The lack of comments about the audio cutting out keeps gaslighting me into trying to fix the issue on my end. Hello, future traveler! If you have audio issues, that's okay. It's nothing to worry about. Edit: The initial audio issues don't last the entire episode. Keep watching.
That's the privilege of being far tougher than whoever wrote the Do Not Do guide. Not many travellers to the Feywilds are groups of a half-dozen 13th-14th-level adventurers
It still bugs me they didn't take the time to figure out a way to conquer the happy campsite. Probably a great deal of loot just left behind, not to mention a potential ally or two if the elf and wolfman were getting death saves.
Daniel Morris they would have probably gotten on the werewolves’ good side if they managed to save that guy. But alas, they didn’t wanna waste time I guess and some of the party weren’t invested
2:05:49 When Sandour is making the offer, Laura looks enticed for just a moment until Liam says a simple, "Vex'alia" and her whole demeanor changes, as if she was shaken from a dream. Brilliant acting, powerful moment.
She wasn't enticed at all, she didn't know how to say no without offending him, since he already took one rejection so badly. In fact, Laura breaks character, laughing until she sees her friends' serious expression before resuming character. Vex wasn't tempted by the offer at all, he began by bringing up traumatic moments in her life, then basically says "I was betrayed and I took rejection so badly, do you want to be my companion?".
Also the fact that Liam was looking off-camera on a zoom call to make it look like he made eye contact with Laura. These folks may be voice actors but they know how to work a camera!
@@Jason-kp4vc I disagree, i think laura did a good job at contemplating it for a moment, it seemed like she was at least entertaining the thought more than anything, like wanting to know more or try to find different solutions before Vax, than steeled herself a bit more after what he said, not that she wasnt already leaning towards a negative already. though i do think it might have been a bit more politic to see what else they could do, like idk cast greater restoration or something, but then again, how it turned out was dramatic.
@@midshipman8654 Yeah if anything, I'm inclined to believe Vex was looking for a solution that didn't involve fighting as she expected him to attack them if she rejected him. I just don't see how or why Vex would be enticed.
Percy: *usually has countless killer one-liners that gives you chills* Percy: *says one (1) sucky line* Scanlan: Scanlan: im about to ruin this whole man’s career
I usually watch episodes with the captions on because I hate missing what someone says. I quickly found that the captions for this were done professionally and can often be funny (for example, Talisen’s eerily realistic cawing). It ended up really helping for this episode since the audio has blips but the captioning fills in the talking. I know it’s several years late, but I’m sure I’m not the only one watching these now.
Professionally done, by a group of amazing volunteers actually. Critters who gave up their time for the sake of us all. They were amazing. As someone who is pretty hearing impaired, I appreciate all that they've done.
I came down in the comments to see if others were talking about the skipping in audio (I'm 26 minutes in) and I came across this gem! Thanks for the tip. I'll be putting on caption for the remainder of episodes so I don't miss things said, which happens more than I like >.< lol
I wish SO BADLY that Matt would have had Garmelie's voice suddenly be heard yelling from off in the distance "NO THEATRE!" after Sam used the Shakespear Insult Generator.
"I was only NOT shooting him to be POLITE." That is the most Percy-est Percy-ism I have ever heard. That one line encapsulates everything you need to know about Percy's whole character.
Eric Hanson I was thinking less take down the tree and more trees are homes to animals some of them living inside it so therefore the tree would be a door. Or you know the trees that are huge and naturally hollow and people used to make homes in them. Or you know forests in general the line of trees are a doorway to that. But nice to know your default with people is they are all nature hating asses glad to know your not someone I would want to talk to, thanks for the warning!
@@NerdyAngel1989 Hmm, I just reread my previous comment, and you are quite right; it really does make me sound like a disrespectful asshole. I apologize for the tone there, and thank you for responding to my unfairly harsh comment with a more thoughtful and considerate one. That said, the whole idea of nature being just a collection of 'natural resources' that gain their worth only when manipulated by human hands has always seemed more than a bit off to me. But then, that's probably an outdated viewpoint now that relatively few subscribe to anymore.
