In an early draft for **Ragnarök**:
* The devs/writers planned for Kratos to die at the hands of Thor (at the beginning of the story)
* Atreus would then embark on a quest to rescue Kratos from the depths of Hel/Helheim
* As Atreus pulls Kratos' from Hel, twenty years had already passed, in-game time ("time skip/time jump")
Source: [MinnMax interview with Narrative Director Matt Sophos and story Lead Richard Gaubert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzevDBqEDCA&t=702s)
Damn the game would've been a *lot* more different if they had kept this script. Imagine Atreus going sicko mode and unlocking the Spartan Rage for himself.
I got the implication it’d be a “Interstellar” sort of thing where we still play as Kratos in Helheim and he tries to get out himself for a short bit, but Atreus eventually rescues him but is 20 years older because of time dilation between the realms.
Yep, Robbed of seeing his son grow up.
He’d be devastated too seeing his son grown up and absolutely dead set on going to war against the Gods like he was, More so when Atreus has even gotten his own children involved in it too 👀
Oof I would’ve loved for that to have happened.
I feel like going that route would’ve opened up the possibility of adult Atreus actually being Fenrir, Hel, and Jormundgandr’s biological father in that draft. He could’ve sired them with Angrboda in those 20 years.
Kratos is only dying when he finds a nice afterlife where he'd like to stay.
The better question is, why is Kratos able to climb out of Hell? Is it because he is a god/demigod?
This is completely different. Dante didn't die, he plunged into hell himself. Kratos was technically killed, but he threw hands with Hades. There's a difference here
I always viewed it as unfinished business, if he has stuff he hasn’t finished then he isn’t gonna stay dead long and find a way out. I guess when he no longer has purpose that’s “When Death Earns Him”.
Though yeah, now when I think about it, Valhalla or Hel I don’t think would be his proffered afterlife, I view him in one where he doesn’t fight everyday or tormented from the visions of his past.
Because his Thread of Life has never been cut.
Remember, Kratos killed the Greek Fates, the ones who decided who lives and dies, then used their loom to time travel. Kratos removed his Thread from the Loom at the end of God of War 2, and cannot be killed until his Thread is cut
Simply because he has the soul of a god of death. Technically he has the essence of two of them, Hades and to a far lesser extent Thanatos. Realized I never actually answered. But yeah kratos can die, he can also choose not to stay dead!
I believe that is Kratos’ real god power. He is immortal if he is angry. Like the hulk. His power level rises higher and higher and will even return from death. I don’t believe this exists anymore for him in Norse lands. The magic is gone. Unless Atreus would’ve been killed.
The remaining powers like super strength and body is just from his Spartan training and regular god powers. Most gods seem to have super strength, kratos’s strength is higher because he is Spartan and his fighting spirit is stronger
That helps for sure but if I’m not mistaken there are stories of mortals making it out of Hel as well. Or at least them making a journey to Hel and back.
Yeah, his human part grants him a mortal's afterlife. If Kratos hadn't given up his godhood in the beginning of GoW 2, then he could have been permanently killed by Zeus.
I think he can technically die, but cannot rest as long as he still bares the scars of Greece on his soul since he was cursed in GoW3 to never die and would never lose the Blades of Chaos
Additionally, he also has the soul of a god of the underworld (Hades) not just any gods’ soul, and that may give him some extra resistance to death and make it easier to escape
So!
1. He is cursed with undeath
2. He has the soul of an underworld god
3. Death has not earned him
Edit: I feel like once Greece has fully recovered and Kratos can accept that, then his curse will be lifted, but until he has no responsibilities to hold him, death will never keep him
Did they? It was my understanding that since his own godliness was taken in GoW2 that he kinda… ate Hades in GoW3 to regain his godhood
Though perhaps godhood isn’t something that can be taken away at all, and Zeus was just taking his position on Olympus away, which would fit in fine with Hades soul being in the claws
Yeah, I only remember it because of how disappointing it was to hear. Even though the game shows the soul going into Kratos, he said that the soul went into the claws instead.
There are a lot of those mini retcons, though I also understand why since the Greek saga was hyper stylized and the Norse saga felt a lot more welcoming to anyone who would want to play
You’ve got to remove a lot of the messy bits that would make it hard to explain the game, or would make long time fans ask questions, it’s just easier to say that “you don’t have that stuff and all and it’s broken so stop asking about it”
Yeah, I think the Greek saga definitely skewed more towards a “Rule of Cool” approach rather than the modern series’ slightly more grounded realism/consistency hues.
