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Glad you found the ending you like.
Pretty much boils down to this. The song names of the final quests and endings even hint at what the message is. Like "Don't Fear the Reaper" for secret ending.
For Phantom Liberty:
"Who Wants To Live Forever" (Lead up to surgery, saying goodbye to everyone you love and Johnny especially. Kind of like the Highlander movie message when song is used around Connor's memories of his dead wife. The person he lived/fought for now long gone... and others as he still lives on as an Immortal. What really matters are moments in time).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=65&v=_Jtpf8N5IDE&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY
"Things Done Changed" (After being saved and going back to Night City and how things used to be, but life still goes on in the violent city and so does V)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtHkAMutZO8&t=63s
Sort of a "the more things change the more they stay the same" thing. :p
Same. One thing you can ask yourself, kind of like the ending of Bladerunner or John Wick's motivations, is what are memories if no one is there to remember those moments in time?
Pretty much the message of "Who Wants To Live Forever?" by the end of the song. Basically Connor MacLeod's wife and those he cares about, live on with him forever in his memories.
V by surviving and not dying a "legend," can remember all of those that past or lost themselves like Jackie, Songbird and the likes. Not some false myth or caricature of those people, but the actual moments and people they truly were, while V still being able to live their own life, with new moments to remember on new terms.
As an aside, one thing I really liked about the PL Tower ending too was my female Corpo V's poetic moment, seeing that Corpo lady come in to get fixed up by Vik. It was pretty much a split image of Corpo V before her first "fall from grace." Then having that whole scene capped off by getting beat up in the alleyway after taking V's almost convincing and true Corpo dialogue option. Although the guy looks like he's going to let V go, she still gets punched because she messed up one last detail due to time passing and a certain place being closed up for years.
The dialogue with V and Misty at the end, having both sort of riding off into the sunset and V even having a pleasant, contented smirk on her face before walking off into the crowd, was what I call a good ending for a Cyberpunk story. :p
Yup it was so bittersweet just everything is gone, but V ends it with his little smile, his old life is gone but he can continue and tell his story, his own way. You've put it so beautifully.
Well, you picked the nobody ending :D
For the low price of So Mi being tortured forever, and a power hungry Myers risking humanity entirely for power.
So Mi won't even know what's happening to her honestly. She will be fragments in code like Alt but much worse. You feel sorry for her, but she brought on everything that happens to her as seen in her memories and actions (much like V). I left her one final memory of friendship by hugging her in her virtual apartment, before giving her up to the FIA.
Actually I liked the way the So Mi arc went with Reed's route because all the characters, including V, felt completely cooked and explored by the end. So Mi was more human and humanizing in Reed's ending than in her own, where she's selfish, deceptive and uncaring about everyone around her but herself.
In Reed's ending we learn a lot more about her, and she comes grips with her mistakes and grows as a person before losing it all, but saving V in the process through actions based on those regrets.
We also still don't know what the "Moon" or Mr. Blue Eye faction(s) are all about. They could easily be Rogue AIs and the bad kind. Which means So Mi and a V that takes say Don't Fear the Reaper ending could be choosing the real bad guys of the Cyberpunk 2077 universe.
She just did gig to survive. Got caught and forced to do what she did. Nobody forced V to do the heist. Nobody forced V to do all the main story line. How many die to try to save V ? Either willingly, knowingly or not. All for nothing. Even if you pick the Tower ending, people like Scorpio still die.
As for her being line of code, that's not true at least if you betray her after siding with her. She get "healed" and put back to work. This time with more shackles.
She literally put all this show to escape all the FIA backstabbing and Myers insanity. I cannot impress more how Myers is a nutjob. It's a toddler playing with a nuke. Giving her the timebomb back is pure insanity.
On So Mi's background and history:
She didn't do *just* a gig to "survive." She did high risk gigs 24/7 (not even returning calls for days/weeks and passing out while jacked in), because she enjoyed it, and was addicted in addition to the possible huge paydays. She gave up everything else including her friends and boyfiend. She acknowledges in full Reed path, that she made all the wrong choices and sacrifices, pushing away or betraying everyone that ever cared for her leading to her ultimate fate in Cynosure.
Going back to her original recruitment, she got "forced" into FIA which as Reed states in her memory, was her best non choice, choice at that point.
If she refused, the other route was Netwatch showing up at her door to arrest her immediately after he leaves, because she was an overzealous Netrunner illegally caught hacking the FIA. Serious enough that if it wasn't for Reed her life and her ex friends/associates' lives would have been over when she was a teen. As in all dead. That moment was her Heist moment. Point of no return.
