151

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

graybags wrote:

Hmmm, I think you're watching a different Foundation to me, incredible television it ain't.

...how British, you say that about everything, lolz. tongue

152

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

paisley1 wrote:
graybags wrote:

Hmmm, I think you're watching a different Foundation to me, incredible television it ain't.

...how British, you say that about everything, lolz. tongue

Nope!  There's at least one programme out there I think is incredible television.  I just can't remember what it is right now.

2020.  Meh.

153

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Kanga wrote:
Spoiler

I'm not gonna lie, the show would be better if it had gone through and we had seen her head roll on the stairs, after that the rightful Emperor should go and bombard the foundation, upstarts like this needs to be kept down.

100% agree. I was very disappointed they didn't follow through. Wonder if it is the same in the book(s), no clue how close the show follows the book(s). My guess is that they dont, and have gender/race swapped a lot. Anyone who knows?

154 (edited by paisley1 2023-09-05 04:04:07)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

@Moze, Kanga - See spoiler:

Spoiler

Why would you want them to die, it makes no sense. What would it serve Hari Seldon and the Foundation to send the brothers to Trantor to be beheaded?  It would end the belief in psycho history on Terminus and throughout the foundation...roll credits.  Just from a narrative perspective they wouldn't waste all that setup.  Queen Sareth however, fingers crossed. Also, when Hober says, "Ya, I'm sorry folks, beheading's been cancelled!"  I was cracking up, cuz it sounded like The Hobbit.

It must've been said at some point but I wasn't paying close enough attention, but Salvor tells Hari that Gaal predicted that "Hober Mallow will pierce the Empire's hide.", which was setup before the brothers even met Hober Mallow and I like the prophetic and determinism, that Foundation plays on that level, but if you don't you probably won't like this show.  Also, when he does show up, I got BSG Exodus Part 2 vibes, but not as good of course.

155

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Moze wrote:

100% agree. I was very disappointed they didn't follow through. Wonder if it is the same in the book(s), no clue how close the show follows the book(s). My guess is that they dont, and have gender/race swapped a lot. Anyone who knows?

The book(s) are very different from the show although it's the same broad theme and the names/concepts are recycled. To the show's defense, it would be a very weird TV show if they followed the book(s) closely.

156

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

paisley1 wrote:

@Moze, Kanga - See spoiler:

Spoiler

Why would you want them to die, it makes no sense. What would it serve Hari Seldon and the Foundation to send the brothers to Trantor to be beheaded?  It would end the belief in psycho history on Terminus and throughout the foundation...roll credits.  Just from a narrative perspective they wouldn't waste all that setup.  Queen Sareth however, fingers crossed. Also, when Hober says, "Ya, I'm sorry folks, beheading's been cancelled!"  I was cracking up, cuz it sounded like The Hobbit.

It must've been said at some point but I wasn't paying close enough attention, but Salvor tells Hari that Gaal predicted that "Hober Mallow will pierce the Empire's hide.", which was setup before the brothers even met Hober Mallow and I like the prophetic and determinism, that Foundation plays on that level, but if you don't you probably won't like this show.  Also, when he does show up, I got BSG Exodus Part 2 vibes, but not as good of course.

Spoiler

Because the "brother"-characters are insufferable especially the girl. A "Red Wedding"-like end to this storyline and the introduction of the Mule to end the determinism would have been perfect. It would also put the Foundation in real danger and we wouldn't be sitting in this situation where we know that any attack on the Foundation is futile.

157

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

graybags wrote:
paisley1 wrote:
graybags wrote:

Hmmm, I think you're watching a different Foundation to me, incredible television it ain't.

...how British, you say that about everything, lolz. tongue

Nope!  There's at least one programme out there I think is incredible television.  I just can't remember what it is right now.

Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!

