Warning: SPOILERS for the first two episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
Advertising for Blade Runner: Black Lotus confirmed that the series’ amnesiac protagonist Elle is a replicant, but it is unclear just which generation of Nexus replicant she is. Black Runner: Black Lotus an anime spinoff of the iconic sci-fi franchise, and the opening of the first Blade Runner movie established that the Tyrell Corporation advanced robot evolution into what became known as the Nexus Phase. In the early 21st century they created the first Nexus-1 replicant, a synthetic being virtually identical to a biologically born human.
By the time of the first Blade Runner set in November 2019, Tyrell had begun producing Nexus-6 replicants with a four-year life span. This is despite replicants of any kind being made illegal on Earth following a series of replicant revolutions in deep space. Despite Tyrell being murdered by one of his own creations – a Nexus-6 replicant named Roy Batty – the Tyrell Corporation still moved forward with his plans to release a new model with an open-ended lifespan, the Nexus-8, in 2020.
Blade Runner: Black Lotus is set in 2032, ten years after a terrorist attack on the Tyrell Corporation destroyed the servers containing replicant registration data and an electromagnetic pulse destroying all the electronics in Los Angeles. This led to replicants being made completely illegal, on Earth and off-world, but the opening episode of Blade Runner: Black Lotus suggests that status quo has changed again. At one point while walking the streets of Los Angeles, Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Elle overhears an advertising blimp encouraging people to migrate to the off-world colonies and promising qualified enrollees a replicant servant, suggesting the slave trade is once again legal outside of Earth. Given that it has been more than four years since the last of the Nexus-6 replicants were manufactured, this implies Elle is actually a Nexus-8 replicant with an open-ended lifespan.
While Elle being a Nexus-8 replicant seems the most likely possibility, there is a chance she might be a Nexus-6 replicant too. The second episode of Blade Runner: Black Lotus revealed Elle was part of a group of replicants that were created to be hunted for sport by a group of rich men, including the sinister Senator Bannister. It’s possible that whoever was producing the replicants for Bannister’s group might have offered them the older model of replicant since their limited lifespan wouldn’t be a concern if they were intended to die immediately.
Yet another possibility is that Elle could be one of the first Nexus-9 replicants, which were not released commercially in the world of Blade Runner until 2036. While the timeline is unclear on precisely when Niander Wallace Jr. (played by Morbius star Jared Leto in Blade Runner 2049) perfected the technology that made replicants more obedient to their human masters than the Nexus-8, it was said to be somewhere in the 2030s, before the events of short film 2036: Nexus Dawn. While Elle could hardly be said to be compliant, the enhanced strength and fighting ability she displays in the first two episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus could be on par with that of a Nexus-9, which were designed to be superior to the Nexus-8 replicants in all respects.
