Full spoilers follow for Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2, which is available now on Netflix.
When Cyberpunk Edgerunners premiered in 2022, fans discovered a phenomenal season of television. Not only was it one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, but also a prime example of a video game adaptation done right, with just enough connections to the source material that they don’t impact the show’s story but still provide some nods for longtime fans. More importantly, it captured the essence of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, from its themes to its world, while also delivering an emotionally devastating story through stunning visuals — and a whole lot of brutal violence.
Edgerunners 2, which is designed as a standalone sequel series, does things a bit differently. This season still offers high levels of gore and violence, incredible animation, and themes of the evil of corporations and how they destroy everything they touch. What it does differently is incorporate into its plot not only the story of the first season of Edgerunners, but even elements from Cyberpunk 2077. That’s because a big part of Edgerunners 2 deals with Soulkiller, a program introduced in Cyberpunk 2077 as capable of digitizing the mind of a person and storing it on a chip. When inserted in another person, the digital entity from the chip slowly takes over its host and eventually kills the body’s original mind. Though it is very much a death sentence, fans of the game have long theorized that there might be an unintentional side benefit to Soulkiller — namely, a cure for cyberpsychosis.
In the world of the show and game, cyberpsychosis is a dissociative disorder that affects humans who have replaced much of their organic bodies with cybernetics. As the body rejects the chrome parts, cyberpsychosis starts to affect their minds, to the point where they no longer see themselves as people, but rather as machines with replaceable parts. This disorder manifests as an outburst where the victim disassociates and becomes violent, their brain taken over by hallucinations. In the world of Edgerunners, cyberpsychosis is portrayed as something unavoidable, a forgone conclusion the moment you start replacing your body with cybernetics. You can’t prevent it, and you can’t stop it.
But what if you can? According to a popular fan theory, the main character of Cyberpunk 2077, V, never experiences cyberpsychosis because of their interaction with the chip containing the Soulkiller program. It is the digitized entity within the chip that heals V’s emerging cyberpsychosis, as it is programmed to prepare its host body in order to take over it. Without the chip and the Soulkiller entity, V would succumb to cyberpsychosis.
We see this happen in the second half of Edgerunners 2. This season, we’re introduced to Talia, a young woman suffering from a serious if undisclosed illness. Additionally, Talia’s cybernetic implants have her on the verge of cyberpsychosis, with a doctor saying she will be lost at any minute. And yet, the moment she comes in contact with a chip containing a Soulkiller entity known as Capri, Talia’s health improves significantly and at an abnormal rate. Her brain is healed, her body is repaired, and cyberpsychosis is no longer an issue — until the chip is eventually removed and Talia reverts back to how she was, with her future uncertain.
Granted, Soulkiller is portrayed in Edgerunners as more of a weapon than anything else. Capri is described as an amalgamation of different digital constructs, which seems more like an AI made out of several individuals rather than a single one. She’s designed specifically to be the ultimate killing machine, but in addition to destroying her host body’s previous consciousness, the test subjects all die within days of getting the Capri chip inserted. This is why the Arasaka Corporation was going after people like Talia and David from Season 1, as they are known to have a high tolerance for cybernetics.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners Season 2 takes a different approach to adapting the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Though still very much an original story, this season is more intrinsically connected to the game; it feels more like a side story happening during the events of the game that the player simply didn’t get to witness. The use of the Soulkiller program serves to connect the show and the game in an interesting way without taking away from either of the separate stories. Instead, knowing the larger story of the Soulkiller from Cyberpunk 2077 makes the story of Talia and Capri hit harder because it’s one of countless similar stories in Night City.
Sure, this season doesn’t have a story as emotionally resonant as David’s from the first season, but it still very much tells an effective tale about people who get screwed by corporations. Talia may come from a family of money and power, but that can’t save her. Night City devours everyone and everything within it, and there’s no winning in that place… Though having a Soulkiller chip might help a bit if you are on the verge of cyberpsychosis.