What if We Misunderstood Micah's Betrayal This WHOLE Time? 

In my mind Micah was never misunderstood, logical, or ever bright up there he was just a parasite living off the energy of others and getting rid of anything that stands in his way the survival aspect of his personality does not justify his acts

Ben Davis said in an interview that Dutch shot Micah because Micah is a rat. That's pretty well easy to understand

Anybody else notice how Micah’s body changes over the course of the game? In the beginning he’s pretty slim, lanky even; at the end he has a huge gut.

There is one thing that always bothers me about the whole "Micah is a rat" thing. Milton revealed Micah was working with the Pinkertons after Guarma. There is no, absolutely *NO* reason for Milton to lie in the situation when he tells Arthur. Arthur at this point was a dying man, held at gunpoint by Milton. At this moment, Milton thought he held all the cards and he's got nothing to lose by simply saying the truth here and revealing everything, because he didn't think he could lose in that situation. Micah wasn't a good person by a longshot, but until he got captured by the Pinkertons after Guarma, I do think he was loyal. Only when he's cornered and doesn't see a way out he sells Dutch/the gang out, to save his own skin by making a deal with them. I don't think he particularly fancied ratting on everybody because he loves the outlaw and gang life, but he didn't have a choice there. Either help the Pinkertons, or die.

People failed to mention that the Pinkertons wanted to kill Micah anyway even after he rat them out. Micah returned back to the swamp hideout first after he was taken in by Milton...yet they still want him dead and shredded to pieces. So him being a survivor is true. But as a parasite in the gang with no sympathy? Still true.

Micah is literally never in any of the group missions unless it’s a robbery. Not when they get attacked or when they are getting revenge like with the jack situation. Only time I really can remember him being with the gang that was not a robbery is when Sean got killed

1:40 Those ain't Schofields, they're double actions.

Micha is what an actual old west outlaw was like. A brutal killer with no conscience because life on the frontier demanded savagery in order to survive. I think he did care about Dutch and saw him as a directing force in his otherwise directionless life. Everyone Micha had run with had abandoned him. His family, Norman, and I'm sure others. Dutch had a soft spot for the outcast and Micha probably thought he had found a place that he could call home. But a life of savagery had left him a violent and sadistic creep. So he couldn't really fit into society, any society, like the camp. I think Milton gave him no choice, and he probably thought he could save Dutch and lose the dead weight.

When micah said i need better from you arthur That infuriated me. Rockstar did such a good job making us hate him 😂

1:41 "Two custom Schofield Revolvers"... minor detail, but they're Double Action Revolvers- notice that they're not break-open but the cylinder releases and in that shot of him firing them, you can see him forego working the hammer. Small error, I'm not even a gun nut, just happy to finally have a little nitpick like that in a cool video. Like finding an animation error in you're favorite cartoon c:

Hey everyone! Did you know that Micah had double action revolvers and NOT Scofields?

Micah is the real cowpoke

Very well put together, really enjoyed. There's 2 scene where the Pinkertons turn up at camp, one of which Micah is standing with the gang. For the life of me I can't figure out how to trigger it

The reality is that the story was probably never meant to be scrutinized to this extent so the writers may not have patched every doubt w/ regard to Micah being a rat. It’s a rather simple story. Just made with amazingly fleshed out characters. We all love Red Dead but I honestly think you can lose the overall meaning of the story and game if you keep looking extremely deep for clues and answers that are probably just not there. Micah was the rat. Period. He only became a rat after Guarma. It’s likely the Blackwater massacre "set-up" was just the improvement in law enforcement that is a main theme in the game. It’s also likely that Micah was an opportunist, choosing to turn in Dutch only when the moment was right.

I think Micah is a bounty protector, someone who helps out a bounty target and waits for the bounty to increase. Micah likely saw a $1000 bounty, saw that he was in trouble, and saw a chance to befriend him, and betray him when the price was right.

