Red Dead Redemption 2’s nature as a prequel naturally lends it to including tons of foreshadowing, concerning John Marston and the Ven Der Linde gang as a whole. Sincemuch of the game’s plot concerns the gang’s collapse, and the epilogue sees John constructing his farm, it leads right into the events of the first game.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for RDR2.
There areobvious moments of foreshadowing, such as Arthur’s early coughingthat precedes his tuberculosis diagnosis, but also many that slip under the radar on a first playthrough. It’s only later, knowing what is coming next for these characters, that these moments stick out to players as signals of their impending doom. These ten characters have their deaths foreshadowed in subtle and obvious ways, which you should keep a lookout for during your next play throughRed Dead Redemption 2.
10John & Abigail Stand On The Sites Of Their Future Graves
An Ending That Mirrors That Of The First Game
First, there’s the violent death of the original game’s protagonist, John Marston. As many fans of the franchise know, John endsRed Dead Redemptionby being shot to death outside his barn. It’s a sad ending that comes at the hands of corrupt law enforcement, leaving John’s wife, Abigail, a widow. Some years later, she passes as well, andthe game’s epilogue picks up with their son, Jack, standing over their graves.
Red Dead Redemption 3 Already Has The Perfect New Gang Leader
While it may seem like everyone grew to distrust Dutch, there’s one gang member who only saw him as a hero, and can make a much bigger gang.
It’s a tragic and iconic shot, and one that returning players ofRed Dead 2may have recognized following the ending credits. After John’s final duel with Micah and the recovery of Dutch’s hidden stash, the credits roll, andthe game picks back up with John and Abigail standing together on a ledge overlooking their farm.This would be the same ledge they would later be buried on, and the camera even takes the same position for the shot as it does in the first game.
9Micah And The Blackwater Incident
One Job That Represents Micha’s Role In The Gang
One of the most important robberies the gang commits happens before the game even starts, and sets in motion all the turmoil that follows. That is, of course,the mysteriousboat robbery in Blackwater, something we as the player and Arthur know very little about.It ended in bloodshed, with Dutch apparently killing an innocent girl, and caused great unrest in the gang as a whole.
While the next several acts continue with the gang holding in there, they never fully recover. And it makes sense that Micah, the traitor and devil on Dutch’s shoulder, would be involved.Micah apparently planned out the Blackwater heist and pulled Dutch away from something Arthur and Hosea were planningto carry it out. This foreshadows how Micah influences Dutch for the entire rest of the game, pulling him away from his friends and towards violence and depravity, until the once trusted leader is a shadow of his former self.
8Hosea & Lenny Want To Be Buried With Friends
A Tragic Way To Grant Their Wish
Hosea and Lenny are two of the most well-liked gang members in the community, given their level heads, amicable natures, and clever plans. One is a wizened con artist and the other a rookie robber, but they are very alike, and can be heard having a few different conversations together at camp.One particularly ominous conversation concerns death,and how both men would like to be buried.
Both have the same answer: they want to be buried with friends or family. It’s particularly sad, then, whenboth men die during the same botched job in Saint Denis,shot byMilton and the Pinkerton agents. In a way, both end up getting their wish, since they die together in the same town. But neither are actually retrieved and buried by the gang, meaning their bodies fell into the government’s hands following the heist.
7Mrs. Grimshaw’s Murder Of Molly Mirrors Her Own Death
Sullying The Campsite With Blood
Early on in act two, Tilly has a piece of camp dialogue concerning Mrs. Grimshaw, saying that sometimes she’d like to kill her, but that Dutch would be mad. Arthur retorts by sayingDutch doesn’t like killing in camp, with the exception of one traitor Dutch killed himself.This line would likely be forgotten by most players, but it ends up coming back towards the story’s end.
RDR2: Arthur’s Optional Camp Therapy Sessions, Explained
Arthur’s camp conversations reveal details about his character and feelings as the events of RDR2 unfold. Here’s a look at Arthur’s therapy sessions.
When Molly, Dutch’s paramour, claims to be the traitor that sold out the gang,Mrs. Grimshaw shoots her in the chest in the middle of camp.Dutch isn’t happy for a number of reasons, but accepts it since everyone believes Molly was telling the truth. But as Arthur comes to know, Micah was the real traitor, and when he reveals that information in camp, Micah shoots Mrs. Grimshaw in the chest. This causes Dutch to become irate, but he ultimately sides with Micah in the altercation, an ironic reflection of how much his values have deteriorated.
6Arthur’s Request To Face The West
Foreshadowing That Only Works For High Honor Players
Going back to that conversation between Lenny and Hosea, Arthur has his own opinion on the matter. He says he doesn’t care much about how he’s buried, just that he’s allowedto face the west and reminisce on “the good times” as he dies.It’s a fitting request for a tired outlaw who wants to look back on their life of excitement, though it has an interesting payoff forhigh-honor players.
Low-Honor Arthur, or the Arthur who goes after the gang’s money rather than helping John, will always die in the darkness, usually killed directly by Micah rather than drifting off on his own.
