Everyone, everyone who loves critical role needs to know about this and watch it. I knew about the I'm sorry but I never knew he was saving a wish for Vax I truly loved this series more than anything and when it ended my heart shattered... I am glad I have a DnD group and season two...
Jick Dealdus me too..... our dnd group also had a fight against a vecna buuuuuuut...... we got DESTROYED ( we had like 2/3 spell casters and vecna did a anti magic field cause pir dm is a dick)
My personal favorite part of the session was right at the end when Matt thanked everyone who stuck around and Sam goes, "Those of you that are still with us? That's everybody." Watching that moment live really solidified the CR family we've got going here. Love ya all.
@David Campbell Arkhan was taking it to Hell, he's on a war path to set Tiamat free from her imprisonment - he actually showed up in a official DND book set in the first layer of hell not long after the end of campaign 1 (Sorry if you knew that and this is condescending)
David Campbell he’s trying to get Tiamat free of hell. He’s in Descent into Avernus as an npc you can interact with and fight. I don’t think he knew Arkhan would be in an official campaign at the time, but the character’s intention was the same.
@@Aplesedjr they had only started on avernus at the time this campaign was played and the writers wrote Arkhan into the story and listened to how he imagined it to be
You can see Travis realise what he's going to do as Arkhan says he's going to destroy the hand. He probably wanted to stop him, but naturally Grog wouldn't be able to infer this so he didn't make any moves.
Except that Scanlan failed the ritual and it was Keyleth who took over the book and went through words she couldn't even understand to finally perform the rites of banishment.
"I'm sorry, Vax...... I can't let him go away..... so I have to let you go..... I'm so sorry...." _turns to Vecna_ "COUNTERSPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" _everything shatters_
That one moment, when a bard broke down, despite his best effort, he couldn't save one he cared for. For all the fighting they had done, for everything that this meant to them all, he alone had a plan to rewrite history, to defy a god, to keep the family whole.......and he came up short, saving the world was more important in that moment, but at such a high cost, the world he had known, that he had been a part of was broken, torn asunder, to never be repaired. And while the stories live on about how Vox Machina saved the day, the world, and everyone in it, there sits in a tavern, lost in thought a gnome, who did everything in his power to bring about the one outcome everyone had secretly yearned for.....and as he stares into the tankard at the bar, a single black raven watches from the window, wanting him to not mourn for the one who was lost, but to be proud that he was able to be there with his friend in those final moments
I watched Sam use that counterspell like 4 times in various versions and recaps... I can not stop crying... Its just such an honest and genuine moment in and out of game.
"Teleport out, I'm sorry it was just business." Lmao one of the best mic-drops ever. Like he led in with the smooth sentimental act...then boom dropped the bomb right after. Hahaha
Interesting how Joe does about 6 actions in one sentence and no one says "Hold the F on!!! OH HELL NO!" 1. Says a prayer to Tiamat? 2. Chops his hand off 3. Chops the hand of Venca off 4. Puts the hand of vecna on his stump 5. Heals 6. Teleports away. Never would have happened in any group I have ever played with. Any one of the other characters could have and would have stopped that nonsense from happening.
@@tylerdurden639 if you really want to get into the semantics of it then he could've used his bonus action for a frenzy attack to chop off the hand, interact with object to graft the hand of vecna(which was already chopped off), and then standard action to teleport away. the prayer isn't an action at all, and he didn't need to use healing
Ironically, as a Bard like Scanlan would actually understand this, in stories that's what it takes: an ultimate sacrifice to destroy or stop an ultimate evil. Save Vax yet let Vecna get away to return stronger, more prepared, or stop him at the cost of a friend staying dead. Ultimate sacrifice. Even Vax had to understand this...
It's bad enough that Scanlan had to weigh his his best friend's life against the world, but then Liam's realization that Sam was saving a 9th level Wish to keep his character alive just rips your heart out further. The look on his face after Sam confirms it is so hard hitting.
You can see how utterly shocked he is to see Sam use his 9th level spell as well. I like to think that as a fan of the story, Matt himself was sad to see that happen. It was one of the few chances that Sam had to save Vax and Matt knew it.
Narratively speaking, Vax's death is far more profound than Scanlan saving him would have been. But Scanlan's sacrifice of his Wish spell makes it even more so; surrendering what was likely his only chance to actually save Vax in order to ensure Vecna's defeat is the most you could ever ask of a hero.
