There's an easy-to-miss piece of optional dialogue where Heimdall actually has a conversation with Atreus that gives us some insight into his character. He admits that he reads everyone around him and all he sees are liars, liars to one another and to themselves, and he's very bitter about it. Heimdall hates lies and deception. This is why he's so blunt and brutally honest to everyone, and is such a jerk. He'd prefer you honestly hate him than pretend to like him.
Makes us look like the bad guys. Cuz his goal is to just protect his home and his people. (said it himself, and he isn't hypocritical when he says he hated liars) and all we do is lie to him. Yes we do things that benefit his homeland in the shortrun, but the end of the game makes our actions for naught.
About the Draupnir Spear bypassing Heimdall’s foresight: there’s an instance earlier in the game when Kratos talks about being able to act without thinking in combat. Using a spear would bring that ability of Kratos to its maximum potential as “it is the first weapon a Spartan learns.”
If you listen to what Heimdall says after being impaled by Kratos's spear, he says "what is going on in that empty head?". This shows that Kratos didn't think when he fought, he just left his punches, throws and every attack to muscle memory
@@theaveragegtliveenjoyernah it’s just arrogant and sore loser talking. He got angry and all his foresight abilities went away as soon as heimdall lost his cool after Kratos cut him.. That’s how you beat those with a god-complex, make them feel like they are not a god and ground them. Heimdall can dish out, but cannot take what he dishes
Kratos has been in so many battles over literally thousands of years. His muscle memory is honed to a point where he doesn’t have to think. Thinking slows you down. His body knows what to do. Once the decision has been made, the hard part is over. Kratos’s killing instincts are so finely honed against every kind of enemy, it’s like he’s got a second brain that kicks in and takes over when it’s time to throw hands.
I love how Heimdall starts saying that Atreus is "looking to prove himself" and trying to live up to a father "he could never live up to." It has to be the most basic projection ever seen.
Heimdallr and Loki have a bitter rivalry in Norse Myth and are fated to kill each other in Ragnarok. I love how the writers made them hate each other quickly and naturally.
Something I always thought was an interesting parallel is Odin’s thoughts on both Heimdall and Thor. If you notice, Odin is always telling Thor that thinking is bad and he should just let him think for him, because he’s smarter than Thor. But then with Heimdall he says that he needs to think for himself. It’s interesting to see how Odin deliberately tries to bend both of them towards behavior that only benefits himself.
honestly, it's probably bcuz Odin understands his sons' powers. he knows that Heimdall without thinking is reckless and that Thor with thinking is an actual threat (remember, Thor is the strongest (physically) god in the norse mythology, that's why he was Odin's "big hammer go smash" guy). especially given the fact that Kratos came to their lands and Odin clearly knows who Kratos is and was, he just tries the best he can to tippy tap around this possibly cataclysmic one man army he's facing. so in such a case, it's good for Heimdall not to do stupid shit that'll anger Kratos (especially killing his son) and for Thor not to think cuz like, come on, weakened Kratos* is already stronger than Odin's strongest of warriors, now imagine him going back to the vengeful beast or having Thor on his side. that shit is honestly scary, no wonder Odin would try to do anything he can to stop that (unfortunately for him, fate done some trolling). * what I mean by "weakened Kratos" isn't that he's physically weaker than his past self (he clearly is as capable as he was), he just ain't gonna use all that strength to explode in a cataclysmic show of wrath cuz a god looked at him funny.
Another parallel similar to this (i read in a comment) Is that Heimdall always stands on Odin's blind side, to have his back and protect him from any surprise attack. Whereas Thor stands on Odin's good side, because he wants Odin to see and notice him.
A neat detail about Heimdall's boss fight is that once you max out his stun meter, it stays that high throughout the fight. It doesn't reset like other enemies. He's so shocked that someone landed a hit on him it has completely thrown him off his game.
@@deathdancin Well, Brok said "overload his senses" once before fighting heimdall, so when Kratos punched him (my thesis is that Kratos is so experienced and skilled warrior he can fight without thinking, that's why one of his punches eventually hit heimdall - he was reading the intentions/thoughts instead of body) his brain just got meltdown. He started to doubt his ability, and that doubt stayed through entire fight.
The irony there is that's really more of a line a hero would defiantly yell at a villain. Heimdall really thinks he's the hero of this story, the protector of Asgard.
@@herpderp3916It’s really about the situation. A regular superhero would say that when he’s seemingly about to fail and then unleash some power of friendship/love/justice/faith and turn the tide. For Heimdall, he said that when he was spared 😂 and he successfully changed that
The best part is: he’s right! Kratos doesn’t decide Heimdall’s fate, Heimdall does. Kratos gave him an out, he could just walk away. Instead, Heimdall threw himself into Kratos’ human shaped wood chipper
Something you seem to have missed is that Heimdall was sent to Helheim to retrieve the box that held the Moon on Vanaheim, which is also why he was there for the Kratos fight.
That makes Odin looks like such an idiot though if that was the case. Literally let Heimdall go with the actual horn when he knows that Kratos is gonna want to kill him.
Little fun fact: You know the moment where Kratos goes to grab Gjallarhorn after killing Heimdallr? He was supposed to grab it without issue, but in the game he sort of fumbles the first attempt, then hurriedly picks it up on the second. That was a mistake that they decided to keep in the game. It fits so well with how Kratos lost himself to his anger. He fumbles for the horn as his mind tries to recover and he realizes what he did in his rage.
Wait, how do you accidentally animate something? Genuine question because that doesn't make any sense to me. Like the game physics messed up or something?
I think Heimdall being caught off guard by Kratos' making Draupnir explode is an example of what you previously stated: he's incapable of seeing the big picture. Spear comes at him, he knocks it to the side, Kratos swings, he dodges, then the spear that he already knocked to the side explodes right beneath his feet because he's too busy reacting to the next attack to remember the big picture: the spear blows up.
@@lawerencejuge4110 That's just him calling Kratos an idiot, he constantly calls everyone dumb, idiots, morons or any other variation of that. He could clearly still read Kratos as he reads his intentions in the next line after what you said, he instantly senses that Kratos is pitying him and planning to spare him.
@@CJB02 Nah, the game mentions in other places that Kratos can act without thinking when he gets really into the zone. Heimdall straight up can't predict when Kratos will and won't explode the spear because Kratos isn't thinking about it either, he's just doing it when his instinct triggers his muscle memory.
@@KonoGufo Except he continues predicting Kratos throughout the fight, he still predicts and dodges stuff at the end of the fight. He can visibly still read Kratos’ intent.
@@CJB02 Even tho you saying it, you still don't understand it. He predicts it, true but that power is exactly what lead to his defeat. He relying it so much, that he can react in fight only according to his own power. It stated, that Heimdall may be not the most experienced fighter. After all, he himself don't remember when he draw sword last time. While Kratos doesn't need that. He's not rely on his god powers, nor on his weapons alone. It's his skill and training that lead him to the victory. He picked a pace and start to move more and more faster, until Heimdall cannot react according to his "Vision". If you can't predict the future, doesn't mean you can react to it in time. The faster Kratos acts on his pure skill and memory of past battles - making the window for Heimdall to react smaller - until the gap is too short to react. And as more skilled warrior - when Kratos paced enough speed to which point he could hit Heimdall it was over.
27:15 You can read in the Codex why Heimdall refused to give up, because he was too prideful to allow someone to pity over him because he's an Aesir and he wants to die in a battle. Additionally, when he comesback in the fight he's more angry and, like Odin says, "Forgets to think." and is acting on just pure emotion.
He demonstrably forgets to think, throughout the entire battle. He doesn't think through the consequences of catching the spear. He just does, because he wants to mock Kratos... Then it explodes in his face. He does learn this time, and doesn't catch it anymore. He just knocks it away with his sword. He doesn't think through the consequences, such as where the spear landed... and then it blows up at his feet. He learns again, and now parries, then dodges out of the way of where it lands. He doesn't think through the consequences, like how those spears stay there... until he dodges right over one he parried earlier. Every time, he gets angrier and angrier at Kratos, when in reality he's angry at himself for *not thinking.*
@@ericbright1742 exactly. Its perhaps my favorite call back from when we first fought him as Atreus and Odin says his weakness and also when Brok said "We have to overwhelm his senses" which, I hope they wouldve done something where Heimdall gets completely overwhelmed and stops thinking, which I think its whats happened on his fight against Kratos but in a more subtle manner.
He didn’t want to die in battle, he just refused to let Kratos decide his fate, he wanted to kill Atreus and he wasn’t going to let some Greek God tell him what he can and can’t do, he wasn’t going to accept that someone else has bested him, when Kratos begins to choke him to death, you can see him struggling to breath and hear him whimpering in fear, because he knows their is nothing he can do to stop what’s about to happen, him calling Kratos a monster wasn’t him reading Kratos mind, it was Heimdall just getting one last insult in before he died. That whole line Odin gives Kratos about dying being what the Aesir live for, was just another lie, Modi goaded Atreus into killing him out of spite and yet was still shocked when the boy actually stabbed him and tried to stop the bleeding before being kicked off the edge, Bauldur actually began to tear up when Kratos got him in a choke hold, because he knew that Kratos was going to kill him and this time, he wasn’t going to be coming back, Heimdall is literally whimpering in his last moments of life as the reality of his own demise is staring him quite literally in the face.
There's a peace of dialogue where Mimir explains Heimdall's power. He doesn't actually read minds. He reads body language, and facial expressions and emotions. He doesn't know what Atreus questions are merely that he has them. He reads Kratos' physicality and his facial expressions to predict where the throw is going, and how hard and so he catches it. He then sees that Kratos' is going to slam the spear butt down, but not knowing what that does, doesn't have the instinct to dodge an attack that for the first time in his life HE DIDNT SEE COMING. That's what makes the fight that much more significant after that point. For the first time in his existence Heimdall is OFF HIS GAME. It's not a plot hole to his strength, it's why the spear was intended to kill him.
I don't think I ever heard that conversation in game but its more or less what I always assumed: everyone overestimates how much Heimdall can actually read, but his knowledge is actually so surface level he couldn't have possibly predicted it. Assuming characters are stronger than they are is such an easy trap to fall into.
It was mentioned but never probably explained which could be done to bad pacing. If they say let Mimir actually explain in a good way people wouldn’t be having this issue. But it was more vague.
Notice that after Kratos kills Gulltoppur, Heimdall just says "oh well." Gulltoppur has probably been with Heimdall for his entire life and he treats his death as simply an inconvenience. He doesn't just lack empathy, he genuinely doesn't even know it's an emotion that can be felt. The tragic part is, that's not his fault. Odin never showed or taught him what empathy is. And because of that, it turned Heimdall into the psychopath that we love to hate.
@@dr.veronica6155 this, he KNEW Gulltoppur would probably die against Kratos and yet he still didn't care. When the fight begins and you get in a few hits, you can hear Heimdall say "cmon you stupid beast!"
I agree with you, I agree that his flaws led to the destruction of Asgard, but where I disagree it's when the author said it was all his fault. Everyone has their faults, but if Odin wasn't so selfish and mean to his sons, Hemdall wouldn't have let his faults take over his personality so much. Odin has a lot to do with what Hemdall has become, and with his other sons as well. Baldur has gone mad, Thor is broken and Hemdall has become a cruel and emotionless tyrant. As you said Odin shaped his children like tools, and for Hemdall he carved and conditioned him, so that he became as narrow-minded and arrogant. Odin encouraged his flaws to take over his personality, because he knew it would serve him well later. The fact that Odin complained that Hemdall didn't think often made me laugh, it's literally his fault he's like that. Honestly his reaction to his death disgusted me, like when he killed Thor, like the way he treats his family. Hemdall may be dead but honestly he's better off like that, rather than serving an asshole like that. Odin got what he deserved.
Heimdall is easily the most hated character in this series. It's always fun to drag them off their high horse and then have them dragged around by that horse.
I hated him at first...then I saw how Odin treated every one of his children, he was a douche it was no wonder Heimdall turned out to be this way, Odin curated all of this.... At the end I only felt sorrow for Heimdall...
@@Michael-bn1oi he's a genasi son of an Efreeti who's hosting them while they try and escape the Plane of Fire. Though really I made him as a foil for another highly paranoid and self-serving character in the Player Party (we all talked about it before, it's an anti-hero suicide Squad style campaign. Players seem to love it so far :D )
I agree with everything, but I had a slightly different interpretation of Heimdall’s choice to not actually drop him. Yes, he saw that Atreus wanted to betray Odin, but what made him pause and not go through with it was when Atreus told him “I’m not your enemy.” Heimdall sees that Atreus actually MEANS that statement. Atreus does not WANT to be his enemy. He does not WANT to destroy Asgard or hurt any Asgardian. Heimdall reads that truth in his mind and decides to let things play out, ergo why he says “I’ll be the judge of that.” He’s postponing judgment because of Atreus’s honesty in that particular statement, but I also think he sees himself in Atreus in that moment too. Ergo why he brings up their fathers and the problems with “their” personalities. This slight chance he gives to Atreus though is completely dashed at the end when Atreus follows through with betraying Odin. To Heimdall, Atreus is proving that everyone is truly a liar (a reference to an optional convo you can have with him as Atreus), so he IS his enemy and must die. This adds to the tragedy, because Heimdall chooses not to change. His arrogance wins out as opposed to him looking further into everyone’s hearts and minds to ascertain the real truth and not just his perception, so he dies. Therefore following the overarching theme of the entire game!
The thing is though, he does drop Atreus. He really did let Atreus’ hand slip from his grip after saying that he’d drop him. If Atreus hadn’t immediately clutched his wrist in both hands, he would have fallen to his death then and there. Now it was definitely half-hearted. More of a sadistic act of playfulness than a genuine attempt to kill him; after all he could have just immediately shaken Atreus loose and been done with it had he was really determined to end it then and there. but for a fleeting moment he really did let Atreus fall. It’s an incident that goes by so quick you could easily miss it, but it speaks volumes about the brutal honesty of Heimdall. If he says he is going to drop you, then you better believe that it’s no joke.
13:00 Heimdall: "Gulltoppr...who loves me the most? Who loves me the most?" At first glance this seems like a pretty normal line a pet owner might say to their pet (like "who's a good boy") but knowing the full context of Heimdall's situation of not being loved which is backed up by the fact he can see a person's true feelings and intentions (to know whether someone actually loves him or not) this line suddenly takes on a whole new meaning (as in quite literally).
gulltoppr literally loves him the most cause nobody else even likes him except odin, who likes his sons solely for being good additions to his toolbox.
One big thing about Draupnir is that Kratos mentions it was the first weapon any spartan is trained to use. The way that I saw the Heimdall boss fight is that Kratos wasn't thinking when fighting him. He was fighting purely on instinct because the weapon was so familiar to him. Heimdall even mentions after the first phase "what is going on in that empty head?". He couldn't get a read on Kratos and the ability of the spear to explode combined caught him off guard.
And though Odin says, "He reads minds for me," Heimdall himself describes it as reading INTENT. If he can just get the general idea of "he's gonna aim here, throw here, swing here, and activate weapon" that doesn't mean he knows what the weapon will actually do. Reading intent doesn't help when someone's intent is based on a very complex set of things that can not be distinguished FROM the basic intent.
@@sargeantschnutz5767 exactly I've also seen one comment elsewhere that points out flavor text during his fight with Kratos, where he has dialogue along the lines of "how aren't you thinking?" because to Kratos, fighting comes easy to him, and as Haider Malik said, a spear is the first weapon Spartans are trained with, meaning Kratos has to think even less to use it along with some other comments about when Heimdall first gets hit with the Spear's wind blast, his reaction is less of an "oh shit what happened" and more of an "oh shit that did more than I thought", which is why he deflects instead of catches, and dodges any spears lodged in the ground
I’ve been thinking he dives deeper into his mindless rage during the fight, he gets faster and angrier as the fight goes on which helps his unpredictability.
That's true. The spears by the way explode just _near_ Heimdall, even if Heimdall happens to dodge those spears. The explosions are enough to stun him albeit a little. By the way, cool profile pic 😉
which is why i never understood how he was so strong/good at dodging anyone competent. ok you know i wanna hit you. doesn't mean you can do anything about it (as we saw with kratos)
@@silverYolo Because he's an Aesir god? Reading minds isn't the only thing he could do. He was the fastest person alive and obviously he's strong because he's still a god.
I always took Heimdall as a mirror to the gods you would kill in the GoW trilogy. The real challenge always was to let him live, and it made his death all the more horrifying: "redemption is not possible, history is bound to repeat itself". And due to Heimdall being such an asshole, it was personal: we wanted him dead, we wanted to kill him, a part of us wanted Kratos to become the god killer he was... despite we knew he wanted redemption and to "be better". Heimdall does a pivotal role in allowing us to empathize with Kratos' struggle for redemption, and it was amazing.
A detail I had missed during my first playthrough was Heimdall's eyes. Mimir says that Heimdall is Odin's biggest fanatic and will do anything the All-Father says. Sure you can take that at face value, and maybe even excuse his eyes due to familiarity with the MCU Heimdall or because of his godly gift of reading people. However, he shares the exact same eyes as all the Einherjar. I think Odin put him under an influence or direct mind control when he was young.
the eyesight isn't an mcu thing it's actually from norse mythology. God i hate these americans with their appropriation. you probably thought only the worthy could wield mjolnir too didn't you xD
Heimdalls's relation with Odin also perfectly illustrates what Mimir meant when he says "If he tells you snow is white, he is lying". Since Heimdall can read people's minds/intentions, he should be the first to know that Odin is a liar and rebel against him. However, it's the exact opposite, he's Odin's most loyal servant. That's because Odin's manipulation does not work by straight up lying, but rather by presenting distorted interpretations of reality in ways that always benefit him, making it look like, no matter how abominable his actions are, they are always justified. The concept of "lying by telling the truth" is really hard to explain...and Heimdall just helps us see even more how Odin is a perfect representation of it.
I get the impression that Odin buy into his own bullshit. Even when he's standing there with his spear halfway into Thor's heart, he tries to tell Thrud that it was Kratos's fault, and he seems genuinely upset when she doesn't buy it. He genuinely believes that he's not to blame for anything, so reading his mind wouldn't tell you anything about what an evil little bastard he is.
@@iamnuff1992 Agreed! Compulsive lyiers will often get so used to lying about everything all the time, even without specific reasons, that they just start believing in their own makeshift personal realitys...specially if they're really good at it, wich is Odin's case.
@@iamnuff1992 Odin is a sociopath, with psychopathic tendencies. He has no relations to what it’s like to be human, let alone human feelings. He has ultimate power and will justify anything in his realms to do what he wants.
I literally didn’t know he was Odin’s son until right now. That’s how bad of a dad Odin is. If no one says that he is his son you wouldn’t believe them based on how he treats them. Edit: thanks for all the likes! 👍🏼
A cool point you mentioned that got some wheels turning in my head was that Sif and Faye were opportunities for Thor and Kratos to each grow passed being Odin's tools and the lack of these figures in the lives of Heimdall and Baldur doomed them to this fate. Building off of this, maybe part of the reason Freya was exiled to Midgard by Odin was to estrange Baldur from his mother, making him easier to manipulate into a "tracker" and a "finisher."
