RDR2 endings: how your choice and Honor decide Arthur’s fate

This page contains spoilers. Below we describe how Arthur’s story ends, who survives and who kills whom. If you haven’t finished Chapter 6 yet, read our RDR2 Honor guide instead: it explains what the ending depends on without describing the scenes.

The RDR2 endings are four versions of Arthur Morgan’s final mission. Character names follow our RDR2 characters page, and mission names are given as they appear in the game.

The choice comes in "Red Dead Redemption", the last mission of Chapter 6 and Arthur’s last mission overall. It is preceded by "Our Best Selves" and followed by "The Wheel", the first mission of the epilogue.

The point of no return is the start of "Our Best Selves". After that there is no more free roam as Arthur: the mission rolls straight into "Red Dead Redemption". So make a separate manual save before it.

The choice itself appears after the escape from Beaver Hollow, when the Pinkertons shoot the horses out from under Arthur and John. Arthur offers to go back for the money (Abigail gave him the key to Dutch’s chest). John wants to get back to his family. You choose:

• "Help John": help John get away;
• "Go back for the money": return for the money.

The second factor is Arthur’s Honor at that moment: high or low. There is no official threshold number; guides and the wiki only talk about "high" and "low honor". According to Red Dead Wiki, every Honor change in Chapter 6 is multiplied by 1.5, so fixing the meter before the finale is easier than early in the game.

In short: with high Honor Arthur dies of his illness watching the sunrise; with low Honor Micah finishes him off. John survives in all four versions. According to the wiki, in the money branch with high Honor Arthur slashes Micah’s left eye, which is where Micah’s eye scar comes from.

• Arthur’s horse dies in both branches: the Pinkertons shoot Arthur’s and John’s horses. There is a separate farewell scene with the horse only if your bond is high: level 3 or above according to the wiki, maximum according to rdr2.org. How to raise the bond is on our RDR2 horses page.
• The last ride back to camp is accompanied by the song "That’s the Way It Is". There are two versions: the low-Honor one is darker, and Arthur’s flashback quotes differ too.
• What John inherits: Arthur’s items, weapons, clothes and satchel. Arthur’s cash and his stabled horses do not carry over. This is the same in both branches, so there’s no point selling valuables or using treasure maps before the finale: you can save them for the epilogue.
• Arthur’s hat: in the "Help John" branch Arthur gives John his hat and satchel. According to the wiki, John wears that hat in "Jim Milton Rides, Again?" and "American Venom".
• One achievement covers every version: Redemption (silver, 30 G), "Complete Red Dead Redemption". There are no separate trophies for different endings. Next to it in the list are "Third Time Lucky" for "Goodbye, Dear Friend" and "Endless Summer" for the epilogue; all requirements are on our RDR2 achievements page.

The epilogue story doesn’t depend on the branch: it always starts with "The Wheel". The only differences are the tone of some lines and details tied to Arthur’s Honor.

Charles dug the grave; it’s in Ambarino, northeast of Bacchus Bridge. In "American Venom" Charles also talks differently about whether Arthur would have wanted revenge.

John’s Honor in the epilogue doesn’t affect the story or the final scenes, according to the wiki: only discounts and how passers-by react. There are no separate "John endings".

The epilogue has two parts, both in West Elizabeth: Pronghorn Ranch and Beecher’s Hope. It is set in 1907, 8 years after 1899. Part one has 11 missions, from "The Wheel" to "Home of the Gentry?". Part two has 11 missions plus the story cutscene "The Best of Women"; the wiki counts it as a separate mission, so it gets 12. The full list is on our RDR2 missions page.

The final mission is "American Venom". Via Cleet in Strawberry, John, Sadie and Charles track Micah down on Mount Hagen. Dutch shows up there: he shoots Micah, John finishes him, and Dutch walks away without a word. They find the Blackwater money. Then comes John and Abigail’s wedding and the final credits.

The epilogue opens up the whole map, including New Austin and southern West Elizabeth, and after the credits the game continues with free roam as John. If you complete RDR2 100%, the game shows one more short scene: John at Arthur’s grave, finishing the journal. How long the epilogue takes is covered in our how long to beat RDR2 guide.

1. Make a manual save before "Our Best Selves" in a separate slot and don’t overwrite it.
2. Play the finale once with your current Honor and either choice.
3. Reload the save and pick the other option: that way you see both branches at the same Honor level.
4. For the other Honor level, shift the meter before "Our Best Selves": help people or, the opposite, rob them. In Chapter 6 every Honor change has a ×1.5 multiplier. Ways to do it are in our RDR2 Honor guide.

Honor cheats disable saving and trophies, so they’re no good for a "clean" playthrough.

• "There are only two endings." That’s what rdr2.org says, for one: supposedly Honor only changes the vision. But the high- and low-Honor scenes are different: who kills Arthur, whether anyone does, the last words, the song. Red Dead Wiki and TheGamer describe four versions.
• "In the money branch Micah shoots Arthur in the face." No: the gunshot is in the "Help John" branch with low Honor. In the money branch Micah uses a knife.
• "In the money branch it’s Dutch who stabs Arthur." No, that’s a mistake made by SegmentNext. Dutch breaks up the fight and leaves; if anyone finishes Arthur off, it’s only Micah.
• "Arthur can be saved." No. He dies in all four endings; the only question is how.
• "John’s Honor changes the ending of the game." No, the epilogue ending is the same.