Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is a western-themed action-adventure game centering around former outlaw John Marston, who has been coerced by the government into hunting down the members of his former gang in exchange for his and his family's freedom during the final days of the American frontier.

Exodus In America
The finals days of the Wild West, where the American spirit and culture has been fosted, is fast approaching in 1911. Automobiles, machine guns, and electricity are arriving in the final frontiers of America, the states of New Austin and West Elizabeth.

Coerced by government agents, John Marston, who's been in hiding ever since his days in the notorious gang led by Dutch van der Linde, arrives via steamboat to the town of Thieves' Landing, where he witnesses several railroads under construction. He takes a stage coach to the town of Armadillo, and then rides to the stronghold of Fort Mercer. He confronts several former outlaws that rode in the gang, such as Javier Escuella and Norman Deeks, but the one he's after is their leader, Bill Williamson, who's said to have taken a turn for the paranoid after the original breakup of the gang.

Williamson explains things are different now; John, who once thought himself so high and mighty, is now looking at the wrong end of Williamson's rifle. John implores Williamson to come down and surrender himself, but Williamson instead tells John that he is now in charge, and that it's John who should be surrendering. John reaches for his pistol, only for Deeks to shoot him. The gang members leave him for dead.

John manages to crawl toward the road, where he slips into unconsciousness. Fortunately, he's rescued by a passerby, Bonnie McFarlane, who takes him to her family's ranch.

When We Are Persecuted, We Endure it
John recovers on the MacFarlane family ranch. To repay her kindess, he helps out around the ranch, such as herding cattle and breaking in horses. The two become fast friends, and John reveals why exactly he's in New Austin: with election year approaching, Governor Nate Johns has promised to clean up the state's criminal element, and to do so, government agents have kidnapped John's wife and son, and unless John eliminates the members of his former gang, they will all be prosecuted and punished for their past actions.

To do so, John performs a variety of odd jobs around New Austin to assemble a posse. He aids beleaguered US Marshal Leigh Johnson and his deputies Eli and Jonah, who have their hands full keeping Armadillo and the nearby ranches safe from the large Walton and Bollard twin gangs, as well as Nigel West Dickens, a con artist and snake oil salesman. Marston aids Johnson in destroying a Bollard twin hideout at Pike's Basin, and later captures Walton gang leader Walton Lowe.

In response, the gangs turn to Williamson, who sends Deeks in to oversee Marston's defeat. After a failed attempt by the Bollard twins to burn down MacFarlane ranch, Deeks kidnaps Bonnie MacFarlane and tells Marston to meet him at Tumbleweed town in Walton gang territory. Deeks attempts to betray and kill Marston during his arrival, but Marston, Johnson, and the Marshals defeat the outlaws and rescue Bonnie.

Deeks escapes with several Walton outlaws and brutally massacre the ranchers of Ridgewood Farm. John and the Marshalls hunt him down and capture him at a shootout near a train station. With Deeks in custody and the outlaw gangs subdued, Marshal Johnson promises his support in the assault on Fort Mercer. John asks Deeks why he went and gone cruel; Deeks explains he's little more than a cornered rat, a reflection of how the whole frontier lifestyle has been cornered by the approach of "civilization", and when rats get cornered, they lash out.

West Dickens gives John several useful contacts, including Seth, an unhinged grave robber and treasure hunter, and an unreliable, alcoholic arms dealer known only as "Irish", who procures a Gatling gun for the assault.

The posse rallies outside Fort Mercer. Marston and the Gatling gun are hidden inside Dickens's armored wagon, which, after a distraction by Seth, is allowed inside Fort Mercer. Marston ambushes the Williamson gang with the Gatling gun while the Marshals arrive as reinforcements.

The gang is defeated, but unfortunately Williamson and Escuella are nowhere to be found. They interrogate Deeks back at the Armadillo prison, who explains that if Escuella is missing as well, he's likely taken Williamson to a hiding place in Mexico. Marston telegrams the government agents, explaining that Williamson has fled the country, but the agents telegram back that if Williamson were to ever show up again, it would definitely not look good for Governor Johns, so Marston will be heading to Mexico as well.

Civilization, At Any Price
Irish escorts John across the San Luis river to the Mexican state of Nuevo Paraiso, which is embroiled in a conflict between the Mexican army, led by Colonel Allende, and a rebellion, led by charismatic folk hero Abraham Reyes. John initially works with Allende and his captains Vincente de Santa and Espinoza, which possesses more resources and promises to help him track down Williamson and Escuella. However, the work is quite unpleasurable due to the heavy-handed tactics employed by the Army against rebels, as well as the capture of local women for use as harems by Allende.

Along the way, John meets elderly gunslinger and legend Landon Ricketts, who's retired to a Mexican villa. The two debate on the nature of revolution, progress, and change; Ricketts claimed progress cannot be stopped and there's no room for frontier heroes like himself or John anymore. When Marston claims once he finds the two outlaws, he'll stop being a gunslinger; Ricketts explains that it isn't easy living a life behind, because not everyone can create a new life that matches the definitions of "progress" and "civilization".

