Warning: SPOILERS for Episode #1 of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a.

NieR: Automata Ver1.1a, the anime adaptation of the popular Nier: Automata video games franchise, has a twisted version of immortality. The androids that are the protagonists of the series can survive death by uploading their memories in a database and then be "reborn" in new bodies, but this forces them into an endless cycle of life and death in a cruel war.

In Nier: Automata the androids of the YoRHa units are advanced artificial beings, used by the Council of Humanity as soldiers in the war to reclaim Earth from the Machines, robots created by an invading alien race. Despite their abilities, the androids have been unable to make significant gainst and are locked in an endless conflict with the Machines. The two protagonists of the series are a female android called 2B and a male called 9S. YoRHa's androids are divided into specific models for defined roles, and each unit is denoted by a number followed by a letter indicating their model type: A for "Attacker", B for "Battler", S for "Scout", and so on.

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In Episode #1 of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a, the two protagonists, a female and a male android called 2B and 9S, meet each other during a mission to destroy a new weapon developed by the Machines. However, they encounter more resistance than expected. In the end, to destroy the powerful Goliath-class weapon, 2B detonates her Black Box, a power cell and a memory module that every YoRHa android possesses, killing herself and 9S. Both androids then awaken in the Bunker base, as the Black Box data can be synchronized to a database, allowing a unit to effectively survive their own death with all of their memories up to the point of their last backup intact. However, 9S only had the time to upload the data of 2B, so when they wake up he has no memories of her or of the bond they forged on the battlefield.

NieR: Automata's Version Of Immortality Forces Its Characters Into A Twisted Cycle

NieR Automata 2B and 9S black box

This twisted version of immortality is eerily similar to the Resurrection Protocols currently used by the X-Men in Marvel Comics, which stores the "backups" of every mutant in a huge Cerebro database, to upload it into a cloned body in case of death. Just like with 2B and 9S, however, the X-Men's immortality has a flaw, as a resurrected person will only have memories up to his last backup. While this can be a boon in case of a violent death, it's also a weakness that enemies can exploit. In NieR: Automata, this version of immortality is much more twisted, as 2B is forced to see the 9S she knew die and then forget about her. This is a key part of the Nier: Automata video game's story, and it will probably be just as important in the anime.

The YoRHa androids are soldiers in an endless war, condemned to die on the battlefield only to be reborn again, with or without their memories. It's a sick, terrifying cycle that the two protagonists will try to break, and that makes NieR: Automata's version of immortality its most tragic twist.

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NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is streaming on Crunchyroll.