Apple TV’s Foundation has been shocking us episode to episode. The events on Terminus have kept up on our toes since the Anacreon landed. And in episode four’s final moments we finally got our first glimpse at Gaal’s (Lou Llobell) space pod. But where was she landing? And who could be there waiting for her? In the fifth episode, Upon Awakening, we dive more into Gaal’s origins and the standoff on Terminus takes a sinister turn.
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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Upon Awakening opens with a flashback to Gaal’s childhood on Synnax after she had become an acolyte. We see her help perform a welcoming ritual and stone placement for a newborn and go on a mission to hunt down her old instructor. We learn that Gaal’s parents weren’t originally members of the Sea of Church but went down that path later in life, taking Gaal with them.
She tries to warn her old instructor to leave the condemned building or risk being found by the Seers and facing death. The Sea of Church is entirely against all analytical learning. It explains why Gaal had her stones removed and was shunned in the very first episode. He also offers her the same gift that Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) gives her in the first episode. Gaal’s instructor refuses to leave and is caught by the other Seers and sent to his death below the rising sea.
We learn from these brief moments that the people of Synnax have turned to their beliefs to explain the rising of seawater and other issues happening. They claim it is their sleeping God and when he awakens, all of those who stood by his side will no longer suffer. In turn, they are entirely against education and seeking out knowledge that might actually help solve the planet’s problems.
Later that night, Gaal swims down to the bodies of all the heretics and collects the gift her instructor was going to give her. Over the following few scenes, we can see Gaal drift further and further from the Sea of Church through arguments with her father and finding joy in knowledge. She eventually sends a secret message to Trantor. It turns out that message was to enter Seldon’s math competition.
She warns her to stop, but Gaal continues with her mission. In the middle of the night, she rows out to the messengers to pick up her response. From prying eyes and ears, Gaal listens to Seldon’s message about her work and that he also wants her to come to Trantor as his guest. However, it seems that the gossip has already hit the village the next day and people know that someone is communicating with Trantor.
Gaal tries to warn her parents that no matter what the village does, they aren’t safe. She has done the math and no matter what way they look at it, it won’t change. She confides in her parents that she is the one the Seers are looking for and invites them to come to Trantor with her. However, neither can agree to go with her. Against her parent’s wishes, she has her stones removed and makes the choice to go to Trantor.
Upon Awakening jumps to the present as her space pod drifts closer to a station. Gaal awakens after so many years with blood covering her hands and Seldon’s murder weapon in the pod. As she begs for help trying to get through the door, it eventually reads the knife and the AI lets her through the door. She learns that she is the only one aboard and has been asleep for over 34 years.
On Terminus, the standoff between the Foundation and the Anacreon is still going on. Salvor (Leah Harvey) explains to Hugo (Daniel MacPherson) that they are hiding the towers. While Abbas (Clarke Peters) is arming the colony, Salvor tries to reason with the one Anacreon that looks to be in charge. Out of nowhere, an Imperial ship arrives. Salvor lets the others know the Empire has come and to just stand by.
This leads Lewis (Elliot Cowan) to quietly remark that the Empire has arrived to the others behind him. However, Phara (Kubbra Sait) still overhears him and by the look on her face, you can guess that this has either been a part of the plan or things are starting to move that way. Commander Dorwin (Christian Contreras) reaches out to Terminus to figure out what is going on. But before too much information can be passed, the Anacreon’s jam the local network. Salvor realizes that they are listening in and know that they will be moving Phara to the tower.
Upon Awakening, she jumps back to Gaal, where she tries to either send a message or set a course for Terminus. However, she isn’t authorized. She can search the Imperial records. Through this, Gaal learns that the Foundation reached Terminus and is currently working towards Seldon’s goals. She also researches the death of Seldon and Raych (Alfred Enoch).
Gaal finds a video of his interrogation where he admits to killing Seldon. But we also learn that Lewis believed that Gaal was the one who put him up to it. Raych stands by his word that she had nothing to do with it and that he was the only one responsible. The following search Gaal performs is Raych’s execution. His final words were that you can still solve a puzzle even if you are missing a piece. And with a single click, he is forced into outer space and to his death.
We flashback on Terminus for a brief moment to see Salvor race to find Phara and the others before anything can happen. But, she’s too late. Phara manages to pull a bomb out of her eye and an electric magnetic wave knocks the tower offline and shuts down the force field.
Back aboard the unknown space station, Gaal is struggling to deal with what she has learned. The death of a loved one is brutal, but I can only imagine what Gaal is going through. She has been asleep this entire time and two of the people she has loved the most have been killed. She believes the only way to deal with this is to take her own life. However, something stops her. She changes focus and tries to figure out exactly where this ship is heading. After some star chart-math stuff, she learns that the computer is hiding its destination. Authorization can only be given to Raych.
On Terminus, the Anacreon begin their assault on the Foundation. Salvor finds Hugo, who warns her that Phara has taken her mother hostage. The Imperial ship prepares to join the fray as Salvor goes in search of Phara. She eventually does and it turns out that Phara has been looking for the crew manifest for the Deliverance. Phara tries to use Mari (Sasha Behar) as leverage, but Salvor isn’t down to play that game.
Salvor tells Phara that she has never felt that familial connection with her mother that so many talk about and killing her wouldn’t make a difference. But as she reminds her mother of the time she found her at the Vault and crawled to try and get there, we learn that Salvor was trying to give her mother hidden directions. Mari fights back and gives Salvor a shot at Phara, who turns and runs away.
What’s interesting, though, is that when Mari questions if what Salvor said was valid, she doesn’t give her an actual answer. Instead, she heads off to go toe to toe with Phara. It turns out with or without a gun; Salvor can kick some major ass. When she finally has her beat, more members of the Anacreon arrive and hold her mother hostage again.
For another brief moment, we head back to Gaal, who has donned a spacesuit and made her way outside the ship to try and see their destination. She uncovers that they are heading towards a dark star that is hiding something behind it.
Back on Terminus, the Imperial ship tries to force the Anacreon to stand down. At the tower, Phara shows Salvor what is happening below. She explains that because of Seldon’s predictions, her people were targeted. He drove the Empire to do what they did because they believed that the attack on the Starbridge was a part of it all.
Down below, Hugo fights his way through the mayhem before getting shot. The Imperial ship warns the Anacreon again, but this time Phara tells one of her men to blow that ship out of the sky. Not in those exact words, but I couldn’t help myself. Phara’s fellow soldier warns her that they should kill Salvor, but Phara knocks her out instead.
Upon Awakening comes to a close as Gaal realizes they are heading towards Helicon, Seldon’s home planet. She tries to get the computer to change course, but it won’t respond. She starts to see pools of blood that turn out to be computer-generated before spotting Seldon lying on the floor. The real question is – is this real or computer-generated?
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Wow, what an episode. I have been patiently waiting to see where Foundation would be taking Gaal’s story. And I have to say; I am liking it. It seems like Raych had some secret plans of his own setup. But what is on Helicon? And why is the ship showing her Seldon? I am also curious why Lewis thought Gaal was the one behind the murder. Did he think that she was trying to take Seldon’s place? Over through the man who started it all?
I also have a pretty big theory about Salvor and who she really is. Between being different from everyone else and what happened between Mari and her in this episode, I think she might be a child of Gaal and Raych. We have seen that Gaal is different, like being able to wake up during the jump in episode one. We will have to wait and see if this theory of mine turns out to be true.
Foundation’s sixth episode will be released on October 22, 2021, on Apple TV.
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Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
