Awoo, it’s update time.
Zodi Plays: Call of Juarez Gunslinger [7] The Hunt For Gray Wolf
Video Length: 18:43
In this episode, we have to deal with the fact that in game this is in the 1900s. So there’s gonna be a lot of vaguely racist terms thrown around, plus some…clearly “tilted” information from our good friend Silas here. At any rate, our job today is to hunt the renegade Apache warrior Gray Wolf. This takes us to a time long, long ago, on a mountain far, far away. The Indian War rages, and Silas’s quest for revenge (and for money to get his revenge) leads him here. He stalks Gray Wolf through the woods to a cavern, and fights his way through the cave system until he gets to a large pool, where Gray Wolf tells him a story. A prophecy, perhaps. Greaves doesn’t know, he didn’t care back then, and he can’t remember all the details now. Greaves escapes the ambush only to find himself in another ambush, and though he tried his best, Gray Wolf escapes with his life.
From a narrative standpoint this level is where things really start to change. The audience for Silas’s story are settling into their viewpoints (Ben is amused, Dwight enthralled, Jack incredulous) and the stories start getting a little…stranger. They were already strange, and had some great on screen representations of plot contrivances and lucky breaks, but we’re now at the point where it’s going to get pushed further. Given I’m pretty sure all the actual information said in this episode is accurate, just from the lens of someone who doesn’t understand, it’s also going to be harder to tell just what is and isn’t true anymore. The story is getting more twisted. We’re hit the half way point of the game, and there’s no turning back now.
Gameplay wise this level is actually pretty difficult. The Apache all use rifles, which are pretty strong and rather accurate. As mentioned in previous episodes, the Apache love to attack from on high in ambushes, and this level plays this to the ear, giving the Apache highground at every opportunity, looming over us like specters of death itself. But we’re able to pull through, and end with a pretty fun chase scene where we try to pursue Gray Wolf, only for him to slip from our grasp. And of course, the dream sequence is fantastic, permanently in concentration as he tells us of how we will kill a great many men, and how we must do well to avoid the poison of snakes. It’s fantastic, and a sign that Gunslinger is stepping up to the plate now that we’re half way through the game.
And that’s the episode, hope you all enjoyed. Next time is legitimately one of my favorite episodes, so I hope to see you guys there.
So, historically, there was never an Apache leader called Gray Wolf. That should be obvious. But that’s not to say there WASN’T a Gray Wolf in history. George Crook, a US military general who served in the Civil War, was put forward as one of the tactical minds needed to face off against Geronimo in the Indian War, a massive conflict where the native american people of America finally ganged together to fight back against the people who constantly killed them without much rhyme or reason. George Crook, for his part, tried his best to settle things peacefully, and actually succeeded at forcing a peaceful surrender from Geronimo…the first time. Then a US soldier leaked to Geronimo that they were all going to have some great harm done to them so Geronimo ran off. The second surrender of the indigenous forces was less peaceful, though for his part George Crook did his best to minimize the damage.
Then of course, the government put the Apache warriors in jail. But they also put the Apache that had joined the state and helped defeat Geronimo and the other leaders during the Indian War in jail too, because nothing says you’re the good guys like a swift knife in the back of the ole rib cage. George Crook was furious about this and did his best to prevent it from happening, though I don’t believe he succeeded. But his actions would get him called by the Apache “Gray Wolf”. Of him they said “He, at least, did not lie to us. He gave us hope.”