History Series / Foundation2021

** Cleon XIII (Brother Day from episode 3 onward) is haunted by Seldon's criticism of the genetic dynasty, specifically his claim that the former would prove to be "just another grape, [[CreativeSterility destined for the same bottle]]". It's clear that his VisionQuest in episode 8 isn't just about refuting Halima -- he wants to prove to himself that he does possess a soul. [[spoiler:When he completes the quest but fails to receive a vision anyway, [[ExistentialHorror he doesn't take it well]].]]

** [[spoiler:And then it's revealed in the first season's finale that the entire genetic dynasty of Cleons is fundamentally flawed, as the original Cleon's body, used as the template for all later Cleons, has been corrupted at some point in the past few centuries, meaning all successive Cleons are imperfect duplicates of the first...and the entire concept of the genetic dynasty is that they're supposed to be perfect copies.]]

** Cleon XVII's actions as Brother Day, while done out of a certain level of desperation, are nonetheless more proactive than Cleon XVI was when he was reigning, something the latter now deeply regrets, wondering if he'll be forgotten as just a footnote in the genetic dynasty's history.

Foundation is a ScienceFiction TV Series serving as a AdaptationInspiration of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Literature/Foundation|Series}}''. The show was produced and released through Creator/AppleTVPlus, executive produced by David S. Goyer and David Ellison. Members of the production team include Josh Friedman, serving as scriptwriter, and Robyn Asimov, as executive producer.

** The brains of the backup Cleon clones are being perpetually synchronized with the respective active ones.

* TheTheocracy: Synnax seems to be one, with a planetary pogrom against scientists being declared when they started raising warnings about flooding from the ice caps being melted.

* FasterThanLightTravel: The show features two separate forms of FTL interstellar travel:

** The dominos are STILL falling 30 years later during Salvor's era. [[spoiler:Above Trantor, the Empire hasn't even begun to rebuild the Star Bridge. Meanwhile on the ground, the Sinkers, a TorchesAndPitchforks group from the lower levels that were devastated by the Star Bridge's fall, regularly battles with Imperial forces.]]

* EndOfAnAge: The Empire side of the story shows the decline of the Galactic Empire. During Hari Seldon's time, the Empire was already past its peak but it was not yet evident to most people. The decline becomes evident in episode 3 when we see that the Empire cannot [[spoiler:repair the destroyed Star Bridge, nor continue to enforce its blockade of Anacreon and Thespis]]. In the original stories, the decline was manifest to individuals, in the form of limited job opportunities, etc.

* LookOnMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair: The [[SpaceElevator Star Bridge]] is a monumental achievement dating back to the end of Cleon I's reign. [[spoiler:The terrorist attack that topples it and cuts through the ecumenopolis that is Trantor signals the beginning of the end for the empire.]]

** The Empire itself hasn't been willing (if not inable) to repair or replace the space bridge Cleon I built.

* LudicrousGibs: The fate of the imperial artist, once Brother Day (Cleon XII) discovers that he has a copy of Seldon's predictions in his quarters. Darkly {{lampshade|Hanging}}d early on in the conversation, when Day asks how hard it is to get crimson out of the walls.

** As shown in the Season 2 premiere, [[spoiler:the copy of Seldon's mind inside the Prime Radiant spent the 100+ years in-between seasons trapped completely self-aware in darkness and cramped spaces]].

* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:Demerzel]] is the last of the robots, after humankind wiped them out, loyally serving the Empire since Cleon I.

** This continues into Season 2, as Cleon XVII (the current Brother Day) feels his morality creeping in due to [[spoiler:the corruption of the imperial genome]], and is desperate to compensate by having children to procreate like a normal person.