In the highest-honor ending for Arthur, he dies near a mountaintop, finally succumbing to his tuberculosis, andfacing the east towards the rising sun. This isn’t exactly what he wanted, but it’s a reflection of how he’s grown across the game, less trapped in nostalgia and more active about helping others create a better future.
5Agent Ross Loves Spending Time Lakeside
A Man Who Died As He Lived
Of all the characters in theRed Deadfranchise, Agent Ross is probably the second-most hated. He isa corrupt lawman with a cruel attitude who coerces John into hunting down his old gang membersand then betrays him, killing him on his own land. He’s the personification of a corrupt and unfeeling justice system that eliminates those it can’t control with extreme prejudice. He’s also a man who enjoys spending time at the lake, it would seem.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s Protagonists Echo Each Other In One Especially Tragic Way
The thematic connections between Dutch, Arthur, John, and Jack highlight the game’s messaging around cycles of violence.
When Jack Marston confronts him for the final time at the end ofRed Dead 1, the old lawman is duck hunting by the side of a lake. When Jack first met Ross inRed Dead 2, Jack was fishing at the side of a lake, and Ross remarks that he should “enjoy [his] fishing” while he still can. In both cases,one of the pair is engaging in a pastime, while the other is approaching with murderous intent. The power dynamic between them has shifted, and while Ross finally gets his comeuppance, it comes at the cost of Jack giving into his violent impulses.
4Uncle’s Favorite Sitting Spot Is Also His Last
In The End, It Wasn’t The Lumbago That Got Him
Uncle is lazy, and spends most of bothRed Deadgames sitting in one place or another and cracking wise while John or Arthur do the actual work. His claim of having lumbago only garners him so much sympathy, and most members of the gang constantly make fun of the old man while he sits around. Butit’s still incredibly sad when he dies duringRDR1, shot to death by Ross’s possewhile defending John’s family.
Despite being one of the least helpful gang members, Uncle is ultimately one of the most loyal.
In a tragic twist of fate, it turns outthe spot Uncle died upon was one he had spent a lot of time on.InRDR2,he can frequently be found sitting in the very place he would later slip off this mortal coil. Lazy or not, it’s nice that Uncle got at least a few years of peace at Beecher’s Hope before the end.
3Sean’s Headshot Is Less Surprising, Given This Dialogue
Hints That This Gang Member Will End With A Hole In His Head
Sean may be anearly death for the gang inRed Dead 2, but his murder hits hard when it happens, particularly for first-time players. It comes while the gang is in Rhodes, walking down an empty street. Sean is mid-sentence when,out of nowhere, he is shot in the face and immediately dies.It’s a shocking ending for a character that players had just started to bond with.
Attentive players may have caught a line earlier in the game, though, that hints at Sean’s fate. The Irish gunslinger suffers a head wound during a job, and while the gang is robbing a train, Sean complains that it’s hurting him. Arthur shoots back thatat least Sean’s head “ain’t got a hole in it.“Unfortunately for both of them, Sean’s head would soon, in fact, have a hole in it.
2Kieran Fulfills The Statement Agent Milton Makes
Venerate Savagery, Die Savagely
Agent Milton may be an antagonist in Red Dead 2, but he still has some excellent lines, including one he says to Arthur when they first meet. He tells the outlaw thathim and the other gang members “venerate savagery, and [they] will die savagely.“This is true, of course, since nearly every gang member meets a violent fate during the course of the two games. But this statement rings true for one particular character more so than others.
Ironically, Kieran is killed not by agents of the law, but by another gang, showing that the brutal violence in this case is coming from another group much like Dutch’s gang.
Kieran Duffy is a particularly unfortunate member, who oncebelonged to the O’Driscoll gangbefore being captured and switching sides. Kieran suffers no shortage of indignities at the hands of the Van Der Linde gang before he is accepted into their ranks, and you’d hope the poor guy could at least catch a break by the end of the game. Buthe ends up getting one of the worst deaths of all: his body desecrated and dismembered, sent into the gang’s camp on his horse with his own head in his hands.
1Dutch Loves To Speak On Gravity
The Most Poetic Way For This Antagonist To Go Out
Dutch is, in many ways,the true antagonist ofRed Dead 2.He’s Arthur’s mentor figure, essentially his father, who becomes more and more monstrous across the course of the gang as he loses trust in everyone except those feeding his violent impulses. Dutch loses most of the values he insists on preaching, but remains an idealistic speaker, at least.
15 Red Dead Redemption 2 Quotes That Will Stick With Us Forever
Red Dead Redemption II truly took the world by storm upon release and gave fans a slew of unforgettable quotes in the process. Here are the best.
He gives many monologues during both games, but two stick out as especially important, both centered around gravity. He talks about it as inescapable and unbeatable, anduses it as a means of escaping the consequences of his actions.First, to escape a mob of soldiers inRed Dead Redemption 2,and then to evade capture by John inRed Dead 1.In both cases, Dutch would rather take his life into his own hands than face accountability for the lives he had ruined.