In Helheim you see Baldur having flashbacks with Freya where he abandons her, but this could still be a good idea to make sure that they would never meet again.
Heimdall was honestly one of my favorite characters. Just so pompous but just hams it up to the MAX. His voice actor is PERFECT with delivery and i think Heimdall is kinda tragic. He sees the worst in everyone despite what they show on the surface
this was right on time for lunch , popped up in my feed and thoroughly enjoyed the breakdown even had me thinking about being better at looking deeper when considering actions love the content and glad I subbed 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 what is this song at 30:50? It has like Mario water level with more ambiance
I guess I would most describe Heimdall as a really powerful magnifying glass. He’s amazing at seeing tiny details and reading things, but he can never see the big picture and step back.
One thing to note is that I don't think that Heimdall truly planned on killing Atreus until the middle of his boss fights. He might have thought about it but I don't think he really committed to it until then because he didn't want to disrupt whatever plans Odin had for Atreus. It isn't until his pride is severely wounded in the fight that I believe he commits to it because his anger and humiliation finally overshadowed his rationality. This ironically makes the Norns prophesy self-fulfilling because if the Norns never told Kratos that Heimdall planned to kill Atreus, they never specify when he plans to or why, then he would have never have made the weapon and planned to kill him. This causes their fight and in the middle when Kratos plans to spare him Heimdall says he is going to kill Atreus so Kratos kills him. This is important because the Norns state the Kratos will learn that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus and then kill him. Most people seem to believe that the first part where he "will learn that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus" happens with the Norns but I think that they were talking about when Heimdall tells him himself. This fits what we learn of the Norns in the game where it seems that the prophesies they give seem purposely worded to bring about the event they predicted due to their complete understanding of everyone's nature, like what happened with Freya.
It does bring up another interesting point as well. Norns speak about how Kratos doesn't change, but Kratos did spare Heimdall. Kratos gave him a way out, but he made the choise to keep fighting and die. So, in a way, Norns mocking people for not changing wasn't entirely true, because they also accounted for Kratos to spare Heimdall, which is not what the god killer does. If he hadn't spared Heimdall, he wouldn't have learned about Heimdall's plan to kill Atreus. Of course, it is a predictable change. You tell someone they never change and they'll do something completely different to spite you.
It really does strengthen the nords parallels to the witches in Mimir’s tale really and makes you wonder how bs the prophecies really are. Bit of a hc, but I like to think that the giant prophecies were due to the Nords seeing as they are the main prophecy makers they can then insert these into the dreams of the giants they already can access memories of those who go near them and alter their vision to suit their needs so why not manipulate the giants to do their bidding especially since the giants are mostly unresisting of their fates which leads to the reinforcement of inevitable fate. Through this lens, they are responsible for many of the events in the world by messing with people and why would they do this? Who knows maybe they are working with other powers or just want to control the realms. The fates did something similar in the older games so it would be a notable parallel. Doesn’t excuse the actions of others but it does make the events of the world and the tragedy of the giants more tragic. As even their power of prophecy is manipulation and abuse of them from another group.
Honestly my favorite part of Heimdall is how well the writer's handle the breakdown of the arrogant bastard. He gets hit a single time and immediately becomes irritated, not scared or necessarily angry, but more frustrated. (Side note, gotta love a fight that has an organic way to introduce why a boss has become more difficult/more powerful by having Heimdall be so caught off guard that he starts manipulating time). Add on the voice acting as we approach the end of the first half and take his arm, he isn't responding like a livid individual or even a scared villain. His voice basically breaks and starts crying out that it's only luck and a fluke that he is even taking damage at all. To the end, his arrogance remains and convinces him that this cannot be happening, as if the laws of nature have come together to thwart him
you also notice that when you first throw the spear and hes holding it. hes looking at the spear and not kratos? i saw that first thing. heimdall even grabbed it and said a surprised, "huh". game mechanically i thought thats what i had to keep doing, having him distracted by holding the spear. but a game has to game, and it didn't matter if you did it thematically or spam the spear throws.
if you notice also Kratos gets way faster as the fight goes on. I am pretty sure that at some point in game Kratos also stops thinking about his next move and just does hence Heimdall's comment, "what is going on in that empty head of yours"
@@ricremricrem2221 whats going on in that empty head of yours, I took it as a callout to the player because I had no idea what Kratos was going to do after we pinned the guy's arm 😂😅
@ricremricrem2221 The funny yet kinda sad part about that line is that the spear you're hitting heimdall with was specifically made to block heimdall powers by overloading his senses. When he finally asks what's going on in that empty head of yours, you realize he has no idea his powers are being blocked. He went that entire fight, thinking there was something wrong with him or that kratos just can't be read.
@@GodsDissapointment I thought that's what the spear did at first too (before I got to the fight) but it's actually that the spear can be used in a different way from the blades or the Leviathan axe in that it can set up hazards (which Heimdall can read when you set them off too) and that Kratos really is just going through the motions by this point instead of thinking about it (as evidenced by the fact that he can read the spear, but later on in the fight he can't read you anymore)
In regards to Heimdall not watching over Thrud and Atreus, if you stick around later outside the door to Odin's office, you can hear Heimdall discussing with Odin about a certain something he retrieved. You later find out in a side quest that he took a vessel to hide the moon and prevent Skoll and Hati from actually catching their prey. Also for the Heimdall fight, It wasn't as if Heimdall couldn't read Kratos' mind, but moreso the hardened warrior relied on instincts and reactionary moves rather than planning his next hit. Its akin to Ultra Instinct in Dragonball, you just know what to do without having to think it through on an instinctual level. The Draupnir Spear is meant not as a plot device to disable Heimdall but moreso an effective tool that Heimdall can't track as easily. He sees what the opponent is gonna do but knowing that he relies on that short sighted prophecy reading, putting him between a rock and a hard place, aka Kratos and exploding spears, he is virtually unable to dodge them. He is able to dodge Atreus so easily due to the fact that Atreus is a thinker, lacks proper battle experience and plans his moves, where he looks to shoot and what arrows he uses. Even in the end of the fight, Heimdall says "What's going on in that empty head of yours". Kratos literally emptied his mind and focused on the fight, he didn't think about his next move, he didn't think of any traps, he just threw the spear and made up strategies on the fly.
That last point is pretty interesting and also paradoxical. On a superficial level, Kratos is methodical and never embarks on something without thinking things through whilst Atreus is an improviser at heart
Slight nitpick, you said retrieving the moon from the Aesir was a side quest, it’s not, it’s a main quest and you can’t progress in the game without doing it
27:20 I view this sudden change as more of Heimdall seeing mercy, not pity, but confusing the two. Being a member of the Aasir, they'd see mercy as something negative, hence his reaction to assume it was only pity.
I think something important is that he's always had his powers. He's always been able to see intentions. And in a family like his...no wonder he's so jadded, selfish, and petty. He's grown up among liars and murderers, and knows what they truely feel about him. Imagine the insecurities that causes, knowing when he's not good enough, when he fails to meet their expectations. No wonder he prides himself on being a perfectionist. It's the only way for him to get true positive enforcement.
@@barisbal7782 Well, that's the thing about Odin. He sees intentions. And Odin intends to "save everyone from ragnarok", and gain ultimate knowledge. It's his whole life goal. The problem is that Odin is willing to sacrafice everything and everyone for those goals.
@@dadab22 odin doesnt intend to save anyone from anything. and even if he would've admirable intentions, this doesnnt explain heimdall's pathetic nature. loki came asgard with the intention of finding a way to save his father. with no intention of starting a fight with anybody. and yet, heimdall labeled and accused him like he was some sort of psychopath heimdall is a sick ass hole. plain and simple. you can see it the way how he treat other people or his own pet even when he dont have to.
@@barisbal7782 Imagine being Heimdall chilling in a wall eating an 🍎 and spotting this foreigner who came for dinner. This foreigner happened to have killed two of your nephews and your half-brother (Magni, Modi and Baldr) This foreigner was now rumored to be looking for your fugitive brother (Tyr) to lead a group of rival family members (Vanir) and initiate a prophecy (Ragnarok) that literally spell the death of your entire house and bloodline (Asgard). I'd say Heimdall took it pretty well, all things considered.
Right after you get back from Hel with Heimdall he goes to Odin and says he secured what Odin asked for. So Odin knew Heimdall would leave them, Odin just makes it look like Heimdall disobeyed to not make Atreus suspicious. Odin made Heimdall retrieve the box the moon from Vanaheim was kept in. Which is why Heimdall was in Vanaheim where he met Kratos.
And that leads to "He is very perceptive, he just forgets to think". I guess even though he knows that the spear can explode, he still instinctually grabs it. He doesn't think when he grabs it even though he knows it can explode
@@akaiyoru2681 I think it also has to do with how Kratos think of the spear, Kratos probably isn't thinking "ok time to make it explode" but more something like "ok time to make it disappear" which to an impulsive Heimdall this seems harmless because he isn't doesn't think to think that the result of the spear disappearing is it exploding.
@@akaiyoru2681 Eh I would say that through most of this game he is thinking as he has to make sure he doesn't just kill his opponent, I do think that in the second half of this particular fight Kratos does just go full raw fighting instinct
@@akaiyoru2681 Right, I think this would be the case. Heimdall noted he felt his anger and frustration, but later noted Kratos to have an "empty head". If he's purely fighting on experience and instincts, there may actually be nothing left for Heimdall to read.
When you read the digital artbook, it becomes very clear that Heimdall is absolutely Odin's greatest weapon. His foresight makes him pretty much unbeatable in combat, and his ability to read minds means nothing gets by him. He's described as the ''Ultimate Watchdog of the Aesir''. It's why Odin sanctioned Hofund (his sword) for him specifically to enhance his realm shifting, and why he gave him the Gjallarhorn. Heimdall was the best insurance it would sound to announce Ragnarok.
@@Puget55 For sure. I'd imagine Thor has probably proven to him before that he's powerful enough that Heimdall's foresight doesn't matter. Seeing Thor's moves coming doesn't help if he can't actually do anything to stop them, after all.
The problem is, he isn't, Heimdall among the sons of Odin he is the Weakest, he lacks real combat experience and strategy. Heimdall only relies on his foresight, meaning that he can beat anyone except experimented combatants, Tyr and Thor have vast experience in combat and both are capable fighters using only instinct, Baldur is so messed up that you can't really know that he is going to do, if Heimdall trained like them perhaps that he would become Odin's best tool, but that's not the case and he died by the hands of Kratos.
@@nomado.3855 Mimir says he's a veteran of at least 1000 battles against the Jotun. Play the fucking game before talking. Where does this myth come from that he's untrained and inexperienced? He's neither.
@@TheStraightestWhitest Have you seen how Heimdall fights? He doesn't really fight, his attacks are sloppy, unrefined, typical from an amateur and a bully, his full dependence on his foresight made him cocky and arrogant, never really training how to fight, also his mentality doesn't help him , combine all that no wonder he got killed by Kratos easily, also he was no match for Thor (who was scare of him), Tyr and Baldur, who all of them have real combat experience.
The fact that he’s so shortsighted is a fantastic reversal of the mindreader trope. They usually are portrayed as being master manipulators because they know virtually everything, but since Heimdall sees so much all the time, it’s probably hard to focus anything that comes next. Edit: I also think Heimdall’s boss fight wouldn’t benefited from the implementation of cinematic quicktime events. I felt like Garm’s fight was one of the most cinematic and fun to play and it had plenty.
So a few things to note about Heimdall: The characters say he reads minds, but that's more or less just a simplification of his abilities. It's less mind reading and more of him being able to see intentions. He can see where Kratos will throw the spears, see where they land, but he can't see that they can just suddenly explode. That's how they're able to get the drop on him. Likewise, this also falls into his arrogance. Because Heimdall can see the truth of a person, he can also see that they're always putting up a mask. Nobody is ever true to themselves or others, so therefore Heimdall has become incredibly jaded and unwilling to see the positives in others. It's not just that he's full of himself, but it's also that he just can't see the good in people because the good aspects are typical a front to their bad aspects as well. In Heimdall's mind, at least he's being honest about it. Thus the arrogant personage.
Very well explained. The true nature of Heimdall's ability is actually foreshadowed when Thor makes him back off. When the latter ask Heimdall to read his mind, he simply makes a snarky remark, but backs off. This is because as much as Heimdall makes a show of being an all-knowing fighter, he knows he can't make Thor: an experienced warrior and a destructive force of nature. If they were to ever fight Thor would probably destroy the area they were fighting, causing enough chaos to overload Heimdall for Thor to kill his little brother, or at least beat his ass. Heimdall is aware of this fact and so he backs off. The issue when he encounters Kratos is a mixture of his lack of knowledge of the Spartan and his own arrogrance. While I'm sure Heimdall is at least aware of who Kratos is and what he has done, he has no experience or information about how the spartan fights. This leads him to underestimate Kratos' experience as a soldier and his adaptability as a fighter. Addtionally, he is arrogant in his foresight and thinks he can just rely on it to dodge Kratos's attacks. Both of these factors, combined with Kratos using his Draupnir Spear to give him the edge, lead to the Kratos landing a hit on the god of foresight and Heimdall's downward spiral and demise.
@@yojimbopaul Yes and no. I agree with your second point. But notice durning the fight with the spear. Once Heimdall was caught off. It threw him off his senses. He wasn’t thinking about predicting Kratos anymore. The spear did it’s purpose on the first time. It overran his senses and he was panicking
"You are here to help yourself, to manipulate and lie to whoever you have to to get what you want" Isn't it kinda weird how what Heimdall said describe Odin more than it describe Atreus
well again, in norse mythology, loki is a trickster and liar, gow loki, is just confused and a child, that's why mythology loki had arguments with everyone in asgard, until he gets kicked out and invited again.
@@Mr._Anonymous342 Well, in GoW Loki was also a trickster and a liar, both times he visits Asgard he went with the clear intention of being a spy, using Odin, and eventually bringing Ragnarok (which he knew was the destruction of Asgard).
Weirdly enough there's actually a theory that Loki and Odin might not have been related the way we previously thought, ie brothers. There are people who wonder if Loki might actually be some other aspect of Odin, or that Loki might some sort alias or nickname for him. Not saying that's literal in this universe, but maybe in future games we might see Atreus end up unknowingly acting in ways with some disturbing parallels to Odin. Heck when you consider Atreus's plan at that point in the game and his actions in general, while what Heimdall says does work for describing Odin, it's not an inaccurate description for Atreus. In short, Hiemdall might not entirely be wrong, admittedly he seems to just see things at surface level, even when he's right, and he has a clear bias against anything that threatens Asgard.
Odin was a dick but he never intended to destroy Asgard. He very clearly sees people around him as tools, which is not good but also means he cares for them in a way ("you wouldn't throw away good tools for nothing" - way). Heimdall can read people's intentions, and Odin lies a lot but his intentions of not dying are pretty clear and constant, he has no ill will towards his family, no malice, hatred, and so on, he is just cold and utilitarian.
Actually, for as pompous and arrogant as Heimdall is, I don’t think he’s wrong. Atreus is a good kid, he’s not looking to murder Asgardians necessarily, but he DOES seek the downfall of Odin and the realm. Atreus may not realize it yet, but in order to take down Asgard-in order to fight a war-there will be people in the way. Heimdall nails him, right on the money. He just has a different perspective on it than Atreus does.
I just realized something. I think the ominous music that plays right after killing Heimdall is the same music that plays in God of War(2018) when you’re in the boat heading from Freya’s house after Atreus has become really sick. That music seems to signal a sort of return to form or return to the past, like killing Heimdall like he would in the old days or returning to his house for the blades and speaking with Athena.
I really hate how people miss a great detail that was heimdall calling kratos a monster as he strangled him cause in that moment he saw the old kratos and the hate he had.
What I love is the big difference between Baldur and Heimdall. Baldur may not feel pain but he knows what it's like to lose in battle, he has an inherent respect for the RISK of fighting. Heimdall has never been hit, his ego cant comprehend, can't compartmentalize someone hurting him so when Kratos does it snaps his concentration and therefore his control of the battlefield. He instantly reveals himself as a juvenile warrior and pays that price.
My favorite part of that fight is how they handle Heimdall’s foresight abilities versus Kratos’ punches. Just because he can see them coming doesn’t mean he’s free; he’s gotta keep up. During the second flurry of punches, you can see the concentration on Heimdall’s face. He’s really having to push himself to remain head of Kratos. And with the third flurry, Kratos is able to trap his arm and mix it up by actually landing a blow on Heimdall. Heimdall could probably have seen it coming too, but he wasn’t fast enough or predicted wrong and his mistake was enough for Kratos to land that fateful hit.
@@onilink134 This comment deserves more likes! his Foresight ability fluctuates on his state of mind, if he’s in a calm state of clarity he’s unstoppable and untouchable, but when he’s loses his temper and stop thinking clearly, the potency of the power weakens.
@@wellyunnoso3087 and to me that's where he comes across as not a "seasoned" warrior. Kratos, Baldur, Thor, hell even Odin have fought in life threatening situations many times, they've learned to keep their cool.
You gotta realize kratos was probably thinking on how he treated the Greek gods when killing Heimdall THIS MAN PROBABLY SAW THE ENTIRETY OF GOW 3 BEFORE DYING
I believe there’s a third reason to why Heimdall is the first Aesir you met when Atreus arrives in Asgard : in the myths, Heimdall & Loki are foresworn ennemies and are destined to kill each other during ragnarok, and I think the developers wanted us to make that first interaction a sort of reference to that (but I might be wrong !)
Only one note I wanna add to one of the thoughts. When Heimdal left them in Helheim, it wasn't ignoring the orders, it was to retrieve the "cold" artifact that was later found to have been used to steal the moon in Vanaheim. Atreus is heard saying "It's cold. Is this...? Its from Helheim. Heimdal must have grabbed this while I freed Garm. I was there. But... I-I didn't know."
Exactly, that's one thing that stood out in this for me. Heimdall would never, ever disobey Odin, he is his most loyal servant. He served Odin until he died.
@@janstraka8674 The same happens with the fight with Kratos, the fight started because he was following ODIN's orders, not because he thought something on his own. Since by then he had ordered him to steal the moon.
Also, Heimdall's secret mission in Helheim was ordered by Odin. When the party returns to Asgard, you can eavesdrop on Odin and Heimdall, and the latter says something like "as for _my_ mission, I've safely retrieved the item we discussed."
I feel like Odin purposefully raised Heimdall to not be able to use his power to the fullest potential, knowing how Odin is with planning and being ahead of his foes he purposefully handicaps his own sons so they wont/can't turn against him. Odin could have easily fixed the problem Heimdall has with his lack of curiosity and look at the bigger picture, but making it so Heimdall couldn't fathom the idea that his own father might be a manipulator who's using him for his personal gain consequences be damned. I also think that Odin raised Heimdall to only see the worst in others and fed into his ego which would make Heimdall semi isolate himself from his peers and not bother to form any bonds that can potentially lead to marriage. like Thor with his wife and daughter who he's trying to be better for, causing Heimdall to be further reliant on him. making it impossible for Heimdall to mentally break free as he would literally have nowhere to go in any realm should he have chosen to stop supporting Odin.