Having enough of the work with the Mexican Army, John demands to know the location of Williamson and Escuella. De Santa and Espinoza bring John to their supposed location in the villa of Chuparosa; Escuella is there, but the Mexican Army betrays John, revealing themselves to have been working with Escuella all along, with Escuella being promised a high position in the Mexican Army.

John is rescued by Ricketts, who leads a contingent of rebels into battle at Chuparosa. John kills Espinoza while de Santa and Escuella flee. Ricketts explains that he is truly is hard to leave a life of a gunslinging hero. One the rebels named Luisa explains that Escuella and the Mexican Army has fled to the fort of El Presidio, where Reyes, her lover, is held prisoner.

Before the Army can regroup, John and the rebels quickly launch an assault on the fort, freeing Reyes. John confronts Escuella in the fort; the Mexican outlaw explains that being part of the old gang meant being part of the family, and sticking together through thick and thin. John then questions why Escuella life him to die; Escuella answers the whole family was falling part at the seams with Dutch's downfall; Escuella was lucky to save Williamson and Deeks, if anyone at all.

Escuella, backed into a corner, tells John there's still a chance he could rejoin him in that family. John explains it's too late; he has a new family now, and for that family to live, the old one must die. Escuella attempts to escape the fort, but John hunts him down and is given the option to kill him or hand him over to government agents Ross and Fordham.

Their leader freed, the rebels now regroup. Reyes sends men to hunt for Williamson and de Santa in exchange for John aiding the rebels. John rides with Reyes, who reveals himself to be an arrogant womanizer with a lust for power. The two have a similar debate on civilization, change, and progress; Reyes claims progress for the sake of progress is justified since progress will always include steps toward reaching modern civilization; looking upon Reyes, John questions if that will mean more of the same for Mexico. Reyes rebuffs him, explaining that progress is a tool, and when men like himself are at the front of that progress, it will be used for good ends.

Eventually, Reyes informs John that while they were unable to locate Williamson, they did find de Santa, who is on his way to massacre the population of Sepulcro. John rides and confronts the Mexican captain; de Santa justifies his actions by explaining that to achieve great change, there must be terrible sacrifices. John captures de Santa, who tries to bargain for his life by explaining that Williamson is under Allende's direct protection, in the Escalera palace itself. John can either kill de Santa or allow the rebels to kill him.

The rebels rally their strength, and Ricketts joins for one last ride. The assault on palace is a vicious one, and Luisa is killed while protecting Reyes. John, Reyes, and Ricketts breach the walls. Williamson shoots at John, only for Ricketts to take the bullet; in his final moments, Ricketts tells John that in the face of progress, sometimes the only escape from an old life is death. Better to do it here in order to save someone who has a chance of joining progress.

Allende and Williamson flee in a carriage, but John and the rebels chase after the military convoy. John shoots the carriage drivers and their horses, and the convoy is destroyed. Allende hopes to bargain for his own life by handing over Williamson; Reyes shoots the Colonel dead.

John meets with Williamson one last time. Williamson explains it wasn't easy being the leader of the gang after Dutch's departure; do you realize how hard it is to save your old way of life in the face of overwhelming change? He blames men like the agents for placing themselves as the forebringers of progress, and men like John who decide to join progress and civilization, coming at the cost of men defending their old lifestyles such as Williamson.

John explains that you can't fight progress, and sometimes, it's better to just join it, even if it means sacrificing old values. Williamson faces death with dignity, and John shoots his old friend.

Reyes takes charge of the local government and plans to march on the capital, while Marston returns to America, hoping he's finally done with all this.

The One Who Endures To The End Will Be Saved
John heads to West Elizabeth and the city of Blackwater, a stark contrast to the rest of the state, New Austin, and Mexico. It really is the forebringer of progress, marked by the imposing government buildings north of the city. John meets with Ross and Fordham, hoping to negotiate his family's release; instead, Ross tells him that he has one more task to complete. John grows angry, explaining he's done what they asked him to do; Ross retorts by stating that they can ask him to do whatever they want, since they're the ones with the power to hold John's past crimes against him.

That one task is bringing none other than Dutch van der Linde to justice; there's been rumours of the former outlaw leader assembling a new gang in the snowy hills of the state. John and Fordham rescue an informant named Nastas, a local Native American. While Ross escorts them back to Blackwater, the three debate on the nature of savagery versus civilization.

They bring Nastas to Yale graduate, doctor, and anthropologist Harold MacDougal. MacDougal himself is studying why some men, such as Indians, are born into "savagery", while others like himself have been born into a civilization they've produced. Nastas, now healed, explains it's because men like MacDougal and Ross are the ones defining what exactly "civilization" means. Nastas explains that this is precisely why fellow Indians, forced off their lands by the approaching settlers, have rallied behind Dutch.

