Tear Jerker / God of War Ragnarök

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

And this happens in the very beginning of the game.

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Main Game

• Barely fifteen minutes in and we're already treated to a scene of Atreus comforting his wolfdog Fenrir, who is so sick he can barely eat. Kratos outright states the dog is dying, and the best Atreus can do is stay with him until he passes. Atreus decides to Mercy Kill Fenrir so he doesn't have to suffer any more.
  • Anyone who's ever had to put down a dog, or pet of any kind, can relate to Atreus's Hope Spot about Fenrir's condition maybe, just maybe improving - him eating a bit more the previous day (until he didn't), him having a bit of energy when they get home - only for that to wither away as Atreus realizes his beloved pet has reached the end of his life, and there's nothing more to do than help him cross over.
• After the above scene, Kratos rests for a while and dreams of Faye. It starts out quite warmly, but it ends in an icy surprise as dream-Faye places her right hand on Kratos' forehead and shows his forehead covered with a suspicious gold-colored hand print and panics Kratos awake, with Mimir even shouting to Kratos at the end of said dream. Talk about another heart-breaker memory for him...
• Even the opening moments where Kratos is alone in the cave holding, almost cradling, the bag he kept Faye's ashes in is heart wrenching - this near unstoppable force of destruction and power looks lost and alone.
  • Further his uncertainty about if Faye, his presumed second true love, was using him to achieve vengeance against the Aesir or not through much of the story is equally heart-breaking. Particularly when Freya suggests this to him, Kratos seems torn between his infamous rage, both to defend Faye's honour and his own efforts to keep control of himself, and his own uncertainty about her true motives.
• The mere state of Midgard in Fimbulwinter; gone is the beautiful, expansive, diverse yet empty realm of the first game. In its place is a blizzard-choked wastepit infested with Hel-Walkers and magical abominations and worse; about the only actual signs of life are the raiders who have carved out their footholds in the once-familiar areas of the Realm. For those who loved Midgard for the sights and the exploration opportunities it offered, seeing it like this hits a nerve.
• Kratos is horrified when the bear he defeats as the first miniboss in the game turns into Atreus. Fortunately, Atreus has the power to heal the wounds Kratos inflicted on him. Still, the brief moment when Kratos thinks he has killed his child again hits hard. Having witnessed the cycle of death cursing parental bonds between gods in the last game, Atreus' own reaction upon realizing he attacked his father isn't much better, as he desperately tries to wipe away Kratos' blood which is still on his hands.
• During the opening search for Atreus, Kratos stumbles upon the corpse of a bear, later revealed to have been killed by a transformed Atreus. As the two of them walk home, they come across the body again, where the bear is revealed to have been a mother, with her two cubs mourning her. Everything from Atreus' shock and horror at what he's done, the cubs' pained crying, and Kratos bluntly telling Atreus there's nothing they can do, with the children likely going to die soon after with no one to help them survive through Fimbulwinter is heartbreaking to see. The worst part of the whole sequence might be the younger cub's reaction; while its older sibling growls enraged at the shaken Atreus, the other one curls up to its mother's dead body in mourning, not accepting that she's gone.
• In the myths, Thor is often described as a man of the people, the kind of person who'd go to the bar and get into several drinking contests for fun, all the while laughing along with the other patrons and sharing stories with them before rushing off to his next adventure. In the game, however, Thor's alcoholism is shown in its entire brutal, self-destructive, and ruinous state. In a time when alcoholism is either treated as a joke or a trivialized issue ^note  trivialized in the sense that characters overcome the addiction in mere hours, a love of alcohol is treated as a lovable character quirk than a sign of mental illness, and drunks are just shown as embarrassing themselves or making stupid comments , the game reminds you that there is nothing funny about alcohol addiction.
  • The death of his sons (especially Modi, considering how angry he gets when Kratos calls him out for "putting him last" and causing his death by vengefully beating him after Magni's death), his guilt for killing so many Jotnar, and his awful relationship with Odin have caused Thor to go into a downward spiral of depression and addiction. His unkempt beard, long and messy hair, sunken eyes, and his obesity imply that he's been falling behind on his personal grooming, not sleeping properly due to drinking too much, and his drinking has resulted in him putting on weight as well. When Thrud and Atreus find him drunk at the bar, it's implied that he sees himself as a failure for outliving his sons and is ashamed of himself for not being good enough for his wife and daughter.
    Thor: Let it be known the god of thunder is good for TWO THINGS! Killing giants... and pissing mead!
  • Thrud and Atreus finding Thor drunk at the bar and the subsequent brawl, as sad as it is, is strangely funny. What happens after they manage to drag Thor outside... isn't. Thrud briefly lays into her father for breaking his promise and relapsing, and Thor is so ashamed that he can't even look at her or come up with an excuse. Thrud then takes a breath and reminds her father that she and Sif are still here for him and still love him, and from her expression and voice it's clear that she's on the brink of tears. This is what finally makes Thor look at her and admit that he fucked up, to which Thrud bitterly agrees before leaving. For a moment, you aren't seeing the ruthless and terrifying God of Thunder, but a pitiful drunken father and his heartbroken daughter trying desperately to save him before it's too late. Any players who've struggled with alcoholism or tried to help a loved one deal with it will likely find this whole scene hitting far too close to home.
  • The most subtle and poignant scene is where Thrud and Atreus carry Thor through the bar. The music to the bar fight implies it's more comedic in tone and it's amplified by a very drunk Thor reveling in the fight before drunkenly collapsing onto the floor after saving Atreus. When Thor hits the floor, the cheery music stops and it changes to a melancholic and somber one as both Thrud and Atreus drag Thor past the ruins, past the dead bar owner, and past the other severely injured patrons. While dragging Thor outside, the player sees the scene without the adrenaline and realizes how visibly destructive Thor's alcoholism is and how many horrible things Thrud is being exposed to. The one moment of levity in the bar fight is immediately crushed when Thrud berates her father for losing his sobriety and you see her resisting the urge to cry as her father is deeply ashamed of himself for disappointing her.
