This is a reupload. YouTube killed the original. This version has been edited to protect the children.

I love how YouTube still forces people to make things watchable for kids, despite having a whole section called "YouTube for Kids."

Christopher Judge gave everything he had to playing Kratos. If I remember correctly, I once saw an interview where he said his performance was a message to his children. It was an apology. Then he started to cry and said he didn't want to talk about it anymore. In the BTS of him filming the scene where he retrieves the blades while Athena mocks him, he looks at her when she calls him "father," then looks back down. You can see tears falling from Judge's eyes. This portrayal clearly meant so much to him and you did a great job getting the point across in this video. This is good work, dude

12:27 He even says to Atreus "Do not mistake my silence for lack of grief. Mourn how you wish. Leave me to my own."

“Dude. Kratos. What the fuck man? What is wrong with you?” Is such an accurate reaction to most of God of War III

It's funny that the first thing Atreus said after finding out he was a god was asking if he could turn into an animal, and lo and behold he can actually turn into one.

Actually teared up when Kratos said "I did this to him?" When Atreus was sick

For me I always thought that Kratos at some point realized he was wrong. That he screwed up. That he'd become just like the gods he slayed. Ruthless. Destructive. Retributive. And deserving of death.

Yet  he was able to continue on because he, in the most Kratos way possible, tokd himself:

Don't be sorry. Be better.

And he's been struggling with that quest since.

Just a note. I think the reason they emphasized Kratos killing Zeus so much is because, while it was overshadowed by conflict, there is one immutable fact to acknowledge. He killed Zeus, the only living family he had left. He killed every member of his family, down to the last and the strongest. Even Hercules, his half brother. He killed everyone he was ever supposed to love unconditionally.

My favourite thing about the moment Kratos retrieves the Blades of Chaos is how he reacts to Athena calling him 'father'. He pauses, glaring at her, and begins wrapping the chains around his arms more forcefully.

FattBrett: I would rather see Kratos grappling with the killing of innocent lives.

Santa Monica Studios: Say no more *releases God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla

Only just now do I realize the great symbolism in Kratos’ weapons of choice. He started out using savage blades of angry, searing flames, but once he moves into Norse territory he opts to use a powerful axe of bitter, icy cold.

A fitting metaphor for his change in demeanor

One detail I really like when Kratos kills Baldur, is that Kratos looks really uncomfortable and almost sad in doing this. Like he really doesn’t want to kill Baldur not because he cares about him as a person but because he knows how much Baldur means to Freya, because to him it feels like the ultimate betrayal of her trust after everything she’s done for him.

I love how Freya switches from "I'm still a God go away" to running at Atreus when she hears he's ill. She really does care about him like a Son, even more so in Ragnarok.

Another couple of details I've noticed.

1. When Kratos scolds Atreus in Helheim, he uses his own authority as the parent only to make his son listen to him. But to seal his spech, and make the boy actually obey the order, - for that Kratos refers to someone else:

"...You will honor your mother and abandon this path you have chosen. It is not too late..."

The wording here in not accidental: at that moment Kratos doesn't think it's his place to tell his son "to be better". From his perspective, from the way he views himself, he can only lead the boy to become worse - to "pass on his cruelty and rage", as Freya put it.
I think it was for the same reason that Kratos stayed relatively quiet during Atreus's "little sh*t" phase. Not only doesn't Kratos know how to stop godhood from corrupting the boy - he does not consider himself capable of putting his son on the right path.

2. in the cutscene, while Kratos says:

"...We will be the gods we choose to be, - not those who have been. Who I was is not who you will be. We must be better..."

- listen to the music. It's not his own theme playing in the background. It's Faye's.
The cycle of tragedy and death that has been the gods' existence - it was Faye who taught Kratos the way out of it. We are not our failures. We must be better.
Really, Kratos owes the people around him his entire character arc. With Faye, Atreus, Freya, Mimir, Brok and Sindri, - with them in his life, even a man like Kratos can change.

It just occured to me, Magni and Modi are also representative of possible futures for Atreus. If Kratos goes back to his old ways, they represent what Atreus could grow into, depending on if Kratus instills more Pride or Fear in him.

I totally understand why Kratos feels he doesn’t deserve redemption, he was so cruel in the original trilogy, I absolutely adore his character development in 4 and 5

After seeing Kratos' protection and love for Atreus, even if he keeps him at an arm's length, its easy to think that Kratos would never harm Atreus, would never use corporal punishment. However, taking into account that he, as a Spartan child, was probably beaten often, its suddenly understandable why he has such a lack of understanding when it comes to parenting. He doesn't any any other reference.

Then you brought up Modi, beaten and bloodied by Thor after the death of Magnus. The scene focuses on Modi and Atreus, but I realized that Kratos MUST be looking at Modi like a realization of his worst nightmare: turning his anger on his own son. The scene hits so differently from Kratos' perspective.

It's crazy how while reviving an old IP they completely changed how you're meant to approach the old subject matter. I have no doubt most of the violence in the original games was meant to viewed as cool and exhilarating, they were part of a flood of games at the time that advertised to young adult men using edge, gore, and violence. Their ability to bring back a game of that nature in the midst of a huge culture change that shifted audiences away from that "toxic masculine" type of content, all by basically forcing you to view the original trilogy with anger and disappointment in Kratos's actions AFTER THE FACT is a genius way of going about things. Kudos, Cory Barlog

An excellent touch in the opening scene is that right after Kratos loses control, as he tries to compose himself, the wraps on his arms loosen and dangle the way his old chains used to. You mentioned how they reveal the scars, which is legit. I do think it's more so meant to be evocative of his chains. It's a reminder to the audience, and himself, that the man he once was is still in there. He's come a long way, but not so long that he doesn't get to have an arc across these two games.

It's like the story is saying, "Look at that, Kratos. After all you've worked to better yourself, you might as well still be wearing those chains. At the first tragedy in your new life, you lose yourself to anger yet again."