We are reaching the end of Foundation‘s first season on Apple TV and this episode has shown that anything can happen. A lot was set up in the previous episode and this one provides some of the answers we have been waiting for. In, The Missing Piece, Salvor (Leah Harvey) discovers what really happened on the Invictus, Gaal (Lou Llobell) demands answers and Brother Day (Lee Pace) makes the journey to the Triple Goddesses. There is a lot to take in so, let’s get started!

DISCLAIMER: This is a recap and, by definition, will be full of spoilers for Apple TV’s Foundation. I highly suggest going and watching it first and then coming back!

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The Missing Piece begins with a flashback set on Anacreon. Things seem peaceful until the Empire attacked. We are popped back to the present, where Phara (Kubbra Sait) shares her dark past with Salvor. Phara sees finding the Invictus as her gift from the Gods to help with her revenge against the Empire. Salvor tries to warn her that the Empire will hunt down and kill everyone involved if this fails. But, Phara doesn’t care. She is set on revenge and that is what she is going to get. If Salvor refuses to help, Phara will just have her people kill everyone left on Terminus.

We jump to Gaal and Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) right to where we left off in the previous episode. Seldon wants to know more about her ability to predict the future and Gaal is more than willing to share. We learn that a dream she had as a child about a giant wave is what led her to pursue math so she could calculate how possible this event was and when it would happen. She needed to prove to herself that her dream was just a dream, but she couldn’t find the answer she wanted. Seldon isn’t shocked by this in the slightest. In fact, he simply calls her extraordinary.

The Raven is getting closer to Helicon and it appears that Gaal was somewhat right before. Seldon is setting up a second Foundation, which is needed to ensure that everything goes according to plan. However, he does point out that Gaal might be unknowingly working against everything since she has the ability to see the future, giving her the chance to alter things by accident. Like her being on the Raven and not Raych.

The Missing Piece jumps to Hugo (Daniel MacPherson), who is ALIVE! It turns out that his drifting away to death was actually the ploy he and Salvor cooked up before they made the jump to the Invictus. He is able to send out a distress call to the Thespin Republic, but it doesn’t seem like he gets a callback. Now, if Foundation could stop making me think that Hugo is dead, that would be great. My heart can’t take it anymore.

On Maiden, Brother Day has begun the spiritual trek alongside so many others. Demerzel (Laura Birn) breaks down everything about the journey, including how they can’t have water, food or any protective devices. Brother Day leaves behind the shield and has his nanobots removed. There are other rules too, like how you can help someone if they fall to one knee, but if they fall to two, they must either find the strength to go on or die. At the end, there is a pool that Brother Day must submerge himself in and if he is found worthy, he will be shown a vision.

Demerzel shares that if he is unable to make it to the end, not only will he die, but those against him will doubt him even further. However, Brother Day knows he will survive. He takes her salt bracelet with him to keep her close.  I really love the relationship between Brother Day and Demerzel. She is clearly closer with him than any of the other Brothers and it’s moments like these that you can see how much she really cares.

Lou Llobel as Gaal in Foundation.

Lou Llobell as Gaal in Foundation.

As Brother Day’s journey goes on, there are fewer and fewer people on the path. He gets advice to take things slow and to allow the Triple Goddess to guide them. He continues to walk with the gentleman but lies about who he is. Brother Day gets to hear about what his life was like before coming to Maiden. I am hopeful that through this conversation, maybe Brother Day will begin to feel more empathy for the people around him. Maybe get the idea that there needs to be a change within the world.

We flashback to the Raven quickly as Gaal and Sheldon continue to discuss the plans for the second Foundation colony. The second one needed to be a secret from everyone, including the first Foundation, so that it could survive. Gaal still wants answers and I don’t blame her. She is tired of being used by other people and being left in the dark about what is really going on. She gives Sheldon the ultimatum. Fill her in completely or let her go. However, Sheldon isn’t ready to let her leave just yet. Even if he is holding her there against her will.

The Missing Piece then brings us back to Maiden, where Brother Day falls to one knee and is clearly suffering from heat exhaustion. The gentleman he was walking with helps him back up and reassures him that they are close.

We then jump to the Invictus again, where the next space jump is getting closer by the minute. Salvor continues to try and talk Phara’s other soldiers out of her crazy plan. Salvor uses her ability to read one of the men and can see the doubt within him. However, that conversation comes to a stop as they get closer to the bridge. It turns out that there was a gun placed to protect the ship from mutiny. Salvor draws its fire while Phara takes it out, finally granting them access to the bridge.

