- "Hari Seldon entrusted us with rebuilding civilization after the collapse. We can't assume anything. Whether or not our future survivors will be able to read, or what language they'll speak. We don't even know what worlds they'll be scattered upon."
- —Mari Hardin[src]
Mari Hardin is a recurring character in the Apple TV+ series Foundation. She is a member of the Foundation and a colonist living on the planet Terminus. Mari is portrayed by Sasha Behar in the Apple TV+, first appearing in "Preparing to Live."
Biography[]
Mari Hardin lived on Trantor and fully believed in Hari Seldon's predictions that the Galactic Empire was destined to fall within a few hundred years. She volunteered to join the Foundation, along with Abbas, who had fallen for her.[3] The pair travelled onboard the slow ship Deliverance to the planet Terminus. Over the years it took to reach the planet, she trained to survive on Terminus alongside Gaal Dornick, Abbas, Briwan, and Shivaughn. During a simulation that ended in disaster, Mari was "killed" by exploding rock fragments after Abbas' weapons fire ignited pockets of mercury and arsenic in the geothermal tunnels.[2]
Mari was also part of the Foundation budgetary committee alongside Lewis Pirenne.[2] Arriving on Terminus, Mari was part of the initial scouting team that discovered the Vault and was affected by the null field emanating from it like the rest of the team. Over the years, she married Abbas and the pair had a daughter, Salvor. Mari was worried about Salvor due to her seeming connection to the Vault; one night when Salvor was four, Mari found her by the Vault but was unable to reach her due to the null field. She also believed her daughter was a dreamer and distracted, and had difficulties with her teachers. Abbas saw it differently, assuring Mari that Salvor was aware and a thinker. Mari and Salvor's relationship was not smooth, with Salvor following in her father's footsteps as Warden rather than training to be a member of the Foundation, which she found to be overly reliant on Hari Seldon's initial plan. Mari continued to keep faith with the plan, continuing the training of others as the sought to preserve knowledge for civilization.[1]
When the Anacreons arrived on Terminus, Mari held to the belief that Hari Seldon would have accounted for this possibility. She showed Salvor the Prime Radiant, taken from Hari's office on the night he died. Mari hoped that Salvor could understand it since she was an outlier to the Plan.[1] During the Anacreon's attack on Terminus City, Mari is held hostage by Phara Keaen, hoping to leverage her against Salvor. Salvor managed to rescue her mother, but the Anacreons took control of the settlement.[4]
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"
- Season Two
- "In Seldon's Shadow" (Mentioned only)
- "Why the Gods Made Wine" (Mentioned only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "The Mathematician's Ghost"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Preparing to Live"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Death and the Maiden"
- ↑ "Upon Awakening"