We Loved Once and True III

The Chelonian camp

Arthur rides into Cumberland Forest and finds the Chelonians' camp on top of a mountain. The followers chant "Chelonia", then their leader, the Chelonian Master, preaches: "And what is Chelonianism? No less than the recent rediscovery... of theology."

"Gentlemen", says Arthur. The Chelonians close ranks around Jamie and form a "shell of safety", repeating the words. Arthur asks to speak to the boy. "Arthur?", says Jamie. "Hello, son. Your sister is very worried", Arthur tells him.

The Master's question

The Master steps in: "The boy has chosen a path, sir. The path to truth." Arthur answers that Jamie's sister only wants to speak with him. "Arthur. I've chosen a path", says Jamie. The Master turns to Arthur: "The boy has chosen a path, he's chosen safety... what path have you chosen, sir?"

The player can answer peacefully or aggressively. With a peaceful answer, the Master lets Arthur speak to Jamie.

With an aggressive answer, Arthur snaps: "I don't know about this nonsense. Let me speak to the boy!" "Are you always this negative and antagonistic, sir?", asks the Master. "Only when dealing with idiots", Arthur answers, and he chokes the Master until he passes out. "Get off him. That's enough, Arthur", says Jamie.

In this version, Arthur then tells Jamie that he is better than this. "Better than what? Better than wanting paradise?", Jamie asks. Arthur answers: "Better than thinking these fools... know a damn thing about paradise... now let me take you home." "You're a sad man, Arthur... you're a real sad man", says Jamie. "No, not a chance! Leave me alone, Arthur! I didn't ask for your help!", he shouts, and he runs.

The chase

Whatever Arthur's answer, Jamie refuses to go with him. He runs to his horse and rides off, and Arthur chases him.

Jamie shouts that it is none of Arthur's business. Arthur answers that the Chelonians are only using him and telling him what he wants to hear. Jamie adds that he was doing fine by himself. On the way, a farmer yells at Jamie: "Whoa, whoa, whoa... you little jackass." "Sorry, mister", Jamie answers.

Arthur asks whether he means to spend the rest of his life in the mountains with those people. "They're my friends! If you don't leave me alone, I'll shoot you. I swear it!", answers Jamie. "You ain't no killer!", says Arthur.

Jamie falls from his horse, and a passing train separates the two men. Arthur shouts at him to stop, and Jamie does. "Please, Arthur... I'm a man now... I've found something... a calling", he says. Arthur answers that he is just a kid making a big mistake. Jamie refuses to take advice from an outlaw: "they're good people. I'm warning you, Arthur Morgan!"

The revolver

Once the train has passed, Jamie holds a revolver. "Please, kid... put that gun down", says Arthur. "I warn you, Arthur! I'm... I'm gonna... I don't wanna live any more!", Jamie answers, and he puts the revolver to his head. The player has to shoot the gun out of his hand: the game asks for a light hold of the fire trigger (R2 on PlayStation 4, RT on Xbox One) to start filling the meter before drawing.

"Now calm down. Let's go see your sister", Arthur tells him. Jamie thanks him and hugs him. "Have I been a terrible fool, Arthur?", he asks. Arthur answers: "I don't know... I don't know enough about it... but one thing I do know... there ain't no shame in looking for a better world."

The ride to Valentine

Jamie rides behind Arthur on his horse. He tells Arthur that he missed him and asks whether he and Mary are "sweet on one another again". "That's all a long time ago, son", Arthur answers.

Jamie reminds Arthur that he taught him to ride. He admits that he gave money to the Chelonians: "Of course I did. They rely on charitable donations." He says he just wanted to believe that something good might come his way one day. He explains that his father kept telling him "you won't amount to anything" and "you're not enough of a man", and that he had to get away.

Jamie says that his father will not be happy he saw Arthur, and that his father is right: he is not good at anything. Asked what he likes, he answers: "Apples, I guess. Yeah, I love apples." He tells Arthur that his father told him what Arthur does.

