Summary
Butcher Creek is one ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s eeriest locations because it holds one of the game’s strangest mysteries. While it may not share the same terrifying reputation as Tall Trees or Murfree country, there’s something highly concerning about the small settlement. While it plays home to one ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s short mission chains, it’s more than just another mark on Arthur’s map. The events that take place at Butcher Creek can leave players scratching their heads by the time its climax comes. More importantly, its mystery is one that warrants a proper investigation.
There are plenty ofunsolved mysteries inRed Dead Redemption, and the same is true of Rockstar’s other main series,Grand Theft Auto. Hiding bizarre Easter eggs that players have to decipher for themselves seems to have become a signature of Rockstar’s open-world game design. In many cases, there isn’t a clear answer, and the only conclusions are ones that fans can come to themselves with the evidence presented. In a way, that makes the game worlds more interesting, because there are many things that the protagonists can never truly know for sure. While some of these mysteries are just pure fun, others can take an unnerving turn.
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The Story of Butcher Creek’s Curse in RDR2 May Be More Than Meets The Eye
Wisdom of the Elders is aside mission inRed Dead Redemption 2where Arthur encounters Obediah and the people of Butcher Creek, who believe that their town is cursed. After saving them from wild dogs that they believed to be demons, Arthur then meets a self-proclaimed shaman who keeps coming up with new excuses for why the town is cursed. Eventually, Arthur is able to expose the man as a fraud who worked for a mining company that had poisoned the local water supply. However, after this revelation, the townsfolk still believe that Butcher Creek is cursed, leaving Arthur thoroughly exasperated.
While most of what happened in Butcher Creek was the Shaman’s doing, one ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s dark secretscould still exist there. Most notably, between 4 and 5 in the morning in-game, a glowing red pentagram will appear on the floorboards beneath one of the houses that the Shaman could not possibly be responsible for. In addition, there is a set of five seemingly innocuous outhouses with tally marks on them. But if the player drew lines between these outhouses in numerical order, it creates a second pentagram. Both symbols combined seem like more than a mere coincidence.
Until Butcher Creek’s storyline, it seemed like the only potential demon in Rockstar’s universe could beRed Dead Redemption’s Strange Man, but Butcher Creek could house demonic influences of its own. Of course, if the town is cursed, then the question is what the true nature of the curse is. Perhaps it could be bad luck, which led to the mining company poisoning their water. Maybe the false shaman himself was a demon, acting in a man’s guise to spread suffering. For an abstract concept, maybe the knowledge of the curse itself is the curse since the fear that it brings dominates their lives.
The ending of Wisdom of the Elders can be frustrating for some due to the villagers continuing to believe in the curse. Still,Red Dead Redemption 2has few happy endings, and Butcher Creek is no exception. Whether the curse is legitimate, or Rockstar just added a scarcely-appearing glowing pentagram for fun, the people of Butcher Creek won’t stop believing in the curse upon their village. Although Arthur may be annoyed by how Wisdom of the Elders ended, the full truth behind the curse of Butcher Creek may remain a mystery for the ages.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
