Editor‘s note: This article contains massive story spoilers for the ending events of God of War Ragnarök. Proceed at your own risk!
As a passionate God of War fan who has eagerly played through all the games, the release of Ragnarök has been the gaming event of the year for me. And judging by review scores averaging around 94% and explosive sales already topping 5.1 million copies globally, many PlayStation gamers agree!
After sinking dozens of hours into traversing the epic Norse worlds and soaking up the incredible action scenes, I‘ve finally witnessed Kratos and Atreus‘ emotionally charged story reach its intense climax. While the ending provides closure for the Norse saga, it also sparks many questions about where the series goes next following Kratos‘ cryptic final vision.
Read on for my comprehensive breakdown and gamer perspective on the God of War Ragnarök ending – from the fall of Asgard to decoding Kratos‘ last mural. I‘ll analyze what it all means and speculate on how future installments could continue the franchise‘s themes of fate and destiny. Beware – massive spoilers ahead!
Recapping God of War (2018)
To properly set the stage, first a quick recap. In the 2018 franchise revival, Kratos has fled wrecked Greece to start life anew in the Norse wilds with his young son Atreus (and later revealed to be Loki). After the passing of Atreus‘ mother Faye, they set out to fulfill her dying wish to spread her ashes atop the mythical Jötunheim peak.
Early bumps in their father-son bonding time arise when the god Baldur attacks them, driven by an implacable quest for vengeance. Further tensions flare due to Atreus struggling with his burgeoning giant heritage and nascent magical talents. But gradually, through tribulation and trust they grow closer.
The pair ascend the legendary mountain only to learn some startling revelations. It turns out Faye was a Giant herself, possessing foreknowledge of Kratos and Atreus‘ predestined journey. Ominously, a mural depicts Kratos perishing – seemingly accelerated by their confrontation with Baldur. This underscores a core theme: despite wishful hopes, can destiny ever truly be cheated?
Kratos kills Baldur in yet another unnecessary cycle of violence. And shocking all, the World Serpent addresses Atreus as though familiar with him. The young boy realizes through this and his emerging shape-changing skills that he is the Loki fated to ultimate treachery in Norse myth.
This ending cliffhanger showed Kratos and Atreus facing Thor after triggering the prophesied Fimbulwinter. Where would fate guide the duo next? Let‘s dive in!
Journeying Through the Realms
Picking right up, Fimbulwinter still grips Midgard three years later. Kratos stubbornly insists they chart their own path, but Atreus feels compelled to better understand the Ragnarök prophecy and his role as Loki. This sparks rising tension between them over fate versus free will.
Unknown to his father, Atreus liberates the slumbering wolf god Fenrir as part of grasping his capabilities. But this catastrophically accelerates Surtr‘s fiery awakening and the prophesied destruction of Asgard. Despite this evidence of inexorable fate, Atreus‘ faith in destiny begins to crack after his naïve meddling nearly gets them killed.
The estranged father and son cautiously reconcile. They realize that whether or not doom can be circumvented, the best path forward is to tackle problems together without secrets dividing them. Both their Greek and Norse sagas have painfully demonstrated the perils of mistrust and isolation.
United with renewed mutual understanding, Kratos and Atreus journey across the realms gathering allies and equipment to reach Asgard and confront the warmongering Allfather Odin himself. Atreus hopes they can somehow reason with Odin to prevent Ragnarok and prove that destiny allows some room for free choice. Having warred as ruthlessly as Odin in his youth, part of Kratos wonders if cycles of destruction can ever be broken. Their faith in each other remains unshaken.
The Fall of Asgard
In epic battles the duo fights through enemies across crumbling terrain amidst the fiery chaos. Surtr awakens at long last, cleaving the Bifrost and seemingly heralding Ragnarök as myth foretold.
Yet glimmers of hope shine through. In a surprisingly poignant scene, Thor – brute enforcer of Odin‘s schemes, battles Kratos in a cave amid the collateral damage. Rather than further perpetuate the cycle of vengeance, Kratos makes an impassioned appeal that they should avoid viewing their families as mere extensions of themselves and legacy.
In response, Thor chooses mercy and stands down. He reflects on his past arrogance and resolves not to let his daughter suffer from Odin‘s endless warmongering as he once did. They share a quiet moment of mutual understanding between two weathered survivors, neither having had strong paternal role models themselves.
Despite Thor‘s commendable about-face, Odin murders him in a rage upon learning of his "weakness." Finally father and son confront Odin atop what remains of Asgard for a final reckoning. They emerge bloodied but victorious, refusing the tyrant‘s imperative to endless war.
Yet Atreus again shows mercy, offering clemency if Odin yields. But the bitter Allfather refuses to the end. Having passed the point of redemption long ago, Atreus regretfully uses his magic to immobilize Odin‘s essence in a stone talisman – neutralizing this threat to the realms for good.
Ragnarök continues burning Asgard to ash regardless, appearing to render questions of destiny moot. But Atreus remains quietly hopeful as Surtr‘s fires clear the slate for new life and free will to once more thrive across the realms. The friendsescape safely home, culminating in emotional farewells to fallen comrades like Mimir.
The Parting of Ways
With Ragnarök subsiding, Atreus reveals to Kratos that he feels called to search the reshaped worlds for any remaining scattered giants. He hopes to learn more of his unique mixed heritage and projected messianic role now that the restrictive tyranny of Asgard has lifted. Despite understandable heavy hearts over saying temporary goodbyes, father and son share an emotionally resonant moment before Atreus‘ solo departure.
