God of War Ragnarok dev reveals original fate for Kratos

God of War Ragnarok narrative director, Matt Sophos, has revealed the original fate of Kratos in mind by the writing team during the early stages of development.

Be advised I will mention spoilers for God of War (2018), Ragnarok, as well as The Last of Us 2. So please consider that to be your spoiler warning. You have been warned.

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Kratos’ fate was predicted in God of War (2018)

Near the end of God of War (2018), Kratos’ death was predicated in a mural discovered by him and Atreus. It seemed this was the intention for Ragnarok. What’s more, the story of Ragnarok certainly leans towards the death of the great god slayer.

However, God of War Ragnarok nearly pulled a Last of Us: Part 2. Kratos was originally supposed to die following his first battle with Thor. To be honest, I’m glad that never came to be. That being said, there was another intended plot twist.

the last of us 2 art
Credit: Naughty Dog

Kratos would have been resurrected in Ragnarok

Following the death of Kratos at the hands of the Mighty God of Thunder, Atreus would later resurrect Kratos two decades later by rescuing his father from Helheim. As much as I don’t like the idea of Kratos dying, that resurrection plot could have been very interesting.

There was the earliest, earlier draft of an outline that we did come up with, that we took to Eric (Williams). We had Kratos die in the Thor fight at the very beginning of the game,” explained Sophos.

god of war ragnarok
Credit: Santa Monica Studio

He continued: “It wasn’t a permanent death: what was gonna happen was [that] he would get pulled out of Hel[heim], essentially, by Atreus, but [at this point] 20 years have passed. There was gonna be a big-time jump-type thing. It didn’t ultimately feel right. Eric was like, “I don’t wanna do that.” Kratos has died and comes back from it too many times. The hook, the emotion isn’t really there.

Sophos then spoke about God of War Ragnarok’s moving ending and why it was a good moment for Kratos and Atreus.

Fate would not define God of War Ragnarok

As we were developing the story, we knew that we wanted the story to be one about letting go and changing. Norse mythology is all about fate and prophecy and everything, and we wanted to say that that’s bullsh*t. Nothing is written that can’t be unwritten. 

As long as you’re willing to change [and] make changes in your life, you’re not bound to fate. When we landed on that, when we knew that that was the story we wanted to tell, we knew that Kratos couldn’t die. 

god of war ragnarok
Credit: Santa Monica Studios

Because then it would be like, “Woah, are we gonna just say that Kratos couldn’t change?” And then that would suck. It became pretty clear to us early that [Kratos] can’t die if we want to tell the story we want to tell.

I couldn’t agree more with what Matt Sophos had to say on the fate that had apparently been written for Kratos. There were points in the game when I thought “Kratos is going to die, isn’t he?” However, I also thought it would be awesome if Kratos not only defied the gods, but also his supposed destiny.

It remains to be seen what the future now holds for Kratos and Atreus, but after the conclusion of Ragnarok, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Norse story gets its well-earned trilogy.

god of war ragnarok
Credit: Santa Monica Studio

We reviewed God of War Ragnarok

In our review of God of War Ragnarok, we said it’s: “everything you loved about the previous title, but amplified. The longer story and expanded worlds give way for characters to develop in meaningful ways, making the whole game feel very much like a sequel worthy of its predecessor.

Finally, would you have liked to have seen the death of Kratos? Let us know across our social media channels. God of War Ragnarok is out now for PS5 as well as PS4.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our video of the week. 10 of the scariest horror games of all time are shown off. What is your favourite horror game?

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Featured Image Credit: Santa Monica Studio/Source: MP1ST via MinnMax