In the previews of God of War: Ragnarok, Freya is attacking Kratos and it looks like she’s fueled with intense rage and hatred for the God of War. Since the previous game came out way back in 2018, some fans may have forgotten about the two characters’ history. Before Ragnarok releases on November 9, here’s a refresher on Kratos and Freya’s backstory and how this will affect the storyline of God of War: Ragnarok.
Freya is considered a supporting character in God of War (2018) mainly because of how she helps Kratos and Atreus on their journey. Although she doesn’t join the two physically, she would give them precious information that would help make their adventures easier. However, there is one major point in the game that severely affected Kratos and Freya’s relationship.
The history of Kratos and Freya in God of War
First meeting
They first meet Freya after Atreus injured a wild animal she was protecting. They first knew her as the Witch in the Woods. Kratos and Atreus eventually agree to heal the wild animal instead of using it for food. Once Freya invites them back to her home, she displays a sort of motherly affection for Atreus. She also immediately develops a friendship with him.
Their first meeting also had Freya tell Kratos that she knows he is a foreign god. The presence of a foreign god in their realms would definitely anger the Aesir, and Freya is concerned for Kratos and Atreus’ safety. For those unfamiliar, the Aesir are a tribe in God of War that comes from Asgard.
However, Freya expresses that she sees a lot of herself in Kratos. Because of this, she decides to help them out after believing that this is a way for her to make up for her past mistakes. She put marks on both Kratos and Atreus to conceal their presence from the Norse gods, ensuring their safety in the realms.
Helping Kratos and Atreus
Odin has put a curse on Freya to stop her from leaving Midgard. This came after Freya broke off their marriage because she didn’t agree with his unjust ways. But despite this curse, she still managed to find a way to help both Kratos and Atreus on their journey to Jotunheim.
- As she leads the two to Tyr’s Temple, she helps them get across a roadblock and even explains some of the obstacles they will face along the way.
- Freya also teaches Kratos how to use the Bifrost, a relic that can be used to travel between the Nine Realms.
- As Kratos and Atreus set out on a passage for Alfheim, they leave behind Freya because of her curse.
Mimir reveals Freya’s true identity
Along their journey, Kratos and Atreus recruit Freya’s help once more as they bring her Mimir’s head. Freya resurrects Mimir and when he comes back to life, he revealed her true identity to Kratos. Because of this revelation, Kratos feels like he really can’t trust Freya.
Freya heals Atreus
Although Kratos is wary of Freya after knowing her true identity, he has no choice but to seek her help again after something happened to Atreus. In a battle with Magni and Modi, the boy gets sick and Kratos doesn’t know what to do. Freya tells Kratos what he needs to do and after a while, Kratos comes back from Helheim with the ingredient she needs to create a cure for Atreus.
- During this time, she also begins opening up to Kratos about her estranged son. Freya explains that her desire to protect her son caused him to drift away and hold a grudge against her.
- After this, we see that even Kratos has let his guard down around Freya and it is possible that the two developed feelings for each other.
Freya’s estranged son is Baldur
After Atreus is healed and the two set out on their journey again, they encounter Baldur. During this encounter, they find out that Baldur is actually the son who Freya told Kratos about.
- They also find out that the reason he despises his mother so much is that she put a spell on him which made him invulnerable.
- Freya had good intentions when she cast this spell on her son. However, it resulted in him not being able to feel anything at all.
Freya thought that this was a good thing instead of the runes being right about Baldur dying a needless death. Baldur would much rather welcome Death than be unable to feel or even taste anything at all.
Freya reunites with Baldur
Freya catches up with Kratos and Atreus as she has set out on her own journey to look for Baldur. She believes that her son is in Midgard and on her encounter with Kratos and Atreus, Freya notices that the two are obviously keeping something from her. Baldur then appears in front of the three and before Freya could get close to him, he begins berating her and tries killing Freya.
Kratos was the first to step in between Freya and Baldur, trying to restrain Baldur and stop him from killing his own mother. When Kratos struggles to keep Baldur away from Freya, this is when Atreus decides to step in and defend Kratos.
In an attempt to get Atreus out of the way, Baldur punches him in the chest. The mistletoe arrow strapped to Atreus’ chest cuts against Baldur’s fist. This then breaks the spell on him and he could feel again.
Baldur wants to kill Freya
Mistletoe is the only thing that can break the invulnerability spell she cast on Baldur. If we go back to when Kratos brought Mimir’s head to Freya, we already see her wariness towards mistletoe. When she saw the mistletoe arrows that Atreus had, Freya immediately destroyed these and gave Atreus a different set of arrows.
Baldur fought against Kratos and Atreus now that he was free from Freya’s spell. This time, he was fueled with the feeling of excitement now that he could feel once more. However, his strength proved no match to the combined forces of Kratos and Atreus, and eventually, he is overpowered. Baldur actually demands that the two kill him while he could still feel but because of Freya’s pleadings, Kratos decided against it.
Kratos kills Baldur to save Freya
As Kratos and Atreus prepare to leave the mother and son, Baldur uses his remaining strength to kill Freya by strangling her. With Baldur set on choking her to death, Freya tells him that she loves him and prepares to die at the hands of her own son.
Before things took a turn for the worst, Kratos intervened and snapped Baldur’s neck from behind, saying that “the cycle ends here.” After realizing that the runes’ foretelling of Baldur’s ‘needless death’ came true, Freya was enraged and distraught as she realized that Kratos killed Baldur.
It was essentially Freya who started Baldur’s journey toward his needless death at the hands of Kratos.
Freya holds anger and resentment towards Kratos
With all this being said, it’s easy to see why Freya is attacking Kratos in God of War: Ragnarok. We also get to know that Freya saw Baldur as the only good thing to come out of her marriage with Odin. But because of Kratos’ decision to kill Baldur in order to end the cycle of violence, Freya swore vengeance on the God of War.
There’s also a low chance of Freya making up with Kratos in God of War: Ragnarok because of her deep hatred towards him. If we go back to after Kratos killed Baldur, we can remember Freya telling him:
“I will rain down every agony – every violation imaginable – upon you”
Freya will definitely play an important role in God of War: Ragnarok and we can’t wait to see her in action against Kratos and even Atreus. Who knows, she might even team up with the other gods who want to defeat and put an end to Kratos once and for all.
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Our review on God of War: Ragnarok is coming soon! If you have other questions about God of War, feel free to share them in the comments below. Until then, stay with us here at Spiel Times for more content.