Stettin Palver is a character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.
About Stettin[]
Stettin Palver is a historian and mentalic who becomes a co-founder and the first effective leader of the Second Foundation. A robust and formidably intelligent young man, Palver was studying history on Trantor., after his studies at Langano Univerrisity in a another world. His pivotal encounter occurred when he defended an elderly Hari Seldon from muggers at the Imperial Library, effortlessly subduing them using advanced skills in Heliconian torsional wrestling. Recognizing his combination of physical prowess and keen intellect, Seldon promptly hired him as a personal bodyguard and protector.
Palver's profound significance emerged through Wanda Seldon, who psychically detected his immense latent mentalic abilities. Palver himself had always possessed an intuitive, almost instinctive ability to perceive the thoughts and emotions of others, though he considered it merely a form of sharp intuition. Together, Wanda and Stettin discovered they could achieve perfect, seamless telepathic communication, a connection far surpassing verbal language. This bond became the essential nucleus around which the Second Foundation was constructed.
Their partnership proved instrumental in salvaging Seldon's Plan. Using their combined mentalic powers, they psychically located and recruited other mentalics across Trantor, such as the psychologist Bor Alurin, forming the initial cadre of pioneers. Recognizing the critical need for absolute secrecy, Seldon tasked them with establishing a separate, hidden organization. Wanda and Palver psychically deduced the future location of their headquarters from patterns within the Prime Radiant, referred to in the equations as "Star's End." They withdrew from public life to form this secret Second Foundation, with Palver serving as its first practical leader alongside Wanda. Together, they established the protocols, training methods, and secretive culture that would guide and protect the Seldon Plan for the next thousand years, acting as the unseen guardians of psychohistory against the coming Galactic Dark Age.
Palver's legacy endured long after his own time. Centuries later, Preem Palver, his descendant, who became First Speaker of the Second Foundation during the Mule's era, was remembered as his descendant, a continuation of the mentalic lineage that Wanda and Stettin had inaugurated. Thus Stettin Palver's combination of physical discipline, intellectual training, and immense psychic gift made him, together with Wanda Seldon, one of the most important figures in ensuring the survival of the Seldon Plan.
Appearances[]
- Forward the Foundation
- Foundation and Chaos (mentioned)
- Foundation's Triumph (mentioned)