At the beginning of Red Dead Redemption 2 we are introduced to the weakened gang, picking up the pieces from a disastrous robbery in Blackwater. What was supposed to be a simple and profitable job, turned into a true massacre, going down in history as the Blackwater Massacre. This event marked the beginning of the end of the Van Der Linde gang, as throughout the 6 chapters of the story, we witnessed the decline and fall of the group.
. . Which constantly faces difficulties arising from a modern society on the rise, where outsiders- da-lei has less and less space.
Many are looking for someone to blame for the gang's woes, with the blame falling on figures like Leviticus Cornwall, Pinkertons and even Micah Bell. But we all know that the real culprit is Dutch, who with his inflated ego and greed that overshadowed his judgment, led the Van Der Linde gang to rock bottom. But what if I told you that everything Dutch did wrong was not just the result of his bad choices, but also of a dark pact made with a mysterious figure?
The Strange Man! That's right, you didn't hear wrong. Get ready to discover a sinister theory full of twists, involving the most mysterious and controversial character in the entire franchise.
Which for many, is the personification of the devil himself. Let's explore this story and discover how this connection could have been the real reason for the Van Der Linde gang's collapse. So without further ado, let's get to the video: The story of the Van Der Linde gang began around 1870 in Chicago, when a young Dutch Van Der Linde crossed paths with another man, named Hosea Matthews.
They met at a campfire on a roadside, with both trying to steal from each other. Faced with the irony of the situation, the duo laughed and a beautiful friendship was born that would last for decades. Both were articulate and had the same objective: to live outside common sense.
Dutch convinced Hosea that they could find redemption for their sinful lives if they dedicated themselves to helping the poor and needy, stealing from the rich and passing that money on to those in need. Similar to the tale of Robin Hood. Seduced by this utopian idea and Dutch's eloquent speech, Hosea bought the idea and agreed to join the gang.
With the group formed, the duo traveled to the city of Kettering in Ohio, where they carried out several frauds, posing as international traders and deceiving dozens of people into buying 300 dollars worth of shares in a company that did not exist. With the scams, the duo profited at least 3,600 dollars, which today would be the equivalent of around 107,000 dollars. Enough to buy 3 new Mustangs in 2024.
So imagine what that couldn't buy at the time? With such a lucrative scam, authorities were alerted, resulting in the pair's historic first arrest. Unfortunately, the Van Der Linde gang's dream was cut short.
That whole revolutionary ideal of living an anarchic life, outside the constraints of modern society and the status quo, went down the drain with this prison. The duo didn't even have the chance to help someone in need, as they were arrested in their first action as a gang. But when Dutch thought it was all over, with his hanging just a matter of time.
. . Hope resurfaced beneath the window of his cell.
A mysterious man. . .
dressed in a sophisticated suit and curious top hat offered him the solution in the form of a pact. The mysterious man would be willing to give Dutch everything he wanted. Freedom, happiness and the prosperity of his group, making it grow to the point of becoming the family that Dutch always dreamed of, but never had.
In return, the mysterious man asked for only one thing. That Dutch was loyal to the gang's ideals, stealing from the rich just to help the poor and do good. If Dutch reneged on the deal, the mysterious man would return to collect his debt, spreading fury and destruction wherever he went.
Draming of the perfect future, Dutch decided to accept the deal. With that, the mysterious man released the men from jail, leaving the city's sheriff tied up in the police station cell. The duo's escape remained a mystery in the city, as they managed to escape in broad daylight, without even firing a single shot.
The duo became a legend in Ohio, as not even the sheriff could explain the circumstances of their escape. It seemed as if the duo had escaped by magic. .
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So click on the link in the description and discover the store! With the duo's ready freedom, the Van Der Linde gang began to live their golden years. Everything Dutch ever dreamed of started to happen.
The gang began to take shape, with new members arriving all the time. In 1877 a young Arthur Morgan joined the gang, followed by Susan Grinshaw and John Marston. Other members arrived over the years, but this was the initial formation of the gang in 1877.
10 years later, in 1887, the gang decided to take things up a notch and commit their first major bank robbery. They broke into Lee & Hoyt's bank during the early hours of the morning and stole $5,000 in gold bars. The equivalent of 165,000 dollars today.
With the recently signed pact, Dutch was faithful to his ideals and decided to honor the agreement signed with the mysterious man. After the robbery, the gang decided not to flee, taking the risk of remaining in the city in order to fulfill their promise. They visited every shack, shack and orphanage in the city – distributing the stolen money to the poor and needy.
