Ask Goyer: Foundation Q&A

August 6, 2025

How did you feel about creating an almost new story, based on an Asimov book? - Valeria

I take issue with the phrase “almost new”. Obviously, there is a ton in our show drawn directly from the books; Hari, Demerzel, Hober Mallow, Toran, Bayta, etc. But it is clearly not a word-for-word adaptation. When we first were pitching the show, the buyers made it clear that they would not support a show that was essentially an anthology. The first book in the Foundation trilogy was written as a series of loosely connected short stories, that were compiled into a “novel” afterward. Salvor appeared in two of the stories. Hari appeared in one, then as a series of recordings. There was very little continuity other than psychohistory itself. And since a serialized show is an entirely different medium, Josh Friedman and myself had to figure out a way to dramatize some of these more abstract ideas.

Hard to pick just one property, but Foundation is proving to be a compelling presentation of the Isaac Asimov universe. Where did the idea to extend the Cleon's into clones come from? The anagram argument is compelling but was there more to it than that? Is there room for spin offs in the Foundation universe (as there are many, many stories Asimov told in his compendium)? - Scot

We arrived at the idea out of expediency. We were trying to figure out a way to have at least some of the characters recur from season to season — even while we were jumping the story ahead by centuries. Beyond that, the Empire in the books is largely faceless and we wanted to create some characters that would embody those rigid ideals. So we started to think about an Empire that consisted solely of cloned Emperors. That seemed like a perfect metaphor for a regime that was resistant to change. And this, in turn, led to all sorts of fascinating rifts on the nature of identity and individuation. The fact that the name Cleon anagrams into “clone” was a happy accident — but one we took as a good sign. 😉

Could there be spin-offs? Absolutely. We’ve pondered them from time to time, including a Robot Wars mini, among others.

What were your biggest surprises about Foundation season 1-3 in terms of: production, writing and audience reception? Knowing what you know now, what would you tell your past self before you started Foundation?

Biggest surprises? Man, obviously Covid and the strikes, which ended up extending our respective schedules by nearly 18 months. We knew that with Season 1 we would face some criticism for “straying” from the books — but we genuinely had no choice there. That said, I was very happy that with Season 2, the audience largely accepted the changes and embraced the show as a separate entity. Just like we have the floppy comic books and the MCU. I definitely underestimated how hard it would be to have long stretches away from my family. That aspect was terribly difficult for me. I also wish we’d done more research ahead of time with the various cryogenic tanks — because those have proven to be a colossal pain in the ass to shoot!

What can we expect of Demerzel on this new season? Maybe destruction?? - Nataly

The seeds for her fate have already been written. The audience just needs to extrapolate them. That said, anyone in this show can die.

First, thank you for your many, many contributions to sci-fi and fantasy storytelling. Two questions: If there are future seasons for Foundation, would you be open to participating in their creation? - Jerry

Never say never. I had intended on seeing the show through its completion — certainly at least through season 4, which would loosely finish our adaptation of the original trilogy. Right now, I don’t think that’s in the cards, though.

My understanding is that you will be listed as Foundation’s showrunner for season 3. Will you again be hosting a podcast after each episode this season?

I was the show runner for S3. I stepped back for some of the shooting at the back-end. And while I really enjoyed doing the podcasts with Jason, I just didn’t feel comfortable hosting them unless I had full authorship of the season. I’d estimate my contribution to be about 85% of the season — so most of the big moves. But there are definitely some creative or financial choices that were made that I would have steered away from.

Super impressive how you built this intricate and original idea of the empire dynasty. I am super curious where the ideas for this came from? - Nathan

I think I’ve largely answered that in one of the above questions. It started as a means of practicality and blossomed into something glorious.

Will a possible fourth season at least follow your script? I can't begin to say what a loss not having your direct contribution would be. - Isabelle

I haven’t written any scripts for S4. I did have an overall plan, but I don’t believe the new team is adhering to any of those ideas. They are charting their own path and making it their own, as they should.

Both seasons had filmed at Troy Studios in Limerick, Ireland, why was the decision made to move out of Ireland? Rumours of financial grants, not liking the location etc exist. Would love to hear the real reason. Thank you. - Ian

The first reason is that the tax rebate situation didn’t prove to be as strong as we had been led to believe. There isn’t a huge crew base in and around Limerick, which meant that most of our crew had to come from Dublin and be housed — which put an additional strain on the budget. In Prague, there is a wider base of crew living in the area.

The second reason is that we very quickly ended up exhausting most of the exterior locations beyond our stages. Ireland is fantastic if you are filming something that is fantasy or contemporary — but they don’t tend to have a lot of futuristic or brutalist architecture. Prague does.

David, thank you for bringing Foundation to life. I love this show and the innovative ways you are adapting it. S2E9 was my favorite hour of drama this year. The last 15 minutes were so damn good! Bravo! - Ken

Thanks. That’s one of my favorite episodes as well. And Roxann Dawson, our director, knocked it out of the park.

David, thank you for bringing Foundation to life. I love this show and the innovative ways you are adapting it. S2E9 was my favorite hour of drama this year. The last 15 minutes were so damn good! Bravo! - Ken

Thanks. That’s one of my favorite episodes as well. And Roxann Dawson, our director, knocked it out of the park.

My question: who handed the robes to the newly decanted Cleons in the finale? Were they Palace workers who will have their memories wiped? Or were they perhaps an example of Demerzels “distributed consciousness”? (Was it another Demerzel?)

The first answer seems like the most likely — but I really like your “distributed consciousness” answer. That said, there are currently mechanisms in place to prevent Demerzel from placing her consciousness into more than one form. Her AI is “air-gapped”, to use the technical parlance.

Have your own questions for David Goyer?
Submit them here.