• Just before the final battle at Ragnarok, Kratos is in his tent, looking over his son who sleeps before him. It is during this time that we see a side to Kratos we've never before seen; he is truly, completely TERRIFIED. And it's clearly not for his own life, since death has never really daunted him, he's afraid of what Atreus will become during or after the most cataclysmic event of the Norse Mythology. Prophecy has dictated that at least something will happen, and that could be his son going down the same dark path as he did, which is ultimately his greatest fear. The eve of that happening has finally come and it has brought the Ghost of Sparta, the God-Killer, the God of War, to his metaphorical knees.
  • Even setting aside prophecy (as the game explores up until this point), Kratos is also a father who's about to watch his son enter a war for the first time. He may have done so any number of times up until now and won, or at least survived...but he also knows full well the horrors that one can witness therein, and clearly doesn't want his son exposed to that. And yet...there is no other choice.
• Thor realizing that Odin has never, and likely never will, love him like he desperately craves. After Odin belittles him for not killing Kratos like he was ordered to, Thor simply stares blankly at his father and finally realizes how awful Odin truly is.
  Thor: Sif was right about you. I just didn't want to see it.
  • The voice-crack Thor gives off when saying that line utterly transforms him from the God of Thunder, Killer of the Giants and Prince of Asgard...to a small, wounded boy who only wanted his father's unconditional support and approval.
  • Just before that, when Kratos finally gets Thor to calm down and start listening to reason, Odin teleports in and starts ripping into him with the same abuse he’s been hurling at Thor all his life. Accusing him of being broken, denying him the right to think or speak for himself, and implying that he’s nothing but an oafish idiot. Having dealt with that all his life, is it any wonder that Thor turned out the way he did?
  • It's even worse when you really consider the implications of Odin's "are you broken?" remark. It cements that, ultimately (and depending on your personal interpretation), Odin never saw Thor as anything more than either a tool he could use to achieve his ends, or a toy that he could abuse at his leisure (or both; again, interpretation matters here). And as soon as Thor proves, undeniably, that he's no longer going to listen to Odin, his father, like a spited child with a broken toy, doesn't hesitate to throw him away...
  • Not bad enough already? Well, it's clear Odin was observing the battle, given how quickly he appears when Thor stands down. Meaning he saw his own son get stabbed, beaten and tossed around by Kratos, trying to wear him down enough to listen, and Odin wasn't lifting a finger to help him. His question of "Why isn't [Kratos] dead?" comes across as less a demand and more a deflection of the fact that Kratos had Thor completely dead to rights, and could have easily killed him had he been his old self. Not only does this indicate the sheer lack of sympathy Odin possesses but also his belief that Thor, come hell or high water, completes what he wants without issue, not from faith, but rather, as though he's desensitized from the idea his son is a person with flaws and failings who does need the help he refuses to give.
• Eavesdropping on Thor and Sif after the mission to Helheim. When Thor tries to justify training Thrud as trying to keep his family safe, Sif retorts that if that were true, he’d stand up to Odin. While she seems to regret saying it almost instantly, Thor says she’s right. Whatever else people think of the God of Thunder, at the end of the day, he’s a man crippled by his own failings, trying to protect what he loves. He’s what Kratos would be if he succumbed to despair rather than rage.
• Thor's death. He finally finds the courage to stand up for himself, refusing to hurt people anymore… and Odin responds by murdering him in cold blood for refusing orders- and this is happening right in front of Thrud- Thor's daughter. And then, just to rub salt in the wound, Odin then smacks Thrud out of the arena with Mjolnir and acts like he did her a favor. Atreus is rightfully horrified and pissed at what Odin did.
  Atreus: Your own son?! Your granddaughter?! WHY?!
  Odin: Thrúd's gonna be fine. I saved her. And Thor? That one's on you. You turned him against me. You turned them all against me!
  • Not only that, after getting speared by Odin, Thor’s body just quickly breaks apart until there is nothing left of him. His last moment before this is reaching out to Thrud.
  • Even more tragic is that Thor doesn't even attempt to resist. He doesn't guard against Odin's very easily telegraphed attack, he doesn't try to pull Odin's spear out of his throat (not that it would've mattered), he just...lets it happen. Thor's so disconsolate from learning how his father only saw him as a disposable weapon that he doesn't even CARE if he gets executed for being mutinous.
  • One of the most overlooked moments during Thor's death is that right before Thor drops the hammer, he looks aside before looking back at Odin. That look implies that Thor is actually looking at Kratos, not for support but to warn him because he knows Odin better than anyone and likely knew that Odin would rather kill his best and most loyal asset than let him go free. By looking at Thor's face, you can practically hear him think "Get ready Kratos, he won't like this".
  • During the fight with Kratos, Thor lets slip about one tragic detail: he genuinely was getting fond of Atreus. He screams in rage at Kratos that Atreus had given him hope about the future, but now believes that the boy had been lying to him so he could destroy his home and family. Goes to show just how much a positive influence could go a long way for the repentant God of Thunder if not for the tight grip Odin had on him.
    Thor: Everything was fine before Loki showed up! He almost convinced me! Had me believing things could change!
• An early game side quest deals with the Lyngbakr, a creature Mimir had enslaved as a favor for Odin. Throughout the quest Kratos is coldly furious with the man he calls brother, even though Mimir at one point tells him there's nothing he can say that he hasn't already told himself.
  • And by the end of it, the Lyngbakr is too accustomed to its enslavement to even leave.
  • Kratos is almost fuming throughout the whole thing once he figures out that Mimir enslaved this creature, remarking that he remembers the weight of a yoke around his neck, and that he wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. All these centuries later, and the wounds Ares had inflicted on him are as fresh as ever. And when they finally "free" the Lyngbakr, he doesn't seem surprised at all that it had grown used to its chains.
  • Reading the journal entries for the quest reveal that the big reason Kratos gets so mad about it is because it also reminds him of how he used to treat mortals, particularly calling to mind the unlucky boat captain from the original games, who Kratos describes as an innocent victim that he took advantage of. There's a lot of reasons Kratos is carrying so much guilt nowadays.