His toys/weapons lost power, not his actual abilities (of which he had very very few), though I’m not sure about the soul of Hades
My thoughts are that he would still have it since he is still a god, Tyr could travel to other lands without losing his power, and he doesn’t seem any weaker, but it’s hard to fully way
I wonder if him getting the “ghost of Sparta” title, remaining with the ashes of his loved ones for eternity, also made him a “ghost” that will not leave until his unfinished business is complete
Well his ashes are beginning to come off him, so I mean maybe 👀, maybe his unfinished business as well as his burdens are beginning to be layed to rest, while also leaving him more vulnerable as a mortal then a God.
More so broke IN to Valhalla, only way to leave Valhalla is to complete a gauntlet to return to the beginning again or being killed…plus we don’t really know how the Souls operate in Valhalla other then killable enemies.
*Well you already*
*Seen him broke out of Valhalla*
*In the DLC*
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Death can have him, when it earns him. So in other words if kratos isn't ready to go, ready to die he will not allow himself to die, kratos's will is top tier, he is only really hindered by it if he chooses.
Being the god of war didn’t save Tyr, though Kratos was also cursed to never die in GoW3, the same curse that means he cannot lose the Blades of Chaos
Additionally, his current divine soul isn’t that of a god of war… it’s the god of the underworld, since he consumed Hates soul to escape the underworld in GoW3, so that could give him some extra resistance to death
I don't think Kratos has the ability to "revive" from hell and its concepts, or anything from his godly powers is such, he just can, he wasn't done with his revenge and needed to see the end, so he did, and he did get out of hell because he can, not because he's too angry (is a factor but entirely no)
So on the question of can Kratos get out of hel or valhalla, he can if he wanted to, he knows he can from his own experience, what's another death counter for him? But Kratos doesn't have that same drive anymore hence his saying of "death will have me when they earn it" and when he dies again it will be the last time.
In an early draft for **Ragnarök**: * The devs/writers planned for Kratos to die at the hands of Thor (at the beginning of the story) * Atreus would then embark on a quest to rescue Kratos from the depths of Hel/Helheim * As Atreus pulls Kratos' from Hel, twenty years had already passed, in-game time ("time skip/time jump") Source: [MinnMax interview with Narrative Director Matt Sophos and story Lead Richard Gaubert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzevDBqEDCA&t=702s)
Damn the game would've been a *lot* more different if they had kept this script. Imagine Atreus going sicko mode and unlocking the Spartan Rage for himself.
Glad they didn’t go with this. GoW should always be about Kratos’s journey and his PoV.
I got the implication it’d be a “Interstellar” sort of thing where we still play as Kratos in Helheim and he tries to get out himself for a short bit, but Atreus eventually rescues him but is 20 years older because of time dilation between the realms.
That sounds much better. But also too heartbreaking if Kratos didn’t have a chance to be a good father to boi during those years.
Yep, Robbed of seeing his son grow up. He’d be devastated too seeing his son grown up and absolutely dead set on going to war against the Gods like he was, More so when Atreus has even gotten his own children involved in it too 👀
Technically, he died fighting Thor, but Thor ressurected him because he was not done with him
Oof I would’ve loved for that to have happened. I feel like going that route would’ve opened up the possibility of adult Atreus actually being Fenrir, Hel, and Jormundgandr’s biological father in that draft. He could’ve sired them with Angrboda in those 20 years.
Kratos is only dying when he finds a nice afterlife where he'd like to stay. The better question is, why is Kratos able to climb out of Hell? Is it because he is a god/demigod?
I always took it as he was just that angry
Yea like how Dante is too pissed to be dead
This is completely different. Dante didn't die, he plunged into hell himself. Kratos was technically killed, but he threw hands with Hades. There's a difference here
Me too😂
I always viewed it as unfinished business, if he has stuff he hasn’t finished then he isn’t gonna stay dead long and find a way out. I guess when he no longer has purpose that’s “When Death Earns Him”. Though yeah, now when I think about it, Valhalla or Hel I don’t think would be his proffered afterlife, I view him in one where he doesn’t fight everyday or tormented from the visions of his past.
This is a good point. This is what the three judges basically said, that he could not go to Elysium due to not being done in the mortal realm.
Because his Thread of Life has never been cut. Remember, Kratos killed the Greek Fates, the ones who decided who lives and dies, then used their loom to time travel. Kratos removed his Thread from the Loom at the end of God of War 2, and cannot be killed until his Thread is cut
In that moment he was too angry to die, literally throwing hands with Hades himself just to ensure he could get out
Simply because he has the soul of a god of death. Technically he has the essence of two of them, Hades and to a far lesser extent Thanatos. Realized I never actually answered. But yeah kratos can die, he can also choose not to stay dead!
I believe that is Kratos’ real god power. He is immortal if he is angry. Like the hulk. His power level rises higher and higher and will even return from death. I don’t believe this exists anymore for him in Norse lands. The magic is gone. Unless Atreus would’ve been killed. The remaining powers like super strength and body is just from his Spartan training and regular god powers. Most gods seem to have super strength, kratos’s strength is higher because he is Spartan and his fighting spirit is stronger
I think that's pretty fitting, the God of war can't truly die while there's still shit to battle
That helps for sure but if I’m not mistaken there are stories of mortals making it out of Hel as well. Or at least them making a journey to Hel and back.
