Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Endings: How Each Choice Shapes V's Fate in 2026

As Night City's neon glow continues to captivate players into 2026, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 remains a sprawling canvas of choice and consequence. The Phantom Liberty expansion, released in 2023, injected fresh blood into the narrative, delivering four new ending paths that still fuel heated debate among mercs today. With the game now fully matured through patches and community discoveries, these conclusions stand as some of the most poignant moments in modern role-playing. Whether you’re returning to Dogtown for a nostalgic replay or diving in for the first time, understanding how every fork in the road reshapes V’s destiny is essential.

Two enigmatic operatives—Songbird (So Mi) and Solomon Reed—anchor the expansion’s moral weight. Every decision in Phantom Liberty ripples outward, locking you into farewells, firefights, or a brand-new epilogue that redefines what it means to survive. From aiding a desperate netrunner’s lunar flight to confronting the cold machinery of the NUSA, here’s how each finale plays out in the version that millions are still exploring years later.

Helping Songbird Escape – The Killing Moon

The pivotal moment arrives during Firestarter. When Songbird pleads, “I’m with you,” siding with her thrusts you into The Killing Moon, a breathless sprint toward a shuttle bound for the moon. This mission doesn’t just test your reflexes; it distills Cyberpunk 2077’s combat into a desperate, cinematic scramble.

Inside the train car, tension peaks. You may carry Songbird herself or – in a last-minute swerve – call Reed. Committing fully to her freedom triggers a final standoff on the platform. Holster your weapon, and Songbird is captured. Draw it, and you must face Solomon Reed in a brutal duel. Stalling will not save you; only decisive violence secures her passage. Kill Reed, and So Mi departs for the stars, but V receives no cure. Instead, you return to Night City to confront one of the base game’s endings.

The bittersweet reward? Reed’s iconic Pariah pistol, a firearm that has since become a staple in many 2026 builds for its high critical damage and sleek design. Community speedrunners often cite this path as the fastest way to wrap the DLC while grabbing top-tier loot, though it leaves V’s mortality hanging in the balance.

Hand Over Songbird – A New Point of No Return

Betrayal wears a calm face in this outcome. Whether you call Reed from the train or holster your weapon during the stand-off, Songbird is taken into NUSA custody. V’s shouted pleas for the promised cure cut through the aircraft noise, and what follows is a sequence that many players in 2026 consider the expansion’s emotional gut punch.

This choice unlocks Through Pain to Heaven, a mission that serves as a concrete point of no return. Unlike the base game’s final acts, you don’t need to deal with Arasaka or chase Nocturne Op55N1. Instead, a quiet conversation with Reed outside a mist-slicked gas station sets the stage. He guarantees an operation by NUSA scientists, and soon the quest Who Wants to Live Forever sends you to Misty’s rooftop—a location etched into every veteran’s memory. A call to Reed summons a transport, and V is wheeled into surgery, culminating in the brand-new ending titled Things Done Changed.

Help Reed Capture Songbird – Black Steel and Broken Circuits

Back in Firestarter, choosing to help Reed capture Songbird flips the narrative into a military-style extraction. The mission Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos throws you against MaxTac’s elite, demanding every ounce of your upgraded chrome and new Relic skills. It’s a gauntlet that, in 2026, remains one of the game’s most replayable combat scenarios, often featured in “hardest mission” compilations.

Then comes Somewhat Damaged, a tense descent into a Cynosure facility crawling with hazards and a hulking Cerberus robot that even today’s overpowered netrunner builds learn to fear. At the core lies a broken Songbird, her body ravaged by the Blackwall. She begs for death, and here the path splits decisively.

Kill Songbird

Pulling the trigger shatters your deal. Reed’s sorrow curdles into fury, and in a haunting cutscene, President Myers declares the agreement void. No cure. The narrative funnels you back to the base game’s endings, a sobering reminder that mercy can be its own kind of cruelty. Data miners revealed cut dialogue in 2025 suggesting an even darker follow-up was scrapped, leaving this conclusion stark and unresolved.

Spare Songbird

Mercy yields a colder reward. The mission Leave in Silence sees you decorated by President Myers while Reed departs into an overcast sky. Later, the gas station meeting replays, and the phone call leads to the same point of no return as handing her over. The Things Done Changed epilogue awaits—proof that in Night City, even compassion arrives with a price tag.

Things Done Changed – Waking Up Chrome-less

The alternate ending that emerges from either surrendering Songbird or sparing her after capture is both a cure and a curse. V undergoes the operation, survives, and loses every scrap of cyberware. In 2026, when players debate the “best” ending, this one stands out for its quiet devastation.

A two-year coma erases the world V knew. Romance partners move on—Judy marries, Kerry drifts, River loses himself, and Panam is described by Mitch as utterly broken. Viktor confirms the neural damage is irreversible, leaving V an ordinary citizen in a city that devours the ordinary. Reed offers a desk job, but V declines, gravitating back toward the remnants of a former life. The epilogue, Return to Night City, lets you share a moment with Misty, who offers a tarot reading and a sliver of hope.

As of 2026, fan theories about a potential sequel or post-Phantom Liberty story expansion still swirl, but nothing official has materialized. The endings remain intact, each one a mirror to the player’s own priorities: freedom, loyalty, survival, or sacrifice. Whether you prioritize Songbird’s autonomy or Reed’s sense of duty, the Phantom Liberty conclusions continue to define Cyberpunk 2077’s legacy—proof that even in a city that chews up legends, the smallest choices echo forever.

Industry insights are provided by HowLongToBeat, and they help frame how players pace Phantom Liberty’s branching finales—whether you sprint through The Killing Moon to secure Songbird’s escape or commit to the longer chain that leads into Who Wants to Live Forever and the somber Things Done Changed epilogue. Comparing typical completion patterns also highlights why many returning players in 2026 treat the DLC as a “multiple-runs” narrative experiment: the time investment is manageable enough to see both Reed-leaning and Songbird-leaning outcomes while still looping back into the base game’s final act.