Cyberpunk 2077: Should you side with Placide or Netwatch in I Walk the Line

Cyberpunk 2077 does a great job of implementing player choices into questlines in a way that makes you feel like your decisions really can determine who lives and who dies. Sometimes, this is just smoke and mirrors—but sometimes, your decisions really can be fatal. In the quest I Walk the Line, V’s choices can potentially get a lot of people killed. Like, a LOT.

This guide will not provide a full walkthrough of the mission, as the mission is fairly straightforward and really only has one moment where your decisions can come back to haunt you. Read on for a brief overview of I Walk the Line, and more importantly—how a choice made during this quest will affect the story later on.

Cyberpunk 2077: I Walk the Line quest explained

In this quest, V will have just met Placide, a member of the Voodoo Boys. Allegedly, one of the Voodoo Boys’ leaders, Maman Brigitte, is V’s best shot at safely removing the Relic. It’s a long shot, but options are limited. However, Placide says V has to help out the Voodoo Boys before they’ll be given an audience with Brigitte. Fair enough.

Specifically, Placide wants V to track down and decommission a Netwatch agent who is being guarded by a rival gang in a nearby mall. It’s up to the player to reach this agent using stealth or using gunpowder. But once you do, it’s time for a very important decision to be made.

Cyberpunk 2077: Should you double cross Placide in I Walk the Line?

The Netwatch agent in the cinema of the mall will quickly inform V that Placide cannot be trusted. In fact, he insists that Placide has planted a virus on V, and is planning to dispose of them as soon as the job is finished. The agent will even run a scan to confirm it—V has been sabotaged by Placide.

Here is where things get interesting. The agent will offer V a deal—he can remove the virus, and even return Brigitte to the Voodoo Boys—all for the small cost of his own survival.

What happens if you accept the Netwatch agent’s offer in I Walk the Line?

Initially, there won’t seem to be any consequences for accepting the Netwatch agent’s offer in this quest. He will indeed remove the virus from V and return Brigitte safely to the Voodoo Boys. Placide will be angry with V, but he’ll be forced to get over it.

However, later on during the quest Transmission, Brigitte, Placide, and several other unnamed Voodoo Boys will all be killed because of the Netwatch agent. It turns out that when the Netwatch agent removed the virus planted by Placide, he replaced it with one of his own. His goal wasn’t actually to harm V, but only to use V as a tracker.

If you side with the Netwatch agent during I Walk the Line, he will be able to fry Brigitte’s brain while Brigitte and V are in Cyber Space later on in the game. When you return from Cyber Space during Transmission, Brigitte and all of the other Voodoo Boy netrunners that were present will all be dead.

Because of this, V will have to fight their way out of the Voodoo Boys hideout and kill Placide.

What happens if you refuse the Netwatch agent’s offer in I Walk the Line?

If you decide to reject the Netwatch agent’s deal and stay loyal to Placide, you’ll quickly learn that he was telling the truth—Placide is in fact planning to kill you. Like, right now. Immediately after V neutralizes the agent, Placide will try to fry you using the virus. Thanks to the Relic, it won’t quite work—and because you have no other options, you’ll still work with the Voodoo Boys during Transmission.

If you didn’t accept the Netwatch agent’s offer in I Walk the Line, Brigitte and Placide can both be kept alive during Transmission. But only if you want to keep them alive.

After exiting Cyber Space at the end of Transmission, Placide and Brigitte will both be present, and V will be allowed to leave peacefully. If you want revenge for the betrayal from the Voodoo Boys—well, now’s your chance.

Which is the better outcome?

Overall, it doesn’t technically matter—at least not in terms of rewards or anything like that. With that said, you should:

• Refuse the Netwatch agent if you want to keep Brigitte alive. Placide may have wronged V, but Brigitte technically didn’t.
• Accept the Netwatch agent’s offer if you want revenge on Placide. You’ll still be able to kill him either way, but the fight will be much harder if the Netwatch agent doesn’t take out some Voodoo Boys beforehand.

That’s really all the criteria you need for making this decision. What exactly is revenge worth?