The island of Guarma is only reachable during the first five missions of this chapter. Once Paradise Mercifully Departed ends, the game never takes you back, so anything you want to see, hunt or study on the island has to be done before then. Several animals live only there: three macaws (Blue and Yellow, Scarlet and Great Green), four snakes (Sunglow Boa, Rainbow Boa, Red Boa and Fer-de-Lance) and the Red-footed Booby. They do not count towards the Skin Deep or Zoologist trophies, so missing them costs no trophy. Arthur has no journal on the island, so animals studied there go into the Compendium without his sketches.
The Chapter 4 missables (the tithing box, camp item requests and the Chapter 4 Honor missions) are already closed by the time you arrive here.
Chapter 5 starts on a beach. The first half is on Guarma, a sugar island ruled by Colonel Fussar; the second half brings the survivors back to Lemoyne to find what is left of the gang. Every mission has optional gold-medal objectives, listed under it, and can be replayed from the Story menu.
Sources disagree on where the chapter ends. PowerPyx and RDR2.org list nine missions, ending with That’s Murfee Country, and put Icarus and Friends at the start of Chapter 6. IGN’s list has ten, with Icarus and Friends in Chapter 5 before That’s Murfree Country, and plays Savagery Unleashed before A Kind and Benevolent Despot. The Red Dead Wiki says Icarus and Friends can be played in Chapter 5 but is filed as a Chapter 6 mission when replaying, and lets either of those two Guarma missions come first. This page has Icarus and Friends on the Chapter 6 page.
Welcome to the New World
Starts: automatically, straight after Banking, the Old American Art. Arthur wakes alone on a beach, exhausted.
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The beach and the chain gang
Walk until you see smoke, and follow it to Dutch and the others. Soldiers arrive and march the group off in chains; keep up with the line, as falling behind costs a gold objective.
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The rebels
Rebels ambush the column and free the prisoners. Grab a pistol and fight; you start with a full Dead Eye bar and no tonics, so spend it on headshots. Afterwards Hercule, the rebels’ leader, explains the situation on the island.
- Do not fall behind while walking with the chain gang.
- Get 10 headshots.
A Kind and Benevolent Despot
Given by: Dutch, at the marked spot by a waterfall, after Welcome to the New World. Javier did not get away: Colonel Fussar holds him in his fortress, and Dutch means to get him out.
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Into the fortress
Follow Dutch along the river path to a cave, where a contact leads you to a metal door; help Dutch lift it. Inside, follow Dutch and take out the guards he points to, quietly: being loud fails the mission. A distraction at the refinery draws the guards away, and you free Javier from his cage.
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The way out
Dutch carries Javier and keeps moving as long as you stay close. Shoot your way out, dealing first with the enemies Dutch calls out. Dead Eye does not slow the escape timer, and there is no accuracy objective, so a few misses cost nothing.
- Get Javier to safety in under 2 minutes.
- Get 10 headshots.
Savagery Unleashed
Starts: at the yellow question mark on the Guarma map, after Welcome to the New World. Arthur goes to help workers who escaped the sugar plantation, finds a body hanging from a tree, and is knocked out by a blow dart.
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The chair
Arthur wakes tied to a chair under interrogation. Rock back and forth with the left stick until the chair breaks, then grab the guard. Skip the cutscene that follows: the timer is tight.
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The workers
Two freed workers, Leon and Baptiste, lead you to three more who are tied up; crouch and wait for patrols when Leon says so. When you see the ropes, use Dead Eye and shoot them all at once to free the workers within four seconds. The shots bring the guards: kill the sniper on the roof first, then the rest.
- Release all the workers within 4 seconds.
- Complete within 5 minutes 40 seconds.
- Get 8 headshots.
Hell Hath No Fury
Starts: automatically once both A Kind and Benevolent Despot and Savagery Unleashed are done. Fussar attacks Cinco Torres while Arthur and Dutch are discussing a way off the island with Hercule.
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The beach
Shoot the soldiers on the beach from the high ground. Enemies are far away, so use Dead Eye to protect your accuracy. Landing boats are coming in: stop four of them reaching the shore for a gold objective.
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The cannon
Hercule asks for help getting a cannon into position. Use it on the naval ship; destroying it without missing a single shot is the last objective.
- Prevent 4 boats from reaching the shore.
- Destroy the Naval ship without missing a shot.
- Complete with at least 70% accuracy.
Paradise Mercifully Departed
Starts: automatically after Hell Hath No Fury. Hercule has a ship ready, but Fussar holds its captain and has guns set to fire on anyone who tries to leave. This is the last mission on Guarma.
