Sadie Adler

Red Dead Redemption 21.1k views15 favorites17 min readRussianby 𝐑uthl𝐞ss 𝑶u𝖙la𝒘Updated 9 JanView on Steam ↗

𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅

Sadie grew up in a harsh environment and learned to hunt animals and ride horses in her youth. On September 7, 1896, she became married to Jake Adler. The couple lived on a ranch in the state of Ambarino, where they shared the work evenly between them and had a happy marriage.

𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

Mere days before the game's opening, their house was robbed by the O'Driscoll Boys, who killed Jake. Sadie hid in the cellar for days in order to avoid the same fate. Members of the Van der Linde gang: Micah, Dutch, and Arthur, lifelong enemies of the O'Driscoll gang, come across the homestead that Sadie is hiding in, trying to find supplies. Dutch goes to negotiate with the owners, but they turn out to be O'Driscolls, who are killed by the trio after guns were drawn. After hearing the gunfire, Sadie comes out of the cellar to find Micah looting her house, and the two get into a confrontation leading to her threatening him with a knife and him knocking a lantern over and setting fire to the house, before Dutch and Arthur calm both of them down. Dutch decides to take her back to their camp, and despite their wanted status, she decides to stay with them.

If Arthur visits the non-fighting members' cabin, he can see Mary-Beth trying to comfort Sadie over her losses. Arthur can also offer Sadie food, but Sadie will reject the offer. In "The Aftermath of Genesis", Charles and Arthur express their sympathy for her, and suspect she will be reluctant to eat.

𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

During this chapter, Sadie does not have much significance, although she can be seen in a few events around camp. These events include her being comforted by one of the women in the camp, most notably Abigail, or Hosea over her husband's death and before the mission "Paying a Social Call", a scene can play out where she pretends to give the O'Driscoll prisoner Kieran Duffy a plate of food while he's tied up, only to throw it onto the ground and storm off in anger. Besides this, she is usually only seen around Pearson's Carriage, reluctantly helping him with the cooking, and is commonly found sitting on one of the rocks around camp, mourning her husband.

After Sean's homecoming party, she will take part in camp chores more actively and greet Arthur more enthusiastically. She is sometimes left out by other women in camp, however, as she never takes part in their singing at night and rather sits behind the wagons alone.

𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

Sadie's next contact with Arthur is when he catches her in an argument with Pearson, soon after he sets up his carriage again, due to her becoming dissatisfied with cutting vegetables all day. She explains that she and her husband used to share the work and begs to have something else to do. Arthur agrees to take her to town to run a few errands. When they get to Rhodes, Arthur posts a letter for Pearson while Sadie buys supplies from the General Store, as well as a new outfit for herself. On the way back to camp, they are attacked by Lemoyne Raiders and Sadie helps Arthur to fight them off. For the rest of the chapter, she is seen walking around camp and will greet Arthur more often than most members of the camp do when walking past them. Sadie also becomes an active, armed member of the gang at this point. She can be seen cleaning her repeater and taking up camp guard duties. Arthur can also play Five Finger Fillet with her after "Blessed are the Peacemakers".

𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

Before the O'Driscoll assault on Shady Belle, Sadie is seen asking Dutch to take her robbing with the rest of the gang, and talking to Arthur about her own departure from civilized society. Almost immediately after she voices these concerns, the O'Driscolls assault the camp. Despite Arthur telling her to get inside with the rest of the gang, she refuses and slays many O'Driscolls with the help of Arthur.

𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

When Arthur meets Sadie in Saint Denis, she tells him that, before they do anything, they need to make sure that John is still in Sisika Penitentiary. In order to do so, she has Arthur scout the place from above in a hot air balloon, with Arturo Bullard. After Arthur manages to confirm that John is indeed there, he sees Sadie being chased by O'Driscolls near Annesburg. Arthur and Sadie manage to fight off the O'Driscolls, although it costs Bullard his life.

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Soon afterwards, Arthur and Sadie decide to infiltrate Sisika Penitentiary in order to rescue John Marston. Although Abigail wishes to join them, Arthur and Sadie both decide otherwise. The pair row out to the prison, and silently kill a guard in a watchtower. Arthur snipes two guards who he believes are with John. However, when he and Sadie go to investigate, they find that John was not one of the prisoners there, and a guard holds Sadie at gunpoint, only to, in turn, be held at gunpoint by Arthur and taken hostage. Arthur demands John’s release in exchange for sparing Milliken, causing the guards to free John. With that, the prison guards attack Arthur, John and Sadie, but the trio manage to fight their way off the island and take John back to camp.

