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Foundation series plot recap: who is The Mule?

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Season 2 of Foundation landed on Apple TV+ in July 2023, and the plot suddenly got quite complicated: we are driven into different timelines, making it hard to understand what will happen in the future. That’s why the spectators have many questions, each needing a dedicated answer to complete a plot recap of the TV series. In this article, we will discuss one of the main antagonists in Season 2: who is The Mule? When does he emerge, and what does he want? Let’s find out.

You can watch the official trailer for Foundation season 2 here on Youtube.

Foundation series on Apple TV, the plot recap: who is The Mule?

When we enter the world of Foundation in Season 2,the starting point is the famous Plan Hari Seldon described in his Psychohistory: the Empire will fall, and a long period of desperation will come. That’s why he goes to Terminus and builds the Foundation, an organization aimed to safeguard the knowledge of civilization. However, we will soon discover that the real purpose of the Foundation is to start an active war against the Empire.

When Hari Seldon returns in Season 2 of Foundation, he’s with Gaal and Salvor Hardin, and that’s a crucial point in our plot recap. They know that, in the future, another crisis will come, and the Plan will shift from its original direction. In Episode 2 of Season 2, Hari asks Gaal to project her mind into that moment of future history, watching what will happen.

What we see is Gaal in a world of chaos and war. She’s immediately attacked by one of the most mysterious characters of Foundation, The Mule: who is he, and what does he want?

Not much is known about him so far, and we will surely discover more in the next episodes of Foundation – we will drive you in this plot recap. What we know right now, also knowing the story in Asimov’s books, is that The Mule is a rebel who will rise to power in the future. He’s the biggest threat to Hari Seldon’s Plan: he’s a strong mentalist, able to manipulate people and read their minds. He uses his power to change the behavior of entire populations, creating precisely that shift from the Plan, which predicted the natural course of history for big groups of humans.

When The Mule sees Gaal in the fat future, he recognizes her immediately. This means Gaal will survive all those years, still pursuing Hari Seldon’s Plan. However, we know a big truth from the books: The Mule has been able to attack and conquer the Foundation, altering Hari Seldon’s Plan. He only needs one last step to entirely change the Plan: the location of the Second Foundation.

The Second Foundation was built by another future, digital version of Hari Seldon. The purpose of the Second Foundation is to ensure that the Plan will go in the right direction in case something goes wrong in the First Foundation. That’s exactly why The Mule needs to know where the Second Foundation is: it’s the powerful organization created by Hari Seldon for his Plan, managed by solid mentalists like him, still actively working according to Psychohistory’s natural predictions.

Not much more is known so far, and we will keep this article constantly updated as part of the plot recap of Apple TV+’s Foundation. A complete overview needs to include our explanation of Hari Seldon in Season 2, and the rest will be explained by the series in the next episodes. Stay tuned.

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Hari Seldon in Foundation Season 2, explained

Published by Carlo Affatigato

Carlo has been a web content creator for over 10 years. He founded Auralcrave in 2015, envisioning it as a new space capable of offering different perspectives on topics that passionate all of us. With a scientific background, Carlo developed an interest in music, cinema, literature, and art at a young age, transforming it into a complementary dimension to his professional growth. For years, he was a music journalist specializing in electronic and dance music, writing for the most important Italian magazines (both online and print). Movies and TV series have been a true obsession in many phases of his life: during university, it was not uncommon for him to set the alarm in the middle of the night to watch classic films airing on TV. With the advent of the Internet, Carlo became a keen observer of web and social phenomena, addressing light topics such as advertising, trends, fashion, and general themes. He is the main author of Auralcrave and personally manages its social media, editorial line, book publication, resource management, and business expansion. A former engineer, life coach, husband, and father, he believes that every area of knowledge has interesting stories that deserve to be told and is convinced that doing so makes the world a better place.