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Pyramids, Cats & Canon Endings. Was V Resurrected to Ascend in Cyberpunk 2077?
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In this video I discuss a theory about a spiritual thread running through Cyberpunk 2077, that deals with a potential canon ending and very spiritual message surrounding both V and Johnny Silverhand’s existence and ontology in general, as hinted by various elements in the game. I may be way off base here but would love to hear what you think!
I’m Tez (real name Stu Patrick) an English-Irish dad, gamer, ex-voice actor and full-time content creator! I love gaming and have done since 1985 when I played my first Spectrum game on my uncle’s ZX at the age of 7. I love all games but RPGs like Cyberpunk Mass Effect, Dragon Age and The Witcher really are my Jam. I use humour to keep myself entertained, and hopefully you too.
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00:00 Intro
00:48 Ontology
1:50 The problem with Multiple Endings
3:50 V’s Dead Dave
7:00 Cats – Nibbles
8:55 Mountains & Stickers
11:00 Journey
13:26 Mikoshi
15:30 But Why not Johnny Silverhand?
16:44 Heaven Or Hell?
17:14 Conclusion
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Buddy, you're probably one of the best specialists on Cyberpunk I've seen. I've watched so many streams and videos about this game, yet I still haven't played it because my hardware won't allow it. I'd like to try it through cloud gaming; my friends recommended Boosteroid, and it worked fine for them. What do you think about it?
Holy shit. Can’t believe i haven’t thought of it this way. Great video man wow
Anything made by man, comprising in the material world is a distraction and trap keeping him away from Heaven. And the definition of Heaven is "a kingdom made by God not of, or affected by, the material world.". If Mikoshi, it's nickname being "prison of souls", is a maximum security prison; then the "old net" is an open world prison. Made by man, out of material things. It's status as a digitialized virtual reality does not detract from it being comprised of material things; the whole thing runs of silicone & gold computational processors running from worldly electricity. It's a hall of mirrors. "Cyberspace" is the ultimate form of purgatory; it can present it self as a heavenly place ruled by gods; but those self proclaimed 'gods' did not create the stars in the sky; and when our Sun goes out, so too will Cyberspace come to an end; assuming it even lasts that long, natural disasters will take it out much before then.
2:24 -considering that Johnny was originally meant to be a sidequest without major affect on the world, but they changed direction after Keanu entered the project, I feel you are full of shit.
This is pretentious bullshit… holy fuck… when V is allready dead and the soul is gun the character would be a braindead zombie. But we have all memories and fellings of our live when we awake after the headshot. And the sticker on the car is just a sticker, maybe an easter egg. Or do you believe that the witcher easter eggs have some deeper meaning too? I have to reflect why your video triggers me so much 🙂
Um…yes. mhmm.
Waking up in a landfill feeling like I've been shot in the head used to happen to me every weekend. Thanks Tez, now I'm questioning my reality.
Its funny how at my 1st playthrough by a netrunner my V left beyond the blackwall cause it seemed like the only logical choice for him to save both Johny and him since it seemed fine for him as a netrunner. The ending should suit the character.
I would love to see V as an AI acting from beyond the blackwall in the Cyberpunk 2 since we already have so many references to rogue AIs influencing the real world.
Consider the fact that if V's body was braindead, no amount of "rebooting" from the Engram can fix that. The only reason V was "ressurrected" is because he is not fully dead and his brain was still intact. The proof of this is his consciousness, which is very different from his spirit fighting to exist. If we assume that V's body is completely dead, then Johnny would be dead too. Throughout the game, Johnny made this one clear. So, great video but the premise is flawed.
I dont think V died at the landfill or that'd defeat the purpose of that optional dialogue with Alt during V's first meeting with her in cyberspace, and would take away from the weight of getting killed by soulkiller later. Rather V died when they got fried at Mikoshi, and the V that came out of Arasaka after is no longer "alive" in a sense. Its just an Ai puppeted body much like if you let Johnny take it. So essentially no matter what choice was made whether V kept it or V lets Johnny take it, its all the same. The only outcome that would have let V "live" ironically was to let the relic do what it was supposed to do and let it change V's body and mind into Johnny's. Because although yes V would lose the core of what makes a person a person i.e their memories and self identity, it would've kept them "alive".
Its pretty funny that V pre Phantom liberty was just fated to die no matter what they did and the whole game post waking up from the landfill was really just some sad attempt to reclaim something that fate dictated. Even in the face in the crowd ending V died as well, but in a more figurative sense. They lived, sure but who they were and who they were supposed to be died on that operating table.
