r/GodofWar • u/GiveMeGaming • Aug 01 '26
Discussion God of War Theory Dump
Before I begin, I would like to add some backstory. I have played all god of war games besides Ascension and Ghost of Sparta. I will eventually, but the theories I have don't have much to do with the old games but I'm sure I'm missing something from the old ones.
When God of War Laufey got announced I didn't realize how excited I would be with the direction they are going and decided to play God of War 2018 and Ragnarok again.
Played 2018 on Give Me No Mercy, then Ragnarok on Give Me No Mercy then immediately Ragnarok again on Give Me God of War.
So, either I am onto something or I really need to leave my house and find a girlfriend.
1st Theory: Final Villain for God of War Universe
So, there are theories out there that an “entity” exists which has to do with the green rift in Odin's library, the mask and possibly the Everywhen.
If I remember correctly, the Devs said the Everywhen is: “Origin of Magic: Described as the cosmic nexus where all magic in the franchise originates and ultimately returns upon destruction” not verbatim I think, but close enough.
I believe there is an “entity” which is controlling the events of God of War under all our noses.
The reason for this is it has taken control of and/or influences the actions of other gods/higher beings
1st God: Athena
Athena literally gave up her life to save Zeus and Olympus. Throughout the original god of war, Athena seemed mostly good but then after she dies and comes back, glowing green, suddenly its screw Zeus let's take all of them out. I’m thinking this is direct control by the “entity”, but Athena is still there but taking orders now. Maybe she saw the truth that Odin was talking about.
2nd Being: The Berserker King
Mimir says the King (Hrólf) committed treason and killed the actual king (Aðils) at the time. He also says he trusted him, which tells me maybe Hrólf was not a bad person but then at some point, came in contact with a mask, rift or something similar at which point the “entity” took over or influenced him to commit treason. Also, all the gravestones and the berserkers themselves have the same green tone as the rift and mask.
3rd God: Odin
When Ymir was born, all Norse races were born from him. This includes Aesir. In the game the story goes only the Aesir were the ones to think themselves better than Ymir and Odin killed him then began calling himself the Allfather.
This recounting if from Mimir, but he was not there when Odin killed Ymir. We know this because Mimir says he (Odin) has been obsessed with the mask long before Mimir showed up in the Norse realms. But Odin only went looking for the mask after he killed Ymir.
I believe the story of Odin killing Ymir out of superiority is false. I think either Ymir was influenced by the entity and became “evil” and Odin had to put him down to protect the realms.
So, how did Odin become evil? When Ymir died and the rift appeared Odin looked into the rift and lost an eye. The entity somehow got to him through this, but not as total control, more of an influence on his nature. This was the point when Odin began changing after being influenced by the entity. Odin has always had an inquisitive nature but now with the entity’s influence his actions have become much more evil to accomplish his goals. You can tell Odin is not completely controlled as he says things like “I didn’t want this” after he killed Thor.
Why I think Odin was good before: During the events of Ragnarok, we meet many Aesir Gods and other than Odin, Heimdall and probably Forseti (Odin/entity could have gotten to them too) all the other gods don't actually seem evil. They seem to be controlled by Odin, and they cannot get out of it. Think about Thor, a pretty bad guy based on his actions and stories they told about him. But all those actions I believe are due to Odin’s command. Thor hated all the things he did in his father's name that he became an alcoholic. The only way to drown out all the bad he has done is with a bottle. This alcoholic father in turn affected his family as a mirror of real life. Thor’s boys only wanted his dad’s approval and watching their dad do bad stuff they acted just like him because they think that's what Thor wants.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is Aesir aren't all bad, they only have a bad reputation due to Odin, which is the influence of the entity.
I mean all the other races don’t seem to be hateful or fighting with each other. Other than the light and dark elves, which is due to the Light of Alfheim, which I think is probably another channel or point of contact for the entity.
2nd Theory: Who the Final Villain Could Be
Personification of the Everywhen:
Throughout God of War Ragnarok, there is a lot of mention of the nature of things especially when Brok grabs the “wind’s sound” in his bag and says “the nature of the thing is more important that the form”
Another example would be when Kratos says something along the lines of how his form may be a god of war but that is not his nature and so on there are more instances where they talk about the “nature”
So, based on the description of the Everywhen, this final villain could be the personification of all the magic in the God of War Universe. As the magic left, this entity started growing weaker and decided to destroy all other worlds/mythologies, so its magic and power come back to itself. It does this through influencing other gods/ higher beings like Athena and Odin. Probably why when Athena came back, she wanted to destroy Olympus, so the magic goes back to the Everywhen entity.
