- "We will preserve and build upon Hari Seldon's legacy. We will devote our lives to protecting the Empire and all its citizens from the coming fall. The Plan continues."
- —Lewis Pirenne[src]
Lewis Pirenne is a recurring character in the Apple TV+ series Foundation. He is the Director of the Foundation on Terminus, and the leader of the colony. Lewis Pirenne is portrayed by Elliot Cowan, first appearing in "Preparing to Live."
Biography[]
Lewis Pirenne believed in Hari Seldon's predictions of the fall of the Galactic Empire and volunteered to join the Foundation and travel via the slow ship Deliverance to the planet Terminus. He was part of the Foundation budgetary committee alongside Mari Hardin, and dealt with matters concerning which information needed to be preserved for the coming generations. Lewis considered punctuality to be important, with Hari commenting that three minutes early was the same as being five minutes late to him.[2]
Following Hari's death, Lewis took command of the Foundation, following the project's line of succession.[3] He was in charge of the Foundation when it arrived at Terminus and began establishing the colony of Terminus City, and was part of the initial scouting team that discovered the Vault.[4] Thirty-five years later, Lewis was still Director of the Foundation as it entered into a conflict with Anacreons who had landed on Terminus.[5] By that time, Lewis was married to Dara, and they had a young son.[1]
When Anacreons landed on Terminus, Lewis believed that Hari's plans had accounted for this possibility, and butted heads with Salvor Hardin's handling of the situation, especially her capture of Phara Keaen. To him, Salvor and her intuitions were an outlier to the Plan, something that Hari could never possibly have predicted. Lewis also did not like her attempting to take control of the situation when he was the Director of the Foundation.[5] When the Imperial warship Aegis arrived, Lewis had Phara brought to the Foundation Tower to talk with Commander Kray Dorwin. She used a concealed field disrupter to bring down the city's perimeter fence while her forces used a flak cannon to bring down the Aegis.[3]
Eventually, the Anacreons took control of Terminus City and conscripted several of the inhabitants to help them in repairing a jumpship. Lewis was selected since he was the leading surviving astronautics specialist on the Deliverance. Along with Jacenta Rov and Akiva Lee, Phara chose him to assist her in exchange for the lives of colonists.[1]
From the Foundation Books[]
Doctor Lewis Pirenne was a representative of the Galactic Emperor, and ruled as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Encyclopedia Foundation. At the time superior to Salvor Hardin, he came into conflict with Hardin over the Terminus City Journal.
Appearances[]
- Season One
- "Preparing to Live" (First appearance)
- "The Mathematician's Ghost"
- "Barbarians at the Gate"
- "Upon Awakening"
- "Death and the Maiden"
- "Mysteries and Martyrs"
- "The Missing Piece"
- "The First Crisis"
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Death and the Maiden"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Preparing to Live"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Upon Awakening"
- ↑ "The Mathematician's Ghost"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Barbarians at the Gate"