Dragon Age: Inquisition, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and 2018’s God of War are very different games. Dragon Age is a dark fantasy RPG franchise with elves, dwarves, and demons. Assassin’s Creed is a work of historical fiction with sci-fi elements thrown in for good measure. God of War is an action-epic set in the Nine Realms of Norse mythology.
However, there is one major thing these games all have in common. Dragon Age: Inquisition, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and 2018’s God of War all share the same twist. Spoilers ahead for all three of these games.
The Twist
At the end of God of War, it is revealed that Kratos’ son and companion throughout the game, Atreus, is actually Loki, the Norse god of Mischief. This is revealed in Jotunheim, when it is mentioned that Atreus’ mother Faye originally wanted to call her son Loki. The Jotunheim mural also reveals Loki’s role in the Ragnarok prophecy, which will likely provide the basis for the plot of God of War’s upcoming Ragnarok sequel.
At the end of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is its revealed that Basim, a character the player is introduced to early on in the game, is in fact the reincarnation of Loki, the Norse god of Mischief. In the Assassin’s Creed world, Loki is actually an Isu, a member of the First Civilization, who is being interpreted as a god by humans. However, once again players are faced with a major character being revealed to be Loki.
At the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition it is revealed that the companion character Solas, who players meet very near the beginning of the game, is in fact the ancient elven god known as the Dread Wolf. The Dread Wolf is closely based on Loki, and is considered a deceiver by the Dalish elves, who believe the Dread Wolf tricked and imprisoned the other elven gods.
There are also some interesting similarities to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s version of Loki in particular. Like Basim, Solas the Dread Wolf is also not literally a god. The elven gods are revealed to have been very powerful mages who cultural ascended to godhood within their own lifetimes before being overthrown by the Dread Wolf and trapped in the Fade during a rebellion.
So why do three major games of the last five years have a moment when a companion character is revealed to be some iteration of Loki? The answer may, in part, lie in the nature of twists themselves. Loki is the god of trickery and deceit, which makes him the natural choice for a late-story twist that reveals a character to be a god. The gods of Norse mythology also frequently walk among people, often undercover like when Odin uses his “wanderer” disguise. In this sense the Norse gods are the natural choice as the basis for gods in a setting where the line between man and immortal is blurred, and Loki is the natural choice for a character who is revealed to be other than they say.
It is ironic that in Atreus’ case, the character who is most literally the Loki of Norse mythology is also the one who is least aware of his deception. Unlike Basim or Solas, Atreus has no reason to know that he’s a god at all at the start of the game, and even less reason to deceive the player character, his father Kratos. However, in all three cases the reveal of the Loki figure is a vital set-up to an apocalyptic showdown.
Why Loki?
In God of War, that showdown will be Ragnarok itself, the Twilight of the gods. In Assassin’s Creed Loki manages to escape to the present day, finally building up to the franchises’ long promise of its modern-day plotline coming to a head. Finally, the reveal of the Dread Wolf and his plan to bring down the veil between Thedas and the Fade, the world of magic, might also be considered a version of the Ragnarok story – another reality-altering reshaping of the world.
The reveal that the player character had a Loki-esque figure at their side the entire time portends disaster. In the Norse mythology of Ragnarok, Loki escapes from his bindings underneath the earth, where he is imprisoned for causing the death of Baldur and is sentenced to have a snake drip poison onto his face as his fits of pain cause earthquakes across the land above. Loki’s escape allows for the final showdown between the gods and the giants, including Loki’s children like the World Serpent that kills Thor and Fenrir, the wolf who kills Odin.
God of War, Assassin’s Creed, and Dragon Age are all old franchises. God of War began back in 2005, Assassin’s Creed began in 2007, and Dragon Age: Origins hit shelves in 2009, making even the youngest of the three franchises over a decade old. In order to maintain interest, each of these franchises’ uses the reveal of a Loki figure in two key ways. First, the reveal re-contextualizes the relationship the player has had with a character in the series already – there’s the initial shock of the twist itself, followed by the realization that previous character moments were differently motivated than thought. Second, the reveal promises that the major plotlines of the game will come together in a Ragnarok-style showdown for the ages that will wrap up the major loose ends and deliver a satisfying end to the story.
What remains to be seen, however, is which ones of these franchises will pull of its Loki twist and its promise of a dramatic conclusion best. Assassin’s Creed will have to wrap up its Isu and modern-day storyline, God of War will have to fully realize the Ragnarok prophecy, and Dragon Age 4 will need to tackle some of the franchises’ biggest questions if Solas begins tampering with the fabric of reality itself. The fact that these games have the same twist may seem cheap to some fans. However, it will be the franchise that most fully uses its twist as a launch-pad to fulfill the promise of a fully satisfying conclusion which will be most fondly remembered by fans.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.