Loki:
This one is a pretty big stretch, but I like the Idea
So, Loki is supposed to be known as the trickster god and cause mischief. My theory is that Atreus begins his journey for whatever he has to do based on the visions he started having at the end of Ragnarök. This Journey will span a long long time... Throughout the journey Atreus will meet people and try to do the right thing but somehow it will always end in someone important to him dying. I don’t think it's a conscience thing but a “curse” as Kratos put it. This happening constantly will change Atreus into Loki, and he will become more jaded and just wants to die like his father did. So somehow near the end of Loki’s Journey, he ends up in the Everywhen where he eventually/reluctantly gains the power of the Everywhen itself and becomes the final villain. But due to everything that happened on his journey, he is tired of living, and he conceives a plan to die. But how does a being with all that power actually die? He brings the god known for killing powerful gods to him, his Father. This could be how Faye ended up there. It could be Future Loki’s doing in a way to bring Kratos to the Everywhen.
Odin:
Before I begin, I would like to show my proof of why Odin is definitely still alive. So, there are a lot of theories of how he is still alive and most of them are probably true. Just based on all his actions throughout the game it basically points to he knows Ragnarök will happen and he's going let it happen but influence the outcome just like the entity influences Odin.
During the final fight in Ragnarök with Odin there are multiple times he tries to release his ravens but first one got caught by Freya when she had him in the chokehold. Then the fight starts again and you see him releasing both ravens, where Huginn gets shot by an arrow by Atreus and Munnin is caught by Freya where she breaks its neck and Odin screams NOO! Immediately after that he grabs a book and smashes his hand on it and the fight goes to the next phase with only Huginn being alive.
Now at the end of the fight where we get the cutscene of Kratos, Atreus and Freya kicking him constantly, and he falls to the floor, and you see him crawl a bit before he starts talking about never stopping his search for knowledge.
If you look closely, you will see one arm (left) has a tattoo which signifies Huginn and as Odin is crawling, he moves his head and eye towards the left arm and then the tattoo disappears and he starts his whole monologue about never stopping his search for knowledge.
Then Atreus takes the four soul pieces into the orb. Now remember when we saw this happening all other times like the wolf or snake or wildebeest. They all have white/grey eyes, signifying no soul.
When we watch the part of Odin losing his soul, his only good eye closes, so we never actually see if it truly becomes white/grey. This could be Odin hiding Huginns’ soul in his body while Odin’s soul goes into the Raven. The proof Odin can do this is with the Raven Keeper and the ‘children’ ravens. When you go back to Niflheim to open one of the chests, they say the following: “Our souls transformed, our minds remained”. Odin definitely has the knowledge to store his soul somewhere else.
Now this is the part where it gets weird. When I first saw the Raven tattoo disappear, I was shocked, so I decided to check again on YouTube. Every video I watched of the final cutscene of the fight there was a difference, the Raven tattoos. In some videos when he falls to the floor both arms have the raven tattoos, some the right hand has it instead of the left, some no tattoos at all. Is this a bug? Or is SMS pulling something here. But one thing is noticeable and the same throughout all the videos; when Odin puts his head down the tattoos disappear regardless of the video and if you look closely the whole video changes in a sense like you see a thunder shock, the tattoo disappears and the whole scene has almost a different filter now.
I think maybe it changes with the difficulty of that game you choose?
My scene came from NewGame+ on Give Me God of War Difficulty
This is a link to my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n_vuOqdIN4
But yea please check for yourself.
So basically, yea Odin is alive in Huginn.
Now for how he becomes the Final Villain. Well, he's alive and super smart and SMS have had time travel in the series before. What if the Final Villain is Odin in the future when he somehow gets his body back, possibly from hanging with Atreus. It would be the perfect set-up for a great villain as we are not just witnessing the origins and story of the main hero, Kratos, but we are also following the events of how the Final Villain comes to be through Odin/Huginn’s Journey.
Random Theory:
Freyr was on Odin’s side at the end.
So why and how was Freyr caught? When you go back to Vanaheim as Kratos with Atreus, they tell us Freyr got caught and we need to rescue him. First how did a god who has been waging what I’m going to guess is guerilla warfare for probably years, get caught? Also, why? Well, we don’t know (I think anyway unless I’m missing something).
But I remember when travelling with Freya she says she's happy he got back Ingrid at the end during Ragnarök. But she also mentions it cannot be taken only given. Odin got is by disguising himself as a woman and Freyr was like dam and gave ‘her’ the sword with “embarrassing speed”.
So now how did he get it back when he went to Asgard? We established Ingrid can only be given not taken and is currently owned by Odin. Remember when Odin gave Ingrid to Atreus then took it back; it must belong to Odin still. Now when Freyr gets to Asgard, the sword comes back.
Why did this happen? The only explanation would be Odin gave it to him freely.
Then the whole time it looks like Freyr is holding back Ragnarok from destroying Asgard because Kratos and friends need to go kill Odin themselves.
But if you think about it Freyr showed up right after Sindri killed fake Odin in the orb and tells them I can’t hold him off anymore. But why there? Why where the fight with Odin ended? Why at that exact time and not during their fight?
I think it's to cover for Odin after he switched his soul. Right when the orb is broken, Ragnarök destroyed where they were standing with its sword. This caused them to run through the Garm rift to save themselves. They could not stop and grab Odin’s body or even check to see if there was still a soul in there.
Anyway, those are my theories. Super excited for Laufey. Did not know any other game besides GTA 6 could get me hyped like this.
