Red Dead Redemption 2 is a western tragedy about family, life, and honor—with choices made as Arthur Morgan reflecting a good man living an outlaw’s life or the outlaw life corrupting a good man. Either way, in all of this, death is an absolute certainty. All in all, time is the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, as Arthur Morgan’s death comes on a time, the writing is on the wall for the gang, and the advancement of civilization and society close in on the outlaw life.
With this factored in, death plays a huge role in the game. Does time and fate claim someone before they can be redeemed, or do they find their redemption in death—as both Arthur Morgan and John Marston do? Red Dead Redemption 2 does this in quite a few ways, as players can achieve the “Paying Respects” trophy/achievement by visiting and interacting with the graves of their lost ones. And, in turn, these graves show how the world clings to old ways, while changing nonetheless.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Graves
Arthur’s Grave – Can be visited as John Marston after Arthur Morgan’s death, located on top of the mountain to the northeast of Bacchus bridge. Whether players had high or low honor as Arthur Morgan will impact the epitaph, with high honor also spawning an eagle and low honor spawning a coyote. The animals are interesting representations for how Arthur lived his life—the eagle is a straightforward message or honor but coyotes represent duality—a troublesome creature but also of good fortune. This means that Arthur was a man of good fortunes and a good (not perfect) life, but one who was troubled if still wise.
Davey Callendar – Found in the cemetery in Colter. Callendar is one of the first Dutch Van Der Linde gang members to pass, setting the tone for the coming deaths throughout the game.
Eagle Flies – Found south of Wapiti. Eagle Flies is unique, as he’s not a member of the gang, but he is someone who is manipulated by the gang and by the US army and by all the conventions of life at the times. His father, years later, will share a moment with John Marston where they both share the pain of this situation and contemplate their fatherly roles. Eagle Flies gave his life for Arthur’s, though, gaining the honor and glory in death he wanted—putting himself in a similar place as Arthur and John years later.
Hosea and Lenny – Both of these Dutch Van Der Linde gang members are buried side by side north of Saint Denis. They both expressed the desire, in an act of foreshadowing, to be buried besides friends and family. Now, some could argue that they got the former, but the latter is more clear: they were family. Much of the gang was until it began to fall apart, and Hosea and Lenny were as close as Arthur and John, pushing that emphasis of family in the outlaw world.
Jenny Kirk – North of Colter near the fork in the river. Jenny dies shortly before Calendar, which is why her grave isn’t a far shot from his. But, with two dead at just the start, Jenny and Davey represent that life—no matter how the gang remembers it before the robbery—was never as good as it may seem now.
Kieran Duffy – Buried west of Shady Belle. Kieran has one of the most gruesome deaths in Red Dead Redemption 2, where the O’Driscolls captured him, tortured him, and sent his corpse to the gang. Kieran was relatively new to the gang, showing how Arthur Morgan and others couldn’t protect everyone and only increased their heartbreak when they tried to bring more into their family life. Nearly everyone, except the traitorous Micah, mourns his death. Potently, Tilly will suggest Kieran was always living on borrowed time, but the truth is, every member of the gang was too.
Sean MacGuire – North of the Clemens Point camp. Red Dead 2 loves foreshadowing, as while Sean dies from a sniper shot by the Grays, Arthur comments earlier in the game (after MacGuire gets a head injury) that “least you ain’t got a hole in it.” This foreshadowing and his killing by the Grays shows the foreboding mortality of their world, and how the gang picks too many fights—they can’t win them all.
Susan Grimshaw – buried south of the Trapper camp near Annesburg. Grimshaw is one of the strongest believers in the Dutch Van Der Gang way of life, which she shows when she shoots Molly for supposedly being the rat. When it’s revealed that it’s actually Micah, she dies during a stand-off with him—later being buried by Charles Smith. Some characters manage to escape this way of life, like Charles Smith and Sadie Adler in Red Dead Redemption 2, but Grimshaw knew nothing else, loved nothing else, and died by her way of life—as many do here.
Each of these graves represents different themes of Red Dead Redemption 2: Family, honor, time, sacrifice, and more. These aren’t just markers for players to earn an achievement, but a reflection on the life of these characters and everything that happened to the gang, to the passing of time, and to the dying of the wild west.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.