| “ | You don't really want war. Do you, Kratos? | ” |
Ragnarök, also known as Ragnarøkkr (Old Norse for Twilight of the Gods), is a major event first prophesied by the Jötunn Gróa that foresaw the ultimate battle that results in the death of many Gods, including Odin and Thor, as well as the "rebirth" of the world through submersion into water. Kratos and Atreus were also mentioned in the prophecy, as being the center of everything. However, in truth, it will only result in the destruction of Asgard while the other Realms will continue to thrive while intact.
Norse Mythology[]
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors, Líf and Lífþrasir. Ragnarök is an important event in Norse mythology and has been the subject of scholarly discourse and theory throughout the history of Germanic studies.
In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, references to Ragnarök begin from stanza 40 until 58, with the rest of the poem describing the aftermath. In the poem, a völva (a female seer) recites information to Odin.
The völva then describes three roosters crowing: In stanza 42, the jötunn herdsman Eggthér sits on a mound and cheerfully plays his harp while the crimson rooster Fjalar (Old Norse "hider, deceiver") crows in the forest Gálgviðr. The golden rooster Gullinkambi crows to the Æsir in Valhalla, and the third, unnamed soot-red rooster crows in the halls of the underworld location of Hel in stanza 43.
God of War (2018)[]
Ragnarök was first prophesied by the Jötunn Seeress Gróa, who unintentionally saw a vision of the actual events while searching in her library for ancient tomes for knowledge that would help her find her lost husband Aurvandil. In her vision she saw the beginning of Fimbulwinter, Sköll and Hati devouring the Sun and Moon, Surtr emerging from Muspelheim, Hróðvitnir breaking free from his chain and the Gods once again at each other's throats. She also saw a white ghost from another land and his young son, Kratos and Atreus, who are at the center of everything. However, her vision was so powerful that it was felt by Odin himself, who promptly journeyed to Gróa's library to demand what she had seen. Seeing that the seeress was hesitant to tell him anything, Odin proceeded to strangle her, but not before coldly revealing that Thor had killed her husband long ago.
However, Gróa managed to have the last laugh as the All-Father was seemingly unable to take all of her knowledge regarding the events of Ragnarök and only learned some of the main figures to be involved. He continued to try and gather more knowledge surrounding the events. Knowing that the rest of the Jötnar also possessed the gift of foresight as well, he manipulated his son Týr into arranging a meeting with the Giants in their home realm of Jötunheim in order to try and steal some of their secret knowledge on the events of Ragnarök. Under the guise of brokering peace between the two races, Odin managed to gain entrance to the realm of the Giants and proceeded with Tyr to the meeting hall. Distracting the Jötnar with the false promise of handing over Mjölnir to them for the sake of peace, Odin managed to catch a glimpse of a hidden tapestry that depicted Kratos and Atreus in the events of Ragnarök, but he did not know who they were. However, his treachery was quickly discovered, and the Giants forever banished him from Jötunheim before he could learn anymore.
Kratos was originally going to die at Thor's hands.
As a result, Odin and by extension the rest of the Aesir, did not have a clear picture of Ragnarök and could only piece together the parts he managed to gather so far, which resulted in the Aesir misunderstanding certain events and when exactly they were supposed to happen, such as Baldur's death.
However, the Giants foresaw everything that was meant to happen in Ragnarök and carved out the events leading up to it as a mural one of their walls in Jotunheim. Their guardian, Faye, destroyed one half of the mural so as to protect her son and husband from their fate.
Prophesied Events
Atreus walking with three wolves in tow
- Baldur's death is the first mark of the coming of Ragnarök.
- "Fimbulwinter", a three-year-long winter following Baldur's death. Its end is the second mark of Ragnarök.
- Sköll and Hati will devour the Sun and the Moon, marking the start of Ragnarök.
- The war between the Aesir and Vanir is continued.
- A fierce battle between Jörmungandr and Thor will happen, where the Thunder God strikes the World Serpent so hard that Yggdrasil splinters and sends the Serpent back in time.
- Kratos and his son Atreus intervene.
- Atreus offers his service to Odin.
- Kratos will die at the hands of Thor as Atreus cries out in grief.
- Surtr, the first Fire Giant, will burn Asgard to the ground using his flaming sword, but is killed by Thor and Odin. However, the grand cycle of death and rebirth continues and Surtr is hiding in Muspelheim, waiting for the day Ragnarök begins.