Inside, Salvor finds a gun and uses it to cause a distraction so she and Lewis (Elliot Cowan) can create some distance between Phara and her men. On the bridge, they learn that it seems something or someone from outside the galaxy must have caused the Invictus’ downfall. Lewis breaks down how a ship like this navigates, which basically means hardwiring someone into the system. Salvor decides she will link herself to the system and jump back to Terminus, even though this will mean a death sentence for her. On Terminus, Mari (Sasha Behar) informs Phara’s lieutenant that they need to evacuate the colony. The Vault’s field is expanding and everyone, no matter what planet they are from, will suffer when it does. 

The Missing Piece takes us back to Maiden, where the gentleman with Brother Day allows himself to fall to his knees. He doesn’t want help but to die on this path. Brother Day isn’t willing to let him go, but it isn’t his choice. The man believes that he is moving on from this life to the next and hopes to one day see Brother Day again before laying down and dying. Brother Day places his hands together, respecting the man’s faith, and continues on. When he feels lost, he turns to Demerzel’s salt bracelet and finds strength. In the end, he makes it into the cavern and submerges himself into the waters.

Back at the temple, Brother Day recounts his vision to the Zeyphrs, where the salt transformed into three large petals. The Zeyphrs share that this vision is linked to an ancient myth that tells of how three things can be one. Like the three Goddesses or the three Brothers. They decide that this must mean the Goddesses approve of Empire and that anyone who speaks against him, like Zeyphr Halima (T’Nia Miller), will be dealt with. It seems she has had a change of tune as she does not speak out against him at the moment and follows suit with her sisters.

Lee Pace as Brother Day in Foundation.

Lee Pace as Brother Day in Foundation.

On the Raven, Gaal continues to try and escape. She realizes that there is a way off and she is going to need to do some heavy-hitting. However, this isn’t the initial escape Gaal was planning for. She destroys the transfer system, which will cause the ship to heat up and burn her alive. Or, Seldon can set her free. She points out that he also intended to leave her behind, so why is he now holding onto her? In the end, he allows her to leave the ship. But where is she heading? Home to Synnax.

Back on Maiden, Brother Day returns to his ship with the support of the Zeyphrs and people. He thanks Zeyphr Halima for granting him the inspiration to take the journey and returns Demerzel’s salt stone back to her. While Brother Day is resting, Demerzel meets with Halima, who is getting ready to head back to her home planet since she won’t be the next Proxima. Halima can see that Demerzel isn’t 100% behind the Empire anymore and urges her to walk another path. But, Demerzel finally opens up to her that there is no way she can even if she wants to.

Halima realizes that Brother Day sent Demerzel to kill her. And even though it hurts her so much, she can’t deny her mission. Halima accepts her fate and can see how much this is hurting Demerzel. The weapon of choice? A poison that transferred from Demerzel to Halima the moment they touched. What strikes me as odd is that Demerzel seems to be an extremely emotional response to the whole thing, but when she leaves, it’s like nothing happened. Was she being truthful to Halima? Or was she preparing herself for when she saw Brother Day again?

The Missing Piece brings us back to the Invictus, just as Lewis is about the hook Salvor into the system. However, Phara is able to break through the door and kill him while the Thespians arrive to take over the ship. The clock counts down as Salvor and Phara go head to head. The clock ticks zero and the Invictus jumps through space. In those final moments, it does look like Phara loses consciousness, but Salvor is still awake. Similar to how Gaal awoke during her jump.

Brother Day is eating dinner on the Empire’s ship when Demerzel returns with news of Halima’s death. There is a drastic change between the two of them. We can see the Demerzel doesn’t fully trust Brother Day anymore and even questions if he might have seen the flower on her desk. The same flower he saw in his vision. Of course, he didn’t. Or so he says. She is just thankful that he saw a vision as she did so long ago. She would think it would feel extremely empty if someone traveled all that way without seeing anything.

The Missing Piece comes to a close as Brother Day prepares to make the jump back to Trantor. In the final moments, we get to see what really happened when Brother Day entered the cave at the end of his journey. And it was empty.

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What an episode! Foundation has kept me on my toes with every episode so far and The Missing Piece has been one of my favorite. I have been long invested in the Empire’s storyline and just when I thought Demerzel was a stout supporter, things get flipped! I was hoping that this journey would change Brother Day’s opinions, but I was wrong. The real question is, did Demerzel see a vision on her journey? And if so, what was it? Or was this just her way of trying to draw out Brother Day’s true motives? I am sure we are going to be revisiting these events sometime soon.

I know I have shared my theory on the Gaal and Salvor connection, but now I need to learn more. They have such similar premonition abilities. And the way Salvor is sucked into the events that took place on Trantor and on the ship. I know Gaal is heading for Synnax, but I wonder if something is going to shift her course towards Terminus. Or will the Invictus jump right into her path? We will just have to wait and see what the next episode brings us!

Foundation’s ninth episode will drop on November 12, 2021, on Apple TV.

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