My favorite moments in all three campaigns are those when epic descriptors or heavy dialogue meshes seamlessly with music beats. ✊ Couldn't agree more about this one.
If the Briarwoods were in a lesson in always bringing a Cleric to a Vampire apocalypse, then Sandor was a lesson in always bringing a Druid to a cancerous tree.
Kiki has a lot of cool clutch moments. I love to watch Marisha play. The way she uses and/or manipulates the terain to her advantage is some peak druid shit.
2:02:08 Just noticed on the rewatch that Vax looks to his right as if he's looking at Vex, but really Liam is just looking at an empty room. Even for a minor detail that only a handful of viewers will ever notice, he still puts on a show. What an actor, man. That shit's in his bones.
He has been doing it through the whole episode - I was so impressed when I realized what he was doing because it's HARD to act into the empty air when you can actually see the person you're supposed to be interacting with RIGHT THERE ON THE SCREEN! What a BAMF....
I recently noticed I do a similar thing while playing D&D with my group over discord and we just do voice calls, we don’t turn our cameras on, so I’m literally just looking at different spots in an empty room for nobody’s benefit 😂
2020 Crew bringing it up top again: 14:10 - Swamp Things 19:48 - Talking Trees? 20:30 - Grog Kong 36:28 - To Fling or Not to Fling... 42:37 - Mansion Song 46:40 - Scanlan Inspires Percy 1:00:41 Cow Punch'n: Part 2. 1:01:00 - Grog vs Scanlan 1:03:50 - Roll for Disappointment 1:10:40 - Shoe Rage 1:13:45 - Life needs things to live 1:37:10 - Part 1 ends 1:46:26 - Part 2 starts 1:56:10 - Entering The Tree 2:06:00 - Saundor 2:14:11 - Vex's heart 2:16:50 - Initiative 2:37:50 - Scanlan Healing Song 3:08:28 - Scanlan Heals Vex 3:16:39 - Scanlan's literal disruption 3:31:02 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls) 3:43:40 - Shock Through the Heart... 3:57:12 - Scanlan reminiscing about life. 3:58:45 - True Identity
The Part 2 times are off for some reason. Probably something to do with the break. These are the Part 2 times minus 7 minutes and 50 seconds, which I think fixes the problem? 1:38:36 - Part 2 starts 1:48:20 - Entering The Tree 1:58:10 - Saundor 2:06:21 - Vex's heart 2:09:00 - Initiative 2:30:00 - Scanlan Healing Song 3:00:38 - Scanlan Heals Vex 3:08:49 - Scanlan's literal disruption 3:23:12 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls) 3:35:50 - Shock Through the Heart... 3:49:22 - Scanlan reminiscing about life. 3:50:55 - True Identity
The illusion has been shattered: I always thought that "Life needs things to live" and "Your secret is safe with my indifference" were deep, meaningful quotes, not discussions about fae ecology and prostitutes.
1. And now you know *the truth.* 2. To be fair, that *is* a fairly solid summary of Critical Role. It sounds like this *amazing* story, given to us by professional voice actors in a compelling atmosphere (which it is!) When really, more often than not, it's a bunch of MASSIVE nerds sitting around, fart arsing about, playing D&D, cussing out their beloved DM, and forgetting how to play.
I think that's the nature of proverbs in general; someone says a thing and often by accident it has broader applicability than the original context so it gets reused and takes on some weight through that diversity of use. These phrases have no less ability to carry the meaning you saw in them before now that you know their origin.
@@GeorgieChaos it'd actually be more natural if they were altered. Most quotes aren't used in the same way as they were first used. Sometimes, they're used to mean the opposite of what they actually mean. For example, "pick up by your bootstraps" literally trying to do the impossible (because you normally can't do that).
Vax's protective ass doing the badass "if you want her you'll have to go through me" and Percy just SHITTING HIM UP and then Grog ending him it's just the ultimate "you know you have a lot of strong men willing to do anything for you, right?" THE LOVE FOR LAURA BAILEY LADIES AND GENTS AND OTHERS
Woah! Travis signs. :) (23:24) I don't know much, so I had to watch it three times, but I'm pretty sure he said "Gorilla know sign language. Want food."
