Recently, Norse mythology has gained newfound popularity as it is being translated in almost every media venture, right from the silver screen to game series and numerous small screen adaptations. Finally, with Netflix’s Twilight of the Gods, directed by Zack Snyder, an animated retelling of the Nordic legend has found its way to the screen. An-depth, vivid spectacle of the nine realms, featuring stories of gods, dwarves, and giants—which are enchanting enough thanks to the fluid, vibrant animation that you can ignore the gratuitous usage of sex and violence in almost every one of the eight episodes of the first season. Despite having a promising start, the final episode turns out to be just a big mess put together and could have fared better with a linear narrative style. With that being said, we have to admit that except the Norse saga of the God of War game series, no adaptation of Norse myths has delved this deep into the nooks and crannies of old legends, upholding the spirit that the stories carry with them, which makes Twilight of the Gods a must-watch for mythology nerds.
Spoilers Ahead
Sigrid’s Quest for Revenge and Loki’s Ploy
Völsung king Leif and his fierce warrior queen, Sigrid, are deeply in love with each other, and upon seeing Sigrid homesick, Leif proposes a journey to Sigrid’s homeland, remaining unaware that Sigrid is half giant, half human, who hails from Jotunheim, the land of giants. As Sigrid is reunited with her family and relatives after a long while, her giant kin rejoice but get a bit skeptical about her being accompanied by an outsider, that too a human. Sigrid’s father is initially unwilling to agree to let Leif marry his daughter; the giants are wary of the outsiders, especially because in the past their land has been time and again pillaged by the Aesir gods of Asgard. However, as Leif shows his devotion to Sigrid with the right bride price, her family agrees to the union.
All hell breaks loose on the wedding day, as moments before the couple are to pledge the vows, Aesir god Thor and his brother, Baldr, crash the event in search of their estranged brother, the trickster god Loki. Given his past interactions with giants ending in bloodbath, Thor neither gets a welcoming gesture from the attendees nor does he get the answers he is looking for. The short fused god of thunder rains havoc upon the giants by slaughtering all of them, even the children hidden in shacks, with only Leif and Sigrid left alive—a fact which Baldr, the god of wisdom and forgiveness, decides to hide from his brother. As the gods take their leave, a devastated Sigird swears vengeance upon Thor. Sigrid’s woes are heard by Loki Laufeyson, who brings her to Hel and promises to help her kill Thor. Loki and his daughter, Hel, suggest Sigrid rekindle the flames of war between the old Vanir gods of Vanaheim and the present dominant Aesir gods of Asgard and use the godkiller weapons forged by Dwarf smith Andvari to kill the gods. Loki has his own ulterior motive to turn against his family, as he bears a longstanding grudge against Thor and Odin. Abiding by Odin’s command of non-negotiation with giants, Thor had made Loki’s life miserable by separating him from his children, whom he had fathered with a giant woman—ironic enough as Loki himself was Odin’s illegitimate son with Laufey, the frost giant. Thor had banished Loki’s youngest daughter Hel to the underworld (also known as Hel), chained his son Fenrir, and thrown his serpent child Jormungandr into the ocean. To trigger Ragnarok, Jormungandr, the world serpent, later seduces Thor under her father Loki’s command, knowing full well that in the final days she and Thor will end up killing each other. As a father, Loki is unwilling to let such a future unfold, and being one of the Asgardian himself, he cannot attempt to take on Thor in direct combat either. Which is why he is willing to use Sigrid as a pawn to dismantle the supremacy of Asgard and put an end to the oppressive, whimsical gods.
Fellowship of God Killers
Knowing the chaotic, deceitful nature of Loki, Leif warns Sigrid, asking her not to trust him and Sigrid lets him know that her alliance with Loki is purely driven by self-interest. The duo go on to recruit a crew to best the gods, and the first one to be recruited is Hervor, Sigrid’s Völsung shield sister, who wants to die honorably in battle to reunite with her dead sons in Valhalla; the next one is Leif’s licentious servant/poet, Egill. Sigrid leads her team to find Seid-Kona, an extremely powerful sorceress who was rumored to have eaten her own child to gain the gift of foresight. In her absence, the group comes across her daughter, Áile (whose name is revealed much later in the series), who also goes by Seid-Kona, and her feral werewolf, the familiar Ulfr, whose confessions of sin enhance her dark magic. Both of them agree to join Sigrid’s quest to answer the call of destiny.
