Foundation: Cleon Gets Spaced
Lee Pace’s Brother Day—the smarmy, dangerously self-centered ruler of a galactic empire lorded over by a continuous cycle of clones—thought he was the most clever version of Emperor Cleon ever. But as we came to learn in Foundation season two, his actions were all engineered by Demerzel (Laura Birn), his android majordomo who’s really been running the show for centuries. That would have been satisfying enough, but to see the worst guy in the universe expire in the worst way possible–being spaced by people who’re tired of living under his thumb, and crumble away into frozen dust–was a deliciously triumphant moment. Even the fact that Demerzel can just uncork another Cleon to fill his place doesn’t diminish it.