** [[spoiler: "Eto Demerzel", a.k.a. [[Literature/TheCavesOfSteel R. Daneel Olivaw]] ]]
** [[spoiler: The existence of psychic abilities and the Second Foundation that is based on them.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: Anacreon is not particularly malicious in the book, just trying to survive and prevail in the overall tumult. In the series, it is DrivenToVillainy by the Empire's brutal handling and plots a scheme to [[spoiler: obliterate Trantor and kill billions in the process]] in revenge.
* AltarDiplomacy: In Season 2, Brother Day (Cleon VII) seeks to arrange a marriage with Queen Sareth of Cloud Dominion in order to shore up the Empire's slow decay.

** Zig-zagged with Trantor which has an imitation of its own sky on the inner surface of its outermost shell, covering the entire planet. Then, [[spoiler: the Star Bridge crashes through that shell, creating a visible rift in the "sky" with pieces of it falling down.]]

** [[spoiler: Azura's ultimate fate. For her role in the rebel plot that sabotaged the original Cleon's DNA and indirectly led to the death of Cleon XIV, Cleon XIII kills her entire extended family and everyone she's ever known and condemns her to life in a sensory deprivation chamber, effectively [[UnPerson un-personing]] her and subjecting her to a FateWorseThanDeath in one go.]]
** As shown in the Season 2 premiere, [[spoiler: the copy of Seldon's mind inside the Prime Radiant spent the 100+ years in-between seasons trapped completely self-aware in darkness and cramped spaces]].

* AssassinationAttempt: In the Season 2 premiere, a group of assassins break into Cleon XVII's bedroom and attempt to kill him, though he and Demerzel manage to make short work of them.

* BatmanGambit: Played with. Seldon's mathematics can accurately predict how large groups of people will react, but can't account for the actions of single individuals. So he can be fairly sure how the Empire and its vast bureaucracy will react to him and his movement, but can only make educated guesses on how Brother Day (Cleon XII) will personally react. Seldon correctly manipulates the big picture so [[spoiler: his Foundation is exiled to Terminus]], but is surprised when Brother Day (Cleon XII) [[spoiler: does not have Seldon executed]].

** [[spoiler: Hari has his consciousness digitized and uploaded to the backup ship that Gaal ends up on, allowing him to continue working even after his body dies, specifically to build a Second Foundation. It later turns out that a ''second'' copy exists inside the Vault, which was formed from his coffin, in order to guide the Foundation through its crises.]]

* TheChessmaster: Seldon, of a lighter variety. To execute his Plan to save the Galaxy, he must account for quite a bit of hardship and suffering on the part of his followers. Everything that threatens the Plan gets mercilessly thrown out of the airlock, as poor [[spoiler:Gaal and Raych]] have to learn when Seldon calculates that [[spoiler: their being together poses a danger to the Plan]]. Granted, Seldon is visibly saddened by the sacrifices he needs to demand, and he is just as merciless to himself.

** Brother Dawn (Cleon XIV) turns out to differ from the standard template, both for better and worse (he's a better shot than his brothers, for instance, but he's also colorblind). He lives in terror of what will happen if they find out. [[spoiler: It turns out he was sabotaged by a rebel group so that his fear would drive him into their HoneyTrap.]]

** This continues into Season 2, as Cleon VII (the current Brother Day) feels his morality creeping in due to [[spoiler: the corruption of the imperial genome]], and is desperate to compensate by having children to procreate like a normal person.

** [[spoiler: Azura's rebel group also have their own Cleon who was raised to hate the Empire, who is prepared to take Cleon XIV's place to sabotage things from within for them. Unfortunately for them, Cleon XII learns of their plans and wipes them out, clone included.]]

* CompositeCharacter: [[spoiler: Hardin is the daughter of Raych and a powerful psychic, merging Hardin with Wanda Seldon.]]
* ConflictingLoyalty: Demerzel is utterly loyal to the Empire [[spoiler: due to her programming]], and is also a devout follower of Luminism. When the religion starts leaning towards radical beliefs that put it in opposition to the genetic dynasty, she finds herself torn.

* DireBeast: Gaal encounters an enormous eight-eyed cat beast called a Bishop's Claw deep in a cave while drilling for geothermal power. The cat makes mince meat of the colonists. [[spoiler: Thankfully it was all a simulation.]]