The team goes to Nidavellir and seeks out Andvari, who agrees to let them take godkiller weapons in exchange for their souls. Gathering armaments, as the group resumes their journey, Andvari decides to join them as well—and he has a vested interest in doing so, which gets revealed later. Taking a dive in the stream of Nidavellir, where spirits of women who have been wronged by the men in their lives emerge, Sigrid emerges stronger and more resolute to seek revenge. Andvari reveals that Odin’s jealousy of the Vanir gods’ ability of foresight resulted in him waging the first war of gods, which ended with Odin sacrificing one of his eyes to gain foresight, robbing the Vanirs of their Seidr magic, and forcing them to a peace treaty and forced their goddess Freya to tie a knot with him. At present, Freya and Loki plan to bring about the doom of Asgard by aiding Sigrid in gaining the favor of the Vanir, and Baldr instructs Thor to keep his wayward nature in check—in accordance with Allfather Odin’s will.
At Asgard, Odin, using his raven duo Hugin or thought and Munin or memory, keeps a close watch over Sigrid and her fellowship and sends his huntsmen, the Bölverkrs, to hunt them down. While evading their pursuers, the group comes across Hrafnkel and his family, who appear as helpful and kindly but are revealed to be loyalists of Odin who are keeping a woman hostage to sacrifice her to the Allfather. As Hrafnkel alerts Odin’s forces to the presence of Sigrid and co., Leif decides to rescue the woman, and the team gets chased by Thor himself. Sigrid matches up with Thor in battle, but Thor isn’t able to recall her identity, which further infuriates her due to the wanton nature of his past act of violence. Thor ends up retreating after the stranger woman opens a portal to Vanaheim; as per the peace pact, neither of the god clans spill blood in the realm of their rivals.
How Did Sigrid Make the Vanirs Agree To Wage War Against the Aesirs?
Thyra, the captive woman freed by Leif, who opened the gateway to Vanaheim, is one of the Vanir gods’ envoys, who brings Sigrid’s team to Vanir king Tiwaz, who refuses to adhere to their pleas to disrupt a longstanding peace with Aesir. However, as Loki secretly instructs Sigrid, she offers to bring apples of immortality to the Vanirs, which have been stolen from them by Odin, and at present are guarded by the snow dragon Fafnir. It is revealed that Andvari’s personal reason to join Sigrid’s team was to encounter Fafnir, the former dwarf prince who used to be his forgebrother, but Loki’s trickery involving Andvari’s treasures turned him into a dragon.
Meanwhile, Sigrid’s steadfastness about seeking vengeance worried Leif, who himself was trying to rectify his past reputation as a vicious berserker and become a merciful king—and to show his change of heart, Leif frees Egill from servitude. Egill and Áile had started growing feelings for each other, and as Egille seeks the sorceress’ counsel about the future course of action, she discourages him from accompanying Sigrid’s band any longer. Secretly, Áile knows fate doesn’t bode well for Egill if he goes down the path of war, and adhering to her words, Egill parts ways with the party. The rest of the team, accompanied by Thyra, manage to slay Fafnir and bring apples of immortality from the orchard the dragon was protecting. As a number of Vanir consume the apples to replenish their lost glory, they get poisoned, and an infuriated King Tiwaz sends his guards after Sigrid and co. to hunt them down. Leif realizes that Loki was responsible for the mischief, and he decides to hold off the assailants to let Sigrid and the rest of the team escape in time. Both Loki’s worm form and Leif get captured and sent inside Mad Hoenir’s head, where they are forced to relive the horrors of their past. In their effort to reach Hoenir’s head, Sigrid and co. venture through the treacherous wilderness of Vanaheim and come across the first wolves, who predate both the Vanir and Aesir gods. Feeling a kinship with Ulfr, the first wolves grant one of his wishes and guide them to their destination, but eventually the Vanirs catch up and a prolonged battle ensues between them. As Egill returns with a group of frost giants who were motivated to join Sigrid after learning her story, the battle continues, and finally Sigrid is able to sever Hoenir’s head, freeing Loki and Leif as a result.
