Red Dead Redemption 2 Ending Explained: Arthur’s Last Stand and Epilogue – Red Dead Redemption is undoubtedly the most loved and popular game among teens. It is an open-world game set in 1911 when the American frontier declined. The protagonist of the game, John Marston, is a wanted criminal. He is forced to hunt down his old gang members by the government. If he doesn’t, his family will be sacrificed. He completes his mission but, in the end, is betrayed by the government. He lastly sacrifices himself to safeguard his family. In the postscript, Marston’s son, Jack Marston, takes revenge for his death from Edgar Ross, the federal agent.
Red Dead Redemption 2 starts as a prequel to the first game. The protagonist of Rdr 2 is Arthur Morgan. He is a member of the Van Der Linde gang. The federal government, after the gang, decides to flee after one last big heist. However, during the missions, there are certain complications. Micah Bell, a member of the gang, betrays them, Dutch makes foolish decisions, and Arthur suffers from tuberculosis. After all this, Arthur has a choice: save John or go for the money hidden by the Dutch. The choice affects the two endings.
Also read : Disclaimer Ending Explained: Truth and Trauma in a Gripping Suspense Drama
Choose your Ending
After all Arthur’s deeds and violent activities, he remembers that a sister in the church told him to choose a loving act. He is filled with guilt and accepts this is his only way to attain peace.
Endings based on honor level
One with high honor level
If the player chooses to help people and save the poor during the game, his honor level will increase. This will allow him to have a peaceful ending where he helps John escape and be with his family. In this ending, Arthur dies dreaming of a deer, which denotes his sacrifices. This ending reveals that he finally achieved redemption.
One with low honor level
If the player chooses to continue with violence and evil, which may happen as it’s an open-world game, the ending is not very peaceful. John can still escape but on his own without Arthur’s help because he is busy finding the hidden money. During his last time, Arthur is full of guilt, and the player will see a wolf on screen denoting all the bad deeds and selfishness he has reflected all his life.
The epilogue
After the gang collapses, John agrees with Abigail to escape and start a new life. He starts working as a farmer under someone. A few days later, a gang disrupts the honors, and John helps him tackle the situation. Farmer is impressed with him and gives him a loan, and he starts building a house in Blackwaters.
While building the house, he meets Uncle Charles of the gang and Sadie Adler. Sadie helps John track down Micah, who has now become the most hated enemy of all. They want to take revenge for Arthur’s Death. Charles and Sadie get injured but still somehow help in the mission to kill Micah. Dutch, who now become an ally of Micah, is brought back to his right side by John. He finally kills Micah. Dutch finally leaves all the money stash for Charles and John, and they start a happy life. John marries Abigail, and the ending of Red Dead Redemption 2 makes up for an amazing start to Red Dead Redemption 1.
Players’s views
Until July 2020, Red Dead Redemption had 1.4 million active monthly users. Users on various social media platforms have a different say about the ending. Some users find it useless to even have the option if all Arthur had to do was let John escape. This makes them think that the game is designed in a way that favors the high-favor end.
On the other hand, the reason this game is so popular is because people happily enjoy the twists and turns of the events. The way this plot is set, users feel a natural urge to kill Micah, and when that happens, it gives them ultimate satisfaction.
Also read : What Happened to Mckenna Faith Breinholt After American Idol Season 22? Career and Surgery
Conclusion
Nobody would have imagined that the starting of RDR2 would actually be the prequel of the first game. This started by building curiosity among the users. While the first game is mostly based on the rivalry between the federal government and the gang conducting heists, the second game focuses on disloyalty between certain members.
The ending of RDR1 was tragic because he was betrayed by the government, but it got a bit covered up when his son finally killed Edgar Ross. RDR2 leveled up the game and kept its hype true while giving users a choice to choose a death with high or low honor. This honor point itself creates the emotion of empathy in users, which is why it was highly celebrated when it was released. The ending where Micah is killed gives immense satisfaction to the users, and they are finally able to connect the dots. The success of both the games and their popularity even today are enough to generate greater hype for its 3rd part.
