A fan has pointed out a grisly connection between each city in Red Dead Redemption 2. Throughout Rockstar’s acclaimed Western prequel-sequel, players travel across a fictional version of America toward the end of the Wild West, taking place between 1899 and 1907. Here, they can explore a variety of different towns and cities, each with its own unique style, from the more humble, mud-soaked Valentine to the massive industrial city of Saint Denis.
[WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2]
As noted by Redditor MrRetnuh, all six of the major cities have a massacre at some point. This isn’t due to the freedom players have to unleash chaos across the open world during a Low Honor playthrough either, as this bloodshed is unavoidable and takes place throughout Red Dead Redemption 2‘s main story.
The first major city players must shoot their way out of in Red Dead Redemption 2 is Strawberry, after they break Micah out of jail there and anger the local Sheriff’s department. The second bloodbath takes place when returning to the first city players visit in the game, Valentine, and this is because of the arrival of Leviticus Cornwall, a wealthy man whom the Van der Lindes have previously robbed, who tracked the gang down and holds some of them hostage. Later, Sean is killed by members of the Gray family during an ambush in Rhodes after they discover the Van der Lindes have been working with their rivals, the Braithwaites, and a major gunfight ensues.
In the final mission of Chapter 4, the Van der Linde gang fails to rob the Lemoyne National Bank in Saint Denis in a bid to fund their escape overseas, leading to another shootout as they try to escape the Pinkertons. Dutch finally kills Leviticus Cornwall in Annesburg after a deal fell through, which again led to Dutch, Arthur, and Micah fighting their way out of the town. The final massacre takes place in the game’s final story mission, Our Best Selves, when Arthur teams up with Sadie Adler to save Abigail from the Pinkertons and storm Van Horn.
These massacres don’t continue in Red Dead Redemption 2‘s epilogue, when players take control of the first Red Dead Redemption‘s protagonist, John Marston. The reason for this ties into John’s intention to live a peaceful life on a ranch with his wife and son after leaving the Van der Linde gang behind. Instead, John’s mission in this sequence is more of a personal one, tracking down the man who betrayed the Van der Lindes, Micah.
Source: MrRetnuh/Reddit