foreign [Music] four years after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 I still find myself thinking about it this game has moved me affected me in ways that know the piece of entertainment media ever has I've never been able to find the right words to properly explain this incredible experience I had back in 2018 only that I know that its quality transcends gaming as a medium and it's fair to be compared to any of entertainment's great stories so many things I have to say about this game it's characters and its message all swirling around in my mind but if I were to try and explain every detail of what I think makes this game amazing this video would be very very long so instead I want to break down one aspect of it that I think is its strongest and that is the characterization and Arc of its main protagonist obviously I can't talk about this without completely spoiling the story so consider this your spoiler warning with that out of the way I'd like to begin telling you about the greatest fictional character I've ever seen Arthur Morgan [Music] foreign [Music] I think good first impressions can be key when constructing compelling and empathetic characters especially in cases like Arthur were expected to spend 90 or so hours with him and it really didn't take long for Arthur to shine he is a stone cold badass the brawn to Dutch's brains but that was a fact made clear in the trailers it wasn't until the game actually came out that we got to see the main components of what made him so likable straight out of the gate it's clear he's characterized with a very rich and deep personality even more so than some actual real living people I've met he's as impassive and Rough Around the Edges as he'd expect from a man from the 1890s but he has a sincerity and selflessness to his personality that allows him to remain good-natured and approachable despite outward appearances deep down he is just a big softie pleased to meet you well aren't you just a toughest tick mountain man oh you be quiet Anastasia anyone can tell this one is a [ __ ] cat exactly yes he's a [ __ ] cat and that's all Arthur whatever you say how much you cost anyway ain't that a nice way to talk to a lady oh I didn't know I was talking to a lady excuse me that reminds me he also possesses a hilariously sharp win he is very funny anyway creating a character that is stoic and intimidating with violent impulsions and then using him as a vessel to explore themes of love family and responsibility is a fascinating decision for the writers to make and not to mention a difficult task for the actor to pull off After experiencing Arthur Morgan's story and coming to the conclusion that I'd never seen a character quite like him it forced me to ask the question what makes a truly great and compelling character aside from an award-winning performance like the one delivered by Roger Clark I'd argue that good characters have depth a vibrant personality a believable relatable and perhaps most importantly undergo some kind of evolution or change throughout the story that change could be for better or For Worse but I'm not a good man Jimmy Brooks not usually you see I was in Black Water I kill people and maybe I should have killed you should I have killed you Jimmy Brooks me I've never saw you not not now not not never I think we have an understanding of course we do Jimmy Brooks I will remember that I've got a good memory this is Arthur in the beginning of the story while kind-hearted as a friend Arthur is downright terrifying as an adversary a blunt instrument designed to enact the will of the vandolin gang Dutch's most trusted associate and go-to guy for any manner of intimidation and brute like strength this is how Arthur sees himself a bad man who does bad things being one of the first people that Dutch vandalin recruited into the gang 20 years before the beginning of the game were left to assume that Arthur has seen himself this way for most if not all of that time this is why he doesn't ever bat an eyelid at doing dishonorable Deeds the most obvious example of this being his treatment of Thomas Downs when Arthur is sent to collect on a loan that Downs made from the Gang honey from my business partner hash Strauss you owe him you took the money he wants it back what's not to understand where's our money I don't have it replace we already owe more than it's worth then sell your wife or your family or something we ain't your idea charity is that clear what are you looking at I said what you looking at woman my husband isn't well if we could just have more like I said we ain't nobody's out there charity get us the money Mr Down's letter dies of his injuries and Arthur still returns a few weeks later to collect on the loan from the now widowed Mrs Downs even throwing in a seemingly needless threat against his son my husband's not cold in the ground and you come back here aren't you I nearly paid off what was owed your husband knew the rules when he took that money now I'm real sorry about the way things turned out but he had a choice and my fault about the way the world is he didn't have a choice he was good and he did good there wasn't no choice in that and you as good as killed him yourself and don't kid yourself you had a choice you speak as if killing was something I cared about you ever wonder about eternity you should I hope it's hot and terrible Mrs Downes otherwise I'll feel I've been sold a false bill of goods now please give me that money either you got a lazy eye or lack of respect which is it for I ain't got no lazy eye no respect for the lacks of you well maybe when your mother's finished mourning your father I'll keep her in black on your behalf you think I'm that poor he knows his actions ultimately make him a quote unquote bad man but he still feels as though whatever he does is justified by his responsibility to provide for the camp it's a role he feels is necessary for him to play as there are 23 other gang members some of them women and children who are relying on him to do this in order to provide much like any parent would do for their family and to Arthur that's what this gang is his family but it is an age-old question