Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunner Ep 10, "My Moon My Man" Review

 

 

Hey Chooms, this is the second “Two Part” episode, and this is the finale. It's a ride best taken in full, so set an hour aside for “Humanity” and “My Moon, My Man.” Lots of blood, gore, and violence. Maybe some nudity.

 

The finale episode has arrived my Chooms. It's been fun being on this ride and we're at the last stretch of track. Here's everything we've got for Cyberpunk Edgerunners. All final thoughts and feelings, insights, and a bit more about Cyberpunk itself.

 

David's tittering on the knife's edge of Cyberpsychosis, ready to fall headlong into the quiet Night City. Lucy is struggling to break free and everyone else is just trying to survive. Mix in a powerhouse like Arasaka, very few people actually have any chance to survive. Just how many will become legends and how many will live to tell them is what we'll be seeing throughout.

 

Almost immediately, things are looking bad for both the Edgerunners as well as Militech. David needs a few minutes to actually rest (and the meds are starting to lose their potency). We get a brief look at the center of Night City itself. The very heart of Arasaka that rest there. Very mile there is a battle in the war to rescue Lucy from Faraday and Arasaka. Every vial of Immunoblockers, an ever thinning life-line. Waiting at the end is a ledge and a wall. It really is a question if they can manage to avoid the ledge, dodge the wall or manage to cling to the road.

 

There's Kiwi's storyline that needs some resolution. We get to see her leaving the scene and heading into the spawl of Night City. She gives her report to Faraday, making it clear that David, if he's still sane, will be gunning for them next. She has to trust Faraday a little more and she's not liking that in the least. Remember, Kiwi's the one who's been saying you can't trust anyone in Night City if you want to survive. This does prove to be true. Faraday sets her up at the drop point, and guns her down. He sends his henchmen to kill her after she quickhacks him, disabling his arm with the gun. She does do one more thing for the Edgerunners, she shares a tracking program with Lucy's position. Either this was an act of redemption or offering her friends a final shred of hope to come back together. Kiwi's the one who'd know.

 

David has a lot going for him here. While he's in Psychosis, he sees a barren Night City. While “Major Crimes” is playing, we see him stop at a crosswalk and that old foot tap is back. When he pauses in the middle of the intersection, 2 cars come but he vanishes into his team's car before we're returned to reality and the very real pile-up that happened there. This leads to an extended flashback, filling in more of what Doc told David. When his meds run out, he'll be shot right over the edge regardless of whatever is left of his self identity. As the fighting goes on, we see David breaking down, slipping into the past. When we get back to the action after Security is talking about sending out Adam Smasher, we jumped back to David taking on his bully just after he first got his sandevistan. That jumps to present just as David punches him. We see what even a basic attack looks like with this powerhouse of an augmentation. The trauma from his mother's death creeps back in. He's screaming about Medtech just leaving his mother as he slaughters Maxtech and destroys their helicarrier completely. He holds on, reaching the literal top of Arasaka Tower before using the last vial of Immunoblockers.

 

For the first time since the first episode, we hear his mother this episode. She's never been far from his thoughts. Almost every episode we've seen David looking at her ashes, or the Urn with her ashes. She's never far from his thoughts. Everything she did for him wasn't lost on him. It's been close to his mind constantly, wanting to aspire toward the top. His words while at Arasaka Tower prove as much, even if he was ranting. It was like he was saying goodbye to her again when he went into the tower.

 

It's about the midpoint that Adam Smasher is even mentioned. He's been in the security room likely the whole time. There is something very different with Adam Smasher though. He's given up his body and exists within a cyborg body. There' a brain in there, but it's integrated completed with the mechanics without having to “interface” through Adam's original body.

 

The confrontation of Faraday is just impressive. David uses the Sandevistan to get inside and quickhack through the protections on Lucy. Then we see him take all the guns and mow down the Arasaka soldiers around the room. The Intelligence Agent survives slowly because Adam Smasher gets in the way. David does deal with Faraday, very much the “pulling the wings off a fly.” Just with gravity manipulation and crushing his legs beyond repair.

 

The real fight starts once Adam Smasher shoots David point blank. David goes over the edge, slaughtering the Medtech team. Just getting to see Faraday fall to his death feels good. David did get his revenge on Faraday, if indirectly.

 

Just so you know, you need to fight Adam Smasher at the end of the game along every path. He usually will kill one of your allies if you go in with the Aldecaldos or Rogue. Both those paths are a good challenge to get through. If you break down the front door yourself in the secret Solo ending ending, you're still fighting him. Johnny has a grudge against Adam Smasher anyway. It's always been a satisfying boss fight. Having seen this show and built an appreciation for David just adds a bit more to the next time I put a tech rifle/quick hack killing blow on him.

