Four months after their escape from the Foundation, Bayta and Toran are back on Haven, along with Ebling Mis, Randu, and Magnifico. As the Mule’s forces close in, despair infects the people.

At Bayta’s workplace, young women cry with anguish, while some sneer at Bayta, who can escape the planet at any time, and whose uncle is high-placed. Bayta tries to help them keep their chins up, but it is a thankless task. She visits the Bureau of Production and learns that productivity is way down all over the planet. Ever since Seldon’s message made the wrong predictions, gloom is everywhere.

Randu hosts Mis, and they discuss the same topic. Mis points out that Seldon is like a religious figure, and the sudden loss of faith causes massive upheavals in the faithful. Randu agrees: “When Seldon fails us, in other words, our prop disappears, and we’ve been leaning upon it so long, our muscles are atrophied to where we cannot stand without it” (170).

Mis says that, with Seldon out of the game, everyone must continue the work on their own. The Mule, as a mutant, has strengths but also weaknesses; that he hides himself suggests those deficits are visible.