The Sisters of Fate

The Sisters of Fate, also called the Moirai, were three Primordial sisters, in the old myths daughters of Nyx, the Night, who held power over time itself and the destiny of every mortal, god, and Titan. They were Clotho, who wove the threads of fate and began all life, Lahkesis, who measured the threads to set the span of a life, and Atropos, who cut the threads to end it. Fiercely loyal to Zeus, they were slain by Kratos during his quest for revenge. (Theogony; God of War II)

The weavers of destiny#

The three Sisters of Fate determined the destiny of every mortal, god, and Titan. Clotho wove the Threads of Fate to begin all life, Lahkesis measured each thread to set the length and course of a life, and Atropos cut the threads to bring life to its end. The Sisters' designs reflected their duties: Clotho, the largest yet youngest, resembled a bloated silkworm; Lahkesis bore the form of a winged priestess and was the most involved in speaking with the outside world; and Atropos, the cutter, had massive talons upon her fingers. (God of War II)

Their power was said to surpass that of the gods, the Titans, and anyone in the mythological world. As Primordials they were immortal, possessing superhuman strength, durability, and agility, and they could fly, save for the immobile Clotho. Above all they held omniscience over past, present, and future, omnipresence across the ages, and the ability to shape fate, manipulate birth and lifespan, and travel through time using the Loom of the Fates. By Lahkesis's account, it was she who decided the Olympians would win the First Titanomachy and who allowed Kratos to kill Ares. (God of War II)

Foreshadowed across the ages#

The Sisters were spoken of long before Kratos sought them. After the death of Persephone, the Titan Atlas told the Spartan that they would meet again, for the Fates had deemed it. Before another battle, the death god Thanatos told Kratos and his brother Deimos that none of the choices they made were their own, that the gods made the choices and the Sisters of Fate made them so. (God of War: Chains of Olympus; God of War: Ghost of Sparta)

The Loom of Fate#

After Zeus betrayed and killed Kratos, the Spartan fought his way out of the Underworld with the aid of the Titan Gaia, yet returned mortal and unable to reach Olympus to take his revenge. His only path was to change the way events had played out, and so he traveled to the Island of Creation to find the Loom of Fate, which held power over time and could let him alter his past. To reach it he had to defeat the three Sisters, who were utterly loyal to Zeus and bent on denying him, fearing the doom the Ghost of Sparta would bring upon Greece. That climb to the Loom is the spine of the God of War II plot. (God of War II)

The fall of the Sisters#

Lahkesis confronted Kratos first, and when bested she summoned Atropos from within a mirror. Atropos carried Kratos back in time to his final battle with Ares and threatened to destroy the Blade of the Gods, which would erase him from existence, but he protected the sword and defeated her. Desperate, Lahkesis and Atropos fought him together until he hurled them into one of their dimensional mirrors and shattered it, trapping them for good. Believing them dead, he pressed on to the Loom Chamber, where the deformed and immobile Clotho awaited. Kratos disabled her many arms, climbed to her head, and impaled her through the skull with a great swinging blade, killing her. With all three vanquished, he claimed the power to control time and change the past. (God of War II)

Echoes in the Norse age#

The Sisters were not forgotten in the years after their defeat. When Kratos's son Atreus explained that the runes of a Nornir chest symbolized the three Norse fates, Kratos, recalling his history with their Grecian counterparts, remarked that no good came from them. Later, when the head Mimir asked about the fates of his homeland, Kratos recounted how the Sisters had abused their power, including his journey back in time to undo his death at the hands of Zeus. Freya judged such power the most irresponsible thing she had heard, and Mimir observed that had Odin held it, their plight would have been far worse. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)