Hello everyone!
Have you been wondering just what to do with your time without all of the above?
Not to worry, I'm back with more of it!
And if you think I'm kidding you really should pay attention when someone name-drops Kratos, because man, the dude's entire philosophy on how to deal with the world is to literally kill whoever's in his way. With the formal announcement (trailer PLUS gameplay!) for Ragnarok at the Playstation showcase, the hype really is on to see our Spartan again.
Especially as he seems to have mellowed out a bit in his old age.
But not in this one! In this one he's still very much at the peak of his existence, one would say (though you could also always argue about it), and he hasn't really got time for all your diplomatic and peacekeeping nonsense.
God of War II picks up practically a sneeze after God of War and, well, it's got some style, lemme tell you.
Links to previous God of War-related bits can be found down at the bottom of this page, as per usual.
So, if we remember, Kratos used to be a Spartan general who ended up in service to Ares because the god saved his life, and at one point murdered his own wife and child while working for said god, which then made the Oracle attach their ashes to his skin, turning him into the Ghost of Sparta. Afterwards, he served Olympus for ten years before he agreed to follow Athena's plan to kill Ares (which he did, by the way), and at the end of it all ...
He became the new God of War.
That's right, the dude who's killed probably half of Ancient Greece got the throne in the Greek gods' eternal wisdom - because for some reason it was impossible to simply take his nightmares away (side note: it can probably be argued he really needs to work through his past crimes on his own BUT it was the stipulation he made before agreeing to kill Ares, and the gods kinda ... never even agreed, but in his mind reneged on it later).
So anyway, by the time book two starts, Kratos has been a god for some time now, not that he's popular with any of the other gods, since they all shun him, talk behind his back, or to his face, depending, but he doesn't much care.
He supports his Spartans in the field of battle and allows them to pretty much destroy the rest of Greece, which will definitely ruin all the temples and kill worshipers of the other deities. Doesn't make him any more popular, either.
And Zeus has been mega paranoid ever since Kratos got to Pandora's box, his fear growing by leaps and bounds, until he's convinced Kratos wants to rule Olympus in his place.
Newsflash buddy: I don't think it ever even crossed our guy's mind to begin with.
Now the book is sort of split into three different plots running simultaneously next to each other, and I'll go through them one by one, since we may end up being here until Christmas if we attempt to untangle everything as we go along.
The first one are, obviously, the gods, where Athena notices discord among Olympus, one she's convinced Kratos is responsible for, until she figures out it might even just be Zeus, who's turned from a pretty benevolent, wise god in the first book to a megalomaniac who keeps fondling his lightning bolts and wondering who he can zap with them in this installment.
And he has this persecutive idea that Kratos wants his throne, so he goes and does everything he possibly can to assure himself the Spartan WON'T get it - that is, all but actually believing Athena when she says that's not what Kratos wants, and that if only the gods had honoured their agreement (original one that is) none of this would have happened.
So Zeus resorts to trickery, and we'll see just how well THAT works out for him!
Because in the meantime, while this is happening, the Sisters of Fate are all looking at Kratos' thread and debating snipping it at one point or other, but for at least two of them he's a diversion and amusement from their regular routine, so they randomly toss in obstacles to see how he does against them. They also firmly believe no one can reach them in their temple on the Island of Creation, so I mean, what's there to worry about? Let's play with the silly mortal and enjoy ourselves, right?
Wrong.
Third and most important is Kratos' own storyline, which takes a turn like you wouldn't believe.
See he descends from Olympus to go be with his Spartans on Rhodes, where his army might obliterate the last bastion of Greeks who aren't Spartans, but Zeus intervenes to sap his strength, has him fight a Colossus, and then tricks him into transferring the remnant of his godly power into the Blade of Olympus.
