What is Foundation about?

Foundation is based on Asimov’s stories, but given the sheer amount of source material, it’s more “inspired by” than rigidly “adapted from,” with a diverse cast and a carefully plotted array of storylines. Season one is necessarily given over to a bit of exposition, but it also uses narration and on-screen titles to keep viewers aware of where and especially when we are, since there’s a fair amount of jumping around in time.

Set in a reality where Earth exists but is no longer the center of the galaxy, Foundation imagines a universe ruled by Empire—a genetic dynasty cloned from Emperor Cleon I, who lived 400 years in the past. Three generations of “Cleons” are active at any given time, with fresh clones available to be decanted if replacements are needed. Their palace is on Trantor, which is also the planet where Dr. Hari Seldon, a brilliant mathematician who can predict the future using what he’s dubbed “psychohistory,” does his work. Just as a young prodigy, Gaal Dornick, arrives on Trantor to study with him, Seldon comes under fire for declaring that Empire will soon fall and humanity will subsequently plunge into a long period of darkness.

This doesn’t sit well with the Cleons, so they banish Hari, Gaal, and their followers to a far-flung planet called Terminus, where they’ll set up the Foundation—a place where human knowledge and culture will be protected and preserved during this inevitable time of darkness. Just before Hari’s group leaves, terrorists blow up Trantor’s massive space elevator; in response, the Cleons launch attacks on the two planets they deem responsible: Anacreon and Thespis, long-standing rival worlds located far from Trantor but close to Terminus.

In Foundation season one, we see the fallout from all of these actions, with a chunk of the story set decades in the future, when the Foundation has begun to take hold under the watchful eye of its Warden, Salvor Hardin. She’s the only person on the planet able to penetrate the forcefield around a mysterious structure on Terminus called “the Vault,” which was already in place when the Foundation settlers arrived. We also learn more about Gaal’s past, Seldon’s complex plan, and see the Cleons struggle when circumstances begin to chip away at their iron grip on the universe.