High Plains Drifter Ending Explained- Who Or What Was The Stranger And The Symbology Of The Red Paint

Anti-heroes have been around for decades. The heroes who are often profoundly flawed make good heroes because they are relatable. Perfect people who save the day without doing anything wrong are only believable if you are Captain America. We often romanticize these people. The Dr. House’s, Damon Salazars, and John Wicks of the world are loved. It’s harder to love others who operate more in the anti than the hero space. Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter is one of the latter. He is a vengeful, angry man who, in his first half-hour in town, shoots three men and rapes a woman. For all his anger and flaws, of which there are plenty, he is a hero to a small Western town despite most of them not deserving it.

Eastwood’s Gothic Western is one of the most enduring of the prolific actor and director’s work because of the ambiguous supernatural element simmering underneath the Western revenge tale. A strange man comes to town and works with the town to protect them from three brutal criminals. The man is more than he seems, though, and could be the spirit of vengeance come to take revenge on both the men who killed him and the town that let it happen. Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of High Plains Drifter and who was the Stranger.

The end of High Plains Drifter explained

The Stranger devises a complicated scheme to lure and kill the three criminals. He enlists the entire town despite their reluctance to help him. In large part, that is because the town has a lot of secrets. Many of the citizens are more concerned with maintaining their wealth and protecting their secrets than justice. The Stranger seems to know about their sins and yet helps them because they have mutual enemies. In the film’s final act, the town and the Stranger kill the three criminals, and the Stranger leaves town as mysteriously as he arrives. The town is better for his time there. Mordecai, a good man, was given a position of power as Mayor and Sheriff, and the corruption in town was exposed.

One of the first scenes shows the Stranger raping a woman in a stable. Although this act is unforgivable, it is later revealed she wasn’t a great person. Callie Travers was having an affair with one of the criminals, Stacey Bridges, and he confronted her in front of many of her peers. She begged him to take her with him, but he refused. The hotel owner’s wife left her husband because she could no longer remain quiet and live with what her husband did. Many of the worst citizens were killed in the showdown, and the town was partially destroyed and now is crimson red.

What was the town’s secret?

Lago was illegally built on government land. We have no context for whether it was done purposely or an accident, but now everyone is trying to protect their investment. When Marshall Duncan discovered this, he threatened to turn them in, and the town had him killed to protect their property from being seized. Jim Duncan was the first person they arranged to die, but not the last. They tried to kill the Stranger in the hotel and likely would have done the same to any unknown person who came to town. Everyone would be a threat; therefore, all would be run out of town or killed immediately.

Who or what is the Stranger?

Eastwood, who plays the quick drawing vigilante new to Lago, never gives his name. In the closing moments of High Plains Drifter, he tells Mordecai he already knows his name. This is likely because the Stranger is the previous marshal whipped to death in front of the entire town. Marshall Duncan was killed by the three criminals who returned to town to wreak havoc. The Stranger doesn’t just want revenge on the men who killed him but on the town who stood by and let it happen. A few people from the town wanted to help Duncan but couldn’t. Those who weren’t directly responsible or tried to help him were spared.

On his first day in town, he has a nightmare of a man being whipped viciously to death while the entire town stands by and watches. Was he haunted by the ghost of the Marshall, who is trying to get vengeance from beyond the grave by enlisting the Stranger’s help? Some have speculated that he is the brother of the dead Marshall. If the dead speak, The Stranger could be Jim Duncan’s brother, fed details through his dreams. He doesn’t just know about the Marshall’s death. He also knows about the corruption that runs so deep in Lago. This is an amoral place filled with greedy, cowardly people.

Many point to the Stranger’s knowledge as proof that he is Marshall Duncan, who returned from the dead. He frequently dreams of the late Marshall’s murder and remembers the Marshall cursing the town to Hell. He also knows everything about Lago’s inhabitant’s bad behavior. Additionally, a small detail in the film’s opening moments hints at who the Stranger might be. Just after entering town, he hears a man whip a horse and turns toward the sound. He is startled and clearly upset by the sound. Presumably, he is startled by the sound because he died on the other end of the whip.

High Plains Drifter is, at its core, a vengeful ghost story. Angry souls can’t move on until they get their pound of flesh. The Stranger also indicates that souls can’t be at peace until they have a marked grave. The man gets both when he helps Lago kill the three criminals who killed him and flush out the selfishness of the town. He even gets a moment of recognition when Mordecai places a marker on his grave, identifying his buried body. Finally, at peace, he can move on. Whether that means moving to the next place where his unique skills are necessary to right wrongs or moving to the afterlife, we can’t know.

Maybe it is better not to know. It keeps the fear present by leaving the town folk and the viewer uncertain. Will he come back? Should they worry about further sins? They need to be on their best behavior since they don’t know who or what he is.

Why is the town painted red?

The dead don’t rest without a marked grave. The Stranger marks the town sign “Hell” because he cursed those who let him die. He instructs the entire town to be painted red because it is a symbolic statement. This place is Hell. Hell for the criminals and the people who haven’t been as honest or righteous as they pretend to be. Hypocrisy runs rampant in town, and ignorance is not bliss there. Lago is painted red because it has blood on its hand. The town was literally stained with the blood of those who died for its sins. It is a lasting reminder to live a just life. Hopefully, the Stranger is now free to move on in peace.

High Plains Drifter is currently streaming on Netflix.