There is a third option which on repeated viewings of the films I would like to believe is true, its only my theory but its a strong fit with the overall mythology.
WARNING!!!!!! Once you see it like this you won't be able to unthink it about the films though (or at least I can't now).
There is this huge emphasis on personal and collective memories in both the films which is striking powerful .
What is real , what is false what is implanted and how all determine self identity, both in a human or a replicant.
Now try watching them with this in mind :
Given that replicants are almost exactly like humans (given a few editted gene sequences) so much so that you can "implant" a human memory into a replicant, then it MUST follow the same technique CAN be used on a human being.
Now watch the original "Blade Runner".
Deckard HAD quit his job and yet suddenly finds himself drummed back into the department and the interview with Rachel. In 2049 there is more than a hint that the whole of the Deckard/ Rachel relationship is a deliberate experiment set up by Tyrell.
Photographs in both Deckards and Leons apartments are featured prominently and certainly act as strong triggers in Deckard memories (that photo of Rachel and her mother that moves, all the others scattered around the apartment, including one that looks very old but strangely like Rachel, even down to her period hair style)
In her statement to Deckard after she wakes him she says that she can remember playing the piano, (and what are the odds that Deckard just happens to have a piano in his apartment for her to use) but she isn't sure if its hers or Tyrells niece.
So its true that they can take human memories at this point and implant them into the more advanced replicants. Tyrell says so, they act as a "cushions" for them in the speech he gives Deckard (the famous "How can it not know what it is").
So its stand to reason they have probably managed to do the same (and the reverse) on normal human beings, but Tyrell would keep that absolutely dead quiet. If you think about the implications of memory transfer , if a human moved all his memories into a replicant body without a retirement date, you are talking immortality of a sort. Or you can use false memories that can be implanted to mislead and manipulate a subject.
Anyway, if Deckard has had implanted memories as the unicorn dream sequence suggests, that would allow Deckard to be human . And it removes nearly every other single problem in the two films whilst allowing the ambiguities to exist. Gaff discovered this ,we know that with the origami unicorn message and later ,in 2049, perhaps the sheep hint( and sorry what I have done here, I've just Bladerunnered/ Incepted you)
And hey Eagle. Nice to see that you back again!
WARNING!!!!!! Once you see it like this you won't be able to unthink it about the films though (or at least I can't now).
There is this huge emphasis on personal and collective memories in both the films which is striking powerful .
What is real , what is false what is implanted and how all determine self identity, both in a human or a replicant.
Now try watching them with this in mind :
Given that replicants are almost exactly like humans (given a few editted gene sequences) so much so that you can "implant" a human memory into a replicant, then it MUST follow the same technique CAN be used on a human being.
Now watch the original "Blade Runner".
Deckard HAD quit his job and yet suddenly finds himself drummed back into the department and the interview with Rachel. In 2049 there is more than a hint that the whole of the Deckard/ Rachel relationship is a deliberate experiment set up by Tyrell.
Photographs in both Deckards and Leons apartments are featured prominently and certainly act as strong triggers in Deckard memories (that photo of Rachel and her mother that moves, all the others scattered around the apartment, including one that looks very old but strangely like Rachel, even down to her period hair style)
In her statement to Deckard after she wakes him she says that she can remember playing the piano, (and what are the odds that Deckard just happens to have a piano in his apartment for her to use) but she isn't sure if its hers or Tyrells niece.
So its true that they can take human memories at this point and implant them into the more advanced replicants. Tyrell says so, they act as a "cushions" for them in the speech he gives Deckard (the famous "How can it not know what it is").
So its stand to reason they have probably managed to do the same (and the reverse) on normal human beings, but Tyrell would keep that absolutely dead quiet. If you think about the implications of memory transfer , if a human moved all his memories into a replicant body without a retirement date, you are talking immortality of a sort. Or you can use false memories that can be implanted to mislead and manipulate a subject.
Anyway, if Deckard has had implanted memories as the unicorn dream sequence suggests, that would allow Deckard to be human . And it removes nearly every other single problem in the two films whilst allowing the ambiguities to exist. Gaff discovered this ,we know that with the origami unicorn message and later ,in 2049, perhaps the sheep hint( and sorry what I have done here, I've just Bladerunnered/ Incepted you)
And hey Eagle. Nice to see that you back again!
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