Theories on how the story is going to end.

[emmanz95]

Ever since the second trailer and official confirmation from rock* that rdr2 will be take place before the events of the first game I have been thinking about possible ending for rdr 2.

I originally thought that they might end up killing off Arthur Morgan at the end and let us play as John Marston after we beat the story just like they did with rdr 1, but now I’m so sure. If anyone has any other theory on this topic please let me know.

[CrimsonFolo]

My theory is that it ends with maybe Arthur splitting up from Dutch's Gang with his own little group of followers.

 

Basically my guess is Dutch gets increasingly mad throughout the story. He starts off as a person who cares for his gang and is funny. Then he realises slowly throughout the story that his gang isn't making too much of a difference and does more reckless things which lead to innocents getting hurt. Arthur disagrees along with some of the Dutch gang so they split. Then Dutch's gang goes into hiding while maybe some get killed or captured by Arthur. John Marston maybe was originally going to be killed by Arthur but Arthur decides not to as he has kids he has to look after or something. Arthur tells John to run etc... Then you are Arthur at the end looking after your own gang? 

 

This would be my guess atm.

[1898]

I think these 2 are the best I've read so far.  Nothing to add.

Edited August 17, 2018 by 1898

[philley]

Like this:

 

[LeonVegaSuarez]

My theory regarding the story and Arthur's possible fate:

Note: This is just speculation.

As many others said and lots of things in the trailers hint at, I think throughout the game Arthur will start to doubt 
Dutch's philosophy and maybe other gangmembers are going to try to rebel or betray him. Dutch will become more and more 
paranoid, looking for a possible mole, and eventually executes one of the gang members, maybe Micah Bell. Arthur and John 
could come up with a plan to leave the gang behind. I think Arthur, Sadie, John and his family (and Uncle) will be on the run, Sadie 
dies tragically and Arthur seemingly as well. Maybe this has something to do with the Serendipity wreck.
We see John and his family arriving at Beecher's hope with Uncle. Now there could be
a cut and we see somehow in an abandoned shack in Mexico (or maybe that island on the map) and realize Arthur had survived and
managed to flee as well. So in the endgame we play as Arthur a year or two before the events of RDR1. Dutch has set up his new gang 
in Cochinay and Arthur carefully comes back what's the RDR2 map. 

I think something close to this is plausible. What I do wonder is whether the whole gang and camp mechanic will be gone once we play
through the main story. A reason why I believe Arthur survives is that after John's death fans kind of expect Arthur to die, 
also because he's not mentioned in RDR. If he dies, I believe John kills him. John is forced to kill him to save himself and his
family. That's my theory if Arthur dies. 

I do hope he won't though. It really, really sucked to get invested and immersed into playing as John and then be forced to play
as his snotnose, sh*tty beard having son. In RDR2 it'd be different, since we would most likely play as John if Arthur dies, but 
still, I prefer to have Arthur survive the story.

[RedDadRedemption]

my theory is at the end of the story agent jay (rockstar version of men in black type agent) shows up and flashes the memory eraser at everyone who knew arthur then agent jay takes arthur to a deloreon knockoff into the future this will all lead into the next rockstar game agent.

[RiverGhost]

John and Arthur are close. But it turns out John is the traitor in the camp. Dutch wants him dead but Arthur helps him fake his death to escape. 

[jamesos]

After the failed Ferry robbery (the one John is shot on), Arthur comes to a realization that the gang has fallen apart beyond repair and tries to leave the country but is killed by Dutch before he can do so.

17 hours ago, LeonVegaSuarez said:

My theory regarding the story and Arthur's possible fate:

Note: This is just speculation.

As many others said and lots of things in the trailers hint at, I think throughout the game Arthur will start to doubt 
Dutch's philosophy and maybe other gangmembers are going to try to rebel or betray him. Dutch will become more and more 
paranoid, looking for a possible mole, and eventually executes one of the gang members, maybe Micah Bell. Arthur and John 
could come up with a plan to leave the gang behind. I think Arthur, Sadie, John and his family (and Uncle) will be on the run, Sadie 
dies tragically and Arthur seemingly as well. Maybe this has something to do with the Serendipity wreck.
We see John and his family arriving at Beecher's hope with Uncle. Now there could be
a cut and we see somehow in an abandoned shack in Mexico (or maybe that island on the map) and realize Arthur had survived and
managed to flee as well. So in the endgame we play as Arthur a year or two before the events of RDR1. Dutch has set up his new gang 
in Cochinay and Arthur carefully comes back what's the RDR2 map. 

I think something close to this is plausible. What I do wonder is whether the whole gang and camp mechanic will be gone once we play
through the main story. A reason why I believe Arthur survives is that after John's death fans kind of expect Arthur to die, 
also because he's not mentioned in RDR. If he dies, I believe John kills him. John is forced to kill him to save himself and his
family. That's my theory if Arthur dies. 

