God of War has come a long way from its roots in Ancient Greece and so has its protagonist. It’s disappointing that Kratos’ previous family still hasn’t been brought up significantly now that he has created a new one in a different mythology, but Kratos’ character arc has made him much more diplomatic and considerate since having a son either way. God of War Ragnarok wanted fans to believe Kratos would die somehow by the end and really hammers that foreshadowing home to get them to assume it’ll happen, but at the end he is completely fine and even has a brand-new ambition in life that is also supposedly fated.
However, this might have been the one and only time that Santa Monica Studio could have reasonably parted ways with Kratos and had it be a logical departure for the character. Atreus is now off on his own adventure, and it’s presumed that he’ll have his own standalone entry now, meaning that Kratos could have been laid to rest for his son to take the franchise reins. Instead, the safe option was chosen to keep Kratos alive and well, perhaps to perpetuate him as a PlayStation mascot, and he seems integral still to the series. This could be for many reasons, but if Kratos is ever killed or said goodbye to now, it will feel like a missed opportunity to have simply let him go when it felt authentic.
God of War Losing Kratos After Ragnarok Would Feel Unceremonious
Kratos arguably had the easiest out imaginable from a narrative standpoint, and maybe this is Santa Monica’s way of saying goodbye to the character without the player needing to have said an explicit goodbye themselves, but that cheapens it a little if so. It makes sense to let players go back into the Nine Realms to clean up any content they had not gotten to, but keeping Kratos around and nodding heavily at where a sequel could take him, but dangling that in front of players and then saying there won’t be another Kratos-led entry would be an enormous blindside. If Santa Monica was finished with Kratos, the character would have needed to be definitively shelved in a way where there was no possible way he could return to star as a playable protagonist again even if he was kept alive.
The ambiguity of God of War Ragnarok’s conclusion therefore suggests that he will remain a paramount part of the franchise. The most salient way that God of War Ragnarok could have closed the book on Kratos is if a ‘true’ ending was available after finishing all available side content, similar to Batman: Arkham Knight having a Knightfall Protocol ending that could close the book on Batman—which seems to be retconned or neglected for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, if not brushed past regardless.
Here, the ‘true’ ending for God of War Ragnarok could have shown Atreus sailing off on his own and still remained ambiguous about where he was headed, while also discerning that the franchise would no longer be following Kratos. Kratos is now fated to become a generous and beloved god, and instead of feeling like that’s where his story concludes, that’s a premise the next God of War installment will explore.
Nothing has been announced or confirmed to clarify whether this is true or not, but in the meantime it seems like God of War has multiple sequels planned as a result. If this was intentional then it is a successful design choice, though if God of War ever wants to shed Kratos it has now lost its most opportune moment to do so since it was foretold by the legacies followed in-game and Atreus is now out to seemingly lead his own standalone games. If Kratos has been kept around only to kill him off or shelf him later, his goodbye will now feel unearned and belated for little reason.
God of War Ragnarok is out now for PS4 and PS5.
