| “ | We have faced far worse than this one fallen mortal, but we are the gods; we who the mortals worship; we who rule over these lands. We will not be swept aside by this petulant fool. Brothers, put aside the petty grievances that have splintered us for so long. We will unite. We will stand together, and I will wipe out this plague! Olympus will prevail! | ” |
–Zeus | ||
The Titan and Olympian forces at the very beginning of the Second Great War
The Second Titan-God War was set in motion by Kratos, who sought revenge for his abuse and betrayal by the Gods of Olympus.
History
Prologue
After Kratos, through the guidance of Gaia, killed the Sisters of Fate and attempted to slay Zeus, he returned to the time of the Great War and took the Titans to his time. He then led an full-scale assault on Olympus, where the Gods were preparing to battle the white-skinned slayer of Gods who announced the destruction of Olympus .
| “ | ZEUS! Your son has returned! I bring the destruction of Olympus! | ” |
–Kratos | ||
Start of the Battle
Although stunned by the sight of the Titans climbing the mountain, the Gods recovered quickly and rallied their forces to defend Mount Olympus. Helios calls upon his Fire Steeds to join the fray and Hermes jumps off the ledge and runs down the mountain using his winged boots. Hades also leapt into battle, using his chains to swing off the roof of the dias on which he stood. Zeus looks to Hercules who commands a large number of soldiers to attack Gaia and Kratos. Zeus (most likely still weak from his previous fight with Kratos) remains in the temple, overlooking the battle between the Titans and the Gods.
Poseidon leaps down the mountain, smashing right through the Titan Epimetheus' chest and causing him to fall into the water at the base of the mountain. Poseidon morphed into his watery form and begins to single-handedly decimate the Titan army by having his Hippocampi pull them off the mountain. Attacking Gaia gained the attention of Kratos, however. Kratos then fended off the Hippocampi attacking Gaia. After a long battle with the enormous Sea God, Kratos managed to knock Poseidon out of his watery construct, then killed him by gouging out his eyes and breaking his neck.
The sea god's death led to a massive flood that drowned much of Greece. Gaia and Kratos then reached the summit of the mountain, and the former attempted to trap Zeus within the dias so he could not escape, leaving Kratos to deal with him.
After a brief exchange of words, Zeus, fed up with Kratos' insolence and need for vengeance, attacked him with a powerful blast of lightning, as Gaia lunged forward to grab the King of the Gods before he could strike. However, she was not fast enough, and the force of the lightning bolt blasted them both off the mountain.
On the way down, Gaia managed to get a hold on the mountain and attempted to rescale it. Kratos, still on her back, started to slip off, begging for aid but Gaia refuses to help him, proclaiming that they'll both die she then tells the Spartan that he was a pawn that whose usefulness had run out. Betrayed yet again, Kratos then swore vengeance on both Zeus and Gaia as he fell into the Underworld.
Journey Through The Underworld
With the help of Athena's astral form, Kratos started working his way out of the Underworld while being taunted by Hades, and was on a quest to find the Flame of Olympus, a magical blue fire which housed the power to kill a God. Athena then took the Blades of Athena and gave the Spartan new weapons called the Blades of Exile and tells him to complete his journey through Hades' Domain as the fate of the world depends on what they do now. Kratos then traversed deeper into the dark realm where he met up with exiled Smith God Hephaestus who while blaming the Ghost of Sparta for his torment gave Kratos valuable information over the Flame. Kratos continues his journey and finds the Blade of Olympus in a golden statue of girl and blue fire resembling a girl asks him for help but Kratos denies her and goes to confront the Lord of the Underworld himself, Hades. Eventually, the God of the Underworld met Kratos first and, after a drawn-out battle, Kratos managed to steal his Claws, crack his skull open and finally, claim his soul. His death caused the release and unrest of the souls of the Underworld.
Kratos's Return
The Spartan used one of the Hyperion Gates on Mount Olympus to emerge back up to the city of Olympia. Kratos spots Helios and gives pursuit as he runs the mountain he comes across Gaia who is amazed that Kratos is still alive remarking "The blood of Cronos serves you well". Gaia begs for aid but still enraged at Gaia for letting him fall, Kratos cuts the vines of Gaia's hand when Gaia asks if she meant nothing to Kratos. The Ghost of Sparta calmly remarks in cruel irony "You were a means to an end Gaia, nothing more." Gaia replies with her plea that she must face Zeus and states desperately "The Titans must take down Olympus !". Kratos angrily denies her pleas and tells her "No this is my war and not yours". Thus he stabbed the last vine with the Blade of Olympus breaking off her hand and causing her to fall of the mountain again.
Kratos then transverses inside the city of Olympia to see Perses battling Helios, who was unable to catch him due to his flying chariot and blinding light. However, with Kratos' help, they managed to ground Helios, Kratos then traveled through the city until he found a weakened Helios who begged for mercy claiming he wished to pay off his debt to Kratos for saving him from Atlas. Kratos then interrogated Helios over where he could find the flame of Olympus Helios told Kratos he would never find the flame and would forfeit his life in trying to kill Zeus, he then attempted to blind Kratos. The Ghost of Sparta overcame Helios and began to beat the wounded god who then told Kratos to defeat Zeus he had to step into the flame to receive its power, but Kratos accused him of lying as Hephaestus told him the flame kills all who touch it.
