Detailed Analysis - Side Narrative
The Valkyrie's
During their journey, Kratos, Atreus and eventually Mimir encounter strange vaults that dwell a hidden enemy that is more dangerous than anything the 3 have ever faced, A Valkyrie. According to Mimir Valkyries are meant to be spectral beings and should not exist in reality. Attacking any Valkyrie we learn that they have been corrupted by some kind of magic and had been trapped in the vaults by Sigrun, the current Queen of the Valkyries, whom Mimir had a kinship with. When killing a Valkyrie, Kratos takes their helm and their spectral form appears to thank Kratos for freeing them from their corrupted bodies. Atreus and Mimir seek to help them and Kratos thinking they are a perfect challenge for Atreus to face decides to hunt down the remaining Valkyries. Plus it helps that Kratos can collect valuable resources that will prove useful on their journey.
After facing all 8 Valkyries they make the way to the old Valkyrie Council chambers in Midgard. After placing the Valkyrie helms they took from the dead Valkyries on their respective seats we learn about the individual Valkyries themselves and how despite each of them being so similar they are very different people. Placing the helms open a portal where on the other side, Sigrun dwells. Sigrun stands as the most lethal opponent that Kratos has ever faced in his years of fighting. After a lengthy and difficult fight, Kratos finally kills Sigrun and we learn from her that she trapped her sisters in the vaults to keep them from harming anyone but soon lost herself to the curse that was inflicted on them by Odin. We also learn that Freya was a former Queen of the Valkyries, who Sigrun revered for her incredible skills as a warrior. This revelation that Freya was a queen of the Valkyrie stands as a dark revelation as the Valkyries were some of the strongest enemies they have ever faced and if Freya ever comes for them, it will be a difficult fight.
Interestingly enough on each of the Realm Towers, there are Braziers that can only be lit by speaking the name of the Valkyrie that is written on the tower. A touching tribute to the Valkyries, presumably made by Tyr but no one can be certain.
The Reavers
During their travels, Kratos and Atreus are asked by Sindri to find a Whetstone from a storeroom made by Fafnir, another dwarf. When they finally reach the end of Fafnir’s storeroom they find a reaver with a knife in their back. The reavers are a faction of humans spoken about in the game. When they speak to the spirit of the dead Reaver they learn that they found the Whetstone but he was quickly killed by his son as he wanted to take control and that the dead reaver did the same to his father at one time. Atreus is incredibly shocked at the fact that a son would kill his father. Kratos instead keeps his head to the task at hand and focuses on the reaver's son but this implication is an interesting one as this is a recurring theme through the God of War stories that a son inevitably kills his father or the other way around. Zeus overthrew Cronos, Zeus killed Kratos and finally, Kratos killed Zeus and the rest of the Olympians. Despite the betrayal, the reaver refuses to give up his son
Eventually, they go to find the reaver's hideout and find the son was murdered by the reavers but not without killing many of them. Along this journey is a lot of eye-opening discoveries for Kratos and Atreus. Atreus is surprised at Kratos’ understanding of the cycle of reavers killing their fathers not knowing that this is something he knows extremely well. Kratos is surprised to hear how often Atreus becomes angry at him and that perhaps Kratos should change his ways. This is evident in how Kratos is fine with returning to the original reaver they found to inform him of his son's death which they do and allows the reaver to move on. This quest shows a deep resonance with Kratos’ wisdom and experience and Atreus’ naivety as they both see the situations differently and both are right in their own way. This is one of the first steps to Kratos and Atreus forming a meaningful relationship.
Gullveig
On their travels, Kratos and Atreus come across a spirit longing for someone named Gullveig. In exchange for helping the spirit find Gullveig’s bones scattered around “The Lake of Nine”, this spirit promises to reunite them with their lost loved one. Kratos with the help of his age knows that this deal is certainly not on the up and up whereas Atreus who misses his beloved mother wants to try. As they search for the bones Kratos and Atreus have a few conversations about how they feel about Faye’s absence and how they probably know this is a lie but they decide to go through with it anyway, Atreus maintaining his fantasy he could see his mother again and Kratos because he believes that he can teach a valuable and lasting lesson for himself. They take the bones back to the spirit who resurrects Gullveig and promises to reunite them with their loved one… In death. Gullveig is revealed to be a revenant which is quickly dispatched. After this is done Atreus and Kratos have an interesting back and-forth of I told you so with Kratos instructing his son not to take out his frustrations on him but to take their recent ordeal as a lesson. Kratos’ years have taught him well when it comes to deals that reunite lost loved ones and it was interesting to see Kratos taking a passive and instructive approach instead of him telling his son outright that he was wrong.
The Dragons
During the pair’s journey, they make their way through small sections of the world there they find Dragon’s that have been chained by an unknown party. Atreus hearing the Dragon’s thought wants to help the Dragons, another inconvenience for Kratos who views it as a waste of time but who nonetheless helps his son in this task. During this quest, we meet many Dragon’s of myth including Fafnir who is known in the Norse sagas. While freeing the Dragons, Kratos leans into his compassionate side as he strives to help his son free these dragons despite the possibility of retaliation as Dragon’s aren’t exactly known for their neutrality. However, Kratos and Atreus free the dragons which escape and this is a task that Atreus found great joy in doing for something that was not critical to their journey, Kratos undertook this task with his son which is a surprising thing for him to do. The dragons are also a small part of another narrative aspect of the game, carried on in “The Dwarven King”.
