Eagle-eyed players of the original Red Dead Redemption have spotted an interesting reference to its prequel’s main protagonist, Arthur Morgan. The connection can be found in one of the newspapers available for purchase in game.
This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2
John Marston is the much-beloved hero of 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, though he also plays a major role in the prequel. In Red Dead Redemption 2, players were introduced to Arthur Morgan who, against all odds, also captured the hearts of Red Dead fans with his rough charisma and nuanced character.
Arthur’s growth as a character made it all the more gut punching when he died at the end of the story. Like John in the original game, Arthur’s choices come back to haunt him and he ultimately paid for his mistakes with his life. While John was riddled with bullets from a back-stabbing government official, Arthur slowly succumbed to the terrible disease called tuberculosis which he contracted from one of his own victims. According to a tobacco advertisement in Red Dead Redemption, however, Arthur was only a cigarette away from a cure.
The advertisement claims that those infected by the disease could “disinfect” themselves through “regular” smoking throughout the day. Modern medicine strongly disagrees with this notion, though the advertisement is reflective of the game’s setting; the medical sensibilities of Red Dead’s 1912 America were not quite as developed as they are today. Indeed, players can force Arthur Morgan to become the heaviest chain-smoker in the West, but Arthur will still fall to the disease that didn’t have a viable cure until 1921.
Developer Rockstar Games began preliminary work on Red Dead Redemption 2 while the original game was finishing development. This most likely means that basic details such as setting, story, and main characters were being solidified before development began in earnest. Since the newspaper in Red Dead is not a major part of the game, it's possible that this tobacco advertisement was added last-minute as a nod to Rockstar’s upcoming Western hero. Perhaps Arthur’s plight was inspired by the newspaper clipping.
Or, it is most likely that this was just a happy accident. Tuberculosis was one of a thousand dangers people faced in the old West, and Rockstar Games has always created deep and immersive worlds with an astonishing attention to detail. Thanks to the work of dedicated fans, the industry has one more example of Rockstar’s masterful world-building.
Red Dead Redemption is available on PS3 and Xbox 360.