History VideoGame / GodOfWarRagnarok

* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Tyr, thought to be long dead in the previous game, is revealed to be alive and well in this one. Kratos and Atreus rescue him from a [[HiddenInPlainSight mine]] early on, and he proves to be a valuable ally. [[spoiler:..Until it turns out that the reports [[SubvertedTrope weren't exaggerated at all]] -- Tyr apparently really ''was'' DeadAllAlong, and the one who's been "helping" our heroes is Odin in disguise]]. And then, in the post-game, [[spoiler:Kratos and Freya [[ZigzaggedTrope can find the]] ''[[ZigzaggedTrope actual]]'' [[ZigzaggedTrope Týr]], imprisoned deep within a now-destroyed prison in Niflheim, having [[SleptThroughTheApocalypse completely missed Ragnarök as a result]]. ''And then'' comes the ''Valhalla'' DLC, where Týr has a couple of spars with Kratos in Valhalla, which can only be accessed by those who have died, implying that he really did die at some point and came BackFromTheDead]].

** Of ImmortalsFearDeath; throughout the ''God of War'' series, gods croak left and right at the hands of Kratos, yet there's every any indication of just what happens to them ''after'' they die. Athena and Zeus come back as ethereal spirits but those are clearly special cases only discernible by speculation. At most, it appears there's a CessationOfExistence. This lack of concrete knowledge on if there even is a godly afterlife has driven Odin half-mad with inquiry, as he's devoted both his and other's time to finding answers, with incredibly destructive results for the rest of the Nine Realms. Ultimately, the storyline explains how paradoxically maddening it is for beings far above mortals to be even more fearful of death than they are because they simply don't know what happens next.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Kratos. By the end of the story, [[spoiler:he has finally stopped being a vengeful god-massacring BloodKnight who sows destruction wherever he treads and instead become a beloved hero and savior of the Nine Realms with real, actual friends instead of [[TeethClenchedTeamwork pragmatic allies who want him dead]]]]. This is most apparent in how [[spoiler:the final showdown of Ragnarok is a direct opposite to the events of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''; in that game, Kratos kills the entire Greek pantheon(or at least the ones who matter the most to the natural order) just because he's mad at his father [[ArchnemesisDad Zeus, who definitely is a huge dick]], but whose death doesn't warrant the death and destruction of countless innocents, such as Poseidon's Princess[[note]]whom Kratos uses as ''a prop to hold a door open for a second''[[/note]]. At Ragnarok, [[DecapitatedArmy the only god Kratos deliberately kills is Odin]], who is a FauxAffablyEvil ManipulativeBastard who deserves every blow Kratos lands on him]].

** {{Zigzagged}}. On the one hand, the never-ending cold of Fimbulwinter has steadily worn away both the structures around Midgard and the beneficial magic that Atreus and Kratos used beforehand, resulting in their signature weapons and accumulated armour having lost all the magical enhancements and abilities they made to them in the last game, as well as Kratos' health and Spartan Rage having been reduced from the harsh living and avoidance of sparking unnecessary conflicts in the years since then. However, Kratos' acceptance of the Blades of Chaos as a NecessaryEvil has resulted in him hanging them openly in the house, and he equips them early on after fighting Thor, even using them to [[LeParkour enhance his mobility around the environment]] in ways he couldn't in the previous game. Furthermore, when leaving their home after Thor and Odin's visit, Kratos loads up with all the tools and items they used to navigate the world beforehand, such as the magic chisel and the Yggdrasil key, and still uses the Bifrost key as [[MundaneUtility a portable light source in dark areas]] despite realm travel having been locked down by Odin. So whilst their equipment might have lost several levels, Kratos quickly assembles most of the gear he had acquired by the end of the last game when setting out on their new journey. This is lampshaded by the Huldra Brothers, who wonder what happened to all the armor they had made in the previous game, to which Kratos answers "I used it". They ask him to at least keep the new stuff in good condition, to which he answers "I will not".

'''Tyr:''' [[SuddenlyShouting DO YOU NEVER SHUT UP?]] [[spoiler: ''(speaker changes to '''Odin''' as he stabs Brok)'': DO YOU NEVER SHUT UP?]]