On So Mi's personality (a bit long :p ):
You have to realize So Mi is not an innocent bystander in any of this just like V. but arguably worse than V (depending on how you play V). She's not just a damsel in distress. As per Film Noir, she's also the "Femme Fatale" of Phantom Liberty.
She literally tells you right before your decision who to betray (Reed or So Mi), that her plan involves killing a whole bunch of innocent people in the Stadium as fodder in her escape plans. This is the same attitude (and a bad slip up on her part) that got her into trouble in the first place not caring about collateral damage of her actions. Whether to others or herself. It gets worse from there as the body count rises pretty quickly.
It's only after she loses everything in full Reed ending, that she realises how destructive she truly was during her life and that it wasn't worth it.
As opposed to Reed where his intentions although misguided due to who he works for, are quite clear, honest and good intentioned (don't mistake this for not being ruthless as well, but he keeps that to a minimum). He truly wants to save So Mi, V, and others as much as he can. The same cannot be said about So Mi until the end of a full reed run.
What So Mi tells you in the Cynosure Core, is that the Black Wall (which in the case of PL ending all references to this = hostile rogue AI not the actual Blackwall itself), steals her memories every time she dives in. The hostile AI basically feed on them as they study us through So Mi and any others that breach, trying to figure out what makes us tick. That is the reason why she wants to escape Myers, because she's literally losing herself and her memories to AI taking them to the point there will be none left. She states that the end result will be fragments of her memory scattered beyond the Wall and her consciousness (or lack thereof by this point), always pursuing them without ever really knowing what she's doing. A fate worse than death she feels. A ghost.
When you hug her in her virtual Apartment, you're doing her a great favour giving her one last memory "at the end," that she can hold on to so her last memory once she loses herself, is one of friendship (if you don't kill her when she asks a few minutes later).
That's why I say if V gives her up to the FIA, in the end she won't really remember the "betrayal" (if you can call it that when V's motivation can always be to save her). Is it a fate worse than death in the end? To So Mi before losing all her memories possibly? Yes. So Mi after she eventually loses them all in a worst case scenario? No because she won't know the difference.
I believe So Mi is right. The FIA say they "heal" her in all endings where they get her back. I think all they did, at least in full Reed ending, was salvage her capabilities but not actually So Mi herself, which is why they stopped giving Reed updates, and why in the Credits when Reed re-offers you the Langley job, he says he failed So Mi, but hasn't failed you yet and would love you to join him if only for his own peace of mind.
Even if they truly did heal So Mi in the non full Reed path ending, because she wasn't too far gone, nothing changes the fact that every time she tries to shackle hostile AI they steal her memories. Meaning she will eventually meet the same fate under the FIA.
On Myers personality and motivations/justifications:
As for Myers she's not a nutjob or insane. She's quite calculating and rational. She is likely a sociopath as she seems to understand right from wrong even showing regret for her own actions, but is always able to rationalize her behaviour, actions and the terrible things she does in the name of NUSA/Militech/Herself. She's a "slightly" better version of Saburo except not a total psychopath like him, as he had no no regrets or questions about his absolute power and actions. Where Myers may take a step back, sigh, and then raitonalize, Saburo's character just does without question or hesitation. It didn't hurt that he was a genius at everything so things usually went his way. Like the guy was readying to nuke Night City just to keep the chip from falling into the wrong hands, so good thing his son offed him for V/Night City's sake or the game would have ended post Heist lol.
Though what Myers is playing with is definitely end of the world technology akin to Terminator and the Sky Net project. Although one could argue that the rogue hostile AI are on the march anyways, and finding ways to control and subdue them like the Cynosure project is quite important to Human survival.
On the other side of this coin, we don't know the motivations of Mr. Blue Eyes and the mysterious rogue AI we encounter in the core game. It is very possible the AI influenced shadow organisation(s) that can save So Mi and V, are hostile AI collecting pawns for a realspace takeover. They definitely give the same vibes as the AI that pursue you in the Cynosure facility, and the Transmissions on some terminals there which is all a horror show.
Myers may look like the bad guy today, but Cynosure tech and the FIA may be the saviour tomorrow.
So Mi’s Background and Actions
The portrayal of So Mi as both a thrill-seeker and a victim of her circumstances is inconsistent. The argument claims she pursued high-risk gigs because she was addicted to the rush, but also that she was "forced" into the FIA due to her illegal activities. This overlooks a critical nuance: her environment and lack of viable alternatives. Claiming she made purely selfish decisions ignores the fact that she was exploited as a teen and cornered into survival tactics, like most in CP universe
If So Mi was “addicted” to her work, what was the alternative? The game makes it clear that netrunners, particularly rogue ones, don’t have safe exit routes, and her coercion into FIA highlights that.
