Earlier this month, CD Projekt Red finally gave players a better look at the upcoming DLC for Cyberpunk 2077, titled Phantom Liberty. This look at it revealed the premise for the DLC and gave names to some of its biggest characters. One of these Cyberpunk 2077 characters, however, is one who probably shouldn't be trusted.
The latest trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty revealed that one of V's main contacts in the game is a character known as Songbird. She contacts V, effectively promising the character that they can help the player with their Johnny Silverhand problem if they help her. Unfortunately, like most characters in the game, Songbird likely isn't a character that players should trust.
V's History With Untrustworthy Characters in Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is ultimately full of very deceitful characters. From the beginning, it sets up a general aura of untrustworthiness from characters who know more than the player or are more powerful than the player. As depicted in one of Cyberpunk 2077's earliest trailers, the big inciting incident has V's boss/partner Dexter DeShawn shoot the character in the head after a heist goes horribly wrong. This early event installs a sense of distrust within the player of any and all supporting characters throughout the game's runtime, especially those with any sense of authority.
While there are exceptions to this like Panam, Jackie, Viktor, and Judy, it feels like for every helpful major supporting character the player encounters there are at least as many who have their own interests in mind. For example, Goro Takemura is a character V can save in Cyberpunk 2077, and he saves V early on in the game.
Throughout their interactions, it's very clear that, for the most part, he's just using V as a means to an end. Other characters like Maiko Maeda will initially appear helpful only for their true motivations to be revealed at the worst possible time. Unfortunately, the dialog in the new trailer for Phantom Liberty seems to indicate that Songbird is likely another untrustworthy character.
Why Songbird Shouldn't Be Trusted In Phantom Liberty
It was fairly clear from the start that Idris Elba's Solomon Reed was untrustworthy in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and the new trailer also seemed to all but confirm this. Rather, it also appears that he is trying to instill some distrust of Songbird into V. He mentions that wherever she goes, people have a tendency to get hurt or killed. She also tells V that the illusion of freedom draws in the desperate, and to pick their own truth in this situation.
It's also worth noting that what Songbird appears to be promising V is something that seems too good to be true. While it has been confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will unlock a new ending, it's hard to imagine that it will be a happy one. All the endings where V survives indicate that the character won't live much longer, and it's hard to imagine that Songbird can actually offer something more long-term. It's very possible and indeed likely that she either doesn't know the full scope of V's problem or does and is just using the player character to get what she wants.
At this stage, it's impossible to say which of these characters should or shouldn't be trusted. Both Songbird and Solomon Reed clearly have their own agendas and are probably using V for their own ends. In fact, it wouldn't at all be surprising if players are forced to choose between aiding one character over the other. Gamers will have to wait until September to see just how straight these characters are.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