I do hope he won't though. It really, really sucked to get invested and immersed into playing as John and then be forced to play
as his snotnose, sh*tty beard having son. In RDR2 it'd be different, since we would most likely play as John if Arthur dies, but 
still, I prefer to have Arthur survive the story.

The only problem with a lot of these theories about him fleeing is that this is never mentioned by any of the remaining gang, or the agents. Youd think at least the agents would mention something to John.

[Evilbagelninja]

I think that the game might have mutiple endings where one could end the normal way which would complete the time to the orignal red dead redemption while other could lead to other timelines which could explain story mode dlc's. It would also allow rockstar to make more games in this franchise because there would mutiple timelines to explore where they could see what would if they gang stayed together or what if John marston was dead at the beging RDR 1.

[AdlersHand]

Arthur helps John leave the gang.

 

Game ends with Arthur watching John, Abigail and Jack riding over the horizon before cutting back to gameplay with Arthur on his horse.

[MARKUS.]

Arthur flees with John and his family

 

”Listen to me, when the time comes, you gotta run and don’t look back. This is over”

 

Interesting enough “you gotta run and don’t look back” is what John said to Abigail and Jack before dying

 

[LeonVegaSuarez]

12 hours ago, UnknownDivision said:

After the failed Ferry robbery (the one John is shot on), Arthur comes to a realization that the gang has fallen apart beyond repair and tries to leave the country but is killed by Dutch before he can do so.

The only problem with a lot of these theories about him fleeing is that this is never mentioned by any of the remaining gang, or the agents. Youd think at least the agents would mention something to John.

Maybe Arthur kind of fakes his death. Something happens where Dutch and the gang believe Arthur died helping John and his family flee. 

 

 

If Arthur dies, I'm betting John kills him. It would really turn the character around and would make us question him after being the tragic hero in the first game.

[Darealbandicoot]

A very interesting topic. Maybe after Arthur leaves the gang at the end it will flash to 1911 and reveal Arthur later joined up with Bill since I recall previews saying they are close, and was a victim of the Fort Mercer assault being mowed down by John with his gatling gun leaving the game with a bitter after credits ending cutscene.

[jamesos]

On 8/18/2018 at 7:06 AM, AdlersHand said:

Arthur helps John leave the gang.

 

Game ends with Arthur watching John, Abigail and Jack riding over the horizon before cutting back to gameplay with Arthur on his horse.

I agree that Arthur probably ends up helping John at the end of the game, but I think it will play out a little differently. I think after the failed Ferry robbery (the one John got shot on), Arthur helps John make a recovery, and then aids him with his escape from the gang with his family. After this I believe Arthur will try leaving the country or fleeing to a different state, but will be gunned down by Dutch before he can do so. John mentions in RDR that Dutch went crazy and started killing everyone, and this might be the straw the broke the camels back into his descent into madness. I also think it will play in with the title a lot. Arthur helping John escape might be his "Redemption".

On 8/18/2018 at 12:19 PM, Darealbandicoot said:

A very interesting topic. Maybe after Arthur leaves the gang at the end it will flash to 1911 and reveal Arthur later joined up with Bill since I recall previews saying they are close, and was a victim of the Fort Mercer assault being mowed down by John with his gatling gun leaving the game with a bitter after credits ending cutscene.

Your just pulling sh*t out of your ass at this point.

[Darealbandicoot]

5 hours ago, UnknownDivision said:

 

Your just pulling sh*t out of your ass at this point.

Read the name of the topic again. 

[Old Man With No Name]

I think arthur will kill final boss at the end and thats it. Just like devin weston in gta v, pegorino or dimitri in gta iv. Gang will stay same after completion of the storyline

Edited August 28, 2018 by GroveStGTAV

[jamesos]

15 hours ago, Darealbandicoot said:

Read the name of the topic again. 

Yeah I read the title. I guess everyones entitled to their own theories, but yours is just so far fetched. Why in the f*ck would that happen? 

14 hours ago, GroveStGTAV said:

I think arthur will kill final boss at the end and thats it. Just like devin weston in gta v, pegorino or dimitri in gta iv. Gang will stay same after completion of the storyline

But the whole game is about the downfall of the gang.

[Darealbandicoot]

3 hours ago, UnknownDivision said:

Yeah I read the title. I guess everyones entitled to their own theories, but yours is just so far fetched. Why in the f*ck would that happen? 

Because this is a prequel maybe? Anything is possible. 

[Tonesta]

So Arthur is never mentioned in RDR; and the whole plot of RDR is about the Bureau bringing the whole Van der Linde to justice (well, wiping them out really) including ultimately John Marston.

 

Therefore to me it stands to reason that by the end of RDR2, Arthur is either dead, or for some reason the Bureau thinks he's dead, so they don't send John after him as well.

I would suspect the former is more likely, but it's possible they go for a 'twist' ending in which Arthur is able to fake his own death and ends the story sipping rum on a caribbean beach somewhere.