Drew Townsend Matt never said the wish spell could save vax. In talk machina after the session he said sam before hand for a few weeks had been asking him the limits of the wish and had eventually asked what it could do against a gods will. “One wish is like the power of a billion whereas a gods will and abilities are like the power of multiple wishes” Sam was going to wait right before the raven queen claimed vaxs soul to probally wish for vaxs original death to be undone. That wouldve been his best bet but also probally wouldve fucked up the timeline. Would have been interesting to see how matt as a dm would run with it.
Sure. All that considered, it still would have been Sam's one chance to save Vax and Matt, being a fan of the story himself, was saddened to see that chance lost in favor of defeating the main villain.
I started watching Critical Role, long after this episode originally aired, right after someone I really loved left me, and I was starting my final year of graduate school. It was a time of a lot of sadness and uncertainty. I blew through the show, turning to it whenever I got stressed or scared or sad. It just so happened that I got to this episode a few days before my thesis was due. I had already gotten a job I was really excited about. So when I hit the "Submit" button, I put this episode on, and cried for four straight hours. It was beautiful and intense and meant so, so much for me. I felt so connected to Keyleth and so sad for her. That night I watched this episode represents a turning point in my life, and in hers. It was so beautiful to watch a group of friends rally around each other, like mine had rallied around me. Thank you for posting this highlight video; it helps me relive a very special moment in my life, and the joy and the exhaustion and the pride and the love embedded in it all.
Sam asked What's the worst character? What's the worst class? The name came from a generator. And then there was this episode...Whoever would have thought, everyone cried. MVP, and clutch as hell. A 9th level counterspell should be renamed a bard's tears or something
what makes this even better is to know that this campaign was actually one of the first if not the first D&D game for Sam and Liam was the one who introduced him to this world, yet, during the whole first campaign, especially during the fight against Vecna, we see how Sam is not only playing a role, but he's interiorizing the whole character and the world, he was trying to see every possibility, every scenario, making plans several steps ahead of the rest, that's certainly impressive, and we also know Sam is not only the MVP of the game but a complete D&D genius when we learn that as a kind of joke he decided to play as the worst character Liam could think of, and yet, he turned that character into one of the keys if not the key player in the whole campaign and he gave us not only these epic plays but also these emotional moments that affected the story of the campaign they were playing beautifully making it a story that holds so much meaning, the sacrifice that Scanlan/Sam did to save the world, the way he was willing to keep fighting even after defeating Vecna, how he fought the best he could even when he was keeping his level 9 spell hidden, and how he was able to counter practically a god and created the opportunity to seal him... Sam/Scanlan deserves our respects.
Very very well done. This was a great way to 'watch it again' without taking 5 hours to do so. Excellent highlight reel. Nice musical accompaniment. Thank you. Will be watching this many times over in the coming weeks.
@@premejon8300 Yeah by far Sam knows his tactics more than anyone else at the table. From weighing the pros and cons of saving a wish, to counterspelling counterspell, to forgoing disengage to lure an attack of opportunity, and leave his character on very low health just so the rest of his allies can escape.
THIS. THIS IS THE COMMENT THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I first saw this comment when I was still on my road to discovering Critical Role. Now that I'm watching Campaign 3 I like to remember these moments and this comment is one that stuck out to me the most. Thank you.
When Sam Riegel and Liam O‘Brian first discussed playing a one-shot for Liam‘s birthday, Sam said on the „All Work No Play“ podcast that he wanted to create the worst character, deliberately picking what seemed to him like the weakest race/class combination. Years later his little gnome bard showed the ascended god Vecna who‘s boss.
I was sitting at the knoxville hospital with my son who was born 6 weeks early when I heard this the first time. It helped keep me sane. Thanks critical role for that!
Imagine a story this epic, with characters bursting with depth, animated. Between Matt's legendary storytelling and the cast's brilliant characters and how they are with each other, this would make a truly EPIC show
Everytime sam starts to cry....I cry. In all my years of dnd never have I seen a more sad , more loving , and more powerful moment. Thank you critical role for all these moments.
I really appreciate you going through the entire episode and editing these clips together. It's absolutely wonderful and it warms my heart to be able to watch this over and over again.
The saddest and most loving of counterspells. Sam is a fucking brilliant man. Liam and Sam's interactions throughout the campaign are the best. I love them
3:04 Sam: "I cast Counterspell." Matt: "Ok. At what level?" Sam, smiling, nervous and almost resigned to fail: "Three." Matt: "Ok. Go ahead and roll." Sam rolls. Joe and Taliesin start howling. The rest is history.
