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God of War: Ragnarok’s Touching Ending Explained

Here’s how Kratos and Atreus’ Ragnarok adventures come to an end. Be warned — significant God of War: Ragnarok spoilers inside (duh).

God of War: Ragnarok has been lauded for a lot, and many argue it’s the best game of the year. Of all the things it does well, its touching and thoughtful story is perhaps its greatest strength. «Touching» and «thoughtful» may be surprising descriptors for a game called «God of War,» but anyone who played Ragnarok’s 2018 predecessor likely would expect as much.

As the title suggests, God of War: Ragnarok is about a cataclysmic war known in Norse mythology as Ragnarok. At its core, however, it’s much more about the relationship between a father and his son. That father just happens to be an unstoppable killing machine. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Massive God of War: Ragnarok spoilers below.

Read more: God of War Ragnarok: Muspelheim Crucible Combat Trial Guide

The short version of God of War: Ragnarok’s ending

After spending much of God of War: Ragnarok fiercely rejecting the idea of war, Kratos is eventually pulled into participating in Ragnarok — the great war against Asgard. Before that happens, it’s revealed that Tyr, the Norse god of war who’s been staying at Kratos & Co’s headquarters, has actually been Odin all along. Odin used his godly powers to disguise himself as Tyr, and spent the whole game spying on Kratos, Atreus and Freya.

Odin makes his grand revelation by stabbing and killing Brok. That turns Sindri, normally gregarious and deferential, into an angry Dwarf, deeply resentful of Kratos, Atreus and their role in setting up Brok’s death. Sindri helps them out at Ragnarok, but only because he wants revenge on Odin. He uses a tool that gives the gang a way to penetrate through the wall that surrounds Asgard.

Inside, Kratos battles and defeats Thor. Just as Thor begins to repent for his sins and heed Kratos’ plea to be a better god, Odin appears and kills Thor. Kratos, Freya and Atreus then battle and defeat Odin. Atreus uses Giant magic to trap Odin’s spirit in a marble, then Sindri appears, snatches the marble and smashes it to bits with a hammer. Like I said, angry Dwarf.

The gang manages to escape Asgard thanks to Angrboda, a Giant who Atreus meets early in the game. After the battle, Angrboda tells Atreus she knows he’s had Giant visions, and that she needs to tell Kratos. He does so, informing his father that there are other Giants out there, and that he alone needs to find them. In the moment of Ragnarok, Kratos embraces his son and tells him he’s ready for his own adventure.

Atreus says goodbye, and Kratos sees on a shrine revealed to him by Agrboda that the Giants long ago prophesized him as the hero of Ragnarok.

Santa Monica Studio, God of War’s developer, has said Ragnarok is the end, and that God of War won’t be spun into another trilogy. But the way the game ended absolutely opens up the possibility of a follow-up that focuses on Atreus — possibly with Sindri as a villain. Dwarf magic is established as immensely powerful in God of War: Ragnarok, and Sindri’s obvious hatred of Kratos and Atreus is one of the conspicuous threads left untied by Ragnarok’s end.

That’s the short version of God of War: Ragnarok’s ending. Read on for a more comprehensive look at how God of War: Ragnarok played out.

The lead up to Ragnarok

To understand God of War: Ragnarok’s story trajectory, you need to understand a little about how its story is told. Unlike the 2018 God of War, in which Atreus is by Kratos’ side for almost all of the adventure, the two go their separate ways for a lot of Ragnarok’s story.

About halfway through the game, Atreus hatches a plan. Odin at the beginning of God of War: Ragnarok invites Atreus to Asgard. What if Atreus goes to Asgard, pretends to switch sides, buddies up with Odin and learns his Ragnarok plans?

Atreus gets into Asgard by having Odin’s ravens transport him there. After climbing the giant wall that surrounds Asgard’s city, Atreus learns that Odin is motivated by a tear into another dimension. «The rift, possibly the birthplace of reality,» he tells Atreus of the tear. «I looked inside and something was there looking back at me.»

