Many Red Dead Redemption players only know Bonnie MacFarlane as a character in the original game, or as someone they can encounter in Red Dead Online. But it turns out that there’s a reference to her in Red Dead Redemption 2's main story mode, even though it’s easy to simply by.
Bonnie was an important character in the original Red Dead Redemption, one who helped save John Marston after he confronted his old gang member Bill Williamson. She pays for John’s doctor bill in return for him helping out at her family’s ranch, which he obliges. He later saves her after Bill and his bandits take her hostage.
In the first Red Dead Redemption game, not much is known about Bonnie’s life before she met John. But this changes in Red Dead Redemption 2 when a bit of insight is provided into the character’s backstory, and like many Red Dead Redemption characters, it’s a story filled with tragedy and loss.
How Red Dead Redemption 2 References Bonnie MacFarlane
Unfortunately, while Bonnie herself doesn’t make an appearance in Red Dead Redemption 2's story (outside of Red Dead Online, that is) players can find someone who was very close to her. If players keep to the shore and head towards Flatneck Station, they’ll find the remains of a shipwreck, including what appears to be a body. If Arthur attempts to disturb and loot the body, the man will regain consciousness only to take his last, dying breaths. “I though you was already gone,” Arthur says, taken aback. “And tell her… I never stopped,” the man responds while handing Arthur a letter.
The letter itself is extremely telling. It appears to be written by a man who was formerly a lover of Bonnie’s sometime before the events of RDR2. It starts off by telling her how sorry he is, and even more, that he had a recent dream where they were married with children. Further on, he explains that he’s leaving in order to make his fortune. “When I come back a rich man, you’ll see what a fine husband I will make you, and a father to our children,” he writes.
However, it appears the lovers may have quarreled before he left. In fact, their argument may have prompted him to set sail in order to make a name for himself. “No, I won’t grow up. On that subject you’re wrong,” the letter reads before ending with the man once again saying they’re destined to be together. He says he’ll even prove her father wrong, writing, “Even your father will come to believe it and accept me, no matter how humble my birth,” suggesting that it wasn’t only Bonnie who saw a flaw in their relationship, but that her family was also disapproving. So, while Red Dead Redemption 2 may give an update on Bonnie MacFarlane, it, unfortunately, doesn’t suggest her life was any less stressful before John Marston showed up.
