Red Dead Redemption 2 has players uncovering plenty of mysteries in its single-player mode, and one of them still hasn’t been solved, even after nearly four years since its original release. Located in the town of Rhodes, this mystery surrounds the encounter with a man who’s trapped in the gunsmith’s basement. Despite this event having been discovered by many players already, the story behind it is a puzzle many are struggling to solve.
This article contains spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of side activities that may have unexpected results, such as the Easter Egg that turns Arthur into Van Helsing. Such was the case of a random encounter in the town of Rhodes, in which a man would beg for help from a barred window at the gunsmith's. When the player interacts with him, he explains that he was kidnapped by the owner of the store, Jasper Feeney. After forcing Jasper to reveal his victim, the man recounts the death of his son, Sammy, in a terrible accident and explains that he kidnapped the stranger because he looked like the boy. However, despite appearing to be a quickly and easily resolved situation, when combined with other details, this quest unlocked an entirely different mystery in the game.
A YouTube channel named Strange Man revealed that Sammy’s death might not have exactly happened the way Jasper describes. Pointing to some suspicious NPC dialog that can be heard throughout the game, it's revealed that the previously inconspicuous town of Rhodes is actually hiding a big and gruesome secret about the deceased boy. Shining a new light on an encounter that had become buried under other impressive RDR2 details that players discovered, the video points to Sammy's death not having been quite as accidental as Jasper describes it.
RDR2's Rhodes Might Have Been Involved In This Mystery
After freeing Jasper’s victim, the gunsmith reveals that he had been teaching his son how to use a rifle when the boy died. Sammy had fallen into a river due to the gun’s recoil, and his body was dragged by the current. The boy was never seen again, and there was no sign of a corpse. However, when exploring Rhodes, players have found clues that imply this isn't exactly what happened. According to Strange Man’s video, there are certain lines of NPC dialog that suggest that the town's residents were involved in Sammy's death.
When speaking to a man whose camp is randomly set near the Kamassa River, it's indicated that Rhodes has a strange atmosphere due to the guilt the people feel because of an innocent’s death. Depicting a mystery that has a solution more gruesome than RDR2's most disturbing side missions, other uncovered evidence also points to the townspeople’s involvement. They can often be found having hushed conversations about the incident that resulted in Sammy’s death. Unlike Jasper, they speak of it as if there was an active participant in the death, using expressions such as “what happened to the boy” and “the boy that got killed”. They also confirm the guilt that the camper had noted, and seem desperate to overcome this event.
According to Strange Man, these dialogs in the game’s files had been named according to the encounter with Jasper’s victim. This proves that Rhodes’ residents were involved in Sammy’s death, but it isn’t enough to know exactly what role they played in it. These discoveries have helped players continue solving this and develop their own theories, but, like in other Red Dead Redemption 2 mysteries, there are still many puzzle pieces that need to be uncovered for there to be a consensus.
Rhodes' Gunsmith's Story Might Not Be Entirely Real In RDR2
Although Jasper had no reason to lie to the player when telling the story of his son’s death, there are certain evidence pieces that also point to his story not being entirely true to what happened the day Sammy died. According to some NPC conversations that were uncovered by Strange Man, it's indicated that the gunsmith's grief might have severely impacted his perception of the world. In certain lines spoken by the townspeople, it’s revealed that he sometimes hallucinates his son walking through the town. While this could be a reference to the gunsmith speaking to his victim as if the man was Sammy and being overheard, it could also explain why he saw great similarities between the two.
Not only that, but it also implies that his tale might be tainted or twisted by his unbearable grief, which would make this Red Dead Redemption 2 mystery one of the hardest to solve. But, like an unreliable narrator, Jasper might have presented players with a version of events that is completely different from what really took place the day that Sammy died. This would justify the dissonance between the horrifying incident referenced by the townspeople, which is described as nightmare-inducing, and Jasper’s own story of a tragic accident.
There Are Many Other Theories About This Mystery In RDR2
Despite this mystery having no clear solution, there are plenty of theories about it. One of them suggests that Sammy became the Feral Man that can be found in Roanoke Ridge, supposedly having run away due to disagreements with his father. While there is little evidence that points towards this, there are many similarities between Jasper Feeney and the runaway's father, and Sammy's body was never found.
Another theory is that the townspeople's conversations are referencing a dead slave that can be found near Red Dead Redemption 2's Braithwaite Manor. While Strange Man addresses this theory and points to several of its inconsistencies, something like this might just be the answer to this mystery. Jasper Feeney could be telling the story exactly as it happened, and the encounter might have reached its conclusion then, while the townspeople are referencing another unknown event entirely.
The third theory is that, while the people didn’t have an active involvement in the boy’s death, they did nothing to prevent it from happening. In Sammy’s drawing of the river, there are people inside houses in the background, resting. While this could imply that the boy had seen the perfect opportunity to run away, it could be that Sammy died due to an unfortunate event that none of the inhabitants of Rhodes helped to prevent or solve. And this could be the reason the town considers his death so shameful and guilt-inducing.
Challenging the mystery of where is Gavin from Red Dead Redemption 2, the puzzle behind Sammy’s death is very interesting and very difficult to solve. With players discovering all sorts of small environmental details that point them in various directions, there is no certainty about the fate of the boy. As many continue elaborating their own theories, players are slowly reaching the answer to its more prominent questions and, with patience, they will eventually be able to find the detail that solves it all.
Source: Strange Man