Entering the tear, Odin says, will grant infinite knowledge. Odin knows he has to die at some point, but he needs to know what’s next before he does. The rift can grant that knowledge, but going in there without requisite protective gear means sure death: Odin tells Atreus that peeking into the tear is how he lost his eye. Odin has a fragment of a mask he reckons will protect his face enough. The mask fragment is inscribed with Giant script that Odin can’t read — which is why he needs Atreus.

Odin tasks Atreus with finding the other mask fragments. To do that, he needs to work with both Thor and Heimdall, who’s blessed with the ability to read people’s intentions. While Atreus does that, Kratos and Freya, who are now a team again after Kratos helped break Odin’s curse that trapped Freya in Midgard, are left to their own devices.

Much of the game’s plot revolves around destiny. The previous God of War ended with Kratos seeing a Giant’s prophecy that he would die at Ragnarok. Kratos scoffs at such predictions, and says that we make our own fate. Just to be sure, however, Kratos, Faye and Mimir visit the Norns, the masters of fate. The Norns agree with Kratos — that there is no such thing as fate — but the choices people make are so predictable so as to make prophesizing easy business. More importantly, they reveal that Heimdall intends to kill Atreus.

With his son’s life at risk, Kratos makes his decision. Heimdall must die — even if that kicks off war with Asgard.

The big twist

To protect his son, Kratos has to kill Heimdall. Heimdall can read people’s intentions, so attacking him is hard. Kratos asks Sindri and Brok if they could forge a new weapon to help him beat the Aesir god, and the two Dwarfs come up with the Draupnir Spear. To create it, Brok escorts Kratos to Svartalfheim, where they gather materials and get a weird Mermaid creature to craft the Spear. It’s a whole thing.

Kratos gets his chance to use the weapon when Heimdall confronts him in Vanaheim. It’s a success! Heimdall can read people’s intentions, so can catch the spear every time Kratos throws it at him. But the spear can implode and regenerate, which allows Kratos to harm and ultimately kill Heimdall. (Yes, if Heimdall could truly read intentions he would know Kratos intends to implode the spear, and so he’d avoid it rather than catch it. Don’t think too hard about it.) He tries unsuccessfully to walk away from the defeated Heimdall, but Heimdall won’t relent. Kratos has no choice but to strangle him to death.

After collecting one of the two missing mask fragments, Atreus tells Odin he wants to go home. Odin allows it. But with Heimdall dead, Atreus decides he should return to Asgard. Odin will soon figure out that Kratos killed Heimdall, and that will surely lead to war. In the brief period of time before that happens, Atreus wants to head to Asgard to help Odin complete the mask. That can both distract Odin and allow Atreus to learn more of his plans — and possibly steal the mask, too.

On his return to Asgard, Odin gets Atreus and a superdrunk Thor to travel through Niflheim. Atreus locates the final fragment. At that moment, Odin appears and asks for the mask. The next moment, Thor’s wife Sif appears and reveals that Kratos killed Heimdall. Thor goes into a rage, trying to attack Atreus. Atreus uses a gadget given to him by Sindri to escape at the very last second.

Back at Sindri’s house, Atreus, Kratos, Tyr and Freya devise a plan. If they can go to Asgard, they can lure Odin out with the mask and kill him. That way they won’t have to initiate Ragnarok, and war can be avoided. Tyr, keen to avoid war at all costs, says this is a fabulous idea. And in fact, he has just the thing: a secret path to Asgard.

Everyone is hyped except for Brok. Brok wonders why Tyr never mentioned this path to Asgard before, and why Tyr is calling Atreus «Loki.» Tyr says he’ll show them the path after he collects his «things,» but Brok points out that he has no things — what a burn — and slaps the mask out of Tyr’s hands. As everyone surrounds Brok, treating him like a crazy Dwarf, Tyr fatally stabs Brok and reveals that he’s not actually Tyr — Odin has been pretending to be Tyr the whole time.

After a standoff, Odin takes the mask and goes back to Asgard. Ragnarok it is.

Ragnarok cometh

It’s prophesized that Surtr, the fire demon of Muspelheim, kicks off Ragnarok with an attack on Asgard. Kratos and Atreus travel to Muspelheim and, after some wrangling, convince Surtr to mount his attack. After that, it’s officially on.

