Imposter Tyr

The Imposter Tyr, the "Tyr" that Kratos and Atreus freed in Svartalfheim, was in truth Odin in disguise. The All-Father posed as his own son, the Aesir God of War, as a means to infiltrate Kratos' circle of allies and learn their plans. The ruse unexpectedly led him to the secret prophecies the Jotnar had hidden in their shrines, and he held the disguise until a moment of anger, when he killed Brok, forced him to drop it.

The prisoner of Svartalfheim#

As Fimbulwinter came to an end, Kratos and Atreus began a quest to find Tyr in the hope of preventing the prophecy of Ragnarok from coming to pass. Mimir told them that, though he had heard Tyr was dead, Odin seemed unusually anxious that he never be found. A secret uncovered in the shrine of Skoll and Hati led the pair to believe Tyr still lived, and with further clues Atreus pinpointed his location: the realm of the dwarves, Svartalfheim.

There they discovered Tyr's prison in the mines and freed him, unaware that the figure they had found was Odin. The All-Father had already been posing as Tyr for a long time. Most of the Aesir and the dwarves of Svartalfheim believed the real Tyr was imprisoned in Asgard, and only a privileged few knew the truth, which let the disguise pass unquestioned.

To strengthen the ruse, Odin pretended to be delirious and hallucinating, rambling that Kratos and Atreus were not real. When Kratos cut the noose from around his neck with one of the Blades of Chaos, the disguised Odin recognized the weapon and asked if Kratos meant to kill him, then fearfully backed away when Kratos said he had only come to free him. When Mimir spoke to help him recover his memory, the false Tyr feigned horror at the severed head and accused Kratos of killing him, then fled in pretended delusion with Atreus in pursuit.

The ruse among allies#

The false Tyr crashed through a tunnel and was separated from Kratos and Mimir until Kratos regrouped and brought him to his senses, never realizing he was speaking to Odin. After an attack by the Einherjar in retaliation for the rescue, the group returned to Sindri's house. There Sindri offered to build Tyr a bed, but he chose to sleep in the broom closet, claiming it was the comfort of a small space after long imprisonment. In truth it was an opportunity to keep a raven hidden there as a spy, which let him travel to and from Asgard undetected.

Throughout his time among them the false Tyr worked to steer the group from war and to sow division. He repeatedly advised Kratos against attacking Asgard, feigning concern for the innocents who would suffer no matter who won. In Alfheim, as the group learned more of the true prophecy, Odin realized that the knowledge he had held of Ragnarok was incomplete, and he hid his distress behind a show of anger over a slain Light Elf. He insisted he could not lead the armies of the other realms against Asgard, holding to a pacifist's stance.

His true nature surfaced in small ways. He called Freya by the name Frigg and raised the matter of Baldur's death, working to set her against Kratos. He named Atreus "Champion," driving a wedge between father and son so the boy would be more inclined to seek out Odin in Asgard. He spoke of Atreus one day giving them eyes inside the enemy's inner sanctum. He also disparaged Freyr over the ruin of Alfheim, a view Mimir found strange and pointed out as unfair.

The reveal#

After Atreus returned from Niflheim with the completed Mask of Creation, the false Tyr abruptly changed course and declared he would lead the charge against Asgard. He took the mask and claimed there was another way into the realm that could not be reached from the Mystic Gateway. When Brok demanded he reveal it, Tyr said he must first gather his belongings.

Brok had already grown suspicious. The man owned nothing in the house, and he had once referred to Atreus as Loki, a name he had not used before. The dwarf kept pressing over the supposed route, and the constant provoking caused the false Tyr to lose his temper. He stabbed Brok in the chest, critically wounding him.

It was here that the disguise fell away and Tyr was revealed to be Odin. The All-Father proclaimed that with Brok's death he was even with the group for the death of Heimdall. He failed to reclaim the Mask of Creation and made his escape, but not before declaring war on the realms. Kratos, Freya, Freyr, and Atreus realized at last that the Tyr who had been among them was an imposter. Mimir could not believe how easily they had been fooled, and understood that the imposter had been traveling continually to and from Asgard by means of a raven hidden in the broom closet, which a single glance inside would have exposed.

Personality and the true Tyr#

Because he was Odin in disguise, the false Tyr's manner was what the All-Father imagined Tyr to be: a pacifist and a coward. He presented himself as a shadow of the man he imitated, as though years of imprisonment had drained the warrior's spirit from him, likely because his own fighting style would have given him away at once. His act was so effective, with others granting him space out of pity and respect for the real Tyr, that he moved among them and to and from Asgard undetected.

Yet glimpses of Odin emerged from behind the mask. He held high standards of cuisine and was disgusted by Brok's cooking, despite having asked only for plain hardtack. Above all he carried Odin's short temper and superiority, talking down to those around him, and it was that temper that finally broke his cover. Mimir judged the whole impersonation a cruel mockery of everything the real Tyr had aspired to and believed in.

After Odin's death and the destruction of Asgard, a fragment of the realm containing a prison came to rest in Niflheim. Within it Kratos and his allies found the true Tyr, who had been imprisoned for a long time. Though Kratos wondered whether even this Tyr was real, Mimir assured him that with Odin dead the god they had now found was genuine.