In Foundation season 2, humankind will face the wrath of a second crisis, which is right on their doorstep because of Gaal’s mistake, and if it isn’t solved, more crises will follow.
In the premiere episode of Foundation season 2, after getting acquainted with Gaal, Salvor recognizes what Gaal fears. It’s not Hari Seldon; it is his Plan itself, which has gone off course with Foundation flourishing and preparing for a war with the Empire. Thus, marking the beginning of a second crisis.
Gaal shows how close they are to the second crisis through Prime Radiant. Salvor averted the first crisis, which was supposed to be handled by Gaal.
Now the second crisis is bigger than the first and is right on the doorstep of humankind. Then there is a third crisis as well. It’s a turning point. If not handled, there will be more crises.
How did the Plan go off course?
Gaal suspected Hari Seldon, as he never tells anyone everything. She stopped him from creating the Second Foundation. When Hari returns from Prime Radiant, he confronts Gaal.
Hari Seldon explains the importance of the Second Foundation. Hari, Gaal, and Salvor are not meant to interfere in the upcoming war between the Foundation and the Empire.
Salvor thinks they can still fix it by helping the Foundation win, but Hari tells her that psychohistory predicts the general patterns of humanity. If they introduce too much into the system, they disturb it, which is why they needed a counterpoint.
They are decades away from Terminus, and it’s been 138 years since the first crisis. According to Hari, a Foundation left unchecked becomes the Empire all over again.
Terminus might not be an enemy today, but it will become one day because power corrupts, and Hari’s predictions are true, considering how the people of Terminus are working with heavy weaponry on their side.
Now, the counterpoint, the Second Foundation, was needed because psychohistorians with access to the Plan and knowledge of the future could have quietly adjusted Empire’s course and even the Foundation’s, if required.
Does the Second Foundation exist?
Gaal doesn’t know if the Foundation will survive this second crisis. However, she knows what’s past that. In an attempt to find a new path, Gaal transports her consciousness 150 years into the future, where chaos has consumed everything.
In the future, a warlord named the Mule confronts her and questions where her Mentalics and the Second Foundation are. It turns out that the Mule can look into people’s minds too. He tries to pry out a location from Gaal’s mind.
When Gaal returns, she tells Hari and Salvor about the future, the Mule, and how scared the Mule is of the Second Foundation, which means it can still exist.
Hari asks for the location that the Mule was prying out of Gaal’s mind. It is a planet called Ignis, and, in hopes of finding the Second Foundation, Gaal, Hari, and Salvor set off for it.
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