** [[spoiler: The attack on the SpaceElevator in the first episode initially looks like a problem limited to space. Until the gravity of the planet begins pulling the elevator back to Trantor. The elevator line impacts the surface-- then goes down fifty levels, leaving a canyon of destruction across the CityPlanet, killing 100 million Imperial citizens.]]
** The dominos are STILL falling 30 years later during Salvor's era. [[spoiler: Above Trantor, the Empire hasn't even begun to rebuild the Star Bridge. Meanwhile on the ground, the Sinkers, a TorchesAndPitchforks group from the lower levels that were devastated by the Star Bridge's fall, regularly battles with Imperial forces.]]

* DoWellButNotPerfect: Cleon XIV is considerably better at hunting than Cleon XII, who himself holds the record of three bird kills on a hunt. Cleon XIV deliberately orders an assistant to dispose of three of his six kills so as not to arouse suspicion. [[spoiler: Not that this saves him in the end.]]

* EvilOldFolks: Cleon XII, who becomes Brother Dusk in episode 3 and remains so for the rest of the first season, is the most ruthless of the emperors, the most devoted to the genetic dynasty and enforcing its purity, and the one who shows the least regard for the well-being of Imperial citizens. Accordingly, he's the antagonist of Cleon XIV's arc [[spoiler: and ultimately the only one who doesn't mourn the younger clone's death]].

* FakingTheDead: In the first season finale, [[spoiler: the entire Foundation does this, using the ''Invictus'' to fake a mega solar flare destroying Terminus, counting on the Empire not bothering to check what they believe is a dead planet, allowing the Foundation and its new Anacreon and Thespian allies time to start building a new nation.]]
* FalseFlagOperation: One of these was responsible for the centuries-long conflict between Anacreon and Thespis. Specifically, [[spoiler: Cleon II had the Anacreon Grand Huntress murdered on the night of her wedding to the Thespian king and framed him for it, because a union between the two planets would threaten the Empire's power.]]
* FalseReassurance: A tragic example. [[spoiler: when Day and Dusk are fighting over the fate of Cleon XIV, he begs Demerzel "don't let them kill me." Demerzel promises that she won't, and then [[ExactWords proceeds to kill him herself.]]]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Azura is ultimately condemned to one of these, courtesy of a furious Cleon XIII. First, he kills literally everyone who ever knew of her in one fell swoop, rendering her an UnPerson. Then he sentences her to life in a sensory deprivation chamber, during which she'll be fed through an IV and kept alive as long as possible to prolong the torture.]]

** [[spoiler: partially averted with Salvor Hardin as she's a CompositeCharacter who is both Salvor Hardin and Wanda Seldon]]

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: [[spoiler: Brother Day (Cleon XII) thinks his decision to exile Seldon and the Foundation to Terminus is this outcome. If Seldon is wrong, then he'll be no threat to the Empire. If Seldon is right, then the Emperors, either Cleon XII himself or a later Emperor, can use his research to stop the fall and claim credit if the Foundation saves the Galaxy.]]

* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: [[spoiler: Eto Demerzel.]] Justified, since she is [[spoiler: a humanoid robot]].

* KansasCityShuffle: The Anacreons' plan depended on the colonists and imperials to actively try to thwart the Anacreon incursion and thus walk into a trap. [[spoiler: The captured Anacreon leader has a shield disruptor on her and is walked right into the building with the shield generator. The Imperial ship attacks straight into the path of a large cannon. Hardin is ProperlyParanoid enough to know that they are being played, but figures out the real scheme too late to stop it. ]]

* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler: Demerzel]] is the last of the robots, after humankind wiped them out, loyally serving the Empire since Cleon I.

* NeckSnap: How Demerzel kills [[spoiler: Cleon XIV]].

* PublicExecution: [[spoiler: Happens not just to the Thespis and Anacreon delegates through a public hanging, but to their whole planets via bombardment as well. All of Trantor gets to watch as whole worlds are devastated as retaliation for the destruction of the Star Bridge.]]

