God of War followers had been launched to a brand new aspect of Kratos when God of War launched on PS4 in 2018. If you haven’t but skilled the story of father and son touring the realms of Norse fable your self, or if it’s been some time, we’re able to catch you on top of things.
To put together for the upcoming launch of God of War Ragnarök on November 9, we’ve invited two of the very best storytellers we all know to recap the journey of Kratos and Atreus from God of War (2018): the wonderful Felicia Day and the Smartest Man Alive, Mimir!
The new Myths of Midgard video is an animated storybook recounting the occasions of God of War (2018), with a purpose of catching you up on the earlier sport.
Before you watch, beware – there are spoilers forward!

Of course, one of the best ways to expertise God of War (2018) is to select up the Leviathan Axe and leap in your self (accessible with PlayStation Extra and Premium membership plans*). You may also decide up the God of War (2018) Digital Deluxe Edition for $9.99 USD in the course of the PlayStation Store Summer Sale via August 17.
Hungry for an excellent deeper abstract of God of War (2018)? Keep studying for a full recap.
God of War (2018) Story Recap
Our story begins with an finish, the funeral of Faye – mom to Atreus and spouse of Kratos. Her final want imparted to her household is to scatter her ashes on the very best peak in all of the realms. This request begins a journey that forces father and son to work collectively as they face the damaging Norse wilds crammed with beasts, monsters, and less-than-friendly gods.
The Father
Kratos, regardless of making an attempt to go away his bloody previous because the Ghost of Sparta behind, continues to be haunted by the person – the god – he was. His relationship with Atreus has been distant, stern, and disciplined. Now dealing with the loss of life of his spouse, Kratos should study to be the daddy that his son wants to allow them to each survive their journey throughout distant realms to put Faye to relaxation.
The Son
Atreus is a younger boy coping with the sudden lack of his mom and a chilly, distant father. Despite being sickly as a toddler and solely very not too long ago recovering sufficient to journey, Atreus desires nothing greater than to satisfy his mom’s remaining want and show to his father that he’s sturdy.
Having been taught by Faye how one can use a bow and hunt, Atreus hopes that he can present Kratos he can be an asset on their journey and that he’s not the frail boy he was once.
Arrival of the Stranger
After the funeral of Faye, Kratos and Atreus are visited by a mysterious stranger – one who appears intent on selecting a combat with the legendary God of War from a distant land. Baldur says he’s despatched by Odin to analyze the house and its residents, indicating that maybe he, and the remainder of the Norse Gods, are way more conscious of Kratos’ previous than even his personal son.
They conflict, tearing via the earth and rock surrounding the house in a bloody brawl that reveals Baldur has misplaced the flexibility to really feel something – impervious to ache and pleasure alike. Though the battle is shut, Kratos is ready to harness his rage and at last beats Baldur into submission. While he has rid them of the fast menace, Kratos realizes that his dwelling, and his son, are not protected. They should make the journey now – whether or not Atreus is prepared for it or not.
Unexpected buddies in sudden locations
Thinking that they’re in search of the very best peak in Midgard, Kratos and Atreus journey in direction of the tallest mountain of their realm.
Along the best way they meet the Huldra Brothers, Brok and Sindri, who’re famend dwarven smiths. While the brothers are coping with some familial rigidity, each Brok and Sindri present their help and providers after seeing that Kratos wields the Leviathan Axe, a weapon that they had personally cast for his or her good friend and Kratos’ late spouse, Faye.
They additionally encounter the mysterious Witch of the Woods, who provides them her support together with information of how one can use the Bifröst, a magical device that permits father and son to traverse between the Nine Realms. The Witch is later revealed to be the Vanir goddess Freya, mom of Baldur and exiled spouse of Odin.
Mission completed! Or is it? (It’s not)
As Kratos and Atreus are lastly capable of attain the height with Freya’s steerage, they arrive to see Baldur already there, flanked by two hulking accomplices, Magni and Modi – the sons of Thor. They spy the Aesir gods interrogating a person who has been fused to a tree, although they rapidly go away after receiving little from the evasive prisoner.
Mimir, as soon as an envoy and advisor to Odin, is the self-described Smarted Man Alive and presently being punished on suspicion of betraying the All-Father.