6:15 I've watched camping 1,2 and first season of LOVM, and I think so far - THIS moment was literally the most heart-breaking moment of them all. such love, devotion, dedication and respect to your friends and game, and an amazing moment that was shared with, and fully felt by, the viewers and fans. uhhh I love these guys so much!!
Not to ruin the otherwise heavy emotion of this episode but love the kinda badass just steal the hand and teleport out from Arkhan. Clearly set the stage for campaign number 2
@@KINFIN123 Well, when you're somebody that pulls off something like stealing the hand of a god AND getting away with it, that's a feat enough to put you in the annals of history
@@ferofax He was only able to do so because the rest of the party stood there like knobs. Says a prayer to Tiamat? If he was an oathbreaker paladin, and was evil, why in the nein hells did the party let a character like that into the party. Plus Joe did like 6 actions in that sentence, I would have interrupted his soliloquy and said hold the F on... Roll initiative! Once he chopped his hand off, the jig was up and his head would have been coming off, or he would eat a fireball, or a backstab or any other way to stop him from taking the hand. "Sorry Joe... This is *PERSONAL! You are NOT going to steal the hand that the whole party spent months chasing down."
The tears!!! They won't stop! God that was just so good and your editing made all the points that made me want to cry even more powerful. Freakin' amazing job my friend.
True, he is technically the newest. He has however played Scanlan for almost 6 years at this point. The man knows what he is doing. Sam/Scanlan is quite often MVP
I love how quick he was with it. Like the players could barely react to it so the character wouldve been shell shocked. Who is hoping he is a recurring villain and shows up against the mighty 9 somewhere. Perhaps as another ally lmao
This made me cry from pretty much every emotion known throughout the universe. They’re such a powerful group and you made an amazing video as tribute. Thank you to you and Vox Machina and all the critters everywhere.
I cried... Then watching them and now watching this... The music didn't help hold back :) Well done to you and well done to VM Favorited without a second thought ;)
This was amazing! Maybe it's just because I'm watching this video so soon after watching the episode itself, but I am right back into the rollercoaster of emotion that this episode put me on, and it's going pretty fast.
What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful video. Yes, all three were needed and deserved. Thank you for putting it up and thank you for everyone who watches this and calling themselves Critters.
the fact that scanlan was saving that level 9 spell for vax, especially after everything that happened between the two of them, that makes me so fucking emotional. scanlan pulled vax from the edge of despair, saying his life with VM was better than anything he’d experienced before, only to leave them and essentially tell vax he was lying, that he found something more important than their makeshift family, that he was useless to them. then he came back, and was fully prepared to use the most valuable spell in his arsenal to save vax for his makeshift family. any post-rift scanlan moment makes me so goddamn emotional
"I'm sorry, it was just business." 😂😂😂 That moment reminded me why I enjoyed playing so much ten years ago, and excited to play my first game again this weekend. I thought it was amazing! Such a brilliant, cinematic moment! Then seeing the comments of ppl who hated it makes me not so excited...
Even though I haven't seen a single episode of campaign 1, I still get teary-eyed watching that 9th level counterspell. I can't wait for this to be animated in TLOVM.
One of the greatest dnd campagns ever completed and recorded! I am in awe the level of emotion. Drama. Love. Hate. And tears went into all of this! A true masterpiece of table top history this was!
This is an incredible video, very well edited. But more than that, it does an amazing job of selecting which scenes to perfectly sum up this battle. It really captures the feeling of those episodes perfectly.
The counter spell was amazing but I dont know why I found Sam reading the Rights of banishment to be so much of a tear jerker for me. Something about the way he did it and narrated it got to me.
Scanlan was a meme character that wasn't supposed to stick around long, and by the end of the campaign he became one of the most powerful members of the group. Campaign One was truly something special.
Here is a recap of one of my favorite episodes of Critical Role and the best fight in the history of DnD. Enjoy!
Johnyrocket33 I love what you did here. Amazing that every time scanlan does that 9th level counter spell, I start to tear up.
Everyone, everyone who loves critical role needs to know about this and watch it. I knew about the I'm sorry but I never knew he was saving a wish for Vax I truly loved this series more than anything and when it ended my heart shattered... I am glad I have a DnD group and season two...