  • Worst part? Do you know why Mimir had it chained for Odin? To harvest its' blubber as oil, for lanterns. Kratos repeats the reason in disgusted disbelief, while Mimir doesn't even attempt to defend himself. He simply states that the Spartan would be wasting his breath insulting him and to just focus on removing the chains, since there's nothing Kratos could say in his anger that could be worse than what Mimir has already said to himself.
  • As they're freeing the Lyngbakr, Kratos berates Mimir for never mentioning anything about the creature. Mimir calmly asks Kratos if it surprises him that an old man would be too ashamed of his past to desire talking about it. Kratos curtly concedes that it does not with an air that he is going to forgive Mimir for this one, if only because it'd be hypocritical of him to act like he's any better.
• All the signs pointing to the growing conflict between Kratos and Atreus as the two have different ideas on how to deal with the upcoming Ragnarök, with Atreus preferring a more proactive approach, even if it means going to war with Asgard, while Kratos - of all people - wants to find a more cautious solution, clearly remembering what happened the last time he went to war against gods to solve his problems and its consequences. One particular scene where Atreus yells at his father to start thinking like a general, Kratos snaps back angrily:
  Atreus: Stop thinking like a father for a moment and start thinking like a general!
  Kratos: No!
  • That's not to mention the last time Kratos voluntarily sought to be a general, he did some unspeakable things he's long come to regret that culminated in him accidentally murdering his prior family in a battle frenzy. Kratos has every right to chastise Atreus for what he's asking from him.
• Conversations between Mimir and Kratos early on make it clear that Kratos is very worried about the mural he saw of Atreus cradling his dead body, as well as the revelation that his Second Love Faye might have had more nefarious intentions in mind for him and his son when she started a relationship with him. The strain of doubting the good nature of the mother of his child and a person that everybody had good opinions on has clearly taken its toll on Kratos, and it's implied that his aversion to the brewing conflict with Asgard is that he fears said conflict will be what causes his passing, and thus leaves Atreus alone and surrounded by hostile enemies when he needs him most. The fear of this possible inevitable outcome has motivated Kratos to continue to train Atreus relentlessly so his son can independently handle himself should the worst happen, which contributes more to the growing distance between them as Atreus sees his as him wasting time whilst his destiny is passing him by, and Kratos fears following this destiny will leave his son without a father to rely on anymore.
• Seeing Freya - the once kind and friendly lady who was a helpful ally to Kratos and Atreus in the previous game, become a vengeful, raging goddess coming after Kratos for killing her son Baldur. Whatever budding friendship she may have once felt for the Greek god of war has shattered.
  • Throughout his encounters with her, its clear that Kratos is fully aware that Freya has every right to hate him over Baldur's death and doesn't once try to defend his actions. If anything, he's only been protecting himself from her assaults over the years for Atreus's sake.
  • Even Atreus seems resigned to the fact she is their enemy, mournfully begging Freya not to make him shoot her point-blank in the face during the intro's sled escape sequence - and Freya herself is startled enough by this to look back at Atreus for a second when she has Kratos dead to rights, clearly perturbed by the fact that the young boy she grew so attached to is now threatening to kill her. While Kratos admitted he was glad Atreus didn't take the shot, the boy was more concerned with the fact that he couldn't do so. As shown later when he tries to attack Freya in bear form, Atreus may care about her, but he will kill anyone that tries to harm his father, no exceptions.
  • The moment Freya has Kratos in a position where she can actually kill him, Atreus' emotions run out of control, cause him to transform, and try to attack Freya only for Kratos to protect her. Freya doesn't even try to attack, rather she turns away as Kratos reigns Atreus in, shouting that Freya was their friend, calms him, and returns him to normal. As she looks away it becomes clear very quickly that the combination of Kratos protecting her again, still calling her a friend, and a father/son moment reminding her of what she doesn't have anymore has, on some level, gotten through to her. All she can do is shriek in anguish and frustration as she binds Kratos in place long enough to call a truce.
    • Not only that, you can just see the look of horror in Freya's eyes when she sees Atreus, formerly being so unwilling to fight her, now looking moments away from murdering her in the most brutal way possible. You have to remember that regardless of her hatred towards Kratos and her coldness towards Atreus, the fact is that she still cares for Atreus. She never wanted to do him any actual harm, and seeing the boy she was so fond of (and still is fond of) act like that probably reminds her of how Baldur was once a kind and gentle boy before Freya cursed him with invulnerability and turned him into the monster that he was. One can only wonder if her shriek of anguish is also driven out of a My God, What Have I Done?, realizing she had just came close to repeating the same thing she did with Baldur, turning an innocent boy she truly cared for into a monster.
  • One conversation in particular has Freya angrily rebuke Kratos' attempts at trying to give her guidance, asking if he has any idea what it's like to lose a child. Kratos, to her surprise, reveals that he does and mentions his daughter Calliope alongside his wife with a pained tone. Despite her troubled relationship and hatred for the Ghost of Sparta, she offers a genuine apology for his loss. He also dredged up all the old, horrible memories he wanted to leave behind in Greece - from his horrific upbringing as a Spartan Child Soldier, to the fate of his beloved brother Deimos, to the hellish wars he fought in Ares' name, to his quest of revenge against the Olympians that ended with everything he ever cared for destroyed, and him just hating himself more then ever. It's heart wrenching to listen to and drives home why Kratos is so desperate to do things right this time around; he couldn't save Deimos or Calliope or Lysandra or Pandora or even Sparta itself, and he's terrified that history is repeating and he's just going to fail to save his new family and home too.
    • Freya, in fact, reacts with not just surprise but genuine, almost pitying horror upon hearing that Kratos was tricked into murdering his wife and daughter.
      Freya: That's... I can't imagine...!
      Kratos: I paid back their blood a thousand times, and burned Olympus to the ground... yet... the guilt remained. Perhaps you will kill me, Freya... but it will bring you no peace.
