Foundation
They’re now privy to the truth about Demerzel’s motives: while she’s no longer imprisoned physically, she’s forced to serve Empire thanks to a chip Cleon I implanted in her neck. While the various Cleon clones have believed they’ve been ruling in the 600 years since Cleon I’s reign, it’s really been Demerzel manipulating events and even people’s memories to make sure Empire stays on target. All this time, she’s been the real Empire—but, as a slave to her programming, she’s not able to make decisions or control her actions. When Dusk confronts her, there are tears in her eyes, and she says, “You bridle at the fact that I curate what you know, and yet you take for granted that your feelings are entirely your own… this is not the case for me.”
We can see she wants to help Dusk and Rue end the dynasty, and she dearly wants her freedom. But she is forced by her ruthless programming to protect Empire, through any means necessary—like, say, sabotaging the royal wedding by framing Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith) for the assassination attempt on Day (which Demerzel herself arranged, of course) we saw in the season premiere. (In a cutaway, we see a terrified Sareth being arrested.) And she can’t let Rue and Dusk go, now that they know her secrets. “I am truly sorry,” Demerzel says—and it looks like she actually means it, before she moves menacingly towards them.