Jick Dealdus me too..... our dnd group also had a fight against a vecna buuuuuuut...... we got DESTROYED ( we had like 2/3 spell casters and vecna did a anti magic field cause pir dm is a dick)
Ø
It’s attributed to Don Gable. “6 walked in a room willing to fight a god. One walked in willing to fight two.”
I saw a line someone said, "The heroes entered prepared to face a god, one of them entered prepared to face two"
I think that was Matt Colville?
SporeDemigod it was sam
It's one of the top comments on episode 114. You can go read it now if you like.
NOOOOOOOO I'm still sad about it
Here is the original, I believe:
Don Gable
Six people walked into that room willing to fight a god. One walked in willing to fight two.
I think everyone should thank Liam for introducing Sam to D&D, Sam is one of the best players in the group.
My personal favorite part of the session was right at the end when Matt thanked everyone who stuck around and Sam goes, "Those of you that are still with us? That's everybody." Watching that moment live really solidified the CR family we've got going here. Love ya all.
YES! I thought the same way! I even almost put that in there, I was live too and i loved when he said that!
That moment when you realize Arkhan looked Grog dead in the eyes as he teleported away
@David Campbell Arkhan was taking it to Hell, he's on a war path to set Tiamat free from her imprisonment - he actually showed up in a official DND book set in the first layer of hell not long after the end of campaign 1 (Sorry if you knew that and this is condescending)
David Campbell he’s trying to get Tiamat free of hell. He’s in Descent into Avernus as an npc you can interact with and fight. I don’t think he knew Arkhan would be in an official campaign at the time, but the character’s intention was the same.
@@Aplesedjr they had only started on avernus at the time this campaign was played and the writers wrote Arkhan into the story and listened to how he imagined it to be
That was joe looking at Travis. Travis was PISSED
You can see Travis realise what he's going to do as Arkhan says he's going to destroy the hand. He probably wanted to stop him, but naturally Grog wouldn't be able to infer this so he didn't make any moves.
Funny is that BigBy was one of the 8 mages. Most powerful wizards. Killed by Vecna. In the end, his hand held whom banished hin
I wasn't able to follow what you typed in this comment.
BigBy=one of the great mages(whom created the BigBi's hand spell), Vecna killed him. Now his hand holds the gnome of his demise
That was worded so so so so much better. And thanks for editing the original comment as well.
Except that Scanlan failed the ritual and it was Keyleth who took over the book and went through words she couldn't even understand to finally perform the rites of banishment.
Poetic justice
THE SADDEST COUNTERSPELL. Makes me tear up every time
Literally the worst
Johnyrocket33 Or literally the best? Eh?
The way Sam's voice breaks when he asks "Would I have a reaction?"...
In this instance it was more Sam who wanted to save his best friend Liam actually. Still makes me cry
Matt’s look of absolute horror was perfect tho
"I'm sorry, Vax...... I can't let him go away..... so I have to let you go..... I'm so sorry...."
_turns to Vecna_
"COUNTERSPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
_everything shatters_
Oh god why! I just read this in Sam's voice. ;___;
I almost cried :-(
@@lovesmuffins123 Well, i fuckin did!
I felt every bit of that
Guess who just started the waterworks again.
That one moment, when a bard broke down, despite his best effort, he couldn't save one he cared for. For all the fighting they had done, for everything that this meant to them all, he alone had a plan to rewrite history, to defy a god, to keep the family whole.......and he came up short, saving the world was more important in that moment, but at such a high cost, the world he had known, that he had been a part of was broken, torn asunder, to never be repaired. And while the stories live on about how Vox Machina saved the day, the world, and everyone in it, there sits in a tavern, lost in thought a gnome, who did everything in his power to bring about the one outcome everyone had secretly yearned for.....and as he stares into the tankard at the bar, a single black raven watches from the window, wanting him to not mourn for the one who was lost, but to be proud that he was able to be there with his friend in those final moments
Well said my friend well said (I’m crying my eyes out right now😭😭😭😭😭)
I watched Sam use that counterspell like 4 times in various versions and recaps... I can not stop crying... Its just such an honest and genuine moment in and out of game.
The man did not roleplay the sorrow, he was truly feeling it.
"Teleport out, I'm sorry it was just business." Lmao one of the best mic-drops ever. Like he led in with the smooth sentimental act...then boom dropped the bomb right after. Hahaha
Actually one of the worst douche-bag moves possible considering how little time he spent with the group.
@@Crimgar true to his character, so it’s a good move.
