My thoughts on why the 'Nomad' ending is more positive than I initially thought

[Spectral_Warrior]

Intro
A frequent complaint about this game is that there aren't any truly happy endings and that V is doomed no matter what. Initially when I did the Panam ending I thought so too. But then a few days later I reloaded my save and decided to re-experience the ending to see if I could detect any glimmer of hope to an otherwise bittersweet ending. And boy did I find hope.

Now I'll spare you the details of the Tarot cards since you're probably familiar with them already and it's been discussed to death, but the TLDR is that Misty says you have a good life ahead of you. I personally believe Misty and her cards since they've been bang on accurate about the other endings and about Jackie.

But what I really want to explore is what happens at the tent where the Basilisk is stored (final mission of Nomad ending). This is the part of the end where you say your final words with Mitch and cross the border with Panam. If you head to the desk just before you board the Basilisk you'll find a data shard - "The Iliad".

I want to stress that these are just my personal interpretations. Others may look at it differently or discard it entirely. But I believe the developers have intentionally placed this data-shard here for a reason.

The Iliad
Here's what the shard says and I've added my interpretation:

• "If I abide here and war about the city of Trojans [Night City], then lost is my home [mother nature with the Aldecaldos], but my renown shall be imperishable [maintain a strong reputation in Night City - this is basically the Johnny ending where you return as V].
• "But if I return home [mother nature] to my dear native land [the great outdoors] then lost is my glorious renown [Night City reputation], yet shall my life long endure, neither shall the doom of death come soon upon me [hinting at a cure to the relic]."

The Aldecaldos are one of the few people that have truly treated V like family which is why I regard them as 'home' and native land to me implies the great outdoors. I genuinely believe this poem suggests that the Aldecaldos ending is "positive" and that V will probably find a solution to his problem in an expansion. Especially as this corroborates with Misty's tarot cards (which I trust for reasons provided earlier).

I'm all there with you mate.
My main point has also always been that I want to play it, experience that.
Its a videogame after all.
But again, I had the exact same impression. Granted I havent read the shard.
Something I've neglected far too much I think.
On my second run I'm honna do it in a far slower pace so my brain has more time to assimilate everytjing thrown at me.
First run was as I've described numeeous times a rollercoaster.

 

[3lmu3rt0]

Not long obviously but I had seizures where my mind shut off for a time.

So obviously I've experienced interrupted consciousness.

You know what I think? I'm still me.

Ah! But there's the crux of the matter, nobody copied anything and what's more nobody fried your brain with electricity while you were out. To come back to the computer analogy, your brain shut down/hibernated for a while but then it started back up, the 'files' never went anywhere so they're still the originals!

Regardless, as you said in the OP, it's really just a matter of perspective and interpretation. Take care my friend!

 

[Reymjard]

The V who wakes up in the epilogue to leave with Panam is not the same person who began the final mission. All you need to consider to understand this is that if Soulkiller was a copy/paste program instead of a cut/paste program, there would be two copies of V (the original and the engram) after it is used. Sadly, it's a cut/paste program, so the original V is dead.

Alt even mentions that due to the damage already done to V's brain before Soulkiller is used, she could barely piece together a fully coherent and functional engram.

I don't see it like that. All game long, V and Johnny are actually combining, hence why Johnny becomes less self-centered and V becomes a bit more punky (you can see it in the dialogue all game long, V's answer do not have the same tone in the end game compare to the early game). This is shown by the second percentage on your character screen, I see it as a ''how much Johnny as altered V personnality''. The maximum you're gonna get is 70%, meaning that 70% of V is actually a mix of V and Johnny and the 30% left is the original V. Which you could argue makes the Engram a 65% V and a 35% Johnny, depending on how you handle things it could also be less!

When V is just about to connect to Mikoshi, he isn't the same V Panam met in Ghost Town, but he's pretty much the same guy she's with in Belly of the Beast (the second percentage doesn't change when you start the mission).

How I see it is that Alt creates a engram of V at the moment he joins Mikoshi, like Johnny's engram was made just before he died or the one Saburo has. At the end of the day, engram are perfect representation of someone the only question is: Do they have a soul ? It's a philosophical question that arrise a lot in this game, especially when you do the Sinnerman quest. In a scientific world view souls do not exist, consciousness comes from our synaptic liaison, neurons, etc. All of this makes us conscious. That's the question that is left at the end of the game. V's engram is conscious, but is he really alive ? Was Johnny really alive ? That question in think will be left unanswered.

With the engram created just before V dies, and that engram being put into his body, V's is dead, but his engram isn't and it is a perfect copy of him. So similar in fact that his friends and companion can't see a difference, like Rogue couldn't see that much of a difference between engram Johnny and the real one (apart from the fact that he was less selfish).

 

[UgzAube]

I find that this ending is suitable for a Corpo V.


For me, the Aldecaldos and Arasaka to be a good contrast in V.'s life. One represents an individualistic society that throws us away at the slightest opportunity. The other represents a family that would do anything for us.

Where Arasaka takes most of everything from us, the Aldecaldos give us hope.