Kratos is named general of the army attacking Asgard: It’s comprised of Freya, her brother Freyr, the Valkeries, the dark and light elves of Alfheim, the World Serpent Jormungandr, Angrboda, the Hel-Walkers from Helheim, and Surtr. Using Gjallarhorn, a horn which Kratos took off Heimdall after killing him, Kratos is able to open a portal to Asgard in Tyr’s Temple.

Sindri has been understandably morose after the death of Brok. «You don’t know what sorry means,» Sindri snaps at Atreus when the latter tries to apologize for Brok’s death. «I gave you everything: my skills, my friendship, my home, my secrets, my treasures, and you just kept taking. And now what have I got? Not even my family.» Still, Sindri said he’d enlist the help of the Dwarfs. When he arrives in Asgard, though, he’s on his lonesome. His people have shed enough blood for others, he says. Luckily, Sindri didn’t come empty-handed, as he has a that reveals a flaw in the giant wall that surrounds Asgard. Atreus is able to exploit the flaw and enter Asgard, where Kratos almost immediately gets in a fight with Thor.

Kratos wins, but spares Thor. «No more,» Kratos says, putting his Leviathan Ax away. «For the sake of our children, we must be better.» Before Thor can say anything though, Odin appears and berates him for talking. «You don’t talk, you don’t think! I think, you kill,» Odin says. Thor drops his hammer and says he won’t be Odin’s killing machine anymore — which prompts Odin to fatally impale Thor, his son, with a spear.

That kicks off the final battle against Odin, a two-part boss fight in which Kratos, Atreus and Freya are victorious. Atreus beseeches Odin to be better — like father, like son — but Odin refuses. «I have to know what’s next. I will not stop,» Odin says. «Why’d you have to say that?» Atreus replies regretfully.

Atreus uses Giant magic to remove Odin’s spirit and forge it into a marble. Kratos, Freya and Atreus go back and forth on what to do with it. Kratos lets Freya decide, but Freya puts the decision on Atreus’ young shoulders. Before the lad can decide, however, Sindri appears out of nowhere, puts the marble on a table and smashes it with his hammer. «That’s what comes next,» he says before vanashing on the spot.

The bad guy is beaten, but unfortunately Surtr, now a giant and uncontrollable fire demon, is still wrecking Asgard. They all need a way out. Agrboda is the gang’s ticket outta there: She arrives with Garm and opens a rift into another realm. (When Kratos asks how, she simply replies: «Giant stuff.») Everyone makes it out except Freyr, who sacrificed himself holding off Surtr so the rest could make it out.

God of Peace

After the cataclysm ends, Atreus wakes up in Midgard. He walks along a spiral path, passing by all the friends he met in God of War: Ragnarok, until he gets to the top, where Angrboda is waiting. She tells him she knows he’s been seeing Giant visions, and that he needs to tell his father.

«Every part of me is telling me this is what I have to do, I just don’t know how to say it,» Atreus says.

Kratos walks in at that inopportune moment, but before Atreus can speak, Angrboda says she wants to show them both something. It’s a shrine that reveals that Faye long ago destroyed Atreus’ shrine in Jotunheim, allowing the pair to forge their own path. This is a little confusing, because Faye didn’t destroy Atreus’ shrine — it was there, clear to see for both Atreus and Kratos at the end of God of War, but that’s fine.

Atreus has a heart-to-heart with his dad. «There are other Giants out there, and I’ve got to find them,» Atreus says to Kratos, giving Sony the option to follow up with a Loki game. «I think I know where to look, but they’re my responsibility. I need to do this alone.»

Atreus says he’s frightened by the idea of a solo adventure, but Kratos says that’s why he must do it. Kratos says they only survived Ragnarok because of Atreus’ decisions, and that he’s ready to fend for himself. They embrace. It’s deeply emotional.

Atreus scampers off with Agrboda before bidding his father Adieu. Left on his own, Kratos closes the shrine, only to find a second side on the back. There the Giants show Kratos to be the hero of Ragnarok — more god of peace than god of war. Kratos is overwhelmed, even letting out a few tears and whimpers at the vision of him as a savior instead of an instrument of death and destruction, as he was in Greece.

«What did you see in there brother?» Mimir asks Kratos. «A path,» Kratos replies. «One I had never imagined.»