• Even after Freya breaks free of Odin's spell and reconciles on some level with Kratos, she's still pretty melancholy about Vanaheim's current condition and her standing with Freyr. Her brother is immediately excited and relieved upon seeing her again, but the siblings then return to bickering over their last meeting.
  Freyr: We lost everything to that maniac you called husband. The man's family set me on fire! How did you expect me to react?
  Freya: Like my brother! Like the boy who used to have my back no matter what! And who I always supported no matter how selfish his choices. (turns away from him) I expected you to come and find me. That no matter how hurt or angry, you wouldn't abandon me when I needed you the most.
  • Freyr then tearfully admits he thought she was dead and he lamented the last harsh words they exchanged. His following line noticeably affects Freya the most:
    Freyr: Any idea what that's like? Knowing that your own selfishness hurt the person you cared about the most?
    • Though she doesn't say it loud, Freya's almost certainly thinking about Baldur in that moment, so, yes. She can.
  • Freyr's reply afterward makes it even more painful as it becomes clear Freya's feelings of abandonment spring from a misunderstanding:
    Freyr: (with Freya's back still turned to him) Abandon you? Oh Freya... I mourned you.
• As Kratos is finishing off Heimdall, his attacks are so fierce Mimir comes loose from his belt and as he sees Kratos brutalize Heimdall, he pleads with him to come back to his senses, to no avail, as The Ghost of Sparta briefly returns.

  Mimir: Brother! BROTHER! This isn't who you want to be...

  Heimdall: Monster.

  • Afterwards Kratos looks horrified, and almost confused at his surroundings, as though he was momentarily right back in Greece, before remembering the vow he made to himself that he failed to uphold. Though it was Heimdall's own pride that led to his death, Mimir's comment as he's picked up is rife with uncertainty at the outcome.
    Mimir: I don't know if we're breaking fate... or fate's breaking us.
• Birgir's sacrifice. Knowing his allies are being overwhelmed by the attacking wyverns, he kills them by jumping off of Skíðblaðnir and grappling them while signing a poem about how everything dies, and what truly matters is the reputation of the dead. Lightly subverted given he ultimately survives, but it's still a touching moment.
• When the Lady of the Forge ignored Brok on needing to bless the newly forged Draupnir, he couldn't understand why she was focused on Kratos before leaving. Mimir answers that being a mermaid, they communicate more via the soul, and when Mimir points out that Brok might be missing part of his, Brok puts together that he did die in that forge accident years ago, which was why Sindri was so reluctant on Brok going to the Lady. The sheer disappointment could almost match that of a fan not being acknowledged by a well known person they had looked up to so much.
  • For that matter, Brok’s reaction. There’s no humor in his swearing here; just quiet whispered shock, as the hurt of his brother’s worst failure and the existential horror of having nowhere to go after death hit Brok like a train.
    Brok: Fuck… FUCK!!! DAMMIT, SINDRI, YOU LYING SCAT-SCRUBBER! I knew it! I died! I FUCKING DIED!!
• Brok's death and Sindri's subsequent reaction to it. He goes from being a Nice Guy to a Knight in Sour Armor, with the friendship between him, Kratos, and Atreus shattered.
  • Sindri is so heartbroken that he no longer cares about being clean, working without gloves, and he bitterly rants to Atreus about how he gave Atreus everything but Atreus ended up never truly returning the favor and eventually cost him his only family by freeing Tyr, who turned out to be Odin in disguise. An apology from Atreus earns him a bitter reminder that Atreus once apologized for having talked coldly and arrogantly towards him, only for him to repeat the same mistake by believing he knew what was best. To truly hammer home just how broken Sindri is and how angry he feels towards Atreus, he coldly states that there is no "we", signifying how he no longer sees him as his friend.
    Sindri: I gave you everything. My skills. My friendship. My home. My secrets! My treasures! And you just kept taking! And now what have I got?! Not even my family... You want "sorry"? This is what sorry looks like.
    Atreus: I... What can we do?
    Sindri: "We?" There is no "we". There's only you, no matter what the cost. So what you can do is get the fuck out of my sight!
  • Atreus is clearly devastated by Sindri's anger towards him, and he knows he deserved it. He truly wants to make things right, but Sindri would not let him. His response as he finally walks away after Sindri makes it clear they are no longer friends is a simple broken confession about how he saw Sindri and Brok as family. Kratos of all people admits they "were" in a clearly sorrowful tone. Remember, when Atreus lost his temper when everyone told him not to go to Asgard, he transformed into a bear, attacked Kratos and attacked Sindri, even after he tried to calm him down.
    Atreus: I thought we were his family too...
    Kratos: We were...
    • As the above exchange happens, listen closely and Sindri can be heard sobbing harshly in the background almost as if in response to Kratos' line. He thought they were too...
  • Just look at Sindri fighting in Ragnarok. He may be working together with Kratos and Atreus, but he acts cold and aloof towards them, harshly rejecting the hand Atreus offered to help him climb and refusing to thank him for saving his life, stating bitterly it changes nothing and he doesn't care what Atreus wants for him. And he doesn't even ask for Kratos, Atreus, or Freya's opinion as he shatters the orb containing Odin's soul, actually looking as if he was about to snap at them before leaving.
  • Brok's funeral in the postgame. Sindri mournfully tells his brother one last time how much he loves him before he and Kratos send the boat with Brok's body out into the water so Freya can give him a Viking Funeral. When Kratos tries to comfort him, Sindri simply gives him a tearful Death Glare, silently reminding him that Brok's death is his and Atreus' fault for having let Odin get so close to the group. He almost seems ready to give a furious rant on Kratos just as he did to Atreus in the immediate aftermath of Brok's death, but by this point he's just so drained and broken that he just gives a bitter sigh before walking off.
  • Throughout the game, Brok had been teasing Mimir with a riddle he was confident would stump even the smartest man alive, 'What gets bigger the more you take away?', frustrating him as he attempted to puzzle it out. After Sindri rejects Kratos' attempt to comfort him and walks away, a somber Mimir watches him leave, seeing the hollowed out wreck Sindri has become and finally realises the answer:
    Mimir: A hole.
