If you’ve played the first game as much as we have then you might have a few theories about the God of War Ragnarok mysteries it needs to solve. We’ll fill in the blanks as soon as the sequel gets its release on November 9th, but here are the biggest mysteries that the original game set up for the return to the Norse Saga to answer.
Our plan is not to answer these mysteries fully until the game comes out, but we’ll add in some hints about where things appear to be heading. Try to take some of the theories with a grain of salt, or too, but equally, don’t blame us if they turn out to be true.
In terms of context, it’s important to know that by the time God of War Ragnarok starts, Fimbulwinter will be closing in on its final summer, at which point the Norse apocalypse will begin. Atreus is keen to head out to try to stop it from happening and drags dear old dad along for the journey as they attempt to find allies and solutions to their problems. Throughout this, the following mysteries should be solved.
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Mystery #1: Who blew the horn?
When Kratos is carrying a sick Atreus back to the Witch of the Woods, they hear the horn that calls Jormungandr being blown. The only person in the game that blows the horn that we know of is Mimir, who’s head is dangling from Kratos’ waist at the time, so we know it’s not him.
However, talking about time, we know that it works weirdly in the Nine Realms with time passing faster in Jottenheim and the World Serpent being sent back in time. If you’re not too sure about when these points are confirmed in God of War, Mimir tells of a prophecy that says Jormungandr and Thor will do battle during Ragnarok and that Thor will hit the snake so hard that it splinters Yggdrasil and sends him back in time.
With these two time-based loops, it’s entirely possible that it’s Mimir, father and BOY once again, but this time from the future. Other contenders include Angrboda, Tyr and even Faye, but we’ll have to wait for God of War Ragnarok to drop to get the final confirmation.
Mystery #2: Light Elves or Dark?
Early on in God of War (2018) you head to Alfheim to retrieve the light in order to clear the Black Fog. There, you inadvertently defeat the Dark Elves, destroying their hive and crushing their leader Svartaljofurr.
At the end of the boss fight, he says that we don’t know what we’ve done, implying that we might actually have things wrong about the war. For the most part, you journey through Alfheim and see the Light Elves being butchered by their counter halves without any resistance, so they don’t seem to be the bad guys.
Svartaljofurr flips that on its head in his dying comments and we’re hoping that we get to find out a whole lot more about this particular mystery in God of War Ragnarok. With the sequel due to be the final entry in the Norse Saga it seems highly likely that it will have to clear this one up.
The trailer for Ragnarok does show what appears to be a Light Elf fighting with Kratos, so that definitely hints at the possibility that Svartaljofurr’s words were accurate. We also know that Kratos and Atreus have set out to recruit allies to help avert the early onset of the end of days, so maybe there will be a Dark Elf reconciliation on the cards.
Mystery #3: How did Faye die?
At no point in God of War is Faye’s cause of death explicitly discussed, so it’s left as one of the big mysteries still to solve. With the whole time travel/dilation thing it’s quite possible we might even see it first hand in Ragnarok, but at least it should give us a better idea about what actually happened to Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother.
There’s nothing in the trailer referring to Faye, or Laufey as she’s know in her own tongue, but we still want to know what happened to her. We know that she’s a Jotunn, AKA a Frost Giant, and there’s a lot of references to her being a strong warrior, so it seems unlikely that she died in battle.
The other argument against the battle thing is that if that were the case, Kratos would have been out the door in a rage looking for revenge. Instead, he’s just sad and insular, which would sort of hint at some kind of slow illness or hidden injury that she kept to herself.
Mystery #4: How did Angrboda survive?
When you finally get to Jottenheim to scatter Faye’s ashes, you discover the fate of the giants with their bodies littering the realm all around the mountain. Odin and his sons have gone out of their way to dish out death to them, but somehow Angrboda manages to survive this unscathed from the look of the trailer.
The only Jotunn to avoid the genocidal rampage of Thor were Faye and Jormungandr. Baldur confirmed Faye’s death by the end of God of War, which left just the World Serpent. Thor had already tried to finish big J off, but the battle had resulted in a stalemate, which is weird because Baldur makes pretty short work of the giant snake just before the final boss fight.
The trailer for Ragnarok shows Angrboda as a smiling and happy girl similar in age to Atreus, which is convenient because they go on to sire Jormundarndr, Fenrir and Hel (or at least they’re supposed to according to Norse mythology). It doesn’t look like the might of Asgard has been able to reach her, which begs the question why.
One possible answer is that she’s been hidden away in a different realm entirely outside of the Nine. Another possibility is the whole time thing again, but either way it’s one of the biggest mysteries that God of War Ragnarok has got to solve.