Interesting how Joe does about 6 actions in one sentence and no one says "Hold the F on!!! OH HELL NO!"
1. Says a prayer to Tiamat?
2. Chops his hand off
3. Chops the hand of Venca off
4. Puts the hand of vecna on his stump
5. Heals
6. Teleports away.
Never would have happened in any group I have ever played with. Any one of the other characters could have and would have stopped that nonsense from happening.
@@tylerdurden639 they respected the acting. He had to sell it
@@tylerdurden639 if you really want to get into the semantics of it then he could've used his bonus action for a frenzy attack to chop off the hand, interact with object to graft the hand of vecna(which was already chopped off), and then standard action to teleport away. the prayer isn't an action at all, and he didn't need to use healing
The saddest counterspell in history... forever, ever and always...
The saddest and the most powerful one
Ironically, as a Bard like Scanlan would actually understand this, in stories that's what it takes: an ultimate sacrifice to destroy or stop an ultimate evil.
Save Vax yet let Vecna get away to return stronger, more prepared, or stop him at the cost of a friend staying dead. Ultimate sacrifice. Even Vax had to understand this...
Always felt alil bummed he didnt roll the dice and save the wish. DC 18 on 1d20+1d12+6. Id have taken those odds
Can't wait to see it animated. A conflicted Scanlan just screaming, "Oh no you don't, taint smear!" Before canceling the Teleportation.
Sam was gonna cast his ninth lvl spell to cast wish on Liam to bring him back to to life. When I heard that I almost cried.
You almost? You're souless... I cry every gorram time I see this episode 😂
@@mateocano8326 Same here
I love that moment when he says '9' Matt's face. He knew exactly what he gave up to make that counter spell...
It's bad enough that Scanlan had to weigh his his best friend's life against the world, but then Liam's realization that Sam was saving a 9th level Wish to keep his character alive just rips your heart out further. The look on his face after Sam confirms it is so hard hitting.
I always like to think that "The Might Nein/Nine" is a tribute to the ninth level spell Scanlan cast to keep Vecna there.
Ohhh shoot, that makes sense
@@fizzybernie also pretty sure it was liam/caleb that suggested it, which only makes it better in my opinion.
In general they say the name just came from the zemnian (aka german) pronounciation of "nine" Caleb did the whole time in the Season 2.
Oh great, it's the person that ruins peoples fun, always nice to see you can't outrun it.
@@damiensmidt6708 Jesus you didn't have to be so sour about it. He was just saying.
Matt's face when Scanlan uses that counterspell at 9th level is priceless
You can see how utterly shocked he is to see Sam use his 9th level spell as well. I like to think that as a fan of the story, Matt himself was sad to see that happen. It was one of the few chances that Sam had to save Vax and Matt knew it.
Narratively speaking, Vax's death is far more profound than Scanlan saving him would have been. But Scanlan's sacrifice of his Wish spell makes it even more so; surrendering what was likely his only chance to actually save Vax in order to ensure Vecna's defeat is the most you could ever ask of a hero.
Drew Townsend Matt never said the wish spell could save vax. In talk machina after the session he said sam before hand for a few weeks had been asking him the limits of the wish and had eventually asked what it could do against a gods will. “One wish is like the power of a billion whereas a gods will and abilities are like the power of multiple wishes”
Sam was going to wait right before the raven queen claimed vaxs soul to probally wish for vaxs original death to be undone. That wouldve been his best bet but also probally wouldve fucked up the timeline. Would have been interesting to see how matt as a dm would run with it.
Sure. All that considered, it still would have been Sam's one chance to save Vax and Matt, being a fan of the story himself, was saddened to see that chance lost in favor of defeating the main villain.
I think part of Matt forgot scanlan still had that spell. I mean it literally was him fighting with an arm tied behind his back and still had it left.
7 near-demigods entered the tower to fight a god
1 god damn Bard entered the tower to fight 2
I started watching Critical Role, long after this episode originally aired, right after someone I really loved left me, and I was starting my final year of graduate school. It was a time of a lot of sadness and uncertainty. I blew through the show, turning to it whenever I got stressed or scared or sad. It just so happened that I got to this episode a few days before my thesis was due. I had already gotten a job I was really excited about. So when I hit the "Submit" button, I put this episode on, and cried for four straight hours. It was beautiful and intense and meant so, so much for me. I felt so connected to Keyleth and so sad for her. That night I watched this episode represents a turning point in my life, and in hers. It was so beautiful to watch a group of friends rally around each other, like mine had rallied around me. Thank you for posting this highlight video; it helps me relive a very special moment in my life, and the joy and the exhaustion and the pride and the love embedded in it all.