    Kratos: What?
    Mimir: Gets bigger, the more you take away.
  • To make matters worse, when Sindri first resurrected Brok, he didn't gather all the pieces of his soul, most importantly its fylgja (direction). Therefore, Brok's soul can't reach the Lake of Souls. Not only can he not be resurrected, but he can't even go to the afterlife. He's essentially stuck in limbo forever, and Sindri will be unable to reunite with his dear brother when he inevitably pushes daisies himself. That's likely why he's so embittered to the end of the game; he has to deal with the knowledge that he fucked over Brok with no chance of rectification.
  • While not as tragic as Sindri of course, Kratos' reaction towards Brok's death is also devastating. When Atreus was ill and after hearing about it, Brok volunteered his services without a second thought to help, which visibly touched Kratos. Not only that, he was instrumental in helping Kratos get out of Helheim after acquiring the ingredient he needed for Atreus, just because he wanted to help him and and Atreus. Brok was a true friend to the end, his death even had Kratos and Atreus call it quits for a moment. At the funeral, Kratos wholeheartedly refers to Brok as one of the few he would call friend. That is a massive compliment coming from someone like him.
    Kratos: I have met many on my travels. You are one of the few I would call "friend".
    Mimir: I always thought you were one of the dumbest creatures I'd ever met. Didn't expect you to be the bravest too.
    Freya: This world is a darker place with your leaving it.
  • The real tragedy in all this is the fact that this is history repeating itself. Last game, Kratos and Atreus lost Freya as a friend (temporarily) because of Baldur's death. Here, they lost Sindri as a friend because of Brok's death.
  • The fact that Sindri is going against his brother's last words with his actions. Brok forgave his brother for lying to him about dying and he also cared for Kratos and Atreus greatly. His last words were to beg his brother to accept his loss and move on. Had Brok been able to hear them, he would be devastated that his brother was using his death to shove aside their friends.
    Sindri: Maybe if I go back to the lake...?
    Brok: Stop it. I know what you done. And I forgive ya. But y'gotta stop...y'gotta let go...
  • The theme of the Norse Saga has been about moving past old hurts and building a better life. Yet in Sindri we see him doing the exact same thing Kratos did in the Greek Saga: lose a family member and allow his bitterness and rage to cause him to shove away all others, becoming self-centered and bitter. It's terrifying and heartbreaking watching him become a mirror of Kratos's old self. His appearance undergoes a complete 180, being covered in blood and grime just like Kratos's ashen skin. He's now openly hateful to everyone he once called a friend because to him they betrayed his trust by taking from him until he had nothing left, all while they didn't appear to give a damn about what he thought. He spitefully refuses to gather Dwarf reinforcements for the war, openly goes against his allies' wishes to avoid innocent bloodshed by killing Odin's Midgardian lines of defense, and makes it very clear that he only sees them now as allies of convenience in killing Odin, nothing more than tools to be used and discarded. And discard them he does by the end of the game when he rips Odin's soul out of Atreus's hands and kills him for good, giving everyone present a seething Death Glare that resoundingly screams "fuck you" before vanishing.
  • He's also become a mirror of Freya as well. Just as she screwed Baldur over by cursing him with immortality because of her selfish desire to keep him alive, Sindri screwed Brok over by resurrecting him with an incomplete soul because of his selfish desire to not be alone. Both Freya and Sindri's tragedies can be seen as lessons for what happens when people love too much.
  • The other Dwarves reminiscing of Brok at his funeral. Raeb's story of Brok adding such disgusting lyrics to his music, wishing he could remember those lyrics. Durlin saying how much of a pain in the ass Brok's antics made for him and Lunda being insulted at Brok referring her as his apprentice, despite showing more to him than the other way around. They all just remember Brok as this massive asshole - but that was just one of the ways in which he endeared himself to them, and they would all miss him dearly.
  • To further illustrate how much Brok meant to Kratos, the latter swears revenge on Odin and Asgard. He's both disgusted by his history repeating itself but he's very angry at his friend's death too.
    Atreus: There's no making this right, is there?
    Mimir: No. But I know I'll feel better when we've brought Odin to justice.
    Kratos: Justice? Justice is not what we seek. It is vengeance. Every path I walk...leads back to vengeance.
    Atreus: Maybe that's all we have left?
    Kratos: We must return to Freya.
    • Listen to Atreus' voice just before and during his and Kratos' return to Midgard. His tone is constantly wobbly and strained, like he's about to burst into tears at any second.
  • Should the player return to the mines where they first found the imposter Tyr and defeat Miklimunnr with Atreus after Brok's death, Atreus will lament on the time when they found Tyr. Kratos will offer apologies, but Atreus puts all blame on himself.
  • At Brok’s funeral, whenever Sindri isn’t enraged or overcome by grief, he just looks empty. He got his vengeance, but all it’s done his hollow him out and leave him with nothing. The look he gives as he walks away is nothing short of a man wondering what the hell he’s supposed to do now.
  • Look closely and you will notice that Sindri has been carrying Brok's hammer with him ever since his death^note Sindri's hammer is a slim golden one while Brok's is a blocky and rugged blue-grey mallet. It's also Brok's hammer that he uses in Ragnarok and ultimately smashes Odin's marble with, making everything a poetic sort of retribution but still ultimately tragic - because even with Brok's hammer in his possession he will never be able to fight or smith with its owner again.
• At the end of their journey through Helheim, Kratos comes to the revelation that he has been treating Atreus like a child, pushing him to do things the way Kratos wants and ignoring his protests, and that in his attempt to keep his son safe, he has been driving him away. He looks utterly devastated as he explains this, and actually sounds like he's sobbing as he asks for his son's forgiveness.
• Angrboda being subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse and threats from her grandmother Grýla for helping Atreus destroy the soul-stealing pot to hopefully break said grandmother's addiction. The poor girl struggles to keep her composure as she walks out and experiences every single word, looking as if she's being physically struck.
