God of War Ragnarok has Mimir recapping Shakespeare’s Macbeth

God of War(2018) is a soft reboot of high-octane action television series. The storyteller Mimir entertained the protagonist and Atreus’s young son with tales about a brand new pantheon, that of Norse gods and goddesses. These godly beings posed a serious threat to Kratos and Atreus, so learning their stories proved useful — but more importantly, Mimir’s stories made for an entertaining way to pass the time while on a long journey. Have I mentioned that Mimir is a disembodied head who dangles from Kratos’ belt loop?

Mimir will be back, however. God of War RagnarökHis stories are also returning. But he’s not just sticking with Norse mythology as an inspiration this time. At least one of his tales bears a striking resemblance to Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

This came as a shock for me, not because I don’t think Macbeth works as a reference point for the characters in this game — it totally does, because at the end of God of WarKratos saw Atreus’ ominous prophetic wall, which showed Atreus with a dead man. Mimir is able to relate the story about a man who gets obsessed and ultimately destroyed by the prophecy that Atreus and Kratos will be kings. This prophecy is so powerful that the man involved commits murder in order to obtain the crown. Mimir warns Kratos (and Atreus) about how prophecies can cause confusion, particularly since prophecies often have double meanings or symbols that could lead to misinterpretations.

It puts an actual date at the root of this Mimir story. Ragnarök. Mimir’s sTory bears too much resemblance to Macbeth to be a coincidence; he describes the man as a “thane” who hears the prophecy from three soothsayers, and so on. The play Macbeth was partially inspired by the reign of a king of Scotland who shared that name and ruled from 1040–57 B.C. (although Macbeth’s real-life tenure as king went a lot better in real life than it did in the play). The play was likely written in 1606, and although Mimir’s version of the story more closely resembles Shakespeare’s play than the actual history of the Scottish namesake, Mimir doesn’t credit Shakespeare. He instead presents the story to be just another legend. Mimir is then told by Atreus that he should write down these stories. Does Mimir really have Shakespeare ?

Image: SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

So, let’s talk about time periods. It is around 495 B.C. that the God of War first games took place. — way before Macbeth. God of War 3The destruction of Sparta occurred in 464 B.C. What time did it take between this game and? God of War (2018)? Fimbulwinter is known to last at most three years. Ragnarök It takes place 3 years after. God of War (2018).

That was what I assumed. Ragnarök took place in 536 A.D., because there’s an actual historical climate catastrophe that occurred back then in Sweden and Norway; some academics refer to that long and brutal winter as a real-life Fimbulwinter. That would make Kratos over 1,000 years old, but since he’s a demigod, that’s not so unusual. Atreus, by the way, is 13 years old.

However, if an apocryphal Macbeth story has been circulated and if Mimir continues to be Shakespeare (kidding but true), that is what it means Ragnarök It takes place after 1057 at most. Perhaps it is because Mimir sees himself as prophetic and foretells the plot of an interesting play to be written years later by another man. As for the question of whether that man is Mimir or not, it’s up to you. Ragnarök doesn’t confirm it.