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At some point, Colm O'Driscoll is arrested and sentenced to hang in Saint Denis. Dutch, Sadie and Arthur work to ensure that the hanging goes ahead, with Colm escaping the previous two times. With the rescue attempt sabotaged, Colm is hanged, although Sadie opens fire on the O’Driscolls regardless, leading to a firefight.

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Near the end of Chapter 6, Sadie asks Arthur for assistance in ending the O'Driscolls once and for all, to avenge the death of her late husband. If Arthur chooses to help Sadie, he says that, in return, she should help ensure the Marston family‘s safety for “when the time comes”, which she accepts. Once at Hanging Dog Ranch, she will request that, if Arthur finds a “fat man with a beard”, he should let Sadie kill him, as he is her husband’s killer. After slaying what remains of the O'Driscolls with Arthur, Sadie brutally murders the one who killed her husband, who briefly led the remaining O’Driscolls.

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Sadie is also present in the battle against the Army at the Cornwall refinery. When it is over, she offers to help bring the mortally wounded Eagle Flies back to his father, but Arthur declines her help. She later participates in the gang's final robbery, of the train carrying US Army payroll. She is seen working with Cleet, fending off the approaching US Army soldiers.

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Later, Abigail is captured by Agent Milton and, with the rest of the gang abandoning her, Sadie goes with Arthur to save her. However, Sadie gets captured, and Arthur is forced to confront Milton himself. Milton sneaks up behind Arthur and holds him at gunpoint. After a struggle between Arthur and Milton, Abigail manages to break free and shoots Milton in the head with Sadie’s revolver, allowing the three to escape. On the way back to the camp, Arthur stops and tells both of them to go to Jack and Tilly. After exchanging one last sorrowful goodbye, during which Sadie stays silent but expresses grief, Sadie takes Abigail to Copperhead Landing as Arthur goes to confront the gang where he will die either at the hands of Micah or his tuberculosis but not before he helps John get to safety with his final act of his life. After John reunites with his family and before they parted ways Sadie and John vowed one day to kill Micah for his treachery, should they ever find him.

𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

Several years after the gang's disbandment, Sadie had become a successful bounty hunter. In 1907, she sends a letter to Pronghorn Ranch asking for John to meet her in Valentine. As John walks in the saloon, Sadie is seen bickering with two patrons named Bubba and Jeb. She stabs Bubba in the hand and smashes a drinking glass into Jeb's face. Sadie asks John to join her in capturing bounties, and they set off to find Nathan Kirk in Strawberry. After the two capture various other bounties including Shane Finley, Ramón Cortez, and Marshall Thurwell, Sadie goes to John's ranch to announce she found one of Micah's henchmen, Cleet.

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John, Sadie and Charles head to Strawberry, where Cleet was last seen. The trio find Cleet and interrogate him, going as far as putting him in the gallows to reveal Micah's location. After threatening his life, Cleet finally cracks and tells them that Micah is at Mount Hagen. John can choose either to spare his life or hang him, where if he spares him, Sadie will get frustrated, and decide to kill Cleet regardless.

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John and Sadie, along with Charles, head to the mountain to kill Micah. As they travel up the mountain, they confront the vanguard of Micah's gang. Charles is shot in the shoulder and wounded, so he stays behind, as John and Sadie push on. Fighting off another group, a gang member manages to stab Sadie in the stomach during a scuffle, before being shot by Charles. Still alive, Sadie stays behind with Charles and asks John to go on without her. Alone, John and Micah engage in a shootout at the top of the mountain. With neither man giving an inch, Sadie, clutching her wound, appears and breaks the deadlock, however, Dutch reveals himself and Micah gets the upper hand, allowing him to take Sadie hostage. After exchanging words with John, Dutch abruptly shoots Micah in the chest, mortally wounding him and freeing Sadie, before John shoots Micah repeatedly, killing him and avenging Arthur's death and getting his comeuppance for betraying the Van Der Linde gang to the Pinkerton's. Dutch leaves without saying a word and John returns from Micah's cabin with a large sackful of gold and money. Supporting each other, Sadie and John leave the camp and Micah's corpse behind.