of morality what lengths would you go to to provide for the people that you care about and I think most people's answer to that question is often further than what the law would allow and Arthur is a complete representation of that fact a representation that the ends always justify the means so for that reason we never find him objectively unlikable despite him conducting himself this way also having a character like Micah Bell in the story is a helpful juxtaposition to Arthur because while both are career criminals and ride in the same gang Micah in his bones is a disgusting perverted evil man who has no problem brutally killing or tormenting anyone at any time for any reason how he even enjoys it but having him in the gang helps highlight how Arthur is not like that at all doing what he does out of a perceived necessity and takes no pleasure in needless violence and thank you there I was having a dull day only for you to liven It Up by letting me help you shoot up out of town and even in the case of his seemingly needless threat against Archie downs's life I can actually kind of see her Arthur rationalize that it'd be necessary for him to do that because this is the rest of their interaction I'll keep her in black on your behalf you think I'm that poor maybe you shall sir and maybe other events will transpire you best stick to them books because mark my words on this vengeance is an idiot's game I miss his Downs thank you for your punctuality he's trying to intimidate actually into standing down advising him to think of his mother before throwing himself in front of the crosshairs of a man like Arthur it's a rough way of warning him sure but I do believe he's only trying to reduce the risk of needless violence it's examples like these that make it so that Arthur can say and do evil things without necessarily being an evil character otherwise known as an anti-hero I can't really discuss the evolution of Arthur's character throughout the story without discussing the role of his mentor in that Evolution Arthur's relationship to Dutch vanderland is an interesting one Dutch is an enigmatic personality to say the least and absolutely deserving of his own in-depth character analysis but to Arthur there isn't anything mysterious about the way that he looks up to Dutch as a mentor and as a father figure the values of absolute unwavering loyalty trust and responsibility to the gang are ones that Dutch preaches on a very regular basis and thus these values have become ideals instilled in Arthur so strongly that it'd happily die in the name of them in retrospect Arthur's adoption of these beliefs seems less like the result of a father imparting wisdom unto his son and more like the preachings of a cult leader indoctrinating his most loyal follower and so as the story unfolds and the looming threat of the law closing on the game becomes more and more prevalent the facade of Dutch's warm-hearted idealistic Persona begins to unravel and we start to see Dutch's True Colors already the dogs are on the way oh yeah oh you're right you are so right they are good at smell and filth huh so Health has got to be disposed our friends are making it gonna come and rescue you you're impulsive call them now you call them [Music] thank you part of your philosophy books cover for feeding the felony the goddamn alligator Dutch part that covers weakness that part it's difficult to say at one point Dutch truly becomes the villain of the story or at what point Arthur's faith in Dutch's ability to lead diminishes but I am certain that Arthur never stopped loving and caring for Dutch is the man who basically raised him even as Dutch's descent into villainy becomes increasingly obvious Arthur never turns his back on him no matter how much we want him to Arthur's indoctrination simply runs too deep and no matter how Despicable Dutch becomes he simply cannot betray the man who spent the last 20 years being his father the other Wrinkle in all this for Arthur is about justifying his actions as a career criminal Arthur's entire code of ethics is based on Dutch's preachings and every crime he's ever committed was done so under the guise of just trying to survive if all the justifications for Arthur's life of crime were based on the ideals of a man who was in actuality just a heartless monster then Arthur's crimes aren't really Justified at all slowly realizing that the ends don't actually justify the means if Dutch turns out not to be the man that Arthur believed him to be then Arthur's entire identity gets called into question raising some seriously existential dilemmas within Arthur with all that in mind it's easy to understand why Arthur has such a hard time turning his back on Dutch as easily as we would and why being introspective about all this is an exceptionally challenging task for Arthur to confront okay now here breathe again [Music] let me see your tongue and say ah foreign [Music] what is it it's not good news I guess that you got tuberculosis really sorry for you son it's a hell of a thing and just like that fate forces his hand Arthur is now faced with the fact that he is in all likelihood going to die and that absolutely rocks him to his core he's never seemed to be scared of death up to this point in his life but the concept of dying is now a hell of a lot scary and now he actually has time to contemplate it this causes his perspective to radically shift as if to open his eyes for the very first time completely reevaluating what's important to him and seemingly for the first time in his life he really struggles with the morality of his actions both past and present he recognizes that the clock is now ticking with every cough reminding him of his looming mortality and since he sees himself as a hopeless cause he chooses to dedicate the time he has left to others he is still with the gang sure but he starts acting more charitably more compassionately he starts giving his time and money to people in need absolving debts instead of collecting them donating to the church in sandini and refusing cash rewards for helping people even going as far as helping the Downs Family get back on their feet protecting Archie downs from