Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Red Dead Redemption Series.Fans ofRed Dead Redemption 2and its predecessorRed Dead Redemptionare all too aware of the protagonists' mortality. Despite their ability to respawn after failed shootouts or riding their horse straight into a tree, the protagonists ofRed Dead Redemption 2andRed Dead Redemptionface close brushes with death time and again throughout their respective stories. In the end, both Arthur Morgan and John Marston succumb to their dangerous lifestyles. Their glorious deaths at the end ofRed Dead Redemptions 1and2kick off each game’s epilogue, where players continue on as a different character altogether.
Today, not much is known aboutRed Dead Redemption 3’s story.Red Dead 3likely won’t reinvent the wheel with its setting, placing its protagonist in or around states like Ambarino, New Hanover, and West Elizabeth. But players can divine some information aboutRed Dead Redemption 3’s protagonist based on the fates of previous characters in the series. Principally, that bothRed Deadprotagonists meet their end by the game’s conclusion, forcing players to live out their days as the protagonists' successors. From what players know about Rockstar’s penchant for striking down beloved protagonists, it’s very possible thatRed Dead Redemption 3will inflict a similarly heart-wrenching fate on its leading hero.
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As one of the most complex, charismatic, and emotionally-driven single player protagonists in recent history, Arthur Morgan had players invested from the start. Like John Marston before him (technicallyafterhim), Arthur’s story is a tale of, well, redemption. His ruthless gunslinger lifestyle eventually gives way to a more compassionate, introspective approach to life as his own begins to draw to a close.Arthur Morgan’s life is filled with tragedy, making his eventual redemption all the more moving.
Following a brutal debt-collecting beat down of a sickly debtor, Arthur contracts a fatal case of tuberculosis. His deterioration throughout the game forces him to reckon with his life choices and ultimately make the decision to be loyal to what matters. This moral about-face from villain to hero is part of the reason whyRed Dead Redemption 2’scharacters have varying reactions to Arthur Morgan’s death.
Arthur’s death at the end of Chapter 6 gives way to a robust epilogue featuring a well-worn protagonist, John Marston. Players return to filling Marston’s boots after nearly a decade, slowly building out the life that players first enter at the beginning ofRed Dead Redemption.While there are plenty of thingsArthur Morgan can do that John Marston can’t- swimming comes to mind - players were happy to soothe their broken heart by carrying on as another beloved gunslinger.
The epilogue inRed Dead Redemption 2sets the stage for the beginning ofRed Dead Redemptionyears later. Filled with unique interactions,Red Dead 2’s epiloguesees players gradually build the life that John Marston eventually inhabits with Abigail and Jack. Though they get several years of domestic bliss together, this life is eventually ripped away from John as Agent Ross and the Pinkertons finally catch up with him. With his family held hostage, John is strong-armed into hunting down the former members of the Van der Linde gang.
After fulfilling his contract to Ross, John is left in peace for a short time. But it’s not long before Ross betrays John, leading a small army of agents in an all-out assault on John’s home at Beecher’s Hope. After fighting off the gunmen for as long as he can, John realizes that his family will never be safe so long as he is with them. In a final act of selflessness, he sacrifices himself while his family makes their escape in one ofthe saddest video game deathsin the history of the medium.
Both games share a remarkable consistency in how they draw their protagonists' stories to a close. Arthur and John both ultimately sacrifice themselves to ensure that the people they care about can escape: Arthur’s sacrifice allows John, Abigail, and Jack to escape, and John’s sacrifice allows Abigail and Jack to escape. Both gamessubvert the “good guys always win” tropeto great effect, forcing players to confront the fact that life isn’t always fair.
Their selfless sacrifice is the culmination of their redemptive arcs throughout the games. Given that John’s story concludes at the very tail end of the Wild West era, it’s likely thatRed Dead Redemption 3will be another prequel dating back even further than Arthur’s story in 1899. A protagonist making their way through the high watermark of the Wild West would be a sight to behold, given that both games play with the idea of progress and industrialization catching up to the fading lifestyles of Arthur and John. Unfortunately, given thatRed Dead Redemption 3likely wont be released for some time, players shouldn’t get their hopes up for a quick turnaround on the next entry in theRed Dead Redemptionseries.
