Assassin's Creed Valhalla Oswald | Should you kill or spare Rued?

As Eivor continues their role of king-maker across the breadth of medieval England, they make their way to East Anglia - Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s third region. There, in a quest to install Oswald on the throne, they must make a difficult decision: should you kill or spare Rued?

The Viking raider, Rued, has plagued East Anglia since his arrival - pillaging the home of Saxons and Danes alike. With one swing of their axe Eivor could end it all by killing the brute, or show mercy as Oswald commands.

Here’s what happens in the rest of the story arc if you choose to either kill or spare Rued.

Be advised, this choice directly affects subsequent events, and therefore we will have to include minor spoilers for the quest following the defeat of Rued.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla - Should you kill or spare Rued?

After your sea-faring siege of Rued’s fortress and victory in his boss battle, the choice of his fate falls to you.

The raven on your shoulder implores you to kill Rued in line with the old Viking laws, but Oswald preaches mercy, asking you to spare his life.

If you choose to kill Rued, you skip the twist at the end of the quest arc - but Finnr will always join your crew.

If you choose to spare Rued, Finnr can either join your crew, or stay in East Anglia based on another choice in the following quest.

The “good” - and probably intended - ending of the quest is to spare Rued. But it also adds more drama to events as well.

If you kill Rued:

• Oswald will be upset with your choice and less effusive in his praise for you
• This will however not harm your alliance with East Anglia
• You skip a scene and potential boss battle in the following quest
• Finnr, bored and unimpressed by Oswald, joins the Raven Clan crew in search of glory

If you spare Rued:

• Oswald will arrest Rued and have him stand trial
• You unlock the choice of an optional boss fight in the following quest
• Depending on your choice in the subsequent quest, Finnr will either join the Raven Clan crew, or find renewed purpose for his life in East Anglia

After a spoiler warning, we'll run through the consequences of that choice below.

Should you let Oswald fight Rued at the Wedding?

Free of captivity, Rued rears his head again in this story arc - and again, it's Eivor's choice of how to end the saga.

If you fight as Oswald's champion, then Rued is dead and Finnr will join up with the Ravens.

If you let Oswald fulfil his role as king of East Anglia, Finnr will be so affected by the outcome that he stays.

Basically, your choice here is whether you want to add another Viking to your ranks, or get the warm and fuzziest ending to this section of the story.

For more on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, check out our run-down of the full skill tree, here.

Or, we also have a page on the best early, mid, and late-game weapons.