bullies at the annasburg mine and giving money to him and his mum to help start over somewhere else here take this I don't need a normal I don't want your money yeah I know you don't want it I don't you sure shouldn't needed take it I ain't looking for forgiveness it ain't about that but don't forgive me just take the money and get out of here please I know I ruined your life I suffer for it every day but don't let yourself get killed for Pride I've seen it killed too many folks [Music] don't say anything don't thank me let's take the money and pack your bags that's all I got thank you Mr Morton I said don't thank me get out of here please I think it was important for us to see this because Arthur ruining the lives of the Downs Family is one of the bad deeds in his life we actually saw him do so one could argue that it was actually the audience's Forgiveness he needed more than the downses as I mentioned these are things he decides to do due to his circumstances and Newfound Clarity but it's also made clear that despite all of his kind actions he still feels that none of it makes up for a lifetime of wrongdoings and at least some part of his motivation for doing good deeds is to atone in some way for doing so many bad ones but it is a good question if you had six months left to live how could you possibly redeem yourself of 20 years of murder assault robbery extortion and exploitation Arthur seems to come to the conclusion that you just can't and to be completely honest I actually found myself kind of agreeing with that six months is just not enough time and even if he had more would it even matter is it even possible to redeem that many sins and so his changing his ways and he's turning over this new Leaf but he doesn't believe in it he doesn't believe that it'll change anything he believes that he is a bad man and no matter how many nice things he does from here on out he will still die a bad man and flatly disagrees with anybody who says otherwise brother Dorcas was right about you you are the most wonderful man brother Dawkins Israel greatly deceived I'm afraid but I'm happy to help a little what I think is brilliant is that we don't learn any of his thoughts through some lengthy expository voice over because big eloquent grandiose speeches isn't really one of Arthur's strengths it's just not who he is we know Arthur so well at this point that we just kind of know that this is all going on in his head through a little closing conversations his body language his mannerisms his Newfound generosity and some entries in his journal we can gradually piece together that Arthur deep down is an extremely confused and troubled man at this point in his life however being a prototypical masculine personality he always presents himself to everyone else like he's fine and that there's nothing going on with him cracking a joke and dismissing someone's concerns about him just to move the conversation along is his absolute go-to move and how are you never better you okay Beach I reckon you're gonna be just fine are you all right can I get you some water no I'm I'm fine this is not healthy and it makes him just as sick mentally as he is physically in my opinion whenever we talk about men's mental health or how some men have an innate inability to express their feelings this is the example I think of I often found myself yelling at the screen begging him to talk to someone anyone about what he's going through [Music] Morgan are you okay well never better what are you doing here well I'm on my way down to Mexico they're finally sending me on a mission brother Dawkins is very jealous it's wrong [Music] ah I'm dying sister okay I got TB I got it beating the man to death for a few bucks I've lived a bad life sister we've all lived bad lives Mr Morgan we all sin I know you yeah forgive me but that's the problem you don't know you May I don't know but whenever we happen to meet you you're always helping people and smiling that's uh he passed away I had a girl who loved me I threw that away my mama died when I was a kid and my daddy I watched him die I wore it soon enough my husband died a long time ago life is full of pain but there is also love and beauty what am I gonna do now be grateful that for the first time you see your life clearly perhaps you could help somebody help him makes you really happy ah but I still don't believe in nothing often neither do I but then I meet someone like you and everything makes sense you're too smart for me sister ah I guess uh I'm afraid there is nothing to be afraid of Mr Morgan take a gamble that love exists and do a loving that all aboard I shall try I know you will I love this scene it's so satisfying for Arthur to finally just man up and admit it just to let it out and since the calderon's heartwarming response is exactly what Arthur needed to hear Arthur this whole time has been reflecting on his life of 20 years of bad deeds and wondering how many good ones he needs to perform to make up for it all and as I mentioned earlier with only six months left to live that is an impossible task however I believe that sister calderon's point is that good and bad Deeds throughout a person's life don't get tallied up at the end to determine if a person was good or bad Arthur's opportunity to become a good man only started when he first saw his life clearly that being a good or bad person is not an adjective you get to use to describe yourself but instead it's something that is earned through how you affect the lives of the people around you and in Sister calderon's Time Around Arthur all she's seen him do is help people and smile so from her perspective of course Arthur is unquestionably the most wonderful man and finally she finishes the conversation telling Arthur to take a gamble that love exists and do a loving act I'll get back to that quote a little later but I'd like to point out that this conversation does contain a really sweet message and that is that it's never too late to start doing the right thing no matter how far gone you think you are and it's a lesson I think is applicable to all aspects of everyday life it's never too late to start working harder to love more be healthier