158 (edited by paisley1 2023-09-05 04:12:06)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Kanga wrote:
Spoiler

Because the "brother"-characters are insufferable especially the girl. A "Red Wedding"-like end to this storyline and the introduction of the Mule to end the determinism would have been perfect. It would also put the Foundation in real danger and we wouldn't be sitting in this situation where we know that any attack on the Foundation is futile.

Spoiler

I get where you're coming from, the brothers were annoying at first, but became amusing dupes and pawns in a math religion I find entertaining.  I could've seen them being beheaded if the writers set up their storyline as beloved by the people who become martyr's for the foundation which rallies the "troops" so to speak, but they didn't write them that way, they're flawed jesters/clowns that nobody likes or believe in, and Hari sending them to Trantor knowing they would be beheaded would only make himself look malevolent.  I suppose it's a bit redundant knowing what's probably going to happen is that the foundation on Terminus will be wiped out after a long fought battle, so that the real foundation on Ignis can grow without any knowledge by Empire and then they finish him off, after that, chaos and the age of the mule, insert time travel/deus ex machina/Philip K Dick inspired Orthogonal time, which ends the mule, then ascension, everlasting peace, roll credits, lolz. tongue

159

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Kanga wrote:
Spoiler

I'm not gonna lie, the show would be better if it had gone through and we had seen her head roll on the stairs, after that the rightful Emperor should go and bombard the foundation, upstarts like this needs to be kept down.

Coming from anyone else, I would have assumed those words to be satirical. But maintaining that kind of control requires you to keep your people both sufficiently uneducated (which had already demonstrably failed by the time Seldon originally showed up) and powerless against you (an advantage that is already lost here due to ignoring the Foundation for a century). The situation they are in this season makes that entirely a case of "what should have been done and why" and no longer of actually actionable advice.


Spoiler
Kanga wrote:

Because the "brother"-characters are insufferable especially the girl. A "Red Wedding"-like end to this storyline and the introduction of the Mule to end the determinism would have been perfect. It would also put the Foundation in real danger and we wouldn't be sitting in this situation where we know that any attack on the Foundation is futile.

Maybe. But I wouldn't say that we know that... if anything, I'd say the opposite is the case. The episode made it relatively clear that we no longer know whose script we are actually following. The second Foundation does not actually exist at that point. Terminus-Hari got information he shouldn't have from Salvor and acted against his own plan because of it. There's that consciousness of the Radiant having an undisclosed plan of its own and being suspiciously absent (including Ignis-Hari being suspiciously dead).

I suspect that the only reason an attack on Terminus actually will be futile is because of mutiny by that general. Now getting that guy out of "retirement" truly is a stupid decision on Day's part.

The purpose of the priests is, apparently, pretty much just to be human. It's a show about humanity, and it seems they don't just want to have characters that are all in some way more than that.


merc wrote:

so just becuase I do not come to the same conclusions as you I must be not paying attention? says it all?

General word of advice... trying to retort without at least making a token effort at actually answering the question will usually make anyone come off as defensive and, ultimately, wrong.

160

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

The 12 Angry Men side-discussion was moved to https://forum.next-episode.net/viewtopic.php?id=11643 (The dates of those posts were changed, the posts were not).

161 (edited by Kanga 2023-09-08 18:16:10)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

some_one wrote:

Coming from anyone else, I would have assumed those words to be satirical. But maintaining that kind of control requires you to keep your people both sufficiently uneducated (which had already demonstrably failed by the time Seldon originally showed up) and powerless against you (an advantage that is already lost here due to ignoring the Foundation for a century). The situation they are in this season makes that entirely a case of "what should have been done and why" and no longer of actually actionable advice.

Highly educated midwits are usually the ones that are most willing to defend the regime, the reason for that is very simple; They have the most to lose and that's why there is roughly a 100% support for the current regime in academia for instance, the few academic dissidents are usually outside of the ivory towers.

