The Prodigal Son Returns (To Yale)
Harold MacDougal
- Mission giver
- Harold MacDougal
- Location
- Blackwater
- Starts at
- Blackwater
- Ends at
- Manzanita Post
- Unlocked by
- Not stated
- Unlocks
- And You Will Know The Truth
Player notes
John Marston meets Professor Harold MacDougal in his Blackwater hotel room and finds him hurriedly packing for Yale. Shaken by his recent encounters with danger, MacDougal has abandoned his study of the people he calls "savages" and wants to leave West Elizabeth. Before John can press him further, Dutch van der Linde fires through the window and calls for Marston from outside. Dutch's men have surrounded the hotel, and John agrees to get the professor safely out of town.
John leads MacDougal onto the roof, where Nashoba holds the professor at gunpoint. John kills Nashoba before he can shoot MacDougal, then fights Dutch's gang across the surrounding rooftops. With the attackers cleared, MacDougal follows John back down from the hotel. They retrieve their horses and ride out of Blackwater together.
The road to Manzanita Post is not clear. Dutch's gang attacks the pair twice along the way, forcing John to defend MacDougal until the remaining riders are driven off. At Manzanita Post, MacDougal thanks John and bids him goodbye. Tearful and eager to return to academic life, he boards the train for Yale as John remains at the station.
Trivia
- โThe mission's title is a reference to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the parables of Jesus, recorded in Luke 15:11-32.
- โMacDougal can be seen packing a Bible into his bag while he is preparing to leave the hotel. This is a possible just because of the above mentioned Bible reference.
- โCoincidentally, his hotel room is the same one that Chu Fuk Choi later occupies in the game after MacDougal's absence. Interestingly, he got rid of the bible (likely due to religious reasons) but the briefcase is otherwise still there.
- โEven though MacDougal takes a train back to Yale, none of the train tracks ever lead out of the actual game world.
- โIn Undead Nightmare, the Professor returns to Blackwater to do some more research, but he ends up getting infected.
- โIt is quite unknown why there are no civilians or policemen or even Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham present in this mission in the town as they would very likely hear all of the noise and the commotion in town. Even the couple next door don't seem to hear all of the yelling in the next and the fact that Dutch van der Linde just shot through the window.
- โThis mission is very similar to the film "3:10 to Yuma", in which the two main characters escape a hotel onto a rooftop, surviving multiple ambushes while attempting to make it to a train.
- โThe player can kill both civilians in the bedroom without any repercussions. Dutch and his gang will not be alerted no matter what weapon is used. Whoever is killed first, the other will yell at the player, "My God! What kind of animal are you!" if the woman is alive and "Oh no! What have you done!?" if it is the Newlywed. If a gun is held on one of them, they will say three quotes each and continue on a loop until the player either shoots them or stops aiming at them.
- โIf one attempts to hogtie one of the newlyweds, it is highly likely they will accidentally die. It is best to punch them, causing them to break out of their cover stance, allowing them to be hogtied. There is no real benefit from doing this, but there is a chance you may receive some revolver ammo for it (as if you had hogtied a criminal).
Mission data from Red Dead Wiki, CC BY-SA. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games.
Last verified September 14, 2026