• While in Ironwood, Atreus sees the mural that depicts him going to Odin's side and his father dying at Thor's hands. Horrified and angry at this, he transforms into a wolf and begins clawing and scratching at it until Angrboda calms him down. After he turns back, he shouts that it can't end that way, but Angrboda says it's going to happen either way and he should just accept it. Upon realizing she said the wrong thing, she quickly appologizes.
• Kratos and Odin's confrontation in the Dwarven village after Draupnir's forging ends with Odin angrily and cruelly accusing Kratos of not actually caring about mortals, of never being truly worshipped or loved because he's just a monster that always kills no matter what he says about wanting to change. It clearly cuts Kratos deep, hitting straight at his worst fears and self-hatred about what he used to be. And it's even worse when you notice that it's the exact same sort of thing Odin says regularly to Thor, his own son.
• Following his "conversation" with Odin in Svartalfheim, Kratos looks exhausted after returning to the treehouse, simply leaving Mimir behind on the dining table and just dropping armor and weapons once he enters his room. The player can see how utterly close to tears he is while holding the bag that once held Faye's ashes, refusing to cry before he falls asleep. This leads to his second flashback to his time with Faye, set shortly after Atreus' birth. Faye tries to get him to open up and talk to his infant son, only for Kratos to mutter that Atreus would be better off without him or at least not knowing anything about him, which is implied to be the real reason he kept his past hidden from Atreus prior to the events of the previous game. His self-loathing runs deep.
• While the majority of Odin's family are undeniable jerks in their own way, it's really sad to see that they're this way because of Odin's abuse. In the previous game, we only heard secondhand accounts of Odin's true colors from Freya, Mimir, and Baldur, but this game shows that Odin is much worse than their accounts had relayed.
  • Odin constantly belittles and verbally abuses Thor, viewing him as nothing more than The Brute and his main enforcer, despite Thor's obvious guilt over his genocide of the Giants and descent into depression and alcoholism with the death of his sons. Odin more or less tells him to get over it and carry out what he wants.
    Atreus: Thor was really great. I learned a lot from him.
    Odin: You learned something from him? Really now? Heheheh. Okay. What did you teach the kid?
    Thor: ...Nothing. What could I possibly teach him?
    Odin: Exactly.
    • The reason why they have such a relationship surely counts. Thor’s mother, a Jötnar called Fjörgyn, was described by Mimir as one of Odin's great loves. He genuinely loved her and felt happy enough that he was devastated with grief after her death, to the point that Mimir (who doesn't ever hesitate to call Odin out on his many atrocities) actually defends him against the idea that he secretly had her killed. One of the lore markers implies that Thor is responsible for her death, but never describes how or why it happened. One can assume that Odin’s abuse is his way of blaming his son for it, while Thor’s acceptance of his abuse is because he believes he deserves it.
  • At one point, Odin praises himself and Atreus as a "good damn team" to Thor. Thor only bitterly responds in a way that suggests Odin described himself and Baldur in the exact same way. His tone of voice makes it rather clear that despite regarding Kratos as Baldur's killer, it's Odin that he holds responsible for sending him to his doom.
  • Freya provides more insight into Odin's relationship with Baldur, and tells Kratos and Mimir that Baldur desperately wanted Odin's love and approval, but never received it, and Odin tried to purposefully drive a wedge between mother and son during their marriage.
  • It's not spelled out in-game but combined with Odin's parenting and his abilities of foresight, it's hardly a surprise why Jerkass Heimdall is the way he is. Thor and Baldur were mentioned as being deprived of Odin's love when they were young and used merely as tools for the Allfather, while Heimdall's prideful and arrogant nature may reflect a different method of coping.
• When Kratos and Freya go to see the Norns, Verðandi delivers some epic The Reason You Suck Speeches to them and Mimir, showing them visions that expose their fears, regrets and failings.
  • To Freya they show a vision of Baldur and herself, as Frigg, who screams that she'll let no one touch her son before killing Baldur herself rather than let Freya approach him, highlighting the hypocrisy inherent to Freya trying to safeguard Baldur from all harm while disregarding how that very protection harms his life.
    Verðandi: Freya of the Vanir! Master of Magics. Queen of the Valkyries. Witch of the Woods. Frigg of Asgard. Destroyer of all she would hope to protect. (chuckles) She always finds somebody to blame. She cannot change.
  • To Mimir they show Sigrun verbally tearing him apart for his service to Odin, and Oberon before him, pointing out how he turned a blind eye to the abuses the innocent suffered under the tyrants he served in favor of trying to curry favor with them, right up until he himself became a victim.
    Verðandi: Mimir of the Aesir!
    Mimir: Ach, here we go...
    Verðandi: Counsellor to Kings. Merry Wanderer of the Woods. Robin of the Goodfellows...
    Mimir: Let me guess—I'm a long-winded know-it-all and I cannot change? See? You forgot "Smartest Man Alive!"
  • To Kratos they show Atreus fleeing from him in terrified horror of his past sins, right into Odin's open arms as he pleas for him to save him from Kratos. Pointing out how Kratos's unresolved tension over his Dark and Troubled Past and his inability to find common ground with his son has driven a rift between them, and threatens to take away his newfound family. Verðandi especially taunts Kratos with the mess of his past sins, in a truly haunting fashion that also echoes what Athena's ghost says to him as he retrieves the Blades of Chaos in the previous story...
    Verðandi: Kratos. Ghost of Sparta. Bane of Olympus. Destroyer of Fate. Cruel Striker. Bringer of War. Weapon of the gods, turned against his creators. He chases a redemption he knows he can never deserve. He cannot change.
• The night before Ragnarok, Atreus goes to Kratos' tent, unable to sleep due to the stress of recent events and the war tomorrow. Kratos comforts his son telling him a story (which he has become good at since the last game), with Atreus making him promise to "finish his story in the morning" should he fall asleep during it. Kratos tells him about a man who grows old chopping logs and carrying them for his village, until one day he finds himself too old to bear their weight and casts them down, with Death responding to his call to come take him. He stops at this point, realizing Atreus has fallen asleep. The entire scene turns into a multi-level red flag that Kratos will "finish his story in the morning" by dying in Ragnarok, as he is meant to.
