Where RDR2's Van der Linde Gang Ends Up After Red Dead Redemption

Summary

  • After RDR2, the Van der Linde gang disbands, with survivors creating new lives.
  • Multiple gang members go on to prosper, such as Mary-Beth the writer and Pearson the shop owner.
  • Arthur dies, Dutch becomes an antagonist, Javier and Bill form their gangs, Sadie becomes a bounty hunter.



There are over twenty members of the Van der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, and by the end of the game, players have a good idea of what happened to most – but not all – of them. While some meet untimely and brutish deaths, other members of the Van der Linde gang survive, going on to do much better and brighter things once the gang disbands, and choosing to leave their life of crime behind.

[Warning: This article contains major spoilers for both Red Dead Redemption games.]

In Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption, players assume the role of Arthur Morgan. Arthur is one of the main members of the Van der Linde gang spearheaded by RDR2‘s great antihero Dutch Van der Linde. This is a prequel to the original game, however, which features another gang member, John Marston, as its protagonist. The former associates John hunts down in the first Red Dead Redemption are his and Arthur’s fellow Van der Lindes in the prequel. As a result, players have the opportunity to form friendships with many of these eventual antagonists in Red Dead Redemption 2.


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Some of the fates of the Van der Linde gang members are made very clear by the end of both RDR games, but some are only mentioned in passing. Luckily, Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption franchise takes the time to tie up loose ends one way or another, and give closure to these characters’ storylines if players know where to look.


What Happened To Red Dead Redemption’s Van Der Linde Gang As A Whole?

The Van Der Linde Gang Disbands After RDR2

dutch leading the van der linde gang


After the ending of RDR2, the Van der Linde gang, at least as Arthur and John knew it, disbands almost completely. The posse is effectively torn apart by the conflict between Dutch, Micah, Arthur, and John, with most of the survivors fleeing the scene and going on to start new lives elsewhere. Many minor RDR2 characters can be encountered again in the epilogue, which is set a few years after the gang’s falling out and stars John as its playable protagonist. Most of them welcome him as an old friend, and are happy to regale him on what they’ve been up to.

Simon Pearson worked primarily as the cook for the Van der Linde gang after joining following a rough encounter with loan sharks. The ending and epilogue of RDR2 reveal that Pearson has completely turned his life around and runs a general store in Rhodes. He also got married. But a photograph of the gang in his shop reveals he still reminisces about the good old days occasionally. Mary-Beth Gaskill joined the Van der Lindes after getting in trouble with pickpocketing. During the game’s epilogue, Mary-Beth eventually runs into John Marston at the train station, revealing she’s become a writer. “I write now. Silly romances, but it’s fun,” she tells John, describing her novels as “awful.” She leaves him with a copy before catching her train.


Players can actually read Mary-Beth’s book,
The Lady of the Manor
. It contains a single chapter of a Victorian romance in which a woman falls in love with the highwayman who killed her husband.

Tilly Jackson was originally a member of the Foreman Brothers gang before killing one of their cousins, causing a rift. She later joined the Van der Lindes, but once the gang disbanded, Tilly goes on to get married and welcomes a baby. Tilly sees John in Saint Denis during the game’s epilogue and she later writes him a letter saying she lives in a large home with servants. She also mentions that she still keeps in touch with Mary-Beth. Sadly, her letter also reveals that Karen died of complications from her alcoholism sometime between the end of the main game and the epilogue.


Reverend Orville Swanson saved Dutch’s life at one point, making him an official member of the Van der Lindes. Arthur eventually runs into him at Emerald Station as the Reverend is trying to flee. He admits he’s leaving, calling himself a “changed man.” In the epilogue, John later mentions that the Reverend moved east, and became a preacher in the First Congressional Church of New York.

What Happened To Arthur After RDR2?

Arthur Dies Before RDR2’s Epilogue

Arthur Morgan with a gun from Red Dead Redemption 2
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

Arthur Morgan, of course, does not survive the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. His death depends on what the player chooses, including their honor level. But regardless of how they play the game, Arthur ends up dying in the end. His tuberculosis is untreatable, and he’s unable to afford the move to a drier clime that the doctor suggests could save his life. In a good honor playthrough, he’ll die of the disease. In a bad honor one, he’ll be shot by Micah.


Arthur’s body is buried near a scenic overlook in Ambarino, just northeast of Bacchus Station. If the player completed RDR2 with good honor, his grave will be overgrown with flowers.

What Happened To Dutch, Javier, & Bill After RDR2?

Some Van Der Linde Members Return As Antagonists In Red Dead 1

Three members of the Van der Linde gang, including Dutch himself, remain alive at the end of RDR2, eventually going on to become antagonists in the first game. Dutch Van der Linde walks away unharmed at the end of Red Dead Redemption 2 after helping John and Sadie put an end to Micah. He simply walks away at the end of the game. In the original title, however, John manages to track down and kill Dutch, who had created a new gang of Native Americans.


Javier Escuellais last seen running away once the Pinkertons surprise the Van der Lindes, during Arthur’s confrontation with Micah. It’s later mentioned that he returned to Mexico, and in Red Dead Redemption, he’s revealed to be a hitman. Javier’s fate in the original game is left up to the player, who can either choose for John Marston to kill or capture him. Either way, he eventually faces justice, and mostly disappears from the narrative after his final confrontation with John.

Bill Williamson, similar to Javier, is last seen running away from the Pinkertons as they encroach on the gang’s camp. His whereabouts at the end of the game aren’t explicitly mentioned, but he later goes on to form his own gang in New Austin. As John attempts to hunt him down in Red Dead Redemption, it’s revealed that Williamson has become one of the most feared criminals in New Austin. One of his men shoots John during their first encounter in RDR1, and John goes on to chase him across the West. Eventually, they meet again in Mexico, where Bill has cast his lot with the dictator Colonel Allende. After Allende betrays John, he joins forces with a rebellion led by Abraham Reyes. They go after Bill, who is killed by either John or Reyes.