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After returning to the ranch, Sadie attends John and Abigail's wedding and celebrates with the others despite her stab wound. Some time after, Charles leaves and she gives her farewells to her old friend while she stays to recover. Afterwards, Sadie also bids farewell to the Marston family as she leaves the ranch. Though Sadie expressed interest in moving to South America in "American Venom," her fate is left unknown.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓

Sadie was happily married to her husband, Jake Adler, and expresses that she was content in the life they lived together. His death made her deeply vengeful, vindictive, and consumed by desire for revenge against the O'Driscolls. Sadie also repeatedly demonstrates cruelty, a lack of care for her allies and recklessness which rivals that of Micah's - she is not above putting herself and her friends in unnecessary danger, which is exemplified in the battle against the O'Driscolls in Shady Belle where she does not co-operate with the rest of the gang, forcing Arthur to leave the house and risk getting killed, and murdering the O'Driscoll hostages at Colm's execution, starting a firefight. Her actions also indirectly led to Arturo Bullard's death - something Arthur had blamed her for. Sadie's personal interests could explain her own extreme aggressiveness and brutality, thus she saw her crusade against the O'Driscolls as more than simply ending a gang feud or hostility between the two gang leaders.

Despite this, Sadie is also very loyal those she cares about. She is extremely eager to prove to Arthur and Dutch that she can be a fighting member. This is evident when she zealously asks Arthur if they should rob the general store in Rhodes, asks Dutch if he can take her robbing, and leads the counterattack against the O'Driscolls at Shady Belle. She later helps to unite and relocate the gang, fend off the Pinkertons in Lakay, rescue John from prison and keeping the gang together while some of the main members are in Guarma. While initially being fairly shy, Sadie would eventually become more confident, defying Dutch's orders not to rescue John and not being afraid to challenge other members of the gang.

She also has a softer side for Arthur and holds him in high regard, even admitting that he’s the only one in the gang who she truly trusts and is the best man she has known, second only to her husband (if he has high honor). Her concern for Arthur is also exemplified when she notices his illness—which she doesn’t ask him about—and insists on taking up physically demanding tasks by herself, including rowing a boat from Sisika Penitentiary and running-and-gunning to rescue Abigail, preventing Arthur from doing the same despite his protests. At Beaver Hollow, she also reminds Arthur to take care of himself in camp conversations. Notably, as a widow, Sadie willingly promises Arthur that she will help John, Abigail and Jack to start a family life - one that she has lost since her husband's death. When Arthur bid her and Abigail a final farewell before he went to confront Micah over his treachery, she was visibly saddened, but held back her emotions unlike Abigail who openly wept.

By 1907, some of Sadie's vengeful hatred and recklessness subsided. She appears much calmer when speaking to John, with whom she has maintained a good relationship; she even offers some bounty hunting jobs to help him pay back his mortgage for Beecher's Hope. However, Sadie still retains a streak of brutality and a no-nonsense attitude while dealing with criminals, and she unbendingly desired vengeance against Micah for causing Arthur's death and the gang’s demise - to the point where she was prepared to put her life on the line for revenge. During a job, Sadie confesses to John that she had developed a slight death wish over time.

𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

1899

As of 1899, Sadie is a slender young woman likely in her late 20s or early 30s, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. She also has a scar above her right eye.

Sadie initially wears dresses that were given to her by the gang, but eventually switches to more practical clothing, wearing a yellow shirt, with brown trousers, suspenders, brown boots, and a light brown hat from the start of chapter 3 to chapter 4. From chapter 5 onward, she sports a white shirt, a blue neckerchief and black trousers, along with a dark brown gun belt with two holsters and a brown belt with a golden buckle with star.

1907

In 1907, she wears clothing more akin to that of a bounty hunter, usually seen in a brown leather duster coat, a white shirt, a black neckerchief, black trousers, black leather chaps, dark brown boots and a bandolier.

𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔

"Outlaws from the West"
"Enter, Pursued by a Memory"
"Further Questions of Female Suffrage"
"The Battle of Shady Belle"
"Horsemen, Apocalypses"
"Dear Uncle Tacitus" (voice only)
"Fleeting Joy"
"That's Murfree Country"
"Icarus and Friends"
"Visiting Hours"
"Goodbye, Dear Friend"
"Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow I"
"Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow II"
"My Last Boy"
"Our Best Selves"
"Red Dead Redemption"
"Gainful Employment"
"An Honest Day's Labors"
"A Quick Favor for an Old Friend"
"A Really Big Bastard"
"American Venom"

𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂

Sadie has her own theme music that can be heard in various missions where she is involved. She is one of four characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 to have their own leitmotif associated with them, the others being John Marston, Colm O'Driscoll and Angelo Bronte.

in the mission "Further Questions of Female Suffrage", Sadie mentions to Arthur that she used to play the harmonica while she lived with her husband. If the player gives her a new harmonica per her request, she is thankful but says that she will not use it as she doesn't want to play it to anyone but her husband.