17:45 sort of reminds me of a quote by Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic II, regarding reading a person's mind. "Is such listening enough to perceive the world around you? It is not. Because listening to the thoughts of another, is much like attempting to see the universe only with your eyes. It is equally limiting." and just prior to that "When one relies on sight to perceive the world, it is like trying to stare at the galaxy through a crack in the door."
It's ironic how, despite being the god of foresight, he gloriously failed to foresee that his plan to kill Atreus would lead to the very thing he was hoping to avoid. Pride really comes before the fall.
Yeah, that's essentially what he was getting at. Heimdall can't see the big picture with things. He lets what he directly reads in the moment guide him.
He never planned on killing him. It wasn't until the fight was already over that Heimdall even brought Atreus up, and even then, only because it was relevant to Kratos at that very moment. The Norns killed Heimdall.
@@billmore6486 if Kratos didn't know that Heimdall was going to kill Atreus then why did he collect Draupnir? The norns told him that exactly and the dwarfs gifted him the spear to do it.
@@sodapop2581 exactly, Bill was saying that the Norns set up Heimdall's death by telling Kratos that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus, but he doesn't plan to kill Atreus until Kratos pisses him off, and Heimdall only plans to kill Atreus because Heimdall is reading Kratos' intent on protecting him.
My theory: Heimdall is fascinated with Odin because Odin's inner workings are always busy creating complex schemes, reframing reality, inventing some justification for everything he does. Like a true narcissist, Odin constantly conflates good with bad, egoism with altruism, assault with self-defense, oppression with victimhood, banal desires with grand ambitions. All framed depending on what serves himself best. Heimdall has a hard time understanding the methods, reasons and ethics of Odin's thoughts. However the material results are clear to him: the Aesir are the most dominant and important tribe in the 9 realms. So Odin's mind seems like a swirling, neverending fountain of wisdom and good fortune to his family. Heimdall looks up to that, and looks down on normal people, who always seem to search for straightforward solutions to their banal inner conflicts. People who constantly get stuck on base emotions like fear, anger, guilt... Nothing like the impenetrable mystery of Odin's emotions. When Kratos tries to spare Heimdall, he is enraged because all he sees in Kratos's mind is "I want to be a good person so my son can be happy". It's pathetic to him, nothing like the enchanting complexity of Odin's motivations. Odin never showed such a straightforward, endearing sentiment toward Heimdall. Heimdall always told himself that this mystery and emotional neglect is what wisdom and strength is all about. So his fate being decided by a simple "I don't want to murder" is so simple and pathetic to him he cannot stand it, it feels like a permanent stain on his self-worth. The tragedy is that Odin's motivations were never based on grand ambition or deep wisdom, but on the basest, most animalistic fear of all: the fear of nothingness. Odin was just a meek creature, scared to death of what would happen if something became bigger than him and ended him. Like most narcissists, his mind was an infinite pit of insecurity surrounded with a grand, complex, reinforced suit of armor. And people like Heimdall are in awe of the suit of armor and never realize what's inside.
explains why heimdall respects him rather than distrust and fear him. also why he reacts to thor knowing if he killed him, odin would just think heimdall strong too.
7:20 "Think of how mad the All-Father's gonna be if you kill his guest" My guy, ODIN is the last man I'm worried about getting mad if someone kills you. There's a bearded pale white man who might get a tad bit angrier.
The reason he didn’t expect the spear to explode was because of the same shortsightedness you referred to earlier. He was so worried about looking good and catching the spear he neglected to look forward and see that Draupnir could explode.
@@Tom-pf9hg if you look at his stun meter it never goes down after that first hit. i think he was so stunned and angry that he got hit that he just wanted to kill kratos and he stopped caring about what was coming. that’s my theory at least.
@nyavoradjei8919 my theory is that he was so deadlocked focused on killing Kratos thanks to his ego being hurt, that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings and what's happening around him, so he dosent notice kratos putting spears down.
I feel like the reason the exploding spear worked is because Kratos is a seasoned war vet who is able to completely clear his mind when in combat and act off instinct- if he isn’t thinking in the moment there isn’t anything for Heimdall to read. He even asks before the final phase “what is going on in that empty head?” I don’t think that was an insult as much as a genuine question, it checks out since they just finished fighting for the moment and Kratos was probably still in fight mode for a moment, and as such was keeping a clear mind until he felt Heimdall was truly neutralized for the moment.
Also if your straight up weaker then Kratos knowing oh I'ma loose no matter isn't going to save you. It's like trying to avoid the sun exploding. Honestly Kratos would win even without the spear he was just afraid of death and leaving his son behind
Yeah, in certain viewpoints it's seen as a level of skill when you can instantly react to an enemy with an appropriate move without even thinking about it, like the moves n all such things have become part of your instincts. It's a thing of "don't think so hard about it, just do it", and for Heimdall that's a massive issue because he relies on you thinking about what's going on so he can use it to beat you.
@@sterlingglover7448 On top of that, he specifically said that he trained relentlessly with a spear as a spartan warrior, which means it's probably a weapon he instinctively knows how to use. That and the explosions make it perfect for fighting Heimdal; he can't read Kratos's intentions when Kratos is going off of muscle memory, and he can't predict the spear going off.
I mean if we go by martial arts logic, Heimdall would send a signal to his mind to know what Kratos is thinking, then send a signal back to his body to react. Kratos would only have to react so his movements would take half the time than Heimdall's. He's literally thinking too much while fighting.
It didn't occur to me until just now but when Heimdall is explaining to Atreus how Heimdall sees him, he's almost explaining himself. Eager to prove himself dude to an overshadowing father figure, disrespectful, entitled etc.
While I agree with almost everything you stated in this video, I think Heimdall himself did hold off on directly killing Atreus due to curiousity to a certain extent. During the optional conversation where he opens up a little to Atreus, Heimdall does pause and say "interesting...." which seems to be his curiousity being sparked a bit. While he does eventually double down and state he has his guard up. He did pull Atreus up from the walls ledge out of slight interest and escort him to the great lodge. When he sees that Kratos was fighting him to protect Atreus, he says "ohhh now I am DEFINITELY going to gut him" which seems to be that while he wasn't going through with his intentions, it was at that moment he felt he NEEDED to go through with them now.
I loved his line to Atreus when they’re on the elevator thing: “You open your mouth and I see cities burning.” I just found it so interesting and it speaks volumes about him.
@@brendaspence1824 nothing came out of that. Just stop. They set up so many things without properly tying them up together. Battle of Ragnarök was very rushed. And many questions from the previous game were left unanswered. We never saw loki being loki, just atreus being angsty again like in the 2018. Ofc just him being loki doesnt mean he would do mischief but some people try to say "wElL hE snEakEd ofF sEcrEtly fRoM kRaToS" anyway i look a bit too hater-ish but im not. I loved the game to death but the pacing was bit lackluster. Probably the side effects of trying to finish it as a dualogy
An interesting point that I realized is that Heimdall is very much a mirror of Atreus, much like how Thor is a mirror of Kratos. Maybe it's just me, but there's a hint of recognition and sympathy in Heimdalls voice when he talks about how Atreus probably has an "overshadowing father figure he can never live up to". Heimdall and Atreus both care about their "home", want to try and make the world the better place and believe what they do is the right thing. But like you said, Heimdall lacks curiosity and compassion. He's a cynical and arrogant asshole. In fact, I think he's very similar to how Atreus is in the previous game when he finds out he's a god. He's arrogant, selfish and cruel, even to those he absolutely shouldn't, like Sindri or Mimir. Heimdall is what Atreus might have grown up to become, had Kratos not decided to step in and put a stop to it.
He's what atreus would have become if he has stayed his bratty and selfish self during the first game... "we are gods, we can do whatever we want" mentality.
If Heimdall, Baldur and Modi are Atreus' parental issues, taken to a horrifying degree, Odin is a reflection of what Atreus could have been if his curiosity took preference over everything else.
I have a theory about Heimdall’s foresight which might explain why the spear could possibly beat him. As I’ve practiced martial arts, something I’ve experienced that causes massive frustration is when your mind is working faster than your body. I’m thinking about a combo I want to do three moves before I do it, however this disconnect can cause your current technique to be slower or more sloppy than normal. Or in some cases, you can see an attack coming but just can’t move fast enough to block it because of some weird situation. Perhaps the same is true for Heimdall, he can see what will happen next, he just can’t react fast enough to do anything with that knowledge.
I just learned that capturing an apple, thrown by a man in Greece means: "I want to propose to you" 6:29 ..No wonder Atrues dodged it like the plague.. Heimdall tho.. he kinda sus.. didnt even say "no homo" after all that. o_o
Heimdall is honestly one of my top 5 favorite GOW characters. Even his arrogance actually gives you insight into his depth as a character. Heimdall can read people. His whole life he's been able to see the intentions of everyone he's ever met. He knows that most people are fake, deceitful, and just in it for themselves. So Heimdall is the exact opposite. He wears his thoughts on his sleeve, and shows complete and utter loyalty to his father. In some way he's trying to prove to himself that he's better than everyone else because he has no ulterior motive. He lives vicariously through the praise that Odin gives him (even though let's be honest, he probably knows Odin doesn't see him as more than a tool) because at least he serves a purpose that is, in his mind, a noble one. All around just a fantastically well written, acted, and in my opinion, enjoyable character.
@@meldrickedwards1892 The fact that none of your responses to valid observations and analysis have been at all constructive or meaningful is the real BS here
Heimdall wasn't just ditching Atreus and Thrud in Helheim. He was getting the box that would contain Vanaheim's moon. Atreus even realizes that's what he was up to when he and Kratos get the box.
I think it's interesting the Norns didn't say Heimdall was fated to kill Atreus or even that he planned to kill him. They only said Kratos would learn he plans to kill Atreus and kill him as a result. Which does happen during their fight. It's all a big misunderstanding because everyone is only focused on their own needs.
I imagined that heimdall wasn’t able to always predict the spears exploding, he is just able to see that kratos throws spears and then hits the ground with the base of the spear. He isn’t able to see that they will explode. And even when he realized they do explode, he isn’t able to fully counter them because he isn’t used to being unable to understand exactly what is happening. And when you catch him off guard he begins to slip, explaining why you can hit him more as the fight goes on.
Some notes about the trips to Helheim and Vanaheim that can be easily missed in this games avalanche of dialogue. Heimdal was in fact given instruction by Odin for his own task in Helheim, specifically finding the box that is used to capture the Moon in Vanaheim, which is also why he's there at that time. Presumably it was Heimdall who captured Freyr, and tortured him, stating as much to Freya when she and Kratos encounter him. He refers to Freyr as Sizzles referencing a time the Aesir had lit him on fire. As for why Odin sent Heimdall with them if he was going to just break off and do his own thing, it's possible he wanted the young ones to feel he would be watching them indirectly through Heimdall. Alternatively, it could just be economical to save a raven since he apparently needs either Hugin or Munin to move like that, and I imagine he'd like to keep one handy for himself. One detail I want to point out about the fight between him and Kratos and the Draupnir Spear is to follow his eyes. The first time you throw the spear he catches it, and looks at it, taking his eyes off of Kratos, however briefly. As you stated, he can see people's intentions but can't think through the big picture. He might know Kratos will stomp his spear to the ground but has no way of knowing it will explode the spear he's holding, which shocks him. But even then Kratos can't land a hit. From here on out Heimdall adapts, not grabbing the spears but knocking them aside and focusing on Kratos. Once again, he can foresee the stomp, but as focused as he is, he doesn't think about where all those spearheads landed and gets stunned. Kratos shows his adaptation and manages a better series of strikes that actually forces Heimdall to deflect a blow. Heimdall recovers, and actually begins utilizing his speed and mobility to avoid places where you put the spear heads. This forces Kratos to use more spears to set traps for him. As noted, Heimdall can see immediate intentions, but he can't think ahead and see the trap coming until its sprung. And then with a planned flurry of strikes, Kratos finally lands a hit, beginning the fight in earnest. Something of a bit of foreshadowing for Kratos being able to simply out box Heimdall is his earlier encounter with Thor. It's the only on-screen interaction between the brothers. When Heimdall tries his smarmy "what are you gonna do about me?" schtick with Thor, Thor just says "look me in the eyes and see for yourself". The implication is that Thor knows he could take Heimdall down on pure strength and skill, and after looking into his mind Heimdall knows it too and backs down. For all of Heimdall's ability to see attacks coming, if he's just not fast enough, strong enough, or skilled enough, he can still be bested.
He's not just saving a raven when he sends Heimdall with Atreus and Thrud, he only has one available at any given time throughout *all* of Ragnarok, since, after all, he has to seem to be in two places at once throughout the entire plot. The actual explanation is major plot spoilers, but anyone who's gotten to that point in the plot should already know what I mean.
@@arjostarudo9406 Alright, well, for anyone digging down in this thread be aware I really do mean huge plot spoilers. Seriously, its going to ruin the biggest twist in the game This one should make sure the spoiler won't be visible without expanding the comment. If you expand the comment and get spoiled after three warnings that's on you, buddy. Alright, with that out of the way: The "Tyr" you save at the beginning of the game is actually Odin. This means that any time "Tyr" isn't in Sindri's house, one of Odin's ravens is hiding inside it somewhere up until the big reveal so that Odin has a way to get back and forth. After all, he can't just disappear from Asgard, and we see multiple times that he *is* there when we play as Atreus. The only way he could achieve that while making it seem like "Tyr" never left the house unless it was with someone else is to have a raven hiding in there all the time.
@@Gir558 daaaamn, I was caught off GUARD by that twist fr, I was like why is Tyr pulling a knife on Brok and it was Odin! 😱😱😱😱 Maaaan, sindri's departure andbtyr never being real really fucked me up.
Whenever I watch videos like this about villains I can’t help but think of master oogway saying “one often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it” and it fits heimdall perfectly
30:22 this is easy to miss but a cool indication that Ragnarok is getting closer is that the leaves on the trees behind Kratos get a brighter shade of red symbolizing Blood in the River
The first time I fought Heimdall and he says "whatcha got?" right when the music halts, really got me to say, "oh he's gotta die" out loud. I rewatch just that 5 second scene in UA-cam every week cuz of how perfect it was. Just that small line, the way he delivered it, just got to me in a couple different ways to make me love the character and hate him at the same time.
Notice how at 18:00, Heimdall turns his back to Atreus and Atreus shoots an arrow which is caught by Heimdall. At first, Heimdall smirks thinking to himself "that was easy lol" then he realises that the arrow cut his hand slightly (hence the blood splatter on his face) and his smile instantly fades. It's just those small, subtle details in the game that really pull me in. Also it's interesting how for someone like Heimdall who sees the "fakeness" of the people around him, cares so much about his own image and just the thought of him being touched or grazed by another person not only pisses him off but also stuns him. I mean even after being hit by Kratos, he claims that it's luck even though deep down he knows he was just outsmarted by Kratos' battle IQ. Out of all the antagonists in this game, Heimdall was the most interesting for me by a milestone.
That's not blood. That is mud. If Heimdall was actually injured, he would've either made a much bigger deal about it, or it would've been pointed out by Odin. All Odin does is tell him to clean himself up
@@lekacious3529look at the way he smiles then looks at his hand and his smile instantly fades. He starts to get mad cos the arrow cut his hand. Not cos he got “mud” on his hands. But idk I could be right lol.
@@Tripolizz770 That's definitely not blood buddy. It's mud from Atreus' bow's string shooting the mud that gathered onto it when he was lying in the mud being mocked by Heimdall.
Coming back to this video almost a year later and after I've played the game myself. I love everytime someone walks on odins blind side. The pause every time someone does is amazing.
When people ask in DnD what's the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom, Heimdall is a good example of what happens when you max out Wis and dump Int
It's funny cuz wisdom is traditionally associated with virtue, so Heimdall provides a good example of an evil.character with high wisdom low intelligence.
@@Sun-God2 INT is analysis, knowledge, and reasoning, (it's used for things like arcana, history, and investigation), while wisdom is common sense, perception, and application of said reasoning to life (it's used for animal handling, insight, survival). As the old aphorism goes, INT is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; WIS is not putting it in a fruit salad.
“Because if you kill someone Kratos cares about, he kills you. Just ask the entire Greek Pantheon… Oh wait, you can’t because they’re all FREAKING DEAD!” I died 😂!
Just finished watching 3 vids from you Mr.Brett, not a single moment was wasted in each of these mini-essays, you get straight to the point and keep the audience engaged through the whole thing. Keep going my friend, I'm gonna go replay 2018 and Ragnarok for the 3rd time :D
So to clear up the draupnir spear thing, the spear actually overloads Heimdalls senses by showing him an infinite number of possible attacks, all at once, stopping him from being able to know which one is coming.
That doesn't really make much sense. Any weapon can be used an infinite number of ways. And Heimdall doesn't see every possible future. I remember Mimir saying that he doesn't even read minds either, he reads intent. I think the reason draupnir works is because it's designed to be as fast as the person holding it. Heimdall is faster than any human, but Kratos isn't human. He's a god and a god killer as well. His speed, skill, and experience in thousands of years and battles trumps anything Heimdall has ever seen. So it doesn't matter that Heimdall knows what's coming if he's not fast enough to counter it. I think this is the same reason that Thor can threaten Heimdall and he'll take it seriously. Thor is just as strong and experienced as Kratos. He's not as fast, but mjolnir makes up for that with how fast and powerful it is.
Heimdall is easily my favorite character in the series. I love the concept of a guy who talks shit to absolutely everyone, and then backs it up with his powers or skills, and Heimdall does that perfectly.
I think that the reason the explosions overwhelm his senses is because in his foresight, his vision is blocked by said explosion that may daze him for a moment giving kratos the chance to strike. In other words imagine a firecracker blowing up near your face, your instinct is to back off and recollect your focus because you would in fact be stunned if even for a moment
In real life, the functions of a Draupnir spearhead can also be similar to a Flashbang Grenade which disorients anyone in the range of the blast. 5 senses are literally thrown off if you get affected by a flashbang which leaves you vulnerable into being assassinated outright. Most people who are specialized in assassinations always possess a handful of flashbangs in their utility in order to be more effective in their field operations.
19:40 I do think that he was sent by Odin with his own personal mission separate to the Artreus. Firstly, were it not so, he would've shared responsibility in the failing of the mission, but more so in the freeing of Garm. And secondly, after you return, he declares to Odin how "his" mission went well by comparison.
Kratos and Mimir cared more about Heimdal living and his death than Odin ever did. A point you could have made was how Heimdal was the most like Odin of the siblings and how both died because they couldn't hold back their temper. Heimdal was likely the most aware of this fact and it only made him more desperate for his father's love and attention. Things he knew he would never get because of his mind reading ability. Yet he still strove for them all the same. Like Sisyphus and his boulder. Ultimately when faced with the relationship he knew he would never have he chose to die pushing Kratos over the edge and hurting him emotionally by making him be a blood thirty God killer once more rather than live with knowing what he would never have truly looked like. And for the fight I think Heimdal's issue was Kratos is a berserker type. He doesn't really think or plan so much when he fights. He just does what he needs to do. Hard to predict an attack that isn't thought about in advance. Or it could be he never tried to read Kratos because he clearly saw the Spartan as beneath him mentally.
