Why is Atreus looking for Tyr? God of War Ragnarok plot explained

Early on in the story of God of War Ragnarok, Odin reveals to Kratos that his son Atreus has been looking for Tyr and, not at all politely, asks him to put an abrupt stop to this search. Kratos refuses to bargain with Odin out of principle but, at first at least, wants Atreus to stop his search anyway. But Atreus is determined to find Tyr, and eventually persuades Kratos and Mimir to join him in his search.

Related: God of War (2018) story recap – What you need to know before God of War Ragnarok

The story of God of War Ragnarok is pretty complicated, and is told in a variety of ways. There’s also a lot of other stuff going on, so it’s quite easy to miss that one piece of dialogue that holds the whole plot together. For this reason, you might have lost track of why Atreus is looking for Tyr, and the summary below should help.

Why does Atreus want to find Tyr in God of War Ragnarok?

After Odin and Thor have departed, Atreus persuades Kratos to follow him to the old temple in the Lower Wildwoods. At the old temple, Atreus shows Kratos and Mimir a shrine that he is able to open up and enter. Inside the shrine, the trio are able to watch a kind of magical animation that prophesies that, when Ragnarok comes, the armies opposing Odin will be led by Tyr. And this must mean that Tyr is actually alive, and that Odin was lying when he told Mimir that he had killed him.

Atreus also reveals that inside one of the other shrines, he saw a vision of Tyr imprisoned somewhere with “black smoke and bleeding earth”, and Mimir correctly deduces that this must refer to one of the mines of Svartalfheim, the Dwarven realm. So, with the help of Sindri, that’s where they decide to go.

Atreus wants to find Tyr because Tyr is the former Norse God of War, and therefore the only thing powerful enough to oppose Odin. Apart from the fact that Atreus wants Odin off his and his father’s back, it’s also likely that Odin is up to something sinister and evil, and that it’d be a good idea to stop it. Finally, Atreus’ mother, Faye, also tried and failed to lead a rebellion against Odin, and Atreus sees finding Tyr as a way to possibly succeed where his mother failed.