Ragnarok begins(?)

Almost two years after its release in 2018, God of War becomes a hot topic one more time with the recent announcement of the new PS5 release this year 2020. Lots of GoW fans hope Santa Monica Studio will surprise them with a new sequel of Kratos in the Norse world.

We must recall that the game ended in Fimbulvetr, a three-year winter that marks the commencement of Ragnarok. If this happens to be true, there are some things players might expect from this new sequel. Ragnarok, in the Norse mythology, is the final battle between Aesir gods (divine forces that sustain the cosmic order) led by Odin against fire giants (divine forces of chaos and destruction) and the jotuns led by Loki.

Let’s start with the gods.

Firstly, Kratos and Atreus will not stay peacefully for too long in their cottage in Midgard. After Magni’s and Modi’s death, it’s likely that Thor, the almighty god of thunder, will come after Kratos seeking vengeance, as shown in the video above. This cut scene represents a dream of Atreus. We can see Thor holding his hammer called Mjolnir, which was crafted by Brok and Sindri (the dwarf brothers that help Kratos enhace his Leviathan throughout the game). Since the video is not an official trailer, we don’t know if Thor will be on his own or with Odin, his father and king of Norse gods. With his son and grandchildren dead, does he need more reasons to chop the head off of Kratos? I don’t think so. With Odin in the picture, we can expect to see again the valkyries, the female servants of Odin. From the valkyries we battled in the game, Geirdriful is the most feared. The very Mimir stated that she is the master of arms in Valhalla and responsible for arming Odin's einherjar (army). Just imagine what a tough encounter awaits Kratos and Atreus.

Vidar (god of justice and son of Odin). Also known as the silent god, this god plays an important role in Ragnarok. This mighty character is destined to kill Fernir (a giant wolf) after he witnessess how it devours his father Odin. It is believed he is one of the few survivors of this catastrophic event. Being half god and half giant (from his mother), Vidar has an incredible force. He is the strongest among the gods after Thor.

Another character eager to kill Kratos is Freya. She will undoubtedly go after him to avenge Baldur’s death (her son). In the final battle, she promised to bring pain to Kratos and Atreus for killing Baldur even though they protected her from Baldur's resentment. Would she consider joining his husband Odin to carry out her revenge? Considering that they have an enmity, Freya might call her brother Frey, leader of the light elves in Alfheim to confront Kratos. But this is not sure since Kratos set the light elves free after defeating the dark elves in the game. There’s no evidence of Frey in the game so his appearance in the new sequel is not assured.

While she was never mentioned in the game, it may be possible she survived Aesir's genocide since she is inmortal by nature. With Kratos killing the bridge keeper, entering her realm and leaving twice, would she take it as an umbrage and try to kill him?

By the way, Hela isn't that enormous eagle shown in the picture. It's Hraesvelgr, a giant that guards Helheim and provokes freezing blizzards. There's no interaction with it during the game and it does not seem to be a future threat.

At this point you may think how fucked up Kratos is with so many enemies. But the truth is that he might find some allies when Ragnarök begins. Not necessarily by his side but on their own, these allies are the giants and other characters he ‘helped’ along the journey like the dragon he set free.

In Muspelheim, the giant Surtr might weild the fire sword from the realm of fire and attack Asgard during Ragnarök. This giant did not appear in the game, but his hatred towards the Aesir might result useful.

The wolf giants chase the sun and moon to immerse the world in absolute darkness and mark the onset of Ragnarok. As the myth relates, Odin captured them when they were pups to control over Ragnarok. Ironically, the very Odin cast the two wolves to the heavens to start chasing the sun and moon.

Putting the gods and giants aside, Kratos might get to travel to the unexplored realms such as Vanaheim, the home of the Vanirs. They are specialized in sorcery and magic, Svartalheim, the realm of dwarves and dark elves. Odin sealed the access to this place to prevent a collusion between dwarves and Vanirs. Also, Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods. I believe most epic encounters will take place here.

Most of the factors surrounding Ragnarok are because of Odin's obsession. The king of gods has a vision about the end of the Aesir gods. Ironically, he gathers all the facts for this event to begin.

Another scene that we will be able to see is how Kratos and Faye met. But most importantly, how Kratos got to the Nordic lands.

There are more characters that I've decided not to name since they don't have much to do with the Ragnarok or there just isn't much information about them, just fake stories.All these speculations are similar to the end of god of war 3, where Kratos along with the titants killed the gods of Olympus. It is up to the reader to come up with their own conclusions from the possible next game.