God of War Ragnarok Players Learn They've Been Killing Children

The God of War series is no stranger to dark stories, but God of War Ragnarok has revealed players have been doing something incredibly sinister and tragic without even realizing it. The God of War franchise is all about a man who is tricked into killing his family and has their ashes essentially tattooed to his skin as a constant reminder of his tragic past. That basic premise alone is pretty messed up and plays a key role in this new era of the franchise, an era that sees Kratos trying to move past this part of his life and be better. However, both he and Atreus have been tricked into doing something rather horrendous once again.

As spotted by GamingBible, the side quest known as The Eyes of Odin has a very grim backstory. Throughout the game, you'll see a bunch of ravens following Kratos. The idea is that they're basically spying on Kratos and Atreus, so you're encouraged to cut them down. After killing enough, you'll be rewarded with loot in Niflheim where a tree of ravens looks down upon you. Once you've killed enough of them, you learn the real truth behind these ravens. You see, they're not just regular old bird, they're the souls of children who were hung by their parents. They were offered as a sacrifice to Odin by their parents to "bask in his light". It's pretty unfortunate, but is a fascinating layer to this mythology. It also helps really cement Odin as a truly evil man that players should probably feel zero empathy for.

Throughout the story of God of War Ragnarok, you hear all these stories of how bad Odin actually is. However, Atreus also gets to spend time with him and grows closer to him, making it seem like he can't be all that bad. Of course, this doesn't last very long, but Odin's reign of tyranny caused a lot of pain and suffering for everyone in the nine realms.

What do you think of this revelation in God of War Ragnarok? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.