Red Dead Redemption 2: Walkthrough & Boss Guide

This is a short story overview of Red Dead Redemption 2, ordered by the game's six chapters and two-part epilogue. It is not a mission-by-mission walkthrough. The plot summary follows Wikipedia; the chapter titles are the ones commonly used by guides (Colter, Horseshoe Overlook, Clemens Point, Shady Belle, Guarma, Beaver Hollow, then Pronghorn Ranch and Beecher's Hope). The Wikipedia summary does not tie every event to a specific chapter, so events are only placed where that is clear. Mission-level tips are not included because they could not be verified.

After a botched ferry heist in Blackwater, the Van der Linde gang loses its money stash and flees into the snowbound mountains. The gang takes shelter in Colter. Dutch keeps promising that the next heist will be the last.

The gang camps at Horseshoe Overlook, in New Hanover near Valentine. They decide to earn enough to escape the law and retire. The gang robs a train owned by oil magnate Leviticus Cornwall, who hires the Pinkertons to hunt them. After a shootout with Cornwall's men in Valentine, the gang moves to Lemoyne.

In Lemoyne the gang plays the Grays and the Braithwaites against each other. The Grays kill Sean in an ambush in Rhodes, and the Braithwaites sell Jack to Angelo Bronte. The gang destroys both families and recovers Jack, but Bronte double-crosses them, and Dutch feeds Bronte to an alligator.

The gang robs a bank in Saint Denis, planning to flee to Tahiti. The Pinkertons kill Hosea and arrest John. Dutch, Arthur, Bill, Javier and Micah escape on a ship bound for Cuba.

The ship sinks, and the five wash ashore on the island of Guarma, where they help locals overthrow Colonel Fussar. They then return to the United States and reunite with the gang, and together they repel a Pinkerton attack. John is not freed on Guarma: Arthur frees him after the return, which Wikipedia describes as the point where Dutch sides with Micah over Arthur.

Dutch becomes paranoid about a Pinkerton informant and fixated on one last heist. After Cornwall is killed, Arthur is diagnosed with tuberculosis. He urges John to leave with Abigail and Jack, and he helps the Wapiti, defying Dutch; several members leave. Dutch and Micah then plan a final heist on an Army payroll train. Later Dutch abandons Arthur to the Army and leaves John for dead. Arthur may help John escape or retrieve the gang's money. Arthur dies in either outcome: with high Honor he dies watching the sunrise, with low Honor Micah executes him.

In 1907, John, Abigail and Jack try to live honestly. Abigail leaves when she believes John will not give up his old ways. John takes a bank loan to buy a ranch.

John builds the ranch with Uncle, Sadie and Charles. He learns Micah is alive and leads an assault on his camp. Dutch shoots Micah, and John kills him. John then claims the gang's Blackwater stash to pay off his debt, marries Abigail, and settles on the ranch with Jack and Uncle; Sadie and Charles leave.