Brother Day

Character

Brother Day is portrayed by Lee Pace, who was cast in October 2019. Terrence Mann plays Brother Dusk and Cassian Bilton plays Brother Dawn, with Cooper Carter portraying a child Brother Dawn in season one. Critics have described Pace's performance as magnetic, campy and playful, and bombastic. One critic wrote that Pace's Brother Day resembles a cross between the Roman emperor Commodus and the Marquis de Sade, a narcissist with aristocratic menace delivered in a stentorian projection.

Another critic noted that Pace brings both weight and humanity to the waning imperium while placing a consistent face on the empire. A different reviewer found Pace's performance had too many echoes of his stern turns in Guardians of the Galaxy and the Hobbit films. Early trailers led online fans to refer to Pace as Intergalactic Emperor Daddy. The interplay between Mann and Pace as imperious rulers was described as having strong theatrical energy, and at times they tap into a shared, visceral disdain that betrays more personality than their respective Cleons would likely care to admit.

Mann's performance in one episode was described as fascinating to watch, with command of diverse emotions and affects. Bilton's Dawn was described as seemingly aroused equally by the gorgeous Sareth's unabashed come-ons and their secret rebellion against his older brother. The Genetic Dynasty was called the show's highlight, thanks in no small part to Pace's dynamic performances, and it raises interesting questions about individuality and whether progress is possible without fundamental change.

Storyline

In the episode The Emperor's Peace, Hari Seldon's predictions of the Galactic Empire's imminent fall, based on psychohistory, are dismissed by Brothers Day, Dawn and Dusk. Seldon is spared execution for treason after the destruction of the Star Bridge, Trantor's space elevator, illustrates decay within the Empire. Seldon and his followers are exiled to Terminus to establish the Foundation. In Preparing to Live, the Empire investigates the Star Bridge attack but cannot identify its mastermind.

Despite Dusk urging clemency for detained delegations from Anacreon and Thespis, Day orders public execution of all delegates except the two ambassadors, simultaneous with orbital bombardments of their homeworlds. In The Mathematician's Ghost, the Genetic Dynasty undertakes its traditional transfer of power: a new Dawn is decanted, the current Dawn elevated to Day, the current Day retires as Dusk, and Dusk assumes the mantle of Brother Darkness before being euthanized.

Literary origins

In Isaac Asimov's novels, Cleon II first appeared in the novella Dead Hand, published in the April 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. He is the last great Emperor of the Galactic Empire, who recalls and executes his general Bel Riose for treason due to the general's rising power and popularity. One critic described Cleon II as the aging, infirmed emperor whose great mind has been let down by his faltering body. Another critic suggested Cleon II is based on the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Cleon II was voiced by William Fox in episode four The General of the 1973 BBC Radio 4 adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.

In the prequel novel Prelude to Foundation, Emperor Cleon I learns of Hari Seldon's nascent concept of psychohistory and brings Seldon before him. Seldon emphasizes that developing it as a science is likely impossible. Critics described Cleon I as basically decent but woefully inadequate, and a fairly entertaining character. In Forward the Foundation, Seldon and his foster son Raych thwart a scheme to overthrow Cleon I, and Seldon becomes the emperor's First Minister. Cleon I is killed by a gardener trying to avoid promotion.