Unpopular opinion but i think micha is one of the best characters in rdr (best as in well written and performed)

9:40 Micah was in this cutscene when the game first came out, you can go back and check old walkthrough vids and see him. This must have been a glitch or something

I agree Micah is a survivor and plays all possible sides for his personal benefit. Maybe he had some bright idea about Dutch vs. Colm, or Dutch vs. Pinkertons with him right in the middle, but didn´t have abilities to execute things that way. Anyway, I noticed that Micah is really afraid of death When Sean died, he talked too much and overacted his carelessness, and as Arthur's disease progressed, Micah became pretty scared of him. He knows he will meet a bad end, but he also knows, deeply inside, that he is a coward. He wants to be a calm psychopath (probably like his father was), but he isn´t. Micah is a ruthless killer without principles, but I (kind of) pity him because he never had a chance to be anything better.

I think something that's not talked about enough is how dutch manipulated the Indian tribe in the game and how much that effected arthurs views on his redemption I would love to see a vid about that

I can't see Micah as a parasite..he's the guy we love to hate however he had a point in the beginning. With those wagons, mouths to feed, your moving slow and working hard for those who dont or can't. Thats a good way to get killed. Would I watch him hang in strawberry? Yes..but would I also rob a bank or stage with him?..yes..he'd be a good gunman but you'd not trust him. He lives for him but he works hard at it. He dug his own grave years before rdr2, back when he rode with Amos and his father.

It's pretty obvious that Micah was the rat. That's the whole entire purpose of his character in the story. The devs would have no reason to lie, and there is no evidence to suggest that Milton was lying about Micah. Micah's entire character is based on manipulation. He was smart to be the first person to suggest that there was a rat within the gang to Dutch, because Dutch would have eventually picked up on that anyways, and by being the first to bring it up, it somewhat takes Micah out of the pool of potential suspects in Dutch's mind. Molly also helps by suggesting that she was the rat, but in reality she was just in love and desperate for attention from Dutch. I'm sure after she did that, Micah was probably feeling really good about his hidden intentions. Micah would have been loyal to Dutch and the gang as long as it favored his way of life, and his safety. Once the Pinkertons start threatening to turn up the heat on the gang after the train heist, Micah is forced to make a deal to save his own skin. His loyalty only goes skin deep. If his skin is at risk, Micah will sell out his own family to survive.

It wasnt micahs plan to rat on the gang. He saw what robberies he could do with a powerful gang like this and used it to its collapse just to get more money. You know he always mentions the Blackwater money and only really takes place in missions like robberies. It probably was an idea to turn Dutch in but he wanted more. If the Blackwater had gone good (at least get the money) he could just get his share and leave. Even from a robbery like valentine bank gets 2.5k to arthur. Would make more sense to get a few like 3-5k and leave or get lost. Even when we consider there was just too many members to share after dutch and micah getting the money back and even spending John gets a share as big as 20k. Dont forget sadie and charles. Thats more than 1k for dutchs head. He ratted because the robberies went bad and he couldnt really get much money.

I hear so many people thinking Micah told the pinkertons about the bank robbery and honestly that makes no sense to me and I’m glad to hear someone not echoing that same idea and bringing new information to the table

Micah is in this scene where they all surround Dutch did the mission last night on a older version. I think they removed him in later versions.

So my guess for the thing after escaping Colm and Micah walks away in the cutscene is that the mocap scene was only for the actors who interact with Arthur and whoever was actually editing the final thing thought that Micah being there would make the scene better however they can't just animate another character interacting with Arthur as the time on that would be insane. Just a thought but who honestly knows. The Canon reason as you state in the video is very interesting and far less boring of an answer lol.

Yeah he was playing both the gang and the pinkertons for himself

I always assumed Micah knew about Dutch before meeting him and found him to join the gang, and convince Dutch to do bigger and worse heists to increase the bounty on Dutch because$1000 wasn’t enough and he wanted to make the bounty go up to turn him in

If you don't have a choice to kill someone you don't laugh after killing that person

tbh I don't blame micah for ratting out. we play as arthur of course so we see the gang as family but they are dangerous criminals and losing faith in dutch after guarma isn't exactly unreasonable. the reason we all hate micah is just that he's a terrible person lol

Arthur should have left Micah in the jail in Strawberry. I did after my first playthough

