The episode began with an introduction to the now-teenage Brother Dawn as he struggles with his life in general. Cassian Bilton did a phenomenal job of channeling Lee Pace's Emperor, mimicking his expressions and tone of voice just enough to make the clone storyline quite believable. At the beginning of the episode, Dawn attempted to kill himself by jumping off a building, but a forcefield that protects him stopped him from dying. This left viewers with a question: Did he know the forcefield would protect him? Was the forcefield originally put in place to stop assassination attempts or to prevent the Cleons from killing themselves as teenagers? It is difficult to know just how much individuality these clones have, but we can glean patters such as Brother Day being impulsive and rules with a hammer, while Brother Dusk slowly becoming more compassionate as he ages. As these changes happen, Dusk and Dawn grow more at odds. Brother Dawn is a teenage Cleon who appears to be different from the other Cleons in that he is left-handed and is developing feelings for the gardener. This is the first time we've seen a teenage Dawn, so it's unclear which part of his actions follow a predetermined pattern. There are hints that this Dawn may be different than the other Cleons, such as his left-handedness and his romantic proclivities towards the android. The Brother Dawn is resentful of Dusk for the decisions he made that pulled the Empire into further chaos, and is planning to address more issues with the Empire personally. He is also limiting Dusk's activities more than normal and is planning to address more issues with the Empire personally. However, Demerzel's sarcastic comment suggests that despite his attempts to be different, Day is ultimately on the same path as any of the other clones would be at this point. One has to wonder if his impulsivity might put his life at risk since things are so much less stable now. And what would happen to the Empire if Brother Dawn had to take over leading it now, far earlier than normal? The invasion of Terminus is intensifying, with a huge army of invaders ready to raze the town and destroy the Foundation's work. Phara is one of the few survivors of the planet that the Empire irradiated as retribution for the sky bridge attack. Salvor believes Phara is not honest about her group's intentions, but it is difficult to decipher who is right and who is wrong. At the end of the episode, Gaal was shown to still be in stasis after Raych killed Hari, and her stasis chamber was picked up by a mysterious ship. It is not clear what this means, but Gaal is narrating the scenes from some point in the future and may play a role in rebuilding society after Salvor and the Foundation team have completed their mission. Raych has been surprisingly quiet about his fate so far.
Review of Barbarians at the Gate