To say that Kratos doesn’t think when fighting is doing him a disservice. I’d rather say that he fights with intent and adaptibility, rather than strategy. Heimdall probably percieved what the goal of his strikes were, but couldn’t keep up since there are numerous ways by which they could land and, especially, since Kratos can vary his intensity and speed during the fight due to hundreds if not thousands of years of experience fighting way more mean opponents than Heimdall. When he landed his first real hit during the cutscene, Kratos had already tested the defence of Heimdall during the preceeding fight; he just put it into next gear which threw Heimdall off.
@@candersson60 I'm not saying Kratos is not smart. He clearly thinks things through, but as a fighter he is the type to react rather than lead. Heimdal takes advantage of people making plans and then countering it after reading their minds. Kratos probes for openings and weaknesses then reacts when they appear. He doesn't think about how he will do it. He just does it. It is a testament to how natural of a fighter he is as well as how experienced. In physical sports and esports the top are like this as well. They just react in the moment when things come up and don't think about it because their muscle memory and react speed is just that developed. Heimdal often leaves himself open because he is so overconfident in his ability to read minds and thus counter any opponent. Kratos went in with a plan or idea of what he wanted to do yes but that isn't what won him the fight. Also it is kind of hard to truly reflect all of this in a video game fight because it had to have a specific mechanic required to defeat a boss. Which is sort of the opposite of how it would have gone down lore wise.
I just love Heimdall. Everything from his outfit, through little details of acting performance, to his bully role for Atreus and Thrud just makes him the most fun character in the game. I equally enjoyed his scenes and watching him die.
You know how I know your videos are extremely well made? I don’t play the new god of war games, I don’t even own a PlayStation, and yet I have been absolutely in love with these deconstructions.
My idea of why Heimdall lost to Draupnir was that Draupnir would be similar to Ingrid. A semi sentient magic weapon. He can read Kratos' mind and predict his moves, but he can't really do that with Draupnir, because he wouldn't think of doing it. It's the one thing I would rewrite about this story.
@@streetworkoutnation6851 no that doesn't make any sense to me. If that's the case then why even need Draupnir in the first place? Kratos could go in with just his fists and an "empty" head and Heimdall wouldn't predict it either. Heimdall only mentions the empty head as a taunt, basically just calling Kratos stupid. It's not literal.
@@AraiiarA draupnir was for game mechanics. Kratos barely even used draupnir in the cutscenes. His head was literally empty during the fight that’s why heimdall couldn’t predict him
@@streetworkoutnation6851 The reason they got Draupnir in the first place was to fight Heimdall. You CANNOT damage Heimdall in the first phase of the boss fight without Draupnir.
Maybe this is unintentional, but when Heimdall is first introduced he's dangling Atreus from his arm. He then starts determining Atreus' destiny. Later on there is a scene dealing with Heimdall's same arm, and he is pissed that someone is trying to determine his fate.
Isn’t that stolen from Game of Thrones? The exact same thing happens between Jaime and Bran. Jaime pushes the little kid off a tower and there’s a bit of text on how he made his most horrific and most noble actions with the same hand which he later loses
@@asongforthemostbeautifulwo6476 I didn't read the books, but that's cool if it's in them. I had that same thought watching GOT a while back. I like poetic/ironic/karmic things like that in a story. In the HBO series he pushes Bran with his left hand though.
There's one piece of dialogue that cemented my appreciation for heimdal's ... well.... "complex." After returning from Odin's first task, you can go into the hallway where everyone is sitting and conversing. Heimdal will be in the corner and when you begin to talk to him, he'll make the comment that you don't know what you want anymore and praises Odin for his foresight. He then mentions how he can tell when people are lying; they lie to others, their friends and family, and even most interestingly, to themselves. He's got that chip on his shoulder because he sees everyone as self-deceiving. That part, more than any other scene he was in impressed me about his character. Obviously he'd act the way he does if he can read intention so, and is surrounded by untruth, as he sees it.
"Just go ask the Great Pantheon of gods. Oh wait, you can't. Because they're all freaking dead." Deep down inside I'm laughing where no one can hear me with that.
What's so interesting about Heimdall is it feels like he's what Odin's internal monologue would sound like if he didn't cover it up with charisma and deceit. Heimdall took on all of Odin's contempt but never learned to conceal it and therefore is the perfect person for Odin to contrast himself with. He's another tool of the All father, designed to perfecting specifications to make himself look reasonable by comparison.
I think heimdall not expecting the spear to explode is perfect, he reads minds but doesn’t think beyond that so he catches the spear and sees that was Kratos intention but doesn’t look at his intention to blow it up
@@kagato23 it did work once, and that was enough to completely throw him off and get clumsy with the fight. Pay attention to the detail. After the first explosion. Heimdall was overwhelmed mentally. Second round of the fist fight. Heimdall was forced to block, and the third time. Kratos was able to get a hit in. Heimdall got very clumsy after the spear element of surprise kicked in. It showed his lack of battle experience, and his mind couldn’t logically handle the concepts of losing.
Another aspect of Heimdall's arrogance is that he wasn't dealing with anyone the Norse realms had ever seen before but made no effort to discover if that would matter. Kratos was a foreigner to those lands, but not just that, he was a god-killer with a long history of success at that task _and_ had defeated someone with similar combat characteristics to Heimdall in the past (namely, Hermes). Heimdall didn't attempt to consider who or what he was dealing with when he fought Kratos, but tried to rely on mind reading on someone that can fight purely on instinct and muscle memory _and_ can adapt to their opponent without having to think it out. This is why/how Kratos scrapped with him twice at the start but changed a single move in the sequence the second time and landed a hit.
On the 'mind reading villain' thing, it could have been interesting to have Kratos defeat Heimdall with a reflex action. Like a story I remember from the Tao of Jeet Kune Do (I think?) that is recounted as a folkloric encounter between a dragon and a woodcutter. The woodcutter thinks to himself how he'd be rich and famous if he can slay the dragon and it basically tells him "Don't even think about it." So the Woodcutter gives up his ambition and starts working on his project, swinging his ax up and down until it... slips from his hands, and hits the Dragon between the eyes, killing it. Because it wasn't an intentional action.
What I find interesting about Heimdall (and by extension, Odin), is how we are told, repeatedly, that he can either read minds, or he can read people's intentions, which leads to him knowing what everybody is either thinking or what they are planning to do. But what few people are mentioning, is how, despite ALL of this, he STILL is an exceptionally loyal believer in Odin. Now let's get this straight: Heimdall spends his days in Odin's halls, follows his orders, is generally AROUND Odin. He hates EVERYBODY for their inner thoughts and desires, and sees the bad in people everywhere he goes. (In a missable monologue, he explains to Loki that Loki's thoughts and desires have changed, and that Atreus isn't even sure about his own loyalties anymore, proving that Heimdall can do more than just read direct intentions, he can read complex emotions as well.) So what BOGGLES the mind, is how Heimdall can stay loyal to Odin, who is an active abuser of people, who actively cheats and manipulates his way to power, who looks and talks down to his sons, Heimdall included. Why would Heimdall then be Odin's "lapdog"? Why would he be so loyal? So a few options spring to mind: A) Odin is not, in fact, the cold, callous, cruel manipulator as we get to see.(keep in mind, that we only see him be manipulative to either his direct family members, all of which are gods of the pantheon (and therefore incredibly dangerous by default) or to his active enemies, even if those enemies came about through his own actions. Odin may be misguided enough to believe he has the right to manipulate everybody if he knows everybody wants to kill him.) Remember: Odin's actions became so radical because of a prophesy which he intends to subvert. He wishes to save Asgard, and believes using the shard (or the rift, however you wish to call it) will be Asgard's salvation, giving them the means to break away with fate. Sure there are deeper motives, like Odin's unquenchable thirst for knowledge, but the utility of using something beyond the gods to break away from something that by definition can't be avoided (unless through divine intervention, and what is divine to a god must lie outside of their own power) is truly undeniable. So what if Heimdall UNDERSTANDS this? He has to, because if Odin was NOT intending to save Asgard, Heimdall would have picked up on it, and would have dropped his loyalty to Odin. B) Heimdall is fully aware of Odin's manipulative behavior AND intentions, but sides with him regardless, because of the (misguided) love he still feels for Odin. Something that isn't at all abnormal in abusive father-son relationships. Perhaps he feels that if he performs well enough to Odin's liking, Odin might start to love him. Heimdall may understand motive and intention, but that does not mean he understands how love works. In this option, even if Heimdall recognizes Odin for what he truly is(and we accept the hypothesis that Odin is fully false), he might still not feel there is a way out of his situation, and believes he can only stay loyal to Odin in the hopes of winning his approval and love. C) Odin is SUCH a great manipulator, that he can, in fact, manipulate his own inner feelings and intentions, to make Heimdall think Odin is genuine in his intentions. Not as interesting dramatically speaking, but still a possibility. After all, what exactly is Odin the god of, if not secrets and manipulation? All the gods have special powers, and Odin wasn't born with raven teleportation, so he must have had something unique to him that we only get to see in his actions, which is, quite clearly to me, his uncanny ability to manipulate and deceive. (perhaps his special power is mimicry and disguises. A bit boring, but it's WHAT you do with your power that makes it fun.) Now, obviously, the truth can be a mix of all of these things, or even none of these things (perhaps it's just a giant plothole). It's annoying that the game doesn't really adress this big question. Odin's true intentions are a topic of debate in general, however. Was Odin's reveal to Freya that, despite everything, he genuinely loved her, just a quick ploy to catch freya off guard in order to get free from her bonds, or was this a genuine but rare emotional reveal from his side? I don't think it's as clear as some people make it out to be. I do genuinely believe the game wants to tell us that it's just complicated, and the audience should decide for themselves what they find the most believable hypothesis.
I lean for option B). Knowledge is a tool we can use to our advantage but it's not absolute; there are things that you cannot stop even if you know everything about them and it's part of the reason why it's so hard to escape from an abusive relationship, as knowing you're dealing with an abuser doesn't affect the emotional attachment that binds you to that person.
I think Heimdall sort of Stockholmed himself with Odin. His ability basically made him always see the worst in people. But Odin values people based off usefulness, which he had in spades. When he looked into Odin all he saw was that Odin care about him a lot, even if it was only because he was useful.
A.) Cant be true for many reasons, being a cold manipulator is the way he treated everybody pretty much, he treated the dwarves pretty badly, he put the Midgardians along the wall knowing they can't defend themselves to slow down Kratos' army, he killed Ymir, he committed genocide among the giants, he was willing to manipulate anybody and do whatever cold deed he had to, to get what he wanted, it wasn't just against the gods or his own family or enemies
One of my favorite small details in the game is the part at 16:22. Odin's comment that "[Heimdall is] very perceptive, he just forgets to think" gets shown in the way Heimdall walks up on Odin's right side. Odin is blind in his right eye, so when he turns around, Heimdall isn't there. You've got this "all seeing, all knowing" god with incredible mind reading powers...who can't remember that Odin is blind in his right eye even though Odin wears and eyepatch and it's literally right in front of him. Heimdall can't put himself into the mind of others enough to understand what they do/do not know, because he's never had to, he just trusts what his powers show him and assumes that if he can't see it, neither can anyone else.
To be honest, though, with as paranoid and aware as Odin is -- that scene can easily be read as Odin putting on a show for Atreus. He knows Heimdall has crossed to his right side, but he turns to where he was at the left because, to us and to Atreus, that looks like a silly old man thing to do. It's humorous. It brings Odin down into a more human, relatable level. I agree with Brett that the whole thing with Heimdall was to set up Odin to look better, to bring Atreus some relief. He used Heimdall as a tool, an icebreaker to make Atreus feel more comfortable, humiliating him in front of Atreus for that purpose.
yeah it is discussed in another video, and I actually concur with the idea. Odin is just playing goofy for Artreus. What I'm more interested in knowing is - did Odin lose his eye due to cutting it out himself as Mimir says, or was it the rift? Because in the mythology, Odin willfully sacrifices his eye to "Mimir's well" to become all-seeing. His vision improves horrendously by sacrificing that eye. In the game it goes a bit different though. Either he lost it because he was high, or because he looked through the rift. Who really knows? If looking into the rift didn't cost him his eye, why was he reluctant to let Artreus do it? :P
@@Genomsnittet If the rift /didn't/ cost him his eye, it's likely that he stopped Atreus bc he doesn't want him to garner any information from it. He already knows that Loki, Champion of the Jotnar, is the only one who can put on the mask and truly see into the rift (as stated by the end). If that rift could give him any information that Atreus could then leverage, Odin wouldn't want him to have it. Not to mention, he's trying to keep Kratos busy, and keeping Atreus safe is the only leverage he has to keep Kratos in inaction. If Atreus came back with one eye missing...well. Y'know. I think that he's telling the truth about how he lost his eye, and that he lied to Mimir rather than to Atreus,. Reason being: In this version of events, Mimir didn't have the well, just a bucket of mushrooms so strong it put Odin on his ass -- and he mentions that he had to /stop/ Odin from ripping his own eyes out. The original story is tweaked, as are almost all of them, to sew a different narrative. So I believe that he lost his eye to the rift and was, perhaps, embarrassed about it or simply didn't want to discuss it.
I actually, and a few others, interpret it differently. Heimdall says Atreus means to betray Odin, so he goes to his blind side as a way of having his back and protecting him from an attack. The parallel to Thor where he always stands in front of Odin's good eye because he wants to be noticed.
There's an easy-to-miss piece of optional dialogue where Heimdall actually has a conversation with Atreus that gives us some insight into his character. He admits that he reads everyone around him and all he sees are liars, liars to one another and to themselves, and he's very bitter about it. Heimdall hates lies and deception. This is why he's so blunt and brutally honest to everyone, and is such a jerk. He'd prefer you honestly hate him than pretend to like him.
Huh. That's pretty interesting, though it still doesn't exactly excuse all of his dickishness.
That's very relatable
Man I think I'm a bit like Heimdall😅
that’s exactly why i loved his character from the start
Makes us look like the bad guys. Cuz his goal is to just protect his home and his people. (said it himself, and he isn't hypocritical when he says he hated liars) and all we do is lie to him. Yes we do things that benefit his homeland in the shortrun, but the end of the game makes our actions for naught.
About the Draupnir Spear bypassing Heimdall’s foresight: there’s an instance earlier in the game when Kratos talks about being able to act without thinking in combat. Using a spear would bring that ability of Kratos to its maximum potential as “it is the first weapon a Spartan learns.”
If you listen to what Heimdall says after being impaled by Kratos's spear, he says "what is going on in that empty head?". This shows that Kratos didn't think when he fought, he just left his punches, throws and every attack to muscle memory
@@theaveragegtliveenjoyer I thought it was just a petty insult from a vengeful loser, but... I wonder if he really _did_ mean that?
@@theaveragegtliveenjoyernah it’s just arrogant and sore loser talking. He got angry and all his foresight abilities went away as soon as heimdall lost his cool after Kratos cut him.. That’s how you beat those with a god-complex, make them feel like they are not a god and ground them. Heimdall can dish out, but cannot take what he dishes
That's also why Brok didn't tell Kratos how the spear would help him.
Kratos has been in so many battles over literally thousands of years. His muscle memory is honed to a point where he doesn’t have to think. Thinking slows you down. His body knows what to do. Once the decision has been made, the hard part is over. Kratos’s killing instincts are so finely honed against every kind of enemy, it’s like he’s got a second brain that kicks in and takes over when it’s time to throw hands.
I love how Heimdall starts saying that Atreus is "looking to prove himself" and trying to live up to a father "he could never live up to." It has to be the most basic projection ever seen.
Which further emphasizes how Heimdall represents what Atreus could have been if he never outgrew his "I am a God, I can do whatever I like" phase.
To be fair, Heimdall was not wrong. This doesn't have to be projection but recognizing of one's own patterns in someone else
@@BlacK40kexactly
Heimdallr and Loki have a bitter rivalry in Norse Myth and are fated to kill each other in Ragnarok. I love how the writers made them hate each other quickly and naturally.
@@BlacK40k I greed.
“I watch your mouth move and see cities burning” is SUCH a HARD line
Loki in Norse mythology causes a lot of suffering afterall.
gives me chills every time.
Something I always thought was an interesting parallel is Odin’s thoughts on both Heimdall and Thor. If you notice, Odin is always telling Thor that thinking is bad and he should just let him think for him, because he’s smarter than Thor. But then with Heimdall he says that he needs to think for himself. It’s interesting to see how Odin deliberately tries to bend both of them towards behavior that only benefits himself.
Different weapons, different handles! I never noticed that. Damn, Odin is so mamipulative that it's scary. He out-smarts the smart ones.
honestly, it's probably bcuz Odin understands his sons' powers. he knows that Heimdall without thinking is reckless and that Thor with thinking is an actual threat (remember, Thor is the strongest (physically) god in the norse mythology, that's why he was Odin's "big hammer go smash" guy).
especially given the fact that Kratos came to their lands and Odin clearly knows who Kratos is and was, he just tries the best he can to tippy tap around this possibly cataclysmic one man army he's facing. so in such a case, it's good for Heimdall not to do stupid shit that'll anger Kratos (especially killing his son) and for Thor not to think cuz like, come on, weakened Kratos* is already stronger than Odin's strongest of warriors, now imagine him going back to the vengeful beast or having Thor on his side. that shit is honestly scary, no wonder Odin would try to do anything he can to stop that (unfortunately for him, fate done some trolling).
* what I mean by "weakened Kratos" isn't that he's physically weaker than his past self (he clearly is as capable as he was), he just ain't gonna use all that strength to explode in a cataclysmic show of wrath cuz a god looked at him funny.
Another parallel similar to this (i read in a comment)
Is that Heimdall always stands on Odin's blind side, to have his back and protect him from any surprise attack. Whereas Thor stands on Odin's good side, because he wants Odin to see and notice him.
Heimdall is more useful when he thinks - Thor is more useful when he doesn't. Simple as that.
@@geckomangamin5316 damn that is an excellent catch
A neat detail about Heimdall's boss fight is that once you max out his stun meter, it stays that high throughout the fight. It doesn't reset like other enemies. He's so shocked that someone landed a hit on him it has completely thrown him off his game.
I think its more of him never getting hit before so his body doesn't know what to do with the new information.
@@deathdancin i’d say both
@@ad16 cant argue with that. I have felt both at one point.
@@deathdancin Well, Brok said "overload his senses" once before fighting heimdall, so when Kratos punched him (my thesis is that Kratos is so experienced and skilled warrior he can fight without thinking, that's why one of his punches eventually hit heimdall - he was reading the intentions/thoughts instead of body) his brain just got meltdown. He started to doubt his ability, and that doubt stayed through entire fight.
