On June 28, 2021, Apple TV released a new Foundation teaser, one of the most anticipated series of 2021. We also know that the official release date is set for September 24, 2021.
This series is eagerly awaited but also many fans of Isaac Asimov are apprehensive about the result.
This new teaser has been talked about a lot in recent days. It reinforces the fears of some people while others are amazed by this new teaser which makes Dune's one less impressive (according to some tweets I have read).
If I had to sum up this teaser in a single sentence :
"Epic battles in space and on the ground like Star Wars, political and power conflicts like Game Of Thrones".
In this article, I will therefore detail the scenes of this teaser according to my own eyes and feelings. You can of course react by commenting if you want to share your opinion on the teaser.
If you like to write, don't forget that places are open as a volunteer writer to contribute interesting content about Foundation here :
If you haven't read the books yet, the article may contain possible spoilers. Although I try to avoid them as much as possible and keep it as general as possible. So I recommend you to read the books before continuing to read this article.
Foundation official new teaser
Text scenes
Resume of whait is said
Hari Seldon : You can't save yourselves. Hari Seldon : But you can save your legacy. ♪♪ ♪♪ (Walking) (Water drips) Eto Demerzel : You can't be here. You know that. Brother Dusk : I can't be the first one who wanted to see my youngest self. (Plinked) ♪♪ Brother Dusk : Strange. Brother Dusk : Watching yourself being born. ♪♪ Brother Day : Our genetic dynasty has reigned for almost four-centuries. ♪♪ Brother Day : The might of the Imperium (Explosions) Brother Day : has brought peace to thousands of worlds. ♪♪ Brother Day : But the beliefs of one man. ♪♪ Brother Day : Now threaten the empire's very existence. ♪♪ Hari Seldon : I'm not a revolutionary. ♪♪ Gaal Dornick : His calculations are correct. The Empire is dying. Hari Seldon : Order will vanish. Wars will be endless. Gaal Dornick : Only we can shorten the darkness. ♪♪ Brother Day : The man has amassed a following. Brother Day : People who hinge their hopes on every word Seldon utters. ♪♪ Brother Day : Words have a way of fanning into wildfires. ♪♪ Hari Seldon : You can't save yourselves. ♪♪ Hari Seldon : But you can your legacy. ♪♪
What's in the books?
1. "You can't save yourselves. But you can save your legacy."
These sentences takes up part of the work of Hari Seldon (portrayed by Jared Harris) who has worked all his life on the Psychohistory and to preserve the knowledge of humanity.
In particular with the first foundation and the encyclopedists who can be discovered in the book from the first book of the trilogy "Foundation (1951)".
So we can guess that Legacy means Humanity knowledge.
2. "You can't be here. You know that."
This (fortunately) does not change the "Prelude to Foundation (1988)" and "Forward the Foundation (1993)" books.
Eto Demerzel always seems to be pulling the strings on the Emperor's side.
3. "The might of the Imperium has brought peace to thousands of worlds. But the beliefs of one man. Now threaten the empire's very existence. The man has amassed a following. People who hinge their hopes on every word Seldon utters. Words have a way of fanning into wildfires."
As in the books the Emperor (portrayed by Lee Pace) is wary of Hari Seldon's speeches predicting the end of the Empire and a long era of chaos that will follow.
Many people trust Hari Seldon's predictions which makes him dangerous in the eyes of the Emperor.
4. "(Hari Seldon) I'm not a revolutionary. (Gaal Dornick) His calculations are correct. The Empire is dying. (Hari Seldon) Order will vanish. Wars will be endless. (Gaal Dornick) Only we can shorten the darkness."
Despite Hari Seldon's predictions being correct and confirmed by young Gaal Dornick, he has issues with Trantor's justice.
In the photo above from the teaser, Hari Seldon appears to be in Trantor's courthouse like in the first book of the trilogy : "Foundation (1951)".
What is not in the books ?
5. "(Brother Dusk) I can't be the first one who wanted to see my youngest self. (Brother Dusk) Strange. (Brother Dusk) Watching yourself being born. (Brother Day) Our genetic dynasty has reigned for almost four-centuries."
A dynasty of emperor clones over a period of 400 years. It's a surprising element which is not present in the books and which is a very interesting scenario worked out by the production. Is this a nod to Star Wars and its clone room ?
Either way, it got one of our Facebook page followers excited who wrote the following comment :
"A genetic dinasty of clone emperors ! A great idea ! Given the dynasty's ongoing success and popular approval rate through the centuries, this would stave off power struggles and uprisings, bringing stability to the empire.
But of course, this is also a major factor in psychohistorical formulas and calculations. Why didn't Asimov think of this before ?"
Alex Altorfer.
Don't hesitate to react in comment to this part of the teaser. I'm really interested to have your thoughts about it !
Others interesting scenes
Awesome images of Trantor
The great and mighty Trantor, the center of the Galaxy. 40 billion inhabitants. The teaser made us want to discover it in more detail with these few photos !
Epic battles in space and on the ground
Yes, we all know that "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent". But admit that it's still badass to see Salvor Hardin with a weapon ! Even if some purists will fall from their chair ...
BUT (theory)
Maybe it's a production twist. In the teaser, they show us a Salvor Hardin totally different from the one we know in the book which is a controversial subject.
When the series begins, they could simply show us the youth of Salvor Hardin before he became mayor and the event that taught him his famous quote : "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".
The battle scenes of the teaser are impressive and will probably give dynamism to the series. After all, Isaac Asimov never described the battle scenes in his books ...
Clarke Peters as a Mysterious Character
According to IMDb, we don't know the name of this character portrayed by Clarke Peters. We only know that he will be present in 7 episodes.
Prime radiant ?
Gaal Dornick portrayed by Lou Llobell appears to activate the Prime Radiant which projects equations to predict the future.
Vision of chaos
Difficult to define the context of these explosions and images of catastrophes. Predictions or real events in the present ? Maybe you will be more inspired than I on this subject ? In any case, these scenes are impressive.
Alicia Gerrard as Yate
Still too little information about this character. But we can at least see Alicia Gerrard for a brief moment in her role.
We know a little bit more about 2 characters
What a pleasure to finally see the talented Kubbra Sait as Phara and the talented Nikhil Parmar as Freestone ! Now we know that they seem close to Salvor Hardin portrayed by Leah Harvey.
One more light ...
(In tribute to Chester Bennington from Linkin Park)
We end this article with a mysterious man with a beanie. The clothes he wears are intriguing because they seem to come from our time and are very different from those worn by the other characters in the series. I am therefore curious to know the context afterwards.
The luminous symbol also questions its effects. According to the teaser, he doesn't enlighten people for their sake ...
And you ?
What are your thoughts about this new teaser ? Hope you enjoyed reading this article and don't hesitate to use the comment section to react about it !
You can also read the breakdown from the showrunner, David S. Goyer, here.
Content article. Don't forget to take care of your car and inspect it regularly. I know a fabrication shop where you can find everything you need for your favorite car.
I've seen some articles claiming that Alfred Enoch is playing Raych. So I think it's possible that Clarke Peters could be playing an older version of Raych. In Forward the Foundation, Raych is assumed to have died with his family aboard a ship bound for Anacreon. Though if I recall correctly, it's never definitively proven. So maybe in the show he will have survived, and made it to Anacreon or Terminus as an older man. Maybe the reason he isn't credited as Raych is because this is a significant identity reveal at some point in the show.
Btw, the first screenshot featuring destruction looks like the same space elevator we saw in the first teaser collapsing onto the surface of…