S01.E04: Barbarians at the Gate

[AnimeMania]

Salvor faces off with an enemy of the Empire. Brothers Day and Dusk are at odds, while Brother Dawn wrestles with his truth.

Airdate: October 8, 2021

[AnimeMania]

Foundation — “I Have Absolute Faith In You” Clip

Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey)          Hugo (Daniel MacPherson)

[ferjy]

So much for my celibacy theory. That cold b... witch Demerezel  just had to interrupt Empire Day’s amourous encounter. I wouldn’t have minded a few more minutes of Lee Pace in semi-attire.

 

[ferjy]

I’m tired of seeing Salvor storming around ordering everyone about. I know they’re trying to make her look special and all-knowing, but they’re going overboard. Half the things she says are just a matter of being sensible. They’re making everyone around her look like idiots. Like when they were trying to figure out why the Anacreons really came there... Hugo says “What if I take my ship and go get help?” and she replies “No they’d shoot you out of the sky.” What, he couldn’t deduce that himself? 

 

[Jack Shaftoe]

"If you were better at math, you'd know that repeated luck was more than just luck, Salvor".

Tell me you have no idea how probability theory works without telling me that you have no idea how probability theory works. The coin scene later on just added insult to injury. They are really laying it thick with Salvor, the specialest person of them all.

The scene where the statistician couldn't "prove" that there was a zero chance of Seldon being right confirmed my impression that the writers know (or care) about science about as much as I do about the rivers in Andorra. It was pretty funny, though, in "so bad, it's good" kind of way.

Hard to care about the empire's woes when all we ever see of it since the big explosion back in episode one is the melodrama in the palace.

[AnimeMania]

[UnoAgain]

I enjoyed it... So the kid is raych right?...  That salvor keeps seeing... So we get gaal back next week... Good... Is she headed to terminus or somewhere else? 

[Zonk]

The Terminus storyline has reached the state of "annoyance" for me. Last week it was just indifference.

Which is a shame since the storyline in empires palace is really intriguing to me. Even though I can see where that is going. Young Dawn wanting to take a wife, have children an stop empirial cloning. It's not even that much more interesting than the terminus stuff, I think, but the acting just slaps, while the acting on terminus is just boring.

I guess I have to fanwank that they somehow integrated some inertial dampaners into that force field, because falling on a force field would leave you just as dead as falling on concrete otherwise...

Btw. it's pretty clear that the vault was made by the colonists on terminus and then somehow sent back in time, right? I forgot to mention that the last few weeks.

 

1 hour ago, UnoAgain said:

I enjoyed it... So the kid is raych right?...

Yep.

[Netfoot]

At some point they are going to have to include some tiny part of the original source material, right?

I've read the original trilogy several times, although I will admit not recently. But nothing substantive of that material has yet to surface in this television series. Not as far as can see, anyway.  

[marinw]

I find Lee Pace unbearably hammy.

Brother Dawn stalking Botanaist Lady is so creepy. 

[Netfoot]

48 minutes ago, marinw said:

Brother Dawn stalking Botanaist Lady is so creepy.

Here's hoping he just wants sex. And not simply to make a lampshade.

[Melina22]

19 hours ago, Zonk said:

It's not even that much more interesting than the terminus stuff, I think, but the acting just slaps, while the acting on terminus is just boring.

Agreed. It's not great and the dialogue on Terminus is so clichéd. 

2 hours ago, marinw said:

Brother Dawn stalking Botanaist Lady is so creepy. 

I couldn't understand his strange facial expressions when he saw a man passing by her, when he was watching on dragonflycam. 

[mauledbypandas]

I really liked the Huntress actress.

I know the source material is huge, but I find some parts a little hard to follow.  I guess the scope is just too large and some themes are just too nebulous. 

Altho, I'm v. happy as my teen son asks to watch it every weekend.  Family viewing!  I did have to explain to him that if he decides to read the books, they would be different from the show.  I just love that he loves to watch scifi.

[legxleg]

I thought that when Brother Dawn asked that guy to solve the 'problem' of the botanist that he was speaking so obliquely that the problem solver would assume he wanted her dead, and that was what he was about to watch through his dragonfly cam. But apparently they are just talking? I don't really know what's going on with this storyline. But I am very into this idea that the current Brother Day disagrees with and even resents the current Brother Dusk, and I'm very curious to see how this schism will play out, especially when they try so hard to project unity, to the point of drinking at the same time. I also thought that the android lady's  "surely we will be safe from impetuous action now," when Brother Day announced he was breaking protocol to go meet with religious leaders himself was great - criticism so dry they can all pretend it's not criticism (or alternatively it wasn't criticism at all - it's just super ambiguous and I'm into it).

Edited October 10, 2021 by legxleg

[AnimeMania]

I hope Brother Day gets some Imperial mouthwash before his next audience. Death by halitosis is a terrible way to go.

I am not sure if I understand how Salvor manipulated the outcome of the coin or read the lady's mind.

I wish I had a better understanding of what they were trying to achieve with this episode.