(I suppose there's a super super big twist where Arthur is ultimately a deep undercover agent for the Bureau.....but that seems highly unlikely given everything we know!)

 

My best guess - in the beginning the gang is unified but gradually under the pressure of constantly being pursued by the law, Van der Linde becomes crazier, more unpredictable and more violent. Arthur loyally stands by him until eventually the lunacy becomes too much. For the final straw, in his paranoia, Van der Linde turns on the young recruit, John Marston....but Arthur sacrifices himself heroically to save John's life and allow him to escape. You then can free-roam the game post-story with John.

 

 

[BUT THE BENZ]

arthur jumps off a bridge, from a moving train, with a bag full of moneyz....straight into a river....swims off into sunset with sadie, who is waiting in the getaway boat.

[BretMaverick777]

It's all a dream, and they're still in Westworld.  In a surprise twist, Yul Brynner is playing Arthur Morgan 

[Evilbagelninja]

It would be nice to have at least three different endings or multiple endings.

 

RDR ending: This is the natural ending where the gang splits apart and it leads into red dead redemption 1 just like everyone wants it too.

 

Bad ending: This is where we find out that Arthur is a traitor and everyone in the gang dies except for Arthur  and Arthur gets back stabbed then goes to jail rotting for the next 60 years.

 

Good ending: This where someone how thanks to your good actions and right choices in the game the gang escapes the law and either stays together forever or everyone goes their separate ways because they think it would be saver that and it ends with a emotional song and everyone hugging and saying there goodbyes.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Evilbagelninja

[Cutter De Blanc]

Arthur gives up crime and becomes sheriff of Valentine

[DexMacLeod]

On 8/28/2018 at 4:26 PM, Tonesta said:

So Arthur is never mentioned in RDR; and the whole plot of RDR is about the Bureau bringing the whole Van der Linde to justice (well, wiping them out really) including ultimately John Marston.

 

That's not really true. They were trying to kill some high profile criminals to make a handful of politicians look good before elections. It's possible and even likely that several other members of the gang were still alive at that time, they just weren't active criminals in the area anymore and so killing them wouldn't really benefit said politicians.

 

I don't really think Redemption 1 is going to have a whole lot of bearing on how 2 ends. I'd like to see Arthur with his own group by the middle of the story and who joins him depends on choices you make in the lead up to that.

[Haha365]

Something to keep in mind, at least to John, it would appear both Javier and Dutch were directly involved with his departure.

 

John Marston: Yeah, we were, then you and Dutch went crazy, and family didn't mean so much.

 

Javier Escuella: So now you do the government's work?

 

John Marston: And what do you do? You just work for a different government.

 

Javier Escuella: Come on, brother, I think we should go our separate ways, huh?

 

John Marston: What you and Dutch did was wrong. And the way you left me was wrong. Now, I ain't the judge, but as it turns out, it's you or me, the way I see it, it might as well be you.

 

[BretMaverick777]

I just really, REALLY want to see Arthur Morgan ride off into the sunset.  Whether alone or taking more of the gang with him.   

[Pizentu]

I predict Arthur is somehow a part of the group that kills John Marston. 

[orlmagicman98]

i think arthur betrays the group and runs off to start a new life then we play as john after the game ends

[gonnaenodaethat]

Badly...

 

...It's gonnae end very badly

[Tonesta]

On 9/8/2018 at 9:45 PM, DexMacLeod said:

 

That's not really true. They were trying to kill some high profile criminals to make a handful of politicians look good before elections. It's possible and even likely that several other members of the gang were still alive at that time, they just weren't active criminals in the area anymore and so killing them wouldn't really benefit said politicians.

 

I don't really think Redemption 1 is going to have a whole lot of bearing on how 2 ends. I'd like to see Arthur with his own group by the middle of the story and who joins him depends on choices you make in the lead up to that.

Eh, I don't know - Javier Escuela wasn't even in the country at the time of RDR, he was in Mexico working for a colonel in the Mexican Army, and they still wanted John to track him down.

 

This was Ross' precise quote on the matter two thirds of the way through the game ("Bear One Another's Burdens"). Emphasis mine:

"Mr. Marson, please. I've never insulted your meagre intelligence. Do not insult mine. We've done this little deal for your freedom in exchange for all the men from your old gang. You gave us Williamson and Escuella. We still don't have Van der Linde - but we know where he is"

 

I guess for the members of the Sadie/Karen Appreciation Societies, he does clearly say 'men'.

But for the likes of Hosea, Sean, Charles, Lenny, Micah, Pearson, Strauss, Swanson and....yes....Arthur, I see only three ways out by the end of RDR2 - Death, Treachery or Escape & Exile

(you could add capture....but I think given the way justice operated back then, that would fairly swiftly lead to death via the hangman's noose.....)

Edited September 10, 2018 by Tonesta