Jamie asks whether Arthur is still with Dutch and "Hester"; Arthur corrects him: "Hosea. Yep, still the same, sort of." Jamie then asks about Annabelle, Dutch's lover killed by Colm O'Driscoll, and Bessie, the late wife of Hosea. "I'm afraid they're dead", says Arthur. "Shit, maybe Mary did make the right choice", says Jamie. "No doubt. But none of it is anything like the nonsense you read in the newspapers", Arthur answers as they arrive.

Valentine Station

Mary is waiting inside the station. "Jamie! Jamie! Come home... please, you've... Father's been very sad", she tells him. Jamie answers: "Father wouldn't know sadness if it died in his bed.... but I'll come home..."

Mary thanks Arthur. "It's good to see you, Mary", he says. "And you, Arthur... and you", she answers. Before boarding the train with her brother, she tells Arthur that he will never change, and that she knows it.

Arthur then says: "I feel like... the luckiest man alive and... I feel like a fool. That woman confuses me and plays me for a fiddle like no one else alive. I trust I will not make a godawful tool of myself once more, but... somehow, I imagine I shall." He draws his initials and Mary's in his journal, with a heart between them. The "We Loved Once and True" strand is complete.

Answering the Master

• A peaceful answer gets the Master to let Arthur speak to Jamie; it is one of the gold medal objectives.
• An aggressive answer leads Arthur to choke the Master unconscious.
• In both cases, Jamie refuses to leave and runs away.

During the chase

• Shooting at one of the Chelonians while Jamie flees makes the others panic: they jump off the cliff, Arthur loses honor and the mission fails.
• If Arthur's sidearm is a Sawed-Off Shotgun, the shot meant to disarm Jamie kills him, and the mission fails.
• On the way back, if Arthur strikes a pedestrian in Valentine hard enough to make them hostile, Jamie draws his pistol and shoots the pedestrian dead. Arthur becomes wanted for murder, but the wanted status is cleared by the end of the station cutscene.

Mission failure

The mission fails if the player:

• assaults, kills or abandons Jamie;
• lets Jamie die or escape;
• attacks the Chelonians;
• alerts the law;
• kills or abandons the horse;
• dies.

For the time limit, taking the shortcut on the left instead of the suggested route, straight to Valentine Station, saves time. A horse stimulant given after passing the herd of sheep, before the train, leaves the horse with full stamina for the ride back.

• It's been a long time, Jamie Gillis. You were a kid last time I saw you, and didn't try to kill yourself.

  Arthur, on the ride to Valentine

• Forgive me, but your father's a bully and a coward, don't listen to him.

  Arthur, to Jamie, on the ride to Valentine

• Please send him my worst regards.

  Arthur, when Jamie says his father will not be happy he saw him

• I was thinking more along the lines of... carpentry or horses or something, but... alright, go work in an orchard then.

  Arthur, when Jamie says he loves apples

• I only like shooting young idiots who run away from me... when I'm trying to help them.

  Arthur, when Jamie says he must really like shooting and robbing people

• Completing the "We Loved Once and True" strand counts toward the Lending a Hand trophy, awarded for completing all optional honor story missions.
• Mary writes to Arthur again in chapter 4. After this mission, her letter thanks him for his help with Jamie, says that she believes he saved Jamie's life, and reports that Jamie and their father are still arguing but that Jamie is thinking of going back to college.
• The Chelonians wear white robes embroidered with a turtle, the animal they hold sacred. In Saint Denis, Arthur can meet the cult's leader, Anders Helgerson, handing out pamphlets.
• In 1907, after the mission "American Venom" and a new meeting with Helgerson in Saint Denis, John Marston can return to the same hilltop, where a Chelonian master wearing a turtle shell leads the followers off the cliff.
• Jamie Gillis is voiced by Adrian Enscoe. The Chelonian Master is voiced by Jim Conroy, who also voices Anders Helgerson.