In the new anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, the separation between humans and replicants is darker than ever. Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner film, adapted from Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, first introduces the tension between humans and their synthetic counterparts, with replicants being tracked and "retired" because they had been made illegal on Earth. Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard questions with his own humanity as he pursues replicants, spotlighting the underlying philosophical question of the series: what is the real difference between humans and artificial intelligence?

Set 30 years later in the timeline, Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve's critically-acclaimed 2017 follow-up film, deepens the moral quandaries as it reveals that replicants may have the ability to reproduce biologically. In addition, the sequel depicts a seemingly sincere romance between Ryan Gosling's K (a replicant) and Ana de Armas's Joi (an AI hologram), emphasizing just how close to humans Blade Runner's replicants can be. K has also had false childhood memories implanted, which further confuses his sense of identity, even as he faces the threat of "retirement" at the hands of the humans.

Related: Where Black Lotus Fits Into the Blade Runner Timeline

Set between the two films, Blade Runner: Black Lotus twists the divide between replicants and humans further, putting a horrific spin on it. The series introduces Elle, an unwitting Blade Runner replicant with no memories. As she puts the pieces together about her identity, it becomes clear she is a replicant designed for a particular purpose: being hunted. While the previous two films saw Blade Runner's replicants being hunted simply because they were illegal, Elle gets flashbacks of being hunted for sport by powerful humans. Even more grotesque, Elle and the other variants being hunted in her memories have clearly been designed to realistically exhibit human qualities such as fear and love, indicating that the goal is to get as close to the experience of hunting actual humans as possible — without legal repercussions.

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As Elle comes face to face with the villainous Senator Bannister, who she recognizes as one of the hunters, he reveals that she has been created for the pleasure and entertainment of humans, not unlike the revelation of the true purpose of the hosts in Westworld. During their confrontation, two replicant boxers brutally fight as they are cheered on by human spectators, underscoring the dark and inequitable relationship between humans and replicants. "More fun than shooting an animal," Bannister sneers with hands around her neck.

After Elle retaliates by killing Bannister, she runs from the police. Their pursuit of her seems to trigger her PTSD as she is overcome by disturbing flashbacks of being chased and attacked by gleeful humans. She falls to the ground as she recalls other Blade Runner: Black Lotus replicants being murdered senselessly, and she remembers shielding another replicant (who she seems emotionally connected to in some way) with her body as protection from an approaching human. The emotional toll these experiences take on Elle demonstrates how utterly cruel and savage it is to use replicants this way.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus grapples with morality in a macabre and horrifying way, making clear that the replicants experience life as humans do, though they are not treated as such. Elle has only been "living" for a week or so, but she has already been brutalized and traumatized by humans. The coming episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus will likely only reveal more horrors as Elle investigates her origins and the humans who have a callous disregard for replicants.

Next: Blade Runner Retcons Jared Leto's 2049 Backstory

Blade Runner: Black Lotus releases new episodes Sundays on Adult Swim.