The Dwarven King
After Brok and Sindri are reunited they ask Kratos and Atreus to venture into an ancient kingdom to find the ingredients and recipe for creating an ancient armor rumored to grant the user invulnerability. Kratos’ interest peaks as this is an armor that could protect him and in effect, his son, and help them complete their journey more efficiently. While on their way they learn from Mimir about the dwarven King, Motsognir. He ruled over the humans on the outskirts of Midgard and captured many different beasts, including the Dragons that Kratos and Atreus have been freeing. Motsognir, even though we learn he was perhaps an ineffective king, was still respected by his people, something Kratos can relate to having been a Spartan general and then a God of War. We eventually learn that the King had his subjects hunt the monsters and dragons for him which got many of his people killed. We later find that the Dragon’s the King had captured would have been useful for creating the Dwarven armor Brok and Sindri can make for Kratos and that the King actually disappeared but also became more erratic during his reign, a worrying prospect which is why he sought the armor to protect himself.
They get to the king's throne room and find a secret passage where they find the corpse of King Motsognir who has been long dead and acquires the ingredients for the armor. He had a dream of people being killed and thought if he had this armor he could protect his people but in trying to gather the ingredients he bought about the very nightmare that he saw and became the monster they feared all because he thought he was fighting for the greater good. The dwarven King had faith in a legend and so became blind to the consequences. Atreus gives out some unusually mature advice about how trust is a gamble and that the king lost. A strangely mature piece of Wisdom that show he is wise beyond his years and how we will only continue to grow.
The quest itself opens up many nuances for Kratos as he repeats to Atreus constantly to trust only in themselves and to trust their eyes and their senses so that they can determine for themselves. This quest is particularly helpful as it shows Kratos has become even smarter in his old age and that while we know he is an excellent warrior, we’ve never seen him as a great tactician or in this case even a form of detective. Kratos’ weariness of legends and foreknowledge comes into effect often through this quest as he tells his son to be mindful of the unreliability of legends. During the quest, we also learn more about Atreus’ godly abilities about his ability to hear things that most cannot hear like memories of things past.
The Braziers
As they explore The Lake of Nine, Kratos, and Atreus will come across the spirit of a dead sea captain who died when The World Serpent landed in the lake. He cannot move on because his crew still wanders around the lake as undead Seidr warriors who can only be summoned by lighting Braziers around the lake of Nine. Atreus agrees to help with this much to Kratos’ annoyance. Kratos’ is trying to teach Atreus to stay focused on his mission but Faye’s teachings are staying strong with Atreus in the sense that he wants to help anyone he can. After lighting these Braziers, Seidr warriors will attack the pair. After defeating the warriors Atreus and Kratos have a back-and-forth debate on whether the Captain was a good captain or not and if the captain will be pleased with Kratos and Atreus defeating the crew.
Atreus is surprised at how many men followed the captain even though he got them killed. Kratos, speaking from his experience as a Spartan General, tells Atreus that they followed the captain because they respected him and he commanded their respect. Kratos notices Atreus's fear of being a leader and having that amount of lives be his responsibility. This shows how Kratos and Atreus are vastly different in their leadership skills. Kratos was a spartan and was taught to lead armies and to be strong and confident. Atreus has never had a Spartan upbringing and has rarely interacted with other people and so doesn’t understand what it takes to lead. When they kill the crew and return to the captain, as Kratos predicted the captain is unsatisfied because he wanted to help his men but he is no less grateful. In one of the few displays of respect, Kratos commends the captain and helps him move on. This is an interesting quest for Kratos as he does not usually help anyone unless it is in his self-interests and Atreus had learned much about the values and strength of leadership.
The Alchemist
Early in the game, Brok requests help in locating an alchemist, Andvari, who can help him create something for the pair. On the journey into the alchemist’s mine, Kratos comes to learn many things about Atreus’ like how fearful he can be in the face of a terrifying enemy. When looking for the alchemist they across a Soul Eater which Atreus is frightened of and so Kratos makes a point of destroying it to help Atreus master his fear. This shows that even though Kratos is a harsh trainer, he genuinely wants his son to be able to survive and thrive in this world and teaches him how to be able to protect himself. Following this, they take a ring from an arm that belongs to the Alchemist that was attached to the soul eater. Kratos and Atreus exit the mine Atreus hears a voice coming from the ring which Kratos initially dismisses. They later find that Andvari transferred his soul into his ring. After another eventful mission where Andvari tries to get Kratos and Atreus killed he apologizes and leads them to his loot. Brok suggests burning down Andvari’s soul for gear for the pair but Atreus begs Kratos not to do this and to keep Andvari. Much to Kratos’ annoyance and Brok’s, Kratos keeps the ring. Yet again Atreus’ kind heart and his compassion come through, protecting Andvari and his soul would become a powerful tool for Kratos. Despite Kratos’ attitude in past games of doing whatever he wants, it’s a rare instance where he can accept someone else’s advice, even though that individual is his son.