A mystery that went unnoticed for 7 years has Red Dead Redemption 2 players working furiously to make the connection between spiderwebs, telegraph poles, guitars, and maybe even Grand Theft Auto 5

Arthur Morgan on horseback — (Image credit: Rockstar)

Something very odd is happening in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, and I don't know what's going on but I do know this: It's got a lot of players very excited about spiderwebs.

The wheels started turning in December, when players discovered a weird spider symbol carved into a pole. Laying that symbol on the RDR2 map led to eight spiderwebs—one for each leg, as you may have already put together—located on different parts of the map.

That's very much a crash-course version of things—here's a YouTube video courtesy of Strange Man that lays it all out, complete with visual aids that help it all make a lot more sense:

Where is Rockstar Taking Us? - INSANE Spider Web Mystery Continues (RDR2) - YouTube

Watch On

There's also a more detailed breakdown on the individual steps taken thus far in the Red Dead Mysteries subreddit, if you want to follow along on a more painfully granular scale.

That, for the moment, is where the matter currently stands, although these things can change quickly once the fans really get their teeth into it. And they sure have taken a big bite into this one—this guy alone has put more effort into solving this Red Dead mystery that I did in my final exams. (Full disclosure: I failed several of my finals. Is there a lesson to be learned here? Possibly.)

Comment from r/reddeadmysteries

All of this stuff is apparently not due to an update or new addition to the game, but has been there since the start, and has just gone unnoticed. That might be a little hard to believe for a game that first launched in 2018 (the PC version rolled out the following year, as is the way with Rockstar) but RDR2 is famously chock full of stuff like this on all different scales, so one of two of the more obscure secrets going overlooked isn't entirely implausible. And let us not forget that Grand Theft Auto 5 players spent literally years chasing the Mount Chiliad Mystery, and there are still GTA5 diehards convinced that something is going on up there.

What this is leading to is anyone's guess. Some theorize that all these bits and pieces are just an echo of cut content; others believe it ties into similar webs found on Mount Chiliad in GTA 5, and that solving either mystery requires solving both mysteries. That's bold, and I respect the commitment to the bit, but that sounds like kind of a stretch to me. Anything's possible, but as former GTA 5 and RDR2 developer Ben Hinchcliffe told GTAVIoclock in 2024, "With all Easter eggs, sometimes you just put them in to mess with people."

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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