# Blade Runner (1982): Could Tyrell have helped Roy? (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111 "2019-04-27T03:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/1 "2019-04-27T03:57:42Z")
Every time I watch, I always end up asking myself: could Tyrell have extracted Roy’s memories and put them in a new replicant? All Roy wanted was to preserve his precious memories. Tyrell had already extracted memories from his niece and put those into Rachael. It seems to me that extracting memories from a replicant would be easier than from a human. I think Roy would have been okay with that, if he could see the new replicant before dying himself. Even if a replicant took too long to make, Roy’s memories could be extracted for posterity. Maybe that would satisfy him. Maybe the process of memory extraction only worked on humans, and it would take too long to adapt the process and save Roy’s memory. Could he be put in stasis? Maybe that tech doesn’t exist either. I would have liked to see these possibilities addressed, but alas! it was not. Now I am left asking my self, if only… Did anyone else wonder the same thing? ~Max P.S. I have not seen the new Blade Runner 2049, please don’t spoil that here (even if it isn’t that great). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/2 "2019-04-27T04:57:31Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > All Roy wanted was to preserve his precious memories. Perhaps, but those are memories of events that drove Roy to commit multiple murders. Why would Tyrell risk implanting those memories into a new replicant? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/3 "2019-04-27T05:03:36Z")
Roy probably wanted to be the one still around remembering his memories. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/4 "2019-04-27T05:06:04Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Perhaps, but those are memories of events that drove Roy to commit multiple murders. Why would Tyrell risk implanting those memories into a new replicant? Well, to be fair Roy was only murdery because he felt he deserved better treatment than he got. He did not kill for pleasure. If he got what he wanted, a longer life, then, presumably, he’d have been happy and less murdery. Of course he was built for war so could he have had a “normal” life? Not sure. I mean, did Roy want to live longer to continue being a soldier? Or did he want to settle down (and if he did could he have managed it)? I dunno. But Rachel was a prototype and the only one this had been done with. So, maybe Tyrell could have tried with Roy but I cannot see Tyrell wanting to try. Tyrell engineered Roy to die and so Tyrell had no emotional stake (or any stake) in seeing Roy continue to live. Millions of replicants had died per their design. Why would Tyrell care about one more? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/5 "2019-04-27T05:13:58Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > P.S. I have not seen the new Blade Runner 2049, please don’t spoil that here (even if it isn’t that great). Try to get around to watching it. Preferably on the best TV you can manage (4K?). (Not saying you should buy an expensive TV…just find someone with a good setup if you do not happen to have one…this is not “Dinner with Andre”…it benefits from a good video setup). I do not think it is as good as the original but if you liked the original it is definitely worth a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/6 "2019-04-27T06:11:50Z")
We can never answer that question, because we don’t know how the whole memory thing actually works. At a minimum, you’d have to assume Tyrell was lying to Roy. And why would he? He obviously (incorrectly) didn’t see Roy as a threat. If Tyrell did understand the threat, he could have agreed to help Roy, and then just kill him on the operating table. If you read between the lines of technobabble, the whole thing of memories and longevity is encoded right in from the beginning, like the Three Laws are in a positronic brain. From the minute the Replicant is started, you can’t change it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/7 "2019-04-27T06:31:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Well, to be fair Roy was only murdery because he felt he deserved better treatment than he got. He did not kill for pleasure. As opposed to Zhora, who murdered for kicks. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/8 "2019-04-27T17:40:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > We can never answer that question, because we don’t know how the whole memory thing actually works. I just wish it was brought up is all, even if it were shot down as impossible for whatever reason. Roy could have even said he didn’t want it. Instead I’m left wondering what could have been. I still think it’s a great movie but, instead of the whole dystopian future bothering me, it is this one omission. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/9 "2019-04-27T17:59:37Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I just wish it was brought up is all, even if it were shot down as impossible for whatever reason. Roy could have even said he didn’t want it. Instead I’m left wondering what could have been. > > I still think it’s a great movie but, instead of the whole dystopian future bothering me, it is this one omission. > > ~Max BR is an amazing film, but in some spots its best not to look too close. That way lies anger and madness. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/10 "2019-04-27T18:41:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > BR is an amazing film, but in some spots its best not to look too close. That way lies anger and madness. I think BR rides on the atmosphere it is set in which is amazingly good. Story-wise it is bog standard noir. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-1982-could-tyrell-have-helped-roy-spoilers/833111/11 "2019-04-28T03:50:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As opposed to Zhora, who murdered for kicks. I see that.