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"A man of honor, a patriot, a comrade...."
— Alex to V, Unfinished Sympathy
Solomon Reed is a major character in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Appearance[]
Reed is a tall, dark and masculine individual of African descent with short hair, goatee with a connected mustache (a circle beard), and visible cyberware in his temples and neck. He tends to wear a long, dark leather jacket with a red lining inside and a shirt underneath. He wears a long necklace with a circular pendant.
In 2079, Reed seemingly has more cyberware in his hands and arms; with his fingers completely replaced by chrome.
Biography[]
Solomon Reed was a member of the NUSA SpecOps. His unit, including Maine, was deployed in South America, where they burned down local villages.[3]
At some point during his life, Solomon Reed became an experienced NUSA Federal Intelligence Agency agent, having extreme loyalty and incredible sense of duty to his country. His countless covert intelligence missions made him an expert at uncovering spies and netrunners, information extraction, and breaking into the most secure locations.[4][5]
Song So Mi caught the attention of the FIA and was shortly thereafter recruited. She became Reed's trainee and protégé.[6] At some point, Solomon also recruited braindance actress Alex to join the FIA.[7]
Unification War (2069 - 2070)[]
During the Unification War, Reed led the FIA cell operating in Night City, which amongst others included Songbird and Alex. Reed and his agents carried out numerous covert operations in the city, primarily against the Free States-aligned Arasaka corporation. As the war progressed, however, more and more of Reed's soldiers were being eliminated by the enemy, and the cell gradually decreased in strength.[8] Early in the war, he contacted his old SpecOps partner Maine to build a spy network in the city for NUSA, but he declined.[3] Near the war's end in 2070, President Myers ordered Reed to dismantle his operation and return home, calling off his last mission of neutralizing Murata Ozuru, an admiral of the Arasaka Corporation.
On their last day in NC, to the surprise of Reed and So Mi, Ozaru and his family were killed in an AV sabotage. Despite the circumstances, Reed decided to proceed with evacuating the last FIA agent remaining in NC, Jonas Collinson. So Mi told him that Jonas would not think twice about abandoning them, to which Reed replied not to worry about it. Before leaving, So Mi told him that if he needed anything, he should contact her before she left the city as well. She also told him to remember that honor did not exist in Night City. Reed told her she was probably right.
After confirming the location of Jonas in the No-Tell Motel, Solomon went into his room only to find his colleague tied to a chair in the bathroom. An Arasaka assassin was waiting for him right around the corner, but thanks to Jonas' muffled warnings, Solomon swiftly dealt with him, and after untying his coworker, he punched him. Solomon was convinced the death of Ozuru and his family were Jonas' doing, to which he replied that only Ozuru was supposed to be there, prompting Reed to quote that they should always gather intel and wait before proceeding with a mission, spitting out he should have left Jonas to Arasaka. The young agent admitted the blame, saying he did it only to impress Solomon. Despite Jonas' incompetence, Reed proceeded with the evacuation. At a parking lot, both agents rendezvous with the extraction vehicle, whom refused to take two passengers as they had only paid for one. Reed gave his place to Jonas, who was very grateful for his senior, stating he was a good man. With no plan to leave NC, Solomon contacted So Mi, sending her his coordinates in hopes she would find a way out. At that moment, a surveillance camera identified him. Soon after, a squad of Arasaka troops appeared, though Solomon managed to escape. Finally, So Mi answered back, providing him with an escape plan.[1]
After finding a high vantage point, Solomon jumped onto a maglev train that was going towards Southern California, following So Mi's plan with full confidence. Once safely inside the train, Reed asked his friend about her own plans to ditch the city, to which she replied that the NUSA government was already signing the end of the war. This prompted Solomon to state with a smile that she was the President's favorite, and she deserved the easy way out of Night City since after all, she had saved his life. After a small banter about quesadillas, Solomon mentioned her there was a passenger carrying a gun, though So Mi did not answer back. Thinking he had been made out, Reed tried to exit the train car, only to find out it was shut close. Realizing So Mi's betrayal, Solomon tried to fend the attackers off on his own. He initially succeeded, but two Arasaka troopers eventually overpowered and shot him down.[1][9]
Solomon managed to somehow survive the encounter, got treatment for several months and was declared dead by the NUSA as a cover story, fed even to his closest colleagues (including Alex). It was later revealed that Solomon's death was one of Arasaka's conditions to agree to a ceasefire with the NUSA, to which President Myers agreed, ordering Songbird to orchestrate the death of her mentor.[8] Despite being sold out by his own government, Reed accepted this betrayal as "part of the job" and remained loyal to the NUSA, becoming an FIA sleeper agent in Night City.[10]
2077[]
Reed worked as a bouncer at the Electric Orgasm, a bar owned by Fixer Dino Dinovic, to pay for his bills, as being an FIA sleeper agent did not come with a paycheck.
