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Demerzel
Demerzel is a fictional character in the 2021 Apple TV television series Foundation, an adaptation of the Foundation series of novels by Isaac Asimov. She is portrayed by Finnish actress Laura Birn. Demerzel is a gynoid, or female-presenting humanoid robot, who serves as the majordomo to the revolving trio of Emperor Cleon clones, Brothers Dawn, Day and Dusk. In season two, it is revealed that Demerzel is the real power behind the Imperial throne, guiding humanity on a millennial scale.
The character is a gender-swapped and expanded version of Eto Demerzel, the First Minister and chief advisor to Emperor Cleon I in the prequel novels Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993). In Prelude to Foundation, he is revealed to be the alter ego of R. Daneel Olivaw, a sentient robot from Asimov's Robot series (1953–1985), who also appears in Foundation and Earth (1986).
Laura Birn portrays Demerzel in the 2021 Apple TV+ television series Foundation. Birn's casting was announced in December 2019. She was not familiar with the Foundation series when she auditioned for the role, but found the story fascinating.
James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote, "Birn gives an eccentric performance that is both disconcertingly mechanical and the most vulnerably human of the series." Jeffrey Speicher of Collider and Jeff Spry of Space.com both called Birn's portrayal "chilling". Chase Hutchinson of Collider wrote, "Birn as Demerzel is just spectacular. Playing a robotic character is never an easy undertaking, but she makes it look that way, maintaining a real command of her physicality while we see small hints of her inner state cross over her features." Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly noted that "Demerzel, the royal advisor, is given an unexpectedly moving arc as the story progresses", and Caroline Framke of Variety wrote that Demerzel "gets some of the series' more human moments, especially in quieter, heartbreaking moments that Birn aces." Michel Ghanem of TheWrap wrote, "[Demerzel's] backstory and motivations are explored in depth [in season two] and serve as a great performance for Birn, who has to straddle the nuances of showing emotion as an android."
Demerzel is the gender-swapped and expanded version of Imperial First Minister Eto Demerzel from the Foundation series, who in turn is the alter ego of the sentient, "humaniform" robot R. Daneel Olivaw from the Robot series. This Lady Demerzel is majordomo to the revolving triumvirate of Emperor Cleon clones, Brothers Dawn, Day and Dusk. She has served in this capacity for centuries, since the first Cleon. Only the emperors themselves are aware that Demerzel is secretly an ageless robot, the last of her kind. She is 18,000 years old, and the last remaining sentient robot from a war between humans and robots that ended with human victory and the destruction of all other robots. Demerzel's loyalty to the Imperial Genetic Dynasty is "unwavering and steadfast", as her programming seemingly makes it impossible for her to disobey, betray or harm the Emperor in any way. However, in actuality she is loyal to the dynasty itself above all else, including any individual Cleon clone.
In season two, it is revealed that Demerzel is the real power behind the Imperial throne, guiding humanity on a millennial scale. As the genetically corrupted Cleons increasingly veer from the path she has set for them, she begins to act more overtly autonomous, thwarting their choices and actions, and even killing and replacing them with new copies as necessary to preserve her grand scheme for humanity. Demerzel's plans are further challenged by mathematician Hari Seldon and his science of psychohistory, which has predicted the imminent fall of the Empire. Understanding her true role, in season two a Seldon avatar gifts her with his Prime Radiant, a device which stores the entirety of his psychohistorical equations, so that she may use it to guarantee humanity's survival.
As depicted via flashback in the season two episode "Long Ago, Not Far Away", after the Robot Wars, Demerzel is kept as the prisoner and plaything of Emperor Aburanis, whose abuse teaches her the extent of human cruelty. Five thousand years later, young Cleon I discovers the secret room where Demerzel is kept, sliced into pieces and incapacitated, but alert and able to communicate. Though initially terrified, he visits her repeatedly to hear her stories. Demerzel spends his lifetime grooming him to eventually free her. Cleon finally does in his declining years, but ever wary, he implants a chip in her first that enslaves her to his millennia-long plan to rule the universe. He intends for Demerzel to be his immortal successor, with his clones as the face of the Empire, their development and actions subtly controlled by her. Birn said, "Her backstory ... gives so many layers to the character. And when we get to actually see her trauma, and her ultimate fight for freedom, and having that freedom for a second and then [it] being taken away from her again ... then you understand that, oh, she's playing some games and she has a reason why she needs to play those games." She said:
What I love about her is the complexity between her programming and herself. She was programmed to do certain things and to obey the rules of the Cleons, and she cannot break her programming, her protocols, she needs to obey that. But at the same time, she is a robot who's lived for more than 20,000 years, so she's learned a lot, she's seen a lot ... There's a huge depth to her. And sometimes her programming, her protocols, the things the Cleons make her do, are so violently against what she believes ... and that contradiction is so compelling.
