Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty – Should You Side With Reed Or Songbird?

The story of Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty DLC comes down to one pivotal choice: side with Solomon Reed, or Song “Songbird” So Mi? Reed is a Federal Intelligence Agency officer, and Songbird is a Netrunner who serves as President Myers’ aide. These two legendary figures in Night City’s Dogtown both have help to offer V, but siding with either can affect the ending the protagonist gets.

While you have multiple opportunities to play both sides of these characters’ conflict, eventually you will have to pick a side. There will be a choice to immobilize Songbird for Reed or let her escape during the final quest of the DLC. Each option has its pros and cons, affecting both what comes next in Phantom Liberty and what changes in the base game after the expansion’s ending.[Warning: This article contains spoilers for all possible endings to Phantom Liberty, as well as the new ending added to Cyberpunk 2077’s base game.]

What Happens If Players Side With Songbird In Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?

Songbird’s Ending Is Arguably Happier But Comes At A Cost

When the President’s helicopter takes a dive in Dogtown, Songbird calls on the mercenary V for help. In return, she promises to help them recover from their Relic virus. However, Reed is convinced that letting Songbird fly is more trouble than it’s worth. He believes that Songbird’s work behind the Blackwall, a long-standing defense measure against rogue AI, is dangerous—and he’s got the President on his side.

Eventually, you’ll stealthily install an immobilizing Icebreaker device on Songbird while helping her escape the clutches of Dogtown gang boss Kurt Hansen. During the 10th quest in Phantom Liberty, “Firestarter,” V travels to Hansen’s base at the EBM Petrochem Stadium in Dogtown. This is in an attempt to end his operation, while also helping Songbird in the process.

After acquiring the identities of two hackers, Aurore and Aymeric, in the previous quest, V and Alex can enter the stadium. From here, Songbird and V can hack into its defense systems while Alex heads up to Hansen’s office.

When you reach this point, V can choose to activate the Icebreaker or allow Songbird to continue her work. Picking the former option will allow Reed to capture Songbird, but choosing the latter means Songbird’s hack succeeds. When you side with Songbird, Alex breaks into the office and kills Hansen, and the stadium’s security system lights up.

Letting Alex kill Hansen means missing out on some of the best new weapons in the Phantom Liberty DLC: Hansen’s Fang, Bald Eagle, and Wild Dog, which can be acquired after a boss battle with Hansen at the end of the Firestarter mission if players choose the Reed path.

When the Songbird path has been chosen, both V and Songbird have to escape together, with Songbird using her Netrunning powers to create environmental defenses. Eventually, they reach the exit, but Songbird is badly hurt from her most recent trip beyond the Blackwall. V shouldn’t go down the elevator here, or Reed will kill them instantly.

Instead, they should leave with Songbird via the main entrance. A few days later, V gets a phone call from Songbird. She lied when she said she could help V. The cure would only work for her, but in order to get it, she had to travel to a lunar treatment facility. The treatment is, unfortunately, useless for V’s Relic virus. Despite this, V still must pick her up, put her on a train, and head to the spaceport.

As you and Songbird prepare to board the moon-bound shuttle, Reed emerges from it. He aims a gun at V and demands that they put Songbird down. If they don’t, Reed promises to kill them. However, to continue siding with Songbird, the player can choose the option to draw their weapon during the ensuing dialogue.

This is the final act of the DLC, where you and Songbird have a boss fight against Reed, where you must use everything at your disposal to defeat him. After you take down Reed, V loads Songbird up on the shuttle and she flies away. In an epilogue, V and Johnny Silverhand wish her well, wondering if they’ll ever see her again (they won’t).

In my opinion, siding with Songbird leads to the happiest ending, but has some questions left unanswered. V’s former ally, Reed, is dead, and they never learn what happened to Songbird after sending her to the moon, so it could have all been in vain. However, this ending doesn’t affect any changes to Cyberpunk 2077‘s base game, even if it is a little unsatisfying.

What Happens If Players Side With Reed In Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?

Reed’s Ending Can Result In Everyone Surviving But Is Often Bittersweet

There are two ways to side with Reed: either by giving up Songbird at the spaceport as described above or by activating the Icebreaker during the stadium mission “Firestarter.” If V decides to help Songbird escape, then gives her up to Reed at the last second, Reed agrees to make a deal: a cure for V in exchange for custody of Songbird.

When you give Songbird to Reed, either at the port or on the mission, he’ll pick Songbird up and bundle her aboard an official NUSA transport before riding off into the night. The DLC ends abruptly here, but both remain alive, with Songbird apparently treatment-bound – but she’s still under FIA custody.

