The heart of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion beats around one earth-shattering decision: align with the enigmatic netrunner Songbird or the duty-bound FIA agent Solomon Reed. This choice isn't just a narrative fork—it's a seismic event that ripples through Dogtown and reshapes V's destiny like a rogue AI rewriting its core code. When President Myers' helicopter crashes in the lawless district, Songbird offers V a tantalizing bargain: aid her escape in exchange for a Relic cure. Yet Reed warns that unleashing Songbird's Blackwall-tampering powers is like opening Pandora's neural interface—consequences echoing far beyond Night City's neon-soaked streets. 🔥
🔥 The Songbird Path: Freedom's Bittersweet Symphony
During the critical "Firestarter" mission at Hansen's stadium, choosing NOT to activate the Icebreaker triggers Songbird's triumphant hack. What follows is a desperate escape where:
-
🎮 V and Songbird battle through security systems like digital ghosts phasing through firewalls
-
💥 Alex assassinates Hansen (costing V his iconic weapons: Fang/Bald Eagle/Wild Dog)
-
🩸 Songbird collapses from Blackwall corruption, revealing the cure ONLY works for her
At the spaceport climax, drawing your weapon against Reed feels like slicing through taut fiber-optic cables—swift and irreversible. After shooting Reed, V loads Songbird onto the lunar shuttle. The epilogue shows her vanishing into the cosmos like a fragmented data packet lost in the net. While seemingly "free," this path:
-
❌ Sacrifices Reed permanently
-
🚫 Offers no cure for V
-
🌑 Leaves Songbird's fate eternally ambiguous
🕵️♂️ The Reed Path: Duty's Hollow Victory
Siding with Reed unfolds through two routes:
-
Betrayal at the Spaceport: After helping Songbird escape, surrender her to Reed for a promised cure. The trade feels like swapping a live grenade for a dud—technically safer but morally corrosive.
-
Icebreaker Activation: Using the device during "Firestarter" causes Songbird to berserk. Later, V pursues her through a Militech facility patrolled by killer robots—a sequence as tense as defusing a proximity mine with trembling fingers. Choosing to spare her unlocks the DLC's bleakest conclusion:
"V receives a medal from President Myers while Reed whispers empty promises about a cure. Songbird? She's hauled away like malfunctioning tech destined for scrap."
⚖️ Why Songbird's Path Resonates in 2025
Despite her lies, Songbird represents ambition unshackled from corrupt systems. Her escape indirectly unlocks Cyberpunk 2077's secret "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" ending—a suicide run against Arasaka requiring high Johnny Silverhand affinity. Johnny approves of saving Songbird, making this choice strategically poetic. Conversely, Reed's path unlocks the "Face in the Crowd" ending where:
| Consequence | Impact |
|---|---|
| ☠️ 2-Year Coma | Missed connections with all allies |
| 💔 Broken Romances | Judy married, River ashamed, Panam ghosting |
| ⚙️ Cyberware Removal | V becomes a mundane nobody in Night City |
💡 Verdict: The Moon Over the Machine
Choosing Songbird is like injecting untested black-market cyberware—risky but exhilarating. Her path delivers emotional closure even as V's own fate remains uncertain. Reed's "safer" route chains players to the NUSA's bureaucratic machinery, culminating in an ending where survival feels worse than death. With CDPR confirming Phantom Liberty as Cyberpunk's final expansion (due to REDengine retirement), this choice echoes as the last meaningful fork in Night City's rain-slicked roads. 🌧️
"In 2025's mod-heavy meta, Songbird's lunar escape remains a fan-favorite—a glimmer of hope in a universe drowning in chrome and cynicism."