Red Dead Redemption 2 is known for having incredibly well-developed characters and deeply affecting arcs. The character that players spend the most time with is Arthur Morgan, but Arthur is only as good as his supporting cast. One of the most interesting secondary characters is Dutch, the charismatic leader of the Van der Linde gang.
Dutch slowly descends into madness, aided by Red Dead Redemption 2's most infamous villain, Micah. It's made abundantly clear early on that Micah is up to no good and a terrible human being, but Dutch doesn't seem to notice. Micah is one of the only characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 that's actually pretty one-dimensional; he's a jerk in every scene he's in and causes an enormous amount of trouble for the gang. If Dutch had any sense, he'd have kicked Micah out of the gang early on. So what stopped Dutch from seeing who Micah really was when it was crystal clear for everyone else?
Micah Affirmed Dutch's Views
One of the main ideas in Red Dead Redemption 2 centers around the taming of the Wild West. The Van der Linde gang is no longer able to maintain their outlaw lifestyle. Despite that truth, Dutch spends much of Red Dead Redemption 2 desperately trying to hang on. In his unwillingness to let go, he becomes increasingly greedy and puts the gang in more and more dangerous situations.
Many members of the gang, including Hosea and Arthur, challenge Dutch's view. There's always one more bank robbery, one more train heist, one more job. Once the gang starts to realize that they start disagreeing with Dutch, but Micah never challenges him. Instead, Micah affirms what Dutch believes and consistently sides with him. Micah prevents Dutch from ever actually being challenged, because all it took for Dutch to hold fast to his ideals was one person to affirm his beliefs.
Micah is the devil on Dutch's shoulder, telling him what he wants to hear instead of what's true. Tragically, the devil wins in the end and Dutch is not the same person by the end of the game. Dutch is in denial of the truth that his lifestyle is no longer realistic or safe, and Micah helps him continue to live in that denial rather than deal with it.
Dutch Felt Everyone Was Betraying Him
One of the values that Dutch holds closest to him during Red Dead Redemption 2 is loyalty. The problem is, Dutch's expectation is that the members of the gang are blindly loyal to him. It works for a while because Dutch spent years establishing himself as a trusted leader that puts the needs of the gang first, but when good people start dying everyone begins to question if Dutch is a still good leader or if he's gone mad.
As one of the original gang members, Arthur is one of the only people that can attempt to talk some sense into Dutch. However, it doesn't go well. Dutch accuses Arthur and everyone else who disagrees with his ideas of betraying him. For the gang leader, that's the worst possible offense.
While he felt like everyone was turning against him, Micah continued to grow closer to Dutch instead. Even though he's a newer member of the gang, Micah is the only one fulfilling Dutch's expectation of blind loyalty. Micah absolutely knows what he's doing, but Dutch is too far gone by then to notice.
Micah Highlights Dutch's Descent Into Madness
From a narrative standpoint, Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't hold back on how evil Micah is. He doesn't do one good thing in the entire game, so even though Dutch is slowly going mad and using Micah to affirm his deluded beliefs, it's still a little strange that he doesn't notice anything is wrong. Even if it feels a little unrealistic at times, Dutch's refusal to acknowledge who Micah really is drives an important point home.
The fact that Micah is so obviously evil highlights just how far gone Dutch is by the end of the story. Instead of trusting Arthur, who he used to think of as a son, he chooses to believe in Micah. To add fuel to the fire, Dutch was hardly affected when Hosea died. There is no reason why any sensible person would forego such important relationships for someone like Micah, and the fact that Dutch goes along with Micah makes it clear that he's lost all of his moral direction and is completely blinded by greed, denial, and a false idea of loyalty.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.