.

So it is a second Foundation.

Here, at Star's End. On Helicon.

This is Hugo Crast...

This is Cian un Edan,

former citizen of Thespis,

sending an SOS to the Thespin Republic.

Anacreon activity to report at outpost 59.

Does anyone read me?

Does anyone read me?

Does anyone read me?

The Spiral is designed to push the body to the limits of its endurance.

A trek of over 170 kilometers with no food, no water and no rest.

Vital signs are optimal.

And, of course, you must leave any inorganic devices behind.

Your protective aura...

and your imperial nanobots.

For the first time in your life, you will be subject to injury,

- exhaustion... - I understand.

In the event that a pilgrim falters,

he may receive help from another person on the path.

That is, if he has only fallen to one knee.

If both knees should drop, this is a signal of submission.

The pilgrim must either find the strength to crawl away from the path,

or he must yield to death.

Less than half of those who start will reach the center of the Spiral.

There, they will enter a sacred cave, the Mother's Womb.

There is water inside the Womb.

The salt around the pool has a particular ionic charge

which elicits a singular reaction in anyone who touches it.

After you immerse yourself in the pool, if the Mother is willing,

you will be graced with a vision.

If you're successful and you return,

a panel of Zephyrs will interpret what you have seen.

What have other pilgrims seen?

Every vision is unique and deeply personal.

I'm surprised they're not all just hallucinating about food.

Nanobot removal complete.

This gambit will put you at serious risk, Empire.

In addition to unprecedented physical danger,

if...

if you're unable to make it to the end,

that will only embolden your critics.

I will make it to the end.

Give me your salt bracelet.

I'm taking this.

It'll be as though you're right there with me.

As you always have been.

In faith. Take it slow.

These middle rings can be deceptive.

Make us think we're further along than we are.

Just be sure you've got some fuel left in the tank.

Done this before?

No, no. But I've talked to a number of people who have.

Any other useful tips to impart?

There's no way to make it easy.

That's kind of the point.

Just pace yourself.

One foot in front of the other.

The Triple Goddess will guide you.

Did these people talk about their visions?

One pilgrim did tell me

how the salt around the pool started to swirl and shift right before her eyes.

She didn't say what happened next,

but she said it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

- Where are you from? - Baltaros. You?

- Nishaya. - The manufacturing planet.

Hmm. Whatever's too toxic to make right on Trantor, that's what we do.

Speciality textiles.

Certain kinds of ceramic glazes the Empire favors.

Nishaya's the perfect place,

because our atmosphere is all this thick white fog,

and, well, the pollution just sort of blends.

That fog.

My mother used to say

that by the time she finally got her first good look at my dad's face...

they'd already had three kids together.

Did you work in one of these factories?

No. I was a loader.

Loading boxes onto jumpships.

Mmm.

Magnificent machines, aren't they?

Oh, sure.

Of course, I'd never actually been on one till I came here.

Used all my savings to book my passage.

From Baltaros? You must have taken one as well.

Yes.

Also my first time.

I used to be jealous of people who got to travel all the time,

jumping from one end of the galaxy to the next.

But this... this is the only journey I ever really needed to make.

I hope you feel the same.

A second Foundation?

Terminus was established via Imperial charter

and was, in part, designed to draw fire.

But the Second Foundation and its location must be kept secret,

even from the first Foundation.

Why? What's its purpose?

If you're not willing to trust me, then I am not going to Helicon.

Don't be ridiculous, Gaal.

I have resources on Helicon. Allies.

Now that we know the nature of your abilities, we could study them.

Use them to our advantage.

I am done being used.

I want off. Now.

Either you tell me, or I will leave the same way I came.

Where will you go?

Terminus will take decades.