We are back this week with Apple TV+’s adaptation of Isaac Asimov‘s Foundation. As we set off into the second half of season two, our different players are starting to make their moves. From the Outer Reaches to Ignis to Trantor, changes are coming, and we can’t wait to see what happens next. We don’t want to spoil anything in Why the Gods Made Wine, so check out everything that happened below the disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: This is a recap and, by definition, will contain spoilers. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the latest episode, do so first and then come back.

RELATED: Keep up on Foundation with our recaps!

Why the Gods Made Wine opens as Seldon (Jared Harris) looks out over the ocean. We see flashes of what looks like horses stampeding in his mind. When Salvor (Leah Harvey) appears, she remarks how the dreams of others are seeping in. Maybe this is affecting Seldon just as much as everyone else. Salvor continues walking onward until she meets a young boy. He shares how he can unvoice his thoughts so others can hear him and shows her what happened to him for being different. The boy also shows her how Tellum Bond (Rachel House) saved him from those people and brought him to Ignis.

He takes Salvor to meet other Mentalics who share their stories. Through short flashbacks, we watch these people suffer before being saved by Tellum. Later on, Salvor, Seldon and Gaal (Lou Llobell) meet with Tellum herself to discuss what is happening. Tellum talks about how their people can go down two paths. One plays God, and the other is killed for their skills. Neither is good, so she created a third path. One that protects her people and keeps them out of harm’s way. This is why she has no intention of helping with the Foundation’s problems.

When she doesn’t believe that Gaal can see the future, Gaal shows her—everything, including the Mule (Mikael Persbrandt) and Salvor’s death. Teelum is overwhelmed and rushes off, with only Gaal following her. And while this is a possible future, Tellum thinks that Gaal’s skills are hindered by what Seldon has taught her. If she could uncover her true potential, she might find that the vision that she is seeing is very different. However, regardless of what it is, Tellum’s people need her to be there for support.

Tellum Bond standing with Gaal on Ignis.

Foundation S2E6 Why the Gods Made Wine

Why the Gods Made Wine shifts to Poly (Kulvinder Ghir) and Constant (Isabella Laughland), who awaken to find themselves on Trantor. While they can get in without much issue, it is made known that Empire doesn’t see the Outer Reach planets as part of them any longer. It makes us feel overly cautious for Poly and Constant as they try to sell the people living within the very center of Empire on an idea that will make them feel threatened.

On Ignis, Salvor confronts Seldon again regarding the whole new body situation. Both have some possible theories why, but the real meat of this conversation is how Salvor feels about him. He can see that she is worried about Gaal turning into him, but with Salvor in the picture, he doesn’t believe she will. And he also shares that when it comes to the rocky relationship between himself and Gaal, he thinks she is blaming the wrong person for their outcome. He only knew about her relationship with Raych (Alfred Enoch) the night everything went down, but Raych knew about the plan the entire time and continued the relationship.

RELATED: 7 Great Star Trek Sequel Stories

On the ship, Gaal gets a visit from Tellum. She shares with her that she is more special than she thinks and shows her just how powerful she is. Tellum needs her help. She knows that the future is terrifying, and she is willing to give Gaal her children to try to change the future for herself and Salvor. She will even go as far as training her so she can wield her unique powers even stronger than before. But this offer is for Gaal and Gall alone. Seldon can have absolutely nothing to do with it.

We quickly glimpse how Hober Mallow’s (Dimitri Leonidas) trip is going. And by going, we mean he hit his coordinates, found nothing, and was left stranded in space. That is until a giant ship arrives with no idea who they are or where they could have possibly appeared from.

Salvor and Seldon seem to be getting to know each other better. As they are fishing, he shares a little about Seldon in the Vault back on Terminus. How he has no idea that the other Seldon exists. He only knows half the plan and has no idea about the second Foundation. Salvor is worried though, that the other Seldon is just as smart as the first and might be on to what’s going on. But this Seldon has another trick up his leave with the Prime Radiant.

RELATED: Keep up on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with our recaps!

