00:00:00
so the 2018 God of War was all about
00:00:02
themes around personal growth it was
00:00:05
about questions like can this character
00:00:07
grow can Kratos overcome his past sins
00:00:10
to become a better man can he raise his
00:00:13
son to be a better man than he was
00:00:15
Kratos went through so much character
00:00:17
growth and development in the previous
00:00:19
game that a big question I had going
00:00:21
into this new game was is there any
00:00:23
growth left for this character to do in
00:00:26
Ragnarok is his story already complete
00:00:29
the answer to that first question is
00:00:31
mostly no his character doesn't do a lot
00:00:34
more growing in Ragnarok with one major
00:00:37
exception that I'll talk about later
00:00:38
instead Kratos spends the story
00:00:41
fulfilling the growth he's already done
00:00:43
proving that he really has grown by
00:00:45
making better decisions refusing to fall
00:00:48
back into his old ways and also by
00:00:50
serving as a catalyst for positive
00:00:52
growth and change in other characters
00:00:54
lives like Freya and Thor the answer to
00:00:57
that second question is his story
00:00:59
already complete is also no because
00:01:02
ragnarok's story is not about personal
00:01:04
growth instead ragnarok's story focuses
00:01:07
on themes of destiny fate and choice it
00:01:10
deals with questions like do our choices
00:01:13
really matter are our choices
00:01:14
predetermined by our nature can we
00:01:17
overcome our nature to make different
00:01:19
choices Norse mythology is a world
00:01:22
steeped in Prophecy and all the
00:01:24
characters in this game from Kratos to
00:01:27
atreus to Freya to Odin are all obsessed
00:01:31
with it they are constantly fighting
00:01:33
prophecy falling for prophecy struggling
00:01:35
with prophecy by the final climactic
00:01:38
battle for the nine Realms the game ends
00:01:41
up having some really fascinating things
00:01:43
to say about prophecy fate and choice so
00:01:46
let's get into it the setting of the
00:01:48
2018 God of War was fairly dreary Kratos
00:01:51
and atreus were journeying through a
00:01:53
Norse mythology inspired midgard where
00:01:56
almost all humans were dead and all
00:01:58
settlements were in Ruins however in
00:02:00
spite of the Charnel setting the game
00:02:02
still felt really optimistic there was a
00:02:05
lot of humor from the dwarf characters
00:02:06
Brock and syndrie and Freya was a pretty
00:02:09
healthy positive character and Kratos
00:02:11
and atreus were both slowly becoming
00:02:13
better and better people over the course
00:02:15
of the game and while the world was
00:02:17
uninhabited by humans it was very green
00:02:19
and pretty and filled with flourishing
00:02:21
flora and fauna Ragnarok on the other
00:02:24
hand is set in a completely Bleak and
00:02:26
broken World thimble winter has arrived
00:02:29
everything is cold and dead Ragnarok the
00:02:32
end of the world is coming and everyone
00:02:34
knows it there's this undercurrent of
00:02:36
dread throughout the whole plot like
00:02:39
everything you're doing is just taking
00:02:40
you closer and closer to a disaster that
00:02:43
cannot be stopped reflecting this broken
00:02:46
setting all the characters feel broken
00:02:48
too at the start of the game The Once
00:02:50
healthy Freya has completely lost
00:02:53
herself in her search for Revenge when
00:02:55
you rescue tear he is emotionally broken
00:02:58
and incapable of fighting even the
00:03:00
villains feel broken like Thor is this
00:03:02
drunk miserable loser who cannot escape
00:03:05
from beneath the tyrannical thumb of his
00:03:07
father by the end of the game syndry
00:03:09
once a source of comedic relief is as
00:03:12
angry and wretched as the rest of them
00:03:14
even Kratos who went through so much
00:03:16
positive personal growth in the last
00:03:19
game is clearly still burdened by his
00:03:21
past sins and anxiety for the future
00:03:23
also a side note it's really interesting
00:03:25
to me how both Freya and Thor have
00:03:28
become foils to Kratos in this new game
00:03:30
or have both sort of become Kratos
00:03:33
previously Kratos was a man who was
00:03:35
driven by nothing but anger and revenge
00:03:37
against someone who had hurt his family
00:03:39
and now that's exactly who Freya and
00:03:41
Thor have become at the start of
00:03:43
Ragnarok Kratos has killed their
00:03:45
children and now their lives are
00:03:47
