Is David Dead at the End of Cyberpunk Edgerunners? Explained

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is one of the few game adaptations that ended up good. The creators created a compelling cyberpunk world that transcends what we saw from the gaming adaptations since Arcane and longer. The Cyberpunk universe was created by Mike Pondsmith, who created the original Cyberpunk RPG line in 1988. The show is set in the same timeline as the video game released in 2020, Cyberpunk 2077. The characters, worldbuilding, and story impressed everyone, but the ending shocked many people. In this article, we will examine if David is dead at the end of Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

David Martinez died at the end of the Cyberpunk Edgerunners. After he killed Rebecca, Adam Smasher, the bodyguard-cyborg of the notorious Arasaka Corporation, killed David. Despite having a cyberskeleton, David falls to Adam Smasher, who tells him he would make a great “construct” and tears him apart. However, the Cyberpunk 2077 video game hinted at David’s death back in February of this year – in the Afterlife, a club in the Night City, a player can buy drinks named after the deceased legends of Night City – one of the drinks was named The David Martinez.

We will discuss this topic more by including more details of Edgerunner’s ending, mentioning some hints, and providing you with connections and references to the Cyberpunk 2077 game and its lore. If you are interested, stay with us until the end.

What happened at the end of the Cyberpunk Edgerunners?

One of the best things creators and studios of the shows can do when adapting the game is to look into the game’s lore, use the best parts of it and adapt it into a television format without massacring the game and making the fans mad. Cyberpunk Edgerunners did just that, and since its release earlier this month, the praises have not stopped. For a good reason.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners became the best-adapted video game adaptation to television this year and presented the general public with the great lore and worldbuilding of the original Cyberpunk. Not many people know that the original Cyberpunk game was first released as a tabletop board game in 1988. For years, fans enjoyed the Cyberpunk world of a dystopian, futuristic RPG.

The Cyberpunk Universe is rich by itself, and the mainstream media finally saw what it was in 2020 when the CD Projekt Red released the eagerly expected Cyberpunk 2077. This distinguished studio created Witcher games.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners just continued what the 2020 game started, and the show’s worldbuilding, characters, and storyline intrigued us to the core. The overall premise of Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners goes like this: dystopian future overrun by corruption, crime, and cybernetic implants is filled with people trying to survive, while the megacorporations like Arasaka and Militech are battling to take over the whole world.

Amongst the struggling people is a teenager named David Martinez, born to Gloria Martinez and an unknown father. He grew up on the street of Santo Domingo while living in the apartment of Megabuidling H4 in Arroyo. His mother, Gloria, was a hardworking woman who wanted her son to enroll in the best school available. She worked as an EMT – an underground techie that deals with underground business with cybernetics. David eventually started attending Arasaka Academy, located in Corpo Plaza.

The boy sold illegal braindance to earn some money. Still, after selling the faulty merchandise he acquired from a ripperdoc named Doc, David was targeted by wealthy students, including the son of Arasaka executive Katsuo Tanaka.

After the unfair treatment and ignorance that caused his mother to die, David decides to revenge on her by implanting the Sandevistan neuralware in himself and hunting the Katsuo and Arasaka corporation.

On his rocky journey that sees David targeted by the ruthless megacorp, David meets allies in his eventual girlfriend Lucy, Rebecca, Falco, Kiwi, and Faraday, that help him in his ultimate goal.

However, the ultimate revelation sees Faraday and Kiwi work for Arasaka and are responsible for Lucy’s kidnapping, which leads to the ending point of the show. The ending sees David fighting against the Militech megacorp force that wants to take the cyberskeleton back, while Rebecca and Falco are trying to save Lucy from Arasaka’s hands.

The symptoms of using the cybernetics too much take a toll on David, and his resolve is getting weaker – the cybernetics make humans lose their minds if used too much. Arasaka and MaxTac join the fight, and David, Falco, and Rebecca head for Arasaka Tower. Kiwi wants to leave Faraday, but the double agent kills her – not before she tips off David where Lucy and Faraday are.

David incapacitates Faraday and rescues Lucy, but Arasaka deploys their legendary cyborg bodyguard, Adam Smasher. The notorious cyborg kills Rebecca in cold blood, proceeds to tear David apart, and ultimately kill him. Lucy and Falco survive, and David’s girlfriend finally fulfills her dream of traveling to the Moon – without David and the love of her life.

In the end, Adam Smasher killed everyone except Lucy and Falco, and Arasaka ultimately wins. However, although the viewers were emotional and shocked by the demise of our main protagonist David, the Cyberpunk fans knew this was coming since the beginning of the year. How? Let’s find out!

Is there confirmation of David’s death in Cyberpunk 2077?

We all love easter eggs and references, and the CD Projekt Red did it properly. Despite the critical acclaim and success of Cyberpunk 2077, the game had a lot of bugs and issues that needed fixing. The game developers still release patches to improve the game, and one in February of this year, more specifically, patch 1.5. it hinted at something only gamers would realize.

When the patch was released, the Cyberpunk game got a huge overhaul, and the developers added so much additional content.

However, one item or consumable stood out from the rest – The David Martinez drink. You see, the Afterlife club has a cool feature – it serves drinks named after the deceased Night City legends. Each drink gives a player character some perks and provides some enhancements to your stats.

The David Martinez drink is a common consumable with a ten percent movement speed reduction, weapon accuracy is reduced by fifty percent, and the drink’s duration lasts 30 seconds.

That is why gamers already knew that the main protagonist of the Cyberpunk Edgerunners would die after finding out about his name – you can only become a legend when you are dead.

In the description of the drink, it says: “Aim high and go out with a bang.” Fitting, isn’t it?