I mean some of this is definitely thought provoking. But V and Johnny are fundamentally different. Johnny is a recording of a person from 50 years ago . V is not dead because Dex used a low caliber round. This has actually happened in real life where people have survived such assassination attempts with lowly 20th century medicine. The relic just repaired some of the damage. But the questions about existence and the spiritual side of things are definitely some of the more interesting aspects of the game.
Think of it like this the human brain is also just a piece of hardware as we're playing through the game V is perhaps the Ghost in the Shell. Because the chips protocol is to repair the brain in a manner that suits the new identity. Aka Johnny. Because in most cases at the end of the game it's lights out for V… V is the ghost in his own body, as the chip rewrites the brain to better suit Silverhand's personality… And turn silverhand is being reborn
I have a feeling if we see V in the next game, we will likely be seeing Johnny silverhand instead
"The lane to the land of the dead. Where you are, my friend. Marie-France, my lady prepared this road but her lord choked her off before I could read the book of her days. Neuro from the nerves, the silver paths. Romancer. Neuromancer. I call up the dead. But no, my friend. " The boy avatar representation of the AI did a little dance, brown feet printing in the sand. " I am the dead and their land." -William Gibson's Neuromancer, the story which Cyberpunk and even Shadowrun are based upon.
I hadn't realized how profoundly similar ideas in the main plot of Cyberpunk 2077 were to the book till this video. Marie Francie, creator of Neuromancer was choked to death. Soburo who created Mikoshi (meaning "divine palanquin", a transport for vessels for deities in Shinto culture) suffered the same fate. Both were like an AI based afterlife. The main characters had a degraded neurological condition that at a certain point in the story creates a ticking bomb that they have to race to break into the AI based afterlife. Both are stories about an oncoming synthesis of two different minds, one of those minds desperately trying to fight off the synthesis. And ultimately… the attacked mind only has one true option to save itself, offer a digital afterlife alternative. Neuromancer offered case a way out of his condition, a whole new life, whatever life he wanted within itself. V was offered an alternative that would actually preserve her existence by Alt Cunningham. Escape to the net under her guidance. Possibly to be "devoured" by her, to join her. ("I am the dead, and their land.")
The difference is which minds were fusing. V and Johnny's. Johnny hating the process because it meant Arasaka made him into what he hated most, someone who devours another's individuality. He of course took half the plot of the story to realize this is always what he had done. It always was who he was and death did not change that. But Neuromancer the merging mind was an AI made just to do that. He did it, yearned for it because it was part of his purpose and was incomplete without Neuromancer's knowledge of humanity.
Absolutely deep, insightful commentary. This game is brilliant and so re-playable. CDPR really cooked up a masterpiece; DLC included. And thanks for the tip about Journey. Never heard of it, but downloading now.
So I guess I do agree with your views on it we are a ghost in our own body…
An interesting philosophical approach with points I have not thought about, and I agree.
There are a couple more fitting things coming to my mind now:
– The Pacifica Delamain says something like "You´re still shuffling around a little, but your dead"
– Brendan, our beloved friendly S.C.S.M. mentions, when it comes to V, that he "can´t speak ill of the dead" and that you´re "a glitch in the system"
With over 1k hours in Night City I´ve seen and played all endings in various combinations (m and f Vs, different partners, etc.) and must say, that giving your body to Johnny and going with Alt is the ending that FELT most "right".
I just enjoy and love your content
the whole game is a Johnny's memory or thoughts, dreams, about V, kinda "WHAT IF".
the canon ending is a new dawn fades (temperance), if you listen to what Silverhand says, he already knew everything when you talk to him. at Oil fields he already knew that he failed save Vs life
the way how you skip dialogue is literally a hint
and Johnny dont have access to all memories only most recent one – and this is a prologue, minimal information. JS is a second main character, if not a first.
and he is a beloved character of Mike Podsmith, like his son, dude spend years to bring him back, even black dog mission, no way he dies after few weeks of cyberpunk 2077 game timeline because some kids want f**k Panam, at this rate 2077 wont be a canon with his writings
I am willing to bet I am one of the few that chose my particular ending as their first ending, and even more, I bet most people never chose this option.
This body may not be mine any longer, but it is not Johnny's AI body either, so believing that neither of us deserved the body, I committed suicide so I could go out on my own terms. I then replayed before I saw one of the "true endings"
Also remember the meaning of life is 42 or a mistake!
