Assassins or Ragnarök: You Decide

Senior Assassins, an infamous WSHS tradition, is stirring up controversy among the class of ‘23. WSHS administration and leadership adopted the tradition and relabeled it Ragnarök.

This game, at its premise, is that each person playing gets a target and must eliminate them by the end of the week. To stay safe, there are immunities designated, and a person who participates in that immunity cannot get out. 

Recently an underground game of Assassins has formed, trying to stab back at the administration for “cannibalizing one of the last fun things seniors can do,” said the Game Master. The Game Master is the head person in charge of this game and remains anonymous to the public. By making their own game, “It helps alleviate the rough school year.”

They say that the game being a school event “wouldn’t garner the same emotion or response from seniors,” as their version of the game. They further mention how the Ice Gala had a lack of interest due to pandering so heavily, and the same thing would happen with Ragnarök. Overall, the Game Master says, “this game is being done for fun,” and they “can’t stand to see a tradition die out” in such a disrespectful manner.

On the opposing end, we have the newly founded game of Ragnarök. The term comes from old mythology, and translated to “Doom of the Gods,” signifying the end of an era, with an ultimate battle. Ragnarök has the premise of the original game of assassins, but with safer immunities. Teacher Rebeca Swain says this is because “The Game Masters of previous years had some very inappropriate immunities that were disruptive to the learning environment.” She adds that the game “gambles on school grounds,” and the county wants to take control of that. In addition, other schools like Colgan, Osbourn Park, and Battlefield have started running games for seniors. Swain states that this year, “There won’t be any inappropriate immunities like having to keep a goldfish alive in your mouth or having to walk a senior on a leash, which is very racist and indicative of slavery.” Overall, Ragnarök predicts a large amount of student participation.

We have seen the perspectives of each senior game. The choice is yours. Ragnarök has the prize of prom tickets for the winners, and the event is led by Mrs. Swain and SALC. Senior Assassins is an anonymous student trying to keep the tradition alive and has a prize pot of 150 dollars. Or you could pick neither of these options and watch the chaos commence. Let us look at what students are thinking.

Senior Yumi Macatangay says, at the least, she wants the game to be safe. “But at the same time, it’s the Seniors’ game it shouldn’t be admin’s game to control.” She adds that Ragnarök will be boring and not as much fun as previous years. “I want chaos, fun.”

Another student feels that “seniors should run the game on their own” and admin should not interfere with that.

Whether you have signed up for Assassins or Ragnarök, all seniors want to have a fun time during their last year of school. Hopefully, as a community, we can achieve that.