God of War (2018) is such an interesting story because it takes a fictional Greek god and awkwardly retrofits him into Norse mythology, never quite sure of what his place is among these other deities. Tyr is the god of war, but Kratos is our god of war, and as Ragnarok rears its head, this ashened titan slayer has drastically changed the prophecy, leaving its future murky and undecided. But not only is Ragnarok’s future murky – so is Kratos’.
There’s a debate over what should happen to him – retire and live happily ever after, die and have his son Atreus take the reins, or continue on as normal, fighting another pantheon of gods like the Egyptians. Those are all plausible paths, even if none might be what happens, but there’s a perfect option sitting right there with Balder.
Ragnarok isn’t the ‘end’ of everything. That’s a common misconception. It’s a rebirth, the stage of Norse mythology going from a writhing caterpillar into a volcanic cocoon, set to reemerge with stunning wings of new light. Humanity is restarted by one man and one woman, while new and old gods alike repopulate the halls of Asgard. The old gods are Thor’s sons, Mogi and Magni (who we killed), and the returned Balder. He dies a dishonourable death, being murdered by his brother at a party thanks to Loki’s trickery and his mother’s ignorance, not in battle. So he goes to Hel, crawls out during Ragnarok, and sticks around as a half-dead demigod. But he does die in battle in God of War, likely meaning that he’s up in Valhalla now, leaving that story untouched, a story that sounds like the perfect journey for Kratos to take and, more importantly, the most fun for us to play.
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Already, Kratos is becoming part of Norse mythology. We find out that his son Atreus is actually Loki, meaning that Kratos has taken on the role of Fárbauti, proving that developer Santa Monica isn’t above rewriting canon to tie him into its world more organically rather than having him stick out like a sore thumb that doesn’t belong. But that leaves Loki’s future also uncertain. We’re speeding into Ragnarok while he’s still a child and before he has a chance to become the trickster, immersing himself in the pantheon of Asgard with the other gods. How or if we’ll even get to that point is unclear.
That’s why Kratos should die. Thor might kill him for snuffing out Magni and Modi, or maybe Odin steps in and clobbers him over the head. Whatever the case, Kratos needs to die and be dragged down to Hel, not fit to live among the gods and warriors of Valhalla. But here, we could see him befriend Hel and fight to break free of its chains, paralleling his journey through the Underworld in God of War 3. He emerges from the afterlife’s summit with a new goal of finding his son, freeing him from the gods, all with vengeance bubbling as he hunts his killer.
Returning to Hel, rendered with the same passion and attention to detail as the other realms from the first game, would be a treat – the freezing cold, barren wasteland explored like never before, all while Kratos decays and slowly becomes less and less of a man, his skin falling even paler as his rotting corpse lugs itself back to life. Whatever starts Ragnarok, he’s there with a motive and a goal, a place to fit in this world, a possible side to take, and when it all ends, he’ll be there with the gods, a part of their pantheon with a home at long last, rebuilding this new world. He tore it down in the original trilogy and left nothing but an apocalypse – here could be his chance to redeem himself and grow.
It would beautifully parallel the original games while giving us something fresh to gnaw our teeth onto, reflecting how far Kratos has come. And after all this time and all the blood he’s spilled, he deserves a home, even if that home comes at the cost of Balder’s seat.
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