Red Dead Redemption 2 Endings, Deaths and Spoilers
How to get the good ending and avoid the bad one.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolutely colossal game in every sense of the word, and it's really easy to lose track of characters or plot strands. In this FAQ for Red Dead Redemption 2 spoilers, we'll be outlining every major character death, plot development like endings and choices, and much more for Rockstar's huge wild west adventure. If you don't want anything spoiled, then you have been warned.
How many endings does Red Dead Redemption 2 have?
In total, Red Dead Redemption 2 has four distinct endings. Three of those endings are easy to come by, based entirely on a choice you make towards the end of the game. Let's set the stage: gang leader Dutch Van der Linde has finally gone too far, causing Arthur Morgan and original Red Dead Redemption protagonist John Marston to part ways with him. Arthur has also discovered that Micah Bell is a mole, offering information about the gang to the Pinkertons.
It comes down to Arthur and John in a pitched shootout with Dutch's gang and the Pinkertons. You have the option to help John out of the situation and back to his family, or to try and grab the money from the Blackwater job.
Good Endings - Honorable or Dishonorable
If you choose to help John out of the situation, you'll get this ending. This sees Arthur and John heading to higher ground in order to find a way out of the gun battle below. At this point in the game, Arthur is in the later stages of his tuberculosis. With their pursuers hot on their heels, Arthur sends John away while he draws them in, giving his life for John's family.
In the end, Van der Linde gang traitor Micah Bell and Arthur fight it out on the mountaintop. In the latter stages of the fight, Dutch intervenes; Micah and Arthur make pleas for Dutch's soul.
There's one more fork in the road though. If your Honor meter is high, Arthur will point out that he tried to become a better man. Dutch ultimately leaves them both, unable to choose between them. Bell leaves in anger and Arthur succumbs to his tuberculosis on the mountaintop, watching the sunrise.
If you're on the low end of the Honor meter, Arthur states that both he and Bell are horrible people. Bell kills Morgan with a gunshot to the head.
Bad Ending
If you choose to go back for the money, Arthur heads back to the burning camp of the Van der Linde gang. He gets the money, but Micah Bell ambushes him. The pair end up having a knife fight in the camp, with Micah gaining the upper hand and stabbing Arthur.
Once again, Dutch appears and Arthur fingers Micah as the Pinkerton rat. Dutch leaves, stunned at how the gang turned out. Micah stabs a crawling Arthur in the back, finally killing him.
Final Ending
Much like the first game, Red Dead Redemption 2 has an extensive epilogue. In this tale, you play as John Marston out for revenge against surviving traitor Micah Bell. It's been a few years, but Marston, alongside fellow outlaws Sadie Adler and Charles Smith, tracks down Bell in the mountains. After a fight, Adler and Marston have Micah at gunpoint, only for Dutch to appear with weapons aimed at both.
Micah uses the surprise to take Sadie hostage, while John tries to convince Dutch that siding with Micah is the wrong play. Dutch responds by shooting Micah, giving John the chance to pump him full of lead. Dutch then silently leaves.
John and Sadie leave with the Blackwater money, returning to John's ranch, where Abigail, Jack, and Uncle are waiting. This marks the final end of the story of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Who lives and who dies in Red Dead Redemption 2?
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a sad story about the death of the frontier. Even if you win, the characters involved lose, especially since many of them end up dying in Red Dead Redemption, which takes place chronologically after the sequel. Let's see who doesn't make it out of this game alive though.
John Marston, Abigail Marston, Jack Marston, Uncle, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, Uncle, and Dutch Van der Linde
All of these characters appear in Red Dead Redemption, so it's no surprise that they survive the horrible tragedy of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Does Arthur Morgan die?
No matter what you do, Arthur Morgan dies. There's currently no secret ending where he somewhat survives, fading into the mists of time under a new name. As noted in the endings above, he either dies from his tuberculosis, a bullet to the head, or a knife in the back. The life and death of an outlaw.
Does Sean McGuire die?
The Irish wild card of the Van der Linde is saved from the government early on, only to take an errant bullet in Chapter 3. Sean is the first real character death in Red Dead Redemption 2, getting shot in the head while the crew is walking through the town of Rhodes.
Does Kieran Duffy die?
The former member of the O'Driscoll gang is ultimately captured by his old crew. They decapitate him and put his headless body back on his horse as an opening salvo against the Van der Linde gang.
Does Hosea Matthews die?
The Van der Linde Gang's elder statesman urges Dutch and crew to leave the outlaw life behind again and again. In the Saint Denis' bank heist, Hosea is captured by the Pinkertons. Agent Milton shoots Hosea in the chest in front of the entire gang as a warning.
Does Lenny Summers die?
One of the more well-loved new characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 thanks to one memorable mission, Lenny dies in the Saint Denis' bank heist. As Arthur and Lenny run across the rooftops looking for a way out, Lenny is shot by waiting Pinkertons.
Does Molly O'Shea die?
A young woman in love with Dutch, Molly dies in the game's fifth chapter. After being ignored by Dutch and Arthur for much of the game, Molly returns drunk and angry. Molly says that she told Milton and Ross about the Saint Denis job. Miss Grimshaw shoots her through the chest with a shotgun to end Chapter 5. It's later found that Molly never actually ratted Dutch out.
