John Marston is the secondary actor character of Red Dead Redemption two , but for the large number of fans who joined the serial with the successful prequel, his story ends with him escaping his past with the Van der Linde gang and finally getting a chance to settle down with his family. As fans of the original know, however, the past tin't exist escaped then easily.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game near running from the past, the looming shadow of decease, and the disability of its primary characters to adapt to the future. John'southward story in the first Red Dead Redemption reflects all of those themes, and understanding John's fate is vital to understanding the grim dramatic irony which hangs over Red Dead Redemption 2'southward happier moments.

John's Escape In Red Dead 2

red dead redemption 2 john marston horse

No matter what Arthur'due south honor level is inRuby-red Dead Redemption 2, John and his family unit manage to escape from the Van der Linde gang before information technology collapses and many of the members, including Arthur, are killed in the ensuing violence. Originally, the Marstons travel north to Canada, attempting to take part in the golden blitz in Yukon. This get-rich-quick scheme didn't work out for them, however, and John and his family found themselves returning to America with niggling to evidence for the hardship they endured.

Afterward an incident in which John shot a man at Roanoke Ridge, the Marston family unit establish themselves hiding out in Strawberry while John lays depression nether the less-than-subtle pseudonym Jim Milton. John eventually found work as a ranch paw after driving the Laramie Gang from Pronghorn Ranch. The family unit had its ups and downs, and after leaving him for a fourth dimension Jack and Abigail eventually reunited with John after he congenital them a firm and killed Micah Bell with the aid of Sadie Adler, Charles Smith, and Dutch.

However, killing Micah put Bureau of Investigation agents Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham on John Marston'due south trail, despite the fact the Van der Linde gang had disbanded years before. The Bureau kept an eye on John for four years, waiting for a good opportunity to utilise him as an asset.

The Start Of Red Dead 1

rdr2 buck drinking water

That opportunity came in 1911, the starting year of the events of Red Dead Redemption. The Agency kidnapped Jack and Abigail, holding them hostage to force John to hunt down Pecker Williamson and Dutch van der Linde, two of the nearly prominent and active old Van der Linde gang members. Initially sent to Fort Mercer to take Williamson dead or live, John was shot from the ramparts past one of the members of Nib's new gang. He was nursed dorsum to health by Bonnie MacFarlane, but when wind of John's survival reached Bill'south gang, her subcontract was burned down and Bonnie was kidnapped.

John was able to storm Fort Mercer and rescue Bonnie, only it is revealed that Neb Williamson has escaped across the border into Mexico with the help of Javier Escuella. John pursues Bill south, meeting one-time gunslinger Landon Ricketts and helping both the Mexican Army and eventually a revolution spearheaded by Abraham Reyes. John is able to track down Javier, and tin can either kill him or bring him in live, which is also unsaid to result in his execution. When the rebels lead an attack to take over Nuevo Paraiso, Bill Williamson attempts to escape with the oppressive Colonel Allende, just John and Abraham gun them down.

The End Of Dutch, John, and Red Dead Redemption

John Marston stands off against an army.

Despite the hardship he's already been through, Ross and Fordham will not allow John's family unit go until Dutch van der Linde is dead. He travels due north, dorsum to Blackwater. Information technology turns out that Dutch has aligned himself with a group of Native Americans, who like Dutch oppose the steady due west spread of United states federal ability. After tracking Dutch down to his lair, the two have their final confrontation, with Dutch's back confronting a cliff.

"We can't always fight nature, John. We tin can't fight change. Can't fight gravity. We can't fight null. My whole life all I ever did was fight [...] but I can't give up neither. I can't fight my own nature. That's a paradox John. Yous meet? [...] when I'm gone they'll only find another monster. They have to, because they have to justify their wages [...] Our time has passed, John."

Dutch lets himself autumn to his death, but he nonetheless gets the last laugh, and his warning proves correct. Although Ross and Fordham promise that Jack and Abigail accept been sent home and they'll notice somebody else they can "badger," it isn't long earlier the Bureau arrives at the Marston ranch with the Us Army and United states of america Marshals in toe. John stays behind, and in a scene reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child's famous Bolivian Regular army catastrophe, walks out to face his death.

Three years later John's death, Jack Marston hunts downwards and kills Edgar Ross in revenge. Merely as John Marston seems to become away at the end of Cherry Expressionless Redemption 2, Jack survives until the finish of Red Dead Redemption. If John'due south fate in the first game is annihilation to go by, nevertheless, information technology is likely that by killing Ross, Jack Marston sealed his own fate besides. By 1914, the day of the outlaw is firmly over. Equally sad as information technology seems, in lite of John'southward story across Ruby Expressionless ane and ii, Jack's revenge likely leads to his ain expiry, and the final legacy of John Marston's short, vehement life. Either way, in the greater scheme of things Dutch's declaration that the story's characters tin can't find modify holds true. Despite Jack's final act of disobedience, it's clear who the winners and losers of Red Dead Redemption really are.

Cherry-red Dead Redemption 2  is now available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

MORE: Red Expressionless Redemption 2 Player Finds Hidden Dialogue While Playing Dominoes With Mary-Beth

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Suggests the Franchise Could be an Album Series

Read Next

Near The Author