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In a preview for the upcoming God of War: Ragnarok, Kratos and Atreus meet the Vanir goddess, Freya. In the sequel to the 2018 hit God of War, Freya will be one of the principal antagonists of the latest game. This could confuse some gamers since she was an ally to Kratos in the previous title.
Freya in God of War has some differences from Norse mythology, but what causes her to become blinded by rage and grief? What has led to Freya being a villain?
Warning: Contains spoilers for God of War (2018).
God of War: Ragnarok’s Freya is blinded by rage and vengeance
During PlayStation’s September Showcase, GOW fans got to see sneak peeks of several upcoming threats in God of War: Ragnarok. One was the furious Vanir goddess, Freya. She’s wrathful and desires vengeance on Kratos for killing her son Baldur and his sons.
She plans on dishing out agony and suffering onto Kratos for what he did, and in the trailer was attacking Kratos relentlessly. Several of the Norse gods will battle Kratos in the upcoming sequel, but Freya is one of the most powerful and fearsome.
What led Freya to turn down this dark route? Well, in God of War, she was already villainous, even as she aided Kratos and Atreus.
What did Freya do in God of War to lead to God of War: Ragnarok’s villainous move?
When Freya first meets Kratos and his son, they kill a boar she is protecting. This was a reference to Freya’s own mount in Norse mythology. While she seems like a useful ally in parts of God of War, her actions were also monstrous and reprehensible.
It all stems from what she did to her son, Baldur. When encountered in God of War, he’s seen as relentless, violent, and perhaps monstrous. This is because of an enchantment that Freya put upon him to make him immortal, which was at the cost of his emotions, making Baldur unable to feel anything.
He can feel no pain, physical or otherwise, but he also no longer gains joy out of anything in life. This ultimately made Baldur go mad, but this isn’t the worst thing Freya did. She also lied about there being a cure for this curse, no matter how much her son was clearly suffering.
Freya knew that mistletoe could remove the curse placed upon Baldur and had tried to eradicate the plant for years for that exact reason. During the fight against Baldur, the curse is lifted through the god, hitting the mistletoe on Atreus.
Overjoyed that he could now feel, he ultimately rejected his mother’s wish to rebuild their relationship and went to choke the goddess to death. Before this could happen, Kratos slew Baldur by breaking his neck. The act sent Freya into a rage, swearing revenge on him for killing her son.
Despite Freya’s acts o cursing her son to become immortal at the cost of his emotions and allowing him to suffer this way, she sees Kratos as the real villain. For this reason, in GOW: Ragnarok, Freya will be a chief antagonist in the Norse gods’ quest to defeat Kratos once and for all.
For her actions towards her son and the deception offered to Kratos, Freya was already a villain in God of War and will continue to act this way in God of War: Ragnarok.
