9 Terrible Things Recent Video Games Made Us Do

Throughout the bulk of Rockstar’s epic masterpiece Red Dead Redemption 2, we’re given the opportunity to decide if grizzled cowboy Arthur Morgan can redeem his villainous past with valiant actions or if he remains a cruel man to the end. Most of these choices boil down to helping Arthur’s friends or choosing whether to kill some foes, but one action we have no say in is assaulting a man named Thomas Downes near the start of the game.

At this point Arthur is still a no-nonsense tough guy who’s willing to resort to violence at every turn. This is exactly what happens when he’s requested to collect a debt from the rancher.

There are a lot of vile characters in the world of Red Dead, but Downes isn’t one of them. He’s a good man who’s fallen upon tough times, and our job is to beat him to a pulp, which leads to his death soon after. In a twist of irony, it’s this interaction which results in Arthur contracting tuberculosis.

Being the turning point in Arthur’s story, there’s no way of getting out of this task either. Delay the mission too long and the game will simply force you to do it.