Foundation season 3 might have just solved the show's most frustrating problem

Following their agreement in season 2 that the pair of them would enter cryosleep and wake up once a year for a short time to teach the mentalics of the Second Foundation, season 3 episode 2 sees Hari do what he does best and blindside Gaal once again.

When Gaal wakes up, she discovers that, despite their agreement, Hari has unceremoniously left her in cryosleep for 148 years. Of course, Hari argues that this is because Gaal's time is "more valuable" than his, which may be true – but it certainly doesn't excuse not discussing the matter with her first.

However, next, he does something he should have done a long time ago - he hands her the Prime Radiant, complete with all the data, knowledge and secrets he has on the eight crises, marking an end to his approach of constantly leaving her in the dark. As he finally realises and tells her, "The road ahead is one you can travel on your own."

Hari's insistence on constantly blindsiding Gaal over the past two seasons has been frustrating to watch and, unlike keeping the Vault version of Hari in the dark, seems to hold no purpose. Even actor Harris recently admitted to RadioTimes.com that he was "tired" of that storyline and rallied for it to change.

It's a long overdue action from Hari, especially considering that Demerzel (Laura Birn) and Empire have had access to the Radiant for some time but, with Gaal finally being handed the Radiant, she's finally able to act with agency and, crucially, with all the information at her disposal, rather than indefinitely attempting to guess what Hari's planning.

After he hands the Radiant over to Gaal, Hari retires to his quarters, telling his protégé that he'll see her tomorrow. It soon becomes clear that that was one last lie – although a somewhat kind one – as Gaal wakes up the next morning to realise that Hari has died.

There's little doubt that Hari will return to the series in some form, as there's still another digital consciousness of him in the Vault (albeit, one who has also been left in the dark about the plan). But, right now, the psychohistorian seems to have accepted the clutches of death as much as he possibly can, finally leaving Gaal to go it alone.

What that means is, in the final scenes of the episode, we see Gaal acting alone, and making one of the most interesting decisions of the show so far in taking a call with Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton) and, potentially, forming some kind of alliance or agreement with him as she tells him: "Time to make yourself useful, Empire."

Considering the vast array of dangers emerging in the episode, from the Mule's (Pilou Asbæk) rapidly increasing influence to Brother Dusk's (Terrence Mann) chilling revelation of the Novacula, a black hole bomb (AKA Foundation's answer to the Death Star), an alliance as dramatic as this one could be crucial for Foundation going forward - and Gaal was only in a position to make it with all the information at her disposal.

Actress Llobell recently told RadioTimes.com that she wanted to show the character "coming into her own" this season and becoming more of a leader - and now it seems that Gaal is finally in a place to do that.

Until now, despite her incredible capability as a mathematician and powers as a mentalic, she's always explicitly been in Hari's shadow, with her entire existence and reality shaped in some way by him. With Hari out of the equation, at least for a little bit, Gaal can finally make her mark and prepare for her run-in with the Mule on her own terms.

After all, while the relationship between Hari and Gaal was enthralling to watch, and no doubt set her up with the tools she needs, as she prepares to face up to the Mule and the biggest threats currently facing the galaxy, it can't help but feel like she's currently better off without him.

Foundation season 3 continues weekly on Apple TV+.

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