Baldur's Death: mistletoe and a broken neck

Baldur's death was the slaying of Baldur, the Aesir god of light, at the hands of Kratos, and one of the turning points of the Norse era. It came at the close of a long and bitter conflict and was possible only after the spell of invulnerability laid upon Baldur by his mother Freya had at last been broken. His death served as the prelude to Fimbulwinter, the harsh winter that in turn heralded Ragnarök, the cataclysm the giants of Jötunheim had long foreseen. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

The spell of invulnerability#

Baldur was an Aesir god, son of Odin and Freya and younger half-brother of Thor. At his birth his mother learned from the runes that he was fated to die a needless death, and determined to prevent it at any cost, she placed a spell upon him that made him invulnerable to every threat, whether physical or magical. The spell had a single weakness in mistletoe, and to ensure no one could discover it Freya also cursed Mimir so that he could never speak of it. (God of War (2018))

The protection carried a terrible cost. The spell robbed Baldur of his ability to feel anything at all, so that he could no longer sense pain or pleasure, nor even the temperature of the ground beneath him. His pleas to have it lifted fell on deaf ears, and over the years of numbness he was driven toward madness and a consuming hatred of his mother. He came to wish for nothing more than her death, blaming her for the decades of suffering she had inadvertently caused, and his bitterness only deepened in the long years he spent in the service of his father. (God of War (2018))

The breaking of the spell#

Baldur's hunt for Kratos and Atreus brought him at last to the place where the trio emerged near the colossal frozen corpse of the giant Thamur. There Baldur met his mother for the first time in years, and despite the time apart he remained consumed by his hatred for her, attacking at once. Kratos placed himself between them, and another fight broke out, while Freya tried in vain to entangle the two combatants with roots. (God of War (2018))

When Kratos was ensnared by Freya's vines, Baldur turned his fury on him, and Atreus stepped into his path. Baldur struck the boy hard in the chest, and Kratos feared his son was wounded, but the blood was not Atreus' own. It was Baldur's. His hand had been pierced by the mistletoe arrow that Kratos had earlier strung onto Atreus' quiver after its strap broke during their travels. With the spell undone, Baldur reveled in his newly restored senses as a horrified Freya looked on, for he was now mortal and could be killed. (God of War (2018))

The end of the cycle#

Vulnerable once more, Baldur resumed his battle with Kratos, thanking the pair for granting him what not even Odin had been able to do. Kratos overwhelmed him, and he and Atreus beat the Aesir god down, though Freya intervened again, manipulating Thamur's corpse to attack them with its icy breath until Atreus summoned the World Serpent against the reanimated giant. A defeated Baldur goaded Kratos to kill him, but after Atreus and Freya pleaded with him, Kratos spared his life and warned him to come after them no more, nor to lay a hand on his mother. (God of War (2018))

Baldur ignored the warning. He confronted Freya once again, and when she allowed her son to strangle her as proof of her remorse, Kratos intervened a final time. Quoting his own father, he declared that the cycle of patricide they all followed had to end, and he snapped Baldur's neck before Freya's eyes. As Baldur fell, a snowflake landed on his cheek, and he acknowledged the feeling of it before he died. (God of War (2018))

Aftermath#

Freya was left devastated and enraged by her son's death, despite his attempt on her life, and she swore revenge on Kratos before taking Baldur's body and vanishing. Mimir believed that in time she would come to see the killing as a thing that had to be done, and that the Nine Realms were better for her being alive, though he expected her fury to last. (God of War (2018))

The death carried consequences far beyond a single grief. It triggered Fimbulwinter, the terrible three-year winter, which served as the prelude to Ragnarök. The Aesir had believed the end would not come for at least another hundred years, but the giants had known the whole of it, and that Baldur had always been meant to die by Kratos' hand when he did. Kratos came to understand that Baldur had never truly been hunting him at all, but had been tracking down his wife Faye, unaware that she was already ashes. The grief and rage would drive Freya to pursue Kratos through the years of Fimbulwinter that followed. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)