RDR2 Story Arc Guide: The Price of Loyalty — Chapter 6 and Arthur's Ending
The devastating final chapter of Arthur Morgan's story. This guide covers every major Chapter 6 mission — Sadie's arc, the gang's disintegration, and the multiple endings — with gold medal requirements and advice for completing Arthur's story the right way.
Xbox button notation is used throughout this guide: LT/RT (triggers), LB/RB (bumpers), LS/RS (stick clicks), A/B/X/Y (face buttons). PC players using a controller will see these same prompts in-game. Keyboard/mouse players: check Settings → Key Bindings for your equivalents.
The Final Chapter — Spoiler Warning
Chapter 6 contains major story spoilers. If you haven't played through Chapter 5, stop here and come back.
Chapter 6 is where everything unravels. The gang is fracturing, Arthur is dealing with a personal crisis, and Dutch's decisions become increasingly reckless. The chapter has two distinct halves, and your honor level determines which ending you see — both are extraordinary, but the High Honor ending is widely considered the more affecting.
Key missions:
- Do Not Seek Absolution I & II (the widow missions)
- Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow I & II
- The Fine Art of Conversation (Strauss and Arthur)
- A Rage Unleashed (Colm O'Driscoll)
- Goodbye, Dear Friend (a major loss)
- Our Best Selves (the gang's last act)
- Red Dead Redemption (the finale)
Building to the End: Early Chapter 6 Missions
Do Not Seek Absolution I & II: Arthur visits a widow he wronged during the debt-collecting missions. These quiet, emotional missions are the heart of Chapter 6's character work. There are no combat sections — just conversations that crystallize Arthur's journey.
These missions are easy to rush but shouldn't be. Let the scenes breathe.
Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow I & II: Sadie has been hunting O'Driscolls independently. She recruits Arthur to help track down the last of them.
- Mission I is a straightforward gunfight at an O'Driscoll camp; use the high ground advantage
- Mission II ends with Colm O'Driscoll's public hanging in Saint Denis — a crowd event that goes sideways. The rooftop sequence requires quick aim; several O'Driscolls try to free Colm before the hanging
Gold Medal (Sadie II): Kill 4 O'Driscolls during the hanging sequence within 20 seconds. Use Dead Eye the instant the scene unlocks — the rooftop targets appear in predictable positions.
Do everything you want to do as Arthur Morgan in Chapter 6 before triggering "Our Best Selves." Once you start that mission, the story locks into the ending sequence. Complete stranger missions, hunt, visit camp members, fish at the mountain lake — the game explicitly reminds you to "tie up loose ends" but it's easy to miss this warning on first playthrough. Arthur's story ends, but the world continues in the Epilogue.
The Gang Comes Apart — Goodbye, Dear Friend + Our Best Selves
Goodbye, Dear Friend marks a significant turning point. Without spoiling who is lost, this mission involves a reckless rescue operation that goes as badly as the gang's luck allows. The aftermath changes the camp's atmosphere permanently.
Combat here is standard but the emotional weight is heavy. Focus on survival — it's easy to get caught up in the story and not react fast enough to enemy flanks.
Our Best Selves: Dutch's grand final scheme. The Blackwater job, revisited — robbing an army payroll. Arthur and the rest of the gang hit an Army camp.
- The Army camp is far more heavily defended than typical enemies; soldiers have better accuracy and positioning
- Dynamite on the payroll wagon early to disable it before the soldiers can move it
- The escape through Beaver Hollow is chaotic — Pinkertons and Army both pursue
Gold Medal: Kill 10 lawmen with explosives and complete within 25 minutes. Dynamite against grouped soldiers in the army camp; stick bombs on the wagon itself.
Red Dead Redemption — The Finale
The final story mission. Arthur, facing the consequences of his choices and the betrayal of the gang's inner circle, makes his last stand.
The High Honor ending: Arthur climbs to a mountainside as the sun rises. The final moments are meditative and earn their emotion. This ending requires having maintained generally high honor throughout the game — check your honor bar (it should be in the upper half).
The Low Honor ending: Arthur's final confrontation takes a darker, more brutal turn. Equally valid as a narrative experience but markedly bleaker.
Both endings are among gaming's most powerful closing moments. Don't look them up if you haven't seen them — experience them blind.
Gold Medal: Complete the final confrontation without dying. This is the one mission where the difficulty is emotional rather than mechanical. Take your time and let the story land.
After the credits, the Epilogue begins — and the game's other major protagonist takes over.