John Marston returns from Mexico at the end of Act 2 with one name left: Dutch van der Linde. The third act covers West Elizabeth, the hunt through Tall Trees, John's return to his family, and the ending the government has planned for him.

Full spoilers for Act 3 and the ending of Red Dead Redemption follow.

Setting: West Elizabeth

West Elizabeth is the game's third region and the most modern. Blackwater is a city with electric light, motor cars and a cinema, and it is where Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham run their operation. Tall Trees, to the north west, is old growth forest and the last unsettled ground on the map. Beecher's Hope, John's ranch, sits to the east.

Finding Dutch

Ross assigns John to work with Professor Harold MacDougal, an anthropologist based in Blackwater, and Nastas, a Native American guide who works with him. Dutch has gathered a new gang in Tall Trees, largely made up of displaced Native men, and is raiding banks and coaches from a hideout at Cochinay. The search for the hideout takes John through a string of missions with MacDougal and Nastas, and Nastas is killed in an ambush along the way.

The wooden palisades of Cochinay, Dutch van der Linde's hideout in Tall Trees
Cochinay, the fortified camp Dutch holds in Tall Trees.

Cochinay and the death of Dutch

John leads an army assault on Cochinay. He fights through the camp and corners Dutch at the edge of a cliff. Dutch tells him that killing him changes nothing, because the government will simply find another monster to hunt. He then steps back off the cliff and falls to his death. Ross arrives moments later. The list is finished, and John is released.

Beecher's Hope

John goes home to Beecher's Hope, where Abigail, Jack and Uncle are waiting. This stretch of the game has no gunfights to speak of: John repairs the ranch, herds cattle, breaks a horse, shoots crows off the corn and teaches Jack to hunt.

Abigail and Jack Marston beside John's body outside the barn at Beecher's Hope
Beecher's Hope, 1911: John is killed by the soldiers outside his own barn.

The death of John Marston

The army and the Bureau surround the ranch. Uncle is shot and killed in the first exchange. John gets Abigail and Jack onto horses and sends them away, then stays behind and walks out of the barn to face the soldiers alone. He is shot down in the yard. Ross is among the men standing over the body. John is buried on the hill above the ranch.

Jack Marston facing Edgar Ross in a duel by the river in 1914
1914: Jack Marston finds Edgar Ross, now retired, and calls him out.

Epilogue: Jack Marston, 1914

The game jumps forward three years. Jack Marston is grown, Abigail has died, and he buries her beside his father on the hill. He then goes looking for Edgar Ross. He questions Ross's wife in Blackwater and his brother at Thieves' Landing, and is told that Ross has retired and spends his time hunting by the river. Jack finds him there, calls him out, and kills him in a duel. The game ends on that duel.

Key characters

Act 3 closes out John Marston's story and hands the game to Jack Marston. Dutch van der Linde is the final target. Edgar Ross is the man who set the terms and does not honour them. Abigail Marston and Uncle are at Beecher's Hope, and Professor Harold MacDougal and Nastas lead the search through Tall Trees.

Key events of Act 3

  • John works with Professor Harold MacDougal and Nastas in Blackwater to locate Dutch van der Linde.
  • Nastas is killed during the search.
  • John leads the assault on Cochinay; Dutch steps off a cliff rather than be taken.
  • John is released and returns to Beecher's Hope, where he works the ranch with Abigail, Jack and Uncle.
  • The army and the Bureau attack the ranch. Uncle is killed, Abigail and Jack escape, and John is shot down outside the barn in 1911.
  • Three years later, Abigail dies and Jack buries her beside John.
  • Jack tracks down Edgar Ross and kills him in a duel in 1914, ending the game.