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Demerzel
Demerzel is a fictional character in the 2021 Apple TV television series Foundation, an adaptation of the Foundation series of novels by Isaac Asimov. She is portrayed by Finnish actress Laura Birn. Demerzel is a gynoid, or female-presenting humanoid robot, who serves as the majordomo to the revolving trio of Emperor Cleon clones, Brothers Dawn, Day and Dusk. In season two, it is revealed that Demerzel is the real power behind the Imperial throne, guiding humanity on a millennial scale.
The character is a gender-swapped and expanded version of Eto Demerzel, the First Minister and chief advisor to Emperor Cleon I in the prequel novels Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993). In Prelude to Foundation, he is revealed to be the alter ego of R. Daneel Olivaw, a sentient robot from Asimov's Robot series (1953–1985), who also appears in Foundation and Earth (1986).
Laura Birn portrays Demerzel in the 2021 Apple TV+ television series Foundation. Birn's casting was announced in December 2019. She was not familiar with the Foundation series when she auditioned for the role, but found the story fascinating.
James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote, "Birn gives an eccentric performance that is both disconcertingly mechanical and the most vulnerably human of the series." Jeffrey Speicher of Collider and Jeff Spry of Space.com both called Birn's portrayal "chilling". Chase Hutchinson of Collider wrote, "Birn as Demerzel is just spectacular. Playing a robotic character is never an easy undertaking, but she makes it look that way, maintaining a real command of her physicality while we see small hints of her inner state cross over her features." Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly noted that "Demerzel, the royal advisor, is given an unexpectedly moving arc as the story progresses", and Caroline Framke of Variety wrote that Demerzel "gets some of the series' more human moments, especially in quieter, heartbreaking moments that Birn aces." Michel Ghanem of TheWrap wrote, "[Demerzel's] backstory and motivations are explored in depth [in season two] and serve as a great performance for Birn, who has to straddle the nuances of showing emotion as an android."
Demerzel is the gender-swapped and expanded version of Imperial First Minister Eto Demerzel from the Foundation series, who in turn is the alter ego of the sentient, "humaniform" robot R. Daneel Olivaw from the Robot series. This Lady Demerzel is majordomo to the revolving triumvirate of Emperor Cleon clones, Brothers Dawn, Day and Dusk. She has served in this capacity for centuries, since the first Cleon. Only the emperors themselves are aware that Demerzel is secretly an ageless robot, the last of her kind. She is 18,000 years old, and the last remaining sentient robot from a war between humans and robots that ended with human victory and the destruction of all other robots. Demerzel's loyalty to the Imperial Genetic Dynasty is "unwavering and steadfast", as her programming seemingly makes it impossible for her to disobey, betray or harm the Emperor in any way. However, in actuality she is loyal to the dynasty itself above all else, including any individual Cleon clone.
In season two, it is revealed that Demerzel is the real power behind the Imperial throne, guiding humanity on a millennial scale. As the genetically corrupted Cleons increasingly veer from the path she has set for them, she begins to act more overtly autonomous, thwarting their choices and actions, and even killing and replacing them with new copies as necessary to preserve her grand scheme for humanity. Demerzel's plans are further challenged by mathematician Hari Seldon and his science of psychohistory, which has predicted the imminent fall of the Empire. Understanding her true role, in season two a Seldon avatar gifts her with his Prime Radiant, a device which stores the entirety of his psychohistorical equations, so that she may use it to guarantee humanity's survival.
As depicted via flashback in the season two episode "Long Ago, Not Far Away", after the Robot Wars, Demerzel is kept as the prisoner and plaything of Emperor Aburanis, whose abuse teaches her the extent of human cruelty. Five thousand years later, young Cleon I discovers the secret room where Demerzel is kept, sliced into pieces and incapacitated, but alert and able to communicate. Though initially terrified, he visits her repeatedly to hear her stories. Demerzel spends his lifetime grooming him to eventually free her. Cleon finally does in his declining years, but ever wary, he implants a chip in her first that enslaves her to his millennia-long plan to rule the universe. He intends for Demerzel to be his immortal successor, with his clones as the face of the Empire, their development and actions subtly controlled by her. Birn said, "Her backstory ... gives so many layers to the character. And when we get to actually see her trauma, and her ultimate fight for freedom, and having that freedom for a second and then [it] being taken away from her again ... then you understand that, oh, she's playing some games and she has a reason why she needs to play those games." She said:
What I love about her is the complexity between her programming and herself. She was programmed to do certain things and to obey the rules of the Cleons, and she cannot break her programming, her protocols, she needs to obey that. But at the same time, she is a robot who's lived for more than 20,000 years, so she's learned a lot, she's seen a lot ... There's a huge depth to her. And sometimes her programming, her protocols, the things the Cleons make her do, are so violently against what she believes ... and that contradiction is so compelling.