| “ | It sounds wonderful. Hell, I ain't got much to lose, but...[(Low Honor) you gotta do what's right and cut some loose. (or High Honor) You know the women and the children and] John and his family. I... I'm afraid I have to insist. I mean, we gotta let 'em go. 'Cause if the Pinkertons come through again... they will kill everyone. | „ |
| —Arthur Morgan to Dutch van der Linde |
Our Best Selves is a mission in Red Dead Redemption 2.
This is the penultimate mission of the game's sixth chapter, and the final mission that the player can free roam as protagonist Arthur Morgan beforehand.
Mission Overview[]
As their final job, the gang ride to Saint Denis to intercept and rob a train carrying army supplies and payroll, headed for the recently destroyed Bacchus Bridge.
Story[]
Arthur is greeted by Dutch, who says that Uncle, Pearson and Mary-Beth have left, calling them cowards. Dutch then tells Arthur that the gang are about to rob a train, and that it will be the gang’s last job, prompting doubt from Arthur. Arthur agrees to take part in the robbery, but has one request - for John and his family to leave the gang. When Arthur "insists" on it, Dutch is initially hurt, but quickly calms down and seemingly agrees. He then rallies the gang and they walk to their horses, but it is clear that Dutch is furious at Arthur's decisions.
The gang then ride to Saint Denis to catch the train that they’re going to rob. On the way, John goes to get the dynamite that he had hidden, and Arthur decides to go with him. They talk about the dubious situation, and the plan to get John out of the gang. When Arthur promises that he will do all he can to help John and his family get to safety, John thanks Arthur for always looking out for him. After Arthur retrieves the dynamite, the pair ride back to the others who are waiting on the outskirts of the city.
The gang plan to board the train silently when it‘s stopped, but the train does not stop and instead thunders past them. In response, the gang (mainly Arthur, John, Cleet and Sadie) chase after the train and eventually board it, while they begin fighting the US Army soldiers on board. At some point, a train carriage catches fire thanks to a soldier firing at a lantern while dying. Arthur jumps onto the back of Dutch’s horse (and John onto the back of Bill's) so that they can overtake the burning carriage and continue with the robbery.
On the new carriage, Arthur sets up a Maxim Gun while John works on uncoupling the burning train carriage. Unfortunately for him, he is shot in the shoulder while doing so and falls off the train. Dutch promises that he’ll go back and get John (along with Javier, Micah, and Joe), while Arthur, Sadie and Cleet fight off the soldiers on their tail. Eventually, they are free of them and head to the armored carriage before Arthur plants the dynamite on the carriage’s door to blow it open. He accesses the loot, and is surprised at how much there is, until the gang has to leap off the train as it approaches the destroyed Bacchus Bridge and plunges into the chasm.
After getting out, the others meet up with them and Dutch tells Arthur that John "didn’t make it", and that he had perished. Disappointed, Arthur rides with the others back to camp with the money, at which point the next mission begins.
Gold Medal Objectives[]
- Get a headshot in Dead Eye after jumping from Dutch's horse.
- Complete within 11 minutes.
- Fight through the train with at least 80% accuracy.
- Complete the mission without taking any health items.
Mission Failure[]
The mission will fail if the player:
- Assaults, kills, or abandons any member of the gang;
- Allows any member of the gang to be killed;
- Fails to collect the money;
- Destroys the dynamite;
- Abandons the train;
- Kills or abandons their horse;
- Dies.
Deaths[]
- United States Army soldiers - Killed by various members of the Van der Linde gang during the robbery.
- The train's driver - Possibly killed by Bill Williamson.
Trivia[]
- Although the next mission starts immediately after this one, the job is still listed under "Gang Savings" in Arthur's journal, even though he would never have had time to write it down. It is also in his handwriting, so it was not a later addition made by John.
- John is not listed as being a participant in this job. It's possible that he wasn't included due to his supposed death, but this does not conform to earlier entries. Hosea and Lenny are included under the Saint Denis bank robbery despite their deaths, and Charles is listed in the assault on the oil refinery entry despite stating that he doesn't want his share.
- One possibility is that John is presumed dead during the act of theft itself, while Hosea, Lenny, and Charles were alive during their respective robberies.
- This is the first storyline mission in which John and Micah have a dialogue with each other; ironically, John's first line to Micah is "Don't talk to me, you son of a bitch."
- This is one of the very rare times that an enemy NPC will use dual wielding revolvers (the others being certain enemies in "Hell Hath No Fury", "Advertising, The New American Art", and "American Venom", which in said mission are used by Micah Bell).
- Volatile dynamite has no effect on the armoured car's doors. Only regular dynamite will blow them open.
- The lockdowns for Blackwater and New Austin, alongside the "Wanted Dead or Alive" bounty on the right side of the map, are removed when the mission begins.
- Arthur's remark to Dutch, "And there's always a goddamn train!" is a reference to the fact that a train is prominently featured in at least one mission in nearly every Rockstar game.
- The reason Dutch lied about John’s death could’ve been because of him wanting to break off the gang, given how furious Dutch is when Arthur “insists” upon saving the Marstons. It could include his mental state, considering how he called Pearson, Mary-Beth, Karen and Uncle cowards when they leave. Since John is one of Dutch's most proud protégés, this feeling may be worsened when he leaves compared to the others.
- While en route to Saint Denis, Dutch mentions that the gang will get a boat to either New York or Chicago and then head to the tropics from either place. In real life, Chicago is not near either ocean on both coasts so going to New York (or any city near the Atlantic) would be the most probable destinations to find another ship to go overseas. It's unknown if Dutch was aware of this or not but either way would be an indicator on his mental state. Given his incorrect assessment of Tahiti being an “untouched paradise” (it was already a French colony by 1899) is also an indicator that he doesn’t care to research his plans thoroughly before going through with them.
- Once this mission starts, players will not be able to free roam as Arthur once this and "Red Dead Redemption" are completed. Players are therefore advised to make a separate save if they wish to finish anything else as Arthur.
- This mission shows the infamous heist where John is left for dead by Dutch, a story that John tells people on why he left the gang in Red Dead Redemption.
- Before this mission starts, Pearson, Uncle, Karen and Mary-Beth are no longer at the camp, and camp stew is no longer available. Instead, players are advised to eat big game meat with any herb used for core bonuses if they wish to have some extra Dead Eye, Stamina and Health and need to eat.
- Oddly, Dutch doesn't mention Karen among those who left. It's possible that she left the gang earlier, or completely disappeared without saying goodbye to Tilly.
- This mission is the only instance in the game where US soldiers are seen using the Bolt Action Rifle, which is based on the Krag-Jørgensen rifle that was the service rifle in 1899, where the first part of the game takes place.
- To save Arthur’s money for the epilogue, it is a good idea to get robbed by the Aberdeen Family, then start "Our Best Selves" then return as John in the epilogue and retrieve Arthur’s money.
- Since players will only retain weapons/ammo, outfits, valuables and documents/collectibles into the epilogue, players may sell all surplus provisions, tonics, ingredients, materials and unused horses in the stable to gain extra money beforehand.
- Rarely, Dutch will be dressed in his union suit when Arthur approaches him to start the mission. He will spend the next two missions dressed in the union suit.
- A PC glitch can occur when in the cutscene of the train carriage blowing up, if the player keeps on pressing space bar, the mission will fail as if Arthur has jumped off the train. If the player chooses to replay the mission checkpoint, Arthur will become invisible and will continue to be so even in the Maxim Gun cutscene. The only way to cancel this is to restart the game.