1:40 Micah had two engraved double-action revolvers, just so it's out there Schofield top-breaks have a very distinct humpback look

Micah was not even with the gang long, he didn’t owe them loyalty. Blame Dutch for allowing it. Dutch had a way with words, but I’d argue so did Micah. He always knew what to do or say to keep Dutch on a string. Micah was far more intelligent than credited. He used Dutch’s mental weakness to his advantage. It’s always safer and smarter to roll with a gang than alone, no matter how tough you are. As long as he kept feeding Dutch’s ego, he had little to worry about. He quickly climbed his way up the ranks and was Dutch’s preferred man. He was calculated and more intelligent than given credit for.

Micah is the only realistic outlaw in the game, at least among the main characters

The gang didn't need a snitch, they snitch on themselves and any literally any competent tail would and could follow them without being noticed spying from a distance with a scope, just like we do as Aurther the gang isn't quiet they hardly hide and dutch is a virtual peacock wherever he goes and having people like bill and Micah with the go ahead to "make noise" they basically light a beacon straight to themselves, ultimately the rat was the gang themselves maybe Micah ratted or it was just a ploy to make a dying man feel worse. Remember almost all of the spots the gang hides out is open air extremely visible with members that are constantly coming and going AND they're hiding out in well known locations of previous gangs of the areas and they had the gual to believe they didn't have eyes on them the ENTIRE time.

The biggest flaw in the story is the mission when Micah has Dutch and Arthur with Cornwall and Milton in Annesburg and he inexplicably fights his “teammates” as opposed to turning them both in and running off.

dude this video is f****** good!!

IMO when Micah says "I'm a survivor' is all the proof I need for him being a rat.

What drives me crazy is that we save him in the story from being hanged then he does us like that 😡

I think we should have left him in Strawberry.

I think he had the poster before he met Dutch. He was possibly looking to turn him in for the bounty or heard of him and was looking to team up like he did. I do definitely think he always kept an escape plan ready where he could play whichever side he needed to at the time. I agree with you on how he played his rat card. Not necessarily giving up how high up the chain he was in the gang and just feeding enough information to keep him in their good graces. I think in the end he wanted to get his hands on the money and by placating Dutch and driving a wedge between Dutch and Arthur or anyone else not blindly following he felt he could accomplish that goal. I do believe Micah is the true villain in the story.

Also we can’t say whether or not Micah and Dutch looked for Arther after he was captured because it never showed what they did while he was gone. I think it’s more likely they did look for him but had no idea where he was or if he was in danger.

11:12 idk why that made me laugh so much 😂

I don’t think Micah even really knew what side he was on. I mean all of the gang’s problems can explained without Micah even being a rat. The Colm mission you can see that Colm had scouts on them, and clearly saw 3 riders. Of course they would be looking for the third guy when only two show up to the meeting. I think it just worked out in Colm’s favor, and he just said it was his plan to catch Arthur so that if it worked out in the end Arthur would get hanged and die feeling abandoned, like his loyalty to Dutch meant nothing. I think Micah getting caught after Guarma, Milton just says he’s been a “good boy.” I’m sure they questioned Micah, but I don’t think he gave them any information they didn’t already have.

I am starting to think that Miach is a lot smarter then we give him credit for. I already thought that wanted poster for Dutch was before the events of RDR2 but the double agent part would make sense for someone who claims to be a "survivor." Either then that it's possible Micah had an elaborate plan the whole time.

I rhink the poster shows that even though micah didnt already turn in durch, ratting was always an option

micah making this video like: theyll love me after this

1:43 aren't those double action revolvers, Dutch is the one who has Schoefield revolvers or however it's spelled

I love this guy's videos black lung

When Milton asks “ who are you?” And John says “Rip van Winkle” that is one of the funniest moments in the entire game.

