Who thought it was a good idea to feed replicants this nonsense about having a soul?
To start with, let me point out a few frames that, in my opinion, prove even Roy Batty had a soul. The dove flying up into the sky at the exact moment of his death is a highly recognizable symbol of a soul leaving the body.
This is even more obvious in K's case. A "soul's perspective looking down on its abandoned body" is a well-established cinematic trope. (One could compare K lying down to the shot of the wounded Dr. Malcolm Crowe from The Sixth Sense, where even their poses are similar, but I don't know if a frame from a different movie fits this SR).
But what I don't get is how the concept of a soul - a deeply mystical and philosophical category - even popped up in a story as starkly materialistic as Blade Runner 2049.
Who told the replicants about the soul in the first place, and who convinced them that it is reserved exclusively for the naturally born, regardless of their parentage?
After all, the "soul" is one of the most manipulative concepts in human history. At various points in time, women, unbaptized infants, infidels, slaves, the poor, indigenous peoples of conquered lands, and children born via IVF have all been deemed "soul-less." In sci-fi, this label naturally extends to clones, aliens, and so on.
So, why introduce such an inherently discriminatory idea to beings who are already obedient enough, yet far superior to humans in strength, endurance, and speed? To my mind, this wouldn't reinforce submission; it would only trigger existential reflection and a search for counterarguments.
It’s like telling children, "You can't do this until you're an adult." Well, of course, any child will immediately want to prove otherwise!
And that is exactly what we witness in the movie. The replicants see perfectly well that they are not inferior to humans in any measurable metric, so they strive to prove they are equal - or superior - in these imaginary ones.
It seems the "Blackout" didn't just wipe out data; it completely erased humanity's memory of how these historical patterns actually play out.