Her “betrayals” (pushing away loved ones) aren’t purely malicious but are survival mechanisms in a ruthless world. The argument simplifies her actions into selfishness while ignoring systemic pressures in Night City.
Femme Fatale Comparison
Calling So Mi a “Femme Fatale” is a reductive characterization that undermines her complexity. Femme Fatales are typically manipulative figures who intentionally ensnare others for personal gain. So Mi, however, doesn’t operate with calculated malice but with desperation.
Her decision to use the stadium as a diversion isn’t evidence of inherent callousness; it’s a reflection of her trapped situation. She’s no more ruthless than Reed or Myers, both of whom manipulate others to achieve their goals. Holding her uniquely accountable for collateral damage in a world built on collateral damage is hypocritical. As she herself said "they will die so we can live". V literally murders hundreds of people on her pursuit for a cure or even the entire Arasaka tower. I don't see any difference, only two people ready to do anything for survival
If her realization of her destructiveness only comes at the end, isn’t that character growth? This is framed as a flaw, but it mirrors V’s own arc of reckoning with choices and consequences.
Reed as the Morally Superior Character
Your argument paints Reed as a paragon of virtue (“clear, honest, and good-intentioned”) while casting So Mi as inherently destructive. This is both biased and false:
Reed’s loyalty to FIA comes with its own moral compromises. His “ruthlessness kept to a minimum” isn’t a virtue but a survival strategy in the same system So Mi navigates. He manipulates V just as much as Myers or So Mi does, often hiding information for his own ends.
His failure to “save” So Mi is framed as her fault, but this absolves him of responsibility as her handler. If anything, Reed’s belief in FIA blinds him to its exploitative nature, and his “peace of mind” is arguably self-serving.
The Cynosure and Blackwall AI Dilemma
The claim that So Mi is doomed regardless because hostile AI will eventually consume her memories is speculative at best and ignores her agency:
The loss of her memories is tragic, but it doesn’t reduce her right to fight for her survival. The argument dismisses her desire to escape as futile and suggests handing her to FIA is somehow merciful because “she won’t remember the betrayal.” This is deeply patronizing and assumes her agency is irrelevant because of her condition.
The idea that FIA “heals” So Mi is contradicted by Reed’s own belief that he failed her. If anything, FIA salvages her capabilities for their own ends, continuing the exploitation she’s fought to escape.
Myers as a Rational Actor
Your argument attempts to paint Myers as a lesser evil compared to Saburo but ignores that her actions are also calculated and destructive.
Rationalizing her behavior because it’s “for human survival” doesn’t absolve her of responsibility. The same could be said of Saburo’s actions, which were also rationalized under the guise of protecting Arasaka.
Comparing rogue AIs to Skynet oversimplifies the dynamics. The motivations of these AIs are ambiguous, and Myers’ approach isn’t necessarily the onlybor best solution. The argument presumes FIA’s methods are the only path to survival, ignoring that their use of Cynosure tech is also exploitative and likely to backfire.
On V’s Choice
Ultimately, the argument leans heavily on justifying the betrayal of So Mi, claiming it’s for her own good or humanity’s survival. This reduces the moral complexity of the decision:
Betraying So Mi aligns with the very systems that exploited her. Choosing her over Reed/Myers is not an endorsement of her actions but a rejection of the FIA’s authoritarianism and Myers’ cold pragmatism.
Your argument ignores that V’s motivations can vary: siding with So Mi can also be about preserving individuality and resisting exploitation rather than purely saving her.
In summary, this argument oversimplifies So Mi’s actions, vilifies her character, and gives undue moral weight to Reed and Myers. It fails to account for the systemic exploitation in the CP universe and unfairly denies So Mi the same grace it affords others. The moral complexity of the narrative lies in challenging these reductive binaries not reinforcing them
I'm going by what's conveyed in the game itself and by So Mi's own words. It's not an attempt to vilify, but i'm not going to treat her like a squeaky clean victim either (which is why I said she's not just a damsel in distress. She is, but she's also a femme fatale and has a lot of responsibility for her current situation). When you go full Reed ending (or any ending), you can't look at what could have been. So Mi cannot be as saved in the Reed path, she does go full Blackwall on people, but also reflects the most on her past actions at the same time. This reflection makes her less of a damsel and more a cautionary tale.
