Yesterday’s State of Play ended with over 20 minutes of footage from God of Battle Laufey, Santa Monica Studio’s new spin-off starring Kratos’ spouse Faye, who died shortly earlier than the start of the 2018 God of Battle reboot. What was proven off seems to be the very starting of the sport, and there’s truly fairly a bit to unpack in simply this early section. You bought a couple of minutes to interrupt down the entire thing? Let’s dive in.
Faye could also be useless, however this isn’t a prequel…technically
The trailer begins with one of many opening segments of 2018’s God of Battle, during which Kratos and Atreus bid Faye farewell by cremating her, simply as she requested. Nonetheless, she then awakens in an unknown world, barely disoriented, and not sure of how she acquired right here. Faye might have orchestrated the occasions of God of Battle, however wherever she has arrived now was not a part of the plan, and her story will find yourself working parallel to Kratos and Atreus’ journey.
True Blood and Marvel actor Deborah Ann Woll reprises her position as Faye, having beforehand appeared in flashbacks throughout God of Battle Ragnarok. As she runs via this mysterious space, she notes that her burned garments should imply that Kratos and Atreus have burned her physique as she requested, and that they’re “beginning on the trail” to scatter her ashes at Jötunheim. She laments that she wasn’t in a position to say goodbye to her husband and son, implying her dying, whereas deliberate for, was sudden.
There are hints towards each Norse video games, so Laufey might happen in the course of the occasions of each
As Faye walks via this new space, she says she doesn’t assume she’s in Alfheim, regardless of its comparable heat and overgrown buildings, however she does discover one thing acquainted: a corpse sporting what seems to be a masks just like the Masks of Creation that performed a serious position in Ragnarok. Odin believed the masks granted infinite information by permitting the wearer to see into creation itself, however its true function was left a thriller on the finish of Ragnarok after Atreus refused to make use of it.
The masks Faye finds on a corpse isn’t a precise duplicate of the one from Ragnarok, however Faye appears to acknowledge it simply earlier than it crumbles. She says that if there may be “one other masks,” then the trail she despatched Kratos and Atreus on will not be protected. Woman, that’s an understatement. Maybe we’ll see her influencing the occasions of God of Battle from the opposite facet?
Faye is rather more nimble than Kratos
We get a way early on that Faye is rather more agile than her husband was by the point we reunited with him in Midgard. She has a double soar and is usually extra mild on her toes. Extra of her fight equipment appears to be targeted on juggling Final of Us Clicker-like plant creatures within the air to utilize her verticality. She additionally has some restricted magical talents,which she notes appear to be weaker than they’re alleged to be. So even when Laufey borrows some components from God of Battle’s over-the-shoulder perspective, it does appear to be Faye will play fairly in another way than Kratos did.
Although Faye is misplaced, she’s not alone
YAY!!! Can lastly say I have been engaged on God Of Battle Laufey @SonySantaMonica and particularly; I animated this lil man right here assembly Faye for the very first time!!!
I’ve put all my coronary heart and soul into this lil man, I hope ya’ll loved it as a lot as I did. pic.twitter.com/BrqDuBiqyo
— Tuan Nguyen (@ilovekeyframes) June 3, 2026
Faye doesn’t know the place she is but, however she meets the primary of a number of companions early on. The small creature she finds appears to resemble East Asian depictions of dragons, and although it doesn’t communicate, it does information Faye via a few of the early areas she fights via. Given God of Battle has been largely stored within the realms of Norse and Greek mythology up so far, that is the primary time this sort of iconography has appeared within the collection, hinting on the true nature of this world Faye has discovered herself in. Talking of…
Faye might be going through gods from a number of mythologies
Shortly after Faye splits together with her furry buddy, she’s ambushed by a pair of what seem like Mongolian troopers. As they surprise the place Faye got here from and comment that some form of “gateway” has been closed. Faye is then dragged via what appears like a jail camp during which the Mongolian troopers are capturing a smorgasbord of creatures and other people from totally different mythologies and folklore. She sees what seems to be a Kitsune being subdued and a bunch burning small dragon corpses in a fireplace.
