RDR2: Why Lenny & Arthur’s Drunken Night Is So Important

Red Dead Redemption 2 offers a wide variety of missions during the game’s story, with the goal ranging from chasing down rival gang members to taking a young child fishing. One of the more memorable missions in RDR2 is “A Quiet Time,” which involves the protagonist, Arthur Morgan, getting drunk with a young gang member named Lenny while in Valentine. Although this mission may not seem important to the story, it has a major effect on how the player understands these characters and the game as a whole going forward.

The opening chapter of Red Dead Redemption 2 reeks of hopelessness and desperation. It follows the gang as they try to navigate snowy mountains in the wake of the Blackwater disaster, where they just lost multiple members. This dark opening allows players to understand the serious nature of the gang’s situation, and also allows them to come to understand Arthur as a serious man. This is why, after the gang successfully descends the mountain and finds a place to stay, his trip into town with Lenny is so important. No longer in immediate danger, Arthur can finally let loose.

Arthur originally takes Lenny to the Valentine bar for a drink to calm his nerves, but they don’t stop at just one. RDR2 players watch as Arthur and Lenny knock back drink after drink, partake in a dance with the bar patrons, and generally just make a mess of things. After such a dark opening, watching Arthur have some fun is a breath of fresh air. When the player regains control of Arthur he has lost Lenny, and attempts to stumble his way through the saloon looking for him. He’s so drunk that everyone looks like Lenny, so he resorts to simply screaming his name over and over again. After a fight with another bar patron and a brief run-in with the law, the mission ends.

Lenny and Arthur’s Relationship in Red Dead Redemption 2

One of the most important things about “A Quiet Time” is it allows the player to get to know one of RDR2‘s most beloved characters in Lenny. Unlike some of the more disagreeable members of the gang such as Bill Williamson and Micah Bell, Lenny is kind and seems to genuinely care about others. His youth is a fantastic contrast to many of the game’s key characters, including Arthur, and his relationship to Arthur feels like a meaningful one. Lenny is one of a few gang members, such as Charles and Sadie, that easily endear themselves to the player, and that is mostly thanks to “A Quiet Time.”

A drunken night in town may not me the most important mission in Red Dead Redemption 2, but there is a reason that so many players remember Arthur shouting “Lenny!” With a lighthearted shift in the game’s tone and a chance to learn more about the protagonist, “A Quiet Time” serves as much more than just a reason to laugh.

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