Warning: Spoilers ahead for Foundation

For three seasons, Foundation has been a story about the limits of control. The Season 3 finale of the sci-fi series delivers on that promise, unfolding with the solemn rhythm of a funeral dirge. Every ruler, every plan, every prophecy has been tested against the unruly currents of human will and the undertow of chance. By the finale, the galactic chessboard is crowded with players—emperors, rebels, prophets, impostors—but as Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) warned in the very first episode, the center cannot hold.

Season 3 was the series’ most volatile yet, with every storyline pulled taut to the breaking point. Brother Day ( Lee Pace ) abandoned Trantor, only to return to a dynasty cracking under its own weight. Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann), me

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