John Marston is a playable character in both of the Red Dead Redemption games, and his family plays an important role too, but there’s reason to believe his son Jack Marston may not be his biological child. Furthermore, it also explains why many of the members of the Van der Linde gang took on a fatherly role to the boy.
Both games in the Red Dead Redemption franchise plant a series of doubts throughout smart moments in the dialogue as well as important details about the character's backstory. However, what the games do not provide is a concrete answer to Jack’s patrilineal lineage.
Rather, players are supposed to be satisfied by the fact that John readily accepts the role of Jack’s father, despite the reason he has to doubt paternity. However, before this is accused of being a plot hole, it rather seems like a conscious decision on part of the developer in order to drive home the fact that it doesn’t matter who Jack’s biological father is. His real father is John because that’s who has raised him.
Several times over the course of Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s mentioned that John left the gang for a year because he didn’t believe Jack was his son. This is believable, given that when players are first introduced to his wife Abigail in the first game, she was working as a prostitute. She joined the gang in 1894, and then gave birth to Jack in 1985. During her initial few months with the Van der Lindes, she had sexual relationships with several gang members. Since this was around the time she fell pregnant, it means anyone could technically be Jack’s biological father.
Dutch confirms this in the original RDR when he says about John, “We all had her, but he married her.” This implies that Abigail likely had relations with Dutch Van der Linde and other members like Javier Escuela, Bill Williamson, and possibly even Arthur Morgan. Even more, in RDR2, Arthur subtly hints that he doubts John is Jack’s real father. “You don’t look much like a Marston… maybe a Williamson or an Escuela,” he says to the boy, even though Jack didn’t seem to understand the meaning behind it. Some theories have also popped up online suggesting that Jack looks similar to several of the gang members in his adult years, particularly Javier, though it’s only speculation.
The Red Dead Redemption franchise ultimately leaves it up to players to decide if the evidence speaks for itself, and as such, whether Jack is really John’s son.
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July 27, 2020 at 05:30AM
