[SPOILERS] Arthur's redemption/sacrifice was in vain?

[Nonomori]

This is going to contain spoilers from both RDR and RDR2 so move along if you didn't complete these games yet.

Just completed this game and one thought just can't leave me. Is it just me or Arthur's sacrifice and his struggles to save John and make him live a good life seemed completely in vain? Considered that if you played RDR, the previous game, John will die anyway in 1911 while Abigail will die in 1913. So, Arthur's doings only bought them ~12 years of "happy" life. Yeah, you could say that at least Jack is alive and well but damn, didn't it feel a bit underwhelming and disappointing that Arthur did so much for them to live onward and enjoy a normal life only for them to die relatively young and of unnatural causes anyway? I mean, I played this game after playing RDR and I just couldnt take it all seriously, knowing that it's all useless in the end. They basically killed the best character in the whole series for nothing :/

[thumper]

that's the point, they redeemed their bad lives before they died. they murdered and stole from lots of people and don't deserve happy endings.

[Silhouette]

But... but... what about Jack?

Won’t anyone think of the children!? XD

Although in all seriousness, John Marston dies at about the age of 40 in RDR1, and the average life expectancy in the early 1900’s is like 47. Jhon did good. ;)

And Abagail dies at around age 37, so she didn’t fair too much worse. :)

[HilAroEye]

"Oh, we're all gonna die one day!"

[BuzzardBee]

Originally posted by Nonomori:

This is going to contain spoilers from both RDR and RDR2 so move along if you didn't complete these games yet.

Just completed this game and one thought just can't leave me. Is it just me or Arthur's sacrifice and his struggles to save John and make him live a good life seemed completely in vain? Considered that if you played RDR, the previous game, John will die anyway in 1911 while Abigail will die in 1913. So, Arthur's doings only bought them ~12 years of "happy" life. Yeah, you could say that at least Jack is alive and well but damn, didn't it feel a bit underwhelming and disappointing that Arthur did so much for them to live onward and enjoy a normal life only for them to die relatively young and of unnatural causes anyway? I mean, I played this game after playing RDR and I just couldnt take it all seriously, knowing that it's all useless in the end. They basically killed the best character in the whole series for nothing :/

The best anyone (including Arthur) would have been to offer a chance at a happy and "good" life. But at some point then karma or luck or just chance will have a shot at what really happens to you in life.

Yes, both Abigail and John got some years they more than likely never would have had with Dutch and the gang and that alone is something. My own problems with Arthur and the entire game go beyond that.

Redemption is right there in the game's title so it's understandable that there'd be a desire to try and make up for one's choices and actions in life before it's too late. Most Christians do worry about what's to come when their time is finally done. Even if one is not religious, fear can and will creep into most people's lives when they face the end and know they've done utterly nothing good in their lives. Colm O'Driscoll's hanging was proof enough of that.

Colm had "cheated" death so many times, he'd probably come to believe that he never would or could hang for his crimes and sins and that realization when he saw Dutch, Sadie and Arthur there having foiled his last plans to save himself from the gallowsd, that shock of finality spoke volumes.

My own problems stemmed from playing such a despicable character from start to finish. I started Arthur off on his road to redemption as early as possible in the game because it riled me to play a man with such low moral character. I get it that violence and being a bad guy is fun and I totally agree. Yet somehow in a game such as GTA, perhaps because it's never really handled seriously, it's somewhat easier to just go off and kill a whole bunch of innocent people. It's like a cartoon in many ways.

But RDR and RDR2 offered as realistic a view of the Old West as possible with characters whose actions carry serious consequences, it made it that much harder to take lightly the slaughter of innocents and then just go have a drink and forget about it or spend the money you'd just looted from some corpse found in the road.

It fit the morality played out in the game but it still made it difficult to really care about some of these peopled. They kept talking about times changing and how there'd be no place for them anymore. Well, I'm sorry but when the hell has there ever been a place for thieves and murderers? They talk a lot about wanting a place of their own, some farm somewhere, but they could have had that any time. They'd always resort to swindling someone out of their fortune or straight up robbing someone else who had a farm simply because it was easier than actually earning it themselves.

I recall talk of harvesting their own mangoes in Tahiti but the reality is they'd be far more likely to just go steal from some plantation owner instead of planting their own crops. The world has never wanted or needed folks like these and the encroaching civilization and the law across the land was inevitable because there are always people who find it easier to just take from others rather than try to earn it themselves. So I had little sympathy for Arthur who probably wouldn't have sought redemption were it not for his own impending death.

[Rat]

Arthur did good to give John more time with his family. They are killers and robbers but Arthur gave John the time to build up a ranch for his wife and kid even if the wee ♥♥♥♥♥♥ turned into a killer anyway.

[Floofy]

Originally posted by PoisonBlade:

But... but... what about Jack?

Won’t anyone think of the children!? XD

Although in all seriousness, John Marston dies at about the age of 40 in RDR1, and the average life expectancy in the early 1900’s is like 47. Jhon did good. ;)

And Abagail dies at around age 37, so she didn’t fair too much worse. :)

John dies because he went for revenge when he should have left it all behind him. John killing Micah led to him being found, and Jack killing John's killers probably won't do him any good either.

[Bowfin]

If a person gives their life to save another and that person dies 5 minutes later ,it doesn't negate what they did.