Well... if you pretend travis was signing broken asl while hammered drunk.... then it was 'gorilla', 'mind/think', 'me/I', then something that looks like he might be trying/failing to sign 'control' or 'exchange' or 'charity', then what looks like a backwards facing wonky 'tournament', then 'food/eat'. So it could look like he was trying to sign: The gorilla thinks I control the eating contest.
bringing it up top 8:25 Taliesin's magic again (Tal is so cute) 14:04 Scanlan being Yoda-carried 20:52 "You think my giant ass is gonna jump frockily-fucky-fucky from branch to branch?!" 26:34 "Anime shit" "oh yeah" 48:10 Scanlan inspires Percy 1:00:22 Grog just wants to hit people ("I grab again. I grab again. I grab again.") 1:02:39 Triceratops Scanlan (Grog "Is this my day-birth or something?") 1:05:00 Percy running experiments 1:05:23 busy being disappointed (nat 20) 1:06:58 angry-singing attack 1:12:10 Grog popping in to insult Percy's shoes 1:15:45 "Life needs things to live" 1:22:01 "Sondur" "Poovah" "Shamalaka" "Terry" 1:35:44 Vax talks to Vex (vaguely about Percy as well) 1:39:02 Perc'ahlia 1:44:54 "A tree is just a door that hasn't been made yet" 2:30:07 Scanlan healing Percy with a song 2:47:11 "Come on, dangerous nerd, do it!" 2:56:06 Percy made a friend 2:58:40 Sam takes good care of his item cards 3:00:46 Scanlan using Percy's nspirational quote to heal Vex 3:02:40 secret to rolling good 3:13:12 Travis is too big for the set 3:20:58 "Bastard" 3:29:56 "Asshole" 3:35:52 dead-ent (random pink panther theme) 3:36:17 "NOBODY CARES" (everyone liked that) 3:37:34 Grog (who got nothing done during battle) gets the kill 3:43:15 Keyleth and Percy "making a show" 3:49:30 Sam will never let Taliesin forget this one line
Initially, I was thinking the same thing. Then I realized that Matt was also getting really sick of all the 20’s people were rolling the last couple of episodes. He might just be sandbagging them
Jeffrey Bomba I think the ladies of the table have the same obsession and it annoys their men. Both Have made so many comments about their different dice and curses. You can hear Travis from time to time complain about Laura’s massive dice collection or all the ones she brings. But Matt’s the dm so cant make the same comments all the time so I’m thinking it was a slip of his annoyance at her dice obsession (don’t get me wrong LOTS of players share this obsession)
Sam does a bit (actually he has Laura do a bit) on this in the early days of the second campaign. Here is the snippet ( it is just the bit, none of the game, if you are worried about spoilers) ua-cam.com/video/EtkaNAMOORw/v-deo.html
@@reedk2402 Superstitions are crazy. I mean, NASA and the baseball leagues in America have their own that they flatly refuse to break. Not surprised about dice blessings/curses.
An ancient tree dude, wrapped in a tree stuff, living inside a tree, summons 2 tree helpers. Druid sets herslef on fire. *it was at this moment he knew, he fucked up*
@@arieltorres3594 Honestly, if any of Keyleth's misspells should get a pass it's this one for creative use. Though jumping from one to the other, setting them both on fire, and THEN attacking the exit door guy would work better and go with the spell specifics.
@@arieltorres3594 She has a lot of spells and a huge part of DnD is to be creative and let your imagination fly. If everyone gave a shit about rules like you Marisha-hating stooges, DnD would be _such_ a boring game.
@@arieltorres3594 i mean I see no issue with the way it was ruled. Treestride doesn't say you can't do any of the things she did. Marisha may not be the best with spells, but she got this one right.
I can not say how much I appreciate Laura Bailey. I mean, if you watch Vex and watch Jester, it really is two completely different people. Even her speech patterns and the way the two characters cry is wildly different! Wow.
@@danielboatright8887 it dosent for me i knew jester and all of the m9 well before i knew VM i understand what you are saying but my context is different
This is vague, but with the right foreknowledge it could be rather revealing of something pretty major in campaign 2, so you might want to add a spoiler tag.