Damn. Watching this again has made me appreciate what a masterpiece this game was. Truly something special
Major props to the actor’s performance. The line where he yells “you do not get to decide my fate” is just perfect on every level.
The irony there is that's really more of a line a hero would defiantly yell at a villain. Heimdall really thinks he's the hero of this story, the protector of Asgard.
@@herpderp3916It’s really about the situation. A regular superhero would say that when he’s seemingly about to fail and then unleash some power of friendship/love/justice/faith and turn the tide. For Heimdall, he said that when he was spared 😂 and he successfully changed that
The best part is: he’s right! Kratos doesn’t decide Heimdall’s fate, Heimdall does. Kratos gave him an out, he could just walk away. Instead, Heimdall threw himself into Kratos’ human shaped wood chipper
Yall praise anything that's why nothing is special anymore
And when he said "Do you think you can just walk away?" gave me flashbacks to God of War 3 with Hera.
Something you seem to have missed is that Heimdall was sent to Helheim to retrieve the box that held the Moon on Vanaheim, which is also why he was there for the Kratos fight.
That makes Odin looks like such an idiot though if that was the case. Literally let Heimdall go with the actual horn when he knows that Kratos is gonna want to kill him.
@@victory8928he doesnt know kratos went to the norns
@jadak0880 yes he does, he was fake Tyr
@@Fitchy-ke3wz Maybe? they whispered going to Vanaheim in that scene, no? anything after that?
Little fun fact:
You know the moment where Kratos goes to grab Gjallarhorn after killing Heimdallr? He was supposed to grab it without issue, but in the game he sort of fumbles the first attempt, then hurriedly picks it up on the second. That was a mistake that they decided to keep in the game. It fits so well with how Kratos lost himself to his anger. He fumbles for the horn as his mind tries to recover and he realizes what he did in his rage.
I love how you guys pick up on the smallest details most would overlook. Hell, I didn't even get that intention from that scene. Much respect. 👑
I always thought he was unlocking a latch or something before getting there horn, like it was tied to Heimdall
@@da3m0nic_79 No, it was something that one of the developers actually talked about. It was unintentional, but they kept the fumble in
Wait, how do you accidentally animate something? Genuine question because that doesn't make any sense to me. Like the game physics messed up or something?
@@donovanfaust3227 You do realize they used motion tracking and real actors to shoot for the characters, right?
I think Heimdall being caught off guard by Kratos' making Draupnir explode is an example of what you previously stated: he's incapable of seeing the big picture.
Spear comes at him, he knocks it to the side, Kratos swings, he dodges, then the spear that he already knocked to the side explodes right beneath his feet because he's too busy reacting to the next attack to remember the big picture: the spear blows up.
Also kratos clears his mind. Heimdall even said it. “What’s going on in that empty head”
@@lawerencejuge4110 That's just him calling Kratos an idiot, he constantly calls everyone dumb, idiots, morons or any other variation of that. He could clearly still read Kratos as he reads his intentions in the next line after what you said, he instantly senses that Kratos is pitying him and planning to spare him.
@@CJB02 Nah, the game mentions in other places that Kratos can act without thinking when he gets really into the zone. Heimdall straight up can't predict when Kratos will and won't explode the spear because Kratos isn't thinking about it either, he's just doing it when his instinct triggers his muscle memory.
@@KonoGufo Except he continues predicting Kratos throughout the fight, he still predicts and dodges stuff at the end of the fight. He can visibly still read Kratos’ intent.
@@CJB02 Even tho you saying it, you still don't understand it.
He predicts it, true but that power is exactly what lead to his defeat. He relying it so much, that he can react in fight only according to his own power. It stated, that Heimdall may be not the most experienced fighter. After all, he himself don't remember when he draw sword last time.
While Kratos doesn't need that. He's not rely on his god powers, nor on his weapons alone. It's his skill and training that lead him to the victory. He picked a pace and start to move more and more faster, until Heimdall cannot react according to his "Vision".
If you can't predict the future, doesn't mean you can react to it in time. The faster Kratos acts on his pure skill and memory of past battles - making the window for Heimdall to react smaller - until the gap is too short to react. And as more skilled warrior - when Kratos paced enough speed to which point he could hit Heimdall it was over.
27:15 You can read in the Codex why Heimdall refused to give up, because he was too prideful to allow someone to pity over him because he's an Aesir and he wants to die in a battle. Additionally, when he comesback in the fight he's more angry and, like Odin says, "Forgets to think." and is acting on just pure emotion.
He demonstrably forgets to think, throughout the entire battle.
He doesn't think through the consequences of catching the spear. He just does, because he wants to mock Kratos... Then it explodes in his face.
He does learn this time, and doesn't catch it anymore. He just knocks it away with his sword. He doesn't think through the consequences, such as where the spear landed... and then it blows up at his feet.
He learns again, and now parries, then dodges out of the way of where it lands. He doesn't think through the consequences, like how those spears stay there... until he dodges right over one he parried earlier.
Every time, he gets angrier and angrier at Kratos, when in reality he's angry at himself for *not thinking.*
@@ericbright1742 exactly. Its perhaps my favorite call back from when we first fought him as Atreus and Odin says his weakness and also when Brok said "We have to overwhelm his senses" which, I hope they wouldve done something where Heimdall gets completely overwhelmed and stops thinking, which I think its whats happened on his fight against Kratos but in a more subtle manner.
Thats the excuse because he was full of pride, what detonated him was seeing a father care for his son, which is was he saw in Kratos
He didn’t want to die in battle, he just refused to let Kratos decide his fate, he wanted to kill Atreus and he wasn’t going to let some Greek God tell him what he can and can’t do, he wasn’t going to accept that someone else has bested him, when Kratos begins to choke him to death, you can see him struggling to breath and hear him whimpering in fear, because he knows their is nothing he can do to stop what’s about to happen, him calling Kratos a monster wasn’t him reading Kratos mind, it was Heimdall just getting one last insult in before he died.
That whole line Odin gives Kratos about dying being what the Aesir live for, was just another lie, Modi goaded Atreus into killing him out of spite and yet was still shocked when the boy actually stabbed him and tried to stop the bleeding before being kicked off the edge, Bauldur actually began to tear up when Kratos got him in a choke hold, because he knew that Kratos was going to kill him and this time, he wasn’t going to be coming back, Heimdall is literally whimpering in his last moments of life as the reality of his own demise is staring him quite literally in the face.
Its not that really complex, he exploded because he saw Kratos cared more about Atreus than his father ever would for him.@@t-rexcellentreviews1663
There's a peace of dialogue where Mimir explains Heimdall's power. He doesn't actually read minds. He reads body language, and facial expressions and emotions. He doesn't know what Atreus questions are merely that he has them. He reads Kratos' physicality and his facial expressions to predict where the throw is going, and how hard and so he catches it. He then sees that Kratos' is going to slam the spear butt down, but not knowing what that does, doesn't have the instinct to dodge an attack that for the first time in his life HE DIDNT SEE COMING. That's what makes the fight that much more significant after that point. For the first time in his existence Heimdall is OFF HIS GAME. It's not a plot hole to his strength, it's why the spear was intended to kill him.
I don't think I ever heard that conversation in game but its more or less what I always assumed: everyone overestimates how much Heimdall can actually read, but his knowledge is actually so surface level he couldn't have possibly predicted it.
Assuming characters are stronger than they are is such an easy trap to fall into.
I thought it was said he can actually read intent, not minds
Huh. Makes sense actually
It was mentioned but never probably explained which could be done to bad pacing. If they say let Mimir actually explain in a good way people wouldn’t be having this issue. But it was more vague.
@@victory8928 Mimir explains it very well
Notice that after Kratos kills Gulltoppur, Heimdall just says "oh well." Gulltoppur has probably been with Heimdall for his entire life and he treats his death as simply an inconvenience. He doesn't just lack empathy, he genuinely doesn't even know it's an emotion that can be felt. The tragic part is, that's not his fault. Odin never showed or taught him what empathy is. And because of that, it turned Heimdall into the psychopath that we love to hate.
If I recall correctly, he doesn't just say "Oh well" to display how little he cares, he actually kicks Gulltoppur's corpse when he says it.
@@dr.veronica6155 this, he KNEW Gulltoppur would probably die against Kratos and yet he still didn't care. When the fight begins and you get in a few hits, you can hear Heimdall say "cmon you stupid beast!"
i dont know what you expected, theirs scars all over it, most of them if not all of them considering how strong the animal was were made by heimdall
@@dr.veronica6155 He does
I agree with you, I agree that his flaws led to the destruction of Asgard, but where I disagree it's when the author said it was all his fault. Everyone has their faults, but if Odin wasn't so selfish and mean to his sons, Hemdall wouldn't have let his faults take over his personality so much. Odin has a lot to do with what Hemdall has become, and with his other sons as well.
Baldur has gone mad, Thor is broken and Hemdall has become a cruel and emotionless tyrant. As you said Odin shaped his children like tools, and for Hemdall he carved and conditioned him, so that he became as narrow-minded and arrogant. Odin encouraged his flaws to take over his personality, because he knew it would serve him well later.
The fact that Odin complained that Hemdall didn't think often made me laugh, it's literally his fault he's like that. Honestly his reaction to his death disgusted me, like when he killed Thor, like the way he treats his family. Hemdall may be dead but honestly he's better off like that, rather than serving an asshole like that. Odin got what he deserved.
Heimdall is easily the most hated character in this series. It's always fun to drag them off their high horse and then have them dragged around by that horse.
I wrote up a character for my DnD campaign themed off of him. I think the players are dead set on killing him when they can ;P
@@Nechrostriker4 I'm sure the other players just *love* that...
I hated him at first...then I saw how Odin treated every one of his children, he was a douche it was no wonder Heimdall turned out to be this way, Odin curated all of this.... At the end I only felt sorrow for Heimdall...
@@Michael-bn1oi he's a genasi son of an Efreeti who's hosting them while they try and escape the Plane of Fire. Though really I made him as a foil for another highly paranoid and self-serving character in the Player Party (we all talked about it before, it's an anti-hero suicide Squad style campaign. Players seem to love it so far :D )
He's almost as insufferable as Hermes
I agree with everything, but I had a slightly different interpretation of Heimdall’s choice to not actually drop him. Yes, he saw that Atreus wanted to betray Odin, but what made him pause and not go through with it was when Atreus told him “I’m not your enemy.” Heimdall sees that Atreus actually MEANS that statement. Atreus does not WANT to be his enemy. He does not WANT to destroy Asgard or hurt any Asgardian. Heimdall reads that truth in his mind and decides to let things play out, ergo why he says “I’ll be the judge of that.” He’s postponing judgment because of Atreus’s honesty in that particular statement, but I also think he sees himself in Atreus in that moment too. Ergo why he brings up their fathers and the problems with “their” personalities. This slight chance he gives to Atreus though is completely dashed at the end when Atreus follows through with betraying Odin. To Heimdall, Atreus is proving that everyone is truly a liar (a reference to an optional convo you can have with him as Atreus), so he IS his enemy and must die. This adds to the tragedy, because Heimdall chooses not to change. His arrogance wins out as opposed to him looking further into everyone’s hearts and minds to ascertain the real truth and not just his perception, so he dies. Therefore following the overarching theme of the entire game!
Ergo , the spear blows up
wow, never thought of that
The thing is though, he does drop Atreus. He really did let Atreus’ hand slip from his grip after saying that he’d drop him. If Atreus hadn’t immediately clutched his wrist in both hands, he would have fallen to his death then and there. Now it was definitely half-hearted. More of a sadistic act of playfulness than a genuine attempt to kill him; after all he could have just immediately shaken Atreus loose and been done with it had he was really determined to end it then and there. but for a fleeting moment he really did let Atreus fall. It’s an incident that goes by so quick you could easily miss it, but it speaks volumes about the brutal honesty of Heimdall. If he says he is going to drop you, then you better believe that it’s no joke.
Ergo
Not that deep
13:00 Heimdall: "Gulltoppr...who loves me the most? Who loves me the most?"
At first glance this seems like a pretty normal line a pet owner might say to their pet (like "who's a good boy") but knowing the full context of Heimdall's situation of not being loved which is backed up by the fact he can see a person's true feelings and intentions (to know whether someone actually loves him or not) this line suddenly takes on a whole new meaning (as in quite literally).
gulltoppr literally loves him the most
cause nobody else even likes him
except odin, who likes his sons solely for being good additions to his toolbox.
One big thing about Draupnir is that Kratos mentions it was the first weapon any spartan is trained to use. The way that I saw the Heimdall boss fight is that Kratos wasn't thinking when fighting him. He was fighting purely on instinct because the weapon was so familiar to him. Heimdall even mentions after the first phase "what is going on in that empty head?". He couldn't get a read on Kratos and the ability of the spear to explode combined caught him off guard.
Go back to the cinema you spiteful mutant
Makes sense
And though Odin says, "He reads minds for me," Heimdall himself describes it as reading INTENT. If he can just get the general idea of "he's gonna aim here, throw here, swing here, and activate weapon" that doesn't mean he knows what the weapon will actually do. Reading intent doesn't help when someone's intent is based on a very complex set of things that can not be distinguished FROM the basic intent.
@@sargeantschnutz5767 exactly
I've also seen one comment elsewhere that points out flavor text during his fight with Kratos, where he has dialogue along the lines of "how aren't you thinking?"
because to Kratos, fighting comes easy to him, and as Haider Malik said, a spear is the first weapon Spartans are trained with, meaning Kratos has to think even less to use it
along with some other comments about when Heimdall first gets hit with the Spear's wind blast, his reaction is less of an "oh shit what happened" and more of an "oh shit that did more than I thought", which is why he deflects instead of catches, and dodges any spears lodged in the ground
I’ve been thinking he dives deeper into his mindless rage during the fight, he gets faster and angrier as the fight goes on which helps his unpredictability.
From my understanding, he can read their intent and not their minds. He can predict the spear will be thrown, but not that the spear can explode.
That's true. The spears by the way explode just _near_ Heimdall, even if Heimdall happens to dodge those spears. The explosions are enough to stun him albeit a little. By the way, cool profile pic 😉
which is why i never understood how he was so strong/good at dodging anyone competent. ok you know i wanna hit you. doesn't mean you can do anything about it (as we saw with kratos)
@@silverYolo yeah seems like they gave him speed and agility too.
@@oosmanbeekawoo thank you for the compliment.
@@silverYolo Because he's an Aesir god? Reading minds isn't the only thing he could do. He was the fastest person alive and obviously he's strong because he's still a god.
I always took Heimdall as a mirror to the gods you would kill in the GoW trilogy. The real challenge always was to let him live, and it made his death all the more horrifying: "redemption is not possible, history is bound to repeat itself". And due to Heimdall being such an asshole, it was personal: we wanted him dead, we wanted to kill him, a part of us wanted Kratos to become the god killer he was... despite we knew he wanted redemption and to "be better". Heimdall does a pivotal role in allowing us to empathize with Kratos' struggle for redemption, and it was amazing.
A detail I had missed during my first playthrough was Heimdall's eyes. Mimir says that Heimdall is Odin's biggest fanatic and will do anything the All-Father says. Sure you can take that at face value, and maybe even excuse his eyes due to familiarity with the MCU Heimdall or because of his godly gift of reading people. However, he shares the exact same eyes as all the Einherjar. I think Odin put him under an influence or direct mind control when he was young.
Yes! I thought about it too!
Or because of his proficiency with bifrost.
Heimdall has a unique connection between the bifrost thats why his eyes are purple, can shoot it and grown a functional arm.
the eyesight isn't an mcu thing it's actually from norse mythology. God i hate these americans with their appropriation. you probably thought only the worthy could wield mjolnir too didn't you xD
Heimdalls's relation with Odin also perfectly illustrates what Mimir meant when he says "If he tells you snow is white, he is lying". Since Heimdall can read people's minds/intentions, he should be the first to know that Odin is a liar and rebel against him. However, it's the exact opposite, he's Odin's most loyal servant. That's because Odin's manipulation does not work by straight up lying, but rather by presenting distorted interpretations of reality in ways that always benefit him, making it look like, no matter how abominable his actions are, they are always justified. The concept of "lying by telling the truth" is really hard to explain...and Heimdall just helps us see even more how Odin is a perfect representation of it.
He's literally gas lighting you
Go back to the cinema you spiteful mutant
I get the impression that Odin buy into his own bullshit.
Even when he's standing there with his spear halfway into Thor's heart, he tries to tell Thrud that it was Kratos's fault, and he seems genuinely upset when she doesn't buy it.
He genuinely believes that he's not to blame for anything, so reading his mind wouldn't tell you anything about what an evil little bastard he is.
@@iamnuff1992 Agreed! Compulsive lyiers will often get so used to lying about everything all the time, even without specific reasons, that they just start believing in their own makeshift personal realitys...specially if they're really good at it, wich is Odin's case.
@@iamnuff1992 Odin is a sociopath, with psychopathic tendencies. He has no relations to what it’s like to be human, let alone human feelings. He has ultimate power and will justify anything in his realms to do what he wants.
"I watch your mouth move and I see cities burning"
Damn, that was such a good line.
also references Ragnarok at the end of the game idk
I literally didn’t know he was Odin’s son until right now. That’s how bad of a dad Odin is. If no one says that he is his son you wouldn’t believe them based on how he treats them.
Edit: thanks for all the likes! 👍🏼
He isnt
@@user-bu8er9ce7x I’m pretty sure the maker of the video said several times he is. I could check the Norse lore rlly quick.
A cool point you mentioned that got some wheels turning in my head was that Sif and Faye were opportunities for Thor and Kratos to each grow passed being Odin's tools and the lack of these figures in the lives of Heimdall and Baldur doomed them to this fate. Building off of this, maybe part of the reason Freya was exiled to Midgard by Odin was to estrange Baldur from his mother, making him easier to manipulate into a "tracker" and a "finisher."
In Helheim you see Baldur having flashbacks with Freya where he abandons her, but this could still be a good idea to make sure that they would never meet again.
Heimdall was honestly one of my favorite characters. Just so pompous but just hams it up to the MAX. His voice actor is PERFECT with delivery and i think Heimdall is kinda tragic. He sees the worst in everyone despite what they show on the surface
He’s just so entertaining it’s hard not to like him.
Heimdall did what Hermes tried to do and perfected it, Heimdall is easily my favourite villain in GOW Ragnarok
@@weegee_darthno4045definitely
this was right on time for lunch , popped up in my feed and thoroughly enjoyed the breakdown even had me thinking about being better at looking deeper when considering actions love the content and glad I subbed 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 what is this song at 30:50? It has like Mario water level with more ambiance
Yeah, I don't think it's much of a surprise he's so bitter. Imagine knowing what everyone thought all the time. Even the ugly things.
I guess I would most describe Heimdall as a really powerful magnifying glass. He’s amazing at seeing tiny details and reading things, but he can never see the big picture and step back.
Great analogy
Fantastic analogy!
Fair enough but at the same time, he's not supposed to.
