Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the finale of Twilight of the Gods.
Twilight of the Gods more than lives up to its name. The animated series by Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva, and Eric Carrasco has delivered a bold and bloody take on Norse mythology that is rendered in a gorgeous art style, courtesy of Xilam Animation. It also feels like the kind of epics Snyder has been carving out on the big screen, as well as a return to an art form he hasn’t ventured into since the highly-underrated Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole. But how exactly does Twilight of the Gods wrap up its story, and does it leave the door open for a sequel?
‘Twilight of the Gods’ Begins With a Wedding Gone Wrong
Image via Netflix
Twilight of the Gods opens with preparations for a wedding between Viking king Leif (Stuart Martin) and the love of his life, Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks). Sigrid does have one request of Leif: that he travel with her to her homeland to meet her family. It turns out that Sigrid’s family is made up of giants, as she grew up in the land of Jotunheim. But before Leif and Sigrid can tie the knot, the God of Thunder, Thor (Pilou Asbæk), appears, searching for his brother Loki (Patterson Joseph). When the Jotunn refuse to bow before him, Thor slaughters them all, with Sigrid being the sole survivor. She swears to kill the Thunder God, with Leif joining her on her journey.
A Group of God-Killing Warriors Unite in ‘Twilight of the Gods’
To help them kill Thor, Leif and Sigrid recruit a collection of warriors — including poet/sorcerer Egill (Rahul Kohli), Sigrid’s fellow shield maiden Hervor (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), Áile (Jamie Clayton), the mysterious witch known as the Seid-Kona, and the dwarven blacksmith Andvari (Kristofer Hivju); coming along for the battle is the wolflike Ulfr (Peter Stormare). Andvari turns out to be especially useful to the party as he crafts weapons made out of steel that can kill the gods, though this power comes at a terrible price.
On their travels, the warriors encounter a mysterious maiden named Thyra (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) who is chained up by the inhabitants of a small village. After Thyra narrowly helps them escape, it’s revealed that she is a servant to the old gods known as the Vanir, who have been rotting away following their war with the Aesir, the gods that inhabit Asgard. Sigrid strikes a deal with the Vanir; if she and her warriors can bring back the golden apples that grant immortality (while slaying the dragon that stands guard over said apples), they will join her. Though they succeed, the apples turn out to be poisoned, and Leif is seemingly killed holding off the Vanir’s forces.
Loki Turns Out To Be the Driving Force Behind ‘Twilight of the Gods’
In reality, Leif — alongside Loki — is trapped in the head of one of the Vanir, which forces them to relive their past. Loki eventually reveals to Leif that he pushed Sigrid to kill Thor, as he seeks to trigger Ragnarök — the titular twilight of the gods — as revenge for how Odin (John Noble) imprisoned his children Hel (Jamie Chung), Jörmungandr (Tove Lo) and Fenrir. Odin had learned of Ragnarök after hanging himself on Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days straight and was determined to prevent it by any means necessary; he even sent Thor to kill Jörmungandr’s mother and imprison the children. Loki has been manipulating key events to set Ragnarök in place, and after he and Leif escape, the Vanir hold up their end of the deal, joining Sigrid’s warriors on their quest to breach the walls of Asgard.
‘Twilight of the Gods’ Ends With a Bloody Battle – and the Advent of Ragnarok
The final two episodes of Twilight of the Gods, “If I Had A Hammer” and “Song of Sigrid,” deliver the battle that the entire series has been building up to. Blood and gore fly as Sigrid and her warriors, along with the Vanir, battle Asgard’s forces. Eventually, Sigrid decides to try and kill Thor in his sleep… but he is waiting for her, and she’s nearly killed, which leads to a confrontation with Leif about the cost of her vengeance. The battle isn’t without its casualties, as Hervor and Ulfr are killed by Thor. The curse of Andvari’s weapons adds a terrible cost to Hervor’s death; since her life was the price of her weapon, she cannot enter Valhalla and reunite with her children.
Áile climbs to the top of Asgard and confronts Odin with a vision of the future, where he learns that his legacy will fade away (in true Zack Snyder fashion, there’s a sprinkling of Jesus imagery in the form of Christ himself). Though Odin kills Áile, the vision of his future has left him shaken. On the battlefield, Sigrid finally has a chance to kill Thor, wrapping her bridal garland around her spear to seal the deed — but Thor’s brother Baldr (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) teleports in front of him and takes the spear to the chest, kicking off Ragnarök. Loki also kills Sigrid, sending her to Valhalla, where she meets Thor.
Will ‘Twilight of the Gods’ Get a Second Season?
Twilight of the Gods is quickly finding an audience, cracking the top 10 lists on Netflix and gathering critical praise. Naturally, given how the series ended, there have been questions about whether the show will get a second season. Snyder already has a story in mind centering around Thor, promising to explore what led to the God of Thunder’s bloodlust.
“Well, I think that is the sort of crux of, as the story would continue, is what the morality of looking at the world from Thor’s point of view is,” he told Collider. ” As we go forward, is there a why to Thor? What did Loki do to him to make him so crazy?” It’s definitely a question that warrants answering, and a second season could also showcase how Ragnarök reshapes the world — an epic tale that’s more than worthy of Snyder, Oliva, and Carrasco’s talents.
Twilight of the Gods is available to stream on Netflix.
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