 

Something I've remarked on very little are the titles of the episodes. Largely, it's just been that they're fun, I like it, but not enough to say something about it. Feist's “My Moon My Man” however is a very different story. This song came out a few years after I graduated from college. I was talking with friends and one of them recommended Feist to me. Understand, I enjoy a wide variety of music and try to keep doing so. But there are some songs that are just worth focusing on. This one is one of them. The piano opening is just so distinct. Also, if you watch the music video, it's a lot of fun. It's one of them meant to look like it's a single take (and full well could be... but definitely had some takes and splices). It's fun just watching Feist sing the song with the other travelers moving back and forth on other conveyor belts. The lighting gets really impressive in the middle. Especially at the woodwinds part with everything being very strobe effect. The chorus part has her dancing with a quartet of dancers and the lighting just makes it amazing to look at. It's one of them that's just fun to watch. When it's all over, it's just back to real life with her running off the conveyor.

 

Having talking about the title, let's talk about the music throughout this episode. “Major Crimes” by HEALTH and Window Weather is what we're hearing when David's walking in Night City when he says he needs to grab a quick 5 minute rest. When Becca and Falco are dealing with Maxtech and Arasaka, we're hearing “III (Continuous Mix)” by Fir3Sounds. “Adam Smasher” by Paul Leonard-Morgan is what we're hearing when David and Adam Smasher are fighting initially. No surprise there. It breaks when David leaves Arasaka Tower, bringing the fight outside with Lucy. Otherwise, you are hearing: “Zurawie” by Ugory, “Outsider No More” by PT Adamczyk, “Run to the Edge” by Marcin Przybylowicz and PT Adamczyk, “Neuron” by Auer. Most importantly, you have “I Really Want to Stay at Your House” by Rosa Wilton is playing when David goes over the edge. When his head goes into 4 after images is when it begins. It continues as he comes back to lucidity from Lucy's kiss. It goes until it all comes crashing down. We get to hear it briefly one more time after Falco reveals David's final request. And in the final moments of the fight with Adam Smasher through to the end of the episode. Just in case you ever wondered by people who've seen this series tear up when hearing it.

 

There's also just Lucy's goal of going to the moon, taking it a bit more literally. She really does want to go to the Moon with David. She sees the Moon as a Sanctuary, a place away from Arakasa. It's a one-way trip for her. It's going to be more expensive up there in general. It's in this solitude that David gives Lucy something she's wanted for her whole life: Freedom. She has freedom from Arasaka, little concern about money, and she can finally live instead of just survive.

 

Time to get to our final thoughts on the series. I've had fun writing about the TTRPG Cyberpunk while writing about Edgerunner. It's been a lot of fun to watch and review the series, especially putting a bit of thought toward the music each episode and hunting down the tracks I can throughout them. Music is something very important and very potent in the right cases. How it was used throughout the series was very impactful. Taking the time to really look at what was were was actually very cool to do. Why? I was looking more at the art of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, taking in the colors and styling that they were using throughout. Also, on the subsequent viewings, taking in smaller details of the city and the characters. Just the details both in the gore and the characters. The sheer articulation with Pilar's hands was amazing to look into. It does remain I haven't played Cyberpunk Red, but I have done research into it. Character creation, running combat, running a session. Nothing too deep, just enough to get an idea. It's got a lot more moving parts than the one Cyberpunk game I have played a few times, Shadowrun. It's definitely a game I'll get around to playing. I've got the sourcebook and I know a few friends who'd like to give it ago. Unfortunately, there isn't going to be a “season 2” of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. If it comes back, it'll be in a very different form. Most of us are hoping that we could come back to Night City in a different form. Think of it like the 3 lifepaths from Cyberpunk 2077. David represents the “Street Kid” lifepath. A scrappy kid manages to break in as a Runner and make it big. There is also the Corpo path, and the Nomad Lifepath. Both those could offer their own series completely unique. All it would share is the setting of Night City, but that's a fairly universal thing. Cyberpunk 2077 has definitely benefited from the popularity of Edgerunners. That's very much a good thing. It was much harder to see when the game first launched, but it was a decent game.

Take the time and explore the world of Cyberpunk 2077, really see what Night City has to offer you Choom. It's often on sale for $30 (US) through GOG.com or the PSN/Microsoft Store. Plus we've got the first major piece of DLC, “Phantom Liberty” launching some time next year. Honestly, it's probably going to come out when its ready. All that aside, I did enjoy this show. It had a solid cast (both English and Japanese) for the voice acting. Honestly, go with whichever track works best for you. Sub or Dub, we're thankfully now in an era where both will be good. The music is top notch. Having a good mix of background music from the game Cyberpunk 2077 and the music from the radio stations. If you've got the time, put the 4 hours in. This can give you a good idea of what Night City can have for anyone. Honestly, as long as it's something you're interested in, you'll have something great to enjoy.

Time to delta Choom. C-YA