Although she makes an attempt to battle again, she is dragged to Begtse, the Mongolian god of warfare, who initially makes a present of making an attempt to intimidate her earlier than being referred to as off by Sekhmet, the goddess of warfare in Egyptian mythology. That’s an odd pairing, to make certain, however the very premise of the Norse God of Battle video games was that a number of mythologies exist on this universe, and someway all of them appear to be converging right here. Begtse reveals that you could’t “die” right here when Faye threatens to kill him, and affords to display that truth by beating her to a pulp, however Sekhmet stops him, and as an alternative tells her that turning away from the reality will solely make this all extra painful.
Earlier than issues escalate, a brilliant mild shines from what seems to be some form of observatory within the distance. Sekhmet departs with an enormous sphinx to take care of this “downside” as Begtse tosses Faye in a cage.
Gods and monsters and magical beings, oh my!
Inside her jail, Faye meets two new companions: a gelatinous dice named Phranque and a sentient ribbon referred to as Rue wrapped across the hilt of a sword lodged in Phranque’s facet. These two aren’t instantly recognizable as gods or entities from varied mythologies, so followers are working rampant with hypothesis. Rue, the magical ribbon, may very well be a reference to Leizu, the creator of silk in Chinese language legend or the Huntian Ling sash wielded by Nezha in Asian mythology.
Phranque, nevertheless, is a much bigger thriller, as my man is actually only a liquid dice that seems like Hughie from The Boys (he’s voiced by Jack Quaid). One of many cool theories I noticed was that he could also be half of a bigger entire and was severed from one thing when the sword was faraway from no matter bigger factor it was impaled in. What’s the sword? It’s unclear for the time being, however one of many folks Faye rescues in a while says that it’s “greater than [she thinks] it’s.”
Some followers are theorizing it may very well be Excalibur, and that it might have been pulled from a physique of water, as depicted in some mythologies, probably creating Phranque when it was eliminated via some magical power. Faye has clearly fallen into what reads like a melting pot of various legends and magical forces, however the place is she?
Welcome to the Everywhen
Phranque calls this place “the Everywhen.” It’s the afterlife of the gods, and after they die, all of them find yourself right here. Nonetheless, it might additionally nonetheless have some connections to the residing world. As soon as Faye is ready to get away of her cage by igniting an explosive, she has a really transient encounter with what appears to be Kratos, who helps her off the bottom within the rubble earlier than he disappears. A fan determined to sync this second with a part of the opening from God of Battle Ragnarok during which Kratos briefly dies earlier than being resuscitated by Thor, and it suits completely.
#GODOFWARLAUFEY KRATOS SAVES FEY WHEN THOR KILLS AND REVIVES HIM pic.twitter.com/byQTxBPHy5
— TheMainLogic 🐝 (@TheMainLogic) June 2, 2026
Whether or not that is only a actually cool coincidence or intentional stays to be seen. The timeline doesn’t monitor one-to-one, as a number of years have handed between Faye’s dying and Kratos’ coronary heart briefly being stopped in Ragnarok, however that is the afterlife, so time may match in another way right here.
Full-powered Faye kicks ass
Now that Faye has accepted her dying, she is ready to faucet into the total power of her magic and in addition wields Rue’s thriller sword. That is the place the variations between her and Kratos turn out to be rather more obvious. She’s in a position to whip out spells that separate enemies’ souls from their our bodies, pull off acrobatic feats, and work with Rue to tie up and toss enemies round as she slices and dices them with the blade. Kratos all the time sang Faye’s praises as a warrior, and it’s actually cool to lastly see her proving these rumors true.
The trailer ends with a cinematic battle between Faye and Begtse which, like many God of Battle fights, has each members throwing one another lengthy distances and nonetheless getting up for spherical two. Begtse additionally hints that there’s extra to the blade Faye wields than she realizes, and Faye theorizes that the Mongolian God of Battle could also be afraid of it for some purpose.
The title card interrupts the battle simply as issues are getting good, however there’s so much to chew on in these first 20 minutes of footage. Faye is useless, however should have the ability to assist the residing as she fights via gods from a number of pantheons within the Everywhen. And he or she’ll have some assist alongside the way in which, simply as Kratos and Atreus did of their journeys. Santa Monica Studio says it’s going to have extra to point out within the coming months, however God of Battle Laufey nonetheless has no launch date, so we don’t know the way for much longer we’ll have to attend for the sport to come back to PS5. Regardless of the recreation finally ends up being when it launches, the probabilities of a number of mythologies converging in a single place have given followers so much to invest on within the months forward.
