Major spoilers for Red Dead Redemption & Red Dead Redemption 2!
In the lawless West of 1899, few good men exist, and even fewer good men make it out alive. There are plenty of gunslingers, outlaws, and innocent folk that end up dead in Red Dead Redemption 2, and while many characters didn’t deserve their final fate, there are some characters, although possibly controversial, that most certainly did.
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The Van der Linde gang is rather notorious for not exactly being Saints, so it makes sense that quite a few of them received a fate that they deserved. While it’s nothing pretty, some Red Dead Redemption 2 characters deserved what happened to them, even if as fans, we sort of wish it didn’t.
6
Colm O’Driscoll
Executed by Hanging in the Saint Denis Gallows
- Performance by: Andrew Berg
- Why He Deserved His Fate: Sadistic murderer with no care for his soldiers
Colm O’Driscoll is the nemesis of Dutch Van der Linde. He’s a man of no integrity and sheer cruel bitterness. Even if Colm and Dutch align in their views of an outlaw’s life and how a growing civilization is a bad thing, Colm can’t get over the fact that Dutch killed his brother – even if Colm killed Dutch’s sweetheart, Anabelle.
Colm is a murderer and the horrible things he has done more than prove how he deserves to be burning in Hell for all his sins. Luckily, Colm was executed in Saint Denis at the gallows when Dutch, Arthur, and Sadie sabotaged his escape plans by taking out the O’Driscoll Boys who were going to free him, thus, Colm was hung by the neck until his death, with fear in his eyes for those last fleeting moments.
5
Leopold Strauss
Interrogated to Death by the Pinkertons
- Performance by: Howard Pinhasik
- Why He Deserved His Fate: A loan shark who would prey on vulnerable innocent folk
Leopold Strauss may not have been a direct killer with his actions, but he may as well have been holding a smoking gun for the sins he has committed. Leopold Strauss was the bookkeeper of the Van der Linde gang, and it was his own mission to seek out poor folks and innocents who were down on their luck and provide them with a loan that would need to be repaid.
Of course, Leopold Strauss is more weasel than man, so he sends burly men like Arthur Morgan in to bully and beat the innocent people who owe the Van der Linde gang money, to which the goal is to take back more than what was borrowed. Strauss was a fiend for his robbery of innocent folk, and he deserved to be kicked out of the camp by Arthur, but did he deserve to be captured by the Pinkertons and interrogated to death? Perhaps not, but perhaps so.
4
Micah Bell
Shot Dead in a Standoff Between John Marston and Dutch Van der Linde
- Performance by: Peter Blomquist
- Why He Deserved His Fate: A nihilistic murderer and a traitor to his own gang
Few men are as evil as Micah Bell. Micah is a snake in leather boots, a true demon with a white brim hat and a set of revolvers. Micah may have only started riding with the Van der Linde gang for a few months, but it’s very clear what kind of man he is. A survivor, who will do anything for his own skin, and happily shoot anyone in the back should they not align with his own personal goals. Micah can be found killing innocent folk, like the entire town of Strawberry, and belittling or antagonizing other Van der Linde gang members.
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Micah’s forked tongue is used to manipulate Dutch to the point where he doesn’t even recognize his oldest son, Arthur. Micah’s manipulation destroyed the Van der Linde gang, and the fact that he was an informant for the Pinkertons proves how much of a coward he truly was, which is why his death at the hands of John Marston and Dutch Van der Linde in a standoff in 1907 is more than deserved. Micah’s body being frozen in the snow of Mount Hagen is too good for him, even if the world can forget he’s up there.
3
Dutch Van der Linde
Commits Suicide After Being Caught by John Marston
- Performance by: Benjamin Byron Davis
- Why He Deserved His Fate: Led plenty of men to their deaths, and killed innocent women
Dutch Van der Linde was once a loving leader, and a charismatic man who many would die for. Yet, Dutch’s charm and mental state would begin to deteriorate, showing how rotten the man beneath the dapper clothes really was after the death of his closest friend Hosea, and the realization that you can’t fight change.
Dutch’s new outlook on life made him an even more relentless killer than before, to the point where many would assume he’s a demon in human shape. Dutch has killed countless people, including innocent women, and by 1911, he’s got a gang of manipulated Native Americans that he abuses and sends out on murder missions. As for Dutch’s fate, he’s confronted by John Marston and decides to kill himself by falling to his death instead of being shot by John or captured by the U.S. Government.
2
John Marston
Shot to Death by Agent Ross and the U.S. Army
- Performance by: Dutch Van der Linde
- Why He Deserved His Fate: An outlaw who robbed and killed his way through life
John Marston is the hero of the original Red Dead Redemption, and while he might be on the path to redemption through the hunting of his old gang members, he still cannot undo the sins of the past. John Marston is a thief and a killer who follows Dutch Van der Linde to his own damnation, and in 1911, the world has no use for outlaws and gunslingers.
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John Marston didn’t deserve to go out the way he did, shot to death by a whole fleet of U.S. Army soldiers and Agent Ross to tie up loose ends. However, John Marston did deserve to die for the way he lived. In the eyes of many, John redeemed himself and earned his stay as a farmer at Beecher’s Hope, but while God can forgive, the law cannot, and John’s death is justified, even if it is heartbreaking.
1
Arthur Morgan
Succumbs to Tuberculosis / Killed by Micah Bell
Performance by: Roger Clark
Why He Deserved His Fate: An outlaw who robbed, beat, and killed anyone he was told to
Arthur Morgan is an extremely complex character, and as Mary Linton describes him, “There’s a good man within you, Arthur, but he is wrestling with a giant”. After the botched ferry job in Blackwater and the Van der Linde gang is forced to head East, Arthur’s complexity further shows, as he’s not against robbing and killing people, but he’s also not against lending a helping hand now and then, to the point where he even reminisces on times where the gang would give away some of the money they stole to help the poor.
Arthur’s fate is sealed after he beats up a debtor with tuberculosis, Thomas Downes. Arthur is later diagnosed with TB, and his own mortality makes him reevaluate his life and what matters. Arthur elects to help people in his last few weeks, since if he cannot make it, then he hopes those he loves can. Arthur’s death is a true tragedy, but it benefited him in a way since his last moments showed his true character – a heroic outlaw.
Even if Arthur Morgan has low honor, he still deserves his fate at the hands of Micah Bell, for Arthur would be no better than Micah as just another killer, killed by someone more twisted than him.
- Released
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October 26, 2018