- Atreus meets up with three wolves and they travel together.
- A battle will commence between Atreus and Heimdall, which results in the former's death.
God of War Ragnarök[]
However, three years later, Kratos, Atreus, Mimir and Týr discovered the real prophecy on Ragnarök which followed Baldur's death and Fimbulwinter. It turns out, the giants had hidden the actual prophecy in some of the Jötunn shrines with their magic in order to prevent Odin from finding them.
True events of the prophecy[]
- In the past, Sköll and Hati were captured by Odin only to be freed by the Jötnar.
- The wolf pups escaped and resided in Vanaheim.
- Sköll and Hati would begin their chase of the sun and moon in the future, until the moon itself was somehow stolen by the Einherjar, leaving Hati with nothing to chase.
- Sköll will stop chasing after the sun and will resume when the moon is returned to the sky.
- A Jötunn champion comes along and frees the moon, allowing both the sun and moon to create an eclipse.
- Sköll and Hati will then chase an arrow that has been fired by a Jötunn champion, later revealed to be Atreus, allowing everything to go back to normal.
- Kratos will lead the armies of the other realms against Odin, Thor, and the army of Asgard. The armies include the Elves, the dead and the Vanir.
- The battle between Thor and Jörmungandr will still occur in which the God of Thunder will strike the World Serpent, thus sending Jörmungandr back in time.
- Surtr will become Ragnarök itself in which he will destroy Asgard thus fulfilling his destiny.
- The other realms of Yggdrasil will continue to thrive.
- Odin dies in the end, bringing victory to the other realms.
Invasion of Asgard[]
Prelude[]
After Odin kills Brok, the vengeful Vanir Goddess Freya along with Kratos (after a while) decided to change their priority from preventing Ragnarök to setting the very apocalyptic war into motion. With Freyr and Hildisvíni, the group began making plans for their invasion of Asgard. Knowing that they needed their own armies for the battle, each of them went to one of the nine realms to recruit the inhabitants living there; Kratos and Atreus ventured to Muspelheim to find Surtr whilst Freya went to Vanaheim to recruit Sigrun and the Valkyries that had been set free, and apparently alongside Byggvir and his wife Beyla. For Freyr's part, he traveled to the realm of Alfheim to rally the Elves while Hildisvini went to Helheim to negotiate with Hraesvelgr for permission to recruit the Army of the Dead, though he needed Mimir for it.
As for Sindri, he went to Svartalfheim to convince the dwarves to join in the invasion. When Kratos and Atreus reunite with Freya in Midgard, she revealed that the Vanir were ready to fight and that she gave the Valkyries (now called Shield Maidens) new physical and corporeal forms, thus preventing them from getting corrupted again. Moreover, the Light and Dark Elves had formed a truce and united as one, which would give the newly-formed alliance an advantage by air. The Army of the Dead, which Hildisvini had successfully recruited, became the coalition's vanguard on the ground for the invasion. When Atreus asked Freya if the dwarves will join in the fight, she tells him that she hadn't heard from Sindri yet.
The next day, after a full night of rest, Kratos, who agreed to become the general of the army, led his allies into the realm travel room of Týr's Temple, where he gave a short but harrowing speech about what was to come. As his allies renewed their resolve, Kratos blew into Gjallarhorn which sent out a colossal, earth-shattering horn-blast that echoed across the Nine Realms. At once, the nine Realm Travel doors in the temple ignited in blazing light, opening all at once as the World Tree shook from top to bottom. Seeing the Asgard gate slid open, Kratos and his allies surged forward into the realm of the Aesir. In their respective realms, the Elves, the Vanir and the Dead did the same.
Invasion[]
Kratos and his allies arrived on the plains of Vigridr, where they were met by a scene of total chaos and devastation as the Elves and the Dead attacked Asgard's legions of Einherjar and war-beasts arrayed in front of the Wall. The sky had darkened to a blood red and was rent by numerous storm clouds and lightning strikes while the air was filled with yells and cries of battle, along with bellowing roars and deafening explosions. As the allied armies surged against the walls of Asgard, the Einherjar proceeded to grind them down while they used their dwarven-built War Machines to destroy the Niflheim tower, having already destroyed the Muspelheim tower in an attempt to cut off the Fire Giant Surtr before he could even arrive. As the battle intensified, most of Kratos' allies split up to deal with the enemy forces while Kratos and Freya, supported by Atreus and Hildisvini, fought their way through the warring armies towards the Asgardian war machines, knowing that if they continued to destroy more of the realm towers, then it would stop Ragnarök and the battle would be lost.