* LovePotion: Apparently Mimir's visions in Valhalla mainly focus on his memories of a time where his former boss tasked him to use love potions on said boss' wife and some local youths. This is yet another reference to a ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', though with the twist that Mimir sees on vision where he has the chance to give the potion to Sigrun. He refuses.

* BarBrawl: When Atreus and Thrud go find Thor getting drunk in one of the pubs and are struggling to get him to join in find the last mask piece, Thor carelessly throws his mug at one of the Einherjar's head. The Einherjar turns around, and sees Atreus just standing there, who immediately realizes that he's been mistaken as the culprit. Cue a bar bar bawl where Atreus and Thrud have to fight their way to get their weapons and Thor out.

* AnAesop:
** As is more or less stated by the Norns, [[spoiler: there is no destiny or fate. [[YouCantFightFate Trying to stick to destiny]] or [[ScrewDestiny to avoid it]] is to acknowledge that it controls and defines your life. The only thing that determines whether you succumb to what is prophesized for you is only if you are [[CharacterDevelopment willing to change and grow as a person]], or if you'll [[NeverMyFault stubbornly avoid addressing your personal flaws]]. The latter is noted as the main reason why Kratos and the Norse Pantheon end up running into the risk of succumbing to their fates (and why the Greek Pantheon eventually fell), because many of them struggle to actually take responsibility for their past mistakes and actions, instead regressing and falling back on past habits. Tellingly, it's this revelation that pushes Kratos into finally accepting full responsibility for his past actions, and also to make the effort to truly grow past his personal flaws.]]
** Of the entire Norse Saga sorrow, guilt, and shame for your past mistakes can give way to hope, forgiveness, and a new beginning. But that's only if you let them.
** There are no words for how painful grief and bereavement are, and mourning creates feelings of great isolation and sorrow. The best way to move forward is to open up to a support group and allow empathy to share that pain with others. Trying to dwell on these feelings, numb them, or hold yourself back is just going to make it worse.
*** For Kratos: Being tricked by Ares into accidentally killing his wife and child absolutely shattered him. His inability to forgive himself and move on lead to him projecting his hatred onto the Greek Pantheon, [[NeverMyFault blaming them for his life’s problems]], and the ultimate destruction of Greece. He only starts to recover once he moves on from Greece, finds love again, and has another child. He ultimately copes with Faye’s death in a much healthier way thanks to having Atreus to help him.
*** For the Norse gods: [[spoiler:Sif and Thor were AbusiveParents to Magni and Modi, and their deaths forced them to realize how horrible they were as parents. Thor, on the other hand, fell into a deep spiral of self-destruction and self-hatred through alcoholism and depression. Sif and Thrud are able to reign him in by reminding Thor of their sons and trying to tell him he needs to cut Odin out of his life, but Thor struggles to move on and forgive himself for what he did to Modi and the Jotunns. Kratos manages to get through to Thor through empathy and by reminding him of how Thrud can motivate him to be better. Thor was able to find peace by sharing his pain with Kratos, accepting that Odin is too toxic for him and that Sif and Thrud can support him every step of the way. Too bad for Thor that [[HeelFaceDoorSlam Odin killed him for disobedience before he could start down the road to redemption]].]]
*** For Freya: [[spoiler:She desires revenge after Kratos and Atreus killed Baldur, and repeatedly tries to kill the pair throughout the first act of the game. When she's [[EnemyMine forced to join Kratos and Atreus to stop Odin]] and when she and Kratos are alone together, Kratos opens up to Freya about his own family -- his brother Deimos, his wife Lysandra, and his daughter Calliope -- making her realize that they both share the pain of OutlivingOnesOffspring. She doesn't forgive Kratos until she meets the Norms where Freya is hit with BrutalHonesty that Baldur's demise was her fault, but it was still the first step in the healing process, empathy. Even then, [[ForgivenButNotForgotten Freya admits that there's a part of her that will always be angry at Kratos]].]]
*** For Brok and Sindri:
*** [[spoiler: Sindri could not accept that his brother Brok could die so unexpectedly, and he went to Alfheim to retrieve his soul because he couldn't stand to be alone. In his attempt to rescue Brok's soul, Sindri lost the fourth soul fragment, and thus Brok could not be healed by Freya's magic after he was fatally wounded by Odin. According to Mimir, since Brok only had three-quarters of his soul, he couldn't return to Alfheim's pool of souls, and [[BarredFromTheAfterlife is now denied an afterlife for all eternity]]. After Brok's death, [[HeroicBSOD Sindri is completely broken]] and blames Atreus and Kratos for allowing Odin to get so close to them. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness He neglects his personal grooming and hygiene]], and is so clouded by his own need for vengeance that he does not care for the accidental deaths of the Midgardians who were used as cannon fodder by Odin. When Atreus binds Odin's soul to a Giant's marble, Sindri steals the marble from Atreus' hand and smashes it with his hammer to avenge Brok, despite Freya and Kratos rejecting the offer to get revenge for what Odin did to them both. Even in the post-game, Sindri still isolates himself and blames Atreus and Kratos for Brok's death.]]
*** [[spoiler: This is actually represented metaphorically by the riddle Brok asked Mimir to solve: "What gets bigger the more you take away?" The answer is a hole. Brok's death left a hole in Sindri's life and Sindri only makes it bigger by taking more and more support away from himself by rejecting Atreus, Kratos, and Freya's help and by isolating himself from the rest of the realms.]]
*** For Grýla, [[spoiler: her son and daughter-in-law were killed and her grief was so unbearable that she started using the souls of animals to experience their memories and reached a point where she was so addicted that she abandoned her granddaughter, Angrboda. Grýla's pain was only numbed by her addiction, it was never processed and accepted. Grýla only began to move on when Angrboda and Atreus destroyed her cauldron and cut her dependency on souls, which forced her to confront her grief and eventually start foraging again with Angrboda.]]
** While war is definitely something to be avoided and should always be the last option instead of the first, it is, unfortunately, necessary when there are no other options.
*** [[spoiler: Kratos desperately tries to avoid going to war with Asgard because he sees it as another reminder of his past and another connection to his revenge quest that left Greece in ruins. When it's revealed that "Tyr" was actually Odin in disguise and Brok is killed, Kratos initially fears that they will only fight for revenge. However, he realizes the intention of war does not matter as long as Odin is stopped because he has caused too much harm to the realms - thus making the intention to bring Odin to justice, not ''just'' to avenge Brok.]]
*** [[spoiler: Tyr is on the other end of the extreme, Tyr wants to avoid war at all costs even if it means that Odin would win and doom the other realms. While this would be good advice as war is indeed something to be avoided at all costs, Tyr is trying to avoid war through appeasement and is severely underestimating Odin's lust for knowledge, his megalomania, and his sheer ruthlessness to get what he wants. When it's revealed that Tyr was actually Odin in disguise, it shows that this was done intentionally as Odin manipulated their compassion and exploited their desire to be better people by portraying Týr as extremely naive and self-pitying. When Fraya and Kratos meet the real Týr, he actually praises Freya for what did to fight Odin and makes it clear that fighting Odin was the best option for Vanaheim and its people.]]
** Substance abuse and addiction are gateway sins that can turn us into our worst selves, it's all fun and games until you see the mess you've left behind and how many people you've hurt.
*** [[spoiler: Thor was a heavy drinker with his wife Sif and they both drank heavily because it was part of Aesir culture and it was because Odin was using it to keep his son under his control. Thor and Sif were incredibly abusive towards Magni and Modi and when Magni died, Thor beat Modi to a pulp which eventually led to Modi's death because he was defenceless against Atreus. Sif was horrified and she convinced Thor to give up alcohol through an ultimatum and they both decided to better themselves for Thrud. For 3 years, Thor hasn't touched a drop of alcohol despite Odin trying to push him back into it. Later in the game, Thor eventually relapses after being forced by Odin to work with Atreus and after various other stressors. Thrud and Atreus have to physically drag him out of the bar after a mass brawl leaves it in ruins and Thrud is both angry and upset with him. When Thor's outside, he's so ashamed of himself for letting her down and he can't even look at her. While alone with Atreus, they have a heart-to-heart and Thor realises he has a lot in common with Atreus as they both have issues with their father and Atreus tries convincing Thor that he can change for the better. It's only when he fights Kratos that he realises that while Thor has done plenty of horrible things, there's always a chance and a choice to be better.]]
*** [[spoiler: Grýla developed an addiction to using the souls of animals to live their memories as a form of escapism. She started doing this as a distraction from grief because her son and daughter-in-law were killed and she had to raise Angroboda by herself. Angroboda recognises the problem and decides to destroy her pot so she can cut off the addiction. Although Grýla is infuriated and spouts venomous words about her niece, she does calm down eventually and it's implied by Angroboda that she's doing better and the two have started foraging together.]]

