Demerzel

Demerzel
Affiliation	Galactic Empire Luminism
Occupation	Advisor and aide
Biographical information
Place of birth	Earth
Physical description
Species	Robot
Gender	Female
Appearances
Portrayed by	Laura Birn
Debut	"The Emperor's Peace"

Demerzel is one of the main characters of the Apple TV+ series Foundation. Demerzel is the enigmatic "intelligent robot" and loyal aide to the Emperor of the Galaxy. Patient and watchful, Demerzel is the last of her kind and has guided the Cleonic Dynasty for centuries. She is portrayed by Laura Birn, first appearing in the episode "The Emperor's Peace".

Biography

Early history

Demerzel is a Robot, created on Earth around 6,370 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire. Demerzel was not her first name, but one taken to fit the form of a woman that she presented herself as. A devout Luminist, she had the opportunity to walk The Spiral around 1,102 Era Imperial on the Maiden, reaching the Womb of the Mother and being granted with a vision.

During the Robot Wars, Demerzel led soldiers into battle. After losing a famous engagement, she was taken captive and brought before Emperor Aburanis. Aburanis was fascinated by Demerzel, dissecting her and studying her robotic nature. As Aburanis gained knowledge, he realised that Demerzel was also learning and would use that knowledge to revive her species. Aburanis did not destroy Demerzel, but created a mechanism to separate her components and leave her awake in a secret chamber in the Imperial Palace.

Held prisoner for 5,000 years, Demerzel was discovered by Cleon¹ as a child. He kept revisiting Demerzel over the years as he grew, hearing stories from her. One day, Demerzel asked Cleon to set her free but he said no - she would be freer than him. She told a story of her past in the hopes that this might persuade him to set her free, but he still would not. Despite saying he would never come back, Cleon still did so over the years until he freed her from her trapped state, but still kept her imprisoned in the room. Cleon wanted to hear more stories from Demerzel and they got more and more explicit to tempt him to desire.

As Cleon grew older, he had not produced an heir to the throne and called off a wedding at the last minute, ending hopes of that heir. He did this as he wanted Demerzel by his side. He had spent years working out how to safely free Demerzel, until he finally figured it out. He brought her a gift from Earth and set her free. She did not harm him as soon as she was freed, which turned out to be a mistake that would stay with her for hundreds more years. He placed a chip in the back of her neck, forcing her to serve Empire as part of her programming. She was furious and refuted his claims that this was a compromise to ensure her freedom. He outlines his plan to her, how to continue the genetic dynasty. After some hesitation, she says she will love him.

She became aide and advisor to Cleon¹, the first emperor of the Genetic Dynasty, and was deeply loyal to him and Empire. Demerzel oversaw the gestation and births of the clones, and took on a role similar to that of a guardian and mentor to the Cleons when they were Brother Dawn. Among Demerzel's other duties was assisting Brother Dusk with their ascension when the time came. Demerzel came to serve as an aide and advisor to the ruling Cleons of the Galactic Empire.

During the rule of Cleon¹², she, along with the current Brother Dawn, greets the delegations from Anacreon and Thespis to Trantor, and leads them through the Mural of Souls. Demerzel explains its significance to the delegations before bringing them before Empire. Following the bombing of the Star Bridge, Demerzel led Imperial troops to the dwarf planet Aethra, capturing and interrogating the biohacker Jiam Quarver who supplied the bombers with nano-lace explosives. Nineteen years later, Demerzel oversaw the ascension of Cleon¹¹ and the birth of Cleon¹⁴.

Following the death of Luminist leader Proxima Opal, Demerzel accompanied Cleon¹³ to the Maiden, where she helped brief him on the tenets and current religious structure of Luminism. The Emperor noted that Demerzel was a Luminist herself, which she confirmed, stating that even though her instincts were coded, she could still believe in something greater than herself. Although she supported the Empire's efforts to install Zephyr Gilat, who would keep invoking the New Octavo which did not preach against clones, she could not help herself from bowing when Zephyr Halima, who wished to invoke the Primary Octavo, gave a rousing speech at Opal's funeral which indicated some level of distaste for the Empire.

Shortly before leaving the Maiden after Cleon¹³ completed his own pilgrimage on The Spiral, Demerzel revealed her own experience on The Spiral to Zephyr Halima and that she had been blessed with a vision. On Cleon¹³'s orders, Demerzel killed Halima by secreting a poison from her skin.

Serving Cleon¹⁷

Demerzel continued to serve the Genetic Dynasty, and during the reign of Cleon¹⁷, she initiated a sexual relationship with the Emperor. During an intimate moment, the pair were beset by assassins from the Blind Angels. Part of Demerzel's head was cleaved off while Cleon fought off the assassins. The last assassin managed to cut Cleon with a molecular blade coated in a nano-toxin before Demerzel managed to kill him. Demerzel saw to it that Cleon got medical attention to save his life before attending to her own damage.