Epilogue

Credits roll after Atreus leaves you, but the story isn’t over quite yet. Remnants of Odin’s forces have landed aross the realms, and finishing the main quest unlocks the side quest of clearing out this riffraff. If you travel to Niflheim, where Odin’s Ravens chill, you’ll see a new area can be accessed.

If you follow the new path, it’ll take you to a secret prison. Get to the main cell at the bottom and you’ll discover none other than Tyr, the real Tyr. Tyr doesn’t say much. Mimir gives him the TL;DR of God of War: Ragnarok — that Odin is dead thanks to Kratos — and Tyr responds by saying he needs space to process this information. If you visit the other realms, you’ll sometimes bump into Tyr. I found him doing some Tai Chi stuff in Vanaheim and Helheim.

The other sidequest that opens up after the main story ends is a funeral for Brok. This is quick and easy. You go to Svartalfheim, to Durlin’s office, and then you’re directed to a beach area, where Brok gets a final send-off into Valhalla. Kratos places Brok into a little raft. Before Brok is pushed off, Sindri materializes, cries over his brother’s body and says he loves him.

Sindri holds a flaming torch for Freya, who lights an arrow and shoots it into the now floating boat, lighting it aflame. Kratos puts his hand on Sindri’s shoulder and tries to offer consoling words, but Sindri peels Kratos’ hand off and gives him a look of scorn. He says nothing, walks a few steps and then vanishes.

Earlier in the game, Brok had given Mimir a riddle. What gets bigger the more you take away? It bedevilled Mimir for a long time, but finally Mimir gets the answer. «A hole.» The screen fades to black as the credits roll again.

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We Played Nintendo Switch 2: Mario, Donkey Kong, Mouse, Camera and a Lot More

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Nintendo Switch 2: Every Reveal About the Console, New Games, Price, Release Date

The $450 console launches June 5, with Mario Kart World the highlight of its launch day game lineup.

The Nintendo Switch 2 console’s biggest reveal yet arrived Wednesday as part of the company’s latest Nintendo Direct event. This teed up a day of Switch 2 reveals that include its June 5 release date, a $450 price, its specs and its initial game lineup that extends from launch into 2026

The console will be further buoyed by having Mario Kart World as a launch title, which will go on sale in either a $500 bundle with the Switch 2 or on its own for $80 — making the open-world racing game one of Nintendo’s most expensive yet. Other games announced, such as Donkey Kong Bananza, are being priced around $70, which matches the cost of 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That Zelda game and Breath of the Wild are among the original Switch titles that will get enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, a premium upgrade allowing players to get new features, modes and graphical enhancements that take advantage of the newer system’s capabilities. 

Here are the top highlights from Nintendo’s console event, all of the games we’ve heard about so far (including new titles, Nintendo Switch 2 Editions and GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online) and all of our coverage so far. You can also check out our Nintendo Switch 2 live blog for even more updates about the Switch 2 as we learn them. 

Nintendo Switch 2 console

The Nintendo Switch 2’s specs saw a noticeable technical bump over the Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch, 1080p resolution LCD that supports a 120Hz refresh rate — matching what we now see on most Android phones. When the Switch 2 is docked, compatible games can run in 4K resolution. The new dock also includes a cooling fan. 

The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, and the new Switch 2 Game Cards will load games faster. For digital libraries, however, the Switch 2 will only work with microSD Express cards, which are different from the microSD cards that are compatible with the prior Nintendo Switch. Nintendo will have a Software Transfer feature available to help move games and data from the original Switch to the Switch 2.

The new Joy-Con for the controllers will support mouse controls, and a new C button will be part of a new GameChat communication feature that allows both voice and video chat. There’s also a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing players to see each other.

The Switch 2 also adds a second USB-C port to the top of the system, which Nintendo says can help connect its new camera accessory or charge the console when playing in tabletop mode. Nintendo also revealed a new Switch 2 Pro Controller with the C button and customizable GL and GR buttons on the back.

Following the presentation, Nintendo unveiled the system’s price of $450 in the US. It will also sell the Switch 2 bundled with a digital version of Mario Kart World for $500.

Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World removes its traditional boundaries and lets drivers roam freely across an entire world of race courses. The game will get its own Nintendo Direct later this month, where we’ll see additional details, but we already know it’ll include traditional races and a Free Roam mode, much like in the Forza Horizon series. 

Getting the game bundled for an extra $50 on the cost of the Switch 2 might be the move if you are interested in the game, because Nintendo announced on its website that standalone copies of Mario Kart World will cost $80

Joy-Con 2 C button and GameChat

Nintendo’s rolling out its new C button across several new Switch 2 controllers. The button will be used for the new GameChat communication features without a headset. The button will be used alongside a microphone on the console itself, which Nintendo says can be used whether it’s docked to a TV or in handheld mode. 

In its teaser video, Nintendo promises the microphone will be able to cancel out loud background noises. GameChat will also work with a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing video chat and various camera-based game modes in supported titles. GameChat will be free at launch through March 31, 2026.

Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games upgrade titles

The Nintendo Switch 2 will play three types of games: original Switch games, Switch 2 games and Switch 2 Edition games that will receive substantial enhancements. For many of these Switch 2 Edition games, you’ll need to buy an upgrade pack if you own the original for Switch. Many of them will get more than just enhanced graphics in the upgrade; for example, Super Mario Party Jamboree will get new games that support the new Joy-Cons’ mouse controls, audio recognition and video camera gameplay options through the Switch 2 Camera. 

Other Nintendo Switch games that are getting Switch 2 Edition options include The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Enhancements vary: The Zelda games will start working with a companion phone app for maps and sending schematics to friends, while Kirby will get a new story that’s exclusive to the Switch 2 Edition. On the third-party side, Civilization 7 will get mouse controls.

Nintendo did not announce what upgrade packs will cost. However, some Switch games will get free updates that will improve performance or enhance features when playing them on the Switch 2. The Switch games getting these updates include:

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a new game set in the world of Zelda that tells the story that leads into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This appears to be similar to how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity told the story of a war that led to the events of Breath of the Wild. The teaser shows Zelda discovering that she’s arrived in the past of Hyrule, and the game will expand on how she gets involved in the corresponding Imprisonment War.

Nintendo Switch 2 games

Several other first- and third-party games were spotlighted during the Switch 2 Direct. These include Donkey Bananza, one of the first 3D platforming games featuring DK since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64. Kirby will also return to the racing genre in Kirby Air Riders, which comes more than 20 years after the GameCube racer Kirby’s Air Ride. DragXDrive will use mouse controls to control a futuristic wheelchair basketball game in which players will simulate push and pull motions to control their character.

An onslaught of Switch 2 third-party games were quickly shuffled through during the Direct, which I list below. An unnamed James Bond game is in development at Hitman studio IO Interactive, as is a darker title from Elden Ring creator FromSoftware called The Duskbloods, which will be exclusive to the Switch 2. 

The full list of announced Nintendo Switch 2 games includes:

  • Borderlands 4
  • Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
  • Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
  • Deltarune
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Drag x Drive
  • EA Sports FC
  • EA Sports Madden NFL
  • Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
  • Enter the Gungeon 2
  • Fast Fusion
  • Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
  • Fortnite
  • Hades 2
  • Hitman World of Assassination — Signature Edition
  • Hogwarts Legacy
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
  • Kirby Air Riders
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Star-Crossed World
  • Kunitsu-Gai: Path of the Goddess
  • Mario Kart World
  • Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • NBA 2K
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
  • Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
  • Pokemon Legends: Z-A — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Project 007
  • Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
  • Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Split Fiction
  • Star Wars Outlaws
  • Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions
  • Street Fighter 6
  • Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Jamboree TV
  • Survival Kids
  • The Duskbloods
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4
  • WWE 2K
  • Yakuza 0 Definitive Edition

Among these titles, you can see the full list of June 5 Switch 2 launch day games here.

Nintendo GameCube library coming to Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch Online game library will add GameCube games to the Switch 2. On launch day, these games will initially include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur 2 and F-Zero GX, with each game getting enhanced graphics. Online multiplayer will also be added to certain titles. Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers and Luigi’s Mansion are among the games set to arrive later. At launch, Nintendo will also sell a GameCube controller, which will be wireless and include a C button for GameChat.

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