Episode dropped early tonight. I'm actually really digging this vignette structure they've got going on, bouncing between different plotlines and time periods on a more emotional rather than chronological path. Also, an early highlight was the Seer's gleeful little barely-constrained smirk while she was executing the teacher. Guess we know what her favorite part of the job is. Though I did have a rather morbid reaction about the realism of all the booted feet we saw in the underwater gallows. Also, "I'd rather you die than go to Trantor" is a pretty shitty and half-assed way of expressing your conviction, but I guess that mass-executions for political dissent is not an environment that promotes unshakable personal and familial commitment. I guess good for her father for just being emotionally distant but still letting Gaal leave the planet, rather than turning her in altogether. We saw that the teacher didn't have the face-jewels, renouncing her religion probably didn't offer Gaal much protection.
The secret second spaceship is definitely interesting (I think Gaal called it the Raven, I didn't catch where she would've learned that name, but it could've been on one of the computer screens, the not-quite-english text can be a little tricky). I noticed a suspicious resemblance between Hari's self-designed space-coffin and the Vault. Was this the first time we saw "classic" holograms and not floaty-sand holograms? I wonder if this is some super-technology Hari had socked away as part of the plan, and the ending seems to imply that not everything surrounding his murder was as it seemed (and who would suspect, if no one knew such solid-looking projections were possible?).
Events on Terminus have taken a turn for the disastrous. I realize the Empire is in it's decadent, what-could-go-wrong? period, but, come on, guys, show a little savvy. It's like the military has forgotten it's allowed for the enemy to shoot at them, which is a very late-empire mood. It looks like the next episode is all Emperors, all the time, which is fun, the brothers Cleon are always a good time, but I would like Terminus and the Anacreon story to not be left cliff-hanging for a week (yes, I know what I said at the beginning of this post). Though I just checked, and I'm heartened that we're only halfway through the season. For some reason, I thought it was eight episodes and not ten.