consumed by that same search for
00:03:49
vengeance but back to the main analysis
00:03:51
all of these characters are deeply
00:03:53
wounded as gods they have lived very
00:03:55
long lives in those long lives have been
00:03:57
hard full of mistakes and they are ever
00:03:59
haunted by those past mistakes in the
00:04:02
middle of all these miserable adults is
00:04:04
atreus a child just trying to find his
00:04:07
way looking for his part in all this
00:04:09
searching for his Destiny to find
00:04:11
something that matters some meaningful
00:04:14
work he can do the early hours of this
00:04:16
game felt suffocating to me and I felt
00:04:19
really sorry for atreus this poor kid is
00:04:21
surrounded on all sides by these adults
00:04:24
who have lived for so long and are so
00:04:27
overwhelmed by their wounds when does he
00:04:30
ever get to just be a kid have fun have
00:04:32
some little joy in his life make his own
00:04:35
mistakes out from under the eye of all
00:04:38
these miserable adults about a third of
00:04:41
the way through I got my wish when atres
00:04:43
meets anger Boda a giant who is about
00:04:46
his age this brief section of the game
00:04:48
is full of light and fun for the first
00:04:51
time this kid is getting to hang out
00:04:53
with another kid to have fun to be silly
00:04:56
it's such a breath of fresh air in shows
00:04:59
by contrast asked what atreus's life has
00:05:01
lacked up to this point as for all those
00:05:03
miserable adults he left behind as I
00:05:06
mentioned earlier Kratos himself doesn't
00:05:08
go through a lot of new personal growth
00:05:10
in Ragnarok but he does fulfill the
00:05:12
promise of his previous growth by
00:05:14
serving as a sort of emotional Catalyst
00:05:17
for other characters a source of
00:05:18
positive change in their lives you can
00:05:21
see this happen three times over the
00:05:23
course of the game first Kratos heals
00:05:25
the rift between himself and Freya he
00:05:28
does this by being honest with her being
00:05:29
genuine by listening to her taking her
00:05:32
problems seriously by admitting to fault
00:05:35
in short by being a good person by being
00:05:38
the man that the Journey of the previous
00:05:40
game made him into second is with Brock
00:05:43
it turns out that Brock died once and
00:05:46
cindery brought him back to life but
00:05:48
missing a part of his soul and then lied
00:05:50
about it it's kind of a crazy side plot
00:05:52
the reveal of this lie almost leads to
00:05:54
Brock and cindery's relationship
00:05:56
breaking apart again but Kratos is able
00:05:58
to stop that conflict looked before it
00:06:00
even begins he accomplishes this mostly
00:06:03
by being a really freaking nice guy
00:06:06
there's this genuinely beautiful moment
00:06:09
where Brock is feeling down about
00:06:11
missing a part of his soul and being
00:06:13
lied to by someone he trusted and Kratos
00:06:16
lifts his Spirit by telling him his cool
00:06:18
new spear needs the blessing of a truly
00:06:21
great blacksmith and Brock has the
00:06:23
nature of a truly great artist no matter
00:06:26
what he thinks he's missing and gosh I'm
00:06:29
tearing up just watching the scene again
00:06:31
it needs the blessing of a great
00:06:33
blacksmith what
00:06:37
no no I can't bless [ __ ]
00:06:41
I don't have all my soul [ __ ] the
00:06:44
blessing wouldn't mean squat it is the
00:06:47
nature of a thing that matters
00:06:50
not it's for
00:06:52
[Music]
00:06:58
all right
00:06:59
[Music]
00:07:06
made this weapon strike true
00:07:10
may it be wielded with wisdom
00:07:14
may it be put down when its job is done
00:07:22
[Music]
00:07:26
it's amazing that this is the same
00:07:28
Kratos that callously murdered all those
00:07:31
people in the original trilogy the
00:07:33
growth he has gone through is incredible
00:07:35
during this side plot there's also a lot
00:07:37
of talk about the difference between a
00:07:39
person's form and their nature which
00:07:41
turns out to be a very important theme
00:07:43
in the story but I'm going to discuss
00:07:45
more of that in a bit the third time
00:07:48
Kratos serves as a catalyst for another
00:07:50
character's growth is towards the end of
00:07:52
the game during his battle with Thor I
00:07:54
expect most fans of the series were
00:07:56
surprised by the portrayal of Thor in
00:07:59
this game I think I'm speaking for a lot
00:08:01
of people when I say one of the things I
00:08:03
was most looking forward to in this new
