But this isn't logical. If they seriously fear that Wade's men would destroy the town as revenge then how can they expect the escort to succeed? And whether it succeeds or not, why wouldn't the outlaws still take their revenge on the town? Wouldn't the only way to escape that fate be letting Wade free?
Maybe the outlaws would, maybe they wouldn't, but they would at least be distracted for awhile by chasing after Wade's captors. Kill him on the spot and death and destruction would immediately follow. The men also seemed to have a decent amount of faith in their switcheroo scheme.
Even after killing the first escort he's still kept practically free (loose chains in front). As a result in Apache lands he very easily gets a weapon (and could have escaped at that point but, again for no reason, chose not to).
But he
did escape in Apache territory. Once he got the gun, his first priority was in taking out the Apache that were shooting at him. Then he made his escape, but only after failing to procure the keys to the cuffs.
I said he possessed all the traits gaining notoriety would require - prone to violence and means to deliver it. Of course his reputation in the story comes largely from Wade but my meaning was that one doesn't need to be a Renaissance man to gain notoriety, violence and cruelty will do just fine.
Being prone to violence would not be not enough to gain notoriety as an outlaw - you have to successfully do that multiple times and either not get caught or to not stay caught for long - hence the need for intelligence and skill.
Being a renaissance man might not be required of any outlaw, but it certainly would be the traits that earned Wade the position of gang leader.
I mostly want consistency. Whether he's a highly intelligent and calculating leader who has successfully robbed 22 coaches, kept his position as a gang leader and manipulates everyone around him with impeccable insight to other peoples' minds or then you could make him a more flawed man but it's pretty hard to be both. I find it unconvincing that all his supposed flaws miraculously manifest when, and only when, near Bale.
Except we see almost nothing of him when he's not near Bale so we know very little about him beyond that relationship. We do know, however, that he'd been captured by law officials at least twice before, so this wasn't his first time slipping up. He's also still human and all humans are flawed.
Kind of yes, but we don't even know what he was doing time for. Maybe he wasn't considered that dangerous back then.
Yes, his prison time is a big question mark, but it seems to me that his two previous successful escapes would be enough to give him the confidence to
believe he could do it a third time.
Unless I'm mistaken he didn't kill any of his own men before the end (that one guy in the beginning was shot by a Pinkerton hiding in the wagon). I don't recall any obvious shows of disrespect either.
I think you need to watch
that scene again. The Pinkerton did not kill that man, Wade did.
As to disrespect, besides showing a willingness to kill anyone who screws up, he calls them all animals. Also, once the gang discovers they've been duped and it isn't Wade in the coach, it's only Charlie who is willing to go back the other way to save him. The others argue that it's too far to go and that Wade got himself caught and Charlie has to convince them to go with him. Charlie is the only member of that gang who shows any loyalty to anybody else in it.
In a sense, yes but without him actually getting on board William wouldn't have had anything to show for his father's accomplishments. Yes, he would have known what his father did but in the eyes of the world he would still have been a son of a failed man. It's a matter of perspective whether he needed to get on the train or not to fulfill his observed duty to Dan.
Now you're changing your argument. You said that he only did it to make Bale look good in the eyes of his son, but the son's mind had already been changed. If that's the case then it was only William who needed to know of Dan's courage and he saw it with his own eyes. No proof to show required and the eyes of the world be damned. But if he doesn't get on the train, there's no payout for Dan's family. They'll lose their home and Dan's death will be in vain.
Also, this really hasn't much to do with my complaint which is more about Wade even considering it's worth his freedom and lives of his men to either redeem Dan in the eyes of his son or to secure his family's financial status. When his gang arrived to Contention he was clearly going to leave with them. I think his decision to do otherwise is uncharacteristic and not logical.
I disagree. At that point, yes he intended to go with them, but he changed his mind multiple times between their arrival in Contention and him actually getting on the train. He was clearly conflicted between a desire to do something good and to be free again. Also once he'd decided to kill Charlie, he had to kill the rest of the gang or they would've turned on him.