Foundation season 3 episode 8 ending explained: Are Brother Dawn and Day alive?

Foundation season 3 episode 8, titled Skin in the Game, was released on August 29, 2025, exclusively on Apple TV+. With The Mule having conquered New Terminus and killed Mayor Trento Indbur in episode 7, episode 8 showcases the aftermath, and it lives up to its title perfectly. Not only that, it finally brings Brother Dawn back to the forefront while fleshing out his and Brother Day’s futures in what seems like an unavoidable ending for the Empire.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers from Foundation season 3 episode 8. Readers' discretion is advised.

After Brother Dawn was sucked out of an airlock at the end of episode 5, the series has spent the last two episodes completely brushing over the fact that he exists. However, Dawn is finally revealed to be alive but severely injured as Brother Day is placed in front of a jury of what the Sunmaster calls the Faith. While Day is undergoing his trial, Gaal Dornick decides to go rescue Han Pritcher.

He was last seen fleeing from New Terminus, and Dornick decides to go rescue him even though she knows the Mule is waiting for her on the planet. Foundation season 3 episode 8 rolls on with a focus on the three storylines before the episode eventually culminates in a stunning cliffhanger in the form of Brother Day’s trial.

Despite him revealing everything to the “Faith,” Day is betrayed and sentenced to "remediation." It sees the Cleon clone dropped into a pit filled with microorganisms that will slowly consume him alive, leaving his fate up in the air.

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Brother Day tells all but still falls in Foundation season 3 episode 8

Foundation season 3 episode 8, Skin in the Game (Image via AppleTV+)

After his adventures in the Mycogen district and having his heart broken while watching Song show off her soulmate in front of him, things simply couldn’t get worse for Brother Day. But then he decided to tell Song everything about Demerzel and her origins, which led to the Sunmaster’s arrival.

Day was then taken to a dark location where the Sunmaster revealed that he was to be put on trial in front of what he called the “Faith” in Foundation season 3 episode 8. Soon, it becomes clear that Day’s lifespan is running very short, with the Cleon clone practically on the verge of being put to death when he decides to throw a Hail Mary.

Yet again, he reveals more information about Demerzel, this time her true identity as the prophesied Daneel. This exposes a secret that has been hidden for millennia and stuns the people watching on. However, while the Faith leaders look too shocked to speak, the Sunmaster steps forward and sentences Day to "remediation."

It's a death where microorganisms slowly consume the victim alive, and as he’s explaining this to Day, the Sunmaster reveals that he knows Day is telling him the truth. He knows this because he went through Song’s memories. However, he also tells the Cleon clone that it wasn’t in his best interest to tell the rest of the room that, and thus Day needs to die.

He then signals the execution, the floor beneath Day suddenly opens, and he begins to fall into the pit below, as the screen cuts to black at the end of Foundation season 3 episode 8.

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Brother Dawn is back, alive and in The Mule’s captivity in

Foundation season 3 episode 8

Foundation season 3 episode 8, Skin in the Game (Image via AppleTV+)

Ever since Vynod Tarisk shot the airlock and sent Brother Dawn flying through space in episode 5, his fate has been left up in the air until Foundation season 3 episode 8. The episode reveals that the youngest of the Cleon clones survived his brutal ordeal in space only to be captured by the Mule.

The ruthless warlord’s forces found him drifting near New Terminus and brought him onto The Mule’s ship. There, he regained consciousness alongside fellow captive Bayta Mallow, who had been brought onto the ship after she was captured as well.

At first, it seemed that Dawn had escaped unscathed, but as the episode rolled on, the injuries to his lower extremities became apparent. He reveals that his spacesuit redirected resources from his legs to maintain his vital functions in order to keep him alive while he was out in space.

Things only become worse for him from there as The Mule comes to visit and subjects him to a mental intrusion. But once he realizes that Dawn has no information on Gaal Dornick, the Mule then subjects him to physical torment by deliberately targeting his injured limbs.

It’s only after Bayta’s intervention that The Mule stops and exits the scene, leaving Dawn to suffer as his prisoner at the end of Foundation season 3 episode 8.

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Gaal Dornick arrives on New Terminus to rescue Han Pritcher and face The Mule

Foundation season 3 episode 8, Skin in the Game (Image via AppleTV+)

Ever since Demerzel told her that The Mule had attacked New Terminus, Gaal Dornick had attempted desperately to contact her friend and lover, Han Pritcher. However, once she realized that he wasn’t answering, she held an emergency meeting with First Speaker Preem Palver on Ignis. The two discuss the fact that if Pritcher is captured by the Mule, then Ignis is compromised because of what he knows.

Over the course of their discussion, it becomes clear that if the warlord uses Han to discover the Second Foundation's location, the consequences would be catastrophic, to say the least. Thus, Gaal decides to go on a suicide mission to rescue Pritcher, with Preem arranging for three volunteers to help her.

She then has a heart-to-heart with a statue of Hari Seldon before leaving to go to New Terminus to battle The Mule and hopefully rescue Pritcher. The episode then ends with the Mule telling Bayta and Brother Dawn that “Gaal Dornick is finally here” as the scene switches and changes to Dornick arriving on the planet.

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Foundation season 3 episode 8 is currently streaming exclusively on Apple TV+.