Loki takes the blame and accepts that he poisoned the apples upon Odin’s command, which results in the Vanir putting an end to their battle and joining hands with Sigrid to take the battle to Asgard. With the giants, the Vanir gods, and a team of warriors by her side, Sigrid’s force is formidable enough to take on the forces of Asgard.
Was Sigrid Able To Slay Thor And Take Her Revenge?
Before the horns of war are sounded, Vanirs, giants, and humans of Sigrid’s force engage in a night full of mirth, merrymaking, story-telling, and reminiscing about the past—a much-needed calm before the inevitable storm. Egill and Áile consummate their relationship, and Odin secretly meets Sigrid to threaten her with consequences if she doesn’t end her mad pursuit.
Sandraudiga, a mysterious goddess of dread, is seen accompanying Thor, but her motivations and course of action remain a mystery. As the war begins, Loki assures his children, especially Jormungandr, that their lives will be spared, as he is certain that Sigrid will be able to plunge her godkiller spear, ‘Antler,’ into Thor’s body, and once that happens, Loki will kill Odin. After the first day of the battle, Sigrid and a few of her associates, leaving Egill and Leif in safety, manage to sneak inside Asgard to assassinate Thor, but their plan gets foiled as the god of thunder anticipates their arrival. Áile goes to meet Odin, as she has to fulfill her destiny that doesn’t involve participating in the war.
However, Loki manages to distract Thor and the other Asgardians to save Sigrid and co., and as they escape, Andvari lunges to kill Loki to take his long-awaited revenge for the predicament of his forgebrother. Loki kills Andvari without any qualms, proving that, irrespective of allegiance or intentions, gods indeed cannot be trusted. As Sigrid returns to Leif, she finds him livid with anger due to the fact she jeopardized her life, and as the duo have an argument, Sigrid leaves Leif, wishing a better life for him with Thyra, as her single-minded pursuit for vengeance doesn’t let her see anything beyond a self-destructive path. However, to honor the pledge Leif had made to his future wife, he decides to join the battle anyway. Áile meets Odin, who asks her to grant him a vision to the future, as the gift of foresight that his Vanir wife, Freya, possessed, was passed down to the lineage of human sorceresses like Seid-Kona. The future sight takes a hefty toll as Áile consumes Memory, one of Odin’s Ravens, and shows him a future where Odin is forgotten and no longer worshipped by humanity. As a glimpse of modern times is revealed to Odin, the most bizarre and unexpected moment of a visual comparison between Odin hanging from Yggdrasil and Jesus hanging from the cross follows. Having seen his fair share of the future, Odin kills Áile and leaves Asgard.
The battle between Sigrid’s forces and Asgard’s gods rages once again, this time Valhalla’s warriors join the Asgardians as well. One by one, in mad pursuit of Sigrid, Thor kills Tiwaz, Ulfr, and Hervor—and in a tragic twist of events, the Valkyries do not take Hervor’s spirit to Valhalla despite her valiantly dying on the battlefield with the hopes of reuniting with her sons in the heavenly abode. Hel takes Hervor’s spirit, mentioning to Sigrid that Valhalla isn’t the honorable resting place they used to think it was, as the spirits residing there are used and exploited by Odin for his selfish purposes.
An infuriated Sigrid unleashes one last barrage of attacks on Thor, and the moment her spear is about to put an end to the thunder god, his brother Baldr intervenes and dies, sustaining a fatal injury. Fuming with anger, Thor goes on to unleash his berserker rage, but Freya stops him, consoling him for his loss—she takes him to Valhalla. Loki, who had directly involved himself in the war at this point, taking arms for Sigrid’s forces, decides to kill Sigrid so she can fulfill her revenge by getting transferred to Valhalla as well. As Twilight of the Gods season 1 ends, Sigrid meets Thor in the halls of Valhalla, and the thunder god mentions the ‘Song of Sigrid’ already having started.