He reveals that whereas our heroes have made it to the very best peak in Midgard, they haven’t but reached the very best peak in all of the realms. Their true vacation spot resides in Jötunheim and can, by all accounts, be relatively laborious to get to contemplating all entry has been blocked.
Mimir is aware of of one other means, however first provides Kratos the pleasure of decapitating him and pleading his case to the Witch of the Woods to magically revive his severed head so he might be freed from Odin’s jail.
Finally studying of Freya’s godhood, Kratos distrusts her as he distrusts all of their sort. After reviving Mimir, she advises Kratos to inform Atreus that he’s half god, identical to his father. Freya warns that denying his son’s true nature will solely convey the boy ache.
Ignoring her recommendation – Kratos, Atreus, and the freshly revived Mimir set off to search out the instruments wanted to open a passage to Jötunheim.
Sons of Thor
Along their journey, the trio are ambushed by the 2 males they noticed accompanying Baldur, Magni and Modi. They battle Kratos and Atreus fiercely, although Kratos is ready to strike a killing blow on Magni.
Modi flees, however later finds the pair once more. By killing Kratos, he hopes to regain his honor and show that he’s worthy of Thor’s legacy. Modi subdues Kratos, however seeing his father in peril, Atreus instinctively triggers what seems to be his personal Spartan Rage skill.
Not understanding his personal godhood, Atreus is overwhelmed by the sudden surge and falls unconscious, his childhood sickness seemingly returned and worse than ever. Kratos fends off Modi, who rapidly departs understanding his life is in peril. Seeing that Atreus is barely alive, Kratos takes his son to Freya within the hopes her magic may also help save his son.
The worth of secrets and techniques
Freya reveals that Atreus’ illness is brought about because of the battle between his nature as a god and his ignorance of that reality. She believes she has a therapy that may wake him however requires the center of a creature in Helheim, the realm of the lifeless.
Knowing the frost-attuned Leviathan Axe can be of little assist to him within the frozen wastelands of Hel, Kratos returns to his dwelling and retrieves part of his previous he had hoped to go away behind – the Blades of Chaos.
The Blades had been as soon as a device of fiery bloodshed and an emblem of Kratos’ servitude to the Greek gods, a lot of which he killed in his life because the God of War. Knowing they’re the important thing to saving his son, Kratos chooses to acknowledge his previous for the sake of saving Atreus and equips the Blades of Chaos as soon as once more.
Kratos efficiently retrieves the center for Freya, permitting her to save lots of his son. After he regains consciousness, Kratos reveals to Atreus their true nature as gods.
Despite Atreus’ sickness fading with this secret now within the open, the boy grows more and more smug. Modi finds the pair once more, determined to attempt to end them off to regain a scrap of respect from Thor. Badly crushed by his father for failing to kill Kratos and letting his brother Magnai die, Modi proves to be little menace. Atreus stabs the weakened Modi in direct defiance of Kratos’ order, killing the god as soon as and for all.
Seeing that Atreus’ newly revealed godhood has brought about his son to change into more and more merciless and smug, Kratos is aware of he should train his son to be higher earlier than it’s too late.
Sins of the Mother
Having gathered the instruments to make a portal to Jötunheim, Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir return as soon as once more to the height of Midgard to journey to the realm of the Giants.
As they arrive, they’re ambushed by Baldur. Instead of following his father’s instructions and leaping via the just-opened portal, Atreus, in his vanity, tries to combat Baldur alone.
Kratos intervenes, however throughout his conflict with Baldur, the portal to Jötunheim is destroyed. Baldur incapacitates and captures Atreus when the boy tries to assault him single-handedly once more and takes off in direction of the Lake of Nine. Kratos follows, their battle finally results in the Realm Travel Room, the place Baldur makes an attempt to take them to Asgard. At the final second, Kratos diverts the Bifröst to a different realm as a substitute, Helheim.
In the realm of the lifeless, they’re confronted with specters of not simply Kratos’ previous, however Baldur’s as properly. While father and son overcome the trials of this frozen realm, they uncover the supply of Baldur’s invulnerability was a spell forged by his mom.
