Best Of 2022: God Of War Ragnarok’s twist on Norse mythology is an excellent subversion

Spoilers ahead for God of War and God of War Ragnarok

“Baldur is blessed with invulnerability to any threat, physical or magical,” explains Mimir to Kratos and his son Atreus in 2018’s God of War. But as soon as Sindri, the dwarf blacksmith, gave the young god a bundle of mistletoe arrows, I knew that Baldur’s fate was sealed.

I’m no expert on Norse mythology, but I’ve been interested in the fables of Odin, Thor the Giant and Vanir for a number of years. I know the broad outlines surrounding Ragnarok and some of the smaller myths, ranging from the story of Thor creating the tides after being tricked into drinking the ocean to the story of the building of Asgard’s walls – which ends there That Loki is impregnated by a horse by the way. While some players wondered how Kratos would ever stop an immortal god, I knew the answer was already right in front of us, neatly docked with Atreus Quiver. The exact details of Baldur’s eventual downfall may differ in God of War from the Norse mythology it drew from, but mistletoe – and by extension Atreus – still plays a crucial role in the death of its fearsome antagonist.

Most of what we know about Norse myth comes from the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, two 13th-century Old Norse texts. I’ve examined both briefly, but most knowledge of these ancient pagan tales comes from Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, an excellent book that retells many of the Norse myths while also making them palatable to a modern audience. Because of this, God of War didn’t throw too many curveballs in my way, with one big exception. The final revelation that Atreus is actually Loki was quite shocking, not least because it raised some issues regarding the timing of events. For the most part, however, God of War sticks fairly closely to the mythology it stems from, only deviating noticeably when it comes to the portrayal of certain characters and their importance in the story. Oh, and there usually isn’t an angry Greek god either.

Stepping into God of War Ragnarok, I expected more from it – more subtle twists on the otherwise well-established mythos. I couldn’t have been more wrong. With all the praise I could lavish on so many different aspects of Santa Monica Studio’s captivating sequel, the one that deserves the most is how often the game’s narrative plays with established knowledge of Norse mythology before turning those expectations into intriguing ones way undermines.

Fenrir is one of the clearest examples. At the start of God of War Ragnarok, Fenrir, one of Atreus’ favorite wolves, dies in the little boy’s arms just moments after we first meet him. This is a surprising turn of events considering Fenrir is central to the Norse myths, killing Odin by eating him whole during the doomsday events of Ragnarok. Fenrir is one of Loki’s three children, the other two being Hel, the goddess of the underworld, and Jormungandr, the world serpent. The Aesir prophesied that all three would bring great misfortune upon the gods because of their father.

In Norse mythology, Loki is often portrayed as a wily trickster who acts as both companion and enemy to the other gods. The same goes for Atreus, although the Santa Monica studio redeems the mischiefmaker somewhat by portraying him as someone capable of empathy and kindness. This crucial character change is also reflected in Fenrir. When the wolf dies, Atreus accidentally puts Fenrir’s soul in his knife and later transplants it into the body of the giant wolf Garm. Fenrir may not be Loki’s son in the traditional sense, but Atreus resurrects him with this act, and it’s not far-fetched to think of him as his creator. It is a unique twist on Norse myth consistent with the depiction of the young god in God of War. Instead of swallowing Odin whole during Ragnarok, Fenrir shows up to offer our heroes an escape – saving lives rather than ending them. He’s not the vengeful force he is in Norse mythology, and that’s partly because Atreus is a completely different character from the original Loki, who often chooses violence as a first reaction.

Jormungandr’s role in God of War is more akin to Norse myth as we see the giant serpent confront Thor during the Battle of Ragnarok. However, the conclusion of their encounter – and the implications of it – is far more interesting than the original story. It’s breathtaking to see the moment from afar during the game’s grand finale. The World Serpent looms over the horizon as he collides with the tiny bolt of lightning that is Thor and crashes into the portal for Alfheim as he is struck by a powerful blow from Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. In Norse mythology, the World Serpent and the Thunder God are sworn enemies who are prophesied to kill each other when Ragnarok comes. Legend has it that Thor dispatches the serpent with a fatal blow from his hammer, only to take nine steps forward before succumbing to the deadly venom Jormungandr coated him with. In God of War Ragnarok, the fight ends when Thor hits the giant serpent so hard it shatters the world tree Yggdrasil and sends Jormungandr back to a time long before he was born – a prophecy Mimir tells Kratos and Atreus about in God of War 2018 .

The Jormungandr in this game – who seems oddly familiar to Atreus when they first meet – is the same one beaten back in time by Thor. While this is happening, today’s World Serpent is wintering under the ice in the Lake of Nine. He was not born centuries ago, but when Atreus and Angrboda left for their grandmother’s house in Jötunheim, the realm of giants. There, Atreus revives a large serpent with a missing soul by giving it a giant’s soul, much like he transplanted Fenrir’s soul into Garm’s body. Once again, Loki is not Jormungandr’s father in the traditional sense, but he uses his vast powers to give life to the world serpent. As Mimir posits, this also explains why Jormungandr has a personal vendetta against Thor before they even meet. It is very likely that the two clashed when the giant was still alive in his original body.

There are plenty of other examples where God of War Ragnarok subverted my expectations of Norse mythology, but the ones involving Atreus are the most intriguing. Loki is an essential character in the Old Norse texts and Atreus still fills that role, albeit in a very different way.

This reinterpretation of ancient mythology has always been part of God of War’s DNA. It originated in Greece, where Kratos faced off against Zeus and the rest of the Greek pantheon before heading north to Midgard and beyond. The great thing about ancient mythology – and Norse mythology in particular – is that it is open to interpretation, with many gaps waiting for your own imagination to fill in. Many of the characters in Norse myth aren’t even that; they are only marginally mentioned names. Baldur is described as popular, and then he’s dead. He has no dialogue or a shred of personality, and yet Santa Monica Studio has turned him into a multi-layered villain. There are moments in Ragnarok that, given the knowledge I had, intrigued me, but the most satisfying thrill was seeing those events transformed for new audiences. It speaks to the enduring appeal of these thousand-year-old myths, and their fantastic reinterpretation plays a major role in making God of War Ragnarok one of the best games of 2022.

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