# Tannhäuser Gate question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 21, 2024, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422 "2024-01-21T02:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/1 "2024-01-21T02:51:13Z")
I can hardly credit that I didn’t wonder about this before, but: If Roy Batty was a soldier replicant who had seen hard battle in space, who or what was he and others fighting against? Aliens? Another faction of humans? I don’t think the script says but is there any fanon on the subject? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/2 "2024-01-21T06:27:47Z")
This has nothing to do with the Wagner opera, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/3 "2024-01-21T06:30:25Z")
The context is this monologue given at the end of Blade Runner, where Rutger Hauer’s character, an android built for slave labor, realizes it is about to die. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HU7Ga7qTLDU/maxresdefault.jpg "Tears in the Rain - Blade Runner (9/10) Movie CLIP (1982) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU7Ga7qTLDU) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/4 "2024-01-21T06:32:04Z")
I always figured it was corporate soldiers fighting over remote assets or something. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/5 "2024-01-21T11:33:03Z")
What was the big urgency in tracking them down and killing them when they were going to die soon due to their design anyway? ---
**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:** [January 21, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/6 "2024-01-21T11:34:13Z")
They were murdering people right and left. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/7 "2024-01-21T12:51:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > who or what was he and others fighting against? You can ask Todd from the 1998 movie Soldier. According to his service record, he took part in the Battle of Tannhauser Gate. David Peoples wrote both Blade Runner and Soldier and apparently he considers both movies to be in the same universe. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/8 "2024-01-21T13:22:26Z")
And of course, it has been mentioned in another thread, specifically _what_ was the Tannhauser Gate and what was Roy doing there are not relevant in-script; rather that it’s about how any lived experiences that are unique to him that are _real_ and not preimplanted memories, will be lost. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/9 "2024-01-21T13:24:08Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I always figured it was corporate soldiers fighting over remote assets or something. I thought the same. Corporations fighting for resources/worlds in space. Remember, Pris was a pleasure model. Since replicants are not allowed on earth we know there are people in space. Enough that they bothered making prostitute replicants (also Leon as a construction worker/unpleasant jobs). ---
**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:** [January 21, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/10 "2024-01-21T14:24:18Z")
I could tell you… but you wouldn’t believe. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/11 "2024-01-21T15:35:49Z")
Don’t know about the gate, but here’s my review of the Tannhäuser cafe: “I’ve eaten things you people wouldn’t believe. Greek cheese on fire off a shoulder of Lamb. I ate sea-beans that glitter in their dark sauce at the Tannhäuser Cafe. All those dishes will be lost in time, like beer in rain. Time to dine.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/12 "2024-01-21T18:14:47Z")
Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/13 "2024-01-21T18:54:49Z")
Isn’t it “Attack ships on fire _off the shoulder of Orion._”? And I’m not just being nitpicky, because there’s your answer. Those ships were probably headed for the outer rim of the Rotator Cuff system. Disruptions are common there. Only thing at T’ Gate are C/see/sea/si beams. Whatever the hell those are. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/14 "2024-01-21T19:37:12Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Since replicants are not allowed on earth … I need to rewatch the movie. ISTM there were plenty of replicants on Earth. While I know Deckard was chasing some down … I never picked up that ALL Earth-bound replicants were essentially “illegals”. I thought Deckard was more specifically going after replicants “on the run” or something. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/15 "2024-01-21T19:41:31Z")
IIRC replicants rebelled somewhere (not earth) and as a result they were all banned from being used on earth. Blade Runners were tasked with finding any replicants on earth who remained and tried to hide. In the case of the movie those four escaped back to earth in order to find their creator (Tyrell) and extend their lives (because they were programmed to die at a young age). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/16 "2024-01-22T08:56:30Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > ISTM there were plenty of replicants on Earth. No. This was why Rachel being a Replicant was such a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/17 "2024-01-22T09:00:35Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > specifically _what_ was the Tannhauser Gate and what was Roy doing there are not relevant in-script; rather that it’s about how any lived experiences that are unique to him that are _real_ and not preimplanted memories, will be lost. Right. They’re McGuffins. FWIW, my WAG was that the Tannhauser Gate was some sort of hyperspace gate that propels ships to FTL, a la Babylon 5 or Mass Effect. As an aside; Hauer actually rewrote the monologue from what it was in the original script, then subsequently decided to ad-lib it on camera. The original was; _I’ve known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I’ve been Offworld and back… frontiers! I’ve stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion… I’ve felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I’ve seen it, felt it…!_ And Hauer’s rewrite was; _I’ve seen things… seen things you little people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments… they’ll be gone._ Seems like with each iteration it got shorter and went heavier on Romanticism and lighter on details. (Ought to have kept the part about riding the back deck of a blinker, IMO.) ---
**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:** [January 22, 2024, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/18 "2024-01-22T09:01:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > This was why Rachel being a Replicant was such a big deal. Rachel was a bigger deal because she had implanted memories and thought she was human and she could live a normal human lifespan (not just a few years). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/19 "2024-01-22T09:55:54Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Only thing at T’ Gate are C/see/sea/si beams. Whatever the hell those are. Canonically, it’s C-beams. But at the point where I’d only watched the movie, I always thought it was sea-beams. As in, those rippling beams of sunlight you see underwater. And in my headcanon, the Tannhäuser Gate was an alien artifact of some kind, either hidden there deliberately or just through rising waters. It was a portal of some kind. Batty was there either for exploration, or defense, or perhaps offense. Dangerous no matter what, which is why they sent Replicants. That Batty served both in space and underwater operations served to illustrate the wide variety of things he engaged in in his short life. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422/20 "2024-01-22T10:09:07Z")
I always wondered if they were implanted memories, that will never really be lost, because they can be implanted into another replicant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tannhauser-gate-question/996422.md?page=2)