Those who choose to work with Reed will find it easier to side with Songbird at first, since getting her to the spaceport is far simpler than the quest that follows if they activate the Icebreaker.

If V decides to activate the Icebreaker at the stadium, it doesn’t work as intended. Instead of immobilizing Songbird, it makes her go berserk, rushing out of the stadium and leaving destruction in her wake. V must fight Hansen alone and is rewarded with his three unique weapons. As they escape, they meet up with Reed, and the two bear witness to Songbird’s arrest by NCPD officers.

Reed and V give chase to the MaxTac convoy transporting Songbird. They’re able to create an opportunity for her to escape, but Reed is injured. V must follow Songbird into an abandoned Militech facility patrolled by a killer robot. V follows Songbird’s trail to the center of the facility, where she lies injured in wait. She pleads with V to end her suffering; she’d rather be dead than in FIA custody.

Things work out better if V lets Songbird live. Killing her upsets both Reed and the President, and locks V out of the new ending. If they let her live, however, they’re treated to a final cutscene in which an unconscious Songbird is returned to the President’s helicopter.

President Myers gives V a medal for their heroism, and Reed promises to be in touch about a cure. This unlocks the same Pyrrhic ending as turning in Songbird at the spaceport does, but with the added wrinkle of an unhappy conclusion for Songbird.

Players Should Side With Songbird In Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Her Ending Delivers A More Satisfying Conclusion

Players should side with Songbird during “Firestarter” at the end of Phantom Liberty. Songbird may have been dishonest, even a little bit selfish, but her only crime was curiosity. Reed has honesty on his side, but he’s little more than a tool of a jealous, power-hungry world government. Songbird is an admirable, ambitious character and deserves the best ending possible: treatment on her own terms and a future of her own choice.

Reed may not deserve to die, but he puts his own life on the line to prevent Songbird from going free. Siding with Songbird may mean missing out on the new ending to the base game, but in the end, you’re not missing much. The ending unlocked by siding with Reed is one of the worst endings possible in Cyberpunk 2077, and as it turns out, siding with Songbird can indirectly help in unlocking a happier ending.

To unlock the secret “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” ending, you need to maintain a consistently positive relationship with Johnny Silverhand throughout the entirety of the campaign. Johnny approves of saving Songbird by sending her to the Moon, so making this decision can help keep Johnny’s affinity for V high.

Cyberpunk 2077’s New Ending For Siding With Reed

The “Face In The Crowd” Ending Is One Of Cyberpunk 2077’s Worst

Siding with Reed and turning over Songbird alive unlocks a new ending to the base game, “Face in the Crowd.” This ending sees V being permitted to fly to Washington, D.C., for government-sponsored surgery. If they go through with it, however, they’ll be left with a body unable to incorporate any combat Cyberware.

In this ending, V resigns themselves to a normal, boring life off the grid and blends into the Night City crowds as the camera fades to black. It’s not the most pleasant ending, but it is an option. Perhaps the biggest gut punch of this ending is that V ends up in a coma for several years following the surgery.

Don’t be hasty to pick a side between Reed and Songbird in the DLC, as the wrong choice can ruin a Phantom Liberty playthrough. Depending on how your V’s journey has gone, one ending might make more sense than the other.

Upon trying to contact your former allies, you’ll find everyone has moved on in some way or doesn’t want to talk to V. To make matters worse, V can see their attempts to contact them in the early days of the coma when they were unable to respond. This particularly stings when it comes to romanceable companions, as it undoes all the relationships built throughout the game.

Panam just doesn’t pick up the phone, and River has sold police intel to the Trauma Team in exchange for money for Randy’s rehab and refuses to see V out of shame. While Judy and Kerry seem happy to hear from V, Judy has moved on and got married, and Kerry’s fame has grown, making him too busy to catch up.

Of course, one could argue that siding with Reed is better since it means that both characters—and potentially Songbird, too—end the DLC alive. It’s also the sole condition to unlock the “Face in the Crowd” ending of Cyberpunk 2077. Again, it’s not the happiest ending possible, but it’s nice to have the option, and some could argue it can still be a fitting conclusion to the story, depending on other choices throughout the game.

There are arguments to be had about having either character as your ally, but I personally prefer giving Songbird the freedom she deserves. While siding with Songbird tends to lead to the best outcome for V, the right choice is always what makes the most sense for your Cyberpunk 2077 player character to make.