One of the very first missions in Red Dead Redemption 2 has players robbing a train, but the game's eventual ending is foreshadowed in the mountains above. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive, sprawling story which not only encompasses different tropes and themes of the Wild West but also shows in detail how relationships between companions can grow and evolve over time, especially when the characters in question are placed under considerable amounts of stress.
There are a number of important themes underlying Red Dead Redemption 2's story, including toxic masculinity, the cycle of violence, and mental illness. The leader of the Van Der Linde gang, Dutch, grows more and more unhinged as the game progresses, morphing from a confident and stirring leader and spokesman to an unsure, meek shell of the man he used to be thanks to a series of brash and ultimately fruitless decisions. Players are introduced to the Van Der Linde gang right after one of these decisions causes the group to take up residence at the top of a mountain in the middle of a blizzard, and things only go downhill from there, both metaphorically and literally.
The first terrible decision Dutch makes on camera takes place shortly after the beginning of the game when he discovers the location of a train owned by a man named Leviticus Cornwall. Dutch decides he and the gang should rob the train, and this decision ends up putting every single one of his most loved and trusted companions in danger. The robbery of Leviticus Cornwall's train is an important first step for the characters in Red Dead Redemption 2, which is likely why developer Rockstar Games decided to add in a little easter egg for eagle-eyed players.
[WARNING: Spoilers for Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 from beyond this point.]
RDR2's Ending Was Hidden In Plain Sight
During the journey to Leviticus Cornwall's train, Arthur, Dutch, and the accompanying gang members ride down out of the mountain for one of the first times and begin to get a feel for the landscape which surrounds them. If players pay close attention, they can see the snowy cabin where the game's finale takes place high above, literally hanging over the characters as they take their first big steps towards their eventual demise.
Although players are in Arthur Morgan's shoes as they rob Leviticus Cornwall's train, it's John Marston and the housewife-turned-outlaw Sadie Adler who confront Dutch and Micah at the end of Red Dead Redemption 2. By making both the beginning and the end of Red Dead Redemption 2's story take place in roughly the same area Rockstar is likely attempting to enforce the game's message about the cyclical nature of violence, and by setting the scene on this mountain in particular the developers can not only draw parallels to the beginning of Arthur's story but the end of Dutch and John's as well.
The ending of Red Dead Redemption saw John ultimately defeating Dutch at the top of a similar mountain in Mexico only to be gunned down by federal agents a few days later, who were then gunned down themselves by John's son Jack. The cycle of violence is always present in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, and Rockstar has done a fantastic job of showing that to the player in ways both big and small. Although no one likely noticed it on their first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2, placing that cabin in such a prominent location early in the game's story is just one of the many reasons why Rockstar's attention to detail is to be admired.