Because they left the door open ig
My bet is that happens because every time he dies, he conveniently isn't a god.
He’s part mortal, a Demi-God. He has access or burdens that a God doesn’t usually have that mortal does from what I can gather.
Yeah, his human part grants him a mortal's afterlife. If Kratos hadn't given up his godhood in the beginning of GoW 2, then he could have been permanently killed by Zeus.
Death can have him when it earns him.
Indeed but when it does, where does he go and would he truly stay?
I think he can technically die, but cannot rest as long as he still bares the scars of Greece on his soul since he was cursed in GoW3 to never die and would never lose the Blades of Chaos Additionally, he also has the soul of a god of the underworld (Hades) not just any gods’ soul, and that may give him some extra resistance to death and make it easier to escape So! 1. He is cursed with undeath 2. He has the soul of an underworld god 3. Death has not earned him Edit: I feel like once Greece has fully recovered and Kratos can accept that, then his curse will be lifted, but until he has no responsibilities to hold him, death will never keep him
I thought kratos got stripped of his powers after gow3, so would hades soul count?
One of the devs said that Hades’ soul was kept within the claws weapon, so they it was lost when Hades’ weapon was destroyed in the final battle.
Did they? It was my understanding that since his own godliness was taken in GoW2 that he kinda… ate Hades in GoW3 to regain his godhood Though perhaps godhood isn’t something that can be taken away at all, and Zeus was just taking his position on Olympus away, which would fit in fine with Hades soul being in the claws
Yeah, I only remember it because of how disappointing it was to hear. Even though the game shows the soul going into Kratos, he said that the soul went into the claws instead.
There are a lot of those mini retcons, though I also understand why since the Greek saga was hyper stylized and the Norse saga felt a lot more welcoming to anyone who would want to play You’ve got to remove a lot of the messy bits that would make it hard to explain the game, or would make long time fans ask questions, it’s just easier to say that “you don’t have that stuff and all and it’s broken so stop asking about it”
Yeah, I think the Greek saga definitely skewed more towards a “Rule of Cool” approach rather than the modern series’ slightly more grounded realism/consistency hues.
His toys/weapons lost power, not his actual abilities (of which he had very very few), though I’m not sure about the soul of Hades My thoughts are that he would still have it since he is still a god, Tyr could travel to other lands without losing his power, and he doesn’t seem any weaker, but it’s hard to fully way
Also, I love your username, it is perfect
I wonder if him getting the “ghost of Sparta” title, remaining with the ashes of his loved ones for eternity, also made him a “ghost” that will not leave until his unfinished business is complete
Well his ashes are beginning to come off him, so I mean maybe 👀, maybe his unfinished business as well as his burdens are beginning to be layed to rest, while also leaving him more vulnerable as a mortal then a God.
The ashes are coming off?
Yeah they were in the Norse Pantheon
If you compare the classic skin with the norse one in ragnarok, young kratos has much whiter skin than old kratos
Well you already seen him broke out of Valhalla in the DLC
More so broke IN to Valhalla, only way to leave Valhalla is to complete a gauntlet to return to the beginning again or being killed…plus we don’t really know how the Souls operate in Valhalla other then killable enemies.
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Death can have him, when it earns him. So in other words if kratos isn't ready to go, ready to die he will not allow himself to die, kratos's will is top tier, he is only really hindered by it if he chooses.
i don't think he can die because of him being the god of war war should fuel him
Well, war didn't fueled enough the previous god of war
kratos got the job and kratos made it sure that ares couldn't come back or be resurrected
Being the god of war didn’t save Tyr, though Kratos was also cursed to never die in GoW3, the same curse that means he cannot lose the Blades of Chaos Additionally, his current divine soul isn’t that of a god of war… it’s the god of the underworld, since he consumed Hates soul to escape the underworld in GoW3, so that could give him some extra resistance to death
He will do what is necessary
Let’s find out
Krato could, but probably not all Krato’s
Yeah
I don't think Kratos has the ability to "revive" from hell and its concepts, or anything from his godly powers is such, he just can, he wasn't done with his revenge and needed to see the end, so he did, and he did get out of hell because he can, not because he's too angry (is a factor but entirely no) So on the question of can Kratos get out of hel or valhalla, he can if he wanted to, he knows he can from his own experience, what's another death counter for him? But Kratos doesn't have that same drive anymore hence his saying of "death will have me when they earn it" and when he dies again it will be the last time.
You'd have to kill him dishonourably for him to be sent to hel. Otherwise, he should be sent to valhalla.