'Red Dead Redemption 2' Players Aren't Convinced That Jack Is John Marston's Son

Hypothetical: what if Jack Marston isn't a Marston at all, because he isn't the son of John? Blasphemy, right? Well, it's a new theory among some Red Dead Redemption 2 players that has caught fire over on the game's official Reddit page.

So, who's the daddy of Jack if not John? Well some throw out Dutch, others Bill Williamson, but the most common suggestion is Javier Escuella.

Is Javier the father of Jack Marston? from r/reddeadredemption

Here's the case: for one, it's known that Abigail, the mother of Jack and the partner of John, was a prostitute at one point, and had sexual interactions with numerous members of the Dutch van der Linde gang. This is referenced in the dialogue across both games. For example, in Red Dead Redemption, Dutch says "we all had her, but he married her" while speaking about Abigail and John. Meanwhile, if you antagonize Abigail as Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2, he'll eventually say "you were the busiest girl on nickel night." And then also during Red Dead Redemption 2, Susan at one point during a random coming together tells her to go back to prostitution because the gang needs more money.

Abigail was in the gang for quite sometime before falling for John. In fact, she was brought in at the age of 17 by none other than Uncle. During this time she was a prostitute, and also at one point had something going on with Arthur, or at least that's what one of his journal entries seems to suggest. In other words, she had multiple sex partners in the gang that weren't just John, though when exactly in relation to the conception of Jack, who knows.

Two, John himself has doubts that the kid is his, though this seems to be more a consequence of his inability to grow up and be responsible for things beyond him. In other words, the doubt seems to stem more from a character flaw than anything.

Lastly, as you can see in the above image, Jack grows up to look a lot more like Javier than John, who he really looks nothing like beyond having similar hair.

That all said, not everyone is convinced Jack isn't Johns. For one, Arthur points out that once Abigail fell for John, she fell for him and wasn't interested in anybody else. So, the idea that she cheated on him with another gang member seems very unlikely. However, the timeline of Abigail falling for John to Jack's conception isn't clear. In other words, if she got pregnant not long after meeting John, it's possible she actually just got pregnant right before falling for him. But, for me, this seems like a stretch.

Jack looking like Javier when he grows up in the first game -- or at least a little bit like him -- is also irrelevant because Javier doesn't even look the same game from game. In other words, what Jack looked like grown up in 2010 tech is kind of irrelevant. Further, in Red Dead Redemption 2 Jack looks nothing like Javier, though he looks nothing like John either. He looks like Abigail. Interestingly, Arthur can at one point mention to Jack how he doesn't look like a Marston, but rather more like a Williamson or Escuella, but there doesn't appear to be too much deeper meaning behind this beyond a slight/tease directed at John.

And lastly, if Jack was secretly not John's kid, don't you think Rockstar Games would drop bigger hints than the ones laid out above? It would be a pretty plot relevant revelation, and unless they are saving it for sometime down the road, you'd think they would find some way to reveal it, at least to the player. But, who knows.

Anyway, you can check out the debate for yourself here, and come to your own conclusions. Personally, I think he's John's son.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. For more news and coverage on the title, click here.