| “ | Well, it's a nice fresh day for flying, sir. A day like today and Icarus would have made it across the sea. | „ |
| —Arturo Bullard to Arthur Morgan |
Icarus and Friends is a mission in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Mission Overview[]
Sadie's contact, Arturo Bullard, agrees to take Arthur in his hot air balloon to scout out the Sisika Penitentiary.
Story[]
Arthur arrives at Doyle's Tavern in Saint Denis to meet Sadie, in order to discuss how to rescue John Marston from Sisika Penitentiary. They head outside and ride through town, as Sadie tells Arthur about her plan - a hot air balloon, to scout the prison from above to make sure John is actually still there. They arrive on the outskirts of the city, where the balloon owner, Arturo Bullard is happy to meet Arthur, but says that Sadie can't go with them, citing that flying messes with a woman's "vapors".
Arthur gets into the balloon and is put in charge of controlling it while having a talk with Bullard. Eventually, they reach the penitentiary, and in one of the fields, Arthur spots a prisoner who he thinks is almost certainly John. Immediately afterwards, the guards begin shooting at the balloon, but Arthur and Bullard fly away out of the guards' reach.
As they near Annesburg, Bullard sees Sadie on horseback, getting chased by a gang of O'Driscolls. Arthur gives Bullard control over the balloon while he begins shooting at the O'Driscolls, in an attempt to save Sadie. During the skirmish, Bullard gets hit, before being hit again a few seconds later, causing him to die and fall out of the basket. Taking control, Arthur has to avoid a bridge that is in the way; he rises above the bridge before throwing a rope down to Sadie, in order to pull her up into the balloon. Arthur tries to make the balloon rise, but it runs out of fuel and crashes on the bank of a river. Both Arthur and Sadie emerge fairly unscathed from the crash, but they are assaulted by a large group of O'Driscolls from across the river. After this, more O'Driscolls emerge from the woods, but they are also gunned down by Arthur and Sadie.
After the O'Driscolls have been eliminated, Arthur reprimands Sadie for Bullard's death and for recklessly and unnecessarily pursuing O'Driscolls when she didn’t need to. In response, Sadie changes the subject and asks Arthur whether he saw John, to which Arthur confirms that he did. Sadie forms a plan on the two of them sneaking into the prison and freeing John, though Arthur seems unsure. Before she leaves, Sadie tells Arthur something else: Colm O'Driscoll has been captured and sentenced to hang. While Arthur is initially dismissive, saying that he had escaped before, Sadie tells him that she intends to make sure that Colm doesn’t escape again.
Gold Medal Objectives[]
- Keep the balloon at the correct altitude for the entire journey.
- Get 5 headshots from the balloon.
- Complete with at least 70% accuracy.
- Complete the mission without taking any health items.
Tips[]
- Despite what the objective says about keeping the balloon at the correct altitude for the entire journey, it is only the portion of flying to the island that counts. Don't worry about the altitude leaving the island or getting Sadie into the balloon.
Mission Failure[]
The mission will fail if the player:
- Assaults, kills, or abandons Sadie;
- Allows Sadie to be killed;
- Kills Arturo before his scripted death;
- Fails to maintain balloon height;
- Destroys the balloon before its scripted destruction;
- Alerts the law;
- Kills or abandons their horse;
- Dies.
Deaths[]
- Arturo Bullard - Killed by O'Driscoll gunfire.
- Various O'Driscolls - Killed by Arthur Morgan and Sadie Adler.
Video Walkthroughs[]
Background Music Played in the Mission[]
- "Icarus and Friends" - Played when Arthur and Arturo ride on the balloon and see Siska Penitentiary, and when the battle with the O'Driscolls gets intense later on.
Trivia[]
- Despite the fact that the mission "Money Lending and Other Sins VII" can be completed before this one, Sadie will still say "Strauss is a bundle of nerves" as if he is still a member of the gang. However, since Sadie hasn't been back to the camp since the mission "Fleeting Joy", it makes sense that she wouldn't know Strauss had been kicked out by Arthur.
- Due to Arthur's sickness becoming severe, going anywhere near the area where Sadie is after "Fleeting Joy" will trigger "A Fork in the Road".
- However, near the end of "The Artist's Way III", Arthur can run into the bar where "Icarus and Friends" begins, but Sadie will not be present and Arthur will then suffer his coughing fit in the bar, prompting the other patrons to flee.
- If Arthur is wearing any "fancy" hat (consisting of Legendary Animal hats, the Tricorn Hat, the Exotic Hat, one of the two helmets, etc.) during the balloon ride, Bullard will comment on it and jokingly say that he likes to "stand out in the clouds".
- When looking for John at the Penitentiary, his location will depend on which field the player examines first. For instance, if they search the field on the right, John will be in the one on the left.
- If the player fails to pull Sadie up onto the balloon, she can be seen falling from the rope to her death.
- After completion, the player can loot all of the O'Driscoll's bodies as they have a lesser chance of the law coming to investigate.
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