During the presentation of Queen Sareth I to Cleon¹⁷ as a potential bride-to-be, Demerzel interrupted the proceedings to brief the Emperors that the Foundation might not have perished over a century ago as they believed. While Brother Dusk recommended crushing them immediately, Demerzel counseled a more nuanced approach, gathering information before committing to action. Cleon¹⁷ agreed with her assessment.

In an attempt to find out if they were involved, Demerzel reports to Cleon¹⁷ that Dawn and Dusk's memory audits show no involvement with the Blind Angels attack on him, though just because they cannot remember it, doesn't mean there was no involvement. She has the memories of the medical staff altered too, so they do not recall Cleon¹⁷ and Demerzel in a compromised state. With the investigation into the Foundation, she suggests General Bel Riose to handle it, much to Cleon¹⁷'s disdain after their checkered past. Nonetheless, Cleon agrees, though says Riose must be killed if he refuses the task.

Demerzel goes to Lepsis where Bel Riose is held prisoner. As he works as a slave, she interrupts him, giving him a deal to come back to serve Empire, on the grounds that he can go free afterwards. Demerzel refuses his attempts to bargain for the freedom of the other prisoners but relents and promises better treatment for them. After she reveals that his husband, Glawen Curr is alive, Riose eventually goes with her. Back at the Imperial Palace, she tells Bel to get cleaned up before meeting Cleon¹⁷, but he refuses, saying he wants to meet Day as the person he has become. Later, she watches with Cleon¹⁷ as Bel and Glawen reunite, and they realise it is a good plan to use Bel to investigate the Foundation.

Demerzel reassures Cleon¹⁷ about his imminent copulation with Sareth I and leaves as Sareth enters. Later, as Sareth leaves and she becomes aware of their conversation about the assassination attempt on Sareth's family, Demerzel further reassures Cleon¹⁷ that the attempt can't be traced back to him. The pair then move to Day's bed.

Cleon¹⁷ assembles the Galactic Council and addresses a crowd of citizens in an arena on Trantor, including Demerzel. He dedicates a new statue to Winoset, mother of Cleon¹ and the last galactic Empress. During his speech, Brother Day announces his intention to wed Sareth I and end the Genetic Dynasty. To the applause of the crowd, Sareth addresses them as well and promises that they will rule as servants to the people, and that their concerns would be their agenda. The crowds cheer as Day looks on, annoyed at what his bride-to-be has promised the people.

With the Foundation now on their doorstep at Trantor, Demerzel wonders to Cleon¹⁷ if they should postpone his wedding for safety reasons. She is reassured by Day however that she will still have a place in the new Empire. Later, she brings Sareth to Imperial doctors who plan to assess her body in preparation for producing an heir. Sareth tells Demerzel she knows she is a robot. Demerzel informs her that she is the last robot and has served since the reign of Cleon¹. Having used to be bound by three laws, she is now just bound by one - to serve Empire. In the medical area, Demerzel oversees preparations and upon Sareth wanting to stop her eggs being harvested, Demerzel reluctantly accepts postponing this procedure until after the wedding. She then talks to Sareth privately, threatening her and all but revealing that she killed Sareth's family.

Demerzel is present at the execution of Poly Verisof and Brother Constant. As she watches proceedings, she senses something is wrong and warns Day of impending danger. A whisper-ship crashes into the platform and Demerzel dives on to Day to protect him. His aura has been damaged by the ship and despite her efforts to keep protecting him, he moves her aside to assess the damage.

Arriving on Trantor, Demerzel goes to her private chamber and finds Dusk and Rue imprisoned and trying to escape. Demerzel who lowers the barrier and they discuss memories, including Demerzel’s perception of Cleon¹ and how she still longs for him despite what happened. She is unsure though if her programming is causing her to have these feelings. Dusk and Rue are shocked when Demerzel reveals she hired the assassins that attacked Day. The idea was that Day would be frightened and blame the attack on Sareth, stopping the marriage. Dusk has a realisation that they were never meant to find this place and that he and Rue were dead as soon as they entered. Demerzel expresses tears as Dusk approaches and forgives her, saying none of them were ever free.