I don't think enough people realize how after he egged Dutch and Arthur to meet with the O'driscoll Colm literally said the plan was for the whole gang to roll in and the Pinkertons capture Dutch that was a little fishy to me when I was doing another play through

Everyone has their reasons and upbringings for being who they are. But we shouldn’t excuse others for the bad things they do for solely those reasons. Someone who has endured some type of trauma is still capable of harming others. Whether it’s their intention or not, we cannot use our bad experiences as excuses to make certain choices

1:45 quick correction miccahs guns are a pair double action revolvers not shofields like dutch

Hello there friend! Thought I might chime in with a friendly correction: @1:42 you mentioned Micah’s revolvers which you referred to as “Schofields” but they are actually Colt M1892 Navy & Army double action revolvers. The Schofield was a single action break barrel revolver which was a modified version of the S&W Model 3 after a suggestion from Major George Schofield who wanted a revolver that was easier for the Calvary to reload on horseback. Much love from the South, friend! 🇺🇸

If there's one thing that would've made Micah more interesting is if he had a redemption arc and a different, more likeable character turned out to be the traitor so that the betrayal actually surprised and shocked players.

Naw. Naw! Micha is a punk. You can sacrifice. You don't torture, be malicious, or cause undue suffering. No one has a code anymore. These are reasons you give that give clarity. But there is no excuse.

His two customized schofield revolvers. Bro double action revolvers

How does Milton know to Blame Micha as the Rat? If he doesn't know the names of the gang members that we'll that assumes he doesn't know the inner workings of the gang. Perhaps Milton was trying to make them feel safe by pretending he didn't know who they were? Or was pertecting Micha?

Low honour Arthur is also much more concerned with trying to survive. funny thing if you help people im the world their are random encounters were Micah will warn Arthur about helping folk.

Micah wanted to destroy the gang after chapter 5 in another chapters he tried to help the gang and in a camp event we can see micah giving money to pearson so he can buy some food

Great Vids

I've never bought the theory that Milton lied, and it's because he doesn't need to. Milton believes he's in full control of the situation and that Dutch's gang can never beat him. He has a sick and dying Arthur in his sights and has absolutely no reason to deceive, but the perfect opportunity to display his superiority before taking Arthur's life and reveal who the real traitor was, like a villain revealing his master plan. Beyond that, there's no way Micah trusted the law with his well-being over Dutch. He likely gave them no more information that what was necessary to survive. He's still the world's biggest rat but he wouldn't trust the Pinkertons to let him walk away either.

I like how you conveniently ignore the fact that Micah was nowhere to be seen when the O'Driscolls attacked Shady Belle

Bro really called Micah’s double auction a Schofield

Micah wore white in the st denis bank job so that the Pinkertons would be able to see him and not shoot at him

Kieran literally tortured will stand by the gang I trust him more than Micah ever

Micah saw the writing on the wall and, yes, he is a survivalist, in a sense. He saw how Dutch at least feigned care for those around him, he saw the gang's earning potential, and everyone in the gang's proclivities to helping those around them. He knew there would be a moment he could seize to take the profits for himself, the men that showed up with him in the final chapter could have very well been following the gang the whole time, waiting for a signal to ingratiate themselves before they heisted the gang's money. The gang was a mark for him, pure and simple. Which makes him an even better wrote villain much deeper than the surface level crassness and racism. I think alot of players look at Micah as "racist man bad"; but, he is FAR more complex than that and as far as developed characters go, he's my favorite of the game: because I TRULY HATED HIM. He's a viper in a den of wolves.

He thought he was playing Dutch for the blackwater treasure. Dutch, though became mad saw through his scheme and shot him in the epilogue.

I'd go on and say the main villain of the story is not him, it's Dutch as he was in the first game. Or, his delusion, to be exact. That wet dream of Tahiti is basically killed the chance for all of the gang to get out, not Micah's ratting. Him being stupidly stubborn forced everyone to face their karma.

Micah is my favorite character, definitely the most realistic outlaw in the game.

I think the Pinkertons had a brief alliance with Colm, with the goal of Capturing Dutch only for Arthur to Unintentionally result in the backstab of Colm.

I never saw michal as stupid enough to think him ratting out the gang he be allowed to walk away

Milton and Ross come into the camp at Clemens Point, not Shady Belle.

