The Cost of Not Helping Sadie When She Needs it Most
As any Red Dead fan knows, declining to aid Sadie Adler on her vendetta ride makes one thing perfectly clear: Arthur Morgan is no hero in her eyes. For those yet to play Rockstar’s epic or still deciding on this pivotal choice, let’s analyze what happens if Arthur leaves Sadie high and dry when she needs him most.
A Permanent Honor Reduction
Rejecting Sadie’s cry for help dealing the final blow to the O’Driscolls doesn’t just seem less heroic – it causes an immediate honor reduction for Arthur. While the exact penalty amount varies on current honor, we estimate from community sources that his rating drops by 20-35%.
For context, that can wipe away hours of honorable actions. Now strangers comment on his ruthlessness, prices rise thanks to a bad reputation, and unique perks locked behind max honor fade from reach.
| Choice | Honor Impact |
|---|---|
| Help Sadie | No Change |
| Refuse Sadie | -20 to -35% drop |
That kind of reputation loss stays with you too – donations or community service isn‘t boosting Arthur back the way certain side quests might. Once the decision to betray Sadie’s trust passes, so too do second chances.
Cutting Sadie’s Revenge Short
While Arthur buries himself in other ventures, Sadie’s one-woman war against the O’Driscoll boys will never reach a climax without him. Players keen to accompany her on that vendetta ride will find the mission gone, halting further closure or justice for the widow Adler.
Her progression joins a long list of left-behind tales gathering dust as players charge ahead never realizing what they missed – we’re looking at you, Princess Isabeau.
For Arthur himself, that makes two tragic love stories forever unfinished – his own ride into the sunset with Mary Linton.
| Choice | Missions Completed |
|---|---|
| Help Sadie | Sadie‘s Revenge 1 & 2 |
| Refuse Sadie | None |
Wounds That Won‘t Heal
Of course it’s not just the missing gameplay that resonates. Sadie’s narrative arc ends on a note of risking everything to confront her family’s killers, only to have no one bother showing up.
Players meet plenty of layered characters seeking redemption in RDR2’s world; Mrs. Adler stands apart in just wanting justice, not for herself, but for the man she loved. To dismiss that desire forces her not just to stomach tragedy but betrayal too.
“I think Sadie is another really strong female character. She starts in absolute desperation, hellbent on revenge no matter what the consequences,” shares Roger Clark, Arthur’s voice actor, on the Talking Bayou podcast.
For fans who just want to nurture every story branch possible, shutting this one down prematurely cuts deep. Especially when others, like Charlotte and Hamish, see touching resolutions.
Passing the Torch? Not Today
Yet the gravest implication hides not in lost memories or what-ifs: Arthur throws away guaranteed shelter for John’s wife and boy in refusing Sadie too.
Players who bonded with Marston enough to champion his escape with Abigail know Dutch teeters closer to the edge each day. And loyal Mrs. Adler makes one hell of a Plan B when Arthur secures a promise to get John’s family free of the gang someday.
That single conversation parked a backup plan right under player’s noses in case things got ugly. Skip it however, and young Jack’s future looks mighty uncertain without Aunt Sadie to pull them out one day.
“Arthur sees the tides are changing…knows there isn’t going to be a happy ending here," muses Meg Smith, Red Dead’s lead story artist, on Arthur’s desperation to broker any possible escape for his found family.
Players can only speculate how the epilogue might shift if John must tackle escaping that chaotic gang without a certain widow on standby. Odds of little Jack getting away safely certainly fall; odds of Abigail stopping to help the desperate Mrs. Adler rather than flee all but guarantee it.
Perhaps Arthur glimpsed that inevitable chain of events himself in a brief moment of clarity. We know John’s family meant everything to him – enough to trade his own life for a chance they‘d carry on. So to snub Sadie is to leave those he cares for most in harm‘s way with no back-up gambit. And if that’s not a wake up call to get involved, what is?
In the end, Arthur buries more than an ally spurned by ignoring Sadie‘s call for aid. Players who expected a branch in Mrs. Adler’s story arc will leave only loose ends. John Marston’s hopes of escaping Dutch‘s inevitable rampage loses a guardian angel. Honor and reputations ain‘t rebounding from this low.
Maybe it‘s no surprise so many guarantee Sadie gets her well-earned revenge, no matter how many playthroughs they tackle. In the Wild West, loyalty means something – for gamers and gunslingers alike.
