• News

  • TV & Film

  • PlayStation

  • Xbox

  • Nintendo

  • PC

  • Reviews

  • News

  • TV & Film

  • PlayStation

  • Xbox

  • Nintendo

  • PC

  • Reviews

  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Threads
Submit Your Content
Red Dead Redemption 2 Hidden Tragedy Will Break Your Heart

Home> News

Published 00:00 27 Dec 2025 GMT

Red Dead Redemption 2 Hidden Tragedy Will Break Your Heart

Poor Arthur

James Lynch

James Lynch

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Topics: Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games

Advert

Advert

Advert

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the mostly richly detailed games in history, putting together a game world that's as gritty and realistic as it is emotionally tumultuous to play through as Arthur Morgan.

If you somehow haven't played it yet, then this article will go on to discuss a pretty major story spoiler, so if you don't want to have a big part of the narrative explained, then it might be best to stop here.

The death of the Wild West was a famously tough time and location to live in, and it created some even tougher people, many of whom feature in the second Red Dead Redemption game.

Arthur Morgan might be the toughest of them all, and we have the pleasure of playing the game as him, a story that really lets us explore the depth of the man and his character.

Advert

As such, it's particularly tragic when it emerges that he has contracted Tuberculosis (during one of the game's missions), which is essentially a death sentence at that point. As part of that storytelling, Rockstar included a heartbreaking detail that you could easily miss, but really hits home once you know about it.

Arthur's Writings and Drawings Worsen With His Illness

Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games

Over on Reddit, one user asked the community to drop some random Red Dead trivia, and a response pointed out a genuinely upsetting detail about Arthur's writings and illustrations in the game.

"Arthur's drawing and handwriting gets worse as the TB gets worse," the response points out.

As another user points out, that's not the only reason that his drawings might change as you play through the game, saying: "Arthur's journal drawings actually change based your gameplay as well. If your Honor is high, his sketches are cleaner, more detailed.

"Low Honour Arthur drawings are messier, darker, and have more aggressive lines, like he hates that he's even drawing."

But even that isn't the final layer of detail to the drawing system, as a third comment explains: "The animals also get more detail in the drawings if you've observed them through the binoculars, rather than just shot and skinned them."

With the hype around GTA VI at an all time high, it will be interesting to see if Rockstar has been able to replicate the sheer amount of detail in their seven year old Western epic. If they have, I personally can't wait to start exploring.

Choose your content:

2 mins ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • Ubisoft
    2 mins ago

    Xbox Announces 6 Free Assassin's Creed Games for Limited-Time

    It includes some bangers!

    News
  • Rockstar Games
    2 hours ago

    GTA 5 Xbox Game Pass Update Gives You One Last Chance To Play

    Make sure you wrap up what you're doing.

    News
  • HBO
    2 hours ago

    Harry Potter TV Series Gets Second Teaser New Release Date Dropped

    A peek behind the curtain

    News
  • Rockstar Games
    3 hours ago

    GTA 6 Trailer 3 Dropping This Month, Mark Your Calendars

    Could it finally happen?

    News
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Next-Gen Upgrade Unites Fans But Will Break Your Heart
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Gets Surprise Elden Ring-Inspired Makeover
  • Steam RPG Surpasses Red Dead Redemption 2 With Open-World Detail
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Players Uncover Hidden Mechanic After 7 Years