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Blade Runner 2029 #2 by Mike Johnson and Andres Guinaldo gives the mystery at the core of this new series some excellent momentum. Interesting questions are raised about some pretty heavy topics, and the potential for a connection between this series and the movie Blade Runner 2049 gives this issue an added edge. So, let’s get into what makes this issue a standout.
Mysterious Connections
We have some very interesting threads all being pulled in Blade Runner 2029 #2. First is the personal mystery for Ash, which is connected to the bigger mystery. As established in the last issue, she is now working with the Replicant Underground, working as an undercover agent as a Blade Runner. She helps Replicants escape persecution and hopefully get to a safe place instead of killing them. But now she is on a case that ties back to her early days as a Blade Runner, back when she really was retiring the Replicants instead of helping them. Yotun was Replicant that got away from her years ago, but the thing is that he was a Nexus 6, which means he has a limited lifespan. There is no way he should be still around after all these years; only later models would have an open lifespan.
Her constantly running into people that say or recognize the name of Yotun is concerning, as it means there is something not right. As she mentions, there are mostly Nexus 8’s running around, some leftover from Tyrel, the rest Selwyn. Supply and demand required them to be tagged with a serial number so they could be tracked, but the most recent one that Ash encountered didn’t have one. This opens up several possibilities about what is going on, but if I had to take a guess, it connects to Blade Runner 2049.
The bigger mystery here, outside of Ash coming face to face with the sins of her past, is the seemingly undead Nexus 6. At the very beginning of the issue, we see a mysterious man helping a replicant unlock his potential, “releasing the chains,” as he puts it. Back during the first series, Blade Runner 2019, I thought the Selwyn family would be connected to the open lifespans and Replicant children that we see in Blade Runner 2049. What if they always had this potential, but it was locked away from them somehow?
What if they unlock it themselves, maybe a final gift from Tyrel or Selwyn? This would make Wallace’s attempt to recreate what the past creators had managed to do even more ironic. The answer was always there; he was just too blinded by ambition to notice. We shall see if this is the case, but it certainly has me intrigued.
The Cycles Of Violence
One thing that struck me as interesting was the opening pages of Blade Runner 2029 #2. We see a Replicant servant poison his owners, rips out one of their eyes, and then go to the mysterious man I mentioned previously. They have a conversation that talks about how Ducasse was treated kindly by his owner and how killing him and brutally removing his eye must have been difficult for him to process. Ducasse’s reply is, “He was good to me. But he was not one of us.” This line right here sent chills down my spine because of what it represents and perhaps what this entire Yotun mystery is all about.
The Replicants are treated horribly by the humans; they are nothing more than slaves, that’s after all that they were created to be. But every time they attempt to gain more out of the world, they are systematically hunted and killed as though they are nothing more than rabid dogs. Their history is one of violent and miserable oppression. When someone is in this environment, resentment and anger build, festers, and grows to the point it’s all the person feels. Is it understandable anger? Absolutely. Is it justifiable? Yes. Is that anger healthy? Not at all.
This is what is called the Cycles of Violence. We keep turning the wheel that perpetuates this cycle with every action we take. One person is treated horribly, and they believe they are justified in lashing out, then treat the person who treated them horribly just as bad if not worse. The oppressed become the oppressors, the bullied become the bullies, and so on. It is the dark and dangerous path of extremism. And if that is Yotun and his Replicants have planned, “righteous payback,” then that will only lead to the Replicant Underground receiving the blame, despite the fact that they are handling the situation in the correct, non-violent way.
Blade Runner 2029 #2 Keeps You Rolling With The Punches
Blade Runner 2029 #2 got my mind racing as to how the mystery connects to other things in this franchise, as well as the themes of extremism. This theme is a very prescient topic to tackle, and I look forward to seeing how the series handles it.