  • The entire time he is speaking, Kratos has a growing look of pain, seeming older and more burdened than ever. Kratos looks down at his peacefully sleeping son with a forlorn expression of love and deep sorrow, realizing this will be their last day together as Kratos is about to meet his fate, by dying to encourage his son's destiny, as per the Prophecy of the giants and the Norn Sisters' foresight with Kratos terrified for his son and what fate has in store for him after he is gone.
  • Following the destruction of Asgard, Kratos keeps his promise to Atreus and finishes the story. When Death arrived, he asked why the old man called him, to which the old man reconsiders his request and asks Death to help move the logs onto his back again so that he may continue his journey.
• Despite everything he's done, Odin is oddly pitiable in his final moments. As he lays dying, he raves about Atreus "ruining everything", prompting Atreus to shout that everything that's gone wrong in the Nine Realms was solely because of Odin and his choices. He practically begs Odin to let go of his obsession with knowing every secret, trying to call on the bond they formed when Odin was disguising himself as Tyr, but Odin sadly admits that he simply cannot stop himself from seeking answers. Left with no other option, Atreus sadly imprisons Odin's soul into a soulstone, which is then promptly destroyed by Sindri in revenge for Brok's murder.
  Odin: We could have made the Nine Realms better! We could have fixed everything!
  Atreus: This was never about the Realms or me! It was about you!
  Odin: You've destroyed everything... my home! My family! My kingdom!
  Atreus: YOU did those things! YOUR choices! You killed your own son!
  Odin: It wasn’t my choice, I had no choice...
  Atreus: There's always a choice! You have to stop. You can choose to be better.
  Odin: ...No, I can't. I have to know what happens next. I... will never stop.
  Atreus: ...Why'd you have to say that?
• After Odin is finally defeated, a transformed Surtr appears to close out Ragnarok by driving his blade into Asgard, unaware that Kratos, Atreus and Freya are still in the blast zone. Freyr gives his life to hold back Surtur's blade long enough for the trio to escape. Freya had only just reconciled with her brother, and how she's lost him as well as her only son.
• Surtr unwilling to go through with Ragnarok, knowing he's destined for it, on the basis that it will kill his love, Sinmara, as well. When Kratos and Atreus try to persuade him, Surtr counters back saying he isn't willing to sacrifice his loved one anymore than Kratos is willing to sacrifice Atreus, which was enough to convince Kratos that it was impossible to argue that. Only when Surtr sees that Kratos' blades has given him another option for the plan does he go through, on the condition that Sinmara is kept out of it.
• Post-game, you have the option to visit Sinmara's realm. Once you reach this cold, desolate area, you will hear the wail of anguish of Sinmara. She knows exactly what has happened to Surtr, her love, and she falls in inconsolable depression. Surtr did what he had to in order to make sure Sinmara lives on, but it's left her a wreck.
• One would think that Freya, even in her quest for revenge, was still keeping watch over Chaurli, the turtle/tree/house she lived in. No. Atreus finds him almost frozen to death and barely had strength to stand for Atreus to enter the household and help. When Freya herself arrives, she apologizes to him for neglecting him for three years because of her need for vengeance.
• When Atreus runs away to Asgard, Kratos goes to his room and takes off his armor and sits on his bed, and he looks so lost, tired and old, his own motivation throughout the game was to keep Atreus away from the Aesir, and their arguments drove him straight to them, Kratos looks ready to just give up there and then.
• The above is made worse due to Dramatic Irony. Atreus is going to Asgard because he found out in Ironwood that Kratos is fated to die in Atreus' arms with Atreus joining Odin afterwards. And he can't reveal any of this because he promised Angrboda that he would keep Ironwood a secret. Atreus just wants to find a way to save his father, but in doing so he's driving a wedge between them.
• The death of Gná, Odin's Valkyrie Queen. Freya begged and pleaded to her to let go of her hatred towards her after she was defeated. But Gná simply replied "Finish it..." and so Freya did with one clean slash to her neck.
  • Gná's resentment towards her former Queen runs deep as read in her journal. She hates Freya for never taking responsibility for all the misfortunes in her life and playing the victim in all of it; from her falling out with Freyr, her exile, and her son's death by Kratos's hands. Although she is blinded by anger, her notions are not entirely biased.
• While Sif and Thor were hardly perfect parents in regards to raising Magni and Modi, it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking when Sif wistfully reminisces about the fond memories they made with their sons.
  Sif: Magni. Modi. Our boys... We used to tell them stories by the fire. Do you remember? We would carve those wooden horses. We would play and laugh until the sun sank and they fell asleep in our laps.
• Odin's abuse of Thor actually recontextualizes the competition between Magni and Modi for Thor's weapon. If Thor and Sif were truly aware of Odin's callousness before their deaths, then it's possible that Thor was trying to retire peacefully from being Odin's enforcer by putting either Magni or Modi in line to succeed him. Instead, Magni and Modi are slain and Thor is now trapped with Odin and he is fully aware of how much a monster he's become.
• In the post game you can find the real Týr in Niflheim, the destruction of Asgard freeing him from his imprisonment. Although the guy seems relatively well-adjusted for someone who has spent decades, if not centuries locked up, he's obviously shaken up.
• In a desperate bid to resist the Aesir invasion, many Vanir turned to Seiðr magic, becoming the twisted monsters now known as Reavers. Their camps often contain Lore Markers; while some of them try to justify their choice and denigrate their former brethren as cowards and weaklings, some express regret and beg whoever finds them to put them down for good. One in particular says just one thing, over and over: "I'm sorry".
• Just look at Kratos when he sees the future part of his own shrine, the one that depicts him as a god being worshiped and revered by people, much like how the Spartans did before they all perished. To see that despite it all, Odin was wrong and that people will worship and love him, he trembles with shock and looks like he's about to cry right then and there. Luckily for him, he'll have friends by his side who will help him reach this future.

