Red Harlow was the PC in Red Dead Revolver, the first installment in the Red Dead series, but with Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2’s stories more deeply connected, the fate of Red Harlow has been subject to many different theories by fans over the years.
The Red Dead universe is full of mysteries, many of which Rockstar has kept firmly under wraps even years after the last game's release. The fate of Red Harlow, however, ties into all the subsequent games and has produced some of the strangest theories in the Red Dead Redemption 2 fandom to date.
Red is Uncle
One of the most popular theories is that Red Harlow and Uncle from Red Dead Redemption 2 are the same person. There are references in Red Dead Redemption 2 to the old drifter being called "the One-Shot Kid" in his youth when Uncle claims as much to Arthur in Valentine. Other theories have claimed that Uncle’s face matches an aged version of Red’s, but there are a few holes in theory that make it less convincing than others.
First, Red Dead Revolver takes place in the 1880s, which means Red would have had to age terribly between then and Red Dead 2 in 1889 even by Old West standards. Second, Uncle’s backstory from his birth in Ohio in 1849 to his abuse at the hands of his Uncle Jeb are established in the game, and there’s no clear reason for Rocksteady to set up these as red herrings without the pay-off of the twist.
Red is Landon Ricketts
In another case of secret identities, some fans have theorized that Landon Ricketts from Red Dead Redemption 1 is Red Harlow later in life. Like Red, Ricketts was a famous gunslinger in his youth, and one John Marston heard of by the time of Red Dead Redemption 1. With Red Dead 1 taking place in 1911, Landon Ricketts would be far closer in age to Red Harlow by that time.
The game even gives reason for the character to have changed his name, implying his involvement in the 1899 Blackwater Massacre and referencing his attempts to live a quiet life after moving to Chuparosa. However, Rickett’s fame earlier in his career helps discount this theory as a literal interpretation, and neither Ricketts nor Uncle have Red’s iconic burn on his hand. However, there are reasons to believe that Red Harlow’s story could still be based on Landon Ricketts in Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead 2.
Red Harlow is Legendary
The theory that Red Harlow is a legend in the Red Dead Redemption universe helps reconcile some problems with the Red is Ricketts theory. Throughout Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Harlow and his story are mentioned around campfires and even written in books read by Jack Marston. However, it is also very likely that in the Red Dead Redemption universe, there was no actual Red Harlow.
Rocksteady does not consider Red Dead Revolver to be part of the same continuity as the other two games in the series despite the personal mentions of Red. Considering that locations like Strawberry appear in both GTA and Red Dead despite their separate canons, this doesn’t entirely discount theories about Red appearing in the two sequels as a reference.
However, his take on the games does help explain a tonal shift between Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2. Red Dead Revolver had some more outlandish elements in it’s main plot with over-the-top characters like the TNT-tossing Pig Josh. While Red Dead Redemption has strange inhabitants from aliens to the vampires of Saint Denis, these appear more like Easter eggs than part of the main story.
It is likely that Red Harlow is a legend based on some of the real famous gunslingers of the Red Dead Redemption universe, including characters like Landon Ricketts. Some of the visual similarities between Red and characters like Uncle or Ricketts could be explained if their wanted posters were the basis for some stories about Red, which later added in more theatrical elements like his hand being burnt by his scorpion-engraved revolver in the original Red Dead.
It is interesting, however, that a series like Red Dead Redemption, known for its expansive secrets and Easter eggs, would not have a clearer answer to give fans about Red Harlow somewhere in its expansive game world. There may be an important thematic reason that Red Harlow’s final fate remains a mystery in Red Dead Redemption, however.
Why Red's Story Still Matters
The Red Dead Redemption games are about their main characters confronting their pasts as the romantic veneer of the American West falls away with the closing of the frontier around the turn of the 20th century. The members of Dutch’s gang are forced to consider the way Dutch’s freedom-loving ideology came at the cost of the lives and freedoms of others, and the mythology of the Old West and the frontier works as microcosm to examine America’s national mythology as a whole. In tone, its goal is to question whether the country and its characters can ever redeem themselves to do good in the future.
The fact that Red Harlow appears to be a purely mythological character may be frustrating to some fans, but it is important for the games to show how their characters engage with the mythology of the Old West just as much as they engage with the people around them. When the characters talk about Red Harlow around the fire, it’s partially a reflection on how the Van Der Linde gang's outlaws would like to see themselves. The lack of resolution to Red’s story is a reminder that, ultimately, that’s all he is: a story.
Not only does Red being a legend help explain some of the stranger parts of Red Dead Revolver, but it also helps explain some of the more nuanced character explorations that take place in both Red Dead Redemption games. Red’s famous last line – “it was never about the money” – is pure fantasy even for sympathetic Red Dead Redemption characters like Arthur, who ultimately meets his end after shaking down a man with tuberculosis for a measly missed payment. Red Dead 2 isn't just a gunslinger story, but a game interested in interrogating the role of fiction in creating the Old West, and Arthur's attempts to find redemption are mirrored by the game's project to reconcile itself with the role fiction like it played in romanticizing bloody chapters of American history.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.