Zack Snyder tackles Norse mythology in Twilight of the Gods, a densely packed extravaganza of sex, slow-motion, and violence freed from the usual constraints by the flexibility of animation. The Netflix series spins a tale of revenge across eight half-hour episodes, and we’ve recapped all of them here for your convenience.
Behold: Every God, battle, death, prophecy, and legend in Season 1 of Twilight of the Gods for your reading pleasure.
Table of Contents
Episode 1, “The Bride-Price”
(L to R) Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Stuart Martin as Leif in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
The premiere of Twilight of the Gods is a love story. Then it becomes a massacre.
King Leif and Sigrid, a half-human-half-giant warrior-woman, are to be wed. There is some chatter that their childless nuptials may anger the Gods, but they’re so devoted to one another that they decide to marry regardless, in Sigrid’s home of Jotunheim, among the Open Hand clan of giants presided over by her father.
Leif offers a bride-price of silver and seeds, so is fed flagons of ale and made to feel pretty welcome. The wedding is the next day, but an unwanted guest arrives in the form of Thor, flanked by his brother, Baldr. Both are looking for Loki, but Thor decides the best way to find him is to violently butcher the entire community. Only Leif and Sigrid survive by the good grace of Baldr, who clearly sees them both alive but claims to Thor that there are no survivors (in Norse, mythology, Baldr is the God of “light and radiance, joy and purity, peace and forgiveness”, so this tracks.)
Sigrid swears vengeance on Thor, but she is promptly dragged down to the Underworld by Loki, who had spent the episode disguised as a lizard. Separated from Leif, Sigrid is promised Thor’s blood by his brother.
Episode 2, “Heretic Spear”
Twilight of the Gods (L to R) Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Stuart Martin as Leif in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
Loki and Hel – both a place and a person in Norse mythology, the destination of the thieves and liars who aren’t carried to Valhalla by the Valkyries – lay out their plan to Sigrid: She is to make a deal with the Old Gods, the Vanir, and reignite a war between them and the Aesir. Armed with God-killing iron supplied by the dwarf Andvari and flanked by five lost soldiers of her choosing, Asgard will fall.
Sigrid doesn’t trust Loki, and Leif is even less inclined, but all Sigrid cares about is killing Thor and avenging her family. That leaves most of “Heretic Spear” to be a recruitment drive. First, and easiest, is Hervor. Second is the promiscuous poet, Egill.
Sigrid leads the others to look for the Seid-Kona, a feared prophetess who ate her son raw in exchange for the power of the All-Seeing Eye. In the woods they find her, though this is not the original, but the trans daughter who wears her mother’s clothes and carries on her work. Bound to her is a wolf-man named Ulfr. Both come along.
Next on the agenda is the dwarf, Andvari, whose kingdom is guarded by Eager-to-Shine, a tree monster who has to be negotiated with in Dead-Speak. After arming themselves with weapons from Andvari’s forge which can only be wielded by warriors of true intent, the dwarf accompanies the others on their quest and instructs Sigrid to dive into the lake’s waters to be clad in iron by the drowned women who lurk in its depths.
Episode 2 ends with Odin opening his eye to Sigrid’s quest.
Episode 3, “You Will Gladden His Ravens”
Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
“You Will Gladden His Ravens” gives us our first glimpse of Asgard, where Thor is warned by Baldr that Odin has cautioned him to stay at home while the woman he has upset – Baldr still doesn’t give away that the wedding massacre had any survivors – is dealt with by Odin’s heralds.
Loki, who is surveying the situation in his lizard form, has made a pact with Odin’s hostage-wife, Freya, who is sure the Vanir will accept Sigrid if she proves herself. Their agreement is bound by Loki lapping a bowl of Freya’s breast milk, which is certainly one way to seal a deal.
Egill and Andvari give us a little extra context. When the world was new, the Vanir and Aesir gods ruled together, but Odin grew jealous of the Vanir’s ability to see the future. That was the catalyst of the war, which resulted in Odin, having sacrificed his own eye for the ability to see his future, stealing their Seidr magic and the apples that gave the Vanir eternal life, wrecking Vanaheim, and taking Freya as his wife.
