How Historically Accurate are Side Missions in Red Dead Redemption 2?

After looking at the main story chapters and epilogue of Red Dead Redemption 2, one thing is clear: Rockstar’s immense effort to ensure its historical accuracy. But the main story isn’t all the game has to offer; there’s still a large world to explore, people to meet, and side missions to complete.

0:00 - Introduction
0:28 - The Veteran
4:37 - The Smell of the Grease Paint
7:01 - He's British, Of Course
10:32 - All That Glitters
14:13 - Arcadia for Amateurs
17:59 - A Better World, A New Friend
19:19 - To the Ends of the Earth
20:40 - A Fisher of Fish
26:26 - Conclusion & Credits

#rdr2 #reddeadredemption

[RealPixels]

Thanks so much for watching! I was only able to cover a few side missions in this video, but which is your favourite?

[lobaandrade]

I’m so happy that the series is back again. The original episodes were some of the best RDR2 content out there

[bsgfan]

“Geology for Beginners” deserves an honorable mention. Ironically, it’s both anachronistic AND historically accurate at the same time.

In the mission, a man named Francis Sinclair hires Arthur/John to collect a series of rock carvings. However, the game heavily implies Sinclair is a time traveler from the 1920’s. There are multiple details from the quest line that are anachronistic to 1899 but _are_ accurate to the 1920’s. These include:

Belt loops - Invented in 1922 and became standard for all pants in 1923. Likewise, Sinclair’s pants are the only ones in the game that have them.

Transatlantic accent - Invented in 1918. This accent was not a naturally occurring accent, but a consciously-learned, social construct that became popular throughout the 20’s. For perspective, this is the accent you hear in every film or radio broadcast from the 20’s.

Argyle socks - Invented in 1914 and became popular in the US by 1916. Although the tartan pattern (which Argyle is based on) has existed since the 1500’s, it was culturally exclusive to Scotland and would not have been seen anywhere else.

Vocabulary - Sinclair uses words and phrases such as “jazzed” and “what’s eating you?” that would have made no sense in 1899, but were common in the 1920’s.

Skyscrapers - When put together, the rock carvings depict Sinclair traveling through various eras of time. One section depicts accurate representations of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, which would have been impossible in 1899.

Atoms - The same section also contains an accurate depiction of an atom. Although atoms were theorized to exist for hundreds of years, the carving depicts the Schrödinger Model of the atom, which wasn’t proposed until 1925 and confirmed by imaging in 1955.

Zeppelins - Finally, the section also depicts a zeppelin over New York. Although the original patents were filed in 1895, the first zeppelin was not constructed until 1900 and were not commercially used until 1910.

TL;DR: Even when Rockstar is being intentionally inaccurate, they’re still accurate

[connorperrett]

It is amazing that a company founded in the 1860s to produce prosthetics is still around today and is still producing prosthetics.

[JC-wnig]

Hamish was undoubtedly one of the best Side mission characters I’ve ever encountered throughout any Rockstar Game

[stevenparks]

One of the coolest side mission details I noticed when playing is when you’re piloting the toy boat in Saint Denis with Marko Dragic and the investors, one of the investors says “Think of those poor boys on the H.L. Huntley… 8 lost their lives compared to a mere 5 on the Housatonic” which is referring to the real-life first submarine kill in combat during the Civil War when the Confederate CSS Hunley sunk the Union USS Housatonic off the coast of South Carolina in February 1864. It’s small details like that even in a throwaway line that really make this game an immersive masterpiece!

[themadtitan]

Glad to see the return of the most insightful and creative piece of RDR content on this platform. Now covering the side missons, where Rockstar notably put more direct translationa of real 19th century history and figures into their fictional rendition of the frontier.

[CyberSonic-V.]

Rockstar truly knows to do research and add a lot of detail to their games.

[qgstihd]

Just for another interesting little detail (or, well, interesting to me anyway), if you kill 25 Carolina Parakeets, they stop spawning completely- while it would still be a while before the species would be completely gone (last confirmed sighting in the wild was in 1910, last captive animal died in 1918, and it took until the 30s before it was formally declared extinct), the game is set around the time they were getting close to extinction.

[nerrilsquts]

These are my favorite red dead videos. They add a lot to the immersion and they are just really interesting on their own.

[LeanDoughnut]

I've been waiting for my Real Pixels history lesson.

[nico-]

Please don’t stop making these! This is my favorite series on YouTube, your content is incredible!

[muttipi]

in middle school i did a report on the life of Ulysses S Grant, and for some reason it stuck with me forever, so everytime i hear him mentioned or referenced it tingles my brain. The video was great.

[AeSyrNation]

The phrase "to suss out" means "to deduce" or "to discover" if I'm not mistaken, not "to suspect".

[SturtH]

Being named Jeremy and catching enormous legendary fish is absolutely a homage to Wade’s River Monsters. Absolutely love that show and that R* also do.

[ramblingrenegade]

One of my favourite little details is if you finish all parts of Arcadia For Amateurs, Albert Mason's pictures are hanging in the gallery where Charles Chaturney's exhibition is on

[sorrycharlie]

My favorite YouTube series back with another installment!! My favorite side mission is with Hamish, really tugs at the heart strings late in the game. I also think the serial killer mission is really interesting how it plays out.

[theoutsiderjess]

I sometimes had more fun playing the sidequests in the game than the actual main story itself. It's interesting to see the type of people you will meet and see in game

[Kattaclysem]

love this series, so glad to see it come back !

[glyph]

04:40 “smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd” is an often used term when romantically describing the acting / circus profession. The Musical reversed it.