In this commentary, I provide a possible insight into the why's and what's of a few characters and events that occur in God of War Ragnarök, an action-adventure game, as well as a general recounting of some of the events that I still recall fondly now that I have finished the game.
The apocalyptic Ragnarök is coming. Atreus carries the Atlas-tier weight of his giant heritage. And Kratos desperately holds on to his desire to protect his son.
There are some of those spoiler-things below!
Sony Santa Monica had one heck of a task to get Ragnarök to live up to its phenomenal predecessor that came out in 2018. The writing, music, and performances are each exceptional, bringing Norse mythology to life in a tapestry of sweat-inducing battles and heart-warming moments. The game impressively gives space to two complex characters, a father and son unit, where they can both melt your heart and break some bones with fantastically fierce combat.
The game gets going straight away with a nail-biting fight between Kratos and Freya. We initially don’t get too much time to relish in the crisp winter environment of Midgard, but it is clear that Fimbulwinter – a period of unrest heralding the coming of Ragnarök – is here, and it is here to stay. Compared to the Kratos of previous games, this version, although with the capacity to be a ferocious beast, is softer, older. The game takes places 3 years after the end of the first game, and it seems time has taken a toll on Kratos. He looks old, his face tired, and although he rocks his dad beard, he wears a mask of exhaustion. And it works so well for the father-son dynamic of the game.
Father-Son Dynamic
Before the player gets too comfy in frosty Midgard, the game opens the 9 other realms at a comfortable pace. By opening up the realms, we get to see the effects Fimbulwinter and the tyrannical claws of Odin has had. We also get to see how much Atreus wants to make his father proud, but because he is carrying the huge weight of being Loki the giant on his shoulders, he makes decisions that Kratos heavily disapproves of.
At one point in the game, Kratos confronts Atreus about where he disappeared to, referring to when Atreus wakes up in Jotunheim (more on this later). Kratos thinks Atreus went to Odin, having seen a prophecy in the previous game of Atreus killing his father and serving Odin. Atreus is angry that Kratos does not trust him, and Kratos is angry that Atreus has been careless – and angry at himself for not protecting his son. Atreus passionately exclaims “It’s MY future. MY life.”, to which Kratos retorts “You are my son.” This is exactly what the game pivots around: Loki the giant with a big task ahead of him and Atreus the son with a big expectation to live up to.
Odin and That One Fight
By now, most people know about the epic first boss battle between Kratos and Thor. The moody dark clouds rolling over Kratos and Atreus’ house and lightning producing areas of cold blue light make the Thor introduction scene phenomenal. The storm building outside makes Kratos and Atreus flee their house, where they are confronted by a mysterious figure. Marvel or Norse fans celebrate when the figure moves his cape back to reveal the legendary Mjölnir, a goosebump-inducing moment indeed. Thor puts his hand next to his hammer companion, lightning snaking from the hammer to his fingers, and the music quietens to emphasise Thor’s first line of dialogue “Can I come in?”. It’s not really a question though, is it Thor?
Thor comes inside with mead, and Kratos isn’t interested in showing good xenia (hospitality). Thor is a beast of a man compared to Kratos, who seems even older and softer when next to the Thunder God. Unbeknownst to Kratos and Atreus, Odin’s faithful ravens also fly in, meaning both pairs of fathers and sons are essentially in the house together. How lovely. And then Odin arrives, his knocks on the front door having a kind of finality to them. It is Atreus who answers the door, the pair sharing a long look as if both know what happens next.
Not much conversation is had, but we immediately see that Thor is the drunk battle-ready guard dog and Odin is the charismatic diplomat.Odin gets down to business immediately, expecting the pair to know who he is, giving Kratos the green card regarding his killing of Thor’s sons in the first game (and essentially disregarding Thor’s sons and calling them “useless” – more on this later), and showing calm disappointment that Baldur, his and Freya’s son, was killed. His disappointment is not because he loved Baldur but because he was valuable to Odin. We are meant to hate that we love Odin, but mostly hate how good he is at weaving words. Everyone is useful to Odin, but no-one is truly loved by him.
Because Odin is cunning and loves to play the long game, he asks Atreus to stop his search for Týr, explaining he is dead. Although he is lying, he is setting up a later plot point where it is more believable that ‘Týr’ is found alive, and we have no reason to not believe it is the real Týr. Yet, as we learn in one of the game’s most heart-wrenching moments, it isn’t the real Týr. It’s Odin in disguise. Essentially, Odin uses lies within lies to hide in plain sight. He is a brilliantly written character.
Odin lets Thor off the leash once Kratos, as calmly as he could muster, declines Odin’s suggestion (more of a demand, really) that he and Atreus stop their meddling’s. Seeing Kratos soar through the sky, trapped under the immovable weight of Mjölnir, having a punch up with Thor in the moody sky, to then, ironically, and brutally, crash into the Temple of Týr, is iconic. The fight has its notable goosebumps moments; Kratos summoning the Leviathan axe as he holds Thor down, Thor’s sky-shattering thunderclaps, and Kratos stopping Mjölnir in mid-flight by strength, or perhaps worthiness, alone. But there are two aspects of the fight that are interesting considering the theme of family.
