With many eyeing Grand Theft Auto 6, Bully 2, or a brand new IP as the next Rockstar Games title, it's likely that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be it for the franchise for quite some time. Rockstar is known for taking its time and producing high-quality AAA games, so players always know, whatever it is, they're in for a treat. But eventually, there's a good chance the company will return to the western action-adventure franchise, as there is still one last piece of the puzzle, one last ride for a cowboy, and one last enemy to be destroyed before the epic franchise feels complete.
Prior to the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, there were many rumors that it would be a direct sequel where players controlled Jack Marston, John's son who avenges him in the epilogue of the original. Jack Marston's life is left a big open blank after this, and so, when Rockstar Games returns to the franchise, Jack's story need to come to an end. After all, two games set this up in an effective manner.
Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption
When Arthur Morgan dies in the events of the sequel, it comes as little-to-no surprise. It's clear that Arthur Morgan did not exist in the original game, as John Marston makes no mention of him, which is considerably strange given the way the first game could end. Nonetheless, it follows this redemption arc where Arthur Morgan, a complex man and a solid father figure to Jack Marston at times, must atone for his life with the Van Der Linde Gang.
Note that Arthur reflects Jack's narrative in so many ways. Arthur was picked up around 14-years old, viewing Dutch as a father figure. Dutch shaped Arthur's world view of independence, self-reliance, and so much more. Arthur could never keep a love life or family, as his relationship with Mary fell through, and later on, his son Isaac and his mother were killed over $10. It's clear that Arthur never truly dealt with this, instead forming a sort of father-like relationship with Jack and blindly trusting in his own with Dutch.
Many in the Dutch Van Der Linde Gang, including Arthur, went out of their way to protect Jack, despite him being with the gang at such a young age, truly even younger than Arthur. In so many ways, Jack was the golden child and the black sheep—smart and truly cherished, yet truly unfit for the cards he was dealt. The relationship that Arthur had with Dutch is the same that Jack had with Arthur, and later on, with his own father.
The title of the mission where Arthur dies (during his losing battle with tuberculosis) is "Red Dead Redemption." The importance here should be not lost, as not only does his death encompass everything that this outlaw life stood for, but it reflected upon the events of Red Dead Redemption 1. Arthur's death, narratively speaking, is a losing battle with time that directly foreshadows (if post-foreshadowing is a thing) the inevitable events and outcome of John Marston's life, yet also a reflection of the tragic direction of every single soul on this path.
John Marston - The Last Enemy That Shall be Destroyed
After all, John Marston is never able to escape it and meets the same fate as Arthur: death due to his involvement with the Dutch Van Der Linde Gang. It's not truly that simple, though, as while the agency turns against him for this reason, it's clear the real reason is echoed by Dutch's last words: "Our time has passed, John." The era of the outlaw, but moreso the era of independent man and free agency in their own terms was coming to an end. Arthur fought against this motion of time and met his fate. Dutch fought against this motion of time and met his fate. John Marston fought against this, truly pulled away unlike the others, became a rancher, build a home, and put his family first, yet he did not escape his fate.
But his death set another on this same long road: Jack was no longer the simple, naive, and book-loving child he had been for so long. This event instigated the epilogue and made it clear that Jack's path in Red Dead Redemption is that of his father's heroic but ultimately futile path, Dutch's hopeful but tragic path before him, and Arthur's self-defining path before him. A path of redemption that, as evident in this franchise, always ends in death. After all, despite the mission where John Marston dies being titled "The Last Enemy to be Destroyed," Dutch made it clear that there was always another.
Jack Marston - Remember My Family
It's interesting that, in the four time periods which span the franchise, Jack Marston and Edgar Ross are the only two characters to consistently appear. This is, in many ways, a clash of ideology: Jack Marston resembling the last of a dying breed, where Edgar Ross was the government man set to settle the fate of the west. Furthermore, the very fact that it is titled "Remember My Family," at first, seems to just hint at his mother and father, but it's clear that it's so much more.
Jack Marston's family was, for all intents and purposes, the Dutch Van Der Linde Gang. This changed and eventually focused on his mother and father, but this entire lifestyle was shaped by his family. The only fate that Jack could possible have is that of his forefathers, which boils down the reason that he even hunts down Ross to begin with, but what about what follows? Jack Marston is the latest in the longline of cowboys seeking redemption and yet another enemy is this escalating conflict of ideology.
Therefore, it's clear that there's a story to tell here, well after Red Dead Redemption 2. Jack was last seen in 1914, the same year that World War I began, whereas officially, the "Old West" came to an end in 1912. However, the last stage coach robbery in American history happened in Jarbidge Canyon, Nevada, in 1916; ergo, somewhere, somehow, this lifestyle continued. The myth of the Old west would even survive another 10 years, with this image lasting until 1924.
A Red Dead Redemption 3, then, would be placing the last possible enemy in a situation where they are young and literally running out of time, an important ever-present enemy in RDR. States are becoming more defined, the expansion is closing in, and this way of life is well on its way out. It's unclear of what canonically becomes of Jack Marston, but it's unlikely that he ever went back to who he was before. After all, Arthur's, Dutch's, and John's death make it clear: there is always one more enemy to be destroyed.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now for PC, Stadia, PS4, and Xbox One.
