The Rise of the Mule
A mutant who changes how people feel, and with it the course of history.
In "The Mule", the second part of Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire, about a hundred years have passed since "The General". The Empire has ceased to exist, Trantor has been sacked by a barbarian fleet, and the Foundation is the dominant power in the galaxy, ruling through its trading network.
Quick Facts
- Part of
- Foundation and Empire, "The Mule"
Lore & Background
The Foundation's leaders have grown dictatorial and complacent, and many outer Trader planets plan to revolt. Then a mysterious man known only as the Mule appears. He is a mutant who can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, usually instilling fear or total devotion.
Reader's Guide
He is a random element psychohistory did not foresee. Seldon's recorded message, when the Vault opens, speaks of a civil war with the Traders, not of the Mule.
With that power the Mule takes over the independent systems bordering the Foundation and turns them against it. The Traders join the central government against him, believing him to be the next Seldon crisis.
More in Narrative Arcs & Events
Elsewhere in Foundation
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