In terms of how this episode is setting things up: I think that Lewis will give Phara and the Anacreonian soldiers the drive technology that they seek in the hopes that they will leave the Foundation alone.
However, instead of using it to depart from Anacreon for another world, the technology will instead bolster and strengthen that planet's military and they will later send more troops as per the books.
If the claims about the planet dying are really true, then that would represent an excessive deviation from the books. It is possible that they fully plan to stay on Anacreon and want to become the hegemonic power in that region of space. Phara has been far from truthful so far, so it is very conceivable that she added in some falsehoods to maximize sympathy, along with threats, to achieve the greatest chance of success in obtaining the drive technology.
In terms of how this episode is setting things up: I think that Lewis will give Phara and the Anacreonian soldiers the drive technology that they seek in the hopes that they will leave the Foundation alone.
However, instead of using it to depart from Anacreon for another world, the technology will instead bolster and strengthen that planet's military and they will later send more troops as per the books.
If the claims about the planet dying are really true, then that would represent an excessive deviation from the books. It is possible that they fully plan to stay on Anacreon and want to become the hegemonic power in that region of space. Phara has been far from truthful so far, so it is very conceivable that she added in some falsehoods to maximize sympathy, along with threats, to achieve the greatest chance of success in obtaining the drive technology.