Why This Red Dead Redemption Subplot Is One of the Best Rockstar Moments Ever

Playing through Red Dead Redemption is a blast in part due to the realistic nature of the game’s action, making all the more supernatural moments or allusions all the more effective. When there haven’t been too many overtly scary moments, beats like the ghost town of Tumbleweed take on a more sinister edge. Red Dead Redemption‘s most overtly supernatural aspect, outside of the zombie DLC, was more than just scary.

“I Know You” introduces John Marston and the players to the Strange Man, a well-spoken and properly dressed gentleman who seems to know a lot more about John than most people. The side mission that follows isn’t necessarily difficult, but it does raise a lot of interesting questions about the game world and the people who inhabit it. The tone of the encounters and minor details about the mission change it completely, however, and turn it into one of the most bittersweet, haunting, and surprisingly emotional moments in any Rockstar game.

The Strange Man’s Sub-Quest, Explained

Introduced in the side mission “I Know You,” the Strange Man and his dynamic with John Marston remain one of the most unforgettable parts of Red Dead Redemption. While south of Mescalero, players can encounter the Strange Man, who seems to know a lot about John and his previous crimes. The man tasks John with finding a few people for him. The first objective sees Marston tasked with finding a farmer and convincing him whether or not he should have an affair. After the mission “We Shall Be Together in Paradise,” players can find the Strange Man in Mexico and will be tasked with either donating money to a nun or robbing her. This unlocks the final part of the story, which takes place just outside Beecher’s Hope.

Here, a frustrated Marston demands to know why the Stranger knows so much about him. When the Stranger instead speaks ambitiously of all the people who have cursed his name over the years while admitting he doesn’t know it himself, John pulls out his revolver and fires three times at him. Each bullet seems to sail through the Man as he walks away, all while he looks around and notes that the space around them is a “fine spot.” This is the last the player can see of the Strange Man, but it isn’t the last time the player visits Beecher’s Hope. In fact, the place the Strange Man tells John is a “fine spot” will eventually become the site of John’s grave in the game’s epilogue.

Why The Strange Man Is So Memorable

Most of Rockstar’s titles, especially Red Dead Redemption, are firmly planted in the real world. There’s little in the way of the supernatural or extraterrestrial, although there are occasionally hints of some unseen force moving behind the scenes in other side missions and exploration during Red Dead Redemption. That’s what makes the Stranger, an unmistakable touch of the supernatural in a largely natural world, all the more effective. It’s effortlessly creepy, thanks to the blunt delivery of the Stranger’s dialogue and his dismissal of John’s reasonable questions. His appearance immediately conjures potential dark explanations. His casual recounting of John’s crimes is unsettling, especially coupled with the slightly judgmental tone behind the words.

However, the stranger isn’t depicted as an overtly threatening figure. He is also a very somber character, who becomes more distinct because he remains so mysterious. The fact that the Strange Man’s requests are moral tests of character underscores his apparent intentions, with a curiosity for the man that John is, instead of wanting anything specific or material from him. There are no deals offered or morals given. There’s no indication if he’s an angel, a demon, or death itself, just that he’s a being who knows more about John than he should and seems to judge him for it. Even after Dan Houser revealed that the character is meant to repersent karma, John’s shadow, and the devil, there’s enough broad ambguity to that description that the character can take on a lot of additional meaning. It leaves the player with the ability to interpret their meeting however they see fit, imagining it as a chance encounter with a devil, a visit by the specter of death that John has unknowingly been working with for years, or something else entirely.

The stranger’s final encounter with John carries a certain level of melancholy to it, which feels perfectly attuned to the more somber elements of Red Dead Redemption‘s latter half. Their chat over the land that will soon become John’s final resting place gives it a deeper thematic importance, especially as John’s death comes after he has tried to move past his murderous past. The Stranger’s final meeting with John is one of the most memorable small moments in any Red Dead experience, with a touch of sad acknowledgement that only lands all the harder for John’s eventual fate. It adds layers to John during the final stretch of the game, especially going into the final duel of his life with the awareness that this has proven to indeed be a “fine” place to die. It’s a powerful beat that adds layers to the larger experience and remains one of the most memorable things Rockstar has ever done.