Uneducated peasants were the ones that were willing to rebel against the king over something as small as a 2.5% taxhike during feudalism because they were men of principle and they knew by instinct and through religion what was fair and just, that's in contrast to today where e.g. Canada's government is killing off its weaklings through MAID and practically only the Christians or other groups that embrace natural law with very little power are protesting it.

some_one wrote:

Maybe. But I wouldn't say that we know that... if anything, I'd say the opposite is the case. The episode made it relatively clear that we no longer know whose script we are actually following. The second Foundation does not actually exist at that point. Terminus-Hari got information he shouldn't have from Salvor and acted against his own plan because of it. There's that consciousness of the Radiant having an undisclosed plan of its own and being suspiciously absent (including Ignis-Hari being suspiciously dead).

I suspect that the only reason an attack on Terminus actually will be futile is because of mutiny by that general. Now getting that guy out of "retirement" truly is a stupid decision on Day's part.

The purpose of the priests is, apparently, pretty much just to be human. It's a show about humanity, and it seems they don't just want to have characters that are all in some way more than that.

Well you're certainly right that we're off the rails in regards to the story. You say it's a show about humanity which makes sense because as Salvor Hardin says the Empire is standing against "PROGRESS" and you probably equate that to a form of humanism, an improvement of the human condition.

I say it's a shame because the original work was about cyclical history(the alternative theory to "Progress" which is a liberal notion), making it possible to predict social changes through math because we had enough examples of history repeating or rhyming so now we could use math to calculate what would happen similar to how we calculate gravity.

What we're presented with instead is a bastardized story full of propaganda sadly.

162

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

2x9! yikes Wow... I did not see that (episode end) coming. yikes yikes

Great acting!

163

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

lighton wrote:

2x9! yikes Wow... I did not see that (episode end) coming. yikes yikes

Great acting!

The show has been taking weirdly sharp turns all season. Never entirely sure where they are going with anything. Really enjoying it. Did this really just happen? Tune in next week to find out. Maybe.

Spoiler

I really liked the scene where the illusionist is just completely caught off guard by a dead guy showing up not being an illusion. Just entirely unprepared for even the possibility of something unlikely ever being real. Well done, that. They completely underplayed that "fine, I'll show you the Mule" scene though...


Kanga wrote:

You say it's a show about humanity which makes sense because as Salvor Hardin says the Empire is standing against "PROGRESS" and you probably equate that to a form of humanism, an improvement of the human condition.

I think your own biases deceive you here, because I do not. The Empire has proven, here, to be a viable system that has worked reasonably well for thousands of years, with even the Cleons having been around for several centuries. That's not up for debate. But the Empire is collapsing now, slowly, and that will bring with it a loss of technology and infrastructure and, thus, quality of life for a lot of people. The mission is to dampen that effect. Whether or not Seldon is commited to that alone is another question, of course, but that is another matter.

The recurring theme that is repeatedly even called out is the contrast between being able to predict the path of humanity as a whole, but not of humans individually. It's about helping humanity as a whole and how it affects the lives of individual humans. My point was about how most of the main characters in the story are leaders or not even strictly human and can directly influence the short-term path of history. Those preachers are not that. They are just regular humans who those events happen to. Having them there helps us viewers to understand the scope of things better.


Kanga wrote:

Highly educated midwits are usually the ones that are most willing to defend the regime, the reason for that is very simple; They have the most to lose and that's why there is roughly a 100% support for the current regime in academia for instance, the few academic dissidents are usually outside of the ivory towers.

Uneducated peasants were the ones that were willing to rebel against the king over something as small as a 2.5% taxhike during feudalism because they were men of principle and they knew by instinct and through religion what was fair and just, that's in contrast to today where e.g. Canada's government is killing off its weaklings through MAID and practically only the Christians or other groups that embrace natural law with very little power are protesting it.

As an autocrat, you'll want to keep people uneducated because you don't want them to know how to overthrow you, or that it is even possible. That rule did not apply when e.g. in Europe the church was a mostly independent institution that kept people "educated" and all it took to take down your local lord was a bunch of torches and pitchforks. This rule has only really started applying when "modern" dictatorships rolled around. The Empire in this show kept itself mostly stable primarily by monopolizing jumpships, but also by claiming ownership over any scientific progress and, most importantly, not getting too involved in most peoples' lives.