After Space Force One's crash, Myers instructed mercenary V to make contact with Reed via a specialized analogue telephone located in an abandoned restaurant in Dogtown. Reed meets V for the first time in a basketball court where they would discuss about Myers' welfare.
Reed helped Myers escape Dogtown and worked with V and Alex to rescue Songbird from Hansen's grasp.
At some time during the rescue, Reed found out about Songbird's situation with regards to the Blackwall slowly taking her life, where he vowed to help Songbird with the condition that he must talk to her in person, which he suspects Songbird might not want to do as she had other plans on rescuing herself. Because of this suspicion, Reed came up with the plan to disable Songbird with a high tech ICEbreaker guaranteed to fight against a netrunner as powerful as Songbird.
Ending of Phantom Liberty[]
If V helps Reed, but betrays Songbird:
- V decides to help Reed by using the ICEbreaker on Songbird, they successfully retrieve her after she escapes Black Sapphire, gets caught by MaxTac and hides in an abandoned underground Militech facility called Cynosure. Some time after giving her back to the FIA, Reed is relocated away from Dogtown and eventually ended up in a desk job, training new agents. In 2079, followed by V receiving their treatment thanks to Reed's help, Reed offers V a job in FIA.
If V helps Songbird, but betrays Reed:
- Reed works with the NUSA to hunt down both V and So Mi. He meets his demise after trying to stop V and So Mi in NCX Spaceport, where they met at gunpoint.
If V helps Songbird, betrays Reed but eventually sides with Reed:
- Reed works with the NUSA to hunt down both V and So Mi. Reed meets them at gunpoint in NCX Spaceport, where they tried to escape. V changes their mind about helping So Mi and gave her back to the FIA. Some time after, Reed is relocated away from Dogtown and eventually ended up in a desk job, training new agents. In 2079, followed by V receiving their treatment thanks to Reed's help, Reed offers V a job in FIA.
Database Entry[]
SOLOMON REED
Solomon Reed is a sleeper agent of the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) and among the best agents in the NUSA's ranks. In his heyday, Reed could compete with legends like Morgan Blackhand, but he was never interested in being a one-time star and collecting medals on his shelf. People like Reed look for something greater than themselves, and he found it by serving his country, no matter how dirty the work. His dossier includes thwarted assassination attempts on important figures and successful negotiations with kidnappers, but also blackmail, sabotage operations and coups in South American republics. His last mission: to build a network of spies in Night City during the Unification War. In 2070, when the conflict became a lost cause for the NUSA, Reed's cell was disbanded and he dropped off the radar. Though he no longer reads the morning report with his breakfast, for seven years he has been waiting for a one particular phone call - a call that just came in.
Equipment[]
| Type | Items |
|---|---|
| Cyberware | EMP Threading, Heavy Subdermal Armor,[11] Charged Jump,[11] Gorilla Arms[12] |
| Abilities | Flashbangs,[11] Smoke Grenade[11] |
| Weaponry | Militech M-10AF Lexington,[1][13] Pariah, Tsunami Ashura[14] |
| Clothing | Shapeshifting coat[9] |
| Vehicles | Thorton Merrimac MSL3 |
Trivia[]
- Solomon Reed is portrayed by and modeled after actor Idris Elba, who also provided motion capture for the character.[15]
- The character working as a bouncer at Electric Orgasm is a nod to Idris Elba's work as a bouncer for a comedy club before becoming an actor.
- Reed–Solomon is a type of code used by a variety of applications in order to correct errors in data. This type of code was also used to uncover more about the FF:06:B5 mystery.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 LUDKOWSKI, Ł. Cyberpunk 2077: Ten of Swords. CD Projekt RED/Dark Horse Comics, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Official Cyberpunk 2077 Cosplay Guides
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit - Edgerunner's Handbook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2024. (p.39)
- ↑ CyberpunkGame on Twitter: "Introducing Idris Elba as Solomon Reed, an FIA Agent for the NUSA."
- ↑ Dossier: Reed - cyberpunk.net
- ↑ Cyberpunk 2077 — Night City Wire: Phantom Liberty Special (8:12)
- ↑ Dossier: Alex - cyberpunk.net
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Get It Together
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Phantom Liberty — Official Cinematic Trailer
- ↑ Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Trailer, Developer Breakdown
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Reed's scan data
- ↑ Things Done Changed
- ↑ I've Seen That Face Before
- ↑ Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos
- ↑ CyberpunkGame on Twitter: "Idris Elba has joined the cast of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, and he has a special message for you! See you in Night City in 2023!"