Red Dead Redemption 2 Could Have Ended Differently Without Its Big Twist

gamerant.com:

This article delves deep into some of the main plot points of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game with many themes. Its story tackles subjects like family, duty, conscience, loyalty, and betrayal. Through the eyes of the outlaw Arthur Morgan, players see how the relationships within the Van der Linde gang attribute to the group's successes, narrow escapes, and most important of all, its failures.

Arthur himself plays a key role in the gang. Being the group's lead enforcer, Arthur oversees most, if not all, of the gang's activities. His words and actions also carry weight, as he has been with the gang for more than 20 years; making him one of its longest-standing members. Unfortunately, the events of Red Dead Redemption 2 lead Arthur to contract tuberculosis — a then-incurable terminal disease that attacks his lungs and causes him to grow weaker with each passing day. While the demise of the Van der Linde gang seemed inevitable with or without Arthur's illness, things could have been very different had he not gotten sick.

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The first and most obvious thing players will say about Red Dead Redemption 2's story is that, had Arthur not fallen ill, he wouldn't have died. Without tuberculosis, he wouldn't be coughing blood, losing weight, and generally feeling horrible all the time. The sickness seemed to manifest itself fully once Arthur and a few members of the Van der Linde gang returned from an unscheduled trip to Guarma. On the way to Saint Denis, Arthur collapses and is dragged to the local doctor who diagnoses him with his illness.

The tuberculosis only gets worse from there; with Arthur suffering from bouts of coughing to losing 20% of his