I've had a lot of the same thoughts, but came to a different conclusion based on a few elements that struck me as significant:
1) The relic is damaged and there's lots of corrupted data…SoMi purges some of the data to make room for mods, by these details, we can understand that the version of Silverhand we encounter in the game itself an incomplete engram. The fact that he exists doesn't preclude the fact that he's incomplete, V's own psyche forms a structure that allows Johnny to emerge, just like the relic reboots V. The brain damage should have damaged parts of his mind no matter what…but in spite of this mutual damage they exist.
2) During the conversations with Hellman he mentions that they both exist simultaneously and that eventually the balance will shift from V to Johnny, but doesn't indicate that V will ever truly be gone. V and Johnny are a merging of two beings with the Relic's systems effectively choosing a winning side through the reconfiguration of the mind, but it can't stop the two personalities from influencing each other.
3) There are also indications that the engram is itself modified, with some of the memories we see and experience are not accurate based on the known Canon history. For example, some of the events we see Johnny accomplish, such as the fight with Smasher…Johnny mentions a few times about how they can edit engrams…likely having an idea that his memories were edited and that even before his emergence he was not quite himself. In terms of Yorinobu's goals having and "optimized" version of Johnny makes sense as building up his skills and suppressing the more problematic aspects of his personality would only serve to enhance his effectiveness. It's interesting that Johnny keeps talking about how he always had a smoke, but it was actually Morgan Blackhand who is most often pictured with a cigarette.
There's a lot of people who claim that Johnny is not genuine in his dealings with V and that he's messing with the memories…but I think that the reality is that Johnny's personality was edited for Yorinobu's purpose…and that V's integration with Johnny further amplified this…but also brought balance to the damaged construct. Johnny isn't really Johnny, even Alt alludes to this…but certainly feels like he's close enough…or at least "a version of Johnny" that's close enough in her current state as an AI herself significantly different from her time as a human.
Even with the "split" that occurs, the "cross contamination" is irreversible, this is especially apparent in the playthroughs where V remains at odds with Johnny where they feel the "infection" of Silverhand in their psyche. Although in the situations where V bonds with Silverhand, the evolution of Silverhand is much more apparent where V is more intrinsically "corrupting" Silverhand. Any version that "survives" remains a different person than the one they were previously.
Looking at it phylosophically, they start on the same page as they're both dead and brought back to life, but are both damaged by the experience. The character that we play is as Hellman implies a hybrid personality where V's core personality is dominant, but will eventually become subsumed by Silverhand. The longer they stay together, the more the two personalities mesh together…even if two engrams are created, it's a picture of the personalities as they are rather than copies of the personalities as they were. There's no going back, but in terms of Night City…you never get out alive anyways.
In the end, I don't think that one ending with V being "dead" was necessarily the goal…but rather that V is dead in all endings…that whoever continues whether that ends up being V or Johnny is only relevant in the way that they interact with those he leaves behind. Just like how in the ending where V is "healed" at the end of Phantom Liberty V remains fundamentally changed by the experience, no longer the person they used to be…dead again…in another way.
There's a multiplicity of ways to bring V back in a sequel, although I don't think that's necessarily the goal here. V's story is complete, as is Smasher's and Johnny's…at least this version of him. They could all come back, or we could encounter a new set of legends. I think that would be more fitting as in my mind, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about death…and how in this setting, death is the only thing you can expect. It comes for everyone in the end…to titans, to legends and to countless peons…it's the only way you matter in this world. V's dead even if he survives because that's the price of existing in this world. The religious symbolism you refer to very much points to this fact. It's not IMO insignificant that the place you're encouraged to revisit most often is the Columbarium. That it's really the only place in the world that takes accounting of your actions. The people who die either from your hand or through the series all get memorialized there.
They're both dead…and they're also alive…a version of V survives in every ending where he doesn't outright die…the same can be said about Johnny as well. That IMO is where the religious imagery comes into play…they're not just dead, but reborn…and will die again. In one version V is reborn as an Aldecaldo, in another reborn as a normie, in another as a legendary Merc going after continuation…another as an AI or an engram, waiting to be reborn to serve Arasaka or to continue their own path, each time it's the ending of One V, one Johnny and the birth of another.
There's not one true ending, and as long as V doesn't give up…they're all the same. Death and rebirth…what changes is the cost of continuing to exist.
There may end up being a canon ending that we come across in the next game…but personally I prefer never really finding out…The afterlife remains the one mystery we can't solve.
I've done multiple playthroughs and have explored every path. But not once have I met Jackie on the roof. How does that happen?