This article contains major spoilers for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. One of the most popular shows on Netflix right now is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the brand-new sci-fi anime from Studio Trigger. True to its name, the series borrows plenty of familiar tropes from other famous works in the cyberpunk genre — however, it’s still resonated deeply with countless fans due to its engaging characters and the dramatic, heartbreaking story that unfolds around them.
Edgerunners was created as a tie-in to the 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077, but it’s already managed to escape the shadow of the game that inspired it. It’s become a phenomenon unto itself due to how expertly it brings life to the dystopian world of Night City and the various characters who inhabit it. Of course, the story that unfolds in this world is certainly not for the faint of heart — but it’s that very sense of tragedy that makes Edgerunners so impactful.
Lost In The Night
The story of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners centers around David Martinez, an ordinary teenager in the futuristic metropolis of Night City. Despite growing up in a poor neighborhood, David nevertheless attends the prestigious Arasaka Academy thanks to the hard work of his mother Gloria, who dreams of seeing her son rise out of poverty and achieve a better life for himself. However, mother and son are struck by tragedy when they’re caught in a random firefight. And when the paramedics arrive, they promptly abandon the Martinez family after learning they don’t have insurance, leaving Gloria to die with David helpless to save her. Right away, Edgerunners offers an unflinching depiction of how cruel and unfair life in Night City is.
After his mother’s death, David is left bitter, destitute, and angry at the world. But soon, he discovers that his mom was secretly in league with the tough-as-nails cyborg Maine and his ragtag band of mercenaries — the series’ titular Edgerunners. David initially joins Maine’s crew to work off his late mother’s debt, but he quickly comes to see the Edgerunners as his new family, with Maine himself becoming a supportive mentor to the boy. David also develops feelings for the expert hacker Lucy, seeing beyond her aloof persona and recognizing her as someone else trying to hold on to an idealistic dream despite the suffering she’s endured. Before long, the two even become romantically involved, finding solace in one another in the midst of Night City’s endless hardships.
However, when a job goes awry, Maine ends up dying suddenly in a firefight with the authorities, leaving both David and Lucy devastated. While Lucy retires from the mercenary business, David throws himself into it headlong, dedicating his life to carrying on Maine’s legacy. He begins to resemble Maine more and more over time, becoming leader of the crew and upgrading himself with more cybernetics. And with every job he pulls off, he becomes more and more ambitious, convinced that he’s a special exception to all the countless cyberpunks who have been crushed by the cruel capitalist systems of Night City.
One could easily call David arrogant for this behavior, but his overconfidence doesn’t come from a place of selfishness. It’s noted multiple times that David has no real dreams of his own, but is rather driven by a compassionate desire to help fulfill the dreams of others. And because of his guilt over failing to save both his mother and his mentor, he’s latched tightly onto both of their dreams in particular. Not only does he become Maine’s successor among the mercenary crew, he also strives for ever greater heights, just like his mother wanted. David’s ambition is rooted in a desperation to become the man who Gloria and Maine both believed he could be.
A Fire That Burns
The final piece of the puzzle here is of course Lucy, David’s lover and closest confidant. Whenever it feels like the city itself is trying to tear them down, they find strength in each other. However, the strength of their love only makes it easier for the scheming opportunist Faraday to exploit. On the orders of the Arasaka Corporation, Faraday kidnaps Lucy, using her as bait to lure David into the perfect trap. Lucy begs David to save himself and avoid taking the bait, but David can’t bear to see her in danger. So, in another moment of overconfidence, he decides to don Arasaka’s experimental cyber skeleton in hopes of gaining the power to save her.
Despite David’s ambition, the power of the skeleton ends up putting unbearable strain on his already-fragile mental state, and he begins falling into Cyberpsychosis just like Maine before him. However, the moment David lays eyes on Lucy once more, he regains his senses and finds the will to save the woman he loves. Ultimately, it’s the bond David shares with Lucy that allows him to escape Cyberpsychosis despite the odds. It’s love, not ambition, that makes him special.
But alas, the story doesn’t end there. Though he saves Lucy, David is soon slaughtered by Adam Smasher, Arasaka’s top enforcer and a cyborg of unstoppable power. Despite all his strength of will, David’s been a big fish in a small pond until now. And once he goes up against a true legend of Night City, any power he once had vanishes in an instant. The moment he dared to challenge Arasaka, David flew too close to the sun. And while the fire inside him burned bright, it ended up burning him alive.
Of course, the story doesn’t quite end there either. As Lucy escapes, it’s revealed that David had a contingency plan in case he didn’t survive his final mission. He’d already made arrangements to get Lucy out of Night City by sending her to the moon. Back when Lucy first met David, she confided in him that her greatest dream was to travel to the moon — a silly, romantic dream, but one that drove her nonetheless. And in the end, Lucy’s dream comes true. But the man who made it happen, the man she loved, didn’t live to see it.
A Blaze of Glory
It’s been said that a tragic hero’s fatal flaw is derived from their greatest strength, and David Martinez is no exception. It’s his dedication to fulfilling the dreams of his loved ones, and the boundless ambition that arises from it, that makes him a great Edgerunner. However, it’s those same traits that ultimately lead him to his untimely end. Even so, he dies knowing that he’s fulfilled the very dreams he lived for. He carried on Maine’s legacy, he reached the top of Arasaka Tower for his mother, and he sent Lucy to the moon. And so, David dies with a smile on his face.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is hardly a groundbreaking story, but it nevertheless exemplifies everything that makes the cyberpunk genre so great — not just in its aesthetic, but in how it uses its setting to bolster its themes and deliver a compelling narrative. And behind all the heartbreak, it’s still a story about how even when we’re powerless to change the world, we can still change the lives of the people around us. It’s that perfect balance of hope, sorrow, and raw emotion that makes Edgerunners such a perfect tragedy.