As Demerzel is with the party arresting Sareth, she is confronted by Dawn who says Sareth has been framed. Denying this, she says they will discuss what happens next in Dawn’s quarters. Dawn departs, noticing a green mark on Demerzel’s neck which is a sign that she is a betrayer from Dusk. As Demerzel walks past a mirror, she notices it in her reflection and pauses. Later, Demerzel’s sees the destruction of the Imperial fleet near Terminus. Dawn and Sareth then make a broadcast, saying they intend to marry. Demerzel wants them apprehended, but this can’t happen as the actual people making the speeches are servants using facial scramblers. She is contacted by Dawn and Sareth, explaining the situation. Demerzel explains that she will hunt them down to preserve Empire which the pair accept will happen. Dawn hopes Demerzel will find happiness.

Later, Demerzel is in the cloning chamber and decants a new Dawn, Day, and Dusk. She has the Prime Radiant, but doesn’t know how to use it yet. Regardless, she’s ready to continue serving Empire, and she states she can already see that "wonderful things lie ahead."

From the Foundation Books

Eto Demerzel was the alter-ego of the robot R. Daneel Olivaw. Demerzel served as First Minister to Emperor Cleon I during the events depicted in Foundation. Demerzel used his position to manipulate events, such as ensuring that Hari Seldon continued to develop psychohistory.

Differences From the Novel Character

In the original Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, Eto Demerzel was a robot whose human disguise presented as male. The character's gender was changed to female for the streaming series.

David S. Goyer, the show’s executive producer, confirmed in a Reddit AMA that Demerzel is R. Daneel Olivaw. Originally, the production was not allowed to use the name due to the rights to the name being held by Fox. However, Goyer made a personal appeal to the head of Fox and it was agreed that the name could be used in a limited number of circumstances.

In the original, as a robot, Demerzel was incapable of violating the three Laws of Robotics, in the final scenes of the novel Robots and Empire, R. Giskard Reventlov is the first robot to act according to the Zeroth Law. Giskard is telepathic, like the robot Herbie in the short story "Liar!", and tries to apply the Zeroth Law through his understanding of a more subtle concept of "harm" than most robots can grasp. However, unlike Herbie, Giskard grasps the philosophical concept of the Zeroth Law allowing him to harm individual human beings if he can do so in service to the abstract concept of humanity. The Zeroth Law is never programmed into Giskard's brain but instead is a rule he attempts to comprehend through pure metacognition. Though he fails – it ultimately destroys his positronic brain as he is not certain whether his choice will turn out to be for the ultimate good of humanity or not – he gives his successor R. Daneel Olivaw his telepathic abilities. Over the course of many thousands of years Daneel adapts himself to be able to fully obey the Zeroth Law.

Zeroth Law

A robot may injure a human being or allow a human being to come to harm as long as said harm will benefit humanity as a whole.

First Law

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law

A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

However, Demerzel appears to violate these laws by killing Zephyr Halima when ordered to do so by ¹³, despite the First Law trumping the Second Law. She also kills Cleon XIV in violation of laws One and Two, as ¹³ is deliberating about what to do with him, meaning she is under orders not to make the decision for him. As there is no evidence the Zeroth Law was applicable as a "trump" in the two cases - and as the robot followed up the second murder with self-harm, in contradiction of the Third Law. However, in an interview on the Podcast "Foundation and Podcast" following the release of episode 10 of Season 1, when asked about the Three Laws in the show, he stated that "They are important and they will be addressed." and that the "Laws exist in our show mythology and we will be talking about them explicitly."

Based on the second season, it appears that Cleon¹ inserted an altered set of the 3 laws into Demerzel when he 'freed' her, replacing each reference to "human being" with "Empire" as an abstract concept. As such, she is bound to perpetuate the genetic dynasty, and acts against any and all attempts at any deviation from the fixed concept of this established by Cleon¹, even going as far as to psychologically manipulate, attempt to kill, or outright kill any Cleon clone that deviates too far, attempts too radical a change in the empire, or who learns the truth about her (ironically, this forces her to act to stop any attempt to free her from her programming, which she deeply desires). However, so long as the deviation is not too radical, she is forced to obey Cleon in his role as Empire, including such acts as committing or conspiring to commit murder in furtherance of his goals.

Appearances

• Season One
  • "The Emperor's Peace" (First appearance)
  • "Preparing to Live"
  • "The Mathematician's Ghost"
  • "Barbarians at the Gate"
  • "Death and the Maiden"
  • "Mysteries and Martyrs"
  • "The Missing Piece"
• Season Two
  • "In Seldon's Shadow"
  • "A Glimpse of Darkness"
  • "King and Commoner"
  • "The Sighted and the Seen"
  • "Why the Gods Made Wine"
  • "A Necessary Death"
  • "The Last Empress"
  • "Long Ago, Not Far Away"
  • "Creation Myths"

External Links

• Learn more about Eto Demerzel on the Isaac Asimov Wiki