Contains spoilers for “Foundation” Season 3, Episode 7 — “Foundation’s End”

In “Foundation” Season 3, Laura Birn’s android Demerzel strives for a safe future for humanity, while Pilou Asbæk’s villain, the Mule, challenges this aim. Episode 7 sets the stage for the finale by delving into the villain’s origins. The story opens on a remote planet named Rossem in the Outer Reach, and by the episode’s conclusion, it reveals that a harrowing betrayal involving attempted murder molded the anarchic antagonist.

The key takeaway from this episode is the Mule’s unexpected backstory, significantly differing from the original source. However, avid fans of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” might notice a hidden gem within Rossem’s name, linking it to another word important in Asimov’s universe: Rossum. This nod ties directly to the origin of the term “robot,” which Asimov didn’t invent but popularized. He borrowed it from “Rossum’s Universal Robots,” a Czech play abbreviated as “R.U.R.”

Asimov, in “Robot Visions,” recounts how Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the play “Rossum’s Universal Robots” a year after Asimov’s birth. At the time, “robot” was a novel term, poised to become widely known. Asimov described, “The play was produced in 1921 and gained popularity (though I personally found it dreadful) enough to cement the word ‘robot’ globally. Now ‘robot’ signifies an artificial being around the world.”

Čapek didn’t spontaneously coin “robot” for “R.U.R.” It originated from “robota,” the Czech word for forced labor, historically linked to serfs bound to their lord’s land. The root of “robot” is more daunting: “Rab” translates to slave in Czech. Despite Asimov’s low opinion of “R.U.R.,” it was a hit, translated into 30 languages. Today, its impact echoes, especially through Asimov, who popularized robotics in mainstream culture.

Remarkably, the portrayal of robots and their creators in science fiction remains largely unchanged since their inception. Speaking after his play’s premiere, Čapek elucidated the motives of the titular inventor. “Mr. Rossum, whose name in English means ‘Mr. Intellectual’ or ‘Mr. Brain,’ embodies the scientific materialism of the nineteenth century. His quest to craft an artificial man — technologically and biologically rather than mechanically — stems from a stubborn intent to depict God as unnecessary and nonsensical.”

True Asimov enthusiasts know Rossem is not purely a “Foundation” TV show creation, though its on-screen portrayal differs from the original. In Asimov’s “Second Foundation,” Rossem is mentioned as a location the Mule’s men visit while hunting for Hari Seldon’s elusive Second Foundation. This adaptation diverges greatly from the lush agrarian world depicted in Episode 7 of “Foundation” Season 3.

In the book, Asimov introduces Rossem by saying, “Along the chilly wastes of Rossem, villages huddled.” He says it has a small sun and that “snow beat thinly down for nine months of the year.” He goes on to explain the stingy three-month wheat growing window and how the grain is supplemented by goat’s milk and meat. Not the best environmental conditions for a happy life. But there it is. The word Rossem is in both the source material and the “Foundation” show, in both cases hinting at the inventor of a term that has become as commonplace as modern technology itself.