Hello partners!
I wanted to share with you two theories that occurred to me the other day.
First of all, excuse my English, it is not my first language. I’m so sorry if you find any weird written words or phrases. My apologies! I will try my best!Theory nº1: How McCree Lost His Arm
A bit of context in the lore and game
Officially we know that McCree still had his left arm when he joined OW and we are sure that on the Uprising mission he still had his arm:
https://i.ibb.co/gyzYqJG/uprising.png
And from what Echo says when he saw the cowboy’s mechanical hand, until she was disconnected, he still had his limb.
Echo: “What happened?”
McCree: “Well, that’s a story for another time.”
https://youtu.be/PKYVvPNhRR0?t=415
And although in-game interactions may not be canon, to Torbjorn’s surprise at seeing McCree without his arm we could say that the cowboy possibly kept his hand until he left OW.
Torbjörn: “McCree, what happened to your arm?”
McCree: “I always admired yours. Figured I’d get one of my own.”
Continuing with the interactions we also have another in-game quote with Genji, where he comments that the loss of his limb was hard for him:
McCree: “Genji, how’d you ever get used to… You know… It was hard enough for me and it was just the one arm.”
Genji: “It was a long and difficult road, but now, I feel at ease in my own body.”
About the lost arm
He lost the left arm up to the elbow.
https://i.ibb.co/KxfJ48T/690562-1433477066-8.jpg
On that part of his body he had Deadlock’s tattoo.
https://i.ibb.co/NnzLKrZ/Captura.png
And he has this tattoo from his days in the gang (and after the events of the novel “Deadlock Rebels”):
https://i.ibb.co/Ksh4cYR/ben-zhang-deadlock-mccree.jpg
The tattoo he had was not of the band’s ordinary logo, he had the eyepatched “est. 1976” version.
https://i.ibb.co/FzP21R0/tumblr-inline-ppxgc78-Nk81qzzxm8-1280.png
This tattoo is more personal and special , it’s related to Ashe and the founding of Deadlock.
Theory
What if he lost his arm when confronting a member of Deadlock? What if he met another of the founding members on his subsequent trips before he leave Blackwatch and in a fight his former partner cut off McCree’s arm because he doesn’t consider the cowboy worthy of had the gang’s logo?
Let’s not forget that McCree is a traitor in the eyes of his gang…
And speaking of betrayal…
Theory nº 2: Why McCree betrayed his gang
We officially know that…
“McCree had already made a name for himself as a member of the notorious Deadlock Gang, which trafficked in illicit weapons and military hardware throughout the American Southwest, when he and his associates were busted in an Overwatch sting operation. With his expert marksmanship and resourcefulness, he was given the choice between rotting in a maximum-security lockup and joining Blackwatch, Overwatch’s covert ops division. He chose the latter.”
Reyes made him an offer, either he would join Overwatch or he would rot in jail.
But after meeting the young McCree from the novel this doesn’t quite fit. McCree couldn’t so easily betray his friends and join Overwatch. There had to be another reason…
In Route 66, Soldier:76 says:
Soldier:76:“Reyes should’ve cleaned up the Deadlock Gang a long time ago.”
Theory
If Reyes’ mission was to dismantle the gang, why didn’t he do it?
He could easily do it. Deadlock would have nothing to do against Overwatch or Blackwatch special forces. So…
What if did Reyes promised McCree to leave Deadlock alone if McCree joined Blackwatch? He would become part of Blackwatch and Overwatch would not destroy the gang. Ashe and the others would be safe and nobody, including him, would end up in jail.
The McCree we know could end up making this deal to save his friends from a life behind bars. He will become a traitor to their eyes but they would be free people. And for this reason this gang still exists on this days and was not exterminated by the old guard.
: 
