God of War (2018) Story Explained: Plot Summary and Ending

God of War (2018) moved the series from Greece to the Norse world. Released by Santa Monica Studio in April 2018, it picks up an older Kratos many years after he destroyed Olympus, now living quietly in Midgard with his son Atreus. It's the first part of the Norse saga, followed by God of War Ragnarök, and on the series timeline it comes straight after the Greek games. This page has full spoilers, including the ending. (God of War (2018))

Before the story begins#

At the end of God of War III, Kratos had killed Zeus and left Greece in ruins. At some point after that he travelled north to Midgard, where he met Faye, built a home in the Wildwoods and hid the Blades of Chaos under the floorboards. Faye did much of the raising of their son. Atreus knew nothing of his father's past, or that he himself was a god. (God of War III; God of War (2018))

The Norse gods rule from Asgard under Odin, and his sons Thor and Baldur do his violent work. The giants, the Jotnar, are thought to be extinct, and the way to Jotunheim is closed. (God of War (2018))

Faye's ashes and the Stranger#

The story opens with Kratos cutting down trees marked with Faye's handprint and burning her body on a pyre. Her last wish was for her ashes to be scattered from the highest peak in all the realms. Kratos doubts Atreus is ready, tests him on a hunt, and decides to take him anyway, carrying the Leviathan Axe that had been Faye's. (God of War (2018))

Before they can leave, a stranger knocks on the door. He knows who Kratos is, says he's looking for a giant, and starts a fight. He can't feel pain, and Kratos only stops him by breaking his neck and throwing him into a ravine. The man is Baldur, and he is not dead. (God of War (2018))

On the way to the mountain, father and son meet Freya, a witch living alone in the woods with her boar Hildisvini. She casts a spell that hides them from the Aesir and steers them towards the Lake of Nine. There the World Serpent, Jormungandr, wakes and shifts, and the water level drops around Tyr's temple. Along the way they also meet Brok and Sindri, the feuding dwarf brothers who forged the axe. (God of War (2018))

Alfheim, the mountain and Mimir#

The peak they first aim for is choked with a black mist, so they travel to Alfheim and take the Light from the Ringed Temple, which the Light Elves and Dark Elves had fought over for centuries. With it they clear the mist and climb the mountain. (God of War (2018))

At the summit they overhear Baldur, with Thor's sons Magni and Modi, questioning Mimir, Odin's old adviser, who has been trapped in a tree and tortured for more than a century. Once the Aesir leave, Mimir tells Kratos and Atreus this isn't the highest peak at all. That one is in Jotunheim, and the way there is shut. At Mimir's own request Kratos cuts off his head, and Freya brings it back to life. From then on Kratos carries Mimir on his belt, and his stories become the group's map of the Norse world. (God of War (2018))

Thor's sons and the god in Atreus#

With Mimir to speak for them, the World Serpent tells them what they need: a piece of a sacred chisel and the Black Rune hidden in Tyr's temple. The chisel takes them to Thamur's corpse, the frozen body of a giant. There Magni and Modi catch up with them. Kratos kills Magni in a fight, and Modi runs. (God of War (2018))

Soon afterwards Atreus collapses, sick in a way no herb can fix. Freya explains the cause: the boy is a god who doesn't know it, and the conflict inside him is tearing him apart. Kratos goes home, digs the Blades of Chaos out from under the floor and, haunted by Athena's voice, takes them down to Helheim to fetch what Freya needs. Atreus recovers, and Kratos finally tells him they are both gods. (God of War (2018))

The news goes to Atreus's head. He becomes rude to Brok and Sindri, and when a beaten Modi turns up and insults Faye, Atreus kills him, against his father's orders. (God of War (2018))

Helheim and Baldur's last fight#

With the Black Rune taken from Tyr's vault, they head back up the mountain to open the way to Jotunheim. Baldur ambushes them there, the fight wrecks the travel gate, and their crash through the realms leaves them stranded in Helheim. They escape on a ship, see visions there of Baldur's past and of Kratos's own, and come back to Midgard with Atreus humbled. (God of War (2018))

In Tyr's temple they find the Unity Stone and use it to bring the lost Jotunheim tower back to the Lake of Nine. The tower still needs a travel crystal, and Mimir says only both of his own Bifrost eyes will do. Odin had hidden the missing one in a statue of Thor that Jormungandr swallowed, so the serpent lets them into his belly to fetch it. (God of War (2018))

When they come out near Thamur's corpse, Baldur arrives one last time, and Freya steps in to protect him. She is his mother, and the curse is her spell: she made him impossible to harm, and it also took away all feeling. An arrow in Atreus's quiver carries mistletoe, the one thing the spell didn't cover. When it touches Baldur, the curse breaks and he can feel again. He tries to kill Freya, and Kratos snaps his neck. Freya, holding her son's body, swears she will have revenge. See Baldur's death for the full scene. (God of War (2018))

The ending explained#

Kratos and Atreus reach Jotunheim and find the giants long gone. A mural there shows their whole trip, carved before they ever set out, and reveals that Faye was a giant named Laufey and that the Jotnar called Atreus Loki. The giants had foreseen the whole trip. They scatter her ashes from the peak together. (God of War (2018))

Kratos also sees a covered panel that Atreus doesn't. It seems to show Atreus cradling his dying father. Kratos says nothing about it. (God of War (2018))

Mimir had stayed behind, and back in Midgard he names the other problem. Baldur's death is the first sign of Ragnarök, and it has started Fimbulwinter, a winter that will last three years. After the credits, Atreus dreams of that winter's end: Thor standing at their door. (God of War (2018))

So the ending leaves three questions. Does the mural mean Kratos will die? What part will Atreus play as Loki? And what will Odin do now that one son and two grandsons are dead? God of War Ragnarök picks up three years later with Thor's visit and answers all three, partly by showing the mural wasn't the whole picture. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

What it sets up#

The 2018 game is the first half of a two-part story. It puts Freya on the hunt for revenge, starts the countdown to Ragnarök, and leaves Atreus wanting to find out what being Loki means. For the full arc from Sparta to the end of the Norse saga, see God of War story explained. If you want to go back to the Greek games first, here is every God of War game in order. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Test yourself: take the God of War 2018 quiz, twelve questions on Faye's ashes, Baldur and the mural in Jotunheim. (God of War (2018))