Thor roars “You should be better than this” at Kratos, implying that he is unimpressed that Kratos is holding back. Conversely, this statement also speaks for how Thor believes he is a failure as a father and protector. The word “should” is a shame-based statement that creates stress and anxiety in the mind and body. It indicates that there is a specific way to do things, which isn’t true. There is always a choice, always a way to want to do something rather than “should”. Kratos highlights the irony of Thor using such a shame-based statement by saying Thor puts Modi, his younger son, last, even in death, most likely because he is made to share Odin’s view that his sons as useless. It feels like Kratos realises that no-one should be ‘father of the year’ but can want to be better. This in turn angers Thor, because he simply doesn’t understand he doesn’t need to let others tell him what he should do or how he should live his life, or who he should be or become.
The other aspect of the fight, which is one of the most memorable moments in the entire game, is when Kratos canonically dies… for a moment. Thor smashes Kratos’ head, slamming him to the ground, and we see blood pool and get the game over loading screen, and we wonder ‘but I had half my health left!’. We can allow Sony Santa Monica this one scripted death, simply because it is so chilling to hear Thor’s disembodied voice: “Oh, no… I say when we’re done”, then for us to see him defibrillate Kratos back to life with Mjölnir. Bad. Ass.
Jötunheim and Angrboda
In a dream sequence, Atreus wakes up in the lush realm of Jötunheim, where he meets the stunning and mysterious Angrboda.
Essentially, Angrboda, a giantess, is an information-giving character who helps move the story forward. She introduces Atreus to Ironwood, describes how the giant’s prophecies work, and helps him control his animal-shifting powers. She also gives Atreus a bag of marble-like stones that he is destined to safeguard. These marbles are items that the giants had their souls whispered into to escape Odin and Thor’s plan to slaughter them all, and serve as a good plot point for the next God of War game.
Aside from being Atreus’ love interest and information dump, Angrboda is woefully underused. She has a set of interesting powers and a mysteriously beautiful way of knowing things, but that’s about it. In Norse mythology, Angrboda is known as the ‘giantess of grief’ and the mother of Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel. Admittedly, there are not a lot of instances that Angrboda comes up in classical literature, so there was not a lot to work from, and what Sony Santa Monica did create was great. Perhaps a side quest to emphasise how Angrboda could be the giantess of grief or how exactly she takes care of Fenrir would have been the cherry on top? Eric Williams (director of Ragnarök) has hinted that Loki and Angrboda would become a much clearer love interest in later God of War games, so perhaps the young giantess will have more going for her then.
Thor, the God of Failure
Thor believes he is a useless father. He constantly argues with his wife, Sif, about his inability to stand up to Odin and refusal to do something about Loki, who she knows had something to do with the death of her sons, Magni and Modi. His daughter sees him both as a legendary hero and a pathetic drunk. He lost his two sons and simply wasn’t allowed to seek revenge or solace because Odin told him not to. Not only that, but Odin was disappointed that Magni and Modi failed in trying to kill Kratos and Atreus – or rather, feigning disappointment to get Thor riled up and willing to kill Kratos himself. Thor’s father treats him as a knucklehead, a lump of meat that can go crush Odin’s enemies. The sheer amount of pressure and emotional neglect Odin puts on his son is disgraceful, and it is no wonder that the God of Thunder drowns his emotions in copious amounts of drink. As a result, Thor doesn’t fight with passion and has had his entire being manipulated and shaped by the cunning and emotionally volatile Odin.
Thrúd, Thor’s daughter, is a fantastic character. She appears empowered, has a passion to be a Valkyrie, and has a very likeable personality. She loves Thor unconditionally, and during the game kindly reminds him “We are here for you dad, we always will be.” She tries to take on a therapeutic role in dealing with her father, telling him that he can always start over, but her words have no sway. What Thrúd doesn’t realise until the end of the game, when Asgard has fallen, is Odin was to blame for much of the tragedies that occurred throughout the nine realms. And the blame is almost wholly on Odin for Thor’s low self-esteem and complete inability to stand up for himself.
There is no Thor in God of War Ragnarök, there is only a man who has been emotionally abused to be a loyal guard dog… who wields a legendary weapon. It’s so sad to think that Mjölnir, given it can only be wielded by someone worthy, knows that Thor has so much potential. Perhaps Mjölnir’s new wielder who makes themselves known in the post-game will have the freedom to do something truly great now Odin is, we hope, dead?
Final Thoughts
Go play the game. There are so many hidden themes, hints, and lore that contribute to a truly exciting and heart-felt game. The team at Sony Santa Monica who made the game clearly loved what they were creating. Although there were a few aspects of the game that were not as exciting as the rest (looking at you, Berserker fights), God of War Ragnarök finally gave space for Kratos and Atreus to understand each other and let each other go. Also, big, good boy Fenrir is cute.
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