What Happened To John, Abigail, & Jack After RDR2?

The Marstons Go On To Appear In RDR1

The Marston Family sit at a campfire in Red Dead Redemption 2

In RDR2’s epilogue, Abigail and Jack are shown trying to make a new life with John on their ranch. Though they have a happy ending in the prequel, with John and Abigail officially getting married, their sadder fates are revealed in Red Dead Redemption. The mother and son escape the attack on their ranch, though John dies in the process. Then, a few years later, Abigail dies of unknown causes.

Jack later goes on to avenge his father’s death at the end of Red Dead Redemption. He becomes the protagonist of the game after the credits roll, allowing players to continue exploring the open world.


Which Members Of The Van Der Linde Gang Die In RDR2?

Not All The Van Der Lindes Survive

Unfortunately, not all the Van der Linde gang members survive the entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2. A handful of them die before the epilogue even begins, and John never gets the chance to check with them after his own departure. Lenny Summers is killed by Pinkertons while the Van der Lindes escape their bank heist-gone-wrong on top of Saint Denis’ rooftops. Arthur kneels down next to him to check his pulse, but the other gang members encourage him to keep moving. This is the same bank heist in which Hosea dies. Sadie later buries their bodies in the Bluewater Marsh.


Molly O’Shea was Dutch’s lover, but when things go sour between them, she shows up at the camp drunk and mouthing him off. In the process, she claims she was the rat feeding information to the Pinkertons. “I told them, and I’d tell them again,” she says in reference to Mr. Milton and Mr. Ross, adding that she wishes they would’ve killed Dutch. Though Dutch wants to kill her, as is gang policy for being a snitch, Arthur encourages him not to. But in the end, Susan Grimshaw picks up a gun and shoots Molly through the stomach. “She knew the rules, Arthur. What the hell is wrong with you?” Susan then says. Agent Milton later reveals Molly wasn’t the rat. Instead, the title belonged to Micah.

Susan, herself a former girlfriend of Dutch, was one of the founding members of the gang. Susan is eventually killed by Micah Bell when he betrays the gang in RDR2. When Arthur confronts him for ratting the gang out to the Pinkertons, John interrupts, creating a distraction. After Javier tells the group that he sees the Pinkertons coming, Micah shoots a distracted Susan in the stomach. She writhes in pain before succumbing to her injuries.


Hosea Matthews joined forces with Dutch after the two of them realized they were trying to con the other. In the Saint Denis chapter, during the bank heist that goes wrong, Hosea is captured and held hostage by Agent Milton, who ends up shooting him in the chest in front of the rest of the gang. “There’s your deal, Dutch,” Milton said after doing the deed. Sean MacGuire joined the Van der Lindes after trying (and failing) at robbing Dutch, though he clearly impressed him. He’s eventually killed after the gang shows up to Rhodes to talk to the Gray family about a job Bill was informed about. Out of nowhere, Sean gets shot in the head by a sniper, leading to a full-blown shoot-out between the Grays and Van der Lindes.

A young Hosea, Dutch and Arthur with Arthur as a bandit and riding a horse in the background

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Leopold Strauss, an old-fashioned loan shark, is eventually kicked out of the gang by Arthur, who’s angry about what happened to the Londonderry family. “I ain’t gonna kill you, though I probably should. You disgust me, and you shame us,” he tells Strauss. In the epilogue, John mentions Strauss was later picked up by the Pinkertons. Strauss dies in custody, but doesn’t reveal any information about the gang, leading John to compliment his loyalty. After the Van der Lindes disband, Micah Bell goes on to form his own gang. Sadie and John eventually track him down, however. They engage in a shoot-out, and Dutch eventually helps them by shooting at Micah. In the end, bullet wounds from both John and Dutch lead to Micah’s end.


After the Van der Lindes disband, Uncle meets up with John outside the bank during the epilogue. He proceeds to help the Marston family build their ranch, and even though Sadie and Charles eventually leave before the game ends, Uncle says on with the ranch. He later dies in Red Dead Redemption after the US Army Soldiers and FBI infiltrate the ranch. Uncle helps John defend the land, allowing Jack and Abigail to escape in the process, but he ultimately dies in the ensuing gunfight.

Some Of RDR2’s Gang Members Have Unknown Fates

A Few Of The Van Der Lindes Just Seem To Disappear

Sadie Adler becomes a bounty hunter in RDR2’s epilogue and goes on to help John and his family substantially, even attending their wedding. Later, a scene shows the family bidding her farewell as she leaves their farm. Though it’s unclear where she ends up, Sadie mentions wanting to move to South America. Similarly, after Charles helps John and his family out in the epilogue, a scene shows them saying goodbye to him as he heads off to Canada. It’s assumed Charles settled down and started a life up north, something he had mentioned wanting to do during the game.


Josiah Trelawny quietly leaves the gang during the Beaver Hollow Chapter after Arthur gives him his seal of approval. Trelawny’s family – a wife and two sons – are mentioned offhand during the course of the game, so it’s assumed he went back to Saint Denis to be with his family after abandoning the Van der Lindes.

Not all the Van der Linde gang members meet unfortunate ends in Red Dead Redemption 2, but the ending of the game signifies the end of the infamous Van der Linde gang just the same. Dutch does try to maintain some semblance of his old lifestyle but his gang is much smaller and weaker in the original RDR. If nothing else, it’s clear that outlaw life doesn’t pay by the end of Red Dead Redemption 2.


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