The Elves attacking Asgard by air, with Thor arriving to the battle
Wasting no time, the quartet surged on, battling through dozens of Einherjar and war beasts. After yet another skirmish, Freya informs Kratos that since Ragnarök (Surtr) is still absent, they may no have no choice but to exploit Hrimthur's flaw in the walls themselves despite Mimir reminding them that supposedly only Surtr knew how to breach it.
As they pressed on towards the war machines, the battle grew ever more chaotic and intense as both sides continued to throw more and more reinforcements into the fight. The allied situation was helped when Angrboda, Fenrir, Sköll & Hati and the World Serpent Jormungandr (actually his younger self) burst onto the scene and joined in the battle, with the latter proceeding to engage Thor in one-to-one combat. As Kratos and Freya fought on, problems soon began to arise for the coalition forces; the Midgard and Jötunheim realm towers were soon destroyed and the allied armies continued to suffer heavy casualties while the Einherjar that were killed in battle kept coming back from Valhalla soon after dying to continue fighting all over again. Yet despite these initial setbacks, the tide of the battle soon began to tell against Asgard as allied reinforcements continued to flood onto the battlefield from Helheim, Alfheim and Vanaheim and the Asgardian forces were gradually pushed back from the foothills towards the base of the Wall.
After Freya flies off to help the Shield Maidens in severing the Einherjar's link to Valhalla, Hildisvini reports to Kratos that there's still no sign of the dwarves, but Atreus insists that they still to have trust in Sindri, as he won't let them down. As Hildisvini went off to rally as many forces as he can, Kratos and Atreus proceeded to the Svartalfheim tower. When they nearly reached it, they were suddenly attacked by some Einherjar and then a dragon, but Angrboda and Fenrir took the dragon down. As they were about to go through a rift, they were immediately chased by Gná, Odin's new Valkyrie Queen. Once Kratos and Atreus reached the Svartalfheim tower, Sindri was the only one to arrive, as he doesn't want more of his kind to die in Ragnarök, to the dismay of Atreus. Once the trio reached the row of war machines, Ragnarök emerges but was immediately attacked by the war machines. Fortunately, however, Sindri used a device to destroy them, which also resulted in the injuring of many of the people living outside Asgard's walls. Kratos and Atreus soon realized that the people are actually Midgardians, whom are captured and forced to fight for Odin, who put them in the duo's path so that they could die.
Knowing what he must do, Kratos proceeded to launch a distress signal to call all of his Vanir allies. Once they regrouped, Kratos declares that they will breach Hrimthur's flaw themselves, but Freya disagrees, as she believed it to be a suicidal mission, but Kratos insists that while it may be suicidal, they would rather die seeking justice instead of vengeance. Kratos sends the Female Dark Elf Beyla and her Light Elf husband Byggvir into evacuating the Midgardians to safety, while Freya and Freyr will try to slow Ragnarök down in an attempt to get him to listen to reason. When Atreus stays to help his father, Kratos orders him to protect and escort Sindri to the Asgard realm tower as it is where Hrimthur's flaw is located. Once the two arrive at the tower, Atreus was confronted by Thrúd, Thor's daughter, who believed that Atreus has come to kill her and her family. Though the latter tried to explain that he and his allies came to kill only Odin, Thrúd wouldn't listen and just knocks Atreus to the ground with the butt of her sword. When Sindri moved in to attack her, Atreus stops him, insisting that she's a friend. When he reveals that Odin is sacrificing the Midgardians to deter the approach of the armies of the realms, Thrúd refused to believe him until the goddess Sif, her mother, arrives to confirm it, having rescued their mutual friend Skjöldr as further proof.
Jörmungandr about to be sent back in time.
