Foundation season 3 episode 1 ending explained: Who is the main antagonist this season?

Foundation season 3 episode 1 released on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 11, 2025. Based on Isaac Asimov’s eponymous series of novels, the show is created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman. It is set in the far future when the Galactic Empire rules across a major sector of the known universe, whose fall is predicted by an algorithm created by mathematician and philosopher Hari Seldon. New episodes of the season will air every Friday until September 12, 2025.

The primary antagonist of Foundation season 3 episode 1 is Mule, played by Pilou Asbaek, leader of the space pirates who have taken over the pleasure planet Kalgan, which is between the  Foundation and Empire. The character was first introduced in the previous season, but not fleshed out in detail at the time.

Mule has the power to compel people to do what he wants of them. In his proper screen debut, he introduces himself to Kalgan’s leader with a thinly veiled threat, stating that he has an appetite that only an entire galaxy can satiate. Following the statement, he forces the guards of Kalgan to start killing in other. 

Brother Dawn influences the council in Foundation season 3 episode 1

The Empire's dominance over the Spacers, the race who piloted Imperial jumpships, shattered during the Second Crisis, causing them to depend on slower jump gates and reducing their galactic might. By delaying important decisions, this change lessened the Cleonic Dynasty's influence over the Galactic Council. In Season 2, Brother Dawn and Demerzel examined the Prime Radiant that was taken out of the Vault while traveling to a council meeting. One of its forecast psychohistorical strands has a fault, which they identify as the Seldon Crisis, the beginning of the Third Crisis.

Dawn believes the glitch has something to do with the next political gathering, but Demerzel brushes this off, suggesting that the elusive Mule could be the reason. Dawn deftly uses the turbulence during farmer demonstrations against the Foundation's tariffs at Clarion Station to influence the Council. He exhorts them to influence the Merchant Princes, a group inside the Foundation that is prepared to leave, as doing so could weaken the Foundation and help the Empire.
 
Facing opposition since he is yet to become Emperor, Dawn puts pressure on the Council by implying that he will implement significant changes after assuming the throne. The Council ultimately concedes. In order to improve his reputation, Dawn later tells Demerzel that Dusk planned the demonstrations and gives him false information. He goes on to become reliant solely on Demerzel.

What bothers Demerzel in Foundation season 3 episode 1?

 

 

 

 

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Dusk regrets the 17th Cleon's failure with the Spacers, which undermined their galactic rule, as he considers the fall of the Empire and his own approaching death on Trantor. Dawn tells him that the Galactic Council had to accede due to their recent political scheming, which caused internal strife inside the Foundation and momentarily destabilized it. 

Speaking of Kalgan, Dusk downplays the Mule's threat since he is ignorant of his actual strength. Demerzel shares her concerns about the Prime Radiant foretelling the demise of the Empire with Foundation ambassador Zephyr Vorellis when they are meeting beneath a symbolic tree fed by robot blood.

Demerzel shares her inner turmoil; she fears for her future in the event that the dynasty falls, but she is obligated by programming to defend the Cleons. The setting changes as Dawn, Dusk, Demerzel, and Vorellis attend a tense dinner with Quent, the Foundation Ambassador, only to be interrupted by the terrifying news of Kalgan's capture by the Mule, intensifying the impending catastrophe.

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