Despite releasing nearly two years ago, Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 still captivates players on consoles and PC with its immersive story and combat, as well as its vast open-world environment that just offers players plenty of tons of exploration opportunities even after completing the main campaign.
Of course, apart from all of those elements that made Red Dead Redemption 2 one of the most ambitious games in the past decade. One other feature that continues to captivate Red Dead Redemption 2 players in the game are its mysteries. Given its vast and rich world, Red Dead Redemption 2 offers many secrets and some of which are still unsolved today. Perhaps one of the biggest mysteries that fans are still trying to piece together is the peculiar disappearance of Princess Isabeau Kathrina Zinsmeister.
The Lost Princess IKZ
To the uninitiated, the disappearance of Princess Isabeau Katherina Zinsmeister of Luxembourg remains to be one of Red Dead Redemption 2's most popular mysteries. Upon reaching Van Horn, players will encounter a poster that breakdown the disappearance of Isabeau with a reward set at $100. Shortly after, players will discover that at the age of five, the Princess disappeared from a cabin that she is staying at, and has since been missing for fifteen years.
Upon embarking on an investigation, players will discover some pieces of evidence near a shop at Van Horn that includes a suitcase stamped with the Princess's initials alongside the royal seal of Luxembourg. Apart from this, players won't be able to find any other leads regarding the disappearance of the Princess.
What Really Happened to Princess IKZ
Throughout the years since the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2, players poured blood, sweat, and tears, to solve the mysterious disappearance of Princess Isabeau. Given that she has been missing in the game for fifteen years, the likeliest scenario is that she is dead, especially since Red Dead Redemption 2's world is filled with gangs and numerous serial killers that are out in the wild. If on the slim chance that she is still alive, it is possible that the Princess is already living a different life, especially since she should be around the age of twenty during the game's events. If this were true, Princess Isabeau could be finding a way back to her royal life, or she may not even know who she really is, given that she was merely a toddler when she disappeared.
Of course, without any strong leads as to whether she is alive or what could have happened to her, players are only left to speculate on whether she is alive or not. Interestingly enough, despite not having anything concrete since the game's release, her disappearance still captivates some Red Dead Redemption 2 players, and her case is often discussed in online forums. There is a slight possibility that more evidence pertaining to her disappearance are still out in Red Dead Redemption 2's huge map, but given that it has been two years and the dedication of some players to solve her disappearance, it is likely that her mysterious case was cut from the game.
Should Rockstar Add Her Back in an Update?
One of the key differences between Red Dead Redemption 2 and its predecessor is the lack of DLC. During the first game, Rockstar introduced a massive content expansion with Undead Nightmare, but, it appears that the studio is not at all interested in offering any single-player DLCs for Red Dead Redemption 2. In the unlikely scenario that Rockstar will expand the game with an update, will it expound on the mysterious disappearance of the Princess?
Well, it appears that Rockstar may not need to add her story in a future DLC, because sometime after the game was ported to the PC, players were able to discover game files pertaining to the Princess that was cut from the game. The specific file is named "CS_PrincessIsabeau" which contained a model for her too, as a fully grown young woman given that she went missing as a toddler. The model was discovered using the same tool that allowed players to play as any NPC, and many believe that the "CS" part of the file name means that there was supposed to be a cutscene with the Princess.
Of course, while the discovery of the lost Princess is unofficial, it pretty much confirms that she is in fact alive. However, the details on how she came to be were never revealed in Red Dead Redemption 2's game files. This means that on the slim chance that Rockstar decides to revisit her story in a DLC, it could detail how and why she disappeared and what she has been doing for the past fifteen years.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for the PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.