Sigrid and the gang spend most of Episode 3 searching for the border of Vanaheim while being pursued by Odin’s heralds, the bolverkrs. In their search they happen upon a farming family – Hrafnkel, his wife Inge, and their son Frode – who give them shelter and food. But it is soon revealed that they are harbouring a woman they intend to sacrifice to earn Odin’s favour.
Hrafnkel, Inge, and Frode are all killed for their betrayal, and Leif frees the captive woman. The bolverkrs chase them, but Thor, sick of being confined to his home like a child, arrives to take on Sigrid himself. He still has no idea who she is – she refers to herself as “The Weeping” – but fights her in a storm he conjures that separates the group. However, the woman Leif freed opens a gate to Vanaheim, and since no Asgardian can cross the border without declaring another war, Thor retreats.
Episode 4, “The Worm”
Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
Thor is up to no good, as ever. As teased in the previous episode, he is being seduced by a siren beside a shipwreck where Jormungandr, the World Serpent, thrashes in the background and Loki watches from nearby. When Thor gives in to the temptress, he is subsequently approached by a woman who calls herself Sandraudiga, the Dread, and Thor kneels before her in defeat.
The Vanir grant Sigrid and the others an audience, but their king, Tiwaz, is not willing to scorch the world to help them. However, Loki, in the form of a worm, gets in Sigrid’s ear and gives her a pitch. She offers to retrieve the Apples of Immortality that Odin stole from the Orchard of Gold, where the Vanir are forbidden from treading. If they can defeat the orchard’s guardian, Fafnir the snow dragon, and retrieve even a single apple, the Vanir will help them. They even offer the services of their mortal servant, Thyra, whom Leif rescued in the previous episode, to report news of their deaths when they inevitably fail.
During the feast we get some character drama. A rift is clearly forming between Leif and Sigrid; the former doesn’t want to live up to his reputation as Leif the Merciless, and proves a point by freeing Egill from his service. This gives Egill an existential crisis and he turns to the Seid-Kona for guidance; she rejects him, though ostensibly to save him, and he leaves the group.
But Egill leaves with a final story, one explaining the connection between Andvari and Fafnir, his former forge-brother who was manipulated by Loki into usurping Andvari and stealing his gold. Andvari wants revenge on Loki, and Sigrid won’t mourn if he gets it, but only after Loki helps her to kill Thor.
A good chunk of Episode 4’s back half is devoted to the operatic fight with Fafnir, which is ultimately successful thanks to a gruesome disembowelling so that Andvari can clamber up the dragon’s entrails and kill him from within. Reduced to his pathetic dwarf form, Andvari grants Fafnir mercy, but Leif beheads him to prove a point to Sigrid.
With the apples returned, the Vanir hungrily tuck in but quickly begin to choke. The gang is forced to flee, but Leif remains behind to collapse the entrance in a bit of heroic self-sacrifice. He sees worms wriggle from the apples and realizes that Loki has betrayed them as “The Worm” comes to a close.
Episode 5, “The Scapegoat God”
Twilight of the Gods. Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
“The Scapegoat God” begins with a brief flashback to the birth of Loki’s daughter, Hel. But the happy occasion is ruined by Thor, who arrives to banish the child to the Underworld. He takes Loki’s other son, the wolf Fenrir, and smashes the serpent Jormungandr against a rock before tossing him into the water below. This is all as punishment for Loki having lain with giants against Odin’s wishes. This sibling rivalry runs very deep.
Following on from Episode 4, Leif has been cast by the Vanir into Hoenir’s Head to suffer, and Loki is with him. Hoenir was instrumental in ending the first war between the Vanir and the Aesir; he was exchanged with Freya as a gift, but Odin cleaved his head in two and left him mad. Loki has to help Leif escape his new prison, since Sigrid won’t succeed if he is lost.
The Wyrding magic that Hoenir controls forces Leif to confront his violent past, which Loki reveals he has had a hand in every step of the way, including compelling him to behead Fafnir.
Loki is lying to Leif; his choices were his own, but Loki allows himself to become the scapegoat god to keep him going. But he gives himself away when he has to confront his own regrets; that scene of Jormundandr seducing Thor to bring about Ragnarok, a prophecy which will result in Jormungandr’s death and which Loki tries to prevent.