For the first time, the gang was honoring on a large scale the principles on which it was formed. But again, the robbery drew a lot of attention. After him, Dutch stopped being a common charlatan, rising to the top and becoming an infamous criminal, with high sums offered for his head.
But driven by his anarchism and hatred for the status quo, the patriarch saw only the good in this, as he was being hunted by the government he hated and criticized so much. To him, this just meant that the gang was heading in the right direction. This big robbery caused absurd confidence in the Van Der Linde gang, who in the following decade robbed more than 36 different banks across America.
This is reported by Edgar Ross in Red Dead 1, when confronting John Marston for his past crimes: Taking a low guess and considering that the gang made at least 2,500 per bank, we can calculate that the gang made at least 90,000 dollars over the course of a decade. The equivalent of almost 200,000 dollars today. The gang lived Robin Hood's philosophy to the letter in the first years after the pact, so much so that one time Dutch even reprimanded Arthur, because the young boy had robbed a poor man's house.
But as the years went by, things changed, with Dutch becoming increasingly disillusioned. The patriarch watched with disdain the growth of modern society, with the advancement of civilization and the centralization of government, which gradually dissolved the freedoms of the traditional wild west. The philosophy of taking from the rich and giving to the poor was lost, with the gang focusing more on their own benefit than on the noble cause, caring more about escaping the authorities and living Dutch's utopian anarchic philosophy.
In the beginning, the Van Der Linde gang's illegal activities were little more than embezzlement and armed robbery. But over time, with Dutch's moral decline, the group also started killing their opponents. The philosophy of stealing only from the rich was also lost, with the group establishing a new loan sharking business, lending money at extortionate interest rates to poor people.
This completely violates the principles on which the gang was formed. The gang's selection criteria suffered a huge decline over time, now accepting visceral criminals like the Callander brothers and Micah Bell. Unlike John, Arthur and others members – this trio was not made up of mere street criminals – whose biggest sin was stealing chickens from a farm.
The Callanders and Micah were already formed outlaws, thirsty for blood and chaos. I doubt that this strain would have been accepted back in 1877, but as I said, the selection criteria have fallen drastically over the years. After signing the pact with the mysterious man, the gang lived a decade of tranquility.
Traveling across America and pulling off scams along the way. But the tide of luck turned in 1898, while the gang was spending time in Montana. Somehow, the entire camp caught fire and the gang was forced to flee to the South.
It is implied that the fire was arson, as the group claims to have had problems in Montana. So the fire could have been the result of a robbery or disagreement with a local gang. But the truth is different.
. . During the night Dutch received a visit from a person he hadn't seen in over a decade: the mysterious man.
The same man who offered him the pact for his freedom. He visited the patriarch to collect his debt, as Dutch would have broken the terms of the agreement, leaving the gang's altruistic philosophy aside and caring more about himself, working only for his own benefit. Dutch disagreed with the mysterious man's allegations, refusing to give up his soul and arguing that the world was changing - and that with that - the terms of agreements also needed to change.
The mysterious man didn't care about the explanations, invoking a devastating fire that spread throughout the camp, putting everyone's lives at risk and threatening everything that Dutch had achieved over the years. Miraculously, Dutch and the gang survived, fleeing the scene along a slow and tortuous trail, setting up camp in the desert. Despite the difficulties faced, the group experienced a brief moment of tranquility there.
So much so that Dutch considered buying land and setting up a ranch for the gang, but the patriarch gave up on the idea soon after, as he was paranoid about the local police, suspecting that the men were discovering his true identity. With that, Dutch decided that he needed to raise more money, to be able to escape as far away from modern civilization and the mysterious man as possible. To achieve this objective, the city of Blackwater was chosen.
According to Dutch and Hosea, Blackwater was a simple and modest cattle ranching town, perfect for the gang to conduct a few more hits and raise money for the group to finally escape. With the next step planned, the gang continued their journey to Great Plains. During the journey to the city, the gang recruited a few more members: Lenny Summers, Charles Smith, Jenny Kirk and Micah Bell.
This latest addition of members would be crucial to the future, as it included individuals who would be instrumental to the fate of the Van Der Linde gang. With the trip complete, the gang established camp near Blackwater. But upon entering the city, Dutch and Hosea were surprised by modern civilization, as Blackwater had gone from a small cattle farming town to a large, thriving metropolis.
