God of War (2018) - Entry 4: The Light of Alfheim

The Witch explains that this is the Black Breath, a barrier placed by Odin to prevent access to the mountain. Even her magic cannot dispel it. Only the Light of Alfheim has the power to clear the path—but acquiring it will be a long journey. She then asks how important this quest is to us.

Atreus answers without hesitation. “It’s everything… my mother’s last wish.”

The witch regards him for a moment, then tells us to follow her.As we walk, I ask why she is helping us. Her response is cryptic. “Maybe I see more of myself in you than I’m ready to admit.”

She clears a path through the overgrown vines, leading us to the Skymover elevator—the same one Sindri had mentioned trying to repair when we met him earlier.

On the way down, she shares knowledge of Midgard’s history, including tales of the World Serpent and Týr’s Temple, its construction being the last great act of cooperation of all the realms' races before peace disintegrated. She also demonstrates how to activate elven light bridges using a bow infused with the Light of Alfheim.

When we arrive at Týr’s Temple, she instructs me on how to adjust the massive bridge, guiding it into place. Atreus watches in awe as I push it, marveling at my strength.

With the bridge realigned, the witch leads us past Brok’s shop, where she uses an elven light bridge to grant us access to a hidden chamber within the temple.

Inside, she begins explaining realm travel, the World Tree, and the function of this room—it is a gateway to other realms, but only through the use of a Bifröst infused with Alfheim’s light. To demonstrate, she activates the mechanism and initiates travel to Alfheim. As we journey, she emphasizes the importance of the realm towers. Atreus then asks about the missing tower from the lake, and she explains that the tower to Jötunheim disappeared from all realms over a hundred winters ago when the giants vanished from Midgard. Where it went and how they moved it remains a mystery.

We step out of the realm travel room, and the witch welcomes us to Alfheim. However, as she gazes toward the Light from the Ring Tower, her expression darkens with concern—the Light is dimmed, as if something is obstructing it. Suddenly, an unseen force begins pulling her back into the realm travel room. Before vanishing, she hastily tells us that we must step into the Light to power the Bifröst she has given us. Then, she is gone. Odin truly has her trapped in Midgard.

Alfheim is a realm of ethereal beauty, filled with bioluminescent flora, shimmering waters, and towering elven architecture. Yet, as we proceed down the bridge, that beauty is quickly overshadowed by violence. Ahead, we witness two Dark Elves ruthlessly cut down a glowing Light Elf. As soon as they notice us, they attack, but we dispatch them with ease. From my experience, I can tell this is no ongoing battle—this war is over, and the Dark Elves have won. Despite the realm’s brilliance, turmoil lingers in every corner. We come across a lore marker detailing the eternal conflict between the elves over control of the Light. Atreus is perplexed, struggling to grasp the nature of their war. I tell him plainly: this is not our fight. We are here for one reason alone—to infuse the Bifröst with the Light and continue our journey.

A short distance ahead, we encounter Sindri. I question how he managed to travel here, but the dwarf evades the question. After purchasing a few enhancements for our equipment, we move on. We find a canoe and prepare to set out across the Lake of Light toward the Ring Temple. But something strange happens—Atreus keeps asking me what I just said, though I haven’t spoken a word. As we push off, he suddenly clasps his hands over his ears, wincing in pain. He hears voices, yet I hear nothing. 

As we paddle through a narrow channel, we spot Light Elves on the shore. Atreus suggests stopping to help them, but I remind him that they don't stop us so they don't concern us.

As we enter the Lake of Light, we approach a small island with a sand bowl, but there are no rune clues for what to write into the sand, so we continue toward the Ring Temple. We dock at the temple and as we near the main bridge, a large plant-like tentacle blocks the light source, causing the bridge to disappear. Suddenly, a group of Dark Elves ambushes us, but we manage to defeat them. Atreus also mentions that he hears Faye's voice. I tell him that is not possible.