@@zacharydunn6577 no it's really not and if it was they would get it regardless of the comment. Spoilers here tho For all anyone knows they just meet him like they do other characters and he doesn't do anything naturey until just before we know its him
Vex: *complains about the price of superior healing potions from that one scammy sales guy* *20 episodes later* Vex: *near death, again, takes a clutch superior healing potion* Matt: Mhm.
Leisure I do believe Liam was using the technology as an excuse to not answer the question about Vex’s past with the bloody dagger. Could be wrong but he seemed to cheese it up and Travis I think picked up on it.
If you knew anything about any of them you'd know Liam loves conflict. Seems highly unlikely but could have been. I'd have to find out what the dagger is but I don't see why Liam would be the one to skirt around a question like that. Feels biased
2:05:49 When your real-life husband, your character's love interest, your character's twin, and all your other friends are concerned then you know you should run if you haven't already.
They really are spiritual siblings, in every way that matters. (In much the same way that Liam and Sam are 'married.') I don't know if you're watching C3, but Laura and Liam get to sit together again for that and the twin vibes (out of character) are consistent and adorable. :)
The twins' conversation was interesting. It's easy to talk about finding self-worth when you're low, but it's also a good idea to talk about it once you've /got/ the things that you thought would help with it - in this case, the title. It's worth evaluating not only how your self-worth is faring, but where it comes from every once in a while.
I think it's really interesting how Sondur went after Vex. Trying to play on her insecurities, her weaknesses, her temptations. Putting in truths (like 'unwanted daughter') to make the lies/seeds of self-doubt (like 'you're putting your family in danger for your own gain'*) more believable. If that's how you tried to get your last girlfriend, no wonder she left you, mate. (*If anything, Vex has seemed the /least/ determined to get the bow. She's been more focused on facing her past, and even joked about just turning around and abandoning this particular Vestige.) Also, I totally get why Laura (and maybe Vex?) felt guilty for attacking first, when Sondur hadn't proved to be violent yet - but let's be real, here. This guy turned into a monstrous tree and corrupted acres of land for centuries because he was spurned once. He was hardly going to take another 'no' well. That first attack doesn't sit well with the most noble of honour codes, perhaps, but I reckon it was the smartest play tactically.
I love how everyone's like 'Vex, he clearly has it out for you, heal yourself, use all the potions.' Edit: And then when she wonders whether she should have just said yes, they're all like 'NO! He was fucking awful! You don't wanna deal with that piece of shit!'
3:55:37 Keyleth : "You know, for someone who hates the theater, you've made quite a show of all of this." OOOOOOooooo, that one-line burns hotter than her fire elemental form.
Matt's use and choices of background music are masterful here. The special piece during Sondor's initial speech, and then the Mechanist's Theme thereafter during the tense discussion. Absolutely fantastic and created such a close and tense atmosphere. Amazing.
It feels absolutely poetic that after Vex fires her arrow and combat starts, Vax and Percy are the first ones to go. Also I am here for Vex-centric storylines, give me more, I crave them!
I thought "Vex-Centric" was a wordplay as it is so close to eccentric and they met Artagan, in the feywild. I figured I read too deep but its true anyways :D
I was disappointed she did it so quickly though. I felt like the story could have had a lot more meaning if they had talked more. But instead she shot first at a guy who had shown no hint of malice, for essentially proposing to her. Strong case of "It's just a game" syndrome. Just because it's DnD doesn't mean shooting first is the answer to every problem.
@@Draezeth No hint of malice? He's asking her to abandon her family and friends to join him, he's creepy as all heck, he blames an unnamed woman for him becoming the evil entity that he is, and right before Vex shoots him, he gathers up all his tendrils and vines and shit and demands an answer from her. It was clear that he was going to attack if she just said no, and she clearly wanted her no to be poignant, because no matter what he offers, she's loyal. It was a test for her, and something to show her that she needs to change. I think the pacing was perfect, and I don't think there would have been anything else gained from continuing to talk to him, though of course, I don't know everything Matt has up his sleeve.
