Bel Riose was a name often heard in Foundation season 2, and people told stories of his bravery and exceptional skills. Bel Riose was probably one of the greatest commanders of all time, but he was still sentenced to prison, and there was a huge backstory behind it that was soaked in jealousy, insecurity, and fear. Brother Day had some vendetta against the man, and that is why a man whose efforts had to be acknowledged and who should have been celebrated was leading a miserable life in a prison on Lepsis.
The prisoners were exploited in the mines, and the conditions were such that death seemed like a blessing. Bel Riose had lost the will to live as he had gotten to know that his partner, Glawen, had been executed by the Empire. Even in such excruciating circumstances, Bel Riose hadn’t lost his flair. He was still an upright soldier who could do anything for his honor. His body might have been weak, but his spirit was resilient as ever. He often stood up for his fellow prisoners if he saw the guard mistreating them. He knew that the guards could kill him with a single blow, but that didn’t stop the man from raising his voice against the injustice and brutality. It said a lot about Bel Riose’s character, as even in such hopelessness, he didn’t lose his conscience.
What Did Demerzel Want Bel Riose For?
Demerzel had asked Brother Day to bring Bel Riose from the prison and send him on a mission to find out what was happening in the outer reach and if the Foundation was actually as powerful as people were telling it to be. But Brother Day was against it, and that’s where we came to know that the man was insecure about Bel Riose. Earlier in a battle, Bel Riose had disobeyed the orders given to him by the Empire, and he made a retreat with all his soldiers.
Bel Riose was a brave man, and he gave the justification that by retreating at that point in time, he had saved a lot of lives, which was always his priority. His soldiers praised him, and word went out that Bel Riose was not only a fearless fighter but a righteous and kind man, too. Brother Day didn’t like it, and he asked Bel Riose if he repented what he had done. But it was a well thought out decision made by Bel Riose, keeping in mind the circumstances, and he stuck to the fact that he was not apologetic for what he had done because, for him, the attack could have been carried out at a later stage too, but if the soldiers lost their lives, they weren’t going to come back. Also, Brother Day was somewhat worried about the growing popularity of the man among his soldiers and the commoners, too, and so he found it in his best interests to send the man to the prison in Lepsis. As if the conditions in the prison weren’t barbaric enough, it was decided that Bel Riose would be told that his partner, Glawen, was executed, even when he was still pretty much alive.
Demerzel convinced Brother Day to send Bel Riose to Siwenna to find out more about the Foundation, and though Brother Day was hesitant at first, he had a lot of faith in Demerzel and knew that she wouldn’t recommend anything that wouldn’t be good for the Empire.
Was Bel Riose Able To Take Revenge On Brother Day?
It was an overwhelming moment for Bel Riose when he saw his partner Glawen alive, and he didn’t know if he was hallucinating or if it was reality. Bel Riose was reinstated as commander, and with his fleet, he left for Siwenna to find the truth about the Foundation. After coming back from the prison, Bel Riose always maintained that he was not going against the Empire. He had seen the worst that mankind had to offer, and he had started seeing the Empire as the lesser evil, even when, time and again, Glawen asked him to take advantage of his position and take revenge.
Bel Riose and Glawen faced barbarians in Siwenna, and somehow, they were able to get to a man named Ducen Barr, who was still faithful to the Empire even when the last royal ships had abandoned their post and left the planet years ago. Ducem kept reporting from Siwenna, and he informed Bel Riose and Glawen about the unsanctioned whisper ships that were owned by the Foundation. Bel Riose realized that the Foundation had the technological know-how to actually enter Trantor and he reported everything he had learned from Ducem to Brother Day. Glawen was a bit disappointed at this newfound allegiance that his partner was showing towards the Empire but he knew that Bel Riose was speaking from his experiences and maybe in future he would change his mind.
Around this time, Brother Constant and Poly were going to be executed by Brother Day because he wanted to set an example of what happens to people who have affiliations with Hari Seldon. But Hober Mallow made an empathic entry, saved Brother Constant, and escaped from Trantor. He tried to make a deal with the spacers and asked them to revolt against the Empire, as the Foundation was going to provide them with the micronutrient Opalesk, which was essential for their survival. Glawen told Bel Riose that if the attack by Hober Mallow proved anything, it was that the Empire was not infallible
We realized at the end of Foundation season 2 that Bel Riose and Hober Mallow had been deceiving the Empire all along, as the spacers had agreed to side with them, though they had kept this fact a secret. Bel Riose had been ordered by Brother Day to destroy Terminus, which served as the base for the Foundation. Apart from saving the world from the wrath of a madman like Brother Day, Bel Riose had an additional motive to wreak havoc upon the Galactic Empire, i.e., the death of Glawen (as Bel Riose didn’t know that he was alive).
Brother Day wanted to destroy all the seven planets that were under the influence of the Foundation, and he ordered Bel Riose to set the coordinators and immediately leave for there. But Bel said that he was not going to obey his orders and stood him in front of Brother Day, reminding him that he was never scared of him. That’s when Brother Day realized that Bel Riose, Hober Mallow, and the spacers had plotted against him and that there was no way to escape the ship. The spacers had activated a chain reaction, and the ship was going to explode in a matter of minutes. Bel Riose and Brother Day entered into a fistfight, something that had been long overdue between them. With the use of the castling device that Hober Mallow had once used to escape his death sentence on the planet named Korell, Bel Riose exchanged positions with Brother Day and threw him out of the spaceship. Bel Riose had taken revenge for his partner’s death and then together with Hober Mallow, he embraced death like a true warrior.
How Did Bel Riose Die?
Bel Riose always knew that he was not going to make it out alive, but he was ready to sacrifice his own life for the greater good. Hober Mallow opened that priceless wine of his that he had been storing for quite some time but unfortunately it didn’t taste that good as he would have expected. Both Mallow and Riose, sat there, looking at the spaceships exploding on the outside and waiting for that moment when their lives would come to an end. Their heart started pounding even faster when they saw death, slowly approaching towards them. In his last moments, Bel Riose was a content man who lived his life on his own terms and faced death head-on. The people would never be able to forget the contribution the man had made, and in Foundation season 3 (provided there is one), we would see Glawen carrying forward the legacy of the great man and making sure that his sacrifice didn’t go to waste.
