Warning: Spoilers ahead for Foundation season 3, episode 6, “The Shape of Time.”Foundation season 3 has been teasing the end of the Genetic Dynasty, but I think there’s also another twist on the way relating to the Clone Emperors. Largely played by Cassian Bilton, Lee Pace, and Terrence Mann, the various Brothers Dawn, Day, and Dusk have been a major part of the Foundation timeline since the show began.

Original to Apple TV+’s live-action adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books, the Genetic Dynasty doesn’t exist in the source material, but has instead been added in to further flesh out the space opera’s world. The decision to include this aspect of the story has helped Foundation become one of the best sci-fi shows on Apple TV+.

By the end of Foundation season 3, episode 6, “The Shape of Time,” Brother Dusk is still the only active clone emperor, with Dusk and Dawn deemed lost in two very different scenarios. However, rather than Empire having just a single throne occupied, I think Trantor’s Imperial Palace is on the verge of becoming especially overcrowded.

Foundation Season 3 Could Have As Many As 6 Clone Emperors At Once In The Coming Episodes

Dusk may be the only active emperor by the end of “The Shape of Time,” but that’s incredibly unlikely to remain true as Foundation season 3 enters its final stages. It has already been established for a long time that the Cleons are functionally immortal. They all have their bodies and memories backed up so they can be replaced impressively quickly.

With Lady Demerzel (Laura Birn) considering Day lost to his desires in Mycogen, and the unconfirmed (but strongly implied) death of Brother Dawn, Empire’s robotic figurehead is surely close to decanting replacements for them both. I think she will do just that, but there still hasn’t been a line drawn under the respective stories of the “original” Dawn and Day.

Day is still demonstrably alive, if not also heartbroken. After being rejected in Mycogen, it’s not completely unreasonable to assume Day will return to Trantor in an attempt to reclaim his throne. If Demerzel has already replaced him by then, there will be two Days at once.

Similarly, if Dawn turns out to have survived being blown out of the airlock – he was in an appropriate suit, after all – then he may also find his way back to Trantor only to discover Demerzel has replaced him with a new Dawn. If I’m right about both instances, then the two Dawns, two Days, and one Dusk total five Cleons.

The potential sixth clone emperor would technically be another Dawn, but not played by Cassian Bilton. As Dusk’s ascension into Brother Darkness nears, a new Brother Dawn is set to be decanted. This Dawn, who is a newborn version of Cleon I, would be the sixth and final clone emperor of my multi-Cleon theory.

How The Genetic Dynasty’s Duplicated Clones Sets Up Dusk’s Escape

From watching old recordings of his predecessors fleeing from the ascension process to directly approaching Day in an attempt to elongate his own existence, Dusk has made it clear on several occasions in Foundation season 3 that he is especially resistant to the process that would see him pass.

This isn’t really a surprise, but the show has made it very obvious that Mann’s character feels strongly that he shouldn’t have to ascend just yet—if at all. So, I think the show has been quietly setting up an escape storyline for Brother Dusk. While escaping Empire is no easy task, season 3 has shown twice that it’s easier than ever to do so.

If Dawn and Dusk have managed to slip through Demerzel’s grasp, there’s no real reason why Dusk can’t also pull off something similar. That said, if he does escape and is ultimately returned to the fold, he could also be replaced by another Dusk, which would bump up the possible active Cleon tally to seven.

Why The Clone Dynasty Has Fallen Into Such Disarray In Foundation Season 3

In Foundation season 1, the Genetic Dynasty functioned like a well-oiled machine. Every part of the process that saw the constant rotation of clone emperors functioned as part of Cleon I’s original design, and it seemed to have operated as intended for generations to that point. The Cleons all had their own minor quirks, but were otherwise identical.

When Foundation introduced its genetic drift storyline, it became clear that the small divergences in the respective behaviors of the Cleons were the beginning of something far more drastic. By the time of Foundation season 3, the original DNA of Cleon I has changed so much that the clones created from it are more different and unruly than ever.

As a result, the Cleons now tend to follow their own desires or explore incredibly unorthodox methods while trying to make Empire victorious over the Foundation(s). This has made it increasingly difficult for Demerzel to keep the clones in check and even to know where they are at times.

Speculating About The Clones’ Storylines Is One Of The Best Parts Of Watching Apple TV+’s Foundation Adaptation

Apple TV+ has been pretty liberal with Isaac Asimov’s source material when adapting Foundation, but many of the characters and storylines have made their way into the show in one way or another. So, fans of the books have been able to predict certain things when watching the show due to their familiarity with the original version of the saga.

While Cleon I and Cleon II do exist as incredibly minor characters in the books, the latter is not a clone of the former, and there are no other emperors by that name. So, the Cleonic Dynasty only exists in the show, making that particular arc joyously impossible to predict, even for those who have read the Foundation series.

New episodes of Foundation season 3 release every Friday on Apple TV+ until the finale on September 12.

Foundation

8/10

Release Date

September 23, 2021

Network

Apple TV+

Showrunner

David S. Goyer

Directors

Alex Graves, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Phang, Mark Tonderai, Andrew Bernstein

Writers

Jane Espenson, Leigh Dana Jackson, Liz Phang, Eric Carrasco, David Kob, Addie Manis, Marcus Gardley, Lauren Bello, Olivia Purnell

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