Foundation is nearing the halfway point of season three. Episode five, “Where Tyrants Spend Eternity,” began to show us how Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) hopes to gain an advantage over the sinister Mule (Pilou Asbæk). Her plan tapped into a much-loved trope that Star Wars series Andor also made excellent use of: sci-fi spycraft.
“Where Tyrants Spend Eternity” is also tense throughout and ends up involving a horrific, large-scale tragedy (another Andor similarity), building to a final scene that teases a confrontation we’ll presumably see more of next week. While there are other subplots percolating in “Tyrants,” the main thrust concerns Gaal’s alliance with Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), the youngest of the three Cleon clones who make up Empire.
In earlier episodes, we saw how Dawn’s curiosity about a specific artifact in the Imperial library let Gaal know that a Cleon had come along with the right mindset to join her cause. We already know that Gaal’s partner, Pritcher (Brandon P. Bell), is secretly working for the Second Foundation, despite his role as the main Foundation’s head of intelligence. He’s a double agent of the highest order, but he’s not directly involved with Gaal’s plan in this episode.
Unsurprisingly, Gaal’s perfectly capable of running the show on her own. She’s thought through every detail, first paying Dawn a visit in hologram form, then showing up on Trantor in person to convince him how dangerous the Mule really is. What they must do, she insists, is force an “enclosure” of Kalgan, the first planet to fall under the Mule’s rule. As Foundation fans saw in season two, that involves completely encircling a planet with the Imperial fleet. It didn’t work out back then, and nobody’s in a rush to repeat a disastrous moment in history—which doesn’t stop Dawn from trying (and failing) to get his brothers on his side.
Dawn’s influence is limited on his own, and Demerzel (Laura Birn), the ancient robot programmed to act only in ways that will serve Empire, thinks an enclosure is a bad idea. So does the Galactic Council, which has grown in power quite a bit as Empire’s grip on the galaxy has loosened.
The only solution, Gaal insists, is to follow her plan, which will require Dawn sneaking off Trantor—an absolute no-no as far as Demerzel is concerned—then picking a council member to blackmail, thereby forcing a vote that’ll greenlight the enclosure.
As Dawn has seen, Gaal has certain talents that make her a ready-made spy. She’s open about her psychic abilities, which Dawn suspects have played a part in compelling him to help her. But that’s brushed aside for now; tired of being told he’s too unimportant to make any key political decisions, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to get that enclosure approved.
Here’s why Gaal needs him so badly: with his high security clearance, Dawn can breeze right into the home of their chosen patsy—a councilor named Tarisk (Sule Rimi)—and plant incriminating information they can use against him. Tarisk has been a friend to Dawn, but he also has the most exploitable strategic leverage. “If we fail, Foundation and Empire burn together,” Gaal stresses.
“I’m a Cleon. We aren’t raised to be kind,” Dawn replies; he’s ready to betray Tarisk. With Gaal guiding him along—and a giant, shiny hooded cape covering his robes, maybe not the most inconspicuous choice—the young Cleon strides into Tarisk’s apartment and uploads evidence that falsely implicates him in aiding the Mule’s bloody Kalgan coup. When the councilor enters unexpectedly, Dawn holds firm even when the man begs him to reconsider. If the Galactic Council votes to enclose Kalgan, it’ll endanger Tarisk’s wife and children, who went there on an ill-timed vacation just prior to the Mule’s arrival. But if Tarisk doesn’t back Dawn’s play, Dawn will expose him as a traitor.
“So I ruin my career, or put my family’s life at risk,” Tarisk says, before angrily calling Dawn “a wannabe tyrant.” But then the tables turn. We see Tarisk, the family man, has a mistress cowering in a nearby closet. She’s overheard everything. Dawn barely hesitates before shooting her, a terrible choice that nevertheless motivates a shaken Tarisk to speak up in the meeting and push for the enclosure.
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