| “ | My lord, Kratos! Another city is ready to fall! Soon all shall know the glory of Sparta! | ” |
–The Last Spartan. | ||
The Siege of Rhodes
The Siege of Rhodes was a battle in which the soldiers of Sparta laid siege to the Greek city of Rhodes under the watchful eye of Kratos, their new God of War. This invasion caused Zeus to become more fearful and paranoid of Kratos (due to the prophecy of The Marked Warrior), which led him to devise a scheme to kill his son.
God of War II[]
As the Spartans began taking Rhodes, Kratos descended from Olympus to aid in the siege himself, after watching his armies take most of the city through the ambrosia-tinctured pool in his throne room. After rejecting Athena's warning and plea, the God of War struck the city on his arrival from the Heavens, and towered above it, crushing the mortals beneath his feet. Zeus, in the shape of an eagle stole the majority of Kratos' divine powers, which reduced the Spartan to the size of a mortal, shrinking before the eyes of the city and his Spartans. The God of War continued to fight against the city's forces, and the Colossus of Rhodes itself, which was infused with Kratos' stolen powers. The siege ended after Kratos destroyed the Colossus, and Zeus destroyed both the armies of Sparta and Rhodes with the Blade of Olympus. The Spartan would later return to the besieged city by travelling through time with the Loom of Fate, to regain the Blade of Olympus and take his revenge on Zeus for his betrayal.
God of War II Novel[]
In the aftermath of Deimos' death, Kratos lashes out against the Gods of Olympus by targeting their city states. The God of War orders his Spartans to conquer Greece and kill every man, woman and child who refused to be subjugated, all to spite the Gods and Zeus, whom he resented for not banishing his visions after his defeat of Ares, the previous and original God of War. The city of Rhodes was the last standing city in Greece, with Olympus being on the edge and in outrage, awaiting their King Zeus to act against this insolence. For Kratos, waging war, overseeing the endless carnage was the only way to distract himself from the everpresent visions of his past failures. The countless deaths in his wake did not bother him as they were not Spartan, but lesser, weaker men. The armies of Sparta became invincible, not just due to their dedication and training - but also the favour of the God of War, in whose honor they fought.
The Siege of Rhodes was well in progression as the God of War rose from his bed, left his concubines and started to use his deific vision to gaze upon and feel the carnage in the city, barking out orders from the Heavens to allow no escape and give no quarter. Kratos walked through the Hall of Eternity, planning to descent from Olympus and deal the final blow the city, not even remembering to which God it even belonged. He ignores and dismisses Athena's warning to stop this madness, as the wrath of Olympus grows. As she watches her former Champion plundge from Olympus towards Rhodes, she feels the dark presense of Hades, her uncle telling her to let the fool go, as he will soon enough be recieved in the Underworld anyway.
Far away, within the Temple of the Fates, the Sisters briefly discuss the case of the new God of War, considering his fate to be sealed. As she watched Kratos plundge earthward, Lahkesis felt a momentary unease which she was unable to define. A moment ago she provoked Kratos' rage and belligerence with a slight touch of his thread, now she would watch as the Spartan descends to his ultimate fate.
Kratos landed in Rhodes, as large as Ares before him during the Siege of Athens. The God of War starts to crush his first victims and plans to destroy the famous symbol of the city, the Colossus of Rhodes after the final triumph. Constant Spartan reinforcements keep landing on the shores and harbours of Rhodes, joining the invasion. Just as Kratos begins to take part in the carnage, a large eagle appears and deprives him of the majority of his divinity and power, infusing it into the Colossus. Kratos feels utterly humiliated, as he shrinks infront of his Spartans, promising that Athena will pay for this. Initially, Kratos is not troubled by his loss of size and power, looking forward to fight side by side with his comrades and set a good example.
However, as the battle with the Colossus unfolds, Kratos finds himself to be quite rusty and unprepared to fight without the full powers of a God that he came to rely on, living an Olympian existence. Even worse, the Spartan realizes that the Colossus grows ever more powerful and cunning by the moment, drawing from his own divine energy that the eagle has infused into the statue, granting it life and a singular task, to destroy the God of War, who would find himself in a fight for his very life in a grueling battle throughout the city.
