Exclusive 'Foundation' trailer teases the explosive season finale for Apple TV+'s sci-fi epic

Critics and acolytes of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series said for decades that the seminal science fiction novels could never be adapted to film or TV, but showrunner and executive producer David. S. Goyer proved them wrong with his AppleTV+ series. The heady, non-linear space drama about the Galactic Empire speeding towards a predicted end of the world stars Lou Llobell as the brilliant mathematician Gaal Dornick, Jared Harris as her mentor and predictor of that future, Hari Seldon, and Lee Pace as Brother Day, one of three clones continuously ruling the universe.

In a new trailer for Foundation's penultimate episode (Nov. 12) and finale episode (Nov. 19), exclusively debuting at SYFY WIRE, the various storylines are coming to a convergence:

In the last episode, "The Missing Piece," Brother Day (Pace) embarked on the Spiral trial to have a vision that would prove that he has a soul. By the end of his journey, he admits that he saw nothing which further shows the ego and fallibility inherent to the Cleon clones. The trio is an original concept that Goyer wrote into his adaptation of Foundation to highlight the ills of uninterrupted power. 

"They're all insecure, because they represent just the latest installment in this long line of the same, the same, the same," he told SYFY WIRE. "What was cool about that was it allowed me an "in" into the villains, because there's also a sadness to them because no matter what they are, they'll just be the 11th, the 14th, the 17th of the same guy. They'll never be as amazing as that guy. And they desperately want to be individuals. But their quandary is if they try to be individuals, then it will mean the Empire has to change. And the Empire isn't supposed to change."

With Brother Day now entrenched even more into that mindset, the last two episodes set up a myriad of confrontations about destiny, change and hubris. 

Asked if the Season 1 finale will be in alignment with how Asimov closed his first Foundation tome, Goyer, who directs the episode, teased, "I would say the first season, roughly speaking, follows the broad gestures of elements in the first book. That being said, a couple of things happen at the end of the season that I believe audiences, fans of the books and newcomers, will be very, very surprised by."

The final two Foundation Season 1 episodes are exclusively available on November 12 and 19 on Apple TV+.