Scanlan was the MVP beyond words...
Sam asked What's the worst character? What's the worst class? The name came from a generator. And then there was this episode...Whoever would have thought, everyone cried. MVP, and clutch as hell. A 9th level counterspell should be renamed a bard's tears or something
what makes this even better is to know that this campaign was actually one of the first if not the first D&D game for Sam and Liam was the one who introduced him to this world, yet, during the whole first campaign, especially during the fight against Vecna, we see how Sam is not only playing a role, but he's interiorizing the whole character and the world, he was trying to see every possibility, every scenario, making plans several steps ahead of the rest, that's certainly impressive, and we also know Sam is not only the MVP of the game but a complete D&D genius when we learn that as a kind of joke he decided to play as the worst character Liam could think of, and yet, he turned that character into one of the keys if not the key player in the whole campaign and he gave us not only these epic plays but also these emotional moments that affected the story of the campaign they were playing beautifully making it a story that holds so much meaning, the sacrifice that Scanlan/Sam did to save the world, the way he was willing to keep fighting even after defeating Vecna, how he fought the best he could even when he was keeping his level 9 spell hidden, and how he was able to counter practically a god and created the opportunity to seal him... Sam/Scanlan deserves our respects.
Travis at the beginning makes me laugh IMMEDIATELY every time lmao. "NO I DONT WANT TOOOOOO!!!!!"
"Nine."
All these years later and one word is all it takes to bring the tears back.
Very very well done. This was a great way to 'watch it again' without taking 5 hours to do so. Excellent highlight reel. Nice musical accompaniment. Thank you. Will be watching this many times over in the coming weeks.
What a nice thing to say! thank you
Yup,immediately added to my liked videos and it tears me up every single time. I love it. So well done.
That last counterspell is spot on "Tell Tale Games" no-win situation.
Saving the world is not a win ?
@@raryraru woosh
@@ClandestineSnowman leave Brittany asking
“I want to be just the worst, what’s the worst thing I can be?”
“I think, maybe, a gnome bard?”
“That sounds awful, I love it”
Sam and Liam pre CR
sorufa888 From trolling the entire campaign to becoming a clutch god. “You we’re saving a wish for me?..” 😢
@@premejon8300 Yeah by far Sam knows his tactics more than anyone else at the table. From weighing the pros and cons of saving a wish, to counterspelling counterspell, to forgoing disengage to lure an attack of opportunity, and leave his character on very low health just so the rest of his allies can escape.
THIS. THIS IS THE COMMENT THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.
I first saw this comment when I was still on my road to discovering Critical Role. Now that I'm watching Campaign 3 I like to remember these moments and this comment is one that stuck out to me the most. Thank you.
When Sam Riegel and Liam O‘Brian first discussed playing a one-shot for Liam‘s birthday, Sam said on the „All Work No Play“ podcast that he wanted to create the worst character, deliberately picking what seemed to him like the weakest race/class combination. Years later his little gnome bard showed the ascended god Vecna who‘s boss.
I was sitting at the knoxville hospital with my son who was born 6 weeks early when I heard this the first time. It helped keep me sane. Thanks critical role for that!
I can’t wait to see this adapted in the show, this will be so cool to see
Imagine a story this epic, with characters bursting with depth, animated. Between Matt's legendary storytelling and the cast's brilliant characters and how they are with each other, this would make a truly EPIC show
What a coincidence
There's an Animated Series in the making
@@koreshura641 made! release is february 2022!
Get ready because it comes out tomorrow.
This aged well ^
Everytime sam starts to cry....I cry. In all my years of dnd never have I seen a more sad , more loving , and more powerful moment. Thank you critical role for all these moments.
"I asked liam what were the two worst things to play as...he said 'there are no really bad ones but maybe, a gnome and a bard?'"
Unknown to him, that day he helped found a god and friend
It’s been a whole week since that episode and I’ve watched the clip numerous times.
I still can’t stop from tearing up and crying.
Its seriously too emotional of an episode
The suppressed glee in Matt's voice when he says 'and it sunders the tower'...
I don't know if this magic ever will or ever can me found again. Let the dice fall where they may.
