Foundation episode 3 jumps around the timeline with impunity, but that’s an essential part of adapting Isaac Asimov’s novels and short stories.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Foundation episode 3.
David Goyer’s Foundation has three time-jumps in episode 3, but with good reason. Writer Isaac Asimov is rightly considered one of the founding fathers of science fiction, and so many of his ideas have become staples of the genre. The Foundation novels and short stories are the jewel in his crown, a much-loved narrative that spans a millennia and details the future of the entire galaxy. They include so many innovations that would go on to inspire basic tenets of science-fiction, from Galactic Empires to Foundation‘s Jump Drives inspiring Star Wars‘ hyperdrive.
Showrunner David Goyer has finally brought Foundation to life on the small screen, in a lavishly realized TV series made for Apple TV+. The first two episodes starred Jared Harris’ Hari Seldon and Lou Llobdell’s Gaal Dornick, the only two mathematicians able to penetrate the mysterious of psychohistory, a field of mathematics in that allows for the prediction of the future. The cliffhanger ending of Foundation episode 2 saw Hari Seldon murdered by his protégé Raych, with Gaal Dornick blasted away from the Foundation in a cryogenic escape pod. However, rather than pick up with that story, Foundation episode 3 begins to hop around the timeline.
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