I wonder if it's powerful enough to see my penis
That's deep (pause)
17:01 I always took that line as
He spends so much time in other people's minds he forgets to use his own
One thing to note is that I don't think that Heimdall truly planned on killing Atreus until the middle of his boss fights. He might have thought about it but I don't think he really committed to it until then because he didn't want to disrupt whatever plans Odin had for Atreus. It isn't until his pride is severely wounded in the fight that I believe he commits to it because his anger and humiliation finally overshadowed his rationality. This ironically makes the Norns prophesy self-fulfilling because if the Norns never told Kratos that Heimdall planned to kill Atreus, they never specify when he plans to or why, then he would have never have made the weapon and planned to kill him. This causes their fight and in the middle when Kratos plans to spare him Heimdall says he is going to kill Atreus so Kratos kills him. This is important because the Norns state the Kratos will learn that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus and then kill him. Most people seem to believe that the first part where he "will learn that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus" happens with the Norns but I think that they were talking about when Heimdall tells him himself. This fits what we learn of the Norns in the game where it seems that the prophesies they give seem purposely worded to bring about the event they predicted due to their complete understanding of everyone's nature, like what happened with Freya.
It does bring up another interesting point as well. Norns speak about how Kratos doesn't change, but Kratos did spare Heimdall. Kratos gave him a way out, but he made the choise to keep fighting and die. So, in a way, Norns mocking people for not changing wasn't entirely true, because they also accounted for Kratos to spare Heimdall, which is not what the god killer does. If he hadn't spared Heimdall, he wouldn't have learned about Heimdall's plan to kill Atreus. Of course, it is a predictable change. You tell someone they never change and they'll do something completely different to spite you.
It really does strengthen the nords parallels to the witches in Mimir’s tale really and makes you wonder how bs the prophecies really are.
Bit of a hc, but I like to think that the giant prophecies were due to the Nords seeing as they are the main prophecy makers they can then insert these into the dreams of the giants they already can access memories of those who go near them and alter their vision to suit their needs so why not manipulate the giants to do their bidding especially since the giants are mostly unresisting of their fates which leads to the reinforcement of inevitable fate. Through this lens, they are responsible for many of the events in the world by messing with people and why would they do this? Who knows maybe they are working with other powers or just want to control the realms. The fates did something similar in the older games so it would be a notable parallel. Doesn’t excuse the actions of others but it does make the events of the world and the tragedy of the giants more tragic. As even their power of prophecy is manipulation and abuse of them from another group.
Honestly my favorite part of Heimdall is how well the writer's handle the breakdown of the arrogant bastard. He gets hit a single time and immediately becomes irritated, not scared or necessarily angry, but more frustrated. (Side note, gotta love a fight that has an organic way to introduce why a boss has become more difficult/more powerful by having Heimdall be so caught off guard that he starts manipulating time). Add on the voice acting as we approach the end of the first half and take his arm, he isn't responding like a livid individual or even a scared villain. His voice basically breaks and starts crying out that it's only luck and a fluke that he is even taking damage at all. To the end, his arrogance remains and convinces him that this cannot be happening, as if the laws of nature have come together to thwart him
you also notice that when you first throw the spear and hes holding it. hes looking at the spear and not kratos? i saw that first thing. heimdall even grabbed it and said a surprised, "huh".
game mechanically i thought thats what i had to keep doing, having him distracted by holding the spear.
but a game has to game, and it didn't matter if you did it thematically or spam the spear throws.
if you notice also Kratos gets way faster as the fight goes on. I am pretty sure that at some point in game Kratos also stops thinking about his next move and just does hence Heimdall's comment, "what is going on in that empty head of yours"
@@ricremricrem2221 whats going on in that empty head of yours, I took it as a callout to the player because I had no idea what Kratos was going to do after we pinned the guy's arm 😂😅
@ricremricrem2221 The funny yet kinda sad part about that line is that the spear you're hitting heimdall with was specifically made to block heimdall powers by overloading his senses. When he finally asks what's going on in that empty head of yours, you realize he has no idea his powers are being blocked. He went that entire fight, thinking there was something wrong with him or that kratos just can't be read.
@@GodsDissapointment I thought that's what the spear did at first too (before I got to the fight) but it's actually that the spear can be used in a different way from the blades or the Leviathan axe in that it can set up hazards (which Heimdall can read when you set them off too) and that Kratos really is just going through the motions by this point instead of thinking about it (as evidenced by the fact that he can read the spear, but later on in the fight he can't read you anymore)
In regards to Heimdall not watching over Thrud and Atreus, if you stick around later outside the door to Odin's office, you can hear Heimdall discussing with Odin about a certain something he retrieved.
You later find out in a side quest that he took a vessel to hide the moon and prevent Skoll and Hati from actually catching their prey.
Also for the Heimdall fight, It wasn't as if Heimdall couldn't read Kratos' mind, but moreso the hardened warrior relied on instincts and reactionary moves rather than planning his next hit. Its akin to Ultra Instinct in Dragonball, you just know what to do without having to think it through on an instinctual level.
The Draupnir Spear is meant not as a plot device to disable Heimdall but moreso an effective tool that Heimdall can't track as easily. He sees what the opponent is gonna do but knowing that he relies on that short sighted prophecy reading, putting him between a rock and a hard place, aka Kratos and exploding spears, he is virtually unable to dodge them.
He is able to dodge Atreus so easily due to the fact that Atreus is a thinker, lacks proper battle experience and plans his moves, where he looks to shoot and what arrows he uses.
Even in the end of the fight, Heimdall says "What's going on in that empty head of yours". Kratos literally emptied his mind and focused on the fight, he didn't think about his next move, he didn't think of any traps, he just threw the spear and made up strategies on the fly.
That last point is pretty interesting and also paradoxical. On a superficial level, Kratos is methodical and never embarks on something without thinking things through whilst Atreus is an improviser at heart
I feel like kratos reacted more on pure instinct than just making up strategies on the fly
Omg, just like rufy against enel
Slight nitpick, you said retrieving the moon from the Aesir was a side quest, it’s not, it’s a main quest and you can’t progress in the game without doing it
@@Cultofderek That's what relying on instinct is...
"I'm haunted by your incompetence, it keeps me up at night" 😂
Best Insult Ever 🎉
27:20 I view this sudden change as more of Heimdall seeing mercy, not pity, but confusing the two. Being a member of the Aasir, they'd see mercy as something negative, hence his reaction to assume it was only pity.
I think something important is that he's always had his powers. He's always been able to see intentions. And in a family like his...no wonder he's so jadded, selfish, and petty. He's grown up among liars and murderers, and knows what they truely feel about him. Imagine the insecurities that causes, knowing when he's not good enough, when he fails to meet their expectations. No wonder he prides himself on being a perfectionist. It's the only way for him to get true positive enforcement.
i dont think thats such a big problem for him. odin is the biggest liar and murderer among them, and he loves kissing his ass
@@barisbal7782 Well, that's the thing about Odin. He sees intentions. And Odin intends to "save everyone from ragnarok", and gain ultimate knowledge. It's his whole life goal. The problem is that Odin is willing to sacrafice everything and everyone for those goals.
@@dadab22 odin doesnt intend to save anyone from anything. and even if he would've admirable intentions, this doesnnt explain heimdall's pathetic nature. loki came asgard with the intention of finding a way to save his father. with no intention of starting a fight with anybody. and yet, heimdall labeled and accused him like he was some sort of psychopath
heimdall is a sick ass hole. plain and simple. you can see it the way how he treat other people or his own pet even when he dont have to.
@@barisbal7782 Imagine being Heimdall chilling in a wall eating an 🍎 and spotting this foreigner who came for dinner.
This foreigner happened to have killed two of your nephews and your half-brother (Magni, Modi and Baldr)
This foreigner was now rumored to be looking for your fugitive brother (Tyr) to lead a group of rival family members (Vanir)
and initiate a prophecy (Ragnarok) that literally spell the death of your entire house and bloodline (Asgard).
I'd say Heimdall took it pretty well, all things considered.
@@barisbal7782 Loki came there with UNKOWING malicious intent. Heimdall seen this first thing.
Right after you get back from Hel with Heimdall he goes to Odin and says he secured what Odin asked for. So Odin knew Heimdall would leave them, Odin just makes it look like Heimdall disobeyed to not make Atreus suspicious. Odin made Heimdall retrieve the box the moon from Vanaheim was kept in. Which is why Heimdall was in Vanaheim where he met Kratos.
And that leads to "He is very perceptive, he just forgets to think". I guess even though he knows that the spear can explode, he still instinctually grabs it. He doesn't think when he grabs it even though he knows it can explode
@@akaiyoru2681 I think it also has to do with how Kratos think of the spear, Kratos probably isn't thinking "ok time to make it explode" but more something like "ok time to make it disappear" which to an impulsive Heimdall this seems harmless because he isn't doesn't think to think that the result of the spear disappearing is it exploding.
@@ricremricrem2221 Sometimes Kratos isn't thinking at limited capacity, just acting on raw fighting instinct.
@@akaiyoru2681 Eh I would say that through most of this game he is thinking as he has to make sure he doesn't just kill his opponent, I do think that in the second half of this particular fight Kratos does just go full raw fighting instinct
@@akaiyoru2681 Right, I think this would be the case. Heimdall noted he felt his anger and frustration, but later noted Kratos to have an "empty head". If he's purely fighting on experience and instincts, there may actually be nothing left for Heimdall to read.
When you read the digital artbook, it becomes very clear that Heimdall is absolutely Odin's greatest weapon. His foresight makes him pretty much unbeatable in combat, and his ability to read minds means nothing gets by him. He's described as the ''Ultimate Watchdog of the Aesir''. It's why Odin sanctioned Hofund (his sword) for him specifically to enhance his realm shifting, and why he gave him the Gjallarhorn. Heimdall was the best insurance it would sound to announce Ragnarok.
He seems to fear Thor a bit at least
@@Puget55 For sure. I'd imagine Thor has probably proven to him before that he's powerful enough that Heimdall's foresight doesn't matter. Seeing Thor's moves coming doesn't help if he can't actually do anything to stop them, after all.
The problem is, he isn't, Heimdall among the sons of Odin he is the Weakest, he lacks real combat experience and strategy. Heimdall only relies on his foresight, meaning that he can beat anyone except experimented combatants, Tyr and Thor have vast experience in combat and both are capable fighters using only instinct, Baldur is so messed up that you can't really know that he is going to do, if Heimdall trained like them perhaps that he would become Odin's best tool, but that's not the case and he died by the hands of Kratos.
@@nomado.3855 Mimir says he's a veteran of at least 1000 battles against the Jotun. Play the fucking game before talking. Where does this myth come from that he's untrained and inexperienced? He's neither.
@@TheStraightestWhitest Have you seen how Heimdall fights? He doesn't really fight, his attacks are sloppy, unrefined, typical from an amateur and a bully, his full dependence on his foresight made him cocky and arrogant, never really training how to fight, also his mentality doesn't help him , combine all that no wonder he got killed by Kratos easily, also he was no match for Thor (who was scare of him), Tyr and Baldur, who all of them have real combat experience.
The fact that he’s so shortsighted is a fantastic reversal of the mindreader trope. They usually are portrayed as being master manipulators because they know virtually everything, but since Heimdall sees so much all the time, it’s probably hard to focus anything that comes next.
Edit: I also think Heimdall’s boss fight wouldn’t benefited from the implementation of cinematic quicktime events. I felt like Garm’s fight was one of the most cinematic and fun to play and it had plenty.
So a few things to note about Heimdall: The characters say he reads minds, but that's more or less just a simplification of his abilities. It's less mind reading and more of him being able to see intentions. He can see where Kratos will throw the spears, see where they land, but he can't see that they can just suddenly explode. That's how they're able to get the drop on him.
Likewise, this also falls into his arrogance. Because Heimdall can see the truth of a person, he can also see that they're always putting up a mask. Nobody is ever true to themselves or others, so therefore Heimdall has become incredibly jaded and unwilling to see the positives in others. It's not just that he's full of himself, but it's also that he just can't see the good in people because the good aspects are typical a front to their bad aspects as well. In Heimdall's mind, at least he's being honest about it. Thus the arrogant personage.
Exactly, seeing the worst in people despite their lies probably fucked him up at a very early age considering he’s the son of Odin
Thank you. Both your points are what I was going to write! Very well put
Very well explained. The true nature of Heimdall's ability is actually foreshadowed when Thor makes him back off. When the latter ask Heimdall to read his mind, he simply makes a snarky remark, but backs off. This is because as much as Heimdall makes a show of being an all-knowing fighter, he knows he can't make Thor: an experienced warrior and a destructive force of nature. If they were to ever fight Thor would probably destroy the area they were fighting, causing enough chaos to overload Heimdall for Thor to kill his little brother, or at least beat his ass. Heimdall is aware of this fact and so he backs off.
The issue when he encounters Kratos is a mixture of his lack of knowledge of the Spartan and his own arrogrance. While I'm sure Heimdall is at least aware of who Kratos is and what he has done, he has no experience or information about how the spartan fights. This leads him to underestimate Kratos' experience as a soldier and his adaptability as a fighter. Addtionally, he is arrogant in his foresight and thinks he can just rely on it to dodge Kratos's attacks. Both of these factors, combined with Kratos using his Draupnir Spear to give him the edge, lead to the Kratos landing a hit on the god of foresight and Heimdall's downward spiral and demise.
@@yojimbopaul
Yes and no. I agree with your second point. But notice durning the fight with the spear. Once Heimdall was caught off. It threw him off his senses. He wasn’t thinking about predicting Kratos anymore. The spear did it’s purpose on the first time. It overran his senses and he was panicking
Then why does he fall for the exploding spears trick, both when he catches it and when it's on the ground, more than once ?
"You are here to help yourself, to manipulate and lie to whoever you have to to get what you want" Isn't it kinda weird how what Heimdall said describe Odin more than it describe Atreus
well again, in norse mythology, loki is a trickster and liar, gow loki, is just confused and a child, that's why mythology loki had arguments with everyone in asgard, until he gets kicked out and invited again.
@@Mr._Anonymous342 Well, in GoW Loki was also a trickster and a liar, both times he visits Asgard he went with the clear intention of being a spy, using Odin, and eventually bringing Ragnarok (which he knew was the destruction of Asgard).
Weirdly enough there's actually a theory that Loki and Odin might not have been related the way we previously thought, ie brothers. There are people who wonder if Loki might actually be some other aspect of Odin, or that Loki might some sort alias or nickname for him. Not saying that's literal in this universe, but maybe in future games we might see Atreus end up unknowingly acting in ways with some disturbing parallels to Odin. Heck when you consider Atreus's plan at that point in the game and his actions in general, while what Heimdall says does work for describing Odin, it's not an inaccurate description for Atreus. In short, Hiemdall might not entirely be wrong, admittedly he seems to just see things at surface level, even when he's right, and he has a clear bias against anything that threatens Asgard.
Odin was a dick but he never intended to destroy Asgard. He very clearly sees people around him as tools, which is not good but also means he cares for them in a way ("you wouldn't throw away good tools for nothing" - way). Heimdall can read people's intentions, and Odin lies a lot but his intentions of not dying are pretty clear and constant, he has no ill will towards his family, no malice, hatred, and so on, he is just cold and utilitarian.
Actually, for as pompous and arrogant as Heimdall is, I don’t think he’s wrong. Atreus is a good kid, he’s not looking to murder Asgardians necessarily, but he DOES seek the downfall of Odin and the realm. Atreus may not realize it yet, but in order to take down Asgard-in order to fight a war-there will be people in the way.
Heimdall nails him, right on the money. He just has a different perspective on it than Atreus does.
Man now I feel bad for Heimdall, He had a very depressing life alone but somehow, he tried to make his life better.
I just realized something. I think the ominous music that plays right after killing Heimdall is the same music that plays in God of War(2018) when you’re in the boat heading from Freya’s house after Atreus has become really sick. That music seems to signal a sort of return to form or return to the past, like killing Heimdall like he would in the old days or returning to his house for the blades and speaking with Athena.
I really hate how people miss a great detail that was heimdall calling kratos a monster as he strangled him cause in that moment he saw the old kratos and the hate he had.
Many ppl understood that. That was the main intention of that line anyway in the game. To remind ppl of the person kratos was
@@CoolBroNDude 🤓
@@DirtyStinky wtf is wrong with you. If anything I should tell that to you because you think you noticed something deep when in reality you didn’t
@@DirtyStinky he is pretty smart tho
@@DirtyStinky лептоп це вже як мінімум по ходу
What I love is the big difference between Baldur and Heimdall. Baldur may not feel pain but he knows what it's like to lose in battle, he has an inherent respect for the RISK of fighting. Heimdall has never been hit, his ego cant comprehend, can't compartmentalize someone hurting him so when Kratos does it snaps his concentration and therefore his control of the battlefield. He instantly reveals himself as a juvenile warrior and pays that price.
And notice that the minute he gets hit, his stun meter is always full, like he's just overloaded his brain with sensory input and emotional distress
My favorite part of that fight is how they handle Heimdall’s foresight abilities versus Kratos’ punches. Just because he can see them coming doesn’t mean he’s free; he’s gotta keep up.
During the second flurry of punches, you can see the concentration on Heimdall’s face. He’s really having to push himself to remain head of Kratos.
And with the third flurry, Kratos is able to trap his arm and mix it up by actually landing a blow on Heimdall. Heimdall could probably have seen it coming too, but he wasn’t fast enough or predicted wrong and his mistake was enough for Kratos to land that fateful hit.
@@jackpollard550 All of the foresight in the world won't let you dodge a bullet at point blank range once the gun goes off.
@@onilink134 This comment deserves more likes! his Foresight ability fluctuates on his state of mind, if he’s in a calm state of clarity he’s unstoppable and untouchable, but when he’s loses his temper and stop thinking clearly, the potency of the power weakens.
@@wellyunnoso3087 and to me that's where he comes across as not a "seasoned" warrior. Kratos, Baldur, Thor, hell even Odin have fought in life threatening situations many times, they've learned to keep their cool.
You gotta realize kratos was probably thinking on how he treated the Greek gods when killing Heimdall
THIS MAN PROBABLY SAW THE ENTIRETY OF GOW 3 BEFORE DYING
I believe there’s a third reason to why Heimdall is the first Aesir you met when Atreus arrives in Asgard : in the myths, Heimdall & Loki are foresworn ennemies and are destined to kill each other during ragnarok, and I think the developers wanted us to make that first interaction a sort of reference to that (but I might be wrong !)
You are right on the money - it's actually why Heimdall gets killed.
@@tanyanikolaevagizdova6571Loki, Sküld, Brok are much are an accessory to murder in a way along with the mermaid
Only one note I wanna add to one of the thoughts. When Heimdal left them in Helheim, it wasn't ignoring the orders, it was to retrieve the "cold" artifact that was later found to have been used to steal the moon in Vanaheim. Atreus is heard saying "It's cold. Is this...? Its from Helheim. Heimdal must have grabbed this while I freed Garm. I was there. But... I-I didn't know."
Exactly, that's one thing that stood out in this for me. Heimdall would never, ever disobey Odin, he is his most loyal servant. He served Odin until he died.