What if Dutch was the rat the whole time? Like the guy in The Departed

I honestly believe Micah agent the whole time after he was broke out of strawberry I believe when he leaves Arthur saying he needed a gift for Dutch is when he was approached similar to how Arthur was and as he said he’s a survivor I also believe in the epilogue the Pinkertons knew if Micah created a gang and made a lot of noise it could draw Dutch out as agent Ross never gave up looking for him and was gonna use Micah as a lure

I was wondering if Milton only wanted Dutch, and micah was a rat, then when how Micah and Dutch got the money from blackwater and how the hell Pinkertonsfor all this years between charpater 6 and epilogue haven't got them? I know that in the end they stayed on mountains by in the end of the game there's a scene that showes us that Pinkertons tracked dutch and micah (micah body) so if they still were chasing them what was the Micah's position? I don't believe that he was playing both sides for 8 years.

4:00 its "path of least resistance" genious

My personal theory is that Micah had his own agenda well before joining the gang. I believe he was initially was going for Dutch's bounty of his own volition before his priorities changed throughout the course of the game. The bounty poster being the evidence. $1000 was a lot of money back then, but once Micah joined the gang the Blackwater money would probably seem more enticing to him. He constantly talked about the Blackwater money. Everything after the Blackwater Massacre would mean Micah was stuck with the gang. After seeing that the gang was going to be destroyed one way or another because of Dutch's own decisions (the train robbery), he likely shifted his focus from turning Dutch in himself to collect a bounty to *getting* Dutch caught to divert attention from himself allowing him to get out. The main reason i think Micah disapproved of the train robbery is because Arthur distinctly mentions "i didnt see you rushing to jump on that train" after Micah made a snarky remark. Not even Arthur or Hosea liked the idea of a train robbery. I think Micah influencing Dutch's self destructive decisions were him putting heat on him so he could get out, seeing as Dutch was running the gang into the ground anyways. Either that or he was trying to wittle down Dutch's defenses by getting as many gang members indirectly killed as he could. Assuming he even still cares about the bounty at this point Lastly I believe him turning rat was purely an opportunity for him to survive after being caught by the Pinkertons. We clearly saw with Abigail that Milton was done showing mercy to any of the Van Der Linde gang members if they were caught. He 100% would have been hanged if he didn't flip. Likely even tortured if Strauss was any example. A lot of people think Micah was a rat from the very beginning, but i dont think so. I just think he was intent on destroying the Van Der Linde gang for his own reasons. First money. Then survival.

Those weren't Schofield revolvers that Micah had. They were the RDR2 version of double action revolvers which, unfortunately, do not allow you to fire as fast as you can pull the triggers on the controller the way the ones in RDR do.

Micah was never loyal to the gang.

How do u come up with these questions?

12:40 of course Milton could be lying

Wait…Micah is at the confrontation between Dutch and Milton at camp. He pulls his revolvers too…

Micah had no business being in a Gang that operated under the premise of Family; especially not one composed of Blacks/Native Americans, the Irish, Women and a Child. He liked Dutch's grand scheming, and wanted the rewards of any/all association with Dutch, for himself. Dutch's greatest folly was confusing Micah's saving his life (one time...) as being the same as Micah giving him loyalty or love. Dutch is a "Collector" of people; he thought he could "collect" Micah the same way he did Arthur, John or Javier, and it turned into his ruin. And the people he found he genuinely couldn't live without (Hosea and Arthur), he didn't find out until it was too late.

I think Milton was only telling a half truth as he would gain nothing from giving up Molly oppose to giving up Micha. I think Molly HAD told them somethings but wasn’t an official “rat” as it just doesn’t add up that Molly told them absolutely nothing but she clearly is eaten up about what she had told them along with the ability to cling to that lie in a drunken angry guilt fueled speech and Milton I believe doesn’t know Molly is dead so no point in giving up a living valuable asset so he keep that lead potentially open when he told Arthur about Micha because why not, as we see the Pinkertons don’t see Micha as useful anymore no harm in telling the dead man who betrayed him if you are also planning on killing the betrayer to.

