RDR2 Endings: All 4 Arthur Endings and How to Get Them

SPOILERS: this guide explains the end of Chapter 6, Arthur’s death and part of the Epilogue.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has four main versions of Arthur’s ending.

They come from combining:

1. your Honor;
2. the final choice to Help John or Return for the Money.

Choice	High Honor	Low Honor
Help John	Arthur dies watching the sunrise	Micah shoots Arthur
Return for the Money	Arthur scars Micah’s eye and dies at sunrise	Micah stabs Arthur to death

The Epilogue continues in all four cases.

How to get each ending

The decision appears during the final Chapter 6 mission:

Red Dead Redemption.

As the gang collapses, you choose:

• Help John Get to Safety
• Return for the Money

Your Honor changes what happens next.

Ending 1 — High Honor + Help John

This is generally considered Arthur’s most favorable ending.

Choose:

Help John.

Enter the finale with High Honor.

What happens

Arthur helps John escape.

He eventually gives John his hat and tells him to keep moving toward his family.

Arthur stays behind.

Micah catches him and the two fight on the mountain.

Dutch arrives.

Arthur again tells Dutch that Micah is the rat.

Dutch walks away.

Micah eventually leaves too.

Arthur crawls toward a rock.

He watches the sunrise.

He dies there.

Does Micah kill Arthur in this ending?

No.

Arthur is already dying from tuberculosis and has been badly injured during the escape and fight.

Micah leaves after Dutch walks away.

Arthur dies while watching the sunrise.

Ending 2 — Low Honor + Help John

Choose:

Help John.

Enter the finale with Low Honor.

What happens

Arthur gets John away.

Micah attacks Arthur afterward.

They fight.

Dutch arrives.

Arthur accuses Micah again.

Dutch leaves them both.

Micah then approaches Arthur and shoots him in the head.

Ending 3 — High Honor + Return for the Money

Choose:

Return for the Money.

Have High Honor.

Arthur heads back to Beaver Hollow.

What happens

Arthur reaches the gang’s money.

Micah attacks him as he leaves.

This confrontation becomes a knife fight.

During the fight, Arthur badly cuts Micah’s eye.

Dutch arrives.

Arthur again tells him that Micah betrayed the gang.

Dutch walks away.

Micah takes the money and leaves.

Arthur remains behind and dies as the sun rises.

Does Arthur keep the money?

No.

Returning for the money does not give you a cash reward to carry into the Epilogue.

Ending 4 — Low Honor + Return for the Money

Choose:

Return for the Money.

Enter the finale with Low Honor.

What happens

Arthur returns to Beaver Hollow.

Micah attacks.

They fight with knives.

Arthur does not give Micah the same eye injury seen in the High Honor version.

Micah wins the fight.

Dutch appears and again walks away.

Micah finishes Arthur with the knife.

All four endings

Ending	Choice	Honor	Arthur’s fate
1	Help John	High	Dies at sunrise
2	Help John	Low	Micah shoots him
3	Return for Money	High	Scars Micah and dies at sunrise
4	Return for Money	Low	Micah stabs him to death

What is the best ending?

For Arthur’s most redemptive ending:

High Honor + Help John.

Arthur spends his final moments making sure John can reach his family.

It also gives Arthur the sunrise scene.

Rockstar has not publicly declared this combination the official canon ending.

It is simply the route most closely aligned with Arthur’s redemption arc.

What is the darkest ending?

Low Honor + Return for the Money.

Arthur heads back for the gang’s stash and Micah kills him during the knife-fight route.

Does Honor matter before the ending?

Yes.

Honor already affects dialogue, reactions, optional content and Arthur’s imagery throughout the game.

During the finale it directly changes how his final confrontation ends.

The buck and darker visions

Arthur’s recurring visions also follow his Honor.

High Honor

Arthur sees a buck.

Low Honor

His imagery changes to a darker animal associated with the violent path.

These visions become more noticeable as the story approaches its ending.

Can I raise Honor before the ending?

Yes.

Chapter 6 gives you many opportunities to gain Honor.

You can:

• greet people;
• help strangers;
• release fish;
• choose merciful options;
• complete Honor missions;
• make honorable story decisions.

If your meter is close to the middle, move it before Our Best Selves.

If you want to see multiple endings:

Save before Our Best Selves. That is the save to keep.

The story then moves into its final sequence.

From that save, you can change the final choice or adjust Arthur’s Honor before going back in.

Can I replay the mission for another ending?

Mission Replay lets you make the other final choice.

For the opposite Honor version, a proper earlier save is more useful because you can change Arthur’s Honor before entering the ending.

Does the choice change the Epilogue?

John’s Epilogue still happens in every version.

The major Epilogue structure remains.

Arthur’s final scene changes, and some visual continuity can differ — most notably the eye injury Arthur can give Micah in the High Honor money route.

Does Arthur’s cash transfer to John?

Arthur’s cash does not simply carry into John’s Epilogue.

Returning for the gang money does not change that into a payout.

Some equipment and possessions return through Epilogue progression.

Cash is handled differently.

Can you transfer Arthur’s money to John?

Players commonly use the Aberdeen Pig Farm method.

Leave Arthur’s stolen money unrecovered there and return for it later as John.

That is a community workaround.

It is unrelated to the final “Return for the Money” choice.

Does Arthur always die?

Yes.

His final moments change. Arthur dies in all four versions.

There is no official route where Arthur survives Chapter 6.

Does Micah survive Chapter 6?

Yes.

Chapter 6 does not finish Micah’s story. It continues through the Epilogue and American Venom.

What happens at the end of the Epilogue?

Years later, John, Sadie and Charles track Micah to Mount Hagen.

That closes the Epilogue and moves John’s life closer to the situation seen in Red Dead Redemption.

Is there a secret fifth ending?

There is no fifth ending where Arthur survives.

Reaching 100% Total Completion does unlock an additional completion moment connected with Arthur.

It does not replace the Chapter 6 endings.

My first-playthrough recommendation

For a redemption-focused Arthur:

build High Honor and help John.

Make a save before Our Best Selves if you want to see the other three afterward.

Frequently asked questions

How many endings does RDR2 have?

Arthur has four main ending variants.

They combine High/Low Honor with Help John/Return for the Money.

What is the best ending?

High Honor and Help John gives Arthur the most redemptive conclusion.

Can Arthur survive?

No.

What happens if I return for the money?

Arthur returns to Beaver Hollow and fights Micah with knives.

Do I get the money?

Not as a usable Epilogue reward.

What happens with High Honor on the money route?

Arthur badly scars Micah’s eye before dying.

What happens with Low Honor?

Micah directly kills Arthur in both routes: a gunshot when helping John and a knife when returning for the money.

Does the ending choice change the Epilogue?

John’s Epilogue continues in every version.

Is there a secret ending where Arthur lives?

No.

Where should I save?

Before Our Best Selves.

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More RDR2 guides

RDR2 100% Completion

RDR2 Missables

RDR1 or RDR2 First

What to Do Before the End of Chapter 6

RDR2 Full Compendium

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Sources

Red Dead Redemption 2 — Red Dead Redemption, final Chapter 6 mission.

Red Dead Wiki — Van der Linde Gang and Arthur Morgan.

GTA Series Videos — all four Arthur ending variants.

Community discussion of the endings.

Last verified: October 5, 2026.

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