Helios was surprised that Kratos would believe him stating "That freak has fallen from the graces of Olympus ". Kratos told him that was exactly the reason why he believed him. Helios with a scornful look at Kratos boldly stated that his death would not lead him to Zeus. Kratos told Helios in a dark tone that that is where he was wrong and began to pummel the Sun God furiously until he decapitated him with his bare hands. Helios' death caused the sun to be blocked by dark storm clouds which cover the land. Later, Kratos killed Perses himself after being attacked by the Titan while traveling through an Icarus vent.
Genocide of the Olympians and Titans
After finding the Flame, he found Pandora's Box, the very weapon he used to slay Ares, inside it. Athena explains to Kratos that although he had already used the Box against the God of War, it still contains a power strong enough to overcome the Gods. However, Kratos could not retrieve the Box right away, as whatever being would so much as touch the Flame would perish.
The Spartan then pursued and killed a mocking Hermes whose body transformed into plague-carrying flies that are unleashed upon the people of Olympia. Kratos even manage to best his elder half-brother Hercules in fierce battle, after Hera ordered him to kill Kratos.
He then returned to the Underworld to find a means of entering the Labyrinth, where he was tricked by Hephaestus to seek Omphalos Stone in the Pit of Tartarus where he encountered his grandfather the former Titan King Cronos during his search. Cronos blamed Kratos for his torment as when Kratos killed Ares, Zeus had become consumed by fear and banished the latter to the Underworld for an eternity. Believing the Spartan was the one who killed Gaia he attacked resulting in a fierce battle where the Titan fell to the Spartan's might. Kratos returned to the Forge where he accused Hephaestus of sending him to his death but the Smith God pleaded innocence and after taking the stone and forging a new weapon he attempted to electrocute Kratos but this did not deter the Spartan who overcame the attack and ended up killing the Smith God with his own anvil. Kratos later return to Olympus where he again encountered Hera in the Garden of the Gods while on his way to the Labyrinth, Kratos ended up killing her after she insulted Pandora (who he had grown an attachment to due to her resemblance to Calliope). Her death causes all plant life in Greece to die.
After killing Hera, Kratos entered the Labyrinth and killed the Queen Skorpius and recovered the Boreas Ice-storm. Using it he rescued Pandora by fighting through various dangers in the Labyrinth. Acting upon her advice, Kratos descended to Hades and neutralized the Three Judges, demolished the Chain of Balance and raised the Labyrinth along with Pandora, an act which destroyed most of Olympus from the inside out. He then encountered Zeus and they both engaged in a brawl in the upper chambers of Olympus where the Flame was located, and the battle was cut short with Pandora sacrificing herself to extinguish the Flame in order for Kratos to get to the Box. Finding it empty, he was taunted by Zeus for another failure. Kratos then followed Zeus outside, which led him to the same dias on which he had encountered Zeus at the start of the war. Zeus, overlooking the chaos that his son had created and stated that he'll have much to attend to when he is done killing him. Thus the final battle between Kratos and Zeus began.
Final Battle
By the end, Gaia is the only known Titan left alive (Atlas was presumably still alive, but holding the world on his shoulders, similarly, Typhon's fate is unknown but some believe he ceased to exist when Gaia was brought to the future and thus did not fight in the battle, Rhea's fate was likewise never addressed) as she now seeks to get revenge on Kratos. Zeus stated to Gaia that using Kratos as her pawn was not a good idea and that she should've used the" other one" to fight for her. Gaia then attempts to crush Kratos and Zeus, who both escaped into Gaia's heart chamber where they resumed their battle. Kratos then killed Gaia, along with Zeus by stabbing the Blade of Olympus through Zeus and into Gaia's heart thus destroying the Titan and most of Olympus beneath her.
However, Zeus' astral form emerged from his corpse, and attacked Kratos, infecting his mind with fear and dread. However, in a last-minute mental journey with the spirit of Pandora, Kratos learned to forgive himself for his past misdeeds, and overcame Zeus with the power of Hope, culminating in the world being enveloped in utter chaos where Zeus' death causes the clouds to become filled with electricity, utterly disrupting the heavens.
Athena congratulated the Spartan over his victory, and demanded that he give her the power of Hope, which she placed within the Box as a way to counteract the evils, were they ever unleashed to the world. Athena then discovered that when Kratos opened the Box years ago to slay Ares, the Gods were infected by the evils, while Kratos himself was endowed with Hope, which had been buried deep within rage and anger that Kratos had just finally freed himself from.
Kratos then refused to return her the power, and instead impaled himself on the Blade of Olympus, thus releasing Hope to all of mankind, so that they could survive through the chaos without the aid of the Gods, much to Athena's displeasure who removed the sword and said "You disappoint me Spartan". Athena then left as Kratos lay dying. Kratos laughed over how his vengeance was finally over and he was now at peace and felt ready for death.
A post-credit scene of the spot where Kratos' body last laid shows it empty and with a trail of blood leading off into the distance in the ravaged world leaving Kratos' ultimate fate at the end of the game as ambiguous
Forces
- Titans: Kratos (suicide, but ultimate fate is unknown), Gaia, Perses, and Cronos (all killed by Kratos), Oceanus (likely killed by Hades), Epimetheus (killed by Poseidon), Hyperion (unconfirmed, but likely killed by a Hippocampi).
- Gods: Poseidon, Hades, Helios, Hera, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hercules and Zeus (all killed by Kratos).
- Olympian Forces: The Olympus Sentries, Chimera, Cyclopes, Wraiths, Skorpius were also eliminated by Kratos.
