WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Foundation
The sense of revolt they inadvertently give way to spawns a monster in the form of Kubbra Sait’s Phara Keaen, who can easily be considered as TV’s most cruel villain, as Season 1 of Foundation unfolds.
Phara’s journey is terrible and elicits pity, but the way she goes about things in an uncompromising, harsh manner sends shivers down the spines of viewers. She invaded Terminus and killed many people, including children, in order to staff a ship for a hunt as the Grand Huntress and top military officer of Anacreon.
You’ll Want To Root For Her In The Beginning
Phara is confident that she has the knowledge and experience to locate and commandeer the Invictus, a long-missing warship. Phara’s plan is to exploit its space-jumping abilities to plunge it into Trantor’s heart. You want to root for her at first because this is where the Empire and the clones live, especially after what they did to her home.
Years ago, the Empire attacked her planet and Thespis for a coordinated terrorist strike on their Space Bridge, but Phara is unconcerned about retaliation. Salvor, warns her that whatever remains of the Empire would destroy the rest of Thespis, but since Phara lost her family in the conflict, she has no choice but to commit suicide. It’s her new mission, but she comes across as a maniac in carrying it out.
She’s Driven By Revenge And Does Not Care About Collateral Damage
Phara is unconcerned about collateral damage because she despises Salvor’s home and the Terminus Foundation. She believes that Hari Seldon’s early prophesies about the Empire collapsing in the coming centuries inspired the terrorists, who subsequently carried out the attacks on Thespis and Anacreon, therefore she just wants to kill two birds with one stone. To many, Foundation represents the future, but Phara was robbed of the promise of a better tomorrow when her loved ones died.
As a result, both the Empire and the people it oppresses are enemies, which is why Phara, who lacks empathy and compassion, seeks retribution from the Invictus. When they return to Terminus, Salvor stops her, sad that they were unable to forge an alliance, but it is for the best. That’s because even Phara’s troops recognise she’s insane and not the liberator or martyr they expected her to be, as she’d massacre the entire cosmos for the tiniest possibility of payback.