Before getting into the weeds you missed my point. I wasn't making a moral argument about why you should help Reed and Myers because they're "good people or not help So Mi cause she's "evil (she's not, just selfish like V but a bit worse). I was saying that you don't actually owe Songbird anything because she was lying to you about a cure from the beginning with no intention of actually helping you. She just needed you to get her out of a terrible sticky situation with Kurt Hansen (that she planned, another mistake), which then goes even more terribly wrong when he tries to kill Myers by murdering everyone.
Now Reed on the other hand, does actually have intentions to help you and Songbird, and will be successful in your case. He may not be a good guy, but he's good intentioned and follows through to the best of his ability.
With V getting cured and the lessons V learns along the way from PL events, characters and ending epilogue, one can argue that it's the best ending for a V that comes to grips with their own ego. Tempered akin to the Temperance ending when giving your body up to Johnny.
Anyways the "weeds await! :p
I'm never one that really buys into "environment made me do it" arguments. No one made So Mi try to hack FIA and get caught. So Mi did that and she's the one that ultimately cornered herself in a no win situation. Either work for FIA, or die on the spot by Netwatch (well probably tortured until she gave up all her contacts) along with anyone she knew and worked with. In the end we're all responsible for our own actions when we can making conscious decisions. :)
She is definitely is a Femme Fatale there really is no argument on that. Again she knows from the start by her own admission, that she cannot help V and that her "cure" is for her alone. That is the definition of manipulative and a Femme Fatale. She walked into the Private Eye's office (V), lied to them to their face that they could help them in exchange for their help (couldn't), all for personal gain (a cure to So Mi's own affliction, at the expense of everyone around her including colleagues and innocents).
She may be a victim of circumstance and environment, but how many bodies and lives does it take before a victim and prey becomes a predator?
To repeat myself I never said Reed was a saint. Just that he's honest about his intentions, which he makes good on and more when it comes to V. He tries his best to help So Mi in the best way he can, but fails.
So Mi only truly helps V in the full Reed ending, when her conscience catches up to her in Cynosure. She does indeed grow as a character during that mission and becomes more selfless spending most of her energy trying to protect V from hostile AI, not wanting your death on her conscience at the end. Which is why I like So Mi in full Reed ending the best and feel the most empathy for her within it. :)
Myers and Saburo are definitely on the same level yes. There's an argument of what's worse: Thinking whatever you do is right because it's you (Saburo the Psychopath), or Myers who does seem to know right from wrong and even hesitates at times, but does wrong anyways (Sociopath). I think sociopaths and worse than Psychopaths because they feel guilt but still do whatever is best to advances their interests. So Mi shows similar tendencies to Myers one could also argue.
But out of the two (Saburo and Myers), Saburo is by far the most evil. :D
That's only partially tue. As pretty much everyone will eagerly point out, Reed live in a world of his own making. He persuaded himself that returning So Mi to Myers is the best way to save you and So Mi. In reality, He is Myers good lapdog and he is saving nobody.
If you kill So Mi, he realize that it was the best for So Mi, after the fact, and in the ending he become a drifter instead of going back to the FIA. If you deliver her to him, he literally convince himself it was the good choice because the alternative is too much to bear.
IIRC the Tower ending make it so you can't have cybernetic. Which, in the world of NC mean you are a nobody that can't accomplish much. In a fight you're a pushover. Outside it there are many jobs you can't do.
She didn't hack the FIA. She hacked a big corpo, IIRC it was militech. It was a big money gig. V attacked Konpeki plaza and that was a big fail and a half to. In cyberpunk, if you are not nobody then you are either a corpo or a merc. She was a merc.
Reed give her a choice, join the FIA or all her friends and her boyfriend would die. That's literally what you see in her flashbacks.
She never poked at the blackwall before Myers. No sane netrunner would do that. We are speaking literal Hell for a netrunner. There are 2 things netrunner fear the most, Soulkiller and the blackwall. She was forced to. Again, because she feared for the people she loved.
Oh yes, the big manipulator who literally tell his pawn it's her pawn BEFORE she accomplish her goal, so the pawn is free to act as it very much please them.
She literally tell you she lied and pass out. Knowing you have full control on what happen to her next.
A "femme fatale" would not have said anything and V would have happily carried her to the shuttle.
She tells you because she care. And she want you to make your own decision on your own free will.
I can't think of a bigger show of trust.
Welcome to Cyberpunk. You are either a predator or a prey.
V is no better by a longshot. At least she was forced to. V never was.
Ever wondered at the pile of bodies behind your nomad choom and Panam ? Or Rogue ? Silverhand ? Basically all the people in the afterlife, Claire included (she do street race where civilians are caught in the crossfire). Or Ward. Or the fixers.
