a lightning strike, a fallen tree

First off, what is tuberculosis and what are the types of tuberculosis? There are many, many different types so I'll colour code the relevant two.

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). The main cases we see are latent tuberculosis infection and active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Latent tuberculosis (LTBI) is a tuberculosis infection, the bacterium is dormant/inactive in the body.

Active tuberculosis (ATB) is a tuberculosis disease, the bacterium is active in the body.

The main difference between the two is whether the bacteria are dormant or actively causing disease. People with latent tuberculosis infection have no symptoms (are asymptomatic) and cannot spread the bacteria to others, whereas people with active tuberculosis disease usually have symptoms and may be able to spread the disease - especially if the infection is in the lungs. Both are handled differently, but both are treated with antibiotics at various stages.

Infection = the bacterium, virus, etc, is present in the body.

Infectious = the ability to pass a sickness, disease, etc, to others.

Now, back to Arthur's illness.

Arthur is a frequent discussion in our field funnily enough. Mostly because he is a highly unusual TB patient, but we love him for that.

Arthur's tuberculosis likely remained latent or at least minimally active for the first half of the game after his encounter with Mr. Downes, eventually progressing into active pulmonary tuberculosis. The thing about latent tuberculosis is the constant risk of it becoming active tuberculosis if/when the body is put under an immense amount of stress and strain. (Looking at you Dutch)

It would explain how, for the most part, Arthur had little to no symptoms even days/weeks after his initial (and brutal) exposure. He still went on missions, still mingled with the gang, still talked to people, and there were no signs of illness spreading. Though after the events of late chapter three/chapter four onwards, Arthur's illness definitely developed and became active tuberculosis.

But how come it didn't spread? Well at that point Arthur knew he was ill in some form and was already subconsciously distancing himself because of it, and also distancing himself because of the emotional events going on/the tension between Arthur and the others.

Realistically, should the illness should have spread later on? Yes, but not in the way that seems obvious. By chapter six, some members of the gang would likely have been exposed to Arthur's tuberculosis. Though it is important to remember that exposure doesn't always mean infection, and infection doesn't always mean disease.

Many people exposed to tuberculosis never develop active symptoms for a very long time, if any at all.

The gang were very fortunate that the illness didn't spread the way it could have, I think it was mostly down to pure luck and convenience with the story.

The game was very careful about emphasizing Arthur's deterioration whilst trying not to punish the player for continuing with the story and risk impairing the gameplay, and it was done wonderfully! It's so rare to have such a raw and aching representation for a very real illness, and to see how it affected a prominent main character such as Arthur himself.

Apart from the coughing and visible decline, I think the illness forced Arthur to slow down for once and watch everything he had built his identity around be stripped away piece by piece.

nobody came for him. not hosea. not john. not dutch.

days pass and arthur morgan is left bleeding in the dirt, half-conscious, following a meet up with the gangs enemies.

you can make excuses for it. they didn’t know where he was. they couldn’t find him. they were laying low.

arthur drags himself home with a hole in his body and dirt in his wounds and nobody had come. and maybe that’s the thing about arthur morgan. he spends his entire life being needed.

he is dutch’s favourite gun when there’s trouble. the man sent to collect debts. the man sent ahead on jobs, we're first introduced to him when he's been scouting ahead... the man trusted to fix mistakes. the man everyone looks for when they need something done.

but when arthur is hurt, when he’s scared, when he’s breaking apart piece by piece, there is almost never anyone looking for him.

he sits alone on cliffs overlooking camp. he drinks coffee before everyone else wakes up. he rides for miles with nobody beside him. he learnt to patch up his own wounds.

writes in his journal instead of speaking out loud. carries grief he never tells anyone about.

isaac. eliza. his mother.

all of it tucked away between charcoal sketches and half-finished sentences. because arthur isn’t really taught how to need people. he’s taught how to be useful to them.

and there’s a difference.

i think that’s why some of the quietest moments in the game hurt the most. not the gunfights. not the betrayals. just arthur sitting by a fire after everyone else has gone to bed.

arthur staring out over a valley with nobody beside him. arthur returning to camp after doing something difficult and nobody really asking if he’s alright. he is surrounded by people.

yet somehow he spends most of his life alone. and maybe that’s why the few people who do choose him matter so much.

the nun. charles. sadie.

the people who speak to arthur morgan like he’s a person before he’s a weapon. because for most of his life, being loved and being useful were never the same thing.

and jack is absolutely terrified because he is a kid. sure he saw his pa attacked by wolves and covered in bloody bandages but then john healed and had scars but still looks like his pa. kieran. does not look like kieran anymore.

hiding behind corners staring at kieran because he's a terrified kid trying to figure it out

and kieran, too gentle for his own good, offers a smile. kneels down. asks if jack wants to touch his face.

jack, horrified, because his ma would be furious if she knew he was staring. too curious for his own good. carefully touching kieran's face. a tiny gasp. it's rough. kieran chuckles. yeah. just rough skin.

jack staring at that strange, milky grey eye, and asks if kieran can see. kieran asks jack to hold up a few fingers. jack does. kieran looks, tries to focus, and shakes his head. he can't tell how many fingers he has. gently lifts up jack's arms. but he can see that jack has two arms. and a nose somewhere in the middle of his face. and jack giggles.

You are my city of joy.

searching for John

close up ↓

shooo weee it sure is a scorcher today!!

Arthur Morgan's VA sayin TERFs ain't got no friends plays in my head at least twice a week ok?