"All of us recognized a special honor and responsibility to create a different and better and truly more memorable experience than before."
"Change is hard, but through it all we persevere, getting back up each time we are knocked down and celebrating each breakthrough, knowing that this journey ends in the realization of a collective vision – a great change in something we all hold very dear – a chance for us all to be better."
http://godofwar.playstation.com/a-new-beginning-awaits/<> />
The GOW series we know and love is changing, the gameplay has left behind the old fixed camera and blades of chaos for an up close movable camera and an axe, but more importantly than the combat Kratos has changed. Kratos vengeance ended with the death of Zeus, he gave hope to the world and is now apparently living with his new son in Scandinavia but as every GOW fan knows its not a GOW game if gods aren't being killed. This new direction GOW brings to light many questions the most important being:
•why will kratos kill the gods? how will ragnarok come about (we all know it will)?
•how are there any norse gods/myths in the first place?
•what role will kratos son play?
•how much will carry over from the last saga?
•what is the ultimate end of the GOW series?
im sure many god of war fans have pondered these questions and as of yet there are no definitive answers, so let me show you what route I think god of war should take not only with the norse myths but beyond while answering the above questions. one thing is for sure, much is going to change.
HOW ARE THERE ANY NORSE MYTHS?
this is a very pressing question? how in the world are there any norse gods, monsters ect in the new god of war? the god of war world was fully ruled by the greek gods fully and upon their death the whole world was destroyed so how in the world are there suddenly greek gods and where did they come from? Well I believe the answer is obvious. When the greek gods died the world was returned to Chaos, if you played the game GOWIII you should know how much chaos is talked about especially at the end. Kratos killing of the gods returned the world to the primordial chaos from which it and the gods were spawned... guess what other mythology begins with chaos? you got it, Norse mythology!
in norse mythology there was the ginungigap, the primordial chaos, then out of it sprang the worlds of fire and ice and their power created the first beings and eventually the world and yggdrasil were formed. so what does this mean? it means the new god of war world was magically spawned at the end of GOWIII and the greek gods have been reincarnated into the norse myths. are you surprised? you shouldn't be, remember how whenever a god died in GOW they exploded, their power left them and whatever aspect of nature they were tied to was thrown into chaos (the oceans rose, the sun was blacked out, the souls were unleashed, ect)? when the gods died they went back into nature ready to be recycled into the next pantheon. upon the death of Zeus all the gods had died, the world was returned to chaos and a new world with new gods began to take shape.
so now that we have figured this out we are left with another question, were the greek gods the first reincarnation of the gods? I don't believe so. The Egyptian and Babylonian mythologies have been talked about by the GOW creators before and these myths re older than greek, so it would be likely these mythologies would be earlier reincarnations. so, are the Egyptian/Babylonian mythologies the first incarnations? no, I think not. there is a religion GOW has referenced throughout its series, a religion I and millions still follow today, Christianity.
THE BOOK OF ENOCH
in GOWII Christianity has been referenced several times. one of the weapons you gain is the spear of destiny, nowhere to be found in greek myth however in Christian lore there was a spear of destiny used to pierce Jesus side on the cross. In the chamber of the fates there are three murals depicting events that have or will happen, one of the first titan war, one of a man standing over the world in chaos (which turns out to be kratos in GOWIII) and the last showing the three wise men following the star to Bethlehem. most god of war fans know of the mural and it was thought for a long time god of war 3 would end with the start of Christianity, that did not happen but I still think the murals prophecy will come true. in fact I think the mural not only foreshadows the end of GOW, but also hints at the beginning, the origin of the gods and chaos itself.