@@janstraka8674
The same happens with the fight with Kratos, the fight started because he was following ODIN's orders, not because he thought something on his own. Since by then he had ordered him to steal the moon.
I'm pretty sure Heimdall said he had "his own orders".
Yeah even when they come back from the mission Heimdall says that he completed his mission but the two kids messed up theirs
Also, Heimdall's secret mission in Helheim was ordered by Odin. When the party returns to Asgard, you can eavesdrop on Odin and Heimdall, and the latter says something like "as for _my_ mission, I've safely retrieved the item we discussed."
I think he stole the moon
@@randomusername3873 yes he did.
Why was the moon in helheim?
@@randomusername3873 no he stole a magic box to capture the moon
@@salty3069 Gru?
I feel like Odin purposefully raised Heimdall to not be able to use his power to the fullest potential, knowing how Odin is with planning and being ahead of his foes he purposefully handicaps his own sons so they wont/can't turn against him.
Odin could have easily fixed the problem Heimdall has with his lack of curiosity and look at the bigger picture, but making it so Heimdall couldn't fathom the idea that his own father might be a manipulator who's using him for his personal gain consequences be damned.
I also think that Odin raised Heimdall to only see the worst in others and fed into his ego which would make Heimdall semi isolate himself from his peers and not bother to form any bonds that can potentially lead to marriage. like Thor with his wife and daughter who he's trying to be better for, causing Heimdall to be further reliant on him. making it impossible for Heimdall to mentally break free as he would literally have nowhere to go in any realm should he have chosen to stop supporting Odin.
17:45 sort of reminds me of a quote by Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic II, regarding reading a person's mind. "Is such listening enough to perceive the world around you? It is not. Because listening to the thoughts of another, is much like attempting to see the universe only with your eyes. It is equally limiting." and just prior to that "When one relies on sight to perceive the world, it is like trying to stare at the galaxy through a crack in the door."
It's ironic how, despite being the god of foresight, he gloriously failed to foresee that his plan to kill Atreus would lead to the very thing he was hoping to avoid. Pride really comes before the fall.
Yeah, that's essentially what he was getting at. Heimdall can't see the big picture with things. He lets what he directly reads in the moment guide him.
He never planned on killing him. It wasn't until the fight was already over that Heimdall even brought Atreus up, and even then, only because it was relevant to Kratos at that very moment.
The Norns killed Heimdall.
@@felixfeliciano7011 Infact Kratos had no idea that Heimdall was even coming for Atreius. They really did set up his death.
@@billmore6486 if Kratos didn't know that Heimdall was going to kill Atreus then why did he collect Draupnir? The norns told him that exactly and the dwarfs gifted him the spear to do it.
@@sodapop2581 exactly, Bill was saying that the Norns set up Heimdall's death by telling Kratos that Heimdall plans to kill Atreus, but he doesn't plan to kill Atreus until Kratos pisses him off, and Heimdall only plans to kill Atreus because Heimdall is reading Kratos' intent on protecting him.
My theory: Heimdall is fascinated with Odin because Odin's inner workings are always busy creating complex schemes, reframing reality, inventing some justification for everything he does. Like a true narcissist, Odin constantly conflates good with bad, egoism with altruism, assault with self-defense, oppression with victimhood, banal desires with grand ambitions. All framed depending on what serves himself best. Heimdall has a hard time understanding the methods, reasons and ethics of Odin's thoughts. However the material results are clear to him: the Aesir are the most dominant and important tribe in the 9 realms. So Odin's mind seems like a swirling, neverending fountain of wisdom and good fortune to his family. Heimdall looks up to that, and looks down on normal people, who always seem to search for straightforward solutions to their banal inner conflicts. People who constantly get stuck on base emotions like fear, anger, guilt... Nothing like the impenetrable mystery of Odin's emotions.
When Kratos tries to spare Heimdall, he is enraged because all he sees in Kratos's mind is "I want to be a good person so my son can be happy". It's pathetic to him, nothing like the enchanting complexity of Odin's motivations. Odin never showed such a straightforward, endearing sentiment toward Heimdall. Heimdall always told himself that this mystery and emotional neglect is what wisdom and strength is all about. So his fate being decided by a simple "I don't want to murder" is so simple and pathetic to him he cannot stand it, it feels like a permanent stain on his self-worth.
The tragedy is that Odin's motivations were never based on grand ambition or deep wisdom, but on the basest, most animalistic fear of all: the fear of nothingness. Odin was just a meek creature, scared to death of what would happen if something became bigger than him and ended him. Like most narcissists, his mind was an infinite pit of insecurity surrounded with a grand, complex, reinforced suit of armor. And people like Heimdall are in awe of the suit of armor and never realize what's inside.
Loved this comment.
explains why heimdall respects him rather than distrust and fear him. also why he reacts to thor knowing if he killed him, odin would just think heimdall strong too.
Heimdall's power is sensing the intention of the ones he looks in the eyes actually. He doesn't read mind .😅
I’m not reading this 😂
7:20 "Think of how mad the All-Father's gonna be if you kill his guest"
My guy, ODIN is the last man I'm worried about getting mad if someone kills you. There's a bearded pale white man who might get a tad bit angrier.
The reason he didn’t expect the spear to explode was because of the same shortsightedness you referred to earlier. He was so worried about looking good and catching the spear he neglected to look forward and see that Draupnir could explode.
What about the other times? He knows what should happen, he's not that shortsighted and stupid as try and look good by walking near bombs
@@Tom-pf9hg if you look at his stun meter it never goes down after that first hit. i think he was so stunned and angry that he got hit that he just wanted to kill kratos and he stopped caring about what was coming. that’s my theory at least.
@nyavoradjei8919 my theory is that he was so deadlocked focused on killing Kratos thanks to his ego being hurt, that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings and what's happening around him, so he dosent notice kratos putting spears down.
@@nyavoradjei8919 .
the fact you guys misunderstood his character so bad you guys project the traits you hate on him 😂 he doesn't gaf about looking good lmaoo
18:22
“Oh wait you can’t, cause theyre all freaking dead” 😂
I feel like the reason the exploding spear worked is because Kratos is a seasoned war vet who is able to completely clear his mind when in combat and act off instinct- if he isn’t thinking in the moment there isn’t anything for Heimdall to read. He even asks before the final phase “what is going on in that empty head?” I don’t think that was an insult as much as a genuine question, it checks out since they just finished fighting for the moment and Kratos was probably still in fight mode for a moment, and as such was keeping a clear mind until he felt Heimdall was truly neutralized for the moment.
Exactly, even when Kratos was doing punch combos he started slow then sped it up slightly each time and ended up contacting him.
Also if your straight up weaker then Kratos knowing oh I'ma loose no matter isn't going to save you. It's like trying to avoid the sun exploding. Honestly Kratos would win even without the spear he was just afraid of death and leaving his son behind
Yeah, in certain viewpoints it's seen as a level of skill when you can instantly react to an enemy with an appropriate move without even thinking about it, like the moves n all such things have become part of your instincts. It's a thing of "don't think so hard about it, just do it", and for Heimdall that's a massive issue because he relies on you thinking about what's going on so he can use it to beat you.
@@sterlingglover7448 On top of that, he specifically said that he trained relentlessly with a spear as a spartan warrior, which means it's probably a weapon he instinctively knows how to use. That and the explosions make it perfect for fighting Heimdal; he can't read Kratos's intentions when Kratos is going off of muscle memory, and he can't predict the spear going off.
I mean if we go by martial arts logic, Heimdall would send a signal to his mind to know what Kratos is thinking, then send a signal back to his body to react. Kratos would only have to react so his movements would take half the time than Heimdall's.
He's literally thinking too much while fighting.
It didn't occur to me until just now but when Heimdall is explaining to Atreus how Heimdall sees him, he's almost explaining himself. Eager to prove himself dude to an overshadowing father figure, disrespectful, entitled etc.
If you pay attention, both Odin and Heimdall does some heavy projection when talking to Kratos and Atreus respectively.
In a way, Heimdall is a dark example of what Atreus could have been if he never outgrew his "I am a God, I can do what I want" phase.
While I agree with almost everything you stated in this video, I think Heimdall himself did hold off on directly killing Atreus due to curiousity to a certain extent.
During the optional conversation where he opens up a little to Atreus, Heimdall does pause and say "interesting...." which seems to be his curiousity being sparked a bit. While he does eventually double down and state he has his guard up.
He did pull Atreus up from the walls ledge out of slight interest and escort him to the great lodge.
When he sees that Kratos was fighting him to protect Atreus, he says "ohhh now I am DEFINITELY going to gut him" which seems to be that while he wasn't going through with his intentions, it was at that moment he felt he NEEDED to go through with them now.
Whoever was cast as Heimdall did such a good job
I loved his line to Atreus when they’re on the elevator thing: “You open your mouth and I see cities burning.” I just found it so interesting and it speaks volumes about him.
And well….he wasn’t wrong at all haha
they're*
@@CorrectionUnknown stfu
@@brendaspence1824 nothing came out of that. Just stop. They set up so many things without properly tying them up together. Battle of Ragnarök was very rushed. And many questions from the previous game were left unanswered. We never saw loki being loki, just atreus being angsty again like in the 2018. Ofc just him being loki doesnt mean he would do mischief but some people try to say "wElL hE snEakEd ofF sEcrEtly fRoM kRaToS" anyway i look a bit too hater-ish but im not. I loved the game to death but the pacing was bit lackluster. Probably the side effects of trying to finish it as a dualogy
@@CorrectionUnknown thanks for telling me.
An interesting point that I realized is that Heimdall is very much a mirror of Atreus, much like how Thor is a mirror of Kratos. Maybe it's just me, but there's a hint of recognition and sympathy in Heimdalls voice when he talks about how Atreus probably has an "overshadowing father figure he can never live up to".
Heimdall and Atreus both care about their "home", want to try and make the world the better place and believe what they do is the right thing. But like you said, Heimdall lacks curiosity and compassion. He's a cynical and arrogant asshole. In fact, I think he's very similar to how Atreus is in the previous game when he finds out he's a god. He's arrogant, selfish and cruel, even to those he absolutely shouldn't, like Sindri or Mimir. Heimdall is what Atreus might have grown up to become, had Kratos not decided to step in and put a stop to it.
I feel like this would have been their relationship if Kratos married anyone else but Faye as well; if he had never changed for the better.
Odin had a lot to do with what happened to Hemdall, and his other sons. Because the thing he has always loved is his own person.
He's what atreus would have become if he has stayed his bratty and selfish self during the first game... "we are gods, we can do whatever we want" mentality.
They even kinda look alike
If Heimdall, Baldur and Modi are Atreus' parental issues, taken to a horrifying degree, Odin is a reflection of what Atreus could have been if his curiosity took preference over everything else.
I have a theory about Heimdall’s foresight which might explain why the spear could possibly beat him. As I’ve practiced martial arts, something I’ve experienced that causes massive frustration is when your mind is working faster than your body. I’m thinking about a combo I want to do three moves before I do it, however this disconnect can cause your current technique to be slower or more sloppy than normal. Or in some cases, you can see an attack coming but just can’t move fast enough to block it because of some weird situation. Perhaps the same is true for Heimdall, he can see what will happen next, he just can’t react fast enough to do anything with that knowledge.
I just learned that capturing an apple, thrown by a man in Greece means: "I want to propose to you" 6:29
..No wonder Atrues dodged it like the plague..
Heimdall tho.. he kinda sus.. didnt even say "no homo" after all that. o_o
Im pretty sure thats also why kratos chopped Sindris apple in GOW 4
Heimdall is honestly one of my top 5 favorite GOW characters. Even his arrogance actually gives you insight into his depth as a character. Heimdall can read people. His whole life he's been able to see the intentions of everyone he's ever met. He knows that most people are fake, deceitful, and just in it for themselves. So Heimdall is the exact opposite. He wears his thoughts on his sleeve, and shows complete and utter loyalty to his father. In some way he's trying to prove to himself that he's better than everyone else because he has no ulterior motive. He lives vicariously through the praise that Odin gives him (even though let's be honest, he probably knows Odin doesn't see him as more than a tool) because at least he serves a purpose that is, in his mind, a noble one. All around just a fantastically well written, acted, and in my opinion, enjoyable character.
my fav from this game
That fourth sentence is nothing but cynical b.s.
@@meldrickedwards1892 In the real world? Maybe. Not in the world of God Of War.
@@meldrickedwards1892 The fact that none of your responses to valid observations and analysis have been at all constructive or meaningful is the real BS here
He was my #1 favourite.... To absolutely beat the crap out of !
Heimdall wasn't just ditching Atreus and Thrud in Helheim. He was getting the box that would contain Vanaheim's moon. Atreus even realizes that's what he was up to when he and Kratos get the box.
I think it's interesting the Norns didn't say Heimdall was fated to kill Atreus or even that he planned to kill him. They only said Kratos would learn he plans to kill Atreus and kill him as a result. Which does happen during their fight. It's all a big misunderstanding because everyone is only focused on their own needs.
I imagined that heimdall wasn’t able to always predict the spears exploding, he is just able to see that kratos throws spears and then hits the ground with the base of the spear. He isn’t able to see that they will explode. And even when he realized they do explode, he isn’t able to fully counter them because he isn’t used to being unable to understand exactly what is happening. And when you catch him off guard he begins to slip, explaining why you can hit him more as the fight goes on.
Some notes about the trips to Helheim and Vanaheim that can be easily missed in this games avalanche of dialogue. Heimdal was in fact given instruction by Odin for his own task in Helheim, specifically finding the box that is used to capture the Moon in Vanaheim, which is also why he's there at that time. Presumably it was Heimdall who captured Freyr, and tortured him, stating as much to Freya when she and Kratos encounter him. He refers to Freyr as Sizzles referencing a time the Aesir had lit him on fire. As for why Odin sent Heimdall with them if he was going to just break off and do his own thing, it's possible he wanted the young ones to feel he would be watching them indirectly through Heimdall. Alternatively, it could just be economical to save a raven since he apparently needs either Hugin or Munin to move like that, and I imagine he'd like to keep one handy for himself.
One detail I want to point out about the fight between him and Kratos and the Draupnir Spear is to follow his eyes. The first time you throw the spear he catches it, and looks at it, taking his eyes off of Kratos, however briefly. As you stated, he can see people's intentions but can't think through the big picture. He might know Kratos will stomp his spear to the ground but has no way of knowing it will explode the spear he's holding, which shocks him. But even then Kratos can't land a hit. From here on out Heimdall adapts, not grabbing the spears but knocking them aside and focusing on Kratos. Once again, he can foresee the stomp, but as focused as he is, he doesn't think about where all those spearheads landed and gets stunned. Kratos shows his adaptation and manages a better series of strikes that actually forces Heimdall to deflect a blow. Heimdall recovers, and actually begins utilizing his speed and mobility to avoid places where you put the spear heads. This forces Kratos to use more spears to set traps for him. As noted, Heimdall can see immediate intentions, but he can't think ahead and see the trap coming until its sprung. And then with a planned flurry of strikes, Kratos finally lands a hit, beginning the fight in earnest.
Something of a bit of foreshadowing for Kratos being able to simply out box Heimdall is his earlier encounter with Thor. It's the only on-screen interaction between the brothers. When Heimdall tries his smarmy "what are you gonna do about me?" schtick with Thor, Thor just says "look me in the eyes and see for yourself". The implication is that Thor knows he could take Heimdall down on pure strength and skill, and after looking into his mind Heimdall knows it too and backs down. For all of Heimdall's ability to see attacks coming, if he's just not fast enough, strong enough, or skilled enough, he can still be bested.
He's not just saving a raven when he sends Heimdall with Atreus and Thrud, he only has one available at any given time throughout *all* of Ragnarok, since, after all, he has to seem to be in two places at once throughout the entire plot. The actual explanation is major plot spoilers, but anyone who's gotten to that point in the plot should already know what I mean.
@@Gir558 can you still explain it for me though? I, mean finished the game's story, but i still could use some recollection.
@@arjostarudo9406 Alright, well, for anyone digging down in this thread be aware I really do mean huge plot spoilers.
Seriously, its going to ruin the biggest twist in the game
This one should make sure the spoiler won't be visible without expanding the comment. If you expand the comment and get spoiled after three warnings that's on you, buddy.
Alright, with that out of the way: The "Tyr" you save at the beginning of the game is actually Odin. This means that any time "Tyr" isn't in Sindri's house, one of Odin's ravens is hiding inside it somewhere up until the big reveal so that Odin has a way to get back and forth. After all, he can't just disappear from Asgard, and we see multiple times that he *is* there when we play as Atreus. The only way he could achieve that while making it seem like "Tyr" never left the house unless it was with someone else is to have a raven hiding in there all the time.
@@Gir558 I see.
@@Gir558 daaaamn, I was caught off GUARD by that twist fr, I was like why is Tyr pulling a knife on Brok and it was Odin! 😱😱😱😱 Maaaan, sindri's departure andbtyr never being real really fucked me up.
Odin reacts to heimdall's death like your boss at retail responds to a stock getting broken. No emotional connection, just the loss of an asset.
was the same with Baldur, he was just annoyed that he lost a useful asset
I had no idea that Heimdall was supposed to be his son until I read it on a wiki. Odin talks to his whole family like dogs
Whenever I watch videos like this about villains I can’t help but think of master oogway saying “one often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it” and it fits heimdall perfectly
30:22 this is easy to miss but a cool indication that Ragnarok is getting closer is that the leaves on the trees behind Kratos get a brighter shade of red symbolizing Blood in the River
The first time I fought Heimdall and he says "whatcha got?" right when the music halts, really got me to say, "oh he's gotta die" out loud. I rewatch just that 5 second scene in UA-cam every week cuz of how perfect it was. Just that small line, the way he delivered it, just got to me in a couple different ways to make me love the character and hate him at the same time.
😂😂
I yelled out "Time to cook!" I waa so ready to beat his ass.
When he said that I remember mouthing “I’m gonna fuck u up”to myself
@@dinoloverLMAO
Notice how at 18:00, Heimdall turns his back to Atreus and Atreus shoots an arrow which is caught by Heimdall. At first, Heimdall smirks thinking to himself "that was easy lol" then he realises that the arrow cut his hand slightly (hence the blood splatter on his face) and his smile instantly fades. It's just those small, subtle details in the game that really pull me in. Also it's interesting how for someone like Heimdall who sees the "fakeness" of the people around him, cares so much about his own image and just the thought of him being touched or grazed by another person not only pisses him off but also stuns him. I mean even after being hit by Kratos, he claims that it's luck even though deep down he knows he was just outsmarted by Kratos' battle IQ. Out of all the antagonists in this game, Heimdall was the most interesting for me by a milestone.
That's not blood. That is mud. If Heimdall was actually injured, he would've either made a much bigger deal about it, or it would've been pointed out by Odin. All Odin does is tell him to clean himself up
@@lekacious3529so you’re saying when he caught the arrow, mud came out? 💀
@@lekacious3529look at the way he smiles then looks at his hand and his smile instantly fades. He starts to get mad cos the arrow cut his hand. Not cos he got “mud” on his hands. But idk I could be right lol.
