History
The Temple of Týr was a temple built by all the races of the Nine Realms for the Norse God of War, Týr. According to Freya, it was the last known action of cooperation between the Nine Realms before peace disappeared. It is unknown when the Temple of Tyr was created, but through Tyr's leadership, all of the creatures in the Nine Realms had a hand in its creation. When it was first built, all creatures could enter any of the Nine Realms freely. However, once Odin's treachery was discovered by the giants and after he was expelled from their realm forever, the temple was changed. Tyr, to ensure that Odin would never be able to enter Jotunheim, removed the tower representing it and hid it in the Realm Between Realms. He also added security measures to the temple to protect the Black Rune, which was needed to to reach Jotunheim from the mystical portal on the mountain in Midgard. He added other security measures to protect the Unity Stone, a gift from the giants, as it was needed to put the Jotunheim tower back in its proper place. Plans for the Unity Stone and where to locate it were hidden in a shrine devoted to Tyr, but only he and a few others trusted by the giants could reveal plans by using special jewel eyes. After Odin imprisoned and possibly killed Tyr he added adjustments to the temple himself. Through unknown means, he managed to cut off the temple's access to Asgard, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim, making it impossible to travel to them. He also converted one of the rooms in the temple into one of his hidden chambers and would use it to discover the secrets of Jotunheim. Eventually, Odin believed that the temple as a whole was a threat to his power as it could still be used to travel to other realms and the creatures from the other realms could come to Midgard. He tried to destroy it with the might of Asgard but Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, stopped his attempts. Tyr had earned his trust; as a result, he would protect Tyr's Temple from all threats. The Serpent's hatred for the Aesir gods also contributed to its desire to stop Odin. Unfortunately, Jormungandr would inadvertently accomplish Odin's goal when he went into a deep slumber, causing the lake's water level to rise and submerge the temple. This was undone years later by Kratos and Atreus during their journey to spread Faye's ashes atop the highest peak in all the Realms. Their first journey to the lake caused the Serpent to awaken, massively lowering the water level and revealing the Temple. Over the course of their journey, they would gradually cause Jörmungandr to move more, lowering the water level further and revealing more of the ancient temple. Eventually, Kratos and Atreus discovered the hidden chamber of Odin inside the temple and usEd the plans hidden by Tyr to restore the Jotunheim tower to its place in the lake. After completing the main quest, the player can use the temple to enter the realms of Helheim and Alfheim anytime they wish as well as the realms of Muspelheim and Niflheim so long as the ciphers for the latter two were discovered. Jotunheim can only be accessed during the main quest, and afterward becomes unavailable.
Layout and design
Tyr's temple was created in Midgard which was a focal point of all realms so it could be used to travel to any of the nine realms. Each Realm besides Midgard has its own tower along the rim of the lake, which the Temple uses to travel between them. There are four parts of the temple that Kratos and Atreus access during their journey.
Realm Travel Room
The first area the player discovers is the realm travel room, where Kratos and Atreus can travel to other realms, although Odin cut off all access to Asgard, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim. As a result. Kratos and Atreus can only travel to Alfheim, Helheim, Niflheim, and Muspelheim. Jotunheim can only be accessed once in the final mission of the main story and after that, it will be inaccessible.
Tyr's Vault
This is the second part of Tyr's temple. It is here where the black rune of Jotunheim is located and protected by Tyr's security measures. It is also here where Tyr placed tapestries of himself traveling to other realms and trying to promote peace, as well as all the gifts that he was given during his travels.
The third part of Tyr's temple was one of Odin's hidden chambers Odi.n turned one of the rooms of Tyr's temple into one of his hidden chambers, where he kept his best clues to accessing Jotunheim. This can be accessed by Kratos and Atreus after they escape Helheim. The player can find the Tyr's hidden plans for the Jotunheim tower in this area as well.
This is the fourth and last part of the chamber that can be discovered. Tyr created this chamber after Odin began to slaughter all the giants in Midgard once he was expelled from their realm. He created this chamber to hide and protect the Unity Stone so that Odin could never enter Jotunheim. It showed tapestries of himself hiding the Jotunheim tower from Odin. This chamber was right under the realm travel room, and to gain access to the Unity Stone, someone had to flip the temple itself. Once the temple was flipped and the Unity Stone acquired, the temple was restored back to its original state with all of its functions intact.
Trivia
- The Temple of Týr is stated to have been underwater for over 150 years prior to its re-emergence during the game. As a Greek vase depicting Kratos as the Ghost of Sparta can be found inside Tyr's Vault, it can be assumed that at least 150 years have passed since the events of God of War III.
- Odin may have not removed his hidden chamber from the temple because he didn't think anyone could access it underwater or at the very least visitors would be unable to discover the plans of Tyr from his shrine. This would prove to be ironic, as Odin did try to locate the plans of Tyr only to fail where Kratos and Atreus succeeded, making Odin indirectly responsible for aiding them as they discovered the plans after locating his hidden chamber.
- While Odin couldn't discover the plans for the Unity Stone, it is unknown why he didn't try and claim the black rune which could have gained him access to Jotunheim much earlier, as it was clear he made adjustments to the temple itself. A possible explanation is that Tyr was more cunning that Odin and anticipated making the black rune that much safer. Another reason is that Odin was so determined to topple the temple that he didn't consider the possibility that there was another way to Jotunheim hidden within it. The fact that he left his hidden chamber with all of his knowledge in it after the temple was flooded supports the second theory.