At the time of his delivery, Freya had discovered that her son was fated to be killed. To forestall any hurt coming to Baldur, she casts a spell to guard him from all magical and bodily threats. Despite Freya’s mastery of the artwork, Vanir magic is notoriously slippery and laborious to manage. The spell had a single weak point she couldn’t forestall, Baldur wouldn’t be impervious to mistletoe.
As Baldur grew, the consequences of the spell grew to become clear. While the god was invulnerable to every little thing, it additionally rendered him utterly numb – unable to really feel ache, and all of life’s pleasures too. Even although he begged Freya to undo the spell, she wouldn’t for worry of the prophecy coming true and her son dying. Baldur grew to hate and resent his mom for denying him the flexibility to really feel.
After Baldur’s relationship with Freya and the reality of his situation is revealed, Kratos and Atreus escape again to Midgard having reconciled and made amends to one another following the occasions of Modi’s loss of life and Baldur’s assault.
Death of a god
After the destruction of the portal to Jötunheim, Mimir shares one final resolution: they will attempt to get to the realm of the Giants. Before they will try it, Kratos and Atreus are attacked once more by Baldur who additionally escaped Helheim, however this time Freya intervenes.
Incensed by his mom’s arrival, Baldur seeks to kill not solely Kratos and Atreus, however lastly actual revenge on his mom for the spell positioned on him at delivery.
Having labored collectively over the whole journey throughout the realms, father and son now combat in unison. Together they push again Baldur, solely to see Freya as soon as once more attempt to cease the preventing by subduing Kratos. As Baldur strikes to strike a ending blow, Atreus protects his father, inserting himself between them which causes the Aesir god to punch the mistletoe arrowhead Atreus stored as a binding for his quiver.
With the arrowhead impaled via his hand, the spell lastly breaks and Baldur, for the primary time in his life, is lastly capable of really feel every little thing – the ache of an damage, the chilly snow under his toes, the solar on his face.
Reveling within the new sensations, Baldur recommences his assault with a mad vigor – relishing in all the emotions he had by no means been capable of expertise earlier than.
They combat once more, however via their shared power, Kratos and Atreus are lastly capable of beat the newly susceptible Baldur, who calls for they kill him and finish his life whereas he’s nonetheless capable of really feel. Freya pleads with them to spare her solely son, and Kratos relents – understanding all too properly the ache a father or mother feels at dropping a toddler.
As they flip to go away, Baldur makes use of his remaining power to attempt to strangle Freya as cost for his years of numb torment. Freya accepts her loss of life, hoping it can give her son some semblance of peace in his life to know she’s gone.
Kratos, seeing his personal bloody errors about to be repeated by Baldur, steps in to save lots of Freya’s life by killing her son. Unable to simply accept his loss of life, Freya cradles the lifeless physique of Baldur whereas swearing vengeance upon Kratos for taking away her solely baby, even when it meant that she would stay.
The highest peak in all of the realms
Finally capable of make the journey to Jötunheim with the assistance of Mimir’s Bifröst eyes, Kratos and Atreus attain a Giant temple – one which has their whole journey carved into the partitions. The Giants had seen what would come to go, in addition to what had come earlier than.
They uncover that this was all left for them by Faye, who was a Giant herself – a secret she had stored from her husband and son. Atreus lastly uncovers the complete fact of his heritage, that he’s not solely half god and half mortal, he’s half Giant as properly.
Atreus had two names, one was given to him by his father and the opposite, his mom. The identify Faye had bestowed upon him was Loki.
Together Kratos and Atreus scatter the ashes on the height of Jötunheim, lastly fulfilling their quest.
Fimbulwinter has fallen
As they return dwelling to Midgard, Mimir warns them that the loss of life of Baldur signifies that the primary occasion mentioned to mark the arrival of Ragnarök has come to go.
Kratos and Atreus now discover themselves on the heart of a prophecy that has foretold the entire upheaval of the Nine Realms and a battle so nice it ends in the deaths of many Aesir gods together with Odin and Thor.
Father and son should select their path because the freezing winds and snows of Fimbulwinter envelop their dwelling in Midgard.
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Discover the remainder of the story your self when God of War Ragnarök launches on PS5 and PS4 November 9, 2022.
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