00:08:05
game was the battle between Kratos and
00:08:07
Thor in the God of War series the
00:08:09
battles between Kratos and the gods have
00:08:12
always been awesome brutal and crazy and
00:08:16
I expected this fight with Thor to be
00:08:17
among the best however at the end of the
00:08:20
game when I actually reached this
00:08:22
confrontation I realized that I didn't
00:08:24
want it to happen at all anymore more
00:08:26
and that's because of how much the
00:08:28
writer's humanized Thor in this game in
00:08:30
God of War the gods are almost always
00:08:32
arrogant selfish [ __ ] and when they
00:08:35
get brutally stomped on by Kratos you
00:08:38
never really feel that bad about it even
00:08:40
when Kratos killed Hera or atreus killed
00:08:43
Modi in previous games which were pretty
00:08:46
unjustified killings those gods were so
00:08:49
obnoxious that I couldn't be that upset
00:08:51
about it however by the end of Ragnarok
00:08:53
you've spent a lot of time with Thor and
00:08:56
more importantly his family he has a
00:08:58
wife and daughter who care about him he
00:09:00
has personal demons that he is trying to
00:09:03
overcome even if he's failing you can
00:09:05
see over the course of the game that
00:09:07
just like Kratos before Thor could
00:09:10
choose to be a better man than he is the
00:09:12
potential is there by the end of the
00:09:15
game you don't want Thor to die you want
00:09:18
him to choose to be a better father to
00:09:20
his daughter
00:09:22
I know you're disappointed
00:09:26
disappointed no no no no that was a
00:09:29
glorious fight
00:09:35
you can't even say you're sorry this
00:09:37
time can you is what's one more broken
00:09:39
promise
00:09:46
grandfather treated you like crap
00:09:49
you were struggling I get it
00:09:53
but you can't just
00:09:55
thank you
00:10:05
we're here for you
00:10:08
[Music]
00:10:11
mom and I
00:10:13
are here for you
00:10:15
even when you're here
00:10:21
we love you you know that
00:10:28
I just thought this was behind us
00:10:33
I [ __ ] up
00:10:37
yeah you [ __ ] up
00:10:43
and at the end of the game after their
00:10:45
fight Kratos does manage to convince him
00:10:48
to start on that New Path and it feels
00:10:50
like such a victory it doesn't work of
00:10:53
course because Odin freaking murders him
00:10:55
right afterwards like seriously [ __ ]
00:10:58
this guy anyway back to atreus and anger
00:11:00
Boda unfortunately atreus's time with
00:11:03
anger Boda is spoiled by a prophecy she
00:11:06
reveals to him concerning his fate the
00:11:08
Giants have prophesied that atreus will
00:11:10
go on to serve the evil tyrannical Odin
00:11:13
and then his father will die atreus is
00:11:16
understandably upset and vows to fight
00:11:18
the prophecy anger Boda tells him not to
00:11:21
bother she says it's easier to accept
00:11:23
his fate and enjoy the time he has now
00:11:25
she implies that no matter what he does
00:11:27
fate is rigid Destiny is absolute and
00:11:30
those prophecies will come true whether
00:11:32
he believes it or not interestingly
00:11:34
anger Boda has her own struggles with
00:11:37
Destiny or more accurately with a lack
00:11:39
of Destiny according to the prophecy her
00:11:42
part in the story ends here she is
00:11:44
supposed to vanish from the story and
00:11:46
she's not happy about it and ultimately
00:11:48
does not accept this fate in contrast to
00:11:51
her previous feelings about the absolute
00:11:53
quality of Prophecy Kratos already saw
00:11:56
the prophecy concerning his death at the
00:11:58
end of the previous game and he gets a
00:12:01
new prophecy in Ragnarok with some
00:12:03
really really interesting additional
00:12:05
commentary Kratos meets the norns who
00:12:08
are basically Norse mythology's version
00:12:10
of oracles the norns tell Kratos that he
00:12:13
will kill the Norse god Heimdall to
00:12:15
protect his son then start Ragnarok then
00:12:18
be killed himself however the norns
00:12:20
defined Destiny in a very different way
00:12:22
than it is described in most stories
00:12:24
they say there is no Destiny there is no
00:12:28
Grand Design no script only the choices
00:12:30
you make that your choices are so
00:12:32
predictable merely makes us seem
00:12:35
prescient the reason the norns can
00:12:37
predict the choices people will make is
00:12:39
because they understand those people's
00:12:41
Natures it's not destined or Fate by the
00:12:44
usual definition as some kind of binding
