The God of War series has always mainly featured Greek mythology, but its most recent installment shifted focus to Norse legends. God of War 3 saw Kratos bring about the end of the world in the form of a great flood; however, players are mostly left in the dark as to what happened between the flood and the beginning of God of War 4 (also confusingly called God of War). Clearly, the world has not ended completely, and enough time has passed for Kratos to create a new life for himself.

The new God of War delved deeply into Norse mythology from the very beginning, abruptly changing the familiar setting fans had enjoyed for the first 3 installments of the series. The world has no serious remnants of damages from the flood in God of War 3, suggesting that a good amount of time has passed. The story begins with Kratos’ second wife, Faye, having passed away, leaving Kratos as the sole caretaker of their son, Atreus. The game centers around their journey to spread Faye’s ashes from the top of the highest peak in the Nine Realms. Throughout this journey, the characters and players make discoveries of the various mysteries in Norse mythology. It is through these discoveries the details of what happened between God of War 3 and God of War 4 are revealed, including how Kratos may have come to Midgard.

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The first hint which players receive about the timeline of the God of War games is through the in-game location Tyr’s Bridge. Freya mentions that the structure had been completely submerged for at least 150 years. When players encounter it, the bridge is now clear as a passage through Alfheim, standing to reason that at least a century and a half, or more, has passed. In addition, players can find a vase with Kratos’ face on it within Tyr’s Vault. The existence of the vase stands to reason that Kratos’ legend has existed long enough to be passed through mythologies and pantheons, or that Kratos has been in Midgard long enough to forge another legend of renown.

God of War Proves Even Gods Have Borders

Cory Barlog, the Creative Director of the God of War series, has explained in a series of hour-long interviews with IGN that each pantheon of gods has varying levels of power, and though all gods exist on the same plane, they are beholden to their own borders and territories within that plane. This suggests a level of mobility for mortals between each of the pantheon’s territories. After having survived battles against mortals and gods, it stands to reason that Kratos would have easily survived the flood and been able to relocate. After the flood at the end of God of War 3, Kratos left Greece and made his way to the realm of Midgard. One of the most obvious forms of transportation to ferry him from his destroyed homeland to Midgard is a vehicle used frequently in God of War 4: a boat.

One of the features of God of War 4’s world is the amount of water that Kratos, along with Atreus and Mimir, travels across. Seeing as the boat is the primary form of transportation between several regions in the game, it stands to reason that the flood ushered in at the close of GoW3 had lasting impacts on all the pantheons. Thankfully, the connections between the Nine Realms and Kratos’ existence within them suggest that the flood had a way of better connecting the various territories of different pantheons. Kratos and Atreus discover a carving of Tyr traversing between the realms, with symbols originating from other mythologies littering the corners of the carving, similar to a map. Kratos recognizes the Omega symbol from the Greek alphabet, offering further proof of the physical connection between the various pantheons. This opens the opportunity for God of War to explore other cultures, myths, and legends in the future.

If the God of War series has proven anything, it has shown that Kratos is resilient. He has endured grueling combat against gods time and time again, and always claimed victory. The closing of God of War 3 ushered in the supposed “end of the world” but only succeeded in further connecting the territories of the pantheons through the use of water. Cory Barlog has spoken extensively in many interviews about the shared plane of the gods, and the details of the series’ lore. Using a boat, Kratos traveled into the territory of the Norse legends after leaving his ruined homeland.

Source: IGN SpoilerCast

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Natalie Lindner
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Natalie Lindner is a Game Features Writer for Screen Rant, creating content on the past, present, and future of games in the industry. Prior to this, she worked out of a writing consultancy in Rhode Island from 2018 to 2021, where she helped college students improve their writing abilities. Natalie has contributed her video game writing to several smaller websites and projects since 2018 and is eager to continue that journey with Screen Rant.

Working out of New Hampshire, Natalie spends the time she isn’t writing about games outside; hiking or biking. On those rainy days, she can be found striving for action on the latest FPS or perusing the latest comic books.

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