Why Foundation Brought In A Fan-Favorite Book Storyline Ahead Of Time [Exclusive]

This article contains spoilers for "Foundation" season 3, episode 10, "The Darkness."

"Foundation" season 3 has officially come and gone. David S. Goyer's magnificent adaptation has continued to adeptly integrate the numerous elements of Isaac Asimov's sprawling interstellar story into a compelling and semi-accurate show. Even better? Season 3 finally got to the part in the book series where the narrative comes together and the stakes get higher — and Goyer and company delivered. Most of this new momentum focused on the season 3 villain. Pilou Asbæk's the Mule stole the show as the mentalic mutant rampaging across the galaxy, and in the season finale, his character was revealed to be a decoy for the real Mule, who was Synnøve Karlsen' Bayta all along (a distinct twist on the book reveal).

While that was a fun trip, and we'll probably see the Mule again in the officially greenlit season 4 for the show, the Mule actually isn't the main attraction moving forward — it's the individuals we see in the fading moments of the season finale who are likely to take center stage in the seasons to come. We're talking about the robot colony on the Moon — a group that showrunner David S. Goyer chose to bring into the story early for a blessedly simple reason: It felt like it was time.

In the past, the mastermind behind this epic adaptation had said that season 4 was when he intended to complete the adaptation of the first three books. In a recent interview with /Film, he reiterated that the original timeline meant we likely wouldn't have heard of Earth or the Moon for at least another season. When we asked him about the change, Goyer compared it to the math of Hari Seldon's psychohistory itself:

"What I was doing, kind of like the Foundation itself, is sort of adjusting the math as we go. Yes, there's a plan, but in real time, we're adjusting it here and there."

Goyer went into more detail about the motivation behind bringing the location of Kalle (Rowena King) and the other robots on the Moon into the story earlier than expected. He started with the flexibility that comes with a serialized show:

"One of the things that's lovely about a television show as opposed to a movie, if you get more than one season, is there is an ability, to a certain extent, to adjust in real time. We have a relationship with the audience, and you're seeing what's working, what's not working, and you can also decide ... we have an expectation that we can keep certain mysteries withheld for a certain period of time, four seasons, five seasons. But we've adjusted that as we've gone along, and we've decided [...] It just felt that it was time to start turning over that card with Kalle. So that was brought forward."

Goyer added that this doesn't mean the show will be fewer seasons overall, just that it was time to make that particular reveal for the audience. He compared it to working with Christopher Nolan on the "Batman" movies, a development experience that Goyer himself found difficult:

"We would come up with an idea and say, 'Oh, that would be good to use for another movie if there's another movie.' And Chris would always say, 'Let's just use it now. We don't know if we're going to get another movie.'"

He added that having the confidence to come up with more ideas because you've had success and earned another season is a lot easier than trying to keep extending those mysteries across multiple seasons. The decision to reveal a sneak peek of the Moon storyline early is an interesting one, as it flashes forward to the final pages of the five-book story — but it doesn't give everything away. It will be interesting to see where the production team at Apple TV+ takes the story next as they gear up for at a new season of this sci-fi epic in the making.

"Foundation" season 3 is streaming on Apple TV+, and season 4 is on the way.