Mystery #5: How do you get to Asgard, Vanaheim and Svartalfheim?
Getting to these worlds is obviously going to be story driven progression, but it’s one of the things you’ll actually get to aim for in GOWR. We’re expecting Asgard to be very late in the game, but then you can never second guess anything when it comes to the excellent production team behind the game at Santa Monica Studios.
All of the Nine Realms had towers connecting to Tyr’s bridge in the middle of the lake that the World Serpent calls home in the first game, but you couldn’t get to these three. They will be playable in Ragnarok, so it’s going to be fun finding out how to actually get there.
Asgard is the home to the Aesir gods like Odin, Thor and formerly Baldur, and it’s Odin’s magic that keeps outsiders at bay. We’re expecting that the magic can only be lifted by Odin himself, so maybe actions outside of Asgard will be enough to make him open the pathway. Killing Thor and a few more of the Aesir gods could force Odin’s hand, setting things up for a final boss battle in his back yard.
Vanaheim is the home to the Vanir gods like Freya, so she might be instrumental in Kratos and Atreus journey there. Svartalfheim is the domain of the dwarfs, so this will probably be linked to a tip off by Brok and Sindri with fellow dwarf Durrin and Tyr as possible ally targets when you visit the world.
Mystery #6: Why did Odin steal Tyr’s panel?
It turned out in God of War that Tyr’s missing panel had been taken by Odin, but the only answer is from Mimir who says that there’s always a reason for what the Allfather does. What this means is that as things stand we don’t know exactly why he took it, but it must be important somehow.
The panel depicts Tyr travelling between worlds with what appear to be galaxy clusters in the background. Clearly, this has something to do with travel in or maybe beyond the Nine Realms and maybe it’s something that Odin just wants to keep for himself.
In the trailer for God of War Ragnarok, Tyr is locked up and we’re expecting Odin to be behind his incarceration. It all points to him wanting to block or steal the giant god’s abilities to travel far and wide, which is discussed at length in the first game. We’re expecting there to be a whole lot more revelations about it in the sequel.
Mystery #7: What is the bird in Helheim?
After Kratos gazed in its direction, and seeing a vision of his father Zeus, he asks Mimir about the place where all of the souls appear to be heading. You can see them in the distance walking towards the giant bird, but no details are given about what it is.
All that Mimir says is, “never go there, brother”, which kind of makes us think that’s exactly what we’re going to have to do in Ragnarok. Either way, hopefully, we get to find out more about the giant hawk in Helheim.
It was originally going to be a boss fight in the first game, but development issues meant that there wasn’t enough time or resources, so it was re-purposed for this mysterious role. One possible solution is Hel, Loki’s daughter, but this would be a significant divergence from her depiction as a lady with one half alive and the other half more zombie-like in mythology.
There are a number of birds it could be from Norse stories (Hábrók, Hræsvelgr, Veðrfölnir), but none of them relate to Helheim. It’s going to be interesting to find out whether or not it will be a feature in the 2nd part of the saga.
Mystery #8: How does Atreus father Jormungandr, Fenrir and Hel before Ragnarok?
We know from mythology that Loki – Atreus’ giant name – is the father of Jormungandr, Fenrir and Hel with Angrboda their mother. However, it’s one of the great God of War mysteries how exactly this is all going to come to pass.
Jormungandr was punched back in time by Thor, so that one is easy for the future to answer, but Fenrir appears during the events of GOW Ragnarok, so either its a fast grower or there’s a lot more to the story to tell. If that isn’t enough of an enigma, there’s also the question of Hel, who hasn’t been mentioned as of yet, unless that’s who the bird in Helheim is.
Time travel or dilation is a strong contender in terms of an answer to this. Maybe Kratos and Atreus have to go back in time to find Tyr and bump into Angrboda along the way. However, with the duo in their teens this seems a little ill-placed as a solution. Another option is that it can all be connected to the timelines being out of kilter.
In God of War, Mimir says that Ragnarok isn’t due for another hundred years, implying that Kratos and Atreus’ actions have brought it forward. If that’s the case then maybe Jormungandr, Fenrir and Hel in the game are from that alternate timeline. Alternatively, maybe father and boy are destined to avert the early Ragnarok and that will give Atreus and Angrboda plenty of time to grow up together, fall in love and make a bunch of not so beautiful babies together.
We’ll find out for sure in God of War Ragnarok when it launches on PS4 and PS5 on the 9th November 2022.
Check out our computer games section to keep tabs on the game, or visit the PlayStation website at https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/god-of-war-ragnarok/ for more details on Ragnarok.