@@tinnytintinnabulation Yeah, he's asking her for something unreasonable, and he's malicious, but the guy has been stewing in heartbreak for thousands of years. The least they could have done was say "Here's a better offer, you come with us. If you and Vex really are so similar then it's not romance you need, it's a family." It would have been a great character moment.
My personal head cannon- the reason Saundor targeted Percy after Vex was knocked out is because was while he was reading her mind or heart or whatever earlier he realized he was the person who had her heart.
"You know for someone who hates the theathre, you've made quite a show of all of this." Oh wow...Keyleth made her first epic one liner, that was impressive! And she also made quite a badass move in the fight too with the fire element into the treant XD She was on fire in this session! :3
Murphys law. Its inevitable that she would eventually say something in her career that wasnt a completely retarded statement or waste of time. Will it continue going forward? Probablyyyyyy not.
@@spencerpommier806 Aye, by far the most underrated, and by far my fave of VM:), the constant whining about her playstyle is especially galling considering how much of what Vox Machina can do is only possible because of her, since she is the linchpin that all of their rapid mobility hangs from, like Planeshift or Transport Via Plants. also all surveillance via scrying spells. And not to mention that Marisha is one of the most awesome members of the cast. the fact she could still RP true to her character even with all the hate she got on a daily basis is a testament to what a badass she is, that level of crap she received from the supposed "Critters" would break most people.....
@@sydney4814 It also goes to show that people always have trouble seperating actor and role. Which is quite evident when comparing Beauregard and Keyleth. They are nothing alike.
Sam: "I will now heal Vex. She's close right?" Taliesin, sweating in nearly-dead: "Yeah." Sam: *PROCEEDS TO MOCK TALIESIN'S ONE AND ONLY BAD ONE-LINER*
Taliesin and I have the same problem... DM: *describes something in the feywild* Us: "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!........unfortunately, I don't think my character knows what that is.... :( "
What's worked wonders for me: Every time you're going to a place that's "new" for the characters, but not for the players, you should jot down a list of everything in there with some DCs, then have them make some related knowledge checks right off the bat. Give advantage to any characters who purposefully spend time researching where they're going. This becomes their "passive knowledge" of what they come across or should know to expect. They can reroll once they encounter something, but for planning and suspicion purposes, the passive knowledge really helps metagame-proof your party.
@@SomeUA-camTraveler I ask my dm this all the time. Especially as I am a guy who will just read stat blocks for fun. I dont want to meta so I ask if my character knows. Especially when I am playing a high INT character.
Timestamps, get ya timestamps! 1:31 Recap & start of Part 1. 14:45 - Swamp Things 21:37 - Talking Trees? 25:12 - Grog Kong 38:12 - To Fling or Not to Fling... 44:12 - Mansion Song 48:10 - Scanlan Inspires Percy 1:01:26 Cow Punchin': Part 2. 1:02:38 - Grog vs Scanlan 1:05:25 - Roll for Disappointment 1:15:50 - Life needs things to live 1:38:32 - Part 1 ends 1:38:45 - Part 2 starts 1:54:10 Entering the tree 1:55:56 - The "Tranus" 1:58:10 - Saundor 2:26:21 - Vex's heart 2:09:00 - Initiative 2:30:11 - Scanlan Healing Song 2:31:27 - Keyleth goes Johnny Storm and Flames on (attack at 2:34:45) 3:00:51 - Scanlan Heals Vex 3:09:11 - Scanlan's literal disruption 3:23:21 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls) 3:36:17 - Shock Through the Heart... 3:49:33 - Scanlan reminiscing about life. 3:51:03 - True Identity
trinity It's true that for those who are playing one game session a week for public audience is more difficult to remember, but I always find funny and annoying. "How you can't remember? I remember when and how was found and by who!"
@@HDloly oh absolutely, I forget the names of all the npcs from the campaign I'm playing (to be fair, ever since I've moved abroad I've played quite sporadically). However, Sam saying "you've NEVER used this/this has NEVER happened", which tbh he does say relatively often, is always funny to me.