In the book of Enoch which is accepted as biblical canon by certain Christians a tale is told of the Watchers, the holy ones that came down from heaven to earth to watch over mankind. these watchers were overcome by lust and mated with women, these women gave birth to nephilim, the giants and mighty men of old. God saw the wickedness of the watchers and sent his arch angels to bind them in the bottomless pit; God also caused the children of the watchers to war with each other and destroy each other from the earth then the flood came and cleansed the earth. notice any connection? well lets look at what was said in the book of enoch:
And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. 9. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, ⌈⌈and⌉⌉ from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; ⌈they shall be evil spirits on earth, and⌉ evil spirits shall they be called. [10. As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] 11. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, ⌈but nevertheless hunger⌉ and thirst, and cause offences.From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death ⌈of the giants⌉, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement--thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great ⌈judgement⌉ in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated."
notice it now? this primordial battle and the ensuing flood which wiped the earth clean goes hand in hand with the deaths of the Olympians! exchange nephilim for gods and the two stories align perfectly. also genesis tells us there were giants in the earth in those days AND ALSO AFTER THAT, which would if applied to the GOW verse support the idea of the slain nephilim/gods power/spirits returned in new forms. so now it becomes abundantly clear that the Olympian/asgardian/ennead ect gods are in fact the reincarnated spirits/power of the mighty men of old in the book of enoch/genesis. very interesting isn't it? well lets go deeper, who will be the final bosses of the GOW series? in greek and norse mythologies the gods and the world came from CHAOS, the primordial entity. in GOW chaos the powers of chaos have been shown, they brought about the end of the gods and I think the power behind the evils of Pandora's box are THE WATCHERS.
Here are how I would categories the watchers in GOW:
Azazel: chaos itself, responsible for the chaos and recreation of the gods in norse myth.
Semyaza: fear, responsible for the corruption of Zeus.
Shamsiel: deceit, responsible for the corruption of Helios.
Kasdeja: hate, responsible for the corruption of hades.
Araqiel: anger, responsible for the corruption of Poseidon.
Amazarak: sloth, responsible for corrupting Hera.
Penemue: pride, responsible for the corruption of Hermes. the above is how I would categories the watchers in relation to the evils of Pandora's box, and these would be the final bosses in the last GOW game. now then, lets look into the question of why kratos might kill the gods and how much will carry over from the last game.
what will carry over from the last saga/why will the norse gods die?
of course the easiest answer to this question is simply that the norse gods will be buttholes to Kratos and incur his wrath by attacking him and his son or something, but I have an idea that seems much better to me.
in GOWII kratos is killed by zeus which results in him fighting through the underworld, killing the fates, going back in time and beating zeus, 'nuff said right? wrong. kratos actions would have created a paradox as there were now two kratos in the same timeline, one leading the titans to destroy Olympus and the other dead... and as we know the hands of death have ever held kratos. the dead kratos would as usual have fought his way out of the underworld only to find his all the Olympians dead, his vengeance taken from him, this is where Athena comes in. after kratos betrayed her and released hope to humanity Athena would leave and find this other kratos, who she would then deceive with her lies and offer him a new chance to gain vengeance upon the one who had dared to kill the Olympians.
I think the asgardians will come after kratos and his son Atreus out of confusion thinking kratos has been killing aesir when in fact its Athena orchestrating the whole thing using the time displaced kratos as a pawn in her game. this I think is the way to go, it would be a totally new and unique take on GOW. it would be awesome to see kratos on the side of and powered by the asgardians vs time displaced kratos powered by the jotuns and fire demons or perhaps wielding the Olympians old weapons, fighting it out in ragnarok.
What role will kratos son play?
on this point I don't really have any basis for any theories. Atreus name means fearless so perhaps that could mean something. he will likely either take over for kratos at some point or maybe act as the narrator to the series if kratos stays on as the protagonist until the series is over, which I hope is the case.
how will GOW end?
I think it will end as people thought GOWIII would end, with the rise of Christianity and the three wise men. I think, or I hope that in his final game kratos takes on the forces of chaos and eventually chaos itself, destroying the source of the evils and ending the cycle of corrupt gods forever, fulfilling the prophecy in the book of enoch of the age of consummation.
how do you feel about my theories? please post your thoughts below and look out for my next article where I show my ideal storyline, weapons, ect for GOW going forward :D