At first glance, it would seem that Red Dead Redemption 2 contains an Easter egg for Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, but looking deeper reveals that it is not the case. It’s easy to believe this given the popularity of Judge Holden, back when it was released in the 1980s and the daunting figure’s recurring popularity, and the fact that Blood Meridian is a western epic with horror elements. Red Dead Redemption 2 features many horrors of the Wild West itself, but there seems to be no solid connection between the two, despite some fans perhaps believing otherwise.
Cormac McCarthy is a celebrated author who has written 12 novels, including Blood Meridian, Suttree, and The Road, with the latter having strong thematic connections to The Last of Us. The same can be said of the general tones taken by Blood Meridian and Red Dead Redemption 2, although these are more genre conventions than anything else. Judge Holden, of course, is a mainstay of Blood Meridian and is beloved by many McCarthy fans and horror fans at large. There is a Judge Holden in Red Dead Redemption 2, and while it would seem unlikely for this character not to reference the one from Blood Meridian, unpacking the two reveals the similarities to be paper-thin—not concrete enough to justify it as an Easter egg.
Judge Holden in Blood Meridian
Alongside John Joel Glanton, Judge Holden is the leader of a pack of criminals but very much unlike the Dutch Van Der Linde Gang. The latter had flaws that led to the group’s dissolution, but many of its members were good people at heart, at least at one point in time. That can’t be said for Holden. The Glanton Gang was known to rob, rape, torture, and kill in areas between the United States and Mexico, geographically placing the Glanton Gang in areas similar to Red Dead 2‘s various locations.
While reportedly a real figure, described in a Mexican-American War soldier’s autobiography, Blood Meridian depicts Holden as mysterious, cold-blooded, and incredibly knowledgeable. There are many, many worse traits about him, mocking him up as the worst of the worst in all mankind.
Blood Meridian also depicts Holden as 7 ft, albino, physically strong, mentally manipulative, and a dead shot. His appearance is said to be very strange, making him stand out from other humans because, to some degree, he’s not human. McCarthy implies, at least once, that Judge Holden was something of a supernatural entity, again with supernatural entities not being uncommon in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, the “weird west” trope that could connect these two is much larger than these two bodies of work; the earliest “weird west” novels can be tracked back to the early 1900s, at least 50 years before the release of Blood Meridian.
Judge Holden in RDR2
And while it’s easy to see the name Judge Holden in RDR2 and think it’s a Blood Meridian Easter egg, it’s not. It’s clearly an unintended coincidence. Rockstar Games is known for hiding many Easter eggs in its works, including even for McCarthy’s works. GTA 5 contains an Easter egg for the No Country for Old Men movie based on his work, where the “A Deal Gone Wrong” event sees bodies and vehicles set up in a similar manner to the movie. But that Easter egg is clear and defined, while Judge Holden’s name seems to be completely unrelated to the source material.
Holden may not be as common as Smith, but in a list of Western names, it’s going to come up.
Red Dead Redemption 2 players can find a mention of Judge Meredith Holden, but this figure has nothing to do with Judge Holden. First, Meredith is an actual Judge, whereas it’s more of a fearful nickname in Blood Meridian. Players can find details about Meredith where she was a judge in the Jeremiah Compson case, which saw the former slave catcher losing his homestead to the Bank of Rhodes and Compson becoming homeless thereafter. There is justice in Meredith’s actions, whereas Judge Holden is an entirely different beast for which justice as a concept only exists through perverted worldviews.
While it is possible to view this note of repossession through Judge Holden’s odd philosophy about domination, that’s certainly a stretch. If Judge Meredith was meant to be an RDR2 Easter egg, it feels like the connections would be much stronger, and chances are, Rockstar wouldn’t want a character like Judge Holden directly referenced in its game. It’s entirely possible, based on that logic, that this is an intended reference but was as far as Red Dead 2 devs wanted to go, which fair, but I would also point to Rockstar’s history of strong Easter eggs. Its teasers can be cryptic, but more often than not, there’s no mystery to its Easter eggs. Serial killers, supernatural entities, and the like are ultimately fun and all, but Judge Holden crosses several lines even by those standards. Everyone in Red Dead is a saint compared to the undivine being of Judge Holden.
Red Dead Redemption 2
10/10
- Released
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October 26, 2018
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Engine
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RAGE