Does Agent Milton die?
The lead agent of the Pinkertons spends his time hunting down the entire Van der Linde gang, though all he really wants is Dutch. Towards the end of the game, most believe John Marston is all but dead and Milton has kidnapped Abigail. Dutch and Micah want to keep riding with their money, but Arthur and Sadie go to save Abigail, refusing to let Jack grow up as an orphan. In a struggle with Milton, Arthur is losing until Abigail shoots Milton in the head. His second-in-command, Agent Ross, ends up being the primary antagonist of Red Dead Redemption.
Does Miss Grimshaw die?
In the internal standoff in the gang, before the Pinkertons attack, Miss Grimshaw stands with Arthur Morgan against Micah Bell. For her backbone, she gets shot in the gut and dies, then and there.
Does Sadie Adler die?
Sadie joins the gang in Red Dead Redemption 2's opening chapter, transitioning to a proper gun-wielding outlaw in Chapter 3. Sadie ends up helping Arthur in some of the endgame missions, after Arthur has split from Dutch. She's wounded in the epilogue, but actually survives Red Dead Redemption 2.
Does Charles Smith die?
Like Sadie, Charles Smith joins Arthur on his crusade and later helps John Marston track down Micah Bell in the epilogue. Charles survives the story of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Does Eagle Flies die?
Eagle Flies is a young Native warrior who gets caught up in the Van der Linde gang and the U.S. Army. Arthur and Charles try to save him, but ultimately he dies from mortal wounds.
Reverend Swanson, Tilly Jackson, Karen Jones, Josiah Trelawny, Leopold Strauss, Simon Pearson, and Mary-Beth Gaskill
Reverend Swanson is last seen saying goodbye to Arthur, leaving on a train. Leopold Strauss is kicked out of the camp and the gang after the final loan sharking mission, when Arthur becomes fed up with taking money from poor people. It's later revealed that he was captured by the Pinkertons and died during the interrogation. Karen Jones is seen again in Lakay after the Saint Denis job goes south, but has not been seen since. Josiah Trelawny left the crew after it reaches its final camp, before the group got involved with the U.S. government. Tilly Jackson is seen after Abigail is saved from capture, and later she appears in Saint Denis with her husband and child. Simon Pearson is later seen by John Marston with his own General Store in the town of Rhodes, and likewise Mary-Beth Gaskill meets John after she has a successful writing career.
Red Dead Redemption 2 FAQs
How many Chapters are there?
Red Dead Redemption 2 includes six main story chapters, but once these are complete there is still more game to come. Following these six chapters come two epilogue chapters that round off the game.
Do you play as John Marston?
The big question on everyone's mind: Do you don the outfit of Marston at any point in Red Dead Redemption 2? Due to Arthur's demise at the end of Chapter 6, you take on the role of John Marston for the two epilogue chapters, and for however long you plan on playing the game after the story has concluded for the final time.
What happens to all of Arthur's items in the Epilogue?
So, once you've reached the epilogue and Arthur Morgan is dead, you might be wondering: what happens to all the stuff you've collected during the main story campaign? Well, the horses are gone forever: one dies during the last mission of the story campaign, and the stabled ones are apparently freed. Arthur's wallet of money is also cleared out, but John receives $20,000, which is more than enough to buy anything. A few missions into the epilogue, John does inherit all of Arthur's outfits and weapons. So before you finish the mission "Red Dead Redemption," you might as well spend that saved cash.
Are New Austin and Mexico in Red Dead Redemption 2?
Most of the map in Red Dead Redemption 2 is all-new, stretching from the frozen north of the West Grizzlies down to the swampy shores of Saint Denis. Down in the south though is New Austin, the region where the first Red Dead Redemption took place. This includes familiar locations like the town of Blackwater, Armadillo, Tumbleweed, MacFarlane's Ranch, and Fort Mercer. You're locked out from that region due to criminal events before Red Dead Redemption 2's story begins; if you step into New Austin, the bounty hunters are on you immediately. Once the epilogue begins, that region is open to you.
However, Mexico is missing, which originally took up almost half the map in the original game. Mexico is mostly gone in Red Dead Redemption 2. You can glitch over to that side of Rio Bravo, but there's not much there: Rockstar obviously built the stuff from a visual perspective, not a gameplay one.
How long is Red Dead Redemption 2?
So, with all this information, you might be left wondering: How long does Red Dead Redemption 2 actually take to beat? Well, we don't have an exact statistic of the amount of hours we've put into Rockstar's wild west prequel, but purely playing the main story of the game should take you roughly 43 hours, according to howlongtobeat.com.
But if you're a completionist, and want to see everything that the wild west has to offer Arthur Morgan, then Red Dead Redemption 2 should take you a grand total of 139 hours to beat. It's a long journey for the Dutch Van der Linde gang, that's for sure.
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That's it for our spoiler-filled guide on the endings, deaths and bad choices in Red Dead Redemption 2. If you need more help with RDR2, then check out our pages on the gunslinger locations, how to get perfect pelts and where you can find all gang hideouts.