They failed that last part first when applying collective punishment to an entire planet. Maybe if they had actually killed everyone there it might have worked. But like this, it only lead to large-scale resentment. Then they cut them off from the first part, the jumpships, thus forcing them to come up with their own solution (while assuming they couldn't). The second part was also lost entirely when cutting all communication. Basically, the Cleons underestimated their own replacability. Which is ironic, really, considering how literally replacable they are.


Kanga wrote:

the alternative theory to "Progress" which is a liberal notion

Ah please knock it off with this US bullshit. You have white supremacists (incl. Nazis), theocrats, anarcho-capitalists, "conservatives" (those who want to return to how things were), antivaxxers for some reason and a bunch of other authoritans on one side, communists, socialists, anarchists, "conservatives" (those who want to keep things as they are), environmentalists and a bunch of other hippie-related groups on the other. Are you actually trying to claim either of those groups could ever form, much less have any long-term cohesion, outside of a preexisting two-party system? This stuff is ingrained propaganda nonsense, nothing more.

And no, that idea of "progress" is not a "liberal notion", it is simply an excuse for people to feel superior to their recent ancestors and it has been around at least since the renaissance.

164 (edited by paisley1 2023-09-10 19:55:47)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

@Lighton, Some_one - 2x9 - Ya, I never saw that coming either, what a twist ending, what I enjoyed even more was the intro...

Spoiler

...610 years in the past with Cleon I and Demerzel (Blade Runner 2049 vibes), I love stories told in backstory, but Salvor's fight in the woods with the image of her long dead lover, kinda ruined the whole episode for me, waaaay too much wasted screen time. 

Knowing Demerzel is the power behind the throne, and that Cleon 17 isn't an outlier but a calculation within psycho history's prediction, is very interesting, as that moment when Empire is talking to Hari is an inflection point, where everything is being said in such a way, to bait Empire to destroy Terminus, to help alleviate the coming darkness, and did you notice how Hari was talking passed Empire and to Demerzel, knowing that he will come and go, but that the long game is being communicated to Demerzel, because Hari knows who's actually in charge.

So, the moment back on the ship, where Demerzel stops, calculates something, then Day looks at her and says, "What is it?", and she says, "I have to attend to another matter, at home.", what do you think that is?  Dusk being trapped in the basement perhaps?

I love the next few lines where she tells off Day, and he almost cries, lolz, and then the invictus crashing, one might say, "that was an over reaction." tongue

165

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Season 2 was a whole lot of build up for 8 episodes for 2 pretty badass ending episodes filled with twists and turns. It sets up season 3 well, and I'm looking forward to more!

It really, really was slow though for quite a while there.

166

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Spoiler

Nooooo, not Hober Mallow too!

Damn, they really cleaned up the cast in the season finale... I'm also looking forward to season 3!

167

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

some_one wrote:

]...Are you actually trying to claim either of those groups could ever form, much less have any long-term cohesion, outside of a preexisting two-party system? This stuff is ingrained propaganda nonsense, nothing more.

Yes, the monarchists atleast among them, they have a proven trackrecord already so duh.

Also I'm not American, I'm from Scandinavia.


some_one wrote:

] And no, that idea of "progress" is not a "liberal notion", it is simply an excuse for people to feel superior to their recent ancestors and it has been around at least since the renaissance.

No, Progress as a concept is not from the renaissance, it requires ideas from Kant, Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau etc. Lets just take the industrial revolution as an example requirement because without the ability to make capital investments there is no perceived progress.

168 (edited by some_one 2023-09-17 00:48:39)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

lighton wrote:

Damn, they really cleaned up the cast in the season finale... I'm also looking forward to season 3!

