In the 5 years since Ebling Mis was killed on Trantor, the Mule, once known as Magnifico, now known as First Citizen of the Union has worked to consolidate his power rather than continue his rapid expansion.
The Mule sends Han Pritcher and a rising officer named Bail Channis to continue the search for the Second Foundation. The Mule believes that Channis might have some new ideas since he is “unconverted,” but warns him against crossing him with a brief demonstration of his ability to implant emotions into his mind.
The Mule is quickly proven correct when on Trantor Channis finds the only clue to the location of the Second Foundation is in a place called Star’s End, and discovers a world in an otherwise void part of space, from the viewpoint of Trantor, named Tazenda and decides to go there.
En route, Channis is alerted that a hyperwave relay has been found aboard the ship. He tells the engineer to leave it where he found it.
They land and meet with the locals on a small, cold, village planet named Rossum just outside Tazenda. The locals tell them that they’re under Tazenendian control and that the local governor had already been expecting them for a week.
Channis continues to insist that they keep playing the game to lure out the Second Foundation, but Pritcher is now as convinced as ever that Channis has committed treason against the Mule’s union and places him under arrest.
Pritcher tells them that they’ve been followed by the Mule, who will be here shortly, but Channis insists that it’s the Second Foundation who’s followed them, just as Pritcher is about to be convinced, the Mule enters the room, and the game is up for Channis.
The Mule has understood all along that Channis isn’t working for the Second Foundation, but from the Second Foundation, he felt him briefly mentally struggle against him previously, a power that only a Second Foundationer would have.
Channis plays his last card before the Mule can kill him, he un-converts Pritcher and holds him. If the Mule kills Channis, Pritcher, now filled with rage, will certainly kill the Mule. The Mule realizes his position and says it doesn’t matter anyway since his fleet had already left to destroy Tazenda and the Second Foundation. The Mule then seizes on the opportunity to probe Channis even further about the origins of the Second Foundation and eventually gets Channis to admit that Rossum, not Tazenda, is actually the home of the Second Foundation.
Then a character we’ve been hearing about from the perspective of a meeting within the Second Foundation known only as the First Speaker enters the room.
The First Speaker says that Channis volunteered to infiltrate the Mule’s union, specifically because he was his mental inferior, otherwise the Mule’s overconfidence might not have allowed him to lead the expedition in the first place that led the Mule into their trap. What’s more, prior to the mission, the Second Foundation implanted the false idea of Tazenda and Rossum being the home of the Second Foundation.
In a moment of brief despair for the Mule, the First Speaker takes his own opportunity to seize control of the Mule’s mind and makes him forget the Second Foundation, return to Kalgan, and rule in peace for the rest of his short, heirless life.