Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Harry Mudd
8. He Created An Android Army To Avoid Capture
Rainn Wilson played a younger version of Harry Mudd in two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 1, and reprised the role one last time for a Short Trek. Entitled The Escape Artist, it follows Harry Mudd as his schemes have finally caught up with him. Captured by a bounty hunter and awaiting transfer to the relevant authorities, Mudd recounts the other times that he has escaped from bounty hunters.
It soon becomes apparent that the Harry Mudd in chains isn't actually the real one, but is instead an android replica. When the bounty hunter hands Mudd to the authorities, they're already fully aware of his scheme. It transpires that the real Mudd is masquerading as a female bounty hunter, who sells Harry replicas to gullible mercenaries. It's another of Mudd's ingenious money-making schemes, designed to make a huge profit on his own bounty.
Presumably the 50,000 credits he charges each bounty hunter is enough to cover the overheads of what appears to be quite an elaborate process of android duplication. But perhaps for Harry, it's a small price to pay to avoid being thrown into a Federation penal colony.