What Is the Everywhen? God of War Laufey's New Realm Explained
The Everywhen is the central setting of God of War Laufey — a cross-mythology afterlife where gods from every culture clash. Here's a full breakdown of what it is and why it matters.
The Everywhen is the most ambitious setting in God of War history — a realm so vast and strange that it makes the Nine Realms look small. Here’s everything revealed about it so far.
What Exactly Is the Everywhen?
Santa Monica Studio describes the Everywhen as:
“The birthplace and endpoint to which all magic returns — a transcendent realm above those we’ve come to know, in which gods and creatures from different mythologies come together.”
In simpler terms: the Everywhen is the afterlife of the gods. It exists outside and above every mythology’s cosmology. When deities from any culture die — or are displaced — they end up here.
This means the Everywhen doesn’t belong to any single mythological tradition. It’s not Valhalla. It’s not the Duat. It’s something beyond all of those.
Why Is Faye There?
The central mystery of God of War Laufey is why Faye woke up in the Everywhen at all. She was not a god in the traditional sense — she was a Jötunn, a Giant, who died a mortal death.
Her presence there suggests either:
- The magic she carried as the Last Guardian of the Jötnar was powerful enough to pull her into the Everywhen
- Someone — or something — deliberately brought her there
- Her death itself was not what it appeared to be
The game appears to center on uncovering this mystery while simultaneously fighting to protect the family she left behind.
A Realm Where All Mythologies Collide
The most exciting aspect of the Everywhen is its multi-mythological scope. Previous God of War games were locked to a single mythological tradition — first Greek, then Norse. The Everywhen breaks that constraint entirely.
Gods from every human culture have their own afterlife traditions, and the Everywhen sits above them all. This means Faye will encounter deities from:
- Norse mythology — familiar faces from her own past
- Egyptian mythology — Sekhmet, the lioness war goddess, is confirmed
- Tibetan Buddhism — Begtse, the wrathful war deity, is confirmed
- Potentially dozens more as the game continues
This is the God of War team’s answer to a question fans have asked for years: what happens when you cross the mythological streams?
What We’ve Seen of the Everywhen
From the gameplay reveal, the Everywhen is visually stunning — a realm of impossible architecture, floating islands, rivers of pure magic, and environments that shift between the familiar and the alien.
It is described as:
- Overflowing with dangerous magic — magic behaves differently here than in the Nine Realms
- Contested territory — multiple gods and factions are actively fighting for dominance
- Dangerous to outsiders — Faye is immediately perceived as a threat by the gods who already inhabit it
The Gods Who Rule the Everywhen
The Everywhen is not empty. It’s populated by gods who have made it their domain — and they are not welcoming to newcomers.
Begtse controls a fiery, war-torn section of the realm. He is an ancient Tibetan war deity associated with wrath, violence, and retribution.
Sekhmet commands another region. As the Egyptian goddess of both war and healing, she represents a fascinating duality — capable of extraordinary destruction and extraordinary restoration.
Both are confirmed hostile to Faye upon her arrival.
How the Everywhen Connects to the Nine Realms
The Everywhen’s relationship to the Norse cosmology Faye came from is still unclear. Santa Monica Studio has confirmed that the events of God of War Laufey are canon to the main series timeline, meaning whatever happens in the Everywhen will have consequences for Kratos and Atreus.
The plans Faye put in place to protect her family are being threatened from within the Everywhen — suggesting that this realm has the power to reach out and affect the living world.
Why the Everywhen Is a Smart Design Decision
From a game design perspective, the Everywhen solves a problem that every sequel faces: how do you keep raising the stakes without breaking the established mythology?
By moving Faye to a realm above and beyond the Nine Realms, Santa Monica Studio can:
- Introduce new mythologies without contradicting the Norse cosmology
- Explore a character who was previously off-limits as a protagonist
- Set up future entries that could explore any mythology on Earth
- Tell a story that runs parallel to Kratos and Atreus without needing them present
The Everywhen may be the most important addition to the God of War universe since the Leviathan Axe.