The Endings represent the Five Stages of Grief
Denial: The “Star” ending where V rides off with Panam and the Aldecaldos counts as this. V is now wandering through the desert, going from town to town hoping that a cure can be found somewhere. But in the meantime, they are just living the Nomad life with Panam, with there being nothing concrete in terms of actually saving their lives.
Anger: The “Don’t Fear the Reaper” ending is chock full of this. V and Johnny launch an all out assault on Arasaka ostensibly to excise Johnny from V, but everyone knows it is actually a Taking You with Me Suicide Mission intended to get Arasaka back for all they’ve done.
Bargaining: The “Sun” ending is actually one long continuing bargain. First, a bargain is made with Rogue and Johnny to storm Arasaka and excise Johnny. When that doesn’t exactly result in curing V, they are now going on another heist at the behest of Net Watch, to hopefully find a cure now. This is a bargain with an uncertain result.
- The “Devil” ending is a Deal With the Devils type of bargain. You take down Yorinobu for Hanako in the hope of her curing you. This is however, a bargain with a failed result, seeing as you are not cured in the end. You can then make one more bargain in which you subject yourself to Brain Uploading in the forlorn hope of finding a body to download yourself onto sometime in the future.
- The “Tower” ending is one where your bargain with the FIA has a successful result. You are cured, but you will have to go through the Acceptance phase for … other reasons.
Depression: The “Path of Least Resistance” ending. V decides to just give up altogether and end it all, ostensibly to “protect everyone else” and ensure “no one else dies”, but everyone see right through that and chastise V in the end credits.
Acceptance: The “Temperance” ending. V accepts their death and allows Johnny’s takeover of their consciousness to proceed to completion. V loses not just their conscious self but also their body and fame - allowing Johnny to now live the life they deserved to live instead.
- The “Devil” ending where V refuses the brain upload offer is also one of Acceptance. V accepts their fate and spends their remaining days as either a well cared for lab test subject, or as a welfare recipient in Night City.
- The “Tower” ending sees V cured, but Brought Down to Normal. As a result, they cannot live the life of a One-Man Army mercenary anymore. V stubbornly tries returning to Night City to resume their life, but after being unable to fend off a mugging by a couple of street thugs, V is forced to accept their fate - that they are just a regular defenseless vulnerable person now. After accepting this, they must resign themselves to just being another regular Joe trying to get by, whether by taking a desk job at Langley, trying to find a way forward in Night City, or just making something of themselves that doesn't involve being a One-Man Army Edgerunner.