00:12:47
script from which you cannot deviate but
00:12:49
instead Destiny by choice Destiny
00:12:52
determined by the choices you are most
00:12:53
likely to make and those choices are
00:12:55
determined by your nature I'd like to
00:12:58
insert here the folk tale about the
00:12:59
Scorpion and the Frog in this folk tale
00:13:02
a scorpion asks a frog to carry him
00:13:05
across a river the frog says no way if I
00:13:08
carry you you'll sting me because you're
00:13:10
a scorpion and that's what scorpions do
00:13:12
the Scorpion says no man I would never
00:13:15
sting you all you're carrying me across
00:13:17
the river if I did Sting you then you
00:13:19
would die and then I would drown in the
00:13:21
river this makes sense to the Frog so he
00:13:23
starts carrying the Scorpion across the
00:13:25
river on his back halfway across the
00:13:28
river the scorpion stings the Frog as he
00:13:31
dies the Frog asks the Scorpion why did
00:13:34
you do that the Scorpion says I'm a
00:13:37
scorpion bro it is in my nature to sting
00:13:40
I cannot do anything else then the Frog
00:13:43
in the Scorpion sinks into the river and
00:13:46
drowns that folk tale is a story about
00:13:49
nature and how difficult it is to
00:13:51
overcome your nature even when facing
00:13:54
the consequence of self-destruction that
00:13:57
scorpion in the story wasn't destined to
00:13:59
drown in that River but he could not
00:14:01
overcome his nature as a killer to make
00:14:04
a better choice this is what the norns
00:14:06
are saying Kratos nature is such that he
00:14:09
will make the choice to kill Heimdall
00:14:11
then his choices will lead him to
00:14:12
Ragnarok and then his choices will lead
00:14:15
him to his death the only thing that can
00:14:17
save Kratos life is if he can overcome
00:14:19
his nature and make a different Choice
00:14:22
Greek and Norse mythology both are full
00:14:25
of stories about prophecy about how
00:14:27
characters who try to defy prophecy end
00:14:30
up fulfilling it anyway for a bit it
00:14:33
seems like this is the same sort of trap
00:14:34
that Kratos in atreyas Fall for Kratos
00:14:37
immediately begins planning to kill
00:14:39
Heimdall to protect his son while atreus
00:14:41
immediately goes to Asgard deuce spy on
00:14:44
Odin while pretending to serve him and
00:14:46
both are very clearly playing along with
00:14:49
the prophecy making the wrong choices
00:14:51
giving in to the worst angels of their
00:14:53
nature but then to my surprise they have
00:14:56
a mature conversation about it they are
00:14:58
open and honest with each other about
00:14:59
their anxieties and their worries and
00:15:01
they come to an understanding together
00:15:03
they will choose to be better to make
00:15:05
better choices to avoid their worst
00:15:08
Fates for a little while it feels like
00:15:10
their fate really has been averted
00:15:12
however disaster finally strikes Odin
00:15:15
reveals that he has been pretending to
00:15:17
be tear all along and kills Brock again
00:15:20
[ __ ] this guy Brock's murder flings them
00:15:23
all right back into Destiny's clutches
00:15:25
they choose Vengeance they choose War
00:15:27
because it is in their nature to avenge
00:15:30
the murder of their friend to put a stop
00:15:32
to Odin's tyranny even if it means their
00:15:35
own self-destruction this last chapter
00:15:37
of ragnarok's story the preparations for
00:15:40
war in the final battle is pretty rushed
00:15:43
freyr's like all right I'm gonna go
00:15:45
unite the L see you later and my mirror
00:15:47
is like yeah I'm gonna go recruit the
00:15:49
army of the Dead be back in five then
00:15:51
half an hour later they're both back and
00:15:53
have already accomplished both of those
00:15:55
seemingly impossible tasks and to be
00:15:58
honest I think a few other sections of
00:16:00
the plot feel pretty rushed too I think
00:16:02
the developers tried to cram a bit too
00:16:04
much into this game there's so much
00:16:07
story here I really think it probably
00:16:09
should have been divided into two
00:16:11
different games but back to the analysis
00:16:13
Kratos in atrey is part in the
00:16:15
preparation for war is to recruit surter
00:16:18
a primordial fire giant who is
00:16:20
prophesied to destroy Asgard cerder's
00:16:23
time in the game is pretty short but
00:16:25
very important because through his
00:16:27
choices we see how prophecy can
00:16:29
simultaneously be fulfilled and
00:16:31