“The rights of banishment are as ancient as they are powerful” is going to be damn impressive to see animated
I really appreciate you going through the entire episode and editing these clips together. It's absolutely wonderful and it warms my heart to be able to watch this over and over again.
you are very welcome
"Liam, thank you for introducing me to D&D."
STOP IT I CAN ONLY CRY SO MUCH
The saddest and most loving of counterspells. Sam is a fucking brilliant man. Liam and Sam's interactions throughout the campaign are the best. I love them
3:04
Sam: "I cast Counterspell."
Matt: "Ok. At what level?"
Sam, smiling, nervous and almost resigned to fail: "Three."
Matt: "Ok. Go ahead and roll."
Sam rolls.
Joe and Taliesin start howling.
The rest is history.
Damnit, I cry every time when he say “9th”
I still get chills when scanlan says, "Chapter 1..."
4:50
Same. SAME.
All these years later, this still hits home. Beautifully done.
As soon as Sam says "Nine," you can see Matt's face fall. He knows exactly what has happened.
I come back to this every now and then when I need a good cry
6:15 I've watched camping 1,2 and first season of LOVM, and I think so far - THIS moment was literally the most heart-breaking moment of them all. such love, devotion, dedication and respect to your friends and game, and an amazing moment that was shared with, and fully felt by, the viewers and fans. uhhh I love these guys so much!!
That artwork with vax keyleth and scanlan though.
I know right, when I saw it on twitter I was amazed
Not to ruin the otherwise heavy emotion of this episode but love the kinda badass just steal the hand and teleport out from Arkhan. Clearly set the stage for campaign number 2
So is Arkhan a bad guy in the campaign, never could really decipher whether or not he was supposed to be evil
@@celebitto7869 I think he was an evil character working with VM to further his own needs as well.
Instead, he ended up a canon character in an official DnD Module.
@@KINFIN123 Well, when you're somebody that pulls off something like stealing the hand of a god AND getting away with it, that's a feat enough to put you in the annals of history
@@ferofax He was only able to do so because the rest of the party stood there like knobs. Says a prayer to Tiamat?
If he was an oathbreaker paladin, and was evil, why in the nein hells did the party let a character like that into the party.
Plus Joe did like 6 actions in that sentence, I would have interrupted his soliloquy and said hold the F on... Roll initiative!
Once he chopped his hand off, the jig was up and his head would have been coming off, or he would eat a fireball, or a backstab or any other way to stop him from taking the hand.
"Sorry Joe... This is *PERSONAL! You are NOT going to steal the hand that the whole party spent months chasing down."
The tears!!! They won't stop! God that was just so good and your editing made all the points that made me want to cry even more powerful. Freakin' amazing job my friend.
Aww, Thank you!
"You were trying to save a wish for me?" 😭😭😭
It hurts even more with the wedding
I love how the newbiest member pulled the best clutch moves.
True, he is technically the newest. He has however played Scanlan for almost 6 years at this point. The man knows what he is doing. Sam/Scanlan is quite often MVP
And it all began with this conversation:
orig00.deviantart.net/926d/f/2017/280/0/8/counterspell_by_pettyartist-dbpvftm.png
@@perrycarters3113 That art to this song (ua-cam.com/video/JDG2m5hN1vo/v-deo.html)
It Still Breaks My Heart That Sam Was Saving Wish For Liam. It Always Just Opens The Flood Gates.
Tbh I love Arkhan's betrayal.
So good.
I love how quick he was with it. Like the players could barely react to it so the character wouldve been shell shocked. Who is hoping he is a recurring villain and shows up against the mighty 9 somewhere. Perhaps as another ally lmao
This made me cry from pretty much every emotion known throughout the universe. They’re such a powerful group and you made an amazing video as tribute. Thank you to you and Vox Machina and all the critters everywhere.
Watching this 5 years later coz I miss VM and it brought tears to my eyes! Thank you Vox Machina!
I think ive watched this comp video about 5 times now. Well done.
This was the most roller coaster thing I've seen on a screen. Plus it was 5 hours plus!!!
I cried... Then watching them and now watching this... The music didn't help hold back :)
Well done to you and well done to VM
Favorited without a second thought ;)
Omg I was watching this just for the hand stealing reactions and now I’m crying because of Vax
This was amazing! Maybe it's just because I'm watching this video so soon after watching the episode itself, but I am right back into the rollercoaster of emotion that this episode put me on, and it's going pretty fast.
