Showrunner of the Foundation on these end twists and turns and a lesson learned from Dark Knight films [Exclusive Interview]

I love the story of Demerzel, and I know there were rights problems at the start of how much you could adapt. What was the character’s original approach before you sort, and how did you start to weave more in Daneel’s script and more of the stories of “robot” than you could? How has this plan changed what we see now?

Well, the approach hasn’t really changed. Originally, it was Josh Friedman who began to develop the show with me. When we were approached for the first time to make the “Foundation”, we were given a document that described the characters to which we had exclusive rights, and it turned out – because later in his career, Asimov took the stories of “Foundation” and the stories of “robot” and in a way retroactively in the same universe. They were in separate universes to start, then he sort of mixed them and had one of the characters of “I, robot” appearing in the “Foundation” books. We were therefore given a document that said: “These characters, you can exploit exclusively. These are characters who appear in the two universes which, in this case, Fox had the rights on” robot “books, and they are characters that you cannot use at all, because they are exclusive to” robot “books.”

So they said we could reference Demerzel’s background frame as generalization, but we could not use the character Daneel and we could not name some of the characters of “I, robot” by name. And so, I said: “It’s good. We will be a little shy with some of these references in the past.” But what happened was that I produced a film for Fox, “The First Omen”, which is a prequel to “The Omen”, and Fox leader, Steve Asbell, is a big science fiction fan and in particular a big fan of Asimov, and he was a big fan of the show.

So we were in a sound sounds, and he was talking about the show and how much he loved the show, and asking me questions about this on the opportunity, and I said: “You know, you could help me here.

He therefore asked Fox the Department of Commercial Affairs to do exactly that and give us permission to do so. But it was a coincidence, because I was literally in a room with Fox’s head, and he was a fan of the series, and sometimes this synchronicity in Hollywood works to your advantage.

So, did it happen before you start working on season 3?

We wrote season 3 at the time. We were writing it.

RIGHT. So you did not have an alternative plan how … because it is a very big aspect of the scenario of Demerzel and Brother Day this season.

Yeah. This plan still existed, but we could not mention Daneel by name. We could be vague on this subject, but we could not mention Daneel by name.

With or without the specificity of the names, how was it to explore this in this season and not only to give us as much of the complete history of Demerzel as possible, but also specifically linked to the history of Day this season, which, I think, is one of the best things of the season as a whole?

Well, I knew that when we start each season, usually before the writers room is realized, I write a document, a five or six pages document, which is just a kind of information discharge from everything I think about the season, on all the big and big intrigues. During the first three seasons, the final version of the season has been relatively close [to that]. 80%.

And then once the writers’ room meets, I would say to other writers: “Do you have any reflections on this subject? Should this be changed? Should this be changed?” And sometimes, one of my writers’ colleagues will offer a better idea or a better way to do it, so we will change that. But the big blows, I knew that I wanted the season to be, of the emperor scenario, I wanted it to be on the real fall of the Empire and the freedom of Demerzel, and I also wanted it to be on the redemption of the day.

The irony is that he goes from a really selfish person to be a much more altruistic person, to have empathy for Demerzel, who is a character he had become hate, because he had felt that she was, in a way, their goalkeeper, and they were all prisoners of her. But what he realizes is the emperors themselves, Cleon I, it is the one who did her A prisoner, and therefore imprisoned them. So it was not by choice.

And the irony is that even if Day arrives at this achievement and that the day has the possibility of freeing it by bringing the skull of the robot and escaping from mycogen, which removed them, because the twilight intercede and the kills so that the act which in fact frees it is destroyed the tank clones. Because once the clone tanks and this baby died, there is no more genetic dynasty. There is nothing to protect.

So the irony is that it would also have been free there, but the twilight does not believe, once free, that it would necessarily be on its side. So he comes with this idea to destroy it And Clone tanks. I just like the tragic irony of the change of day as a character and becoming disinterested and Demerzel to be free, but the moment when she is free is also the moment when she dies.