Tellum and Gaal join the two. Gaal informs him that if they truly want the Mentalics help, he needs to let her take the lead. There isn’t even a thought of maybe in Seldon’s head. He starts arguing against it right away. He believes that Tellum is just as capable of putting thoughts and beliefs into one’s mind and even questions if what Gaal is saying is how she truly feels. This idea is reinforced as it seems Tellum tries to push Seldon towards some previous memory, forcing him to walk away.

Hober looking out into empty space.

Foundation S2E6 Why the Gods Made Wine

Why the Gods Made Wine shifts back to Trantor as Constant helps a drunk Poly to bed. He asks her to flush his drugs away, knowing nothing will compete with drinking wine with Seldon. He then shares how happy he is that Constant always had faith. His belief was because he had watched Seldon come out of the Vault all those years ago, but Constant never did. She only had to word of others and still followed strongly by her faith. It’s a sweet moment, only ruined when the guards of Empire arrive to arrest them.

We shift to Brother Day (Lee Pace), who shares with his people that he will marry Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith). This announcement shocks Brother Dusk (Terrance Mann) and Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), as it seems Day didn’t bother to let them know. But this isn’t the most shocking thing that takes place. After Sareth’s introduction, she makes her own speech without Day’s knowledge. One that promises the people that she is here to help them, hear their concerns, and work for them. A stance that Empire has not taken in a long time, if ever. From the look on Day’s face, it is clear that he wasn’t expecting this kind of Queen when he chose Sareth.

We get another quick glance at Hober, who has made his way onto the mysterious ship full of Spacers. Now we really want to know why Vault Seldon sent him here.

RELATED: Here’s Why We Must Save Star Trek: Prodigy

Why the Gods Made Wine returns to Ignis, where Salvor catches up with Seldon. He realized that all of the visions he saw were because Tellum was slowly pulling the memory from his mind to trigger it at the exact moment he needed it. He warns Salvor that they are after the Prime Radiant and that she needs to find it and protect Gaal from Tellum. She heads back to find Gaal to try and talk about Seldon, but Gaal stops her and offers her a birthday present. It’s another heartwarming moment brought to an end when they realize Seldon is taking off with their ship.

Elsewhere on the planet, we realize that it was Seldon flying the ship but the shifter who pretended to be Hugo last episode. It turns out that Tellum is trying to make them hate Seldon and buy themselves some time to find the Prime Radiant. She doesn’t like him because he is against those who are different from what his “perfect plan” is. She intends to kill him and use Gaal to help her in whatever her plans are. But she also needs Salvor on board as well. And making Seldon the bad guy helps in both cases.

While Seldon is forced to wait until the waters rise, we finally see the memory Tellum is talking about. In a flashback, we learn about Seldon experimenting with a herd and their movement as a child. Then he meets Yanna (Nimrat Kaur) while studying Psychohistory, and the two fall in love as they build the Prime Radiant. But when Empire realizes what he is doing, they try to force his hand by moving closer. This prompts his superior to demand either the prototype or for him to leave and go to Trantor. She ends up kidnapping and killing a pregnant Yanna in the process, which prompts Seldon to kill her by throwing her into the herd. He then takes up his new place on Trantor, putting him right in the ribs of Empire.

Why the Gods Made Wine comes to a close as the waters rise over Seldon, and we are left to believe that he has drowned.

RELATED: Foundation Prep: What You Need To Know About Apple’s Epic Sci-Fi Series!

What an episode. While it may seem like nothing happened, so much did. From Sareth making a clear stand against how Empire has ruled to Seldon’s backstory and Tellum’s ultimate backstab. And we can’t forget Poly and Constant on Trantor and Hober finding the Spacer colony. We have quite a few questions coming out of Why the Gods Made Wine, including the Fate of Seldon, why Hober is with the Spacers, what will happen to Poly and Constant and did Sareth just find herself on the wrong side of Day? So many questions, and just four episodes left!

Foundation airs Fridays on Apple TV+.

Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: GAAL DORNICK

Catch Me
Latest posts by Julia Roth (see all)