During my second playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2, I started paying closer attention to the story and the characters. I noticed that Sadie was written to be good at pretty much everything she does—and how quickly she gets over her husband's death.
Let’s start with Jake. In Chapters 1 and 2, Sadie seems devastated by his death. She keeps talking about feeling trapped in a nightmare she can't escape. But by Chapter 3, it’s like she's already over it, and now her whole personality is just angry and stressed. I found it a bit ridiculous how she suddenly picks a fight with the Lemoyne Raiders, and Arthur isn’t bothered by it at all. Sadie claims the Raiders were going to rob them, but, come on—she's in no position to start causing trouble. Dutch told the gang to keep a low profile, yet the first time she leaves camp, she’s shooting people.
Then there’s how Sadie’s mysteriously good at handling weapons, fighting, and even leading, even though her background doesn’t match these skills. Her grief seems to vanish in Chapter 3, and by Chapter 4 it’s even clearer. When the O'Driscolls attacked Shady Belle, Sadie fought off three or more of them, who were probably much more experienced and had numbers on their side. Sadie, who was a rancher in Ambarino with maybe some experience shooting animals, is suddenly handling guns and fights like a pro. Also, the O'Driscolls killed her husband, but she shows zero reaction to Kieran’s death, even though he was almost like family to the gang.
Since she doesn’t play much of a role in Chapters 3 and 4, let’s skip to Chapters 5 and 6.
Charles mentions that while Dutch, Arthur, Micah, Javier, and Bill were shipwrecked in Guarma, Sadie was leading the Van der Linde gang. Isn’t that a bit strange? Sadie, who at most led a herd of cattle, is now leading a nearly hopeless group like it's nothing. Later, Sadie leaves Arthur with Arturo Bullard while she waits for them. But by the time they spot her, she’s picked a fight with the O'Driscolls, and they end up chasing her. Arturo dies because of Sadie, but she shows no remorse and changes the subject to Colm O'Driscoll’s hanging.
The Epilogue just confirms my thoughts in one mission. After Ramón Cortez escapes from Rhodes and she and John have to bring him back, there’s no sign of growth in Sadie’s character. She bosses John around and then, instead of sticking to their plan to stealthily approach the Del Lobos (as they had planned, if I remember correctly), she just starts shooting, and John even complains about it. But like Arthur, John doesn’t seem at all bothered by her impulsive behavior.
I never understood why players liked her so much when her role in the story is minor and she’s a flawless character. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if she got killed off because, to me, her impulsiveness and need to control everything make her a liability. I really hope that Rockstar didn’t intend to make her the stereotypical "strong, empowered female character" who doesn’t need help from male characters, and that they just made a few missteps with her writing.