"and remember, a tree is just a door that hasn't been made yet" yes, cause y'all have an impeccable track record with doors im *so glad* percy, keyleth and vax immediately acknowledged the emotional manipulation this creep of a tree was laying upon vex. showing the importance of support, that *even strong seeming women* are vulnerable and need it, in the face of a potential abuser grooming them into trauma bonding and codependency
Agree with the sentiment, disagree with the way its worded. It shouldn't have "seeming", and men should be mentioned as well. Men need support too, they're not independent or invulnerable, not more than women atleast.
@@Jason-kp4vc oh dear god. you're taking an issue over the specific wording of a situation specific comment written in the context of the episode and taking offence that a stranger on the internet didn't include theoretical men into said comment. You honestly remind me of those people who will look at a woman who's gone through this and instead of helping go, "Yeah, but what about the men" It's completely unnecassary, of course men need to be included in those dicussions, but not as a what aboutism
@@erisplaysgames You misunderstand my point. Their comment came off as "strong women are actually vulnerable and need support", like strong men are badasses and don't need support. It's quite the opposite of what you think I said. I'm saying strong women are only as weak as strong men. This isn't a "haha biological difference means men are stronger", neither is it a "men are abused too" comment. I'm just clarifying that what they said could easily be construed as putting strong women down, and I wanted to rectify it.
@@Jason-kp4vc you’ve completely missed her point. She’s literally affirming what you think you said. She says in her reply exactly what you’re saying that of course men are included, that’s to be inferred. there was nothing to fix. You simply didn’t need to go “strong men need support too” because yeah of course they do.
@@Jason-kp4vc also the comment says nothing, and has nothing for you to come to the conclusion that it’s saying “strong men are badasses and thus don’t need support” that sounds like your subjective perspective. And that was part of the issue she was taking with you commenting that.
This is an important lesson, folks. If a creepy dude pretends to know you and tries to guilt you into being with him, that ain’t alright. Especially if he’s made of tree.
"No breakup is _that_ bad." From Taliesin. I think that's a nice related point. No matter how bad his breakup was, it can't justify all of this, and shouldn't be used to make anyone feel guilty. Especially if he's made of tree.
@@NinjaWLOGexactly. Any manipulative tactics are giant red flags, and should be avoided at all costs. Anybody who justifies trying to manipulate people like that over a bad breakup is in no way a good or decent person. Especially if he's made of tree.
Marisha is really something to watch battle, because she always has the craziest most out there ideas that either don't work whatsoever, or they work fantastically and are pretty mind blowing, like her tree slide
Enjoyed her landing a few ideas after her brooding when she couldn’t grapple the dragon or finish off the Herd’s archers… She really had a good battle this time! I was surprised Soundar was not hardier given his large number of legendary abilities, but Vox Machina must be also fairly impressive just now.
One of the things I love about Matt aside from the voice work for the NPCs is his ability to describe things. When he was describing the tree I imagined an more twisted and evil version of the tree that envelops Hexxes in FernGully.
Marisha: I also have blackheart here? What is that? Matt: Uh... his heart is black? I don't know why you wrote that down... Marisha: Oh... just thought it'd be important. Eternal struggle of DMs vs players :D DMs read their long description where they don't think certain words are important, but players hang on the words you didn't even think of xD
To be fair, Master Mercer had created such an intricate and detailed world, it's no wonder they try to extrapolate meaning from every word he gives them. I love every silly moment it creates.
@@TheHighborn TBF, notes written by players is generally out of character stuff, not in character stuff. The notes you take down should not affect how your character was made to act
Percy's and vex's dynamic is just so natural and pleasant. Like them or hate them as characters, they just vibe so well with each other. And yet laura's and tal's characters have an entirely different dynamic in C2. That's just excellent acting all around yall.
2:30:12 This is legitimately one of Scanlan's best bard songs. Taliesin, Laura and Marisha all start moving their head to the beat within the first second, and then even Matt starts to move to the beat after just the first few lines. And then Laura enters it perfectly with that perfect double fist beat on the table. Seriously, even carefully pre-planned musical numbers in broadway shows don't come together as quickly and as seamlessly as this totally impromptu Bardic Inspiration.