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The sentries and the guns
Follow the group uphill with your knife out. Take the nearest of the two sentries while Micah takes the other, unseen, then plant explosives on the guns.
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The captain
Free the captain and escort him to the boat against the clock. Fussar is killed, and the group says goodbye to Hercule and sails with Captain Levi.
- After this mission Guarma is closed for good.
- Kill the first 2 sentries without being spotted.
- Escort the captain to the boat within 1 minute 45 seconds.
- Complete within 6 minutes 45 seconds.
- Get 25 headshots.
Dear Uncle Tacitus
Starts: automatically after Paradise Mercifully Departed. Back in America, Arthur rides for Shady Belle to find the rest of the gang.
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The ride and the empty camp
Take the horse waiting nearby; it is a long ride, so cinematic mode helps. At Shady Belle, read the letter addressed to Uncle: the others have moved to Lakay. Pinkertons arrive while you are inside. Wait for the first one to come in, slip out behind him, get on your horse and ride hard for Lakay without being seen.
- Leave Shady Belle without being detected by the Pinkertons.
- Complete within 8 minutes.
Fleeting Joy
Starts: automatically after Dear Uncle Tacitus. The reunion at the new hideout is short.
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The news
The others tell Arthur that John has been taken by the law, and that Sadie Adler held the group together while Dutch and Arthur were gone.
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The Pinkerton attack
The Pinkertons find the hideout. There is a Dead Eye ambush (kill two Pinkertons in it) and a stretch on a Gatling gun with its own headshot and accuracy objectives. Dead Eye items are fine; items that restore health break the “no health items” objective.
- Kill 2 Pinkertons during the Dead Eye ambush.
- Get 5 headshots with the Gatling Gun.
- Get at least 70% accuracy with the Gatling Gun.
- Complete the mission without taking any health items.
A Fork in the Road
Starts: the first time you ride into Saint Denis after Fleeting Joy, usually on the way to Sadie for Icarus and Friends. There is no combat: it is a run of cutscenes, and the only gold objective is the time, so make a manual save before entering the city and skip every scene on the attempt that counts.
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1
The doctor
A passer-by sees Arthur is unwell and walks him to a doctor, even paying the $10 fee.
The doctor tells Arthur he has tuberculosis and does not have long to live. How Arthur takes the news depends on his Honor rating.
- Complete within 3 minutes 5 seconds.
That’s Murfree Country
Name: IGN and the Red Dead Wiki spell it That’s Murfree Country, after the Murfree Brood gang; PowerPyx and RDR2.org spell it That’s Murfee Country.
Given by: Dutch, at Lakay, after Fleeting Joy. After the attack the gang has to move again. Arthur rides north with Charles to scout country past Butcher Creek, which Charles warns is Murfree Brood territory.
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The Murfrees
The Murfrees fight up close, so the accuracy and no-health-items objectives need care. You find a captive woman, Meredith, and take her home to her mother on horseback against the clock.
- Deliver Meredith to her mother within 2 minutes.
- Get 15 headshots.
- Complete with at least 85% accuracy.
- Complete the mission without taking any health items.
Strangers That Open Here
- The Wisdom of the Elders: in the wilderness west of Van Horn Trading Post. It can still be played later.
- The Widow of Willard’s Rest: a homestead called Willard’s Rest at the north-eastern edge of the map. Only available until Chapter 6 ends.
Chapter Completion
Finishing the chapter unlocks the No Traitors story trophy (complete Chapter 5). Chapter 6 opens with the gang moving north.
✅ Before Moving On to Chapter 6...
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 23 October 2026 against PowerPyx’s story walkthrough, gold medals guide, trophy guide and Stranger mission list, IGN’s Red Dead Redemption 2 wiki (mission list and mission pages), RDR2.org’s Chapter 5 guide and missable quests guide, the Red Dead Wiki on Fandom (mission list and its Guarma page) and Exophase’s trophy list. Mission names and gold objectives agree across PowerPyx, IGN and RDR2.org except where marked. Mission givers and story summaries come from IGN’s and RDR2.org’s walkthroughs. That Guarma cannot be revisited comes from PowerPyx, RDR2.org and the Red Dead Wiki; the list of Guarma-only animals and their not counting for trophies from PowerPyx alone; the journal note from the Red Dead Wiki alone; the No Traitors trophy from PowerPyx and Exophase; and the Stranger mission locations from PowerPyx’s list alone. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it for this guide, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.