Sif reveals that Odin has always been an uncaring and selfish god, who is willing to sacrifice anyone for his goals, including family. She had hoped Thor would stand up to his father, but now believed it was up to Thrúd, adding that she'd always believed her daughter would make the finest Valkyrie in the Nine Realms, just not in the service of Odin. When she tells her daughter that their family will be whole again without Odin and she should side with Atreus, Thrúd relented. While Sif took Skjöldr with her to search for the other Midgardians, Atreus, with Sindri's help, then exploited Hrimthur's flaw which made an opening in the walls, allowing the group to advance inwards towards the The Great Lodge, hoping to find Odin inside. They fight through waves of Einherjar as Thor and the World Serpent battle. When they reached the city of Gladsheim, Thor sends Jörmungandr back in time. Witnessing this, Kratos orders Thrúd to take Atreus and Odin's mask to safety. Thor, enraged to see Kratos with his daughter, proceeded to tackle him and send the Spartan and himself towards the Great Lodge, where they once again engaged in an intense and ferocious battle.
Kratos and Thor engaging in another battle.
Kratos eventually gains the upper hand and impales Thor's hand to the ground with a knife. After he was told that his daughter became friends with Atreus, Thor's hand is set free, but the God of Thunder still wants to continue fighting because he states that the two of them are destroyers and they can't fight who they are. However, he finally listens when Kratos quietly refuses and insists that they must change themselves for the better and the future of their children. Seeing this, Odin appeared and demanded that Thor kill whomever Odin pointed him at, but Thor stated that Sif had been right about Odin: admitting that he hadn't wanted to see the truth about his father, Thor let Mjölnir fall from his grip and openly refused. An enraged Odin immediately used his spear to impale his own son through the chest, killing the God of Thunder while claiming that he "didn't want" his death, just as Atreus and Thrúd arrived. Odin tries to pin the blame on Kratos and Atreus for Thor's death, but a horrified and enraged Thrúd refused to believe the obvious lie and rushed for Mjölnir to attack her grandfather. However, as he is much closer Odin reaches it first and throws it to her chest to send both sailing far away from the battlefield, then turned his attention back to Kratos and Atreus. Deflecting all the blame on them for his family's downfall, the All-Father personally engaged the duo in combat.
Odin as he fights against Kratos and Atreus.
Odin was eventually able to freeze the two in place but was then magically choked by Freya with his own Noose before he could attempt to finish them off. She intended to make Odin suffer and bow before her, but he soon broke free and proceeded to destroy the ground beneath them, falling into The Rift. Right by the Rift of Creation, Odin implores Atreus to embrace his destiny as Loki and put on the mask, while Kratos iterated that it was Atreus's choice alone and that he trusted his son. To Odin's horror, Atreus broke the mask in two and let the halves fall from his grasp and get sucked into the rift, closing it forever. Now completely furious as his plans were all for naught, Odin brought the full might of his powers against Atreus, Kratos, and Freya. Working together, the trio defeated the King of Asgard.
Forced to his knees, Odin was confronted by Atreus about the numerous crimes he committed while under the guise of making the realms better when it was actually for purely selfish reasons, but he still refused to accept any responsibility for them. Odin remained unrepentant when Atreus attempted to appeal to him to "be better" one last time, so Atreus was forced to transfer the Raven King's soul into Laufey's marble. Unsure what to do next, Atreus handed it to Kratos, who passed it to Freya determining that it was her right to decide, though she stated that now faced with the choice after so long, she didn't need Odin's death for her "to be whole" and handed it back to Atreus with Mimir noting that what really mattered is that Odin's madness had been stopped. Moments later, a vengeful Sindri arrived. Taking the marble from Atreus, he placed it on a flat stone surface and brought down his hammer upon it in a cold fury, destroying Odin's soul.
Ragnarök as he destroys Asgard.
After Sindri left, Freyr arrived to check on the group just as Ragnarök plunged his sword into Asgard, finally about to fulfill his destiny. Angrboda and Fenrir arrived to evacuate the group, with Freyr continuing to shield them from Surtr's sword. The group is then forced to leave him in order to escape Asgard's destruction, and Freyr died in the ensuing explosion, sacrificing himself in the process.
Aftermath[]
The destruction of Asgard shook Yggdrasil down to its very roots. Although it means that the realm is no longer a component of the World Tree, its remains eventually fell all over the other eight realms. The death of Odin as well as Asgard's destruction had a tremendous impact upon the Nine Realms; the power of the Aesir was utterly broken, which led to the immediate end of the political and economical grasp the Aesir held for so long. Moreover, this allowed the rest of the other realms to achieve full independence and freedom, after centuries of being ruled over by the Aesir. However, the complete annihilation of Asgard did not deter the most loyal and devoted partisans to the All-Father.