John, MacDougal, and Nastas travel to Dutch's base at Cochinay, where Dutch ambushes John from afar, forcing Nastas to bring John back to Blackwater. Nastas explains the Indians aren't natural outlaws; they have been left behind by "progress", if you can call it that.

Hoping to appeal to their good nature, Nastas organizes a negotiation between himself, John, MacDougal, and Indian members of Dutch's gang. Instead, the Indians announce Dutch is escalating his plans, and the Indians ambush the trio. Nastas is killed while John escorts MacDougal back to Blackwater.

MacDougal, scared senseless by the violence, plans to immediately return east, believing that savagery and civilization produce too much bloodshed for him to return until civilization inevitably wins out. His home is surrounded by Dutch and several Indians, who try to murder John and MacDougal. John escorts MacDougal out of Blackwater to the train station of Manzanita Outpost. MacDougal thanks John profusely, explaining he will use John as an example of a man that, while born in a savage land, has accepted progress, and that has turned him into a member of civilization. MacDougal then departs back to Yale.

Returning to Blackwater, John discovers that Dutch and his gang are in the middle of a bank robbery. Joining Ross and Fordham, John kills several gang members attempting to flee, then arrives at the bank itself. Dutch takes a hostage and slowly leaves the bank while in a stand off with John. Dutch explains to everyone that him and John rode in a gang, but because John married the gang's whore, settled down and had a "real" family, that makes him a better man that Dutch himself, since John fits the idea of "civilization". Dutch then escapes, though many gang members are killded during a shootout at Bearclaw Camp.

Joined by a contingent of US Army soldiers led by Captain Frederick, John, Ross, and Fordham assault Dutch's hideout at Cochinay. The fighting is fierce, but eventually, it comes down to simply John and Dutch. John mortally wounds Dutch, who flees up to the top of a cliff.

Dutch throws his pistol off the cliff, and John holsters his. Dutch explains he departed the gang all those years ago because he just couldn't take it anymore; he was fighting for an idea of equality, that all men in the frontier are equal, only divided by their natural skills and work ethic. The gang targeted their attacks at banks and the wealthy, since they represented "civilization", those that got their money based on the hard work of others. What finally broke Dutch was the realization that he could never defeat civilization, and his idea was eventually doomed to die, since you can't fight nature and you can't fight progress.

John tells him he could've joined progress, but Dutch explains it was his own nature to defend that idea, which is why he couldn't stop fighting. While John is fighting merely for family and the new America, Dutch is fighting for the very nature of the frontier and the old America. And clearly, the new America has won.

Dutch warns John that the price of civilization is freedom; the government will never truly let him bury his past. With that, Dutch backs off the cliff and commits suicide.

With Dutch dead, Ross tells Marston his family is awaiting him at his ranch at Beecher's Hope. John then rides off, his old life hopefully buried for good.

Return To Me, For I Have Redeemed You
John triumphantly returns home and reunites with his wife, Abigail, and his teenaged son, Jack. John works on restoring the ranch with his old ranchhand, simply known as "Uncle", alongside his wife and son. John swears off the outlaw lifestyle for good, and spends the spring and summer working to produce a good harvest. He reconnects with his beloved wife and his estranged son, apologizing for not being the best husband or father. John hopes that Jack will have a stable, better life in the new world.

But no matter how much progress tramples upon the old life, it can never truly be erased; it will always haunt the new civilization. And that haunting arrives in the form of a double cross by Ross, who leads a force of Frederick's soldiers, lawmen, and agents to the Marston ranch. Uncle is killed, while Marston fends off several waves of attackers. He escorts Abigail and Jack to the barn, where he readies their horse. He bids them farewell and hopes that they will be better off now, since John knows there's only way this could truly end.

In an inverse of the opening scene, John looks down upon Ross from the top floor of his barn. This time, however, the men on the ground are able to defeat those behind walls. John demands to know why Ross betrayed him.

Ross explains that are several reasons. When it comes to poetry and ideology, Marston is a symbol of the old world, the frontier, and as Frederick Jackson Turner wrote, the frontier is dead. A new America has risen, and despite Marston's attempts to adopt progress...he can't erase the old world stain. The frontier was savagery, and civilization has come, and Marston's savage soul has no place in it.

But that's just ideology. When it comes down to actual reasons, it's quite simple: imagine how bad Governor Johns would look if it ever came out he gave a notorious, notorious outlaw clemency, no matter how many outlaws he's killed.

Men can change, but their past cannot. The past is there, forever. There can be no redemption for it, only death.

Government men surround the barn, preparing to light it ablaze. Marston tells them to hold off, he'll come down himself.

Marston opens the barn doors, and despite a blaze of glory of gunshots, he is overwhelmed. Betrayed by modernity, John takes one final stand of defiance before succuming to his wounds.

The government agents leave, and some time later, Abigal and Jack return to the farm, only to find John's body. They bury him atop a hill overlooking the ranch, with his makeshift grave marker reading the epitaph of "Blessed are the peacemakers".