subverted prophecy says that he must be
00:16:33
United with his wife sinmara then the
00:16:36
two will combine into some giant
00:16:38
creature with the power to destroy
00:16:39
Asgard and with it certain Mara will be
00:16:42
destroyed as well well however certa
00:16:45
refuses he loves sinmara and refuses to
00:16:48
be a part of any plan that will lead to
00:16:50
her destruction his love for her has
00:16:52
changed his nature and so he is making a
00:16:55
different choice they do eventually find
00:16:57
an alternate path to transforming
00:17:00
certain into a giant monster even
00:17:02
without sinmar's involvement saving her
00:17:05
life and thus both fulfilling and
00:17:07
subverting that prophecy he fulfills the
00:17:10
prophecy of getting really big and
00:17:11
destroying Asgard while subverting the
00:17:14
prophecy that sinmara must be destroyed
00:17:16
too this is a foreshadowing of the same
00:17:18
fulfillment and subversion that Kratos
00:17:21
and atreus will soon engage in the
00:17:23
battle for Ragnarok commences and it is
00:17:25
as Grand and terrible and costly and
00:17:29
horrific as any battle can be but Midway
00:17:32
through atreus realizes that Odin is
00:17:35
using innocent wives as a barrier in
00:17:37
proceeding with Ragnarok as prophesied
00:17:40
will mean the death of those Innocents
00:17:42
he tries to close his his heart to their
00:17:44
suffering the same way his father closed
00:17:47
his heart to the suffering of Innocence
00:17:48
during his destruction of Greece all
00:17:51
those years ago Kratos realizes what's
00:17:53
happening can see that atreus's nature
00:17:56
is changing and treyas's nature is
00:17:58
compassionate and empathetic and he is
00:18:01
shutting that part of his nature off and
00:18:04
Kratos tells him no
00:18:10
listen closely
00:18:12
you feel better pain because that is who
00:18:15
you are
00:18:17
and you must never sacrifice that never
00:18:20
not for anyone
00:18:27
I
00:18:31
I was wrong
00:18:33
open your heart
00:18:36
open your heart to their suffering
00:18:40
and does your mother's wish
00:18:44
in mind as well
00:18:47
today's
00:18:50
today
00:18:52
we will be better
00:18:57
this is Kratos final moment of major
00:19:00
character growth when he finally
00:19:02
realizes that even in battle even when
00:19:05
pursuing Revenge compassion is not a
00:19:07
weakness empathy is not a weakness they
00:19:11
don't have to destroy all of Asgard they
00:19:13
don't have to destroy all the asgardians
00:19:16
they don't have to destroy the entire
00:19:18
Norse pantheon they only need to destroy
00:19:21
one man the one evil God who is
00:19:24
responsible for all of this the one evil
00:19:27
God who deserves it with compassion
00:19:29
empathy diplomacy and strength they can
00:19:32
fulfill the prophecy of destroying Odin
00:19:35
while subverting the prophecy of the
00:19:37
destruction of the nine Realms In This
00:19:39
Moment Kratos love for his son has
00:19:42
changed his nature allowed him to make a
00:19:45
new choice in some ways the final
00:19:47
confrontation feels a bit trivial the
00:19:49
grand climactic moment of of the story
00:19:51
is not the battle it's that moment when
00:19:53
Kratos chooses Justice over Vengeance
00:19:56
and by the fight with Odin that moment
00:19:58
has already passed the rest is just
00:20:00
falling action Odin is an example of a
00:20:03
character completely incapable of
00:20:05
changing his nature it is impossible for
00:20:08
him to ever make a new choice because he
00:20:11
can never be anything other than himself
00:20:13
and he is predictably destroyed for it
00:20:16
meanwhile in the final scene we get a
00:20:18
glimpse of the New Path Kratos has
00:20:21
forged for himself with his choices a
00:20:24
future version of himself who is a
00:20:26
builder God a beloved God a God of Peace
00:20:29
the final theme of God of War Ragnarok
00:20:32
is this changing your fate is as simple
00:20:35
and sometimes as impossible as making a
00:20:39
different choice
00:20:42
softer
00:20:46
[Music]
00:20:49
his son
00:20:55
[Music]
00:20:56
so far
00:21:01
[Music]
00:21:18
foreign
00:21:43
[Music]
00:21:47
I have waited so long
00:21:50
for this moment
00:21:52
[Music]
00:21:56
and now that I'm here
00:22:01
[Music]
00:22:09
I don't need this to make me whole
00:22:11
he stopped his Madness that's all that
00:22:14
matters
00:22:14
[Music]
00:22:28
that's what comes next
00:22:48
[Music]
00:22:51
week
00:22:54
[Music]
