I completely love the Demerzel story, and I do know there have been some rights points on the very begin about how a lot you guys may adapt. What was the unique strategy to the character earlier than you bought that sorted, and the way did you begin weaving in additional of the Daneel storyline and extra of the “Robotic” tales as you could possibly? How did that plan become what we’re seeing now?
Nicely, the strategy did not actually change. Initially, it was Josh Friedman who began growing the present with me. After we had been first approached to do “Basis,” we got a doc that outlined the characters that we had unique rights to, and it turned out — as a result of afterward in his profession, Asimov took the “Basis” tales and the “I, Robotic” tales and type of retroactively mixed them into the identical universe. They had been in separate universes to start with, after which he type of combined them up and had one of many characters from “I, Robotic” seem within the later “Basis” books. So we got a doc that mentioned, “These characters, you may exploit completely. These are characters that seem in each universes that, on this case, Fox had the rights to the ‘I, Robotic’ books, and these are characters that you simply can’t use in any respect, as a result of they’re unique to the ‘I, Robotic’ books.”
So that they mentioned that we may reference Demerzel’s backstory as a generalization, however we could not use the character Daneel and we could not identify a few of the characters from “I, Robotic” by identify. And so, I mentioned, “That is nice. We’ll be a bit of coy with a few of these references to her up to now.” However then what occurred was I was producing a movie for Fox, “The First Omen,” which is a prequel to “The Omen,” and the top of Fox, Steve Asbell, is a giant science fiction fan and particularly a giant Asimov fan, and he was a giant fan of the present.
So we had been at a sound mixture of the film, and he was speaking concerning the present and the way a lot he preferred the present, and asking me questions on it on alternative, and I mentioned, “You recognize, you could possibly assist me out right here. You possibly can give us a one-time allowance to say the character of Daneel in season 3 and, for the followers, to tie that formally again in.”
So he had the enterprise affairs division at Fox do exactly that and provides us permission to do it. However it was a fortunate happenstance, as a result of I actually occurred to be in a room with the top of Fox, and he was a fan of the present, and typically that synchronicity in Hollywood works to your profit.
So did that occur earlier than you began engaged on season 3?
We had been writing season 3 on the time. We had been in the course of writing it.
Proper. So you did not have an alternate plan how you can … as a result of that is a really huge side of each Demerzel’s and Brother Day’s storyline this season.
Yeah. That plan was nonetheless in existence, however we could not point out Daneel by identify. We may very well be obscure about it, however we could not point out Daneel by identify.
With or with out the specificity of the names, how was it to discover that on this season and never simply give us as a lot of the whole story of Demerzel as you presumably may, but additionally tied in particularly to Day’s story this season, which I feel is without doubt one of the finest issues concerning the season as an entire?
Nicely, I knew that after we begin every season, usually earlier than the writers’ room assembles, I write up a doc, a five- or six-page doc, which is simply type of an information dump of all the things I am eager about for the season, about all the massive, giant plotlines. Over the course of the primary three seasons, the ultimate model of the season ended up comparatively shut [to that]. 80%.
After which as soon as the writers’ room would convene, I’d say to the opposite writers, “Do you’ve gotten any ideas on this? Ought to we alter this? Ought to we alter that?” And typically one among my fellow writers will give you a greater thought or a greater option to do it so we’ll change that. However the broad strokes, I knew that I needed the season to be, from the Emperor’s storyline, I needed it to be concerning the precise fall of Empire and Demerzel’s freedom, and I additionally needed it to be about Day’s redemption.
The irony is, he does go from being a very egocentric individual to being a way more selfless individual, into having empathy for Demerzel, which is a personality that he had grown to hate, as a result of he had felt that she was, in a method, their warden, and so they had been all prisoners of her. However what he comes to appreciate is the emperors themselves, Cleon I, was the one which made her a prisoner, and thus imprisoned all of them. So, it wasn’t by selection.
And the irony is that regardless that Day involves that realization and Day has the chance to free her by bringing the robotic cranium and escaping from Mycogen, that is taken away from each of them, as a result of Nightfall intercedes and kills her in order that the act that truly frees her is Nightfall destroying the clone tanks. As a result of as soon as the clone tanks and that child are lifeless, there is not any genetic dynasty anymore. There’s nothing to guard.
So the irony is she would even have been free there, however Nightfall does not imagine, as soon as she’s free, that she can be on his aspect, essentially. So he comes up with this concept to each destroy her and the clone tanks. I identical to the tragic irony of Day altering as a personality and turning into selfless and Demerzel being free, however the second she’s free can also be the second that she dies.