Despite being scared by the big city, the duo decided to stay on the outskirts of Blackwater, to scout the place for opportunities to make money. Hosea and Arthur discovered a great opportunity in the city, with a lucrative real estate scam that could earn the gang thousands of dollars, without the risk of attracting attention or the need to use firearms. At the same time, Dutch and other members were looking for other opportunities.
The gang's newest member, Micah Bell, convinced Dutch to rob a boat that was arriving in the city, loaded with tens of thousands of dollars to be distributed in local banks. The idea gave every indication of being a scam, as a boat full of money would certainly be very well guarded, with full mobilization of the state police and private entities. This plan was much riskier than the one proposed by Arthur and Hosea, but on the other hand, much more profitable.
During preparation for the ferry raid, Dutch received yet another visit from the mysterious man. He had been around town, watching the Van Der Linde gang's every move since the camp fire. His presence was notorious, so much so that Arthur reports that he heard about a man in Blackwater who looked very similar to Trewlany.
And as we know, the con man shares many similarities with the Mystery Man. In the new conversation, the man reaffirmed that Dutch needed to pay his debt, as the terms of the contract were broken. If he decided to sacrifice himself and offer his soul, the mysterious man would be willing to let the gang go free.
But again, Dutch denied the mystery man's request, doubling down on the bet and deciding to go ahead with the ferry scam. Drven by his desperation and anxiety to raise money quickly to escape, Dutch agreed to the idea, disregarding all the risks involved. Everyone already knows the result.
Three dead members, multiple injuries and the arrest of Sean MacGuire. The robbery even started off well, with the gang getting the money quickly. But suddenly everything went from bad to worse, with the Pinkertons surrounding the ferry and a huge shootout starting.
During the confusion, Dutch shot a girl, Heide McCourt. She was a young mother who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The circumstances of her death are unknown, but Javier and John say the girl's death was shocking, something unprecedented in Dutch's behavior.
That until this point in his life, he had never killed an innocent person. Despite the duo's shock and disapproval, Micah was the only person who encouraged Dutch to murder the girl. But in the face of all this confusion, there was a witness who was not shot during the robbery: the mysterious man.
12 years later, during the Red Dead 1 story, John encounters the mysterious man on the outskirts of Armadillo. Strangely, John had a funny feeling he had seen him before. And indeed John was right, as he had seen the man in the past, as he was present on the ferry in 1899, witnessing the entire Blackwater Massacre.
This is evident in his description of the girl's death, narrated with a wealth of details that could only be said by someone who was there and witnessed the tragedy: In my opinion, the reason Dutch got lost for good and murdered the girl , was to have seen the mysterious man on the ferry. In an act of panic, he took the girl's life and realized that everything was going down the drain because of their pact. At that moment, it dawned on him that the mysterious man was ruthless and would do anything to collect his debt.
Proof of this is that the gang was unable to even escape with the money, leaving the 150,000 dollars hidden in the Blackwater cemetery. From then on, everything started to go wrong for the Van Der Linde gang. They were pawns in a board game that was being orchestrated by the mysterious man.
In my opinion, Micah was a demon sent by the mysterious man, with the purpose of undermining Dutch and convincing him to follow the path of darkness, leading to the dissolution of his soul and fulfillment of the pact. We can see the Pinkertons from the same perspective. In a way, Agent Milton was also trying to make Dutch honor his pact, giving up his soul in exchange for the gang members' redemption.
But as I explained in my last video, Dutch declined all these offers and led the gang down the path of darkness. Loved ones fell along the way, all because Dutch refused to be true to his ideals, giving more importance to his ego and greed than to the good of the people around him. We witness the consequences of this throughout the 6 chapters of Red Dead 2, with Dutch losing everything he gained from the pact, culminating in his fateful death 12 years later, during the events of Red Dead Redemption 1.
John is no longer a mere piece on Strange Man's board, becoming the king who would deliver the coup de grace in the name of the beast. Everything could have been different, but the Dutch chose to walk the path of darkness. But what about you, do you think this theory makes sense?
I'll tell you that I really liked it, as it fills in a lot of gaps regarding Strange Man. And if you want to know more about him, don't forget to watch the full video I made about the man, revealing the whole truth behind the man's identity. Strange Man.
Just click on the card that will appear at the end of this video. But before that, a big thank you to all the members of the channel, because thanks to these people, AEG remains firm and strong. To repay all the support provided, I will draw 3 AEG mugs on August 10th.
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