The Western tales told in Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 span the course of 15 years. The original 2010 release revolves around reformed gunslinger John Marston, who is forcibly taken out of retirement to track down his former gang members. The 2018 prequel explains the backstory of what led up to John's adventure in RDR through the eyes of his loyal ally, Arthur Morgan. John is a central character throughout both Rockstar's installments, but neither title explicitly mentions how old the cowboy is, at least not vocally.
RDR2 picks up in 1899 when the Van der Linde gang is forced to hightail it out of Blackwater after a botched ferry heist, which makes the crew the most wanted criminals in the region. A young outlaw named John Marston is along for the ride, and little does he know that his life is going to change forever following the failed robbery. In Red Dead Redemption, players see a much more worn and jaded John, but how old is he when these Western adventures unfold?
[Warning: SPOILERS for Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 below.]
John never states his age in a conversation in either of Rockstar's titles, but there's one scene in the original Red Dead Redemption that gives away his birth year. This occurs at the end of the game when John is killed after being betrayed by a government agent who forced him to hunt down the Van der Linde gang's remaining members. A small army storms John's ranch and guns him down as his son Jack and wife Abigail, who dies later in Red Dead Redemption, escape to safety.
Red Dead Redemption: How Old Is John Marston?
After the government agents leave the premises, Abigail and Jack return to bury John. They place a wooden cross over his grave that reads "Loving Husband and Father. Blessed are the Peacemakers." John's birth year is carved directly above the eulogy and is revealed to be 1873.
RDR takes place over one year, in 1911. That means John was 38 years old when he died in the original Red Dead Redemption. Since RDR2 begins in 1899, John would have been 26 years old during the game's opening scenes. The most recent release concludes in 1907, which makes John 34 years old at the end of RDR2, only four years away from meeting his untimely end due to how notorious the failed heist in Blackwater made him and the rest of the Van der Linde gang.
Both Red Dead Redemption entries have tragic but fitting ends. The stories unravel at the tail end of the 20th century when major cities - like Red Dead Redemption 2's Saint Denis - are growing exponentially, and law and order are spreading across the Western frontier. Time was turning the page on outlaws like John and Arthur, and while they might have tried to make up for the past wrongdoings, their past caught up to them and cut their futures short.