How to start God of War Ragnarok’s great side quest at The Watchtower

God of War Ragnarök It’s a bigger game than God of War(2018). This was more than the combined total of all previous mainline God of War game titles. It’s packed with side activities and quests to help flesh out its world. But unlike God of War (2018), Ragnarök is about more than just Kratos’ journey to personhood. It’s about an ensemble cast bouncing off of one another as they explore a vast world and confront their individual mistakes.

One of the game’s earliest side quests illustrates this tonal shift better than any other, casting Mimir — the self-proclaimed “smartest man alive” — as the fuckup and Kratos as his wise counsel. But with so many different paths to take through Svartalfheim, the game’s first open area, it’s easy to miss the quest. Here’s how to kickstart it, and why it’s well worth your time.

Mimir is hinting at The Watchtower.

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

The “Weight of Chains” quest (formally called a “Favor,” in Ragnarök’s parlance) begins in the Bay of Bounty area of Svartalfheim, the first big realm you’ll explore in God of War Ragnarök. You’ll start the quest by stepping foot on a seemingly innocuous island in the middle of the bay. But the only real hint that there’s much going on in the bay at all is a line of dialogue Mimir says on a completely different island.

By the Watchtower location — the island that divides the two parts of the Bay of Bounty in half — Mimir panics when he sees that a giant door is still locked. He asks you to find the key and says it’s in the middle of the bay by a geyser.

Mimir assumes an uncharacteristically anxious tone here, so if you manage to stumble upon this dialogue, it might make a real impression on you — it did for me, at least — and send you hunting for the island immediately. However, hearing this dialogue doesn’t actually start the quest or put a marker on your map. First, you must land on the shore.

Once you’re on the island and you complete a little obstacle course, you’ll earn a key that you can take back to The Watchtower. When you open the door, you’ll find a large drum sitting on the edge of the water, which Mimir will ask you to strike.

[Ed. note: This is where the quest gets interesting, so if you don’t want anything spoiled, go do it for yourself and come back.]

Hitting the drum with Atreus’ arrow causes a giant, chained, whale-like sea beast called the Lyngbakr to rise out of the ocean right under the island where you got the key. The island actually belonged to the Lyngbakr. The geyser, too? Its blowhole.

Atreus and Kratos attempt to rescue the beast during the rest of the quest. But it’s the dialogue, not the action, that makes this Favor so memorable.

This quest sets the tone Ragnarök

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

Mimir quickly admits that this creature’s imprisonment is his doing — a gift for Odin so that the All-Father could always have fat for his lanterns. While the creature is still suffering, the head feels hope that the trio can rescue it. Kratos doubts that such a wrong could ever be righted.

Kratos begins by criticizing Mimir for locking up the Lyngbakr, declaring that death is better than prison. According to the Head, the war-lord assures Mimir that he is more hateful than anybody else for this misdeed.

When the trio frees the beast, the Lyngbakr refuses to move, as it’s grown accustomed to its imprisonment. Mimir goes home feeling defeated and devastated by his failures. Kratos offers Mimir some unexpected advice.

Kratos knows what it’s like to be ashamed of your past, and to feel guilt for the suffering you’ve caused another. And while he doesn’t ever tell Mimir that what he did to the Lyngbakr was OK — quite the opposite, in fact — he does let Mimir know that he’s become a better man than he was while under Odin’s service.

In a vacuum, this might seem uncharacteristically friendly for Kratos, but he spent an entire game learning the lessons he’s trying to impart on Mimir, his “brother.”God of War (2018) wasn’t about redemption or forgiveness for Kratos. The goal was to find a way to better use his time, to help his son in all the chaos. The mistakes of Kratos’ past still linger, and he won’t be able to erase the pain he inflicted on an entire country, or the lives he took. But even if he can’t atone, he can strive to help, rather than to harm — even if helping still involves killing an evil god or two.

Freya and Mimir all contributed to Kratos becoming a better individual in the final game. Kratos still enjoys his free time. Ragnarök Repaying favors to friends and family. The Weight of Chains is one of the game’s best and earliest indications that the characters have grown since God of War(2018) and they have much room for growth.