No doubt in my mind Micah talked…but I think he was a rat at least as far back as Chapter 2. With the Blackwater Massacre going so badly Micah must have known that his only chance to avoid prison or the noose was to cooperate with the Pinkertons. It was no longer strictly about money (although a cash incentive may have been offered) it was about receiving a full pardon. This is only my speculation but the first time I played the game it struck me as odd that Micah was the only one wearing a white suit. Like he pops out big time versus anyone else…maybe when he told the Pinkertons about Hosea’s and Abi’s distraction the responding police would know their informant was the one wearing white. At least tell after the shootout at Strawberry when it was likely the Sheriff would have sent word to the courts that they had Micah in custody.

Molly was the first rat, Micah only followed suit when it became convenient.

In some of michas missions such as the stage coach robbery in chapter 4, Micah explains how a crew of gun such as dutch and others would be enough to actually be a gang of outlaws, he explains on how most of the people in the gang are useless and he is right when he told his opinion to Arthur, arthur had nothing to say simply leaving micha to be correct when it comes to the gang having others dragging them down. Micha may be a traitor, and a rat but as he says he simply wanted to survive and anyone who wasn't uselfull needed to go. Most hate micha for his behavior and ideals but, he was correct when it came to methods on how to survive being outlaws. No matter what honor arthur remains a hypocrite and a bystander watching everything occur knowing how bad it is and how many dying without doing anything about it. Him and hosea were the same know what happens but doing nothing to prevent it remaining loyal to a leader that will get them killed. The only thing Micah was right about is how arthur complains when things go bad but arthur never did anything to prevent them and he knew such things could happen but he just remained loyal and followed the wrong ways of dutch. It seems Swanson was the only one to understand his wrongs and leave it behind instead of being a bystander and watching others dying. Micah was also the same in a content of doing what was needed in order to survive as he states he's a survivor. Meanwhile arthur remains lost in himself on how he is wrong and bad but at the same time does nothing to save his fellow gang members other than follow dutch blindly and help others he has hurt along the way in which the damage has already been done and only is helped due to his tuberculosis, without it who knows how arthur would have turned out.

Another great video.

If he was just a "survivor" he could just leave in multiple opportunities Even after being captured by the pinkertons. He could rat to survive and then disappear But no, he went back to camp and stayed there. Getting himself in extremely dangerous jobs. Actually, he was the one who pushed Dutch on doing those jobs, jobs against Cornwall and the Pinkertons. Did he really thought the pinkertons would not shoot him in those chaotic shootouts? Or just bring on the fact that they made a deal? More than a survivor, Micah is a greedy, dirty and sadistic. Survivor is the last personality trait listed on his rpg sheet

Milton would have no need to lie to Arthur because one he never lied the entire time they have talked and 2 Milton is well aware at that point that Arthur is dying which is why there is no need for him to lie because he holds all the cards Abigal he believes is tied up and he has a weakened Arthur morgan in front of him it would not be surprising that Milton with his ego would tell a dying man whats goibg on before he died

Micah is the epitome of a rat. Snitches aren't just people who see something bad being done and inform the police. A snitch is someone who helps commit a crime and then tells on others when HE gets caught. I originally just assumed Micah was always snitching the whole time which is why the Pinkertons always found them, but I'm not so sure after multiple playthroughs and hearing other opinions. I don't think Micah is loyal to anyone but himself. He probably saw a lot of opportunity that benefited himself in following and using Dutch and his gang. Once he got caught though, he folded up like a bad poker hand

They hate my boy Micah but his the perfect example on how real outlaws was irl they didn’t care about sht but then self

In my last play through Micah was in the scene where Milton confronts the gang, I’m a little confused how this happened

john being the actual rat would go insane as a plot twist

Never play both sides, that can get you knocked off. He 100% was looking out for number 1, and in doing so led him to be the true antagonist

the one true thing i hate about micah. unless im modding this game, i'll never get to wear his fabulous leather coat.

Micah is simply the sad reality of the cowboy

1:39 Micah had Double-Action Revolvers. Dutch had the Schofield

He admits it though he straight up days during the fight scenes it’s survival there isn’t good and bad just survival. That to me is an admission he seen the gang was going down and talked on them

whats the song in the background in the beginning of the video?