If the player antagonizes her enough in camp, Sadie may slap Arthur across the face. She is the only female gang member who will physically retaliate if provoked and the second woman to slap Arthur in camp, along with Susan Grimshaw if Arthur hasn’t taken baths for a long time.

If the player antagonizes her enough in the Epilogue, Sadie may slap John across the face.

When not wearing gloves, Sadie is only seen without wearing her engagement ring in "A Really Big Bastard" and in Red Dead Online.

In "American Venom", she does not wear her ring until she attends John's and Abigail's wedding.

Sadie, Josiah Trelawny, Joe and Sean MacGuire are the only members of the Van der Linde gang to appear in Red Dead Online. Sadie is the only one of them to provide positive honor missions, however. This is because her missions don't involve breaking the law and have the player genuinely helping her and her husband.

She and Joe are the only two to have not been involved with the gang at the time, having become members a year after the events of Red Dead Online.

Sadie uses a custom Cattleman Revolver fully silver plated with engravings and a grip with a light varnish. From Chapter 5 onward, she has two identical aforementioned revolvers. She also has a Carbine Repeater which has a wrap around the light-colored stock, fully plated in blackened steel.

Contrary to her promotional artwork, Sadie is never seen using Schofield Revolvers.

Sadie is the only fellow gang member to have ridden Arthur's horse in gameplay; she does so in the mission "Red Dead Redemption".

Among all of the non-playable characters, Sadie takes control of the player's transport the highest number of times. She does so three times: taking control of the wagon in "Further Questions of Female Suffrage", rowing the boat in "Visiting Hours", and riding the player's horse in "Red Dead Redemption". All three instances involve shootouts where the player must take out enemies to protect the transport and Sadie.

Notably, Sadie isn't publicly identified as a member of Van der Linde gang, as evidenced by the lack of mentions about her in newspaper articles relating to the gang (the only mention about her was in "Doors of Iron Down", though not by name), whereas Charles Smith, Sadie's fellow member, is clearly mentioned as a part of the gang who is still on the run.

It also appears that Sadie isn't a wanted woman by the time of the Epilogue. This is indicated by the fact that she is not mentioned in a 1907 newspaper article as a member of the Van der Linde gang who is still at large, and also her successful career as a bounty hunter, which requires Sadie to frequently contact sheriffs and lawmen as well as have a good reputation.

Sadie's revenge on both the O'Driscoll Boys and Micah contradicts the Van der Linde gang's mantra that "revenge is a fool's game". However, unlike the other gang members who defy this philosophy, such as Dutch, Micah, and John, this does not lead to her downfall. Sadie succeeds in getting her revenge both times and survives afterwards.

Out of all the living, non-villainous characters, Sadie is the only one not to seek redemption. She starts out innocent but becomes an outlaw, with a somewhat vengeful and nihilistic personality. Sadie brushes off criticism regarding her tendency to endanger others, which is an ironic parallel to the late-game Dutch van der Linde, whose own actions endangered the gang, that he was quick to justify.

The helping relationship between Sadie and Abigail undergoes a role reversal as the game progresses. Initially, Abigail provides help by comforting Sadie, who is in mourning as her husband recently died. Later, however, Sadie provides help to Abigail by breaking John out of prison, helping her reunite with Jack under the assumption that John has died. In the Epilogue, Sadie further helps Abigail by assisting John to start a stable family life, allowing John to marry Abigail.

"The Cordell" outfit in Red Dead Online is based on Sadie's 1907 outfit.

Sadie's surname, "Adler," is German for "eagle."

Sadie is the only character to have an original musical score named for her. The soundtrack, "Mrs. Sadie Adler, Widow", is heard in the mission of the same name, and also in "Gainful Employment".

Upon completing the game, replaying any mission involving Sadie will label her as a "Stranger" in the subtitles whenever she speaks. This can only be seen if the subtitle speaker option is activated through settings.

Sadie only directly interacts with Micah Bell twice in the game's story, at the beginning and at the end. In both instances, the latter threatened the former’s life. Notably, she's the only gang member besides Dutch that Micah isn’t seen harassing at camp.