The guy then goes on to stab Kratos when Kratos is like 'I don't have time for this shit, step aside and go back to your throne' - because notice Zeus not noticing that Kratos isn't after his throne? Anyway, Kratos is stabbed and left to die, and SHOULD have died, but he's rescued from his fall to the Underworld by the Titan Gaia, who explains that she was the one who raised Zeus after his mother Rhea made sure Cronos didn't swallow him like his other siblings.
Afterwards, however, as Zeus led the Great War to defeat the Titans, he defeated ALL of them, even the ones who helped him, and made sure they could never rise again ... but maybe Kratos can help them.
She sends him off to the Island of Creation to bargain with the Sisters of Fate so that he can go back in time to the moment Zeus stabs him, and of course, even with the obstacles thrown in his path (Theseus, Icarus, Jason, you know the drill) he manages, getting some handy new swag in the process (the wings of Icarus for example, and the Golden Fleece). He figures out what to do with the Island to get the process going, and eventually confronts the Sisters of Fate, just like he's confronted basically everyone else in his life up until this point.
You know, by now you would THINK that no one would underestimate this guy anymore, since he's technically died twice already but always came back and whooped butt when he did.
Sadly, the Sisters do, and end up dead. Zeus is guilty of the same sin ... along with the destruction of Sparta just because he was feeling petty at the time.
If you think that's going to win him brownie points on the world's worst deity ever list, you'd be right.
Kratos destroys the Loom of Fate and goes back in time to retrieve the Blade of Olympus from Zeus, but instead of killing him, Athena takes the killing blow into herself, revealing that one of the many reasons Zeus fears Kratos is because he's his father, so the cycle of patricide seems destined to continue ... and also that Zeus IS Olympus and shouldn't be killed.
Then she dies, but Kratos is a man on a mission, and despite feeling slightly guilty about the death of the one goddess who's always helped him, he opens the portal to go pick up the Titans right before the Great War ends, bringing them into the present and assaulting Mount Olympus with them, Blade of Olympus in hand, promising vengeance and death to Zeus and anyone else who stands in his way.
And in case you're wondering how that ends, well, sadly the book ends right there, just as the game does.
DUN DUN DUN!
Luckily for us there's God of War III, although it was never put into novel form, though I might sneak the recap of it into my Thursday blog posts after I finish watching it on Youtube (yes, I don't play this stuff, but I do watch it, I'm like that haha).
But as far as II goes, honestly ... I swear the gods are bona fide morons in this rendition of their mythology.
I know Zeus gives us a would-be reason in the first book why he isn't just waving his hand and taking Kratos' nightmares away, but considering everything that's happened since, you've gotta wonder if he's regretted his choice yet at any point. I mean, I would. Things would have been SO much easier on him if he just did what Kratos asked and gone on his merry way.
Kratos reminds me of Jason Bourne somehow, too, because everyone always underestimates Bourne, or does something stupid like 'oh if we threaten and/or kill someone he loves, that'll make him stop'.
Inevitably, Bourne never stops, because the actions of others fuel his quest for vengeance, and Kratos is exactly the same.
And all he wants is Zeus' head on a platter, but everyone else and their mother keeps interfering, then wondering why they bothered when their souls get sent to Tartarus after he's done killing them.
Seriously, has NO ONE noticed they've created the perfect killing machine over the years he's served them?
With how completely moronic they are and how full of themselves, I swear I'm not even on their side anymore. I've tried to see both sides here, but all the gods use Kratos, and then expect him to thank them for it, because hey! They're GODS! What do you mean they're supposed to return the favour? They don't do that. Everyone should worship them simply because they ARE!
Har har. Nope.
Overall however, I will say that with the switch of the personality in Zeus makes the godly bits less amusing to read, and the Kratos bits can drag at points as he works some problem or other, in a repetitive pattern I'm sure players notice when actually playing the game itself. It's not as amusing as the first book, but it does give insight into just why Kratos hates the gods so much.
The writing remains stellar though, regardless, and I definitely recommend this book if you're interested in how the Kratos saga continues.
Because man, Percy Jackson didn't even scratch the surface of just how badly the gods can treat you!
xx
*image not mine
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