Damn indeed. That finale was... something. Some parts felt a bit rushed or not set up that well, but overall really good, with even more stuff happening that I did not expect. Makes sense to finish many characters' arcs now, because this was always going to have to be a show with massive (i.e. generational) timeskips. Can't bring everyone along all the time, that would defeat the point of being about, well, history.

Spoiler

They really shot Day point-blank with Chekhov's gun there, huh?



Kanga wrote:

Also I'm not American, I'm from Scandinavia.

Yes, I am aware. But the notions and terminology you are using there are very american. Not surprising, as their nonsense tends to metastasize around the world.


Kanga wrote:

Yes, the monarchists atleast among them, they have a proven trackrecord already so duh.

How did I forget to name the monarchists/royalists? Anyway, no. The question was whether you actually think those groups, "left" and "right", would ever form naturally like they did in the US or have any common ideology if they didn't have to somehow work around the preexisting di-polar power structure of, well, the US. In countries with more than two notable political parties, it's usually a lot more nuanced than that. And in fact, I think Foundation pretty much manages to completely avoid all of it.


Kanga wrote:

No, Progress as a concept is not from the renaissance, it requires ideas from Kant, Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau etc. Lets just take the industrial revolution as an example requirement because without the ability to make capital investments there is no perceived progress.

Yes, Kant took it to new extremes. But the underlying notion of "we are better than our ancestors" is not a new one. I named the renaissance specifically because it was a time when people (in Europe) started to pretend that, by rediscovering their love for stuff from old Rome and Greece, they were leaving some kind of "dark age" in which nothing new ever happened behind. Except that that wasn't true at all, lots of technological (and other) progress was made in the middle ages, just in a slightly less urbanized context. The renaissance really is the earliest good example I can think of for this kind of temporal elitism.

Actually, now that we got there... that's kind of a point against Foundation, which is reusing the old "dark age" term/concept... Ah well. It's entertainment and I am enjoying it.

169 (edited by paisley1 2023-09-17 04:46:22)

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

2x10 - All of season 2 was great, and in 2x10 stories are being capped and new ones beginning, with plenty of suspense and twists I did not see coming, that said, I watched The Wheel of Time 2x5 right after, and I liked it more.

Spoiler

Salvor Hardin dying was a relief, annoying for 2 seasons until redeeming herself by rescuing then dying for Gaal.  Yay!

Hober Mallow was the best, this sucks, space pirates are fun, he'll be missed.

170

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

some_one wrote:

Yes, I am aware. But the notions and terminology you are using there are very american. Not surprising, as their nonsense tends to metastasize around the world.

My terminology comes from political philosophy in particular Italian political realism but you can read through these authors and you'll end out with my terminology: Spengler, Burnham, Hobbes, Filmer, Machiavelli, De Maistré, Burke, Carlyle, Evola, De Jourvenel, Pareto, Mosca and last but not least Samuel T. Francis.

If you're saying that this is "American", what you're saying is that they are better educated on political philosophy and I strongly reject that idea.

some_one wrote:
Kanga wrote:

Yes, the monarchists atleast among them, they have a proven trackrecord already so duh.

How did I forget to name the monarchists/royalists? Anyway, no. The question was whether you actually think those groups, "left" and "right", would ever form naturally like they did in the US or have any common ideology if they didn't have to somehow work around the preexisting di-polar power structure of, well, the US. In countries with more than two notable political parties, it's usually a lot more nuanced than that. And in fact, I think Foundation pretty much manages to completely avoid all of it.

I don't understand this question, it's always one faction that takes control of a polity, in the US it's often called the "Uniparty". That faction develops two wings and a bunch of sidemovements that are sometimes derivatives of the faction that took power but kept out of power. So if we take Italy in the Renaissance, we'd have a regime of "Christian Imperialists" divided into Guelphs and Ghibellines equivalent to Red vs Blue in the west.