[Lokiberry]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I hope Brother Day gets some Imperial mouthwash before his next audience. Death by halitosis is a terrible way to go.

I am not sure if I understand how Salvor manipulated the outcome of the coin or read the lady's mind.

I wish I had a better understanding of what they were trying to achieve with this episode.

Salvor knew what the coin flip would be because she has some ability to see the future, just like her mother Gaal. The boy she saw in the library was her father Raysh.  /speculation

Also, did anyone else catch that Brother Dawn is left handed, unlike Day and Dusk? It was in the dinner scene, he reached for the glass with his left hand and hastily switched to his right. Brother Day and his Eyebrows of Disapproval gave him a death glare. I think some genetic differences have popped up in this clone and it's going to to be one more thing that upsets the galactic applecart. 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, Lokiberry said:

Also, did anyone else catch that Brother Dawn is left handed, unlike Day and Dusk? It was in the dinner scene, he reached for the glass with his left hand and hastily switched to his right. Brother Day and his Eyebrows of Disapproval gave him a death glare. I think some genetic differences have popped up in this clone and it's going to to be one more thing that upsets the galactic applecart. 

I noticed that and wondered if all the Empire Brothers have always been left-handed and Royal Etiquette requires them to do everything in a right-handed manner. It makes you wonder if they like the food they eat, the type of clothes they wear, or the color. Maybe Brother Pervert Dawn built his creeper cam as much to experience normal common life as it was to peep out the flower hotties. He obviously is not enjoying/satisfied with the Royal lifestyle if he has taken up the sport of "Cordless Bungee Jumping".

[ferjy]

On 10/9/2021 at 12:09 PM, Melina22 said:

I couldn't understand his strange facial expressions when he saw a man passing by her, when he was watching on dragonflycam. 

The man was the guy that was supposed to kill her. Creepy Dawn has since decided to spare her for his pleasure and was afraid hit man hadn’t received the memo and was about to snuff her out. So a look of terror when the man approached her, then relief when he passed her by. 

 

[ferjy]

On 10/9/2021 at 9:25 AM, marinw said:

Brother Dawn stalking Botanaist Lady is so creepy.

I think it’s supposed to be a love story. Not exactly coming across that way though. The writers are probably scrambling now after reading all the comments about it. 😄

 

[pezgirl7]

The Terminus storyline seems to be dragging a bit, so I'm enjoying the empire storyline much more, especially now that the Brothers don't all seem to be on the same page. I especially liked seeing the deviations that Day is showing, like grabbing the wine with his left hand. He must be truly miserable if he tried to kill himself. That scene actually reminded me of Rapunzel, stuck up in her tower, locked away from the real world. He was afraid the botanist girl would tell someone about his suicide attempt, so he spoke to the army guy to see how the issue could be handled. I also feared for her life when he walked by, but just because she wasn't killed then, doesn't mean she won't be in the future. I just don't see a happy ending there.

On 10/10/2021 at 8:24 PM, ferjy said:

I think it’s supposed to be a love story. Not exactly coming across that way though. The writers are probably scrambling now after reading all the comments about it. 😄

I was a little surprised reading the creepy/stalking comments here, because to me it comes off as a love story. It's not like he was spying on her in her bedroom, which definitely would have given me a different viewpoint of what they were trying to portray. I do understand why people are seeing it differently than me, though. I also imagined that perhaps Dawn has used the dragonfly drone to watch other areas of the kingdom as well, since he's probably not allowed to interact much with other people. I think Dawn is around 18 and has never had any kind of real interaction with a girl/woman before, and is experiencing a crush for the first time. She seems to like him as well. But like I said before, there's no way I see Dawn's story having a happy ending. I would think any real attachments would be considered too dangerous, because they could affect the dynasty. If Day finds out, I can see him putting a stop to it right away.

Also, on a shallow note, I appreciated Day's scene with the prostitute. 😁  I've never really found Lee Pace to be that attractive before, but I think he is here. I was little confused about his protective forcefield. She couldn't touch him at first, but then could, once she went more slow. But then he was able to be more forceful when he was on top, and didn't seem to have a problem touching her.

I also think Lee and the actor who plays Brother Dusk have done a great job showing slight differences in their clones throughout the timeline. Like Day seems to be getting more tyrannical, while Dusk seems more benevolent.

Edited October 25, 2021 by pezgirl7

[silverstream]

I realize the scene where Brother Dawn jumps was supposed to be tragic, but I couldn't help imagine a child-aged clone tripping down the stairs and thus discovering they were perfectly safe from falls, then proceeding to yeet themselves down greater and greater heights for funsies. That's definitely a thing a child would do.

[Tachi Rocinante]

On 10/1/2023 at 5:56 PM, silverstream said:

I realize the scene where Brother Dawn jumps was supposed to be tragic, but I couldn't help imagine a child-aged clone tripping down the stairs and thus discovering they were perfectly safe from falls, then proceeding to yeet themselves down greater and greater heights for funsies. That's definitely a thing a child would do.

That would be me, at least once a day.  Breakfast and a high fall.