Well, this is going to be a tricky one, mostly because we still don’t know a lot about the background of the positronic robot, introduced as Lady Demerzel in the AppleTV show. [Spoiler Alert] Season 3 did address our curiosity and drop some hints centered around Demerzel’s past, but is that enough? Are we really ready to say goodbye to one of the most enigmatic characters on the show? Well, I am not. This is why I have a theory that may suggest that Lady Demerzel isn’t dead, and the writers of the show will eventually bring her back in Foundation season 4. Maybe in a different body, if I dare say so. But what exactly happened to her in the season 3 finale?
Demerzel Melts To Her Death
You see, the Cleons were mere clones, and Lady Demerzel was the true power behind the Empire. And even though Brother Dusk had blown up the clone tanks to get rid of the clones, he knew that Demerzel would be able to bring them back using the original genome of Cleon 1. This was the reason why his endgame was to destroy Cleon’s humanoid robot, who has been dictating every facet of their lives for more than 600 years. In season 3’s ending, Brother Dusk lured Demerzel into the Ascension Chamber, where he put the only surviving clone of the Genetic Dynasty under the beam of light. However, Demerzel, who was programmed to protect Cleon and his clones, couldn’t see the baby decimated in front of her eyes and therefore jumped in to protect the clone from the vaporizing beam of light. Unfortunately, even her humanoid body couldn’t withstand such intense heat, and she melted into a golden liquid in a matter of a few seconds. So, the question here is, is this the end of Isaac Asimov’s longest-surviving robot? I don’t think so. Even the Inheritance, the cult that worshipped the mechanical beings, was promised the return of their savior, Robot Daneel Olivaw (episode 8, season 3). So, how’s Demerzel going to survive? Allow me to theorize, but there’ll be a lot of guesswork, so I could be wrong.
Demerzel May Have Transferred Her Consciousness
You may remember the conversation between Lady Demerzel and Zephyr Vorellis in episode 1 of season 3. Demerzel told Vorellis, “The Luminists speak of rebirth, but I do not die.” I think that’s an interesting choice of words, because what exactly is rebirth? In Hinduism, a soul leaves the body and finds another. If we view that in the context of a robot, then their consciousness, or the data as we call it, serves as their soul, right? So if a robot’s body is destroyed, but their consciousness survives, and if they are able to transfer it to another humanoid body or skull, that would count as a rebirth, wouldn’t it? Yes, that’s what I think could have transpired in season 3’s ending.
In the finale, Brother Day, aka Cleon 24, stole the skull of a robot, the Brazen Head, from the Mycogen sector and brought it to the palace to put an end to Demerzel’s servitude. Day insisted that she connect with the Brazen Head so it could overwrite the programming Cleon 1 had installed into her system through a chip. However, Cleon 1’s programming barred Demerzel from clasping with other robots, which was the reason why she couldn’t connect with Kalle, who is yet another robot in the Foundation TV show universe. Demerzel told Day that she cannot make a decision that interferes with her directives. Fortunately, Day had a solution to that. He told her that it wasn’t a decision if she didn’t know that there was life inside the Brazen Head. He just wanted her to take a look inside the robotic skull, to which Demerzel agreed. However, the process was interrupted by Brother Dusk’s madness, so we don’t know if Demerzel made contact with the Brazen Head or not. But I believe she did connect with the skull and transferred her consciousness into it. Or maybe Demerzel has a part of her distributed consciousness stored on the Prime Radiant. In episode 9 of season 3, she revealed that her memories, that is, her data, helped build the Prime Radiant. And if that’s true, then Kalle could access Demerzel’s memories to bring her back in a different body, similar to how Kalle gave Hari Seldon skin in the game. I believe these are two possible ways Demerzel could have survived. But if nothing of that sort happened, then sadly we have to accept that she’s gone forever.
The Brazen Head Makes Contact With Kalle
If you remember, the Brazen Head wouldn’t activate on its own. The Inheritance would sing the lullaby, which made its eyes glow. In episode 7 of season 3, Day whistled Demerzel’s lullaby, making the Brazen Head initiate communication with the other robots in the galaxy. We witnessed a similar thing in season 3’s ending, where the Brazen Head once again received a handshake signal and initiated a clasp with Kalle, who was with another robot inside their base on Earth’s moon.
As mentioned earlier, the Brazen Head couldn’t operate on its own, so it’s possible it was Day who unlocked its core functioning while he was toying with the skull. I won’t deny the possibility that this skull could belong to Giskard Reventlov, Demerzel’s former companion from Earth, but it’s too early in the show to make such assumptions. A second possibility is that Demerzel might have successfully transferred her consciousness into the Brazen Head, thereby allowing her to clasp with the other robots. I know Kalle told the other robot the incoming signal wasn’t coming from Demerzel, but you see, Demerzel wasn’t even inside her own positronic skull. Her body had melted in the Ascension Chamber. The signature of this transmission was different because she was trying to connect with Kalle through a different skull.
Till the very end, Demerzel told Cleon that she couldn’t do anything that would go against her directives. Yet she was the one who brought down the Star Bridge so that the Cleons would have no other option but to believe in Seldon’s plan out of fear and let him live so his research could soften the fall of the Empire. She even told Gaal that she was the one who gave Seldon the data to successfully chalk out psychohistory. It was her who helped build the Prime Radiant. So Demerzel could violate her programming if it would extend the Empire’s reign. This brings me to discuss the finale once more. Brother Darkness’ ghastly actions themselves had threatened the very existence of the Genetic Dynasty, and Demerzel, as per programming, is compelled to do anything to save the Cleons, right? Now there’s the loophole. By transferring her consciousness, or clasping with the Brazen Head, Demerzel wasn’t trying to save herself. She was trying to save that one single chance she had to save the Genetic Dynasty. I believe that was the moment when Demerzel actually transferred her consciousness into the skull. And this has already been prophesied in the show.
Remember in episode 4 of season 3, Vorellis told Demerzel that in the guise of serving the Empire, Demerzel had been helping the Foundation because she wanted to free herself of Cleon’s grasp? But she couldn’t do so unless she died and reincarnated into a different body, one that wouldn’t have Cleon 1’s programming in its system. Vorellis believed that Demerzel had died twice so far. In the beginning, she was created as a Three Laws robot. Then, as times changed, she became a Zeroth Law robot, and after the Robot Wars ended, she became a prisoner of the Emperor, who installed his own programming in her to make her his slave forever. Vorellis told Demerzel that she has a soul, and she would die for a third time when the Empire fell. And when that happens, she will take a fourth life, a new Demerzel who is going to walk out of the Imperial Palace to embrace her newfound freedom. Yes, that’s the sort of thing that gives you goosebumps, right? Like they say, a phoenix will once again rise from the ashes.
So yes, I truly believe that Demerzel is still alive. And if you agree with my theories, please do drop a comment in the box below. Additionally, if you have any counterarguments on this or want to add anything to my speculation, then please be my guest, because I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