make a change be kinder Etc anyway from this point on Arthur has a renewed sense of conviction and purpose him doing good deeds is no longer just about achieving his Redemption but it's about doing the right thing because it's right one of my favorite moments demonstrating the growth of his character is in his last debt collection mission in which he is once again tasked with confronting a widow whose husband borrowed money from the gang however this time Arthur with his Newfound Clarity takes a different approach we land Arthur some money you see and so it was you what do you want now you are my boys shoes you want the food out of our bellies what little there is you want me to lie down feet no no I also gave everything to pay your bills everything and now there's some fellas coming to take the house there ain't nothing left mister ah just wanted to say the debt's canceled and um take this it won't bring your husband back I know you need money and I don't well you're a good man I just wish you'd done it before he worked himself into the grave I'm sorry ma'am I really am as for that loving act that Arthur promises sister Calderon that he'd try and perform it comes quite poetically in the form of John Marston Arthur recognizes that the gang as we know it is about to collapse and that Dutch at this point has become so volatile that if anyone attempted to run away and Escape The Outlaw life it would be interpreted as complete disloyalty and betrayal in John Arthur sees a younger version of himself still with all the opportunities for an honest life with a family that has since passed Arthur by I feel like you should take your woman and child and get lost do you you can you could give something to jack a stattered well I don't see no way out of this what about loyalty be loyal to what matters what are you gonna do I'll be okay but do it for me now it would make me feel good if that makes any sense a little but listen to me when the time comes you gotta run and don't look back this is over Arthur makes it his mission to ensure that if the gang goes down John and his family will not go down with it believing that John's family is the one glimmer of positivity that can come out of all of this death and Chaos one more Big Score we got enough money to leave all this turmoil has the army and Pinkerton spinning we take a boat and slip away I don't know what you're saying Dutch but it seems like I've heard it all before just one more that's always a goddamn tree Arthur this is different we know this is full of cash Army payroll money and supplies to repair the bridge that you blew this is all going to plan what do you think it sounds wonderful hell yeah I ain't got much to lose but you know the women and the children and John and his family I'm afraid I have to insist I mean we got to let them go because if the pinkertons come through again they will kill everyone job insist insist the final sequence in Arthur's story is a roller coaster to say the least and I'm not here to recap the story or sit here and just watch cut scenes with you because I can easily stretch this video to 90 minutes dissecting each one all I'll say is that every single scene in the last two missions is masterfully directed and performed and completely serves to send off Arthur's character in the most beautifully heartbreaking way possible in final scene with Sadie and Abigail and the subsequent final ride back to Camp is featured in countless crying compilations of other people on YouTube because it is undeniably very moving it forces you to reflect on Arthur's journey of redemption and how far he's come as a character I myself am pretty good at holding it together in emotional scenes but even the most Stone Cold the game is going to have a hard time with this one and it only gets harder as the ending unfolds Arthur returns to Camp to warn Dutch having uncovered the truth that Micah has been snitching to the law about the gang's movements it is fascinating to me that even after Dutch has made decisions that's directly resulted in the deaths of other members of the gang abandoned Abigail and Jon at various stages in the story multiple times when they needed rescuing and literally left Arthur to die Arthur still despite all that does not turn his back on Dutch and still feels the need to look out for the man he once called his father that is [ __ ] loyalty and it makes this moment you all I had utterly devastating all right Arthur come on let's go keep pushing Arthur no I think I've pushed all I can come on you go we ain't got time for this not now we're both gonna make it go now I'll hold them up it would mean a lot to me please there ain't no more time for talk go Arthur go to your family Arthur get the hell out of here and be a goddamn man you're my brother I mentioned before that Arthur doesn't do long impassioned speeches nor is he terrific at conveying his feelings but here he doesn't need to all of that sincerity and emotion comes through in the performance after saying goodbye in the most Arthur way possible should put a smile on every face who watches it and at the very end when he's beaten and bloody just minutes away from Death he says I tried in the end I'm dead you sure did mate it's a line that always makes me crack a teary smile it made me realize that he lies there not as a casualty of Dutch's evil machinations but as the winner of his own story he took a gamble that love exists and he did a loving act he earned the Redemption that he never thought he'd have and was able to die on his own terms watching the sun rise one last time foreign [Music] before I actually sat down to write all this out I thought I had so much ready to say that it'd be easy for me to write but when I actually sat down to start I couldn't write anything it must have been three days that I stared at a blank Word document with no words coming to mind only feelings I didn't quite know how to articulate because that's what this character did to me what he still does to me four years later and that is leave me speechless and because of that effect that this character had on me Arthur Morgan is for my money the greatest fictional character I have ever seen