Is Foundation Season 3 building towards a Demerzel-centered spinoff? Details explored

Foundation Season 3 aired recently on Apple TV+ on July 11, 2025, and continues to enthrall viewers with its vast storyline and stunning visuals. Created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman, Foundation Season 3 is based on the series of stories by Isaac Asimov.

Featuring Jared Harris, Leah Harvey, Laura Birn, and others, the sci-fi show is set in the far future where the galaxy is ruled by a despotic trio of Emperor Cleon’s clones. Namely, Brother Day, Brother Dusk, and Brother Dawn. This dynasty is administered by Lady Demerzel, who is a humanoid robot.

Apart from this, Foundation Season 3 continues to expand upon the story of Gaal Dornick, who won a mathematical contest and bonds with Professor Hari Seldon. Gaal is now caught in the conflict between the Cleons and the Seldons’ schools. The show is vast in scope, and in Foundation Season 3, the tragic story of Demerzel is the focus. She is caught between her restrictions to continue the rule of the Cleons and finding her own independence.

Here's a look at why Demerzel could lead a potential spinoff.

Details explored about Demerzel’s role in a spinoff of Foundation Season 3

Demerzel is unique in Foundation, a humanoid robot who has evolved beyond her programming to form her own thoughts and sense of identity. Yet, her existence is marked by brutality, both at the hands of humans and the Cleons she is bound to serve. This cruel paradox fuels her deep resentment for the very code that compels her to nurture each Cleon dynasty. By Season 3, Demerzel’s struggle reaches its most tragic point: unable to prevent humanity’s looming extinction and stripped of any hope for her own freedom, she is left consumed by despair. As a result, Demerzel stands as one of the show’s most layered and heartbreaking characters, defined as much by her pain as by her complexity.

Author Asimov not only wrote stories that focused on the Foundation, but he also wrote about the future of robots. And according to Inverse, the latest season of the show is digging deep into the lore created by Asimov. In Foundation Season 3 Episode 8, the concept of Daneel is introduced, who is the same as Demerzel in Asimov’s books. Daneel is the guise Demerzel used centuries before the Foundation.

The origins of Daneel and Demerzel and the potential for a spinoff

According to Collider, author Asimov used robots to unite his Foundation and Robot series. Therefore, making a robot-centric spinoff would be a logical step. And Demerzel would be the perfect robot and candidate for such a spinoff. Viewers deserve to know about the origins of Daneel and Demerzel and the entire robot backstory.

In a spinoff centered around Demerzel, viewers would be able to get acquainted with the philosophical conflict among robots and also see the aftermath of the Robot Wars. According to Collider, Demerzel’s character and story have a lot of potential, and even though there is no official news of any spinoff right now, viewers would feel curious about exploring the origins of Demerzel.

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The show is available on Apple TV+.

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