* ReassignmentBackfire: [[spoiler: Hari and Gaal's fate is not death, but exile to Terminus without access to jumpdrives. A backwater rock at the edge of the Galaxy, beyond even the barbarian kingdoms that the Empire does not control. Turns out Hari was ''hoping'' that this would be their fate the whole time, since it would allow them to work without interruption.]]

** [[spoiler: Eto Demerzel is a robot who was already the majordomo to Cleon I, 400 years before the story begins.]]

* ReligiousRobot: [[spoiler: Demerzel]] is both a robot and a devout practitioner of Luminism. This creates a [[ConflictingLoyalty conflict]] for her when her hardwired loyalty to the Empire and her faith clash with each other.
* RoboSexual: Cleon XVII is engaged in a sexual affair with [[spoiler: Demerzel]], who is a robot. According to him, Cleon I did likewise.

* RuggedScar: Phara's face is covered is scars from being caught in a blast [[spoiler: during the bombardment of Anacreon by the Empire]].

* TheScapegoat: The only evidence of Thespis and Anacreon being involved in the suicide bombing is the timing of the attack and recordings of the suicide bombers singing songs and reciting prayers from those worlds. It could be a FrameUp, and the two planets seem to hate each other too much to ever cooperate. However, the Empire needs to find and punish the culprit. Thespis and Anacreon are officially blamed for the attack and [[spoiler: subjected to a merciless OrbitalBombardment]].

* SoiledCityOnAHill: Trantor's future according to Hari. [[spoiler: And very nearly happens early after the space elevator is destroyed by two terrorist bombers.]]

* TheSoulless: What Halima indirectly (and then directly) accuses the Empire's Genetic Dynasty of being. Since Luminism believes in {{Reincarnation}}, the idea of a single soul repeatedly reincarnating in the same shell is thus spiritually corrupting to the soul since it's trapped in one body, and therefore the entire Empire is hostage to a being that cannot recognize it has no soul. Cleon XIII sets out to prove her wrong by completing a physically dangerous pilgrimage to receive a divine vision. He succeeds, telling of a vision of a triskelion flower, [[spoiler: only it was all a lie; he received no vision, and made up a story combining elements of one from another pilgrim and a flower he saw on Demerzel's vanity.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: The one thing that Hari's psychohistory models couldn't predict and account for was [[spoiler: Gaal's apparent prescience causing her to act on things that haven't happened yet, like sensing that Raych is about to kill Hari and showing up in the middle of it, leading to Raych banishing her from the colony ship for her own protection instead of Hari's plan of leaving her behind to take over from the two of them.]]

** The Anacreon Grand Huntress and King of Thespis of 800 years ago. [[spoiler: Fearing what them uniting their planets would cause, Cleon II (the first clone) had one of his spies seduce the Grand Huntress, kill her, and then frame the king for her murder.]] This kickstarted the centuries-long enmity between both planets. At the least, it becomes a case of karma as two of their subjects in the distant future [[spoiler: cause the Star Bridge bombing]].
** Salvor and Hugo: they are almost literally star crossed at the beginning of the series because Hugo makes a living trading between planets. [[spoiler: Reinforced in the end of "The Leap" when Salvor makes a 138 year journey to find her mother. It's unknown if Hugo would go into cryo-sleep to wait for her return, but if not he died waiting for her to return.]]

* ThanatosGambit: Seldon's predictions show his own death as a likely outcome of his actions, but he continues hoping that his sacrifice will help save human civilization. [[spoiler: He is rather surprised that he survives his arrest and trial. So, he later arranges to have Raych kill him, in order to create a martyr for the Foundation to rally around.]]

** Episode 3 skips first 13 years to [[spoiler: Cleon XI's death]] and then 19 more years.

* ThreeLawsCompliant: A variation, [[spoiler: Demerzel is compliant not to humans as individuals, but the Empire as a political entity and the Genetic Dynasty more specifically as individuals and collectively. She states she is unable to take action against the Empire, her body would literally rebel. When Cleon XIV is revealed to be a defective clone, she snapped his neck to avoid both intra-family strife and wider political turmoil (and possibly to save him from being killed in a painful fashion by Cleon XII or XIII). Her anguished scream after the fact shows she didn't want to, but had no choice out of it.]]