While exploring, we discover gears that raise pillars from the water, revealing runes that Atreus examines. With this new information, we return to the sand bowl. As we travel by canoe, Atreus asks about war. I tell him he is seeing this conflict through the eyes of a boy. Wars are fought for power and greed—not logic and reason. The outcome of war is not decided by who has the best soldiers—it is won by those willing to sacrifice everything for their purpose.

When Atreus inscribes the runes into the sand bowl, a massive trench opens in the lake before us, revealing a path leading into the temple’s depths. We proceed along the passage, dispatching any enemies in our way. Along the route, we encounter prison cells housing Draugr, their presence a grim reminder of the war raging in Alfheim.

As we continue toward the temple, an elf suddenly seizes Atreus and carries him away. Rage overtakes me. I tear through a dozen elves, crushing them in my fury, and rip apart a section of the temple itself to reach my son.

As we draw closer to the temple, we finally see what caused the plant-like tentacle to block the bridge—Dark Elves have constructed a massive plant structure to smother the light that powers the temple. If we are to restore the bridge, we must destroy it.

We reach a platform where a thick root of the structure seems to originate, but before we can act, elves ambush us. As we fight them off, a Frost Ancient awakens. It is a creature made of rock with a torso, head, and limbs that exposes its heart to unleash a powerful beam of elemental energy. The battle is brutal, but I find that it's weak point is its heart and I use my axe to shatter it. When the platform is finally clear, I freeze the root with my axe and smash it to pieces. The surrounding growth crumbles, allowing light to flood the area once more, reactivating the bridge to the temple entrance.

We return to the entrance, only to find that the "door" has no obvious way to open. We must find another way inside. Moving along the temple’s side, we come across Sindri. These dwarves always seem to be where we least expect them. I allow Atreus to indulge in his curiosity, asking Sindri about his brother and the rift between them.

Next to Sindri, we find a narrow opening just large enough to crawl and slide through, allowing us to enter the temple. As we navigate its winding corridors, we push forward toward the source of the light, which appears to be at the temple’s center, fending off any dark elves and nightmares that stand in our way.

Upon reaching the heart of the temple, we discover that the dark elves have constructed a hive-like structure to obscure the light. We begin destroying its roots, clearing enough space to generate elven light bridges that lead us closer to what appears to be the entrance of the hive.

Slipping inside, we quietly eliminate a few elves who notice us before reaching the core, where the light emanates. I sever another root, and almost instantly, the entire hive seems to awaken in response. A swarm of dark elves descends upon us, forcing us into a relentless battle across a hive bridge. As we carve our way through the horde, I manage to destroy another root, causing the hive’s structure to collapse around the light. Amid the falling debris, we land on a platform beside it. The dust settles, and for the first time, we find ourselves in a moment of stillness—no more elves in sight.

Following the witch’s instructions, I step into the light with the Bifrost—but not before handing Atreus my axe, just in case he needs it.

As I enter, I find myself seemingly transported back to our home in the Wildwoods. The satchel holding Faye’s ashes begins to float away, as if urging me to follow. At the same time, I hear Atreus speaking to Faye after her passing. His words cut deep—he speaks of his loneliness, his resentment toward me, how I always leave him behind. He even says he wishes I had died instead of Faye, that he doesn’t want to be left alone with me.

I continue forward, eventually reaching our house, where I see Atreus speaking to Faye’s shrouded body. When I step through the door, I suddenly find myself at the end of a bridge. Across from me, the satchel of ashes seems to shift, taking the form of Faye. Desperate, I rush toward her, hoping for just one more moment—one more chance to speak with her.

Before I get the chance to reach her, I feel Atreus pulling me out of the light—dragging me away from Faye. As I fall back onto the platform, frustration surges through me. I scold him, demanding to know why he would do that after such a brief moment.

But Atreus is furious, his breath ragged as he coughs. He yells that I left him—left him again—that I didn’t care. His anger is raw, his voice shaking with something deeper than just frustration.

As my senses return, I take in our surroundings—and what I see chills me. The platform is littered with the bodies of dead elves, all slain by Atreus alone. Stunned, I mutter that it isn’t possible—I was only gone for moments. But Atreus shakes his head, insisting that he saved me, that I was trapped inside for much longer than I realized.

