Dawn of Ragnarök, the third and final expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, leaves history behind to fully embrace Norse mythology. The open-world action franchise once prided itself on putting a sneaky spin on real-world locations and events like the Italian Renaissance, French Revolution, and Golden Age of Pirates. While these historical reenactments are framed by a sci-fi plot involving ancient beings and powerful relics, the older Assassin's Creed games mostly focused on climbing across or sneaking through iconic landmarks and meeting historical figures.
The franchise's most recent trilogy of games, however, emphasizes mythology and takes place very early in the Assassin's Creed timeline. Assassin's Creed Origins, for example, brought players to Ptolemaic Egypt and featured epic boss fights against deities like Sobek and Anubis. Likewise, Assassin's Creed Odyssey recreated ancient Greece and put an even greater focus on supernatural elements by including creatures like Medusa, the Minotaur, and the Cyclops. Assassin's Creed Valhalla capped off this ancient trilogy with a slew of mythological elements, with a twist revealing that player character Eivor is actually a reincarnation of the Norse god Odin.
The third and final expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, titled Dawn of Ragnarök, focuses almost entirely on mythology with a plot taking Odin across Svartalfheim to rescue his son Baldr. Throughout the ambitious DLC players face off against Surtr and his fire giant followers, and new powers in Dawn of Ragnarök allow Odin to transform into a raven, resurrect dead foes as allies, walk across lava, and more. While the expansion completely abandons the series' goal of immersing players in actual historical events, Dawn of Ragnarök is still a direct continuation of the dramatic revelations from the end of Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Why Dawn of Ragnarök Is A Part of Assassin's Creed Canon
Despite abandoning historical accuracy in favor of epic fantasy action, the Dawn of Ragnarök DLC for Assassin's Creed Valhalla is canon. Like Origins, Odyssey, and the main story of Valhalla, the expansion treats mythic elements as an actual part of history. The franchise's framing story involving the ancient Isu and the powerful Pieces of Eden has been present since the very first installment, and these concepts justify creative new content like a trip through the Nine Realms as Odin the All-Father. While some stories in the past have been non-canon, like Assassin's Creed 3's Tyranny of King Washington expansion, Dawn of Ragnarök is firmly established as a follow-up to Valhalla's plot of Eivor being a reincarnation of Odin.
Over the years, Assassin's Creed has slipped further and further into the fantasy genre, with supernatural creatures and mythic gods becoming a regular part of the open-world experience. While Dawn of Ragnarök lets players become Odin and fly through the skies of Svartalfheim, the expansion is still set in the same world and timeline as the grounded original installment. Many fans feel that Assassin's Creed DLC is getting ridiculous, but it should be ed that gods and relics have always been a part of the franchise's identity.
