WARNING: The following contains spoilers for American Gods Season 3, Episode 10, "Tears of the Wrath-Bearing Tree," which aired Sunday on Starz.
With Mr. Wednesday dead, his allies, Shadow Moon, Mr. Ibis, Cordelia and Czernobog, come together to give him a proper Norse farwell; however, because of this, Shadow has a key role to play in the Allfather's vigil. While Shadow believes this is his destiny as Odin's son, as Mr. Ibis tells him, it's best he walk away given his role in the Norse god's vigil.
As Mr. Ibis and Shadow check in, Shadow tries to see Wednesday's body, but Czernobog stops him because he can't see Wednesday until midnight. This sparks a conversation between the two about how to respect Wednesday's final wishes for an old Norse death ritual, which is when Shadow brings up how their former arrangement included Shadow being a part of the vigil if Wednesday died.
Czernobog thinks it's ridiculous that Shadow would participate in the vigil, and even Mr. Ibis is taken back by this. As Ibis reveals, there is more to the vigil than Shadow initially expected. According to Ibis, a vigil for a Norse god requires the subject -- Shadow -- to be bound to the World Tree, Yggdrasil. This is what Odin did centuries ago for nine days and nine nights, and Shadow must repeat this.
This acts as an endurance test for gods, but it means certain death for a mortal. As a demigod, it's unclear what this means for Shadow, but he believe he can survive it, just like his father did. As retold in Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, Odin sacrificed himself to the World Tree for knowledge of the runes and for power. After hanging there for nine days and nights, runes were revealed to him and Odin was freed from the tree, now understanding the runes, their powers and magic.
Unfortunately Shadow does not see the same results as his father. After being prepared for the vigil by the Norns, the caretakers of Yggdrasil, Shadow is ready to be hoisted onto the tree, despite Cordelia's pleas for him to not do this. As the branches wrap around him and hoist him up, the Norns give him one piece of advice: do not fight it.
As days go by, Shadow does not receive magical knowledge like Odin did in the myths. Instead, he has visions where Laura tells him he's dying. He also uses a magic trick Wednesday taught him to cope with the lack of water, making it snow on him; however, this backfires, as he is soon exposed to freezing temperatures he cannot protect himself from.
To make matters worse, the tree branches pierce Shadow's torso, making him cough up blood. As the branches further suffocate him, Shadow has one more vision where he is back on the plane from Season 1, Episode 1, and he learns that this was all part of Wednesday's plan to get his son to sacrifice himself for him. It appears to be a success, with the World Tree swallowing Shadow and Wednesday's corpse vanishing, thus ending Season 3 of American Gods.
Based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, American Gods stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Ian McShane, Omid Abtahi and Ashley Reyes. The series airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.
0 Comments