The Red Dead Redemption series may follow the adventures of the Van der Linde gang, but it provides very little context as to how the gang was formed or the backstory of its ringleader Dutch Van der Linde. That’s why future installments in the franchise, such as a Red Dead Redemption 3, should focus primarily on Dutch’s story.
The original Red Dead Redemption allows players to step into the shoes of John Marston as he’s tasked with hunting down several of his old gang members. The second game, Red Dead Redemption 2, acts as a prequel by providing context regarding the events that led to the break-up of the gang through the eyes of new series protagonist Arthur Morgan.
But, as of now, none of the Red Dead Redemption games have properly explored how the Van der Lindes were founded in the first place. It’s evident that Dutch had a pattern for picking out gang members — many of the members only came to be associates after they tried robbing or conning Dutch first. But this still doesn’t address how the ringleader went from being feared and revered to delusion and erratic.
Dutch Should Be RDR3's Main Character
A third installment could look at how Dutch founded the gang alongside Hosea Matthews, in addition to exploring what he was up to before becoming the leader of an infamous gang. It should clarify how Dutch started out as charming and convincing, but as time progressed, he became increasingly delusional and unpredictable, particularly before the gang disbanded. A third installment would also provide an opportunity to bring back beloved characters from past games, like John or Arthur Morgan, and explore how they became associated with the gang in the first place. Both John and Arthur were teenagers when Dutch picked them up, so younger versions of themselves could be brought back to provide more insight into their stories.
It’s not only that a third installment in the franchise could provide more backstory as to how the gang formed; another reason to look at the gang’s history is that there isn’t much to work with going forward. Most of the main gang members are dead by the end of both Red Dead Redemption games, including Dutch, Arthur, and John, so any new installments would likely have to incorporate new characters if it isn’t going to act as a prequel. Furthermore, the wild west was drastically changing at the turn of the 20th century, so the series would have better luck sticking to a western theme if it went back in time rather than forward. RDR2 set a precedent by acting as a prequel to the first game, so it wouldn’t feel out of place if a third game went back even earlier in time to act as a prequel to the prequel.
There are a variety of strong reasons why a Red Dead Redemption 3 should focus on Dutch and the beginnings of the Van der Lindes, but given how long it takes to develop Rockstar's games and that nothing has been confirmed about a new installment, players will just have to sit tight.