When the God of War franchise started it took place in Ancient Greece. We got to see all of the mythology associated with Greece during Kratos’ quest to take down the gods of Olympus. With the new series, the creators wanted to change things up and switch to a new mythology. The most obvious choice would be moving to Egyptian mythology. This was the primary choice for them after they finish God of War: Ascension, as Egypt is very close to Greece and there is even a traveling merchant that told Kratos he was from the “land of the pharaohs.” In the end, it was between Norse mythology and Egyptian mythology and they chose the former. The team thought Norse mythology made more sense because the next Assassin’s Creed game at the time, Assassin’s Creed Origins was to take place in Egypt. They felt it would’ve been too similar to have two Egyptian-based games at the same time. Now, Kratos is in Scandinavia fighting against the Æsir and Vanir gods. Cory Barlog has recently come out and said that God of War Ragnarök will be the end to the Norse saga and that leaves a lot of fans wondering what mythology will they go to next. It makes sense to circle back to Egypt, but I feel that the setting for the next God of War game will be something different. Something that was hinted at a few times in God of War (2018).

When Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir find the missing panel of Týr in his vault, the player can see four symbols surrounding the image of Týr. The symbol on the top left is the Egyptian “Eye of Horus.” The symbol on the top right is the Greek “Omega.” The symbol on the bottom left is the Japanese “Mitsudomoe.” The symbol on the bottom right is the Celtic “Triskelion.” These symbols are said by Kratos and Mímir to be symbols of war.

Throughout the game, Mímir tells Kratos and Atreus stories about the Norse gods, Æsir and Vanir, as well as the dwarves, dark and light elves, and giants of Jötunheim. When the time comes to tell them about his life, Mímir mentions that he’s not from the land originally. Mímir tells them that in his younger days he used to serve the Fairy King and was pretty much his “errand boy and unofficial jester.” He then mentions that one day he got into some sort of trouble and decided to leave his home and travel north. He traveled for a while until he reached the land of the Norse gods, where in which he became the advisor to Odin and eventually attaining a place in the Æsir pantheon as the god of wisdom.

If one were to do a little research you can easily find that the Fairy King is Oberon and Oberon’s jester is Puck. If you put two and two together then you realize that the Mímir was originally Puck and the island that he is from is Avalon. The Celtic triskelion is often associated with Avalon and its inhabitants, the fae. It would make sense depending on what happens in God of War Ragnarök that Kratos would make his way to Avalon next. It would be very close in proximity to his current home as opposed to Egypt.

Also, Celtic mythology is closely related to Norse mythology and other European folklore. There is some overlap with the legends but there is enough mystery as to where the studio could make it their own. There are many bosses that you end up fighting, including the Fairy King Oberon, his wife Titania, his mother Queen Mab, the Banshees, The Morrígan, etc. Celtic mythology also overlaps with Arthurian legend, as Avalon is the final resting place of King Arthur. It would be great to see Kratos wielding Excalibur as his next weapon after the Leviathan Axe and Atreus learning magic from Merlin. Other characters from European folklore that could appear are the hero Beowulf and the Green Knight. The God of War team tends to blend characters from different time periods to tell the perfect story and that would work well here. The best name for the game is undoubtedly God of War: Avalon and I see this as being a one-off adventure before Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir move on to the next journey. This would hopefully tie up some of the mystery surrounding Mímir’s past and allow for Kratos to take on a foe that isn’t technically a god per se. Oberon, however, is very powerful and not one to remain in his native realm. The plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream involves the wedding of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta. Theseus of course was killed by Kratos in God of War II. If the games continue to be successful then maybe we can see Kratos travel down to Egypt, Japan, or even the Aztec Empire.

God of War Ragnarök is due to hit the shelves in Q1, 2022.

Where do you think the next God of War game should take place? Leave your thoughts below.