Red Dead Redemption 2's Blind Man Cassidy and his…

Summary

Blind Man Cassidy in Red Dead Redemption 2 is a mysterious character who provides chillingly accurate prophecies about the fate of the game's protagonists.
Despite being a random NPC, Blind Man Cassidy's words foreshadow significant events in the game, such as Arthur's illness and sacrifice, Dutch's betrayal, and John's pursuit and ultimate death.
The unsettling aspect of Blind Man Cassidy is that there is no explanation for how he knows these prophecies, making him an enigmatic figure who seems to have an uncanny understanding of the game's universe.

Blind Man Cassidy is one of the most cryptic figures in Red Dead Redemption 2, thanks in large part to his chilling prophecies. As a random character, the player can go an entire playthrough without seeing him once, and even if they meet him, they don't need to hear his words to progress. However, what makes him stand out as one of the strangest figures in Red Dead Redemption 2 is the fact that his prophecies aren't just random nonsense. In fact, he has a few things to say that can be scarily precise with the benefit of hindsight.

It's practically a tradition for side characters in Rockstar games to provide some of their most interesting content, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is no exception. The old west is full of interesting figures for Arthur to encounter during his journey. He can meet legendary gunslingers, lend a hand to plenty of civilians, and even solve the case of a serial killer. Not every NPC needs a questline, though. Sometimes Arthur can just have a friendly shooting competition with someone he just met, or save someone from a pack of outlaws. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the journey is definitely as important as the destination.

Blind Man Cassidy's very existence is one of Red Dead Redemption's unsolved mysteries. He can be found wandering randomly, and the player can pay him a dollar to hear one of his "prophecies". While he never outright mentions any names, his words are eerily similar to the game's actual events. For example, if Arthur talks to him, he may deliver warnings about how his death is imminent, and how he has been misled. Even John gets a few ominous warnings if he visits in the postgame. However, his prophecies involve knowing what is truly important to him, and how he is being pursued.

The scary thing is that those familiar with Red Dead Redemption's timeline will know that Blind Man Cassidy's predictions are incredibly precise. Arthur contracts tuberculosis well before the end of the game, and dies ensuring safe passage for the Marston family. Likewise, his father figure Dutch turns out to not be as noble as Arthur believed, with the influence of Micah playing a big part in his turn to villainy. As for John, the one pursuing him is Edgar Milton, whose actions would lead to John's death, and the one important thing that John ultimately clings to over all else is his family, who he dies for.

What makes Blind Man Cassidy a particularly unsettling figure in Red Dead Redemption 2 is that there's no explanation for how he knows any of his prophecies. Unlike the Strange Man, there's no indication that he's supernatural in nature. He's just an old blind man who seems to be wandering aimlessly along the roads, yet he predicts the fate of the protagonists of both games with near-perfect accuracy. Both Arthur and John seem to dismiss his prophecies as aimless rambling, not realizing the truth buried in his cryptic words. One can wonder if they ever remembered his prophecies in the end.

Out of all the encounters in the game, it's pretty surprising that Rockstar essentially gave away the ending of Red Dead Redemption 2 through a random NPC's dialogue. A lot of players may listen to Blind Man Cassidy once, then never again under the belief that he's completely unimportant. While he himself has no impact on the story, he somehow knows exactly how it's going to play out, making him a deeply enigmatic presence. Blind Man Cassidy may not make sense, but he is clearly in tune with the universe of Red Dead Redemption 2.