Who Betrayed Soma in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla?
The Stench of Treachery is one of the quests that can be found in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Given the name, it should come as no surprise to learn that the player is tasked with finding the individual who has betrayed the jarlskona Soma. Theoretically, interested individuals can uncover said information by searching for clues. However, there is the option of looking up the answer as well, which can be much more convenient for those who aren’t interested in that kind of thing.
Who Is the Background for The Stench of Treachery?
It is useful to mention something about the context in which the quest is situated. In short, Soma is one of the members of the Great Heathen Army that has invaded Anglo-Saxon England. Moreover, she has been very successful, as shown by how she became close to not one but two notable leaders. Something that contributed a great deal to Soma’s ability to secure the high-ranking title of jarlskona for herself. For context, said title translated to something along the lines of “chieftain,” which could mean the ruler of a petty kingdom in their own right or someone who had been entrusted with the rule of a particular piece of territory by someone even more powerful. Indeed, jarl is cognate with the Anglo-Saxon title that would evolve into the modern “earl.” In any case, when the Great Heathen Army captured Grantebridge from the Kingdom of Mercia, Soma was the one who volunteered to hold it. In that time, she acquired three trusted followers, who would be Birna, Galinn, and Lif. Later, Grantebridge came under attack from Wigmund seeking to reclaim it for the Kingdom of Mercia. His initial efforts were unsuccessful. However, he was eventually able to sneak soldiers into the city through a secret tunnel revealed to him by someone on the inside, thus enabling him to reclaim it. Soma herself managed to make it to a smaller settlement called Middletun. Meanwhile, Soma’s three trusted followers became scattered in the local swamps. At this point, the player intervenes in the situation. They start out by reuniting Soma with her three trusted followers. After which, the player helps her to recapture Grantebridge, though Wigmund manages to escape by making use of the secret tunnel a second time. This is the point when Soma tasks the player with finding out the traitor, which makes a fair amount of sense because every single one of her three trusted followers are under suspicion.
Who Is the One Who Betrayed Soma?
As mentioned earlier, interested individuals can figure out everything on their own by searching for clues. However, it is amusing to note that they don’t need to do any of that because the game gives them the option of making a guess even if they haven’t found any evidence. As such, it is very much possible for the player to get the wrong individual killed at Soma’s hands. This isn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Still, if interested individuals want the satisfaction of getting things right, they should know that the true traitor was Galinn.
How Do We Know that Said Individual Is the One Who Betrayed Soma?
If people are curious about how we know that Galinn is the true traitor, well, there are a number of important things that can be turned up with a bit of searching. For starters, investing the secret tunnel will reveal the use of yellow paint, which extends to the Saxons’ landing point during the attack. This is extremely suspicious to say the least. However, there is even stronger evidence in the form of a letter that can be found in a hut in Utbech Camp. Said letter was written by Wigmund, who tells the Saxons to attack every viking who escapes Grantebridge with the exception of a longship that has been painted yellow because that is the vessel that carries the individual responsible for their victory. As such, it seems safe to say that finding the user of the yellow paint means finding the traitor. This information will enable the player to rule out Lif pretty much right away when they question the suspects. This is because Lif reveals that someone stole yellow paint from him before the attack. Moreover, he makes it clear that yellow paint isn’t cheap stuff that can be gotten from just anywhere, meaning that chances are good that this stolen yellow paint was put to use by the traitor. Theoretically, Lif might be revealing some true information in an attempt to divert attention from himself.
In practice, this seems unlikely, particularly since he also states that he has never painted a longship yellow because it would be too expensive. Something that is too easily checked out to be a good lie. As such, this whole thing makes Lif less suspicious. Moving on, there are still Birna and Galinn. Birna does seem like she has motive. In short, she loves Soma but Soma doesn’t love her. Moreover, Birna has mused about pulling the metaphorical thorn from her chest by leaving Soma behind. However, that is far from being enough to say that she betrayed Soma, particularly since as she pointed out, if she wanted to be gone, she would be gone. Instead, the most persuasive piece of evidence is that the player can head northeast from a fishing dock to reach the longship that has been painted yellow, which is guarded by Saxon soldiers. Once they get the chance to check out the longship, they can find an inscription on its inner hull. Something that makes it very clear that the longship belongs to Galinn. Certainly, Galinn will deny the whole thing while trying to redirect suspicion towards Lif because Lif is in charge of the paints. However, the ownership of the ship is unmistakable, which in turn, means that the identity of the traitor is unmistakable. Once interested individuals are satisfied, they can warp up everything by making their guess to Soma, who will then promptly kill the traitor.