Following his death, there was no leader left to perpetuate Odin's legacy, but this role was immediately claimed by the Valkyrie Queen Gná. While she no longer had the Valkyries nor the seemingly endless Asgardian resources at her disposal, she viewed herself as the legitimate successor of Odin as ruler of Asgard - or in her case, the Remnants of Asgard. Not only that, many Asgardians survived the onslaught and found themselves without a home. As they rejected Odin's ways and did not recognize the leadership of Gná over the Remnants, the Aesir were willing to find a new meaning to their life. After the death of both the All-Father and Thor, it was Sif who naturally became the new leader of the Asgardians, as they finally found shelter and peace in Vanaheim.
| Ragnarök | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belligerents | Coalition of The Realms | Asgard | ||
| Vanaheim: | - Freya - Freyr - Hildisvíni - Vanir - Shield Maidens |
- Aesir - Einherjar - War Beasts | ||
| Alfheim: | - Elves | |||
| Helheim: | - The Army of the Dead | |||
| Jötunheim: | - Angrboða - Fenrir - Jörmungandr (younger version) - Sköll and Hati | |||
| Midgard: | - Kratos - Atreus - Mimir | |||
| Svartalfheim: | - Sindri | |||
| Muspelheim: | - Surtur | |||
| Location | Asgard | |||
| Commanders | - Freya (Alliance Leader) - Kratos (General and Field Commander) |
- Odin (Leader) - Thor - Gná | ||
| Outcome | Victory and Independence for the Coalition of The Realms | Total Annihilation of Asgard | ||
| Casualties | Heavy: - Freyr - Olrun - Jörmungandr (sent back in time) - Thousands of Elves - Hundreds of Vanir |
Catastrophic: - Odin - Thor - Most of the Aesir Gods | ||
Trivia[]
- Despite the fact that Mimir was an ally of the Giants, it appears that they decided to not tell him of the full events of Ragnarök which resulted in him only being able to assume what the events were with the disconnected knowledge that the Aesir themselves had. This led to him incorrectly stating that the prophecy did not take into account the presence of Kratos and Atreus, when in fact they were involved from the very beginning. This was likely a precaution to prevent Mimir from being forced to reveal any critical information to Odin who'd later imprison Mimir and torture him every day for 109 years.
- A likely version of the events of Ragnarök as seen on the prophecy wall in Jotunheim would probably proceed as follows:
- Kratos, if staying true to what the Norns perceived to be his true self, would likely be unconcerned with civilian casualties, much like during the Second Titanomachy. As a result of this approach and given her proximity to the Midgardian refugees, it is likely that Thrúd would be caught in the crossfire and killed. Sif would also most definitely be killed in process, as seeing her daughter die would make her recklessly charge at Kratos in a rage only to be killed as well.
- Consequently, the loss of his wife and only daughter as well as the deaths of his sons before at the hands of Kratos would enrage Thor beyond reason, causing him to deem Kratos the ruin of his family and his life, bringing Ragnarök to his home. The God of Thunder would then unleash his full power against the Greek God, amplified by his rage and grief. Kratos, in an attempt to match Thor's power would bring forth his rage that hadn't been seen since his assault on Olympus. However, Kratos would find himself overwhelmed by the immense raw power he had been holding back for so long, putting him at a disadvantage against Thor, who is used to letting rage fuel his power. Assuming the fight doesn't last for too long, Thor would quickly overwhelm Kratos and cave his head in with Mjolnir, finally exacting vengeance for his family and bringing a final end to the Ghost of Sparta, thus fulfilling the original prophecy. This would also prove the Norns right that Kratos could not change and how this would ultimately result in a death that could have been avoided.
- Regardless, the part of both prophecies which remain consistent is the anguished Atreus holding the dying person he cared about in his arms. Whereas the one in Jötunheim foretold it to be Kratos, true prophecy revealed said person to be Odin instead and that Atreus reluctantly puts the unfeeling All-Father out of his insanity by sealing his soul into a Jötunn Marble as the former Ghost of Sparta looks on.