*Spoiler Alert*

The game God of War starts with Kratos’ second wife dying and wishing that her ashes be taken to the highest peak of the nine realms. Kratos and his son Atreus live in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard. Kratos is confronted by a man who possesses god-like powers. After Kratos kills this mysterious man, the two set back on their journey.

The first instance of an entity or god in the video game is in the first location, the Lake of the Nine. The mysterious man returns and identifies himself as Baldur, son of Odin and Frigg. They battle, and the two move on to find an imprisoned Mímir, who promises the two a safe right of passage to Jotunheim. They find a path that has been blocked off to keep out both Odin and Thor from gaining access to Jotunheim. Mímir then instructs the two to behead him and take him to the witch of the woods to resurrect him into a woman named Freya. From the get-go, Kratos immediately is in distrust with Freya, and Atreus soon finds this out. An argument ensues between Kratos and Atreus.

Both Freya and Mímir warn Kratos that he must warn Atreus of his dark past to save Atreus. He doesn’t do this in time because Atreus falls ill. Freya warns Kratos that he needs to travel to the frost realm to retrieve the heart of an ancient troll to be able to cure Atreus of this illness. Kratos is then forced to unearth his Twin Blades of fire to be able to do anything at all in the Frost Realm, since his axe is frost-based. 

After Atreus is cured, Baldur comes back once again for revenge. When he is given the option to retreat and be left alive, Baldur begins strangling Freya, and Kratos is forced to kill him. In the normal ending, they return and Mímir warns them that Fimbulwinter has returned and Ragnarok is soon to follow. In the secret ending, however, Atreus has a vision that in the end, Thor will confront them in Fimbulwinter.