Francis Sinclair, subject of one of the strangest quests in all of Red Dead Redemption 2, may connect Grand Theft Auto 5 to Rockstar's Old Western franchise. A few Red Dead and GTA Easter eggs over the years have suggested the two might take place in the same universe, but the time-traveling NPC seems to be the strongest evidence fans have found so far.
One of the most interesting of Red Dead Redemption 2's lingering questions regards Francis, whom the player can find as part of the Stranger side-mission "Geology for Beginners." Clad in a somewhat anachronistic sweater and slacks, Francis speaks in a Transatlantic accent, a real-world affectation popularized at least thirty years after the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. He tasks the player with finding 10 mysterious rock carvings. When the player returns to Francis' cabin after finding all ten, Francis is gone, leaving behind drawings that appear to show him time-traveling to ancient Egypt and modern America. A woman then walks into the cabin, holding a baby who shares Francis' name, birth mark, and hair color.
On its own, this quest line would be unusual enough to spawn plenty of theories, but what makes it even more interesting is Francis' possible connection to GTA 5's Epsilon Program. The Epsilon Program is a religious cult introduced in GTA 4 that seems to be a parody of the real-world Church of Scientology. The cult appears to worship a deity named Kifflom, and its members follow a set of rules called The 12 Tenets of Kifflom, which include statements such as, "Everyone is related to everyone else, except for people with red hair," and, "If you have a birth mark, you may be descended from Kraff, the famous [alien] Emperor of the 4th Paradigm." Its members also wear light-blue robes.
As Reddit user the_monotonist pointed out after Red Dead Redemption 2's release, all of these aspects are reflected in Francis. He has a birth mark over his left eye, just like the in-universe Epsilon Program website's example of a possible alien emperor Kraff descendant. Francis' red hair indicates that, according to the cult's beliefs, he is not related to other humans, suggesting he could indeed be an alien (or the descendant of one). This would also explain his apparent supernatural time travel abilities. Additionally, his light-blue sweater seems to be a reference to the cult's light-blue attire.
Francis' appearance seems to link not only himself to the Epsilon Program but the Red Dead universe to GTA's, as it's first of these franchise's crossover references that seems to be more than just a fourth wall-breaking Easter egg. That being said, another quote on the Epsilon Program's website could disprove this theory: The site's contact page reads, "The Epsilon Program does not exist in just one time or place." This could mean the Epsilon Program transcends universes, and its possible presence in both Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 4 and 5 does not mean those games actually take place in the same timeline. Perhaps fans will get a look at more concrete Red Dead connections to the GTA franchise when Rockstar releases Grand Theft Auto 6.
Grand Theft Auto 5 released on September 17, 2013, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, on November 18, 2014, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and April 14, 2015, for PC.