All Disco Elysium Endings, Explained

Disco Elysium's complex narrative can twist into a number of different endings both good and bad for our detective. Here's each ending explained, and how to get them yourself.

First Published April 21, 2023, 15:15

Most would consider Disco Elysium’s open-ended design a marvel in CRPG storytelling, which makes its understated plot endings feel less about the destination, and more about the journey. There are just a handful of endings you can trigger, each with its own intricacies and affected by your actions throughout the finite number of days available to explore Martinaise.

In this guide, we’ll go over each ending available in Disco Elysium, explaining the steps required to ensure they come to pass, including what is considered to be the bad ending, something you may wish to see for yourself. Ending spoilers ahead, obviously!

How Many Endings Are There in Disco Elysium?

There are a total of three different endings available to you that each split off from the Mercenary Tribunal event, directly after finding where Ruby was hiding.

Kim is your Partner Ending (Good ending)
Cuno is your Partner Ending (Alternate Good Ending)
Solo ending (Neutral/Possible Bad Ending)

Two endings are affected by your performance during the Tribunal, allowing you to finish off the rest of the game with either Kim or Cuno as a partner. The third end leaves Harry to finish the investigation alone, and if you’ve made some unprofessional choices can lead directly to what is understood to be the bad ending. Spoilers ahead, of course.

Disco Elysium Good Ending: Recruit Kim to Precinct 41

During the gunfire-laden chaos of the Tribunal, you’ll need to pass two reaction speed checks or wear the T-500 cuirass to soak one of the two bullets fired at you. After enduring the second shot, you’ll be incapacitated no matter what until you regain consciousness briefly, at which point, a true test of Kim’s trust in you will follow.

While Kim tries to put pressure on your wound, a medium Authority check will occur, allowing you to warn him of one of the mercenaries behind him and ready to fire. Depending on Kim’s overall trust in you so far, you can receive different +1, +2, -1, or -2 modifiers to the check.

Succeeding in the check will see Kim listen and shoot the enemy in time, and in turn, seeing him come out mostly unscathed and ready to finish the investigation once you awake. You can then finish the game and should your reputation with Kim still be high by the debriefing at the game’s end, you’ll get the opportunity to recruit Kim for Precinct 41.

However, if you fail the Authority check, Kim will be shot and relegated to Precinct 57’s infirmary for the rest of the game, initiating an Alternate Ending route.

Alternate Good Ending: How to Get Cuno As a Partner

With Kim out of the picture, there’s a chance you won’t have to complete the rest of your investigation alone. Our boisterous boy Cuno can volunteer to help you finish the remaining sleuthing if you’ve played your cards right with him.

Now, we’ve already gone into detail in explaining how to enlist Cuno’s assistance in another guide here, so be sure to check that out if you need to make sure you’re on his good side. It could lead to a much happier end for the kid too!

Disco Elysium True Ending Explained: The Insulindian Phasmid

If you spent time assisting the Cryptozoologist Morell and his doting wife Lena, a trip to the Sea Fortress Island will set you up to discover the Insulindian Phasmid, the focal interest of Morell’s studies after Lena’s childhood sighting. After completing the chain of quests for Morell and locating the true killer - Iosef Lilianovich Dros - on the island, the Phasmid will appear nearby, offering crucial information surrounding the supernatural Pale soon to be affecting the future of Revachol, and further explanation for Dros’ murder of the Hanged Man.

Who is the Real Killer?

Ensuring that you’ve spoken to the Phasmid won’t change the pathing of your ending at this point, but it does offer key clarifications that can be understood as assisting in getting you a truer ending and understanding of the plot. Without the Phasmid, your detective wouldn’t be able to deduce the pheromones it gave off likely affecting Dros and debilitating his mind to the point of committing a murder, which makes the Phasmid out to be a somewhat instigator for the entire plot of the game.

How to Get the Bad Ending

The generally understood ‘Neutral’ and ‘Bad’ ending paths in Disco Elysium can both be set upon right after the Mercenary Tribunal. Kim needs to be out of the picture after a messy merc encounter, and Harry will need to refuse Cuno’s help which leaves you to finish the investigation and the rest of the game solo.

Your choices up until now will affect the following two endings upon arresting Dros and debriefing back at the Fishing Village:

Neutral Ending: If you didn’t let him touch a drop of alcohol or engaged with any illicit substances, Harry will be allowed to return to Precinct 41 as a sober detective.
Bad Ending: If Harry turns up alone with no one to back him up whilst having drank alcohol at any point in the game and didn’t internalize Waste Land of Reality, then he will be fired and left by the RCM to live out the rest of his days alone in the Coastal Shack in Martinaise.

That’s it for the at times somber endings that Disco Elysium can thrust upon you if you didn’t quite reach Harry’s potential as a detective, for more guides check out our list of best thoughts available in the game.

For more Disco Elysium news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:

TIER LISTS -

Best Disco Elysium Build And Starting Stats | Best Thoughts Tier List

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