The only one who don't have a pile of bodies behind them are people like misty or Viktor.
He was honest in his intentions. However since he was never honest with himself, that's irrelevant. In the end, Reed served Myers.
Forgot the part where she tap into the blackwall to protect V if you side with her. Ironically, she don't go full berserk like if you side with Reed because she trust you. You are the last link to her humanity which is being shredded by the blackwall (figuratively and literally).
She care enough for V that it ground her to her humanity.
While Saburo might have done the same than Myers if it was furthering his ambition, he didn't. Can't condemn him for what he may or may not have done.
Playing with the blackwall and rogue AI is not comparable to all the atrocities corp do on a daily basis. We are speaking of the literal doom of all humanity. If that wall is breached, sayonara humanity. Corpo, Nusa or random bum in the street. We are all f****. Yes, rogue AI varies in purpose and goal and their mind are alien to us. But the vast majority of them would destroy humanity, for one reason or another, and it's not like the rest of them would protect us. They were made as weapon to kill people and win a war.
There is a reason why in a world like Cyberpunk, where shooting homeless people is not a crime, tampering with the blackwall is against all international laws. Or why greedy corp pay good money netwatch. Sure netwatch is a corp by itself and they found the perfect racket scheme, but they are also protecting people from a real threat.
We have been going around in circles here, but going to make a few points:
- Yes she does go full blackwall because of being pushed into a corner true, which wasn't really a point I was making (just a statement of what happens). The main point was that she admitted right before that if you go that route, that she was willing to kill everyone in the Arena to escape herself and that wasn't an issue for her at all. This is before going full blackwall which again, was just her losing control when her plan completely unravels and likely no hope.
- Reed does become and was the only way to save you and So Mi. He was right on the former assertion, possibly wrong on the latter. They tried. We don't know who's way is the best way, but Reed's way by the time you have to make the decision, seems a lot more rational and less bloody, as it has a lot less body count (if his plan had worked So Mi would have been diabled at the moment before she went full blackwall). Him being an FIA lapdog means nothing in the context of the narrative. V themselves to this point is also an FIA lap dog and their mission is to find and save So Mi by bringing her back. Based on your decisions you can actually be honest with everyone involved, which is interesting because you start to see hints of their true personalities ahead of time. Reed's was more impressive and trusting then So Mi's. Which turns out to be correct regardless of path. :)
- Couldn't remember who she hacked specifically. Militench = Nusa regardless in all buy name (Pseudo Democracy front for Militech which is why Reed is living in a fantasy, but so to is the rest of the world that believes they have freedom etc etc.). :p
Again this is a situation where it doesn't matter who she hacked. The fact was she either ends her life there and then and the lives of everyone she knows when Netwatch knocked on the door, or be whisked away by him to work for the FIA. It's not even a choice and there was no third option by that point. That's on So Mi getting herself in that situation. no one else.
- Doesn't matter that Reed was dishonest with himself or not about his idealism. What matters is that he was always honest with you to the end about his intentions and continues to be until the Credits. The most dishonest while still being honest is when he lies partially by omission. Like not telling you exactly what happened to those two guys that helped you hide Myers. They were "dealt with." They're likely dead because they didn't seem to be the type to keep a secret. :p
- Not going to go over So Mi = Femme Fatale again in length. Her entire story and how it unfolds is text book film noir femme fatale. The girl that gives the private investigator the job but turns out to be the one who's behind the entire plot/conspiracy trying to escape or hide something. She leads V along about a cure and only tells V there's no help for her, at the very, very end of that path when she's got what she wanted. Just like a Femme Fatale would do and the private investigator is left hanging giving some cute monologue about dames and betrayal lol. Usually happy to help anyways, but played and if the femme fatale survives to end, they usually leave on a plane or bus to somewhere... or a rocket. :D
- Sure she helps you and doesn't go full beserk in that path, but that's not the point there either. So Mi is still helping V help So Mi get the cure. Without V after that point Reed would have captured her. That's her intention: Save So Mi not V specifically.
Only in the Reed path does she truly try to help V when she can't help herself which fails (tries to lock V away from AI, but V breaks enough locks to let the creepy AI possessed mech hunt him/her down) but was still commendable. Then allows V to help her and V by ending the AI breach through her. In the process, So Mi becomes fully honest and open with V and herself, before her final fate. Whether that's a V mercy killing, or V not giving up on her believing she can be saved (which is poetic because even what V can say to Reed after, suggests that V is projecting his/her own ability to be saved on So Mi and can't let her die), or cares about FIA cure more than her fate (reverse So Mi).