"If it frightens you, it is because you must do it," Kratos counsels. His own solitary path of generations prior indeed began with a terror-stricken oath to the gods. Atreus must walk unaided at times to fully come into his own skin without parental shadows clouding the way. Fatherhood now demands putting aside possessiveness and comfort for the child‘s growth beyond that role.
Their farewell contains unspoken faith that they will reunite again down the road on more equal terms when Atreus has completed his pilgrimage. Kratos‘ advice to avoid only perpetuating war‘s cycles further cements that this new God of War generation can learn from past sins. Though with fate, nothing is guaranteed.
Kratos‘ Secret Mural
After his son departs to live out the call of destiny solo, Kratos makes his way up an arduous snow-capped peak back in Midgard. He stumbles upon a hidden chamber within featuring another series of mysterious murals left by his late wife Faye.
The sprawling artwork chronicles Kratos‘ younger years, journeying across the realms from Greece to Norway following paths and duties preordained. Despite fleeing the destroyed Greek pantheon to shed his bloody reputation, conflict managed to follow the stoic warrior regardless.
The final mural panel depicts white-bearded Kratos standing firm and vigilant atop a mountain, Leviathan Axe in hand. Below kneel shield-bearing warriors resembling Vikings, seemingly paying homage to the wizened Guardian of the Realms.
Unlike Faye‘s original foreboding prophecy that Kratos explicitly dies, this secret follow-up shows him enduring into new eras. His continued influence promises to reshape Norse descendants‘ conceptions of the abandoned Asgardian gods. Indeed later Viking lore labeled Kratos as a foreign folk hero: Vafþrúðnir.
What this cryptic finale means remains ambiguous. Atreus may rejoin Kratos down the line per Atreus‘ quest results. Regardless, it suggests the Ghost of Sparta still has mighty labors ahead. Whether as mentor, leader, or North Star, Kratos evidently has enough fight left to shepherd another brace of mortal charges – hopefully toward more enlightened paths.
Open Questions
Unlike the clear-cut closure of past myth arcs, Ragnarök‘s ending intriguingly raises new story avenues:
- Will Atreus discover friendly allied giants in the reshaped worlds? Could lost knowledge emerge?
- Does Atreus‘ solo journey set the stage for sequels starring him as lead protagonist?
- What specifically are the identities of the mystery women referenced in the secret ending scene?
- Could they relate to the Egyptian pantheon that‘s long been heavily rumored as the next spinoff location?
- Is Kratos immortal enough to eventually appear as an aged sage figure advising Atreus as foreshadowed on the mural? Talk about Batesian mimicry!
- Could the ending‘s ambiguity allow for diverging paths in sequels or prequels?
- Who precisely are the Nordic warriors kneeling before Kratos on the mountainside, and why reverent toward a foreign god?
Numerous fertile story seeds for developers to draw upon in future franchise branches!
The Significance of Accepting Fate‘s Burden
A core theme across the last two games has been Kratos grappling with the oppressive weight of fate and struggling to accept boundaries on free will. Haunted by nightmares of callous deeds, he fled Greece and its machinery of prophecy that once mercilessly enslaved him to its will.
By fate or chance, Greece ironically crumbled under Kratos‘ own rage. But rather than achieve closure, his internal turmoil transferred onto the heirs of myth in these northern pagan lands – contaminating them with the erosive curses of the Greek pantheon he twice destroyed.
Through this latest extremely bloody chapter, Kratos appears to acknowledge that certain prophetic architecture exists woven into the realms regardless of mortal frailties or blustering defiance. Nature contains self-sustaining cycles of creation and entropy eternally recycling to new forms. As phenomenon personified, so too must the gods incarnate these patterns, no matter how desperately they rail against it.
Kratos demolished the callous machinery binding Greek gods to fate‘s wheel, yet still spawned collateral tragedies through sheer impulse and denial. Only by embracing the totality of his experiences and role as unwilling avatar of unavoidable change does Kratos‘ outlook show flickers of transcending the pain of pretended control. This manifests in his sage advice toward enemies and Atreus alike about escaping cycles by non-judgemental understanding.
No longer feverishly struggling against the tides but instead harnessing their flux with eyes wide open comes Kratos‘ hard-won redemption. He appears fated to stand astride this turbulent sea as a weathered waypoint guiding lost souls crushed under the waves.
His son Atreus may yet break the fetters forcing bloodshed that Kratos failed to all along. Or Atreus in turn may spawn further unintended turmoil through good intentions gone awry. Certainty remains beyond mortal reach. But for once, after eons of churning wars, the skies stand emptied of hated architects that designed destruction into the universe‘s framework.
With the slate so broadly wiped by Surtr‘s purging flames, all realms now overflow with hitherto unknown promise and peril. Fate‘s loom always weaves unforeseen patterns into its tapestry. But strands already woven cannot unwind, no matter how desperately disentangling hands may claw.
What destiny holds for beloved characters like Kratos and Atreus after Ragnarök‘s resolution is unclear. Perhaps additional installations will strike out in radically unforeseen directions. Yet the enduring hook is that fate allows opportunity for us to rewrite our own futures, however limited. Through that liberating lens, the refreshed God of War universe awaits with renewed potential.