Without another word, he turns and walks to the edge of the bridge. His voice is quiet, heavy with disappointment. "I hope you got what you needed." Then, he keeps moving, leaving me to wrestle with the weight of what just happened.

I walk over to Atreus as he points out the bridge’s light crystals, though he notes that the witch’s bowstring has been useless. In response, I take the Bifrost, now infused with light, and run it across his bowstring—causing it to glow.

Atreus nocks an arrow and fires at a light crystal, activating a bridge. With this newfound ability at our disposal, we press on through the temple, searching for an exit.

As we make our way through the temple, I can’t help but notice a shift in Atreus’s demeanor. His tone grows increasingly negative and standoffish. As we press forward, defeating the last remnants of the dark elves, we reach an exit—the opposite side of the door that hadn’t appeared as such from the other side. After some searching, we discover that it is sealed by a sand bowl rune riddle. With Atreus’s help, we solve the riddle and unlock the door. 

On the other side, a host of light elves silently drifts past us, re-entering the temple now that the light has been restored. They move as if hypnotized or enchanted by its radiance and ignore us completely.

Exiting the temple, we return to the lake of light, only to find that our boat is no longer at the docks. Remembering that we had left it at the entrance to the trench, we realize we must make our way back through the passage in the depths—much to Atreus’s dismay. Reluctantly, we take one of the newly operational lifts outside the temple, descending once more into the depths.

As we begin our trek through the passage, something—or someone—suddenly seals the roof, plunging us into darkness. Guided only by the glow of the Bifrost, we navigate the passage, battling various enemies that now roam free, seemingly released from their prisons.

Just as we reach the sand bowl for Atreus to inscribe the runes and return to the surface, we are ambushed by the horned dark elf king, Svartáljǫfurr. With Atreus using his light arrows as a distraction and my axe skills steadily improving, we manage to defeat him. However, as I strike the final blow, he warns that we have made a grave mistake in aiding the light elves. His words leave Atreus visibly puzzled, and before I can dismiss it as none of our concern, he predicts my response.

When I ask him to place the rune symbols in the sand bowl, he angrily accuses me of only speaking to him when I need something read or done. Frustrated, he adds that he wishes Mother were here instead.

Once we board the boat, he asks if she was in the light. I tell him no, to which he bitterly replies that it’s not like I would care if she was. At that, I snap—firmly telling him to watch his tongue, reminding him that one of us must remain focused on this journey. As I sit down, I make it clear that my silence should not be mistaken for a lack of grief. He can mourn in his own way, and I will mourn in mine.

Hearing this, he apologizes, admitting he didn’t know. I tell him it’s alright—he does not yet understand my ways.

As we paddle further, I offer reassurance, telling him that my time in the light felt like only moments had passed. This seems to bring him some comfort. We continue canoeing around the Lake of Light, gathering resources for the journey ahead. As we near the shore by Týr’s Temple, our conversation shifts to Faye and her axe.

As we pull up on shore, Sindri is already waiting and remarks on how busy we’ve been. He then calls us over to share his interest in a storeroom once owned by a dwarf named Fafnir, who traveled across the realms collecting rare artifacts. Sindri is particularly keen on retrieving a whetstone that is said to have originated from Niflheim. Handing us a key to access the storeroom, he sends us on our way.

Crossing the bridge, Atreus confesses that Alfheim wasn’t the first time he had heard voices—it's also how he knew why Brok’s pack animal was too frightened to cross. I tell him that if it happens again, he must let me know immediately.

Upon returning to Midgard, we spot Brok, and Atreus rushes over to tell him that we met his brother. Brok, wary that Sindri may have tampered with the axe, inspects it but ultimately finds no faults in his craftsmanship. Not to be outdone, he offers a free upgrade. He then asks for our help in locating an alchemist who was working on something for him. The alchemist was last seen in the Volunder Mines, and Brok hands us an entrance stone, assuring us that our efforts will be well rewarded.