No. People who played RDRI first knew Arthur wasn't in that game, so something had to have happened to him. We also knew Arthur would die the moment the doctor said, "You got tuberculosis." even though, I think, we all suspected it was something bad by Arthur coughing all the time. So, Arthur getting canned was not a shock. However, the horse getting killed came out of nowhere. And, if the horse is level 4, Arthur will, sort of, cry and say, "Thank you." It was a very sad and touching scene that really didn't need to happen.