* BrokenAesop:
** One confined to a single realm: Alfheim. In the previous game, Kratos uses the blind attempts to help the Light Elves by fighting the Dark Elves as a lesson not to get involved in problems one does not understand. The issue is that in this game, [[spoiler:the Light Elves are proven to be exploiting the lost souls of the realms to power their equipment out of addiction, while the Dark Elves want to avoid that due to seeing the Light of Alfheim as sacred. The abuse of the Light is also stated to be the reason for the ecological problems plaguing the realm, which were nowhere near as bad before the Light was used in this way (especially not when the realm was seen in the previous game). At worst, the Dark Elves accidentally imprison two Hafgufa, but that is more due to them getting caught in existing hive matter, with most of the conflict being simply a case of intruders coming to their strongholds]]. Despite all of this, the dialogue still treats the two sides as equally moral, and the conflict as an incomprehensible battle with no "right" side. This is slightly mitigated by a throwaway line in one of the codex entries about how the Light Elves were able to achieve heights of artistry and cultural expression through use of the Light, but still fails to make clear how the sides are in any way equal. Of course, Kratos also pointed out in the previous game that full context is important: the Dark Elves likely committed atrocities of their own during the war (not the game refers to any, of course). It has to be mentioned though, that Dark Elves' action of covering the light in hives matters out of their reverence for the Light was not exactly good for the realm either. During a conversation Mimir mentioned that the burrowing hafgufas burrowing and growing to gigantic level instead of reproducing was due to the lack of light in the environment to sustain their newborns, meaning their meddling with the light of alfheim, even if they didn't directly harness it like their light breatheren, impact the realm negatively.

* AnAesop: After each fight against Týr, the latter always makes a lesson on Kratos's past.
** ''Selling his soul to Ares'': "It's easy to oversimplify the past, and it's even easier to punish yourself for making a bad decision. But try to see how complicated the story really is before passing judgment". As Týr points out, Kratos had a duty to protect Sparta from the Barbarians, and they would have done all sorts of horrible things to the innocent Spartans if Kratos didn't stop the barbarians. While selling his soul to Ares was still a bad call, it was only through hindsight that it ended up being so, and Kratos did ultimately fulfill his duty.
** ''Destroying the sun by killing Helios'': "When the aftermath of a tragedy is mishandled, it leads to a lot of bad decisions and further misfortune. It's only with enough vigilance and wisdom that people can learn better ways to heal from these tragedies". Although Týr emphasizes from the start that what Kratos did will not be excused, he does explain that Kratos's story has always been complicated. Kratos mishandled his tragedies and didn't healthily heal from them, but he has the chance to learn from them now, even if what he did is ultimately inexcuseable.
** ''Opening Pandora's box'': "Everyone is ultimately responsible for their own choices". Helios blames Kratos for releasing the evils within Pandora's box, and is very quick to blame Kratos for the Greek gods being possessed by these evils. However, Týr implies that the evils within Pandora's box had very little influence over the Greek gods at best, as the evils from the box just amplified their emotions. The gods could have overcome these evils, but they chose to indulge in them. Kratos was possessed by the power of hope and it never influenced his actions, it was something he eventually and unwittingly brought to the Nine Realms by joining the fight against Odin.

* PlayableEpilogue: Similar to the previous game, [[spoiler:the post game deals with Ragnarök’s aftermath. With Kratos, Mimir, and Freya wrapping up any remaining sidequests, as well as certain optional scenes which wrap up a few plot points. The full credits only play after completing the post-game sidequest; "A Viking Fueneral".]]