Red Dead Redemption 2 The Iniquities of History Stranger: Should you kill Compson?

Red Dead Redemption 2's Stranger Missions are unique quests that follow the story of one or two individuals and for this particular quest, you'll be delving into one man's sordid past.

During The Iniquities of History Stranger Mission, you'll need to hunt down a drunk man by the name of Jeremiah Compson and help him with retrieving his items. If you need a helping hand, here's how to complete The Iniquities of History Stranger Mission in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Red Dead Redemption 2 The Iniquities of History Stranger Mission guide

You'll need to have started Chapter 3 and completed the 'A Honest Mistake' story mission to access The Iniquities of History Stranger Mission in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Once those prerequisites are met, you can find Jeremiah Compson on a bench outside Rhodes Station. He'll tell you that his life is in ruins as the bank has repossessed his house, and now he's all alone, feeling disrespected and cheated by the world.

Being a kind-hearted cowboy, you can oblige his request to fetch his ledger, pistol and beloved pocket watch from his old home. You can find his home - a run-down old house called Compson's Stead - just to the north of Scarlett Meadows.

Enter the house and investigate what's lying around. You can find the pocket watch on the fireplace and in another room, you'll find a photo atop another fireplace that reveals there's a trap door in the room. Throughout your investigation, you'll discover that Compson was a slaver before he fell into destitution after it was abolished.

Two men will try and attack you but they are easily dealt with. One of the assailants has the pistol you're after but it won't fire, so kill him and take it for yourself before heading through the trap door.

You'll find the ledger at the end of the room to your right. The quest marker will then update and you can return to Compson at a camp southeast of Ringneck Creek.

You can confront him about his past and he'll give you a sob story about losing his job, pride and respect of his fellow men. Arthur will burn the ledger and Compson will try and shoot you with the broken pistol. While there's no prompt to do so, it's heavily implied that you can decide to kill Compson or leave him in all his misery to rot.

The choice is up to you, but regardless of what you choose to do, your Honor Rank will improve as a result of completing the mission. On top of that, if you shoot him while he's on his knees, he'll also fall into the fire and burn.

If you're new to Red Dead Redemption 2, then check out our guides on how to how to level up and use Dead Eye, and where to find the best horse.

You can also check out our guide to the best weapons in Red Dead Redemption 2. If you want to get rich quick, find a fence or want to know where to hunt legendary animals, then check out our complete Red Dead Redemption 2 walkthrough.