As the fight continues, the defenders of Rhodes have become more spirited, pushing the Spartan invasion army back to the shores and regaining lost ground. The soldiers of the city fight with renewed momentum, beseeching Zeus for favour. The groups of soldiers that Kratos comes across hope that they will totally defeat the invasion by killing the Ghost of Sparta, as they sense that he has lost his full status as a God. Two particular soldiers even baited the White Warrior by shouting that the Colossus is about to strike, almost taking Kratos' head off as he looked behind.
Meanwhile, Athena approaches Zeus' Throne Room, where the Lord of Olympus was in deep and low discussion with Hades. As Zeus noticed his daughter, he rose to his feet and told his brother that he would do no such thing, as the God of the Dead apparently tried to convince the Skyfather to let him intervene against Kratos, also blaming Athena for protecting him and accussing her of being behind Kratos' escape from the Underworld before his battle with Ares. Hades, literally smoking with rage and ire, is goaded by Athena with a witty remark, upon which he tries to strike at her and is swiftly banished by Zeus.
Now alone with his daughter, Zeus asks if she is here to petition for Kratos again, upon which she asks him to show mercy and consider how the Gods have humiliated him, which Zeus promptly dismisses, saying that Kratos' arrogance knows no bounds and that all he does has a reason, including his refusal to banish Kratos' visions and nightmares. Athena asks her father to try and convince Kratos personally with his eloquence and settle their open dispute. The Skyfather ponders whether the Spartan would even listen to him, being deep in his thoughts, he considers that perhaps Kratos' actual goal is depose him, as Ares tried, which Athena does not agree with. Zeus finally states that he has treated Kratos fairly and that now he must make him see reason if harmony is to be restored on Olympus.
As Kratos battles once more with the Colossus, he ends up being flung through the air to another part of the city. Suddenly, he hears Zeus' offer of power and is mistrustful. However, the dire state of his army and the tiresome battle with the Colossus ultimately force the Spartan to accept the Skyfather's aid, the Blade of Olympus. Upon draining his remaining divinity into the Blade, the now mortal Kratos made quick work of the Colossus, who was overwhelmed with the power that it now faced. The Spartan armies aswell, seeing their God gain the upper hand with Zeus' Blade, regained the initiative and pushed the defenders of Rhodes back once more. Kratos, now within the Colossus started to absorb his full divine energy into the Blade, with the reanimated statue trembling horrifically and stumbling through the city.
Kratos leaves the falling Colossus, now motionless as it lost all the godly energy that kept it alive. The Ghost of Sparta, now mortal again is gravely wounded by the Colossus' hand, loosing the Blade holding his godhood as he boasts to the Heavens about his victory. Zeus reveals himself to be the eagle who stole Kratos' power in the first place and offers him a chance to repent and pledge himself to eternal servitude to his King, which Kratos spitefully rejects, causing Zeus to attack and impale him with the Blade of Olympus. The Rhodesian soldiers resumed their battle with the Spartans, feeling that victory is being near with Kratos' death.
Zeus offers Kratos a last chance to stop this, which the Spartan again denies, offending the Skyfather with his defiance. The Lord of Lightning proclaims that everything the Spartan has ever known will now suffer because of his sacrilege, before he draws closer and tells his son that he will never be the ruler of Olympus and that the Cycle ends here. In his spite, Zeus' annihilates the entire Spartan invasion army, along with Rhodes' defenders. The Battle of Rhodes becomes the start of Kratos' journey to the Island of Creation and his ultimate war against the Gods, as he would be rescued by Gaia, an ancient enemy of Zeus who would guide him to the Sisters of Fate. The Ghost of Sparta would later return to the time of Zeus' betrayal with the power of the Loom of Fate and engage the King of the Gods in a battle to the death on top of the Summit of Sacrifice.
Trivia[]
- It seems interesting that Kratos would now be doing exactly what he stopped Ares from doing in the first game, destroying a major Greek city.
- The difference with the Siege of Athens, Kratos' attack wasn't in order to humiliate Helios (like Ares did to Athena), but only as part of his conquest through Greece.
Gallery[]