* TrojanHorse: Anacreon and Thespis both present gifts to the Emperors as the negotiations over the border dispute begin. The Thespis delegation's gift is a veiled bribe/promise of increased tribute, in hopes of swaying the Emperors to their side. [[spoiler: It doesn't work, with both sides dismissed after the space elevator is destroyed.]]

* UterineReplicator: The Foundation's colony ship uses one for any members that get pregnant, [[spoiler: like Gaal]], though the machine only keeps the zygotes protected from radiation while on the journey to Terminus. The plan is to remove the zygotes and reimplant them after making planetfall when it's safe to carry them to birth.

* WetwareCPU: Older jump ships like the ''Invictus'' required a human {{cyborg}} pilot (or at least, one with implants to allow interfacing) with an aptitude for multidimensional thinking or navigation. It's possible for unmodified humans to pilot them, but the process is fatal. [[spoiler: Lewis Pirenne chooses to plug himself in after being fatally shot in order to take the ''Invictus'' to Terminus and save Salvor from being stranded forever jumping blindly through space.]]

* YankTheDogsChain: When Brother Day (Cleon XII) and Demerzel fail to find the mastermind behind the Star Bridge bombings, Brother Dusk (Cleon XI) tries the more diplomatic route of interrogating the Anacreon and Thespis delegates over dinner. [[spoiler: Even after sympathizing with both sides and showing real compassion, he makes it clear that there's nothing that will stop their deaths. Both delegations are hung from Trantor's ruins and both worlds are heavily bombarded. The emissaries themselves are [[SpareAMessenger spared]] to clarify the situation to the survivors.]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Halima''']]''':''' Now, how will it happen?\\
[[spoiler: '''Demerzel''']]''':''' It has already been done. A poison was secreted when our skin touched. You will feel no pain.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Phara kills [[spoiler:the Imperial commander]] after he's served his purpose of [[spoiler: getting the Anacreons aboard the ''Invictus'']].

The show premiered on September 24th, 2021. On October 7th, 2021 it was renewed for a second season.

* CompositeCharacter: [[spoiler: Hardin is the daughter of Raych and a powerful psychic, merging Hardin with Wanda Seldon]]

* TheEmperor: The Emperor is in fact three Emperors-- clones of the original Emperor Cleon I at different life stages.

* EndOfAnAge: The Empire side of the story shows the decline of the Galactic Empire. During Hari Seldon's time, the Empire was already past its peak but it was not yet evident to most people. The decline becomes evident in episode 3 when we see that the Empire cannot [[spoiler:repair the destroyed Star Bridge, nor continue to enforce its blockade of Anacreon and Thespis]]. In the original stories, the decline was manifest to individuals, in the form of limited job opportunites, etc.

* KingBobTheNth: Ever since Cleon I, all the emperors of the Genetic Dynasty have been called Cleon, even though there are always three of them in the office at once. Officially, they can be distinguished by their ordinal numbers (at the start of the series they are Cleon XI, XII, and XIII). Within the court they avoid confusion by addressing each other as Dawn, Day and Dusk in seniority order.

Trailers: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgbPSA94Rqg Teaser #1]], [[https://youtu.be/wvOAA1U0li8 Teaser #2]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4QYV5GTz7c Full Trailer]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogReJyWgkBU Season 2 Teaser]].

Foundation is a ten-episode ScienceFiction MiniSeries serving as a AdaptationInspiration of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Literature/Foundation|Series}}''. The show was produced and released through Creator/AppleTVPlus, executive produced by David S. Goyer and David Ellison. Members of the production team include Josh Friedman, serving as scriptwriter, and Robyn Asimov, as executive producer.

