Foundation Season 3 Episode 1: Release date news, time, streaming details, and more about the premiere

The stars have aligned, the Vault has opened, and Foundation is finally back. Season 3 of Apple TV+’s galaxy-spanning epic returns with its long-awaited premiere this Friday, July 11, 2025, and the stakes have never been higher — or stranger. With 152 years of in-universe time having passed since the end of Season 2, the new season promises to launch viewers into a radically reshaped galaxy filled with new threats, familiar faces, and the return of one very powerful mutant warlord: The Mule.

The first episode kicks off what is expected to be the most intense and visually stunning season yet. With ten episodes planned for a weekly release every Friday, the series will run until September 12. If you are already confused, don't worry — you are meant to be. That is kind of the Foundation experience.

So, before the credits roll and psychohistory does its thing, let’s dive into what you need to know about the premiere — release details, cast updates, and what kind of chaos to expect.

Where and when to watch Foundation Season 3 Episode 1?

Foundation Season 3 premieres on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. ET, exclusively on Apple TV+. New episodes will continue to release weekly every Friday until September 12, following the show’s familiar 10-episode rollout.

So if you are planning your weekends around galactic warlords and telepathic prophecies, you are right on schedule. Just make sure you are caught up on Season 2 — because Episode 1 of this new season isn’t wasting time explaining anything.

What is new in Season 3 Episode 1?

Season 3 episode 1 will directly jump to 152 years into the future, where Gaal and Hari emerge from cryosleep to find a galaxy on the brink of a new crisis. The Empire is fraying at the seams, the Second Foundation is quietly rising, and a mysterious figure known as The Mule is waiting in the wings — armed with dangerous mental powers and an appetite for domination. It is less of a slow burn and more of a cosmic cannonball.

We will also meet new key players this season, including Troy Kotsur as Preem Palver—a deaf mentalic leader who communicates using ASL — and Pilou Asbæk as the chilling new face of The Mule. Meanwhile, old favorites return in drastically evolved roles, with Lee Pace’s latest Cleon incarnation, Jared Harris’ Hari Seldon, and Laura Birn’s ever-complicated Demerzel all at the heart of the action.

Episode 1 sets the tone for a season where nothing is certain…except that psychohistory is about to be stress-tested like never before.

A new era begins (and it is gonna get weird)

Season 3 promises to be the most expansive yet. With the Cleonic dynasty destabilized, a new psychohistorical crisis emerging, and powerful mentalics in play, the premiere sets the stage for a philosophical, political, and personal reckoning.

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We are not just talking lasers and spaceships — this is about fate versus free will, the survival of ideas, and whether one man’s math can save a fractured galaxy. And based on the early buzz and stunning trailer reveals, the premiere won’t ease into the story. It will hurl viewers headfirst into the chaos.

So, whether you are a longtime Asimov fan or a sci-fi lover looking for your next obsession, Foundation Season 3 Episode 1 is your gateway to a cosmos of questions, conspiracies, and cerebral space drama.

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