That Italian Christian Imperial regime would still spawn e.g. separatists, nationalists, movements against technology(Similar to many Green movements today), movements against degeneracy(similar to the alcohol prohibition, antiporn, prolife etc). There was movements that would call for closer ties to God or allowing artists to depict more of humanity etc.

It's how all politics work under all regimes, the only real question in this regard(how regimes work) is which outsiders are banned and the details of WHO is in power. So yes, I believe that.

some_one wrote:
Kanga wrote:

No, Progress as a concept is not from the renaissance, it requires ideas from Kant, Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau etc. Lets just take the industrial revolution as an example requirement because without the ability to make capital investments there is no perceived progress.

Yes, Kant took it to new extremes. But the underlying notion of "we are better than our ancestors" is not a new one. I named the renaissance specifically because it was a time when people (in Europe) started to pretend that, by rediscovering their love for stuff from old Rome and Greece, they were leaving some kind of "dark age" in which nothing new ever happened behind. Except that that wasn't true at all, lots of technological (and other) progress was made in the middle ages, just in a slightly less urbanized context. The renaissance really is the earliest good example I can think of for this kind of temporal elitism.

Actually, now that we got there... that's kind of a point against Foundation, which is reusing the old "dark age" term/concept... Ah well. It's entertainment and I am enjoying it.

Let me just get this right: You think that while they were rediscovering ancient Greece and looking at what was obviously brilliant men even by their standards who they would copy and learn from in many ways, they were thinking "Oh man, if only they knew how much better we are now?" as we do today? That's what you believe?

171

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Kanga wrote:

[...]

Since we are drifting off again, my response to this is in a new thread.


paisley1 wrote:

2x10 - All of season 2 was great, and in 2x10 stories are being capped and new ones beginning, with plenty of suspense and twists I did not see coming, that said, I watched The Wheel of Time 2x5 right after, and I liked it more.

Spoiler

Salvor Hardin dying was a relief, annoying for 2 seasons until redeeming herself by rescuing then dying for Gaal.  Yay!

Hober Mallow was the best, this sucks, space pirates are fun, he'll be missed.

Spoiler

Yeah that guy was fun, as was the whole dynamic there. Would have also liked to see more of the general. I suppose his husband is still around now, but that one was really not that interesting so far.

Salvor... it just seems like they had no real idea what to actually do with her. Having her killed like that seemed kinda pointless and out of nowhere to me, even despite the implication.

One thing I am not quite clear about... did the Terminus people die and were copied into the vault or were they physically in there? If it's the former, then I guess they really did end up building an encyclopedia: themselves.

172

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

so now its over time for me to watch it

173

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

some_one wrote:
Spoiler

One thing I am not quite clear about... did the Terminus people die and were copied into the vault or were they physically in there? If it's the former, then I guess they really did end up building an encyclopedia: themselves.

Interesting question...

Spoiler

I just assumed they were somehow rescued physically, even if it wasn't logical because the planet-destroying ship was going down fast with everybody still just standing around and looking up.

174

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

lighton wrote:
some_one wrote:
Spoiler

One thing I am not quite clear about... did the Terminus people die and were copied into the vault or were they physically in there? If it's the former, then I guess they really did end up building an encyclopedia: themselves.

Interesting question...

Spoiler

I just assumed they were somehow rescued physically, even if it wasn't logical because the planet-destroying ship was going down fast with everybody still just standing around and looking up.


Spoiler

I'm guessing there's some kind of brain scan thing going on here. The vault had a disruptive field that could cause someone to pass out as far away as the colony was. Could have been scanning their brains the whole time. That would be interesting because then the vault could also contain all the dead members of Foundation too. Or some kind of star trek beam me use Scotty tech.

175

Re: Foundation [Drama, Sci-Fi]

Gave this a burl on the strength of comments here. 1st 3 ep's were some sumptuous shit but ep 4 the flashback one where the Rhodesian girl has a giant 60-minute cry on her stupid Waterworld planet was so tedious I may have given up on the while thing now