While Leif is away, the others run into a pack of First Wolves, older than even the Vanir gods, and since Ulfr has at some point killed and skinned one of their number, they grant him a boon according to the Oldest Law. He requests that they lead him and others to safety.
The wolves do so, but Sigrid and the others still come face to face with the Vanir. They’re forced to fight them, but Egill arrives in the nick of time with the frost giants, whom he has compelled to Sigrid’s side by telling them her story. Sigrid is able to behead Hoenir from the outside, freeing Leif and Loki.
Tiwaz is still furious, but Loki arrives to take the blame, claiming that he poisoned the apples on Odin’s orders. Having given the Vanir a reason to war with Asgard, Loki vanishes, leaving the Vanir and the others to forge a new spit pact.
Episode 6, “Now Hear Of…”
John Noble as Odin Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
The sixth episode of Twilight of the Gods adopts a different format. As Sigrid and the gang and their new frost giant friends make camp, they all eat magic mushrooms and swap stories of heroism and horror.
I won’t recount them all in detail, but each tale is designed to flesh out the mythology a little, as well as offering some insight into the characters, the cruelty of the Aesir, and the determination of those who have dared to fight against them. Egill’s story is a bit more personal, shining some light on the price he paid to be open with his sexuality.
Ulfr also tells his story, about rescuing a child from a wolf and cloaking the child in its skin, but eventually eating the child to save himself, becoming akin to a wolf in the process; his truth imbues the Seid-Kona with new power.
Sigrid tells the longest story of her own journey from the clan of the Open Hand, where her feet never touched the ground and she always felt like an outcast, to meeting Hervor and Leif, and finally to the throne Leif built for her which for the first time allowed her feet to touch the ground when she sat. That was the moment she knew she was home.
Egill also finally goes to be with the Seid-Kona, who reveals her real name is Aile. She also tries to warn him of something that will happen the next day, but he doesn’t want to hear the future.
Since Thyra doesn’t have a story of her own, Sigrid gives her one to tell, which is a threesome with her and Leif. That sounds like a joke written down, but it’s genuinely what happens.
At the end of “Now Hear Of…”, Odin presents himself to Sigrid and gives her a dire warning about her own death if she pursues her path of vengeance.
Episode 7, “If I Had A Hammer”
(L to R) Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid and Paterson Joseph as Loki in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
War begins in “If I Had A Hammer”. Sigrid and Leif lead an army of frost giants and Vanir to Asgard, where they immediately tussle with the Aesir forces. Baldr’s befuddlement implies that the Aesir have no knowledge of Loki’s trick with the poisoned apples, though Thor was caught red-handed trespassing on Vanaheim’s border, so that’s justification enough.
After the first skirmish, Sigrid, Hervor, Andvari, and Hervor sneak off in the night, leaving Leif and Egill behind for their own protection. Their goal is to assassinate Thor with help from Freya, but he’s expecting them. Luckily, Loki arrives to intervene. Unluckily, Andvari can’t help but attempt revenge on the trickster god, and ends up having his head smashed in as a result.
This is a helpful reminder that Loki isn’t a good guy – his sole intention is to prevent Ragnarok to avert the deaths of Fenrir and Jormungandr, and he isn’t picky about how he goes about doing that.
Leif is devastated about his own role in Andvari’s death, having deflected his killing blow on Loki, and he’s especially annoyed that Sigrid has misled him all this time. He’s horrified to hear that revenge is her only goal now, even if death claims her as a result; she can’t wed him, and implores him to live a happy life with Thyra, who can love him back.
To make the point clear, Sigrid stabs Leif in the leg to force him to stay behind. Episode 7 ends with him screaming after her as she walks away.
Episode 8, “Song of Sigrid”
Twilight of the Gods. Stuart Martin as Leif in Twilight of the Gods. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
The Season 1 finale, “Song of Sigrid”, is the longest episode by a margin and is very dense with events, so I’ve put together another article that breaks down the ending of Twilight of the Gods in depth.
Go and check that out for a full analysis of the episode. In the meantime, with the entire season covered here, let your thoughts on it be known in the comments below, especially as regards a potential second season.