Valhalla DLC

• The DLC as a whole is a huge callback to the Greek era of God of War that also serves to remind Kratos of his brutal past as Ares' personal lap dog and later the new God of War. It's obvious from the get-go that Kratos does not appreciate the trip down memory lane as he's confronted with all the evils he's committed from back then, either in Ares' name or in his own, and causes him to doubt whether he really can be a good God for once and leave his bloody past behind him.
• One of the collectibles in the DLC is Calliope's flute. When Kratos mentions how he carved the flute for her and how it reminds him of the past, Mimir immediately assumes he's talking about how Kratos was tricked into killing his wife and daughter. Kratos corrects him; the flute reminds him of the time when he saw his daughter in the Fields of Elysium and how it was a cruel trick of the gods, not because it wasn't her but because it was her, and said trick was a Sadistic Choice by Persephone; either he stayed in Elysium with Calliope while she destroyed all of creation or Kratos leaves Calliope behind, possibly forever. In repeated runs when he finds her flute, Kratos also mentions how he would have gladly spent even more decades wandering after the fall of Greece just to spend a few more hours with his daughter in Elysium. It wasn't until meeting Faye that he stopped wondering what he could have done differently and hopes his daughter is at peace in Elysium.
• Another collectible is the key that Kratos got off the Boat Captain all the way back in the first game. Kratos once again reflects on that man, what was once a wonderful Black Humor joke has now become something Kratos looks back on with disgust and bitterness, directed at his senseless cruelty not unlike the Olympian Pantheon. And that's why The Captain's death has still haunted him even after all this time and even after he killed many mortals after him. Because he was just some random, innocent man who had never done anything to Kratos and saving him would've cost Kratos literally nothing, but Kratos callously dropped him to his death anyways out of nothing but petty sadism.
  Mimir: Brother, you've told me before about all the mortals you've killed when in the gods' service. What is it about this Boat Captain...?
  Kratos: It would have cost me nothing to show him mercy. His life was in my hands. To be so casually cruel, I... This man did nothing to me. And I treated his life as nothing. He was not a god who'd manipulated me, nor bound me in service. I...can not hide behind my thirst for revenge. He was just a man afraid for his life; attacked and swallowed by a monster he had no hope of defeating. But the hydra was just an animal. I showed him what a true monster looked like.
• Another collectible is a necklace belonging to Lysandra, Kratos' first wife. He admits to Mimir that his feelings for her are complicated, which confuses Mimir initially. Kratos later explains that it's because she was a good wife...but he was not a good husband. He had placed his military responsibilities above her needs, brushed off and dismissed her attempts to advise him, and frequently left her alone back home. So whenever he thinks of Lysandra, all he's reminded of is his failures. Kratos says that while it took her death for him to realize what he had taken for granted, he had loved her dearly, more than she even realized, but it's this love that makes him admonish himself, mournfully stating that she deserved a better husband than him.
• Another collectible is a statue of Pandora. Kratos acknowledges that she reminded him of Calliope, that she was innocent and regrets using her against Zeus.
  • One small detail is that Hephaestus' name is never spoken outloud, he is only referred to as "The Blacksmith" in speech though the journal entry on the statue does mention him by name. It seems Kratos does feel immense guilt about ending his life, especially since all he did to oppose Kratos was to protect Pandora from him to use against Zeus.
• The manifestation of Helios spends the entire DLC tormenting Kratos with memories of all his wrongdoings, taking time to point out pretty much each and every sin on his hands and the horrible consequences of his actions in Greece. While Kratos tries to act unmoved by the taunting, it's clear that each word is like another knife in the back. At one point, he works up the nerve to try and apologize for killing Helios, admitting that it was wrong, only for the god to venomously demand that he never try that again, a clear reflection of what Kratos believes everyone thinks of him: that he is Beyond Redemption.
  • Even more tragic being the implications that Helios here is the personification of Kratos' self-hatred, and all his intrusive negative thoughts about his destructive past and his desire to move on and redeem himself from it. Manifested in Valhalla as the severed head of the only god to actually help Kratos because he could, only for Kratos to have later "rewarded" him for his selfless act by killing him without hesitation because Kratos believed he needed his power.
• All of the new lore entries are written by Kratos instead of Atreus, with many of them addressing the latter directly... and many of them make it clear that as much as he supports his son's decision to strike out on his own and explore the world, Kratos deeply misses Atreus, and it's hard not to feel the same while fighting alone through so many grueling battles.
  • Comments by Mimir also suggest that Kratos was suffering from empty nest syndrome before he got the invitation to Valhalla. With no battles and no Atreus to look out for, Kratos was utterly directionless. No wonder he took Týr up on his invitation so readily.
• The new codex entires also expand on the lore on the monsters Kratos fought back in Greece which had previously gone unremarked upon, painting them in a new light.
  • The Cyclops were once simple island shepherds that were enslaved during the first Titan War for their strength, a role they were continually exploited for long after it ended.
  • Not all Centaur's were violent beasts, some were originally peaceful winemakers and poets who reluctantly took up arms to protect their lands from invasion, and were from then on sought out for the talent they displayed in doing so.
  • Kratos writes that Wraiths are the disembodied souls of those who went unburied, or were buried improperly, leaving them trapped in anguish between life and death. It's any wonder they are so aggressive in battle.
• One entry for the Troll, while it starts out funny, has Kratos muse on why it was that troll in particular. As it was encountered in Svartalfheim, Kratos suspects that Valhalla is pulling from his memory of rescuing Odin-as-Tyr, and with it Odin's killing of Brok. He even ends the entry by saying that he keenly feels Brok's absence as much as he does Atreus's.
• A comment from Mimir makes Odin's death far more tragic and pointless. In the DLC, Mimir reveals that Odin never actually made Valhalla, it existed long before he did. Meaning that Odin would have likely gone to Valhalla when he died, had Sindri not destroyed his soul. Odin's belief in his superiority over everyone else suggests that Odin was under the delusion that he was destined to have a different afterlife from everyone else, simply because he was "above" the common people. He sacrificed so many people and members of his own family for answers he already knew but was simply too arrogant to accept.