The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most expansive worlds to run around and have fun in any game. Along with this, Rockstar presents a story showcasing a gang of outlaws as they try to escape the law in the closing days of the Wild West. One unique thing about its story is how it branches out, depending on protagonist Arthur Morgan’s honor level.
Returning from the first game, honor is a system that essentially tracks how honorable Arthur is. It can also affect how the story pans out somewhat, and the game is more subtle in its approach to this. There are quite a few instances but here are the biggest things to note.
Updated September 4, 2021: Even almost three years after its initial release, many players are still finding hidden details about the game that slip past the eyes of most. The world and story are so nuanced that even honor in Red Dead Redemption 2 plays a major factor in the immersion.
The game will change depending on whether Arthur has high honor or low honor, based on certain decisions made during Red Dead Redemption 2 and how you conduct yourself overall. Honor in Red Dead Redemption 2 affects the story and Arthur himself in a variety of different ways.
10 Honor Levels Change Arthur’s Personality And How He Acts
Depending on the honor level Arthur’s personality will be adjusted a bit and it will also change the way he acts towards people around him.
If Arthur has high honor, he will generally be more selfless and considerate to the plight of others, which is shown by his determination to give John and his family a second chance. An Arthur with low honor will essentially be the exact opposite and actually be pretty greed-driven in his actions. His honor in Red Dead Redemption 2 will have him either be an anti-hero or a surprisingly villainous hero.
9 Honor Affects Arthur’s Outfit During “A Fine Night Of Debauchery”
“A Fine Night Of Debauchery” sees Arthur infiltrate a high-stakes poker game on a boat to take the money that is onboard. Before going to the boat, fellow Van Der Linde gang member Josiah Trelawny will suggest Arthur gets dressed for the occasion with a suit, The Whittemore outfit. The outfit has a grey jacket with black pants, a vest, and a tie. The color of the suit’s vest and tie will vary based on his honor level.
Arthur Morgan’s high honor suit will have the vest and tie be colored blue which is a color normally associated with being good. The low honor version of Arthur’s suit will have a red vest and tie which is a color usually more synonymous with evil.
8 Honor Affects What Is Said After Arthur’s Tuberculosis Diagnosis
After returning from the tropical island of Guarma, Arthur will be hit with the devastating news by the Saint-Denis doctor that he has tuberculosis, a disease that was a death sentence in 1899. After which Arthur will walk into the street and begin to contemplate his future. What happens next depends on the honor level.
The game will give off a sort of dark and foggy screen filter as Arthur walks down the street should he have low honor. Words will be spoken from a variety of characters that are generally more defeatist and pessimistic in tone. Arthur having high honor will have a brighter screen filter as the words are more uplifting in tone.
7 Arthur Changes His Spirit Animal Based On His Honor
At the end of the previously mentioned walk and throughout the sixth chapter, Arthur will have visions of an animal. This is actually his spirit animal and the animal is different depending on Arthur’s honor.
A low honor Arthur will have a black and menacing looking coyote surrounded by the dark screen filter from the Saint-Denis walk. A high honor Arthur meanwhile will have a deer wandering a forest with the same bright filter as the street scene.
6 Arthur’s Advice To John Will Vary
During “The Bridge to Nowhere” mission, John Marston will talk about his doubts with Dutch and the gang in the cutscene right before and after the mission. Arthur will offer advice on what to do which depends on his honor during Red Dead Redemption 2.
An honorable Arthur will generally tell him to think more of his family and to be loyal to what matters most. A dishonorable Arthur will not even mention John’s family and generally be more pessimistic.
5 What Sadie Tells Arthur After He Helps Avenge Her Husband Changes
At the end of the optional mission, “Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow”, Sadie finally avenges the death of her husband, Jake, with the help of Arthur, the latter of which comforts a bloody and distraught Sadie afterward. Sadie will thank Arthur and tell him what she thinks about him which varies based on whether Arthur has high honor or low honor.
Sadie will tell a dishonorable Arthur that he is “a confusing man” but that he is the best friend she has. An honorable Arthur though will hear her say “apart from my Jake, you’re the best man I’ve known”. It is an overall touching but satisfying moment to see Sadie get her revenge, regardless of honor level.
4 Honor Affects The Final Ride
After saving Abigail from the Pinkerton agent Milton in the “Red Dead Redemption” mission, he will take one last ride to the gang’s camp to tell them of Micah Bell’s betrayal. That will change based on his honor during the game’s story.
It plays out pretty much the exact same as the street walk after the TB diagnosis but the quotes Arthur remembers are different and the song “The Way It Is” plays. The song though will be darker should Arthur have low honor, although still somber and emotional with higher honor. Either way, it is the start of the emotional roller coaster.
3 How Arthur Dies Varies
Arthur dies no matter what the player does, regardless of having high honor vs. low honor in Red Dead Redemption 2, but it does affect how Arthur dies at the end of the Red Dead Redemption mission.
A dishonorable Arthur will be killed by Micah Bell, an action which also varies based on what Arthur did with John earlier. Arthur will be stabbed in the back if he went back for the money or shot in the face if Arthur helped John escape. An honorable Arthur will be left where he lies and succumb to his TB watching the sunrise for the last time.
2 How John And Charles Remember Him Changes
Even though he is dead, Arthur is still in the minds of those that he was closest to. Two of those people are John Marston and Charles Smith who will remember him differently based on Arthur’s honor before the Red Dead Redemption 2’s epilogue after the former two reunite in Saint-Denis.
Charles will remember an Arthur with low honor as a man true to himself, even though he was not a good man. On the opposite end of the spectrum, he will say that an honorable Arthur was “a good man, as much as any of us could’ve been”.
1 Arthur’s Tombstone Reflects His Honor Level
When John reunites with Charles, the latter will reveal that he had returned to Beaver Hollow at some point and gave Arthur a proper burial. Arthur’s grave can be visited and will vary based on his honor. If Arthur had low honor, then the grave will have a weathered looking tombstone that reads “Blessed are those that mourn for they be comforted”. There will also be no flowers at his grave and it will be seemingly guarded by a nearby black coyote, reflecting a low honored Arthur’s spirit animal.
A high honor Arthur will have a pristine grave appearance with flowers that reads “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. A bird will also be perched atop the tombstone. Both this and the coyote cannot be killed or shot at directly. It is as if Arthur is looking on even from the grave, regardless of whether he had high honor vs. low honor.