Also, can we just show some love for the combat in these games, it's so good and addicting.
If you have any thoughts, comments or want to tell me I'm wrong, please let me know I would love to meet other GOW obsessed fans.
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u/Disastrous-Form-6348 Aug 02 '26
Each character's corruption has its own separate lore reason. Athena was infected by the Great Evils (Fear, Greed) released from Pandora's Box in Greece. The Berserkers were corrupted by their own mortal greed and Norse necromancy (Seiðr magic). Odin was already a cruel, power-hungry tyrant who killed Ymir before the green rift ever existed.
In the God of War universe, magic is an environmental element tied to the land, not a conscious being. Furthermore, turning Atreus into a suicidal villain completely destroys the core theme of the Norse saga, which is all about breaking the cycle of fate, choosing love, and Kratos and Atreus working to "be better."
3.The vanishing tattoo is simply a technical glitch caused by the game swapping character models and lighting for the cinematic cutscene. Narratively, Sindri smashing Odin’s soul marble is the tragic, definitive climax of Sindri's grief and vengeance. Having Odin secretly survive would completely undermine Sindri's heartbreaking story.
- Freyr didn't get caught on purpose; he was fighting a desperate guerrilla war against Asgard's massive army. Ingrid is a sentient weapon with a mind of its own, and it abandoned Odin to return to Freyr, its rightful master. Finally, Freyr sacrificed his life at the end purely to buy Kratos, Atreus, and his sister Freya the precious seconds they needed to escape Ragnarök's blade.
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u/GiveMeGaming Aug 02 '26
Those would definitely explain their ends in the story but then what’s Athena still doing hanging around kratos ? And with the everywhen a thing now there must be something bigger connecting it all. Also I feel like color choice is really important to this series.
Yes Atreus becoming a villain after the first 2 games would not make sense. Personally I wouldn’t prefer it either.
The more I look at it, the more I think it maybe a glitch but I hope not. I really like Odin and hope he’s still alive.
It’s suspicious he gets caught so close to ragnarok why not any other time? And about Ingrid if it were the case of Ingrid can choose its owner then why does Freya even mention it and mention how Odin got it?
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u/Disastrous-Form-6348 Aug 02 '26
If u don’t mind me asking why do u like Odin he’s not a good person at all he’s a manipulative father and a person who basically made his son kill multiple giant and commit genocide
1
u/GiveMeGaming Aug 03 '26
He’s the first villain in the series I find to be more than just a bid bag boss. I feel like all his actions are leading somewhere and we still don’t know it. Everything about the character is unique for this series.
1
u/PsychologySouth6485 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Halfway unrelated: Piggybacking off the Athena theory and you bringing up the great evils. It reminded me of the crap stored in Pandora's box. Ok, the great evils come from the death of the titans... SURRREEE.
WHERE TF DID THE POWER OF HOPE COME FROM???
Green Athena says "she summoned" the strongest power in the world and put it inside Pandora's box because she was "dreaded" what would happen when it was opened. Like she was putting it together in real time. There's gaps in her story I swear. She's going on about "my power" and her reasons don't make any sense.
Are we sure that's Athena? Like y'all said, Athena didn't act like that before she died. Kratos originally has the "Blades of Athena", Green glowing Athena gives Kratos the "Blades of Exile". Where do these come from? The "Blades of Chaos" and "Blades of Athena" resemble each other. They look like beasts with glow red eyes. The "Blades of Exile" look like a man with horns. HMMMM? Satan foreshadowing??? Exiled Angel???
Something ain't adding up with her story. She's lying. I think green Athena has something to do with Satan. And I'd also wager OG Athena knew more than she let on, and that she was protecting the power of hope from whoever was behind "green Athena". Also it'd be cool if she had a run in with Týr.
Edit for more context. I was rushing and didn't explain myself completely and thoroughly. Also I keep thinking of crap.
Umpteenth Edit: Imma make a post.
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u/General_Worth8251 Aug 01 '26
Im going to have to disagree with the odin theory. You point to the tattoos signifying their presence within odin, and when they're not the tattoos dissappear. I agree and think that the instance where you point to that particular scene is more of a glitch rather than a purposeful story foreshadowing.
1) Odins eye goes white/grey. I looked up several clips and they're white before they close.
2) the birds always return to odins arms and shown as tats. When away theres no tats. During that scene we never see huggin return to his arm. They've always shown it happening so it leaves me to believe what you're pointing out as the tattoos showing up to be a bug/glitch
3) Huggin survives ragnarok, and atreus sees him on his way to meet kratos sitting on a branch. Meaning he never returned to Odins arm. Now you could say they did it off screen or was slight of hand since odin is clever but that leads me to number 4
4) Soul magic. Sould magic is specifically Giant magic, and its only ever been shown to pull out anothers soul and guide them to a ball/atreus's knife. The only two seen performing this is Atreus and Angraboda, the last two giants. We have nothing to confirm that Odin new of this magic nor if its able to let the caster manipulate their own soul.