Trailers: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgbPSA94Rqg Teaser #1]], [[https://youtu.be/wvOAA1U0li8 Teaser #2]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4QYV5GTz7c Full Trailer]].

Foundation is a ten-episode ScienceFiction MiniSeries serving as a [[AdaptationInspiration|Recognizable Adaption]] of Creator/IsaacAsimov's book ''{{Literature/Foundation|Series}}''. The show was produced and released through Creator/AppleTVPlus, executive produced by David S. Goyer and David Ellison. Members of the production team include Josh Friedman, serving as scriptwriter, and Robyn Asimov, as executive producer.

Millennia in the future, all of humanity lives under the peace and shadow of the Galactic Empire. This peace is disturbed when a university mathematician named Hari Seldon (Creator/JaredHarris) begins publishing future predictions based on mathematical formulas that indicate the Galactic Empire is in a slow death spiral. The emperors of the Triple Throne, Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), Brother Day (Creator/LeePace), and Brother Dusk (Creator/TerrenceMann), clones of the original Emperor Cleon I at different stages of his life, must decide whether to heed Seldon's warnings or eliminate him. Stuck in the middle of this power struggle is Seldon's newest assistant, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), who may hold Seldon's fate - and the future of the Galaxy - in her hands.

* AdaptionAlmagation/DividedForAdaptation/HardToAdaptWork: It would have been extremely difficult to film the the original short stories as decent videos. They have been almagated together, then divided into seasons and episodes.

* EndOfAnAge: The Empire side of the story shows the decline of the Galactic Empire. During Hari Seldon's time, the Empire was already past its peak but it was not yet evident to most people. The decline becomes evident in episode 3 when we see that the Empire cannot [[spoiler:repair the destroyed Star Bridge, nor continue to enforce its blockade of Anacreon and Thespis]].

Foundation is a ten-episode ScienceFiction MiniSeries serving as a LiveActionAdaptation of Creator/IsaacAsimov's book ''{{Literature/Foundation|Series}}''. The show was produced and released through Creator/AppleTVPlus, executive produced by David S. Goyer and David Ellison. Members of the production team include Josh Friedman, serving as scriptwriter, and Robyn Asimov, as executive producer.

* AlcubierreDrive: Imperial ships traverse the galaxy using a near-instantaneous version of the A-Drive, powered by an artificial black hole. Only the Empire has access to this jump drive technology, which gives them uncontested dominance of the galaxy. All of the "barbarian kingdoms" are limited to standard FTL or sub-FTL tech.

* CoolStarship: Imperial warships have [[https://i.redd.it/mxqt6l1ctet71.jpg a very distinctive design]], consisting of a vertical blade-like hull with a large ring structure at the top, which doubles as a weapons mount and AlcubierreDrive. [[spoiler:The ''Invictus'' doesn't have the blade, and instead consists entirely of the rings, albeit scaled up significantly]].

** While its AlcubierreDrive is not as advanced as new ships, the ''Invictus'' is a 700 year old warship that is still the most powerful weapons platform ever built, doubling as a SuperWeapon and PlanetKiller.

* PoweredByABlackHole: Imperial ships have a large negative space in their hulls, which generate a black hole to power their {{Alcubierre Drive}}s.

* StandardHumanSpaceship: Zigzagged depending on the technology level. Imperial ships avert this trope, having vertically-arranged hulls built around the {{Alcubierre Drive}}s in their core. The Foundation's ColonyShip in the second episode plays it straight, being a less-advanced vessel with many hard edges and grey in color.

** When Cleon XII shows Cleon XIV the mural he has painted of the raptor birds, he has painted three of them in red because he suspects Cleon XIV cannot see red due to red-green colour blindness. However, this isn't how color blindness works. He would still be able to see the shapes and outlines of the birds against the background in the same way that person with normal vision would still see them if the painting were turned into grayscale. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishihara_test Actual color blindness tests]] are designed so that the only way you can distinguish shapes is through pigmentation.

** Overall, the theme of the show seams to be that inflexible traditionalism, whether religious or secular, leads to ruin.