U*
@@Tripolizz770 That's definitely not blood buddy. It's mud from Atreus' bow's string shooting the mud that gathered onto it when he was lying in the mud being mocked by Heimdall.
This video is actually really illuminating. I can't think of any other example of a villain that's so high in perception and yet so low in wisdom.
Coming back to this video almost a year later and after I've played the game myself. I love everytime someone walks on odins blind side. The pause every time someone does is amazing.
When people ask in DnD what's the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom, Heimdall is a good example of what happens when you max out Wis and dump Int
It's funny cuz wisdom is traditionally associated with virtue, so Heimdall provides a good example of an evil.character with high wisdom low intelligence.
And Odin is what happens when you max INT and CHA and dump WIS.
What's the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom?
@@Sun-God2 INT is analysis, knowledge, and reasoning, (it's used for things like arcana, history, and investigation), while wisdom is common sense, perception, and application of said reasoning to life (it's used for animal handling, insight, survival).
As the old aphorism goes, INT is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; WIS is not putting it in a fruit salad.
@@theawickward2255 "And CHA is being able to sell salsa as a tomato based fruit salad."
My personal favorite addition to that.
“Because if you kill someone Kratos cares about, he kills you. Just ask the entire Greek Pantheon… Oh wait, you can’t because they’re all FREAKING DEAD!”
I died 😂!
Your channel is everything I've been looking for on UA-cam. Smart, insightful, interesting commentary on things I actually care about. Well done
Just finished watching 3 vids from you Mr.Brett, not a single moment was wasted in each of these mini-essays, you get straight to the point and keep the audience engaged through the whole thing. Keep going my friend, I'm gonna go replay 2018 and Ragnarok for the 3rd time :D
So to clear up the draupnir spear thing, the spear actually overloads Heimdalls senses by showing him an infinite number of possible attacks, all at once, stopping him from being able to know which one is coming.
That’s actually really clever
adhd be like
@@donkeykongisbetterthanmari7495 shut up
That doesn't really make much sense. Any weapon can be used an infinite number of ways. And Heimdall doesn't see every possible future. I remember Mimir saying that he doesn't even read minds either, he reads intent. I think the reason draupnir works is because it's designed to be as fast as the person holding it. Heimdall is faster than any human, but Kratos isn't human. He's a god and a god killer as well. His speed, skill, and experience in thousands of years and battles trumps anything Heimdall has ever seen. So it doesn't matter that Heimdall knows what's coming if he's not fast enough to counter it. I think this is the same reason that Thor can threaten Heimdall and he'll take it seriously. Thor is just as strong and experienced as Kratos. He's not as fast, but mjolnir makes up for that with how fast and powerful it is.
also the spear was probably the weapon Kratos learned first, so he barely, if at all, has to think about fighting with it
Heimdall is easily my favorite character in the series. I love the concept of a guy who talks shit to absolutely everyone, and then backs it up with his powers or skills, and Heimdall does that perfectly.
First time meeting him, he throw me off with that hello and smile
“Go ask the pantheon of Greek gods. Oh wait you can’t they are all dead.” This quote made me cry actually funny as shit
This was my favorite villain, and he helped me so much on writing my own story in aesthetics.
Including the part where the villain eats an apple in front of the hero just to gloat around?
I think that the reason the explosions overwhelm his senses is because in his foresight, his vision is blocked by said explosion that may daze him for a moment giving kratos the chance to strike. In other words imagine a firecracker blowing up near your face, your instinct is to back off and recollect your focus because you would in fact be stunned if even for a moment
In real life, the functions of a Draupnir spearhead can also be similar to a Flashbang Grenade which disorients anyone in the range of the blast.
5 senses are literally thrown off if you get affected by a flashbang which leaves you vulnerable into being assassinated outright.
Most people who are specialized in assassinations always possess a handful of flashbangs in their utility in order to be more effective in their field operations.
19:40 I do think that he was sent by Odin with his own personal mission separate to the Artreus.
Firstly, were it not so, he would've shared responsibility in the failing of the mission, but more so in the freeing of Garm.
And secondly, after you return, he declares to Odin how "his" mission went well by comparison.
I love how when Atreus is in his wolf form heimdall basically treats him like a dog
Kratos and Mimir cared more about Heimdal living and his death than Odin ever did.
A point you could have made was how Heimdal was the most like Odin of the siblings and how both died because they couldn't hold back their temper. Heimdal was likely the most aware of this fact and it only made him more desperate for his father's love and attention. Things he knew he would never get because of his mind reading ability. Yet he still strove for them all the same. Like Sisyphus and his boulder. Ultimately when faced with the relationship he knew he would never have he chose to die pushing Kratos over the edge and hurting him emotionally by making him be a blood thirty God killer once more rather than live with knowing what he would never have truly looked like.
And for the fight I think Heimdal's issue was Kratos is a berserker type. He doesn't really think or plan so much when he fights. He just does what he needs to do. Hard to predict an attack that isn't thought about in advance. Or it could be he never tried to read Kratos because he clearly saw the Spartan as beneath him mentally.
To say that Kratos doesn’t think when fighting is doing him a disservice. I’d rather say that he fights with intent and adaptibility, rather than strategy. Heimdall probably percieved what the goal of his strikes were, but couldn’t keep up since there are numerous ways by which they could land and, especially, since Kratos can vary his intensity and speed during the fight due to hundreds if not thousands of years of experience fighting way more mean opponents than Heimdall. When he landed his first real hit during the cutscene, Kratos had already tested the defence of Heimdall during the preceeding fight; he just put it into next gear which threw Heimdall off.
@@candersson60 I'm not saying Kratos is not smart. He clearly thinks things through, but as a fighter he is the type to react rather than lead. Heimdal takes advantage of people making plans and then countering it after reading their minds. Kratos probes for openings and weaknesses then reacts when they appear. He doesn't think about how he will do it. He just does it. It is a testament to how natural of a fighter he is as well as how experienced. In physical sports and esports the top are like this as well. They just react in the moment when things come up and don't think about it because their muscle memory and react speed is just that developed. Heimdal often leaves himself open because he is so overconfident in his ability to read minds and thus counter any opponent. Kratos went in with a plan or idea of what he wanted to do yes but that isn't what won him the fight. Also it is kind of hard to truly reflect all of this in a video game fight because it had to have a specific mechanic required to defeat a boss. Which is sort of the opposite of how it would have gone down lore wise.
I just love Heimdall. Everything from his outfit, through little details of acting performance, to his bully role for Atreus and Thrud just makes him the most fun character in the game. I equally enjoyed his scenes and watching him die.
the first time I saw hemdall I didn't even hate him, I still wonder how I did it
same
You know how I know your videos are extremely well made? I don’t play the new god of war games, I don’t even own a PlayStation, and yet I have been absolutely in love with these deconstructions.
My idea of why Heimdall lost to Draupnir was that Draupnir would be similar to Ingrid. A semi sentient magic weapon.
He can read Kratos' mind and predict his moves, but he can't really do that with Draupnir, because he wouldn't think of doing it. It's the one thing I would rewrite about this story.
That and kratos head was empty during the fight. So heimdall couldn’t predict him
@@streetworkoutnation6851 no that doesn't make any sense to me. If that's the case then why even need Draupnir in the first place? Kratos could go in with just his fists and an "empty" head and Heimdall wouldn't predict it either.
Heimdall only mentions the empty head as a taunt, basically just calling Kratos stupid. It's not literal.
@@AraiiarA draupnir was for game mechanics. Kratos barely even used draupnir in the cutscenes. His head was literally empty during the fight that’s why heimdall couldn’t predict him
@@streetworkoutnation6851 The reason they got Draupnir in the first place was to fight Heimdall. You CANNOT damage Heimdall in the first phase of the boss fight without Draupnir.
@@AraiiarA like I said game mechanics. It doesn’t mean that kratos lore wise needed it
Maybe this is unintentional, but when Heimdall is first introduced he's dangling Atreus from his arm. He then starts determining Atreus' destiny.
Later on there is a scene dealing with Heimdall's same arm, and he is pissed that someone is trying to determine his fate.
Nice catch!
Isn’t that stolen from Game of Thrones? The exact same thing happens between Jaime and Bran. Jaime pushes the little kid off a tower and there’s a bit of text on how he made his most horrific and most noble actions with the same hand which he later loses
@@asongforthemostbeautifulwo6476
I didn't read the books, but that's cool if it's in them. I had that same thought watching GOT a while back. I like poetic/ironic/karmic things like that in a story.
In the HBO series he pushes Bran with his left hand though.
There's one piece of dialogue that cemented my appreciation for heimdal's ... well.... "complex." After returning from Odin's first task, you can go into the hallway where everyone is sitting and conversing. Heimdal will be in the corner and when you begin to talk to him, he'll make the comment that you don't know what you want anymore and praises Odin for his foresight. He then mentions how he can tell when people are lying; they lie to others, their friends and family, and even most interestingly, to themselves.
He's got that chip on his shoulder because he sees everyone as self-deceiving. That part, more than any other scene he was in impressed me about his character. Obviously he'd act the way he does if he can read intention so, and is surrounded by untruth, as he sees it.
Odin shutting Heimdall down when Atreus first arrives made me very happy lol
"Just go ask the Great Pantheon of gods. Oh wait, you can't. Because they're all freaking dead."
Deep down inside I'm laughing where no one can hear me with that.
What's so interesting about Heimdall is it feels like he's what Odin's internal monologue would sound like if he didn't cover it up with charisma and deceit.
Heimdall took on all of Odin's contempt but never learned to conceal it and therefore is the perfect person for Odin to contrast himself with. He's another tool of the All father, designed to perfecting specifications to make himself look reasonable by comparison.
I think heimdall not expecting the spear to explode is perfect, he reads minds but doesn’t think beyond that so he catches the spear and sees that was Kratos intention but doesn’t look at his intention to blow it up
He doesn’t read minds he reads intent
It should only have worked once though at most.
@@kagato23 well at some point he starts deflecting them and you need to throw a bunch on the floor in different spots to potentially catch him
@@STAR-de9lo Odin: "He reads minds for me."
@@kagato23 it did work once, and that was enough to completely throw him off and get clumsy with the fight. Pay attention to the detail. After the first explosion. Heimdall was overwhelmed mentally. Second round of the fist fight. Heimdall was forced to block, and the third time. Kratos was able to get a hit in. Heimdall got very clumsy after the spear element of surprise kicked in. It showed his lack of battle experience, and his mind couldn’t logically handle the concepts of losing.
Another aspect of Heimdall's arrogance is that he wasn't dealing with anyone the Norse realms had ever seen before but made no effort to discover if that would matter. Kratos was a foreigner to those lands, but not just that, he was a god-killer with a long history of success at that task _and_ had defeated someone with similar combat characteristics to Heimdall in the past (namely, Hermes). Heimdall didn't attempt to consider who or what he was dealing with when he fought Kratos, but tried to rely on mind reading on someone that can fight purely on instinct and muscle memory _and_ can adapt to their opponent without having to think it out. This is why/how Kratos scrapped with him twice at the start but changed a single move in the sequence the second time and landed a hit.
On the 'mind reading villain' thing, it could have been interesting to have Kratos defeat Heimdall with a reflex action. Like a story I remember from the Tao of Jeet Kune Do (I think?) that is recounted as a folkloric encounter between a dragon and a woodcutter. The woodcutter thinks to himself how he'd be rich and famous if he can slay the dragon and it basically tells him "Don't even think about it."
So the Woodcutter gives up his ambition and starts working on his project, swinging his ax up and down until it... slips from his hands, and hits the Dragon between the eyes, killing it. Because it wasn't an intentional action.
What I find interesting about Heimdall (and by extension, Odin), is how we are told, repeatedly, that he can either read minds, or he can read people's intentions, which leads to him knowing what everybody is either thinking or what they are planning to do.
But what few people are mentioning, is how, despite ALL of this, he STILL is an exceptionally loyal believer in Odin.
Now let's get this straight: Heimdall spends his days in Odin's halls, follows his orders, is generally AROUND Odin. He hates EVERYBODY for their inner thoughts and desires, and sees the bad in people everywhere he goes. (In a missable monologue, he explains to Loki that Loki's thoughts and desires have changed, and that Atreus isn't even sure about his own loyalties anymore, proving that Heimdall can do more than just read direct intentions, he can read complex emotions as well.)
So what BOGGLES the mind, is how Heimdall can stay loyal to Odin, who is an active abuser of people, who actively cheats and manipulates his way to power, who looks and talks down to his sons, Heimdall included.
Why would Heimdall then be Odin's "lapdog"? Why would he be so loyal?
So a few options spring to mind:
A) Odin is not, in fact, the cold, callous, cruel manipulator as we get to see.(keep in mind, that we only see him be manipulative to either his direct family members, all of which are gods of the pantheon (and therefore incredibly dangerous by default) or to his active enemies, even if those enemies came about through his own actions. Odin may be misguided enough to believe he has the right to manipulate everybody if he knows everybody wants to kill him.) Remember: Odin's actions became so radical because of a prophesy which he intends to subvert. He wishes to save Asgard, and believes using the shard (or the rift, however you wish to call it) will be Asgard's salvation, giving them the means to break away with fate. Sure there are deeper motives, like Odin's unquenchable thirst for knowledge, but the utility of using something beyond the gods to break away from something that by definition can't be avoided (unless through divine intervention, and what is divine to a god must lie outside of their own power) is truly undeniable.
So what if Heimdall UNDERSTANDS this? He has to, because if Odin was NOT intending to save Asgard, Heimdall would have picked up on it, and would have dropped his loyalty to Odin.
B) Heimdall is fully aware of Odin's manipulative behavior AND intentions, but sides with him regardless, because of the (misguided) love he still feels for Odin. Something that isn't at all abnormal in abusive father-son relationships. Perhaps he feels that if he performs well enough to Odin's liking, Odin might start to love him. Heimdall may understand motive and intention, but that does not mean he understands how love works. In this option, even if Heimdall recognizes Odin for what he truly is(and we accept the hypothesis that Odin is fully false), he might still not feel there is a way out of his situation, and believes he can only stay loyal to Odin in the hopes of winning his approval and love.
C) Odin is SUCH a great manipulator, that he can, in fact, manipulate his own inner feelings and intentions, to make Heimdall think Odin is genuine in his intentions. Not as interesting dramatically speaking, but still a possibility. After all, what exactly is Odin the god of, if not secrets and manipulation? All the gods have special powers, and Odin wasn't born with raven teleportation, so he must have had something unique to him that we only get to see in his actions, which is, quite clearly to me, his uncanny ability to manipulate and deceive. (perhaps his special power is mimicry and disguises. A bit boring, but it's WHAT you do with your power that makes it fun.)
Now, obviously, the truth can be a mix of all of these things, or even none of these things (perhaps it's just a giant plothole). It's annoying that the game doesn't really adress this big question. Odin's true intentions are a topic of debate in general, however. Was Odin's reveal to Freya that, despite everything, he genuinely loved her, just a quick ploy to catch freya off guard in order to get free from her bonds, or was this a genuine but rare emotional reveal from his side? I don't think it's as clear as some people make it out to be. I do genuinely believe the game wants to tell us that it's just complicated, and the audience should decide for themselves what they find the most believable hypothesis.
I lean for option B).
Knowledge is a tool we can use to our advantage but it's not absolute; there are things that you cannot stop even if you know everything about them and it's part of the reason why it's so hard to escape from an abusive relationship, as knowing you're dealing with an abuser doesn't affect the emotional attachment that binds you to that person.
I think Heimdall sort of Stockholmed himself with Odin. His ability basically made him always see the worst in people. But Odin values people based off usefulness, which he had in spades. When he looked into Odin all he saw was that Odin care about him a lot, even if it was only because he was useful.
A.) Cant be true for many reasons, being a cold manipulator is the way he treated everybody pretty much, he treated the dwarves pretty badly, he put the Midgardians along the wall knowing they can't defend themselves to slow down Kratos' army, he killed Ymir, he committed genocide among the giants, he was willing to manipulate anybody and do whatever cold deed he had to, to get what he wanted, it wasn't just against the gods or his own family or enemies
One of my favorite small details in the game is the part at 16:22. Odin's comment that "[Heimdall is] very perceptive, he just forgets to think" gets shown in the way Heimdall walks up on Odin's right side. Odin is blind in his right eye, so when he turns around, Heimdall isn't there.
You've got this "all seeing, all knowing" god with incredible mind reading powers...who can't remember that Odin is blind in his right eye even though Odin wears and eyepatch and it's literally right in front of him. Heimdall can't put himself into the mind of others enough to understand what they do/do not know, because he's never had to, he just trusts what his powers show him and assumes that if he can't see it, neither can anyone else.
To be honest, though, with as paranoid and aware as Odin is -- that scene can easily be read as Odin putting on a show for Atreus. He knows Heimdall has crossed to his right side, but he turns to where he was at the left because, to us and to Atreus, that looks like a silly old man thing to do. It's humorous. It brings Odin down into a more human, relatable level. I agree with Brett that the whole thing with Heimdall was to set up Odin to look better, to bring Atreus some relief. He used Heimdall as a tool, an icebreaker to make Atreus feel more comfortable, humiliating him in front of Atreus for that purpose.
yeah it is discussed in another video, and I actually concur with the idea. Odin is just playing goofy for Artreus. What I'm more interested in knowing is - did Odin lose his eye due to cutting it out himself as Mimir says, or was it the rift?
Because in the mythology, Odin willfully sacrifices his eye to "Mimir's well" to become all-seeing. His vision improves horrendously by sacrificing that eye. In the game it goes a bit different though. Either he lost it because he was high, or because he looked through the rift. Who really knows? If looking into the rift didn't cost him his eye, why was he reluctant to let Artreus do it? :P
@@Genomsnittet If the rift /didn't/ cost him his eye, it's likely that he stopped Atreus bc he doesn't want him to garner any information from it. He already knows that Loki, Champion of the Jotnar, is the only one who can put on the mask and truly see into the rift (as stated by the end). If that rift could give him any information that Atreus could then leverage, Odin wouldn't want him to have it. Not to mention, he's trying to keep Kratos busy, and keeping Atreus safe is the only leverage he has to keep Kratos in inaction. If Atreus came back with one eye missing...well. Y'know.
I think that he's telling the truth about how he lost his eye, and that he lied to Mimir rather than to Atreus,. Reason being: In this version of events, Mimir didn't have the well, just a bucket of mushrooms so strong it put Odin on his ass -- and he mentions that he had to /stop/ Odin from ripping his own eyes out. The original story is tweaked, as are almost all of them, to sew a different narrative. So I believe that he lost his eye to the rift and was, perhaps, embarrassed about it or simply didn't want to discuss it.
I actually, and a few others, interpret it differently. Heimdall says Atreus means to betray Odin, so he goes to his blind side as a way of having his back and protecting him from an attack. The parallel to Thor where he always stands in front of Odin's good eye because he wants to be noticed.
I love how heimdalls hand shakes he is making sure he can move it like a normal arm creating great writing
The whole interaction with Odin trying to get heimdall to calm down is comedy