Stavanger, Norway, 9th Century

As the fallen King Styrbjorn is dragged from the floor, Kjotve's forces start to ransack the village, throwing torches atop the roofs of houses to set them aflame. The wounded King, Dag, Tora and several villagers attempt to fight off the raiders.



The Feiknstafir Temple, Norway, 9th Century

Bjarke Broadside stands over the wounded Eivor, with Gull stating that she hopes the master will be pleased with the prize she has brought him. Bjarke slams Gull's head against a wall, stating that King Kjotve will be happy once he has his promised treasure. Gull reveals that it is actually at Himinbjörg, the mythical mountain where the Norse god Heimdall lived. Enraged at this untruth, he throws Gull to the ground, at which point Eivor tries to rush at him, but is instead flung aside and over the edge of a nearby cliff fall.


The Dniester Pass, 9th Century

Sigurd continues to battle the robed man, until he finds his sword cut in two by the Hidden Blade wielded by the assailant. The fight is cut short, when Sigurd is stabbed in his side and falls to the ground. The attacker looks out a nearby window, and remarking that the Order now lies outside, he makes a jump out to the battlements, parkouring as he goes.


The Feiknstafir Temple, Norway, 9th Century

As Bjarke continues to bark orders to search the temple, the surviving Eivor climbs up from the cliff face, and promptly stabs Bjarke through the skull from behind. Battling with a guard, she notices a nearby wall with a Himinbjörg mural depicted upon it. Smashing it open reveals a room filled with treasure and a pedestal with an Apple of Eden standing upon it. Eivor tries to reach for it, but as she continues to fight the guard, the Apple bounces past her. Gull reaches down and picks up the Apple, calling it the fruit of Idun's Orchard. As she does so, the Apple begins to glow, and she begins to speak differently. Removing her collar, a very visible mark can be seen upon her neck. As the temple begins to collapse, Eivor attempts to take the Apple from her. Gull calls out at her to stop - and Eivor finds herself frozen in place by an unseen force.


The Dniester Pass, 9th Century

Knud dies from his injuries, and two guards stand over the fallen Vikings. Sigurd manages to find his feet, despite his wound, and takes down the two guards with Knud's axe. Heading down into the battlements, he pursues the robed man, whom he discovers in possession of a Shroud. Using the longer axe, Sigurd gets the better of the man this time and grievously wounds him. Fascinated by the Hidden Blade, he cuts it directly from the arm of the man and claims it.


The Feiknstafir Temple, Norway, 9th Century

With the temple now falling down around them, Gull accidentally drops the Apple, releasing Eivor from the unseen hold on her. With Gull now dangerously on a broken ledge with the Apple, Eivor sees that attempting to retrieve the Apple would likely kill them both. Gull states that she now has a choice to either attempt to take the treasure, or to return home swiftly to save her people.



Stavanger, Norway, 9th Century

The battle continues with the wounded King Styrbjorn valiantly fighting on for his people. He is knocked to the ground, but as Tora runs toward him to aid him, she is promptly slain by a sword to the neck. With a raider standing over the King, his head is suddenly removed by the blade of Eivor. With her presence and strength immediately turning the tide of the battle, she calls for all of Stavanger to aid her.


Constantinople, 9th Century

Basim is attended by an assistant, who reports that the Hidden One known as Ammon has been slain, failing to return the Shroud. The assistant points out that he was slain by a Norseman that had a distinctive mark upon his neck. Basim states that he would like to meet this Norseman.


Final Thoughts - Analysis

First of all, I am pleased that my worry over King Styrbjorn's fate possibly having gone against the game canon didn't come to pass – and that he did in fact survive his injuries. Secondly, this issue actually gave us some more interesting ties into the wider lore which was very welcome to see.

The biggest talking point for me is the true identity of Gull, whom is revealed as a Sage during the events of the comic. If you caught our review of the Valhalla game, you'll know that several of the Norse gods have already had confirmed reincarnations from the original eight Isu that partook in the Yggrdrasil experiment. Whilst it is not overtly stated within the comic, there are two stand out Isu options. One is Heimdall, as Gull directs Eivor to “his” mountain. However, we've since confirmed that the character Rig Reidarasson was in fact Heimdall's reincarnation, as confirmed in the Rigsogur text files within the game. If we take Heimdall off the board then, the next suggestion would have to be Idun. She is mentioned by Gull in both the first and third issue of the comic, which is about the nearest we have to any kind of hint at Gull's true identity. It would certainly also explain as to how she so quickly knows how to wield the power of the Apple with no training, as these were reputedly the engineering creation of Idun herself.

If Gull is Idun, then it would be a simple jump in logic to assume that the final remaining Isu to be a part of Odin's most trusted group would most likely be Bragi – the son of Odin and Idun's husband. Indeed, if we look at the entire lineup now through the lens of the Prose Edda, they all have some personal relation to Odin in some fashion, revealing a leader who selfishly put his own family first – to the exclusion of others such as Loki and Aletheia. But who could Bragi be within the events of the game? Well not to make it too on the nose, but why not our very own namesake longship skald Bragi? After all, he seems to retell tales of Odin as if he was actually there. Admittedly he does not have the usual neck marking, but neither does Halfdan so it is not a cast iron proof in that respect either. It is an interesting theory nonetheless until we get some kind of official confirmation.

Going back to the comic though, it was nice to see Basim here, and I found it pretty intriguing that he is evidently seeking a Shroud of Eden. This follows on from our previous theory that he is indeed looking to recreate the resurrection process that was used during the ill fated Abstergo Phoenix Project – which also utilised the reparation powers of the Shroud technology. It evidently goes to show that even way back in Eivor's time period, the Loki identity was already present and planning out how to bring Aletheia (and assumedly his children) back to life.

Finally we see that Sigurd's search for a unique weapon ends in obtaining a Hidden Blade. We therefore assume this is indeed the very same one that he hands to Eivor early in the game narrative.

A fitting end point for the comic then, and it was nice to have this exploration of Eivor's life prior to the game. Interesting too that she was exposed to an Apple of Eden so early on, and we may yet see this or perhaps Gull in the upcoming game DLCs.