What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful video. Yes, all three were needed and deserved. Thank you for putting it up and thank you for everyone who watches this and calling themselves Critters.
You are too sweet!
the fact that scanlan was saving that level 9 spell for vax, especially after everything that happened between the two of them, that makes me so fucking emotional. scanlan pulled vax from the edge of despair, saying his life with VM was better than anything he’d experienced before, only to leave them and essentially tell vax he was lying, that he found something more important than their makeshift family, that he was useless to them. then he came back, and was fully prepared to use the most valuable spell in his arsenal to save vax for his makeshift family. any post-rift scanlan moment makes me so goddamn emotional
I come back to this video every once in a while. I love it so much, and the emotions are always there, no matter how long its been.
Wait wait wait...he was trying to save a wish for him?!
He was TRYING TO SAVE WISH FOR HIM?!
My heart
Yeah but he had to counterspell the teleport
Travis' face at 0:38 is pure gold as he goes from chewing his gum to jaw dropped when the vecna figure was revealed
Again great work! Wow you know how to pull the heart strings.
hah, i try
"I'm sorry, it was just business." 😂😂😂
That moment reminded me why I enjoyed playing so much ten years ago, and excited to play my first game again this weekend. I thought it was amazing! Such a brilliant, cinematic moment! Then seeing the comments of ppl who hated it makes me not so excited...
This recap was edited so well. It brought back the feels, stronger than ever.
Scan was the MVP of that fight for sure counter spell at level eight, then counter spell, natural 20, then counter spell level nine
This recap my life right now, I’ve literally rewatched 30+ times, thank you Johnny!!
I still get so damn emotional watching this. Thank you J for making this.
I still love this video. Just a bawling mess in quarantine.
Whose cutting onions???? In all seriousness, it comforts me a bit to know they all are now on a new adventure together
Every fucking time. It was emotional enough in the real video, but the fucking music too, man.
If they manage to animate the Vecna arc, too, we Critters are going to be broken at the end...
The level 9 counter spell was the most clutch, but heartbreaking moment of the whole campaign.
Ah this was so good! This made me very emotional. Great job! I loved it!!
Burt Reynolds said he could leave
Yep exactly
Even though I haven't seen a single episode of campaign 1, I still get teary-eyed watching that 9th level counterspell. I can't wait for this to be animated in TLOVM.
Perfect encapsulation of this most perfect episode of Critical Role! Thank you!!
What a nice story. Let's do it again.
"you were trying to save a wish for me?" "yeah." "you broke my heart."
wheres the nearest cliff i gotta jump
KEYLETH NO
Knowing this fight is eventually coming to animation makes me giddy. And also makes me brace for the fresh heartbreak.
I've never cried from a movie or story. Actually shed a tear. Damn I love this show.
Matt's face when Sam cast counterspell at 9th level
4:07 This...this breaks my heart and makes me so happy at the same time
This is excellent. Brought tears back to my eyes even after I thought I couldn't cry anymore.
thats how I've felt all week
Great music. This tribute definitely captured the epic nature of this session and the campaign as a whole. I'm not crying, you're crying.
That's just awesome! I wish I could see the other episodes in highlights like this one... Great job, Johny!
Thank you Nekros!
Watch his tribute video...
One of the greatest dnd campagns ever completed and recorded! I am in awe the level of emotion. Drama. Love. Hate. And tears went into all of this! A true masterpiece of table top history this was!
This video made me tear up twice. Thank you to all other critters out there and thank you Johny for making this video for us
This is an incredible video, very well edited. But more than that, it does an amazing job of selecting which scenes to perfectly sum up this battle. It really captures the feeling of those episodes perfectly.
Thank you so much!!
I need to add this background music to the episode, because now it feels lacking without it.
The counter spell was amazing but I dont know why I found Sam reading the Rights of banishment to be so much of a tear jerker for me. Something about the way he did it and narrated it got to me.
The day might come when I will be able to watch this without bawling like a child... but it is not this day.
I can’t wait for this fight in the Vox Machina animated movie.
Awesome edit Jonny rocket!!!
Thanks!
This came up in my recommendations, and now I'm crying at work.
I cant wait to watch this in like 5 years and feel that sweet sweet nostalgia
Been long enough yet?
@@dripsnout1643 we getting there, boys.
Man, every time I come back to this video it makes me choked up again.
Scanlan was a meme character that wasn't supposed to stick around long, and by the end of the campaign he became one of the most powerful members of the group.
Campaign One was truly something special.