I agree, this is my favorite of Scanlan’s songs. I’ve heard it on some compilations of his best songs and I’m so happy I’m finally at the episode where it happens :D
watching laura completely whither during the saundor encounter, and then travis looking at her with such concern, marisha and liam being like “saundor’s a manipulative dick, don’t feel bad!” just makes my heart ache
To me I wish for once they would have actually conversed or bargained with instead of jut straight to killing I get it you need combat to punch up the story and for the game experience but I wanted to hear Sandor out and maybe see one of them bargain for power not just taking it
@@Draezeth i mean. sondor was being shitty and raising every single overly possessive red flag. what at first came across as insightful immediately got revealed as him tearing her down to make her vulnerable so he could prey on her but it shook her so much that even she was doubting herself for simply not taking shit from this weirdo. he wanted to possess her. no growth comes from giving your freedom up completely to another being
@@Draezeth what kind of character development would that be? Seeing a character locked into a toxic situation? Yeah we don't need any more of that shit.
@@Nixo66 Matt has practically been screaming at them to NOT trust anything they encounter in the Feywild since before they entered, and now you’re disappointed that they didn’t try to make a bargain with an Archfey, the final boss who is literally poisoning the land? For once they actually made a good decision here.
Tbh it ain't even something I'd call sucky. Like just blunt and obvious. Just compared to shit like " Ana, I'm willing to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that you are a smart woman" it just seems even worse.
@@als2480 Taliesin even admits it was a bad line...he was very very sleep deprived during this episode...and so that line happened. He seems to deal with insomnia at times. c2 Spoiler. The night before Molly died he hadnt slept and didn't sleep the next night as well. He said in an interview he had a lot of emotions after Molly died and kinda just cried, curled up in bed, until the sun came up.
@@AnxietyRat is it his best line? No. But I like it. It is true and obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said. Also that breaks my heart Molly is tied with Jester for my favorite C2 character. I'm still not over it.
@@als2480 more C2 spoilers. I agree the line made sense within the specific context it was used! But used out of context...it's hilarious that the " smart royal posh character" said it. which is why the cast keep doing callbacks to it. Yeah, it was heartbreaking to hear that story from him...I can't remember exactly where he said it...on Talks or in the wrap-up for C2 or in Between The Sheets...I can't remember. Yeah, Jester is one of my favorites as well..she will always hold a special place in. My heart. She is such a bright light. Tbh I really only liked Molly once Matt started doing the full on Irish accent and we learned a bit more about Lucien but maybe that's because we didn't have Molly around for very long. Not long enough for any super significant character development, IMO. he changed in minor ways, sure, but not enough for me to care about him as a character, personally. The character arch in its entirety was great. I honestly wish C2 went on longer...there were so many loose ends that were just...left. whereas. In C1 things were much more rounded off and complete. Sorry, started rambling on a bit. I could talk about these guys for days!
Percy: anyone who says "we aren't so different" is usually a terrable person. Scandalin: mainly because we are terrible people Me: You guys did kill an old lady and have referenced punching children.
@@christopherbacon1077 pre stream she was trying to pull a child away from The Dread Emperor, inadvertantly choking the child to death. At least if memory of them bantering on the side about the past serves.
I myself am a little confused as to why she cast tree stride. Being a fire elemental allows you to enter the space of the tree anyways. What did tree stride add? I thought she was going to use it to teleport to the other tree when the first one died, but no she just walked to it
@@im9550 I think she was planning to use it to bounce between the Ents to set them on fire one after the other but she lost the spell due to damage and a bad concentration roll before she had the opportunity to do so.
@@im9550 Fair point, I'll admit I hadn't followed the battle that closely. With how the battle played out Tree Stride was a bit of a waste but had the Treants moved apart during the fight it would've been useful.
@@im9550 I think because the one she was inside died of DoT between her turns, she didn't have the action to stride to the other one, and when she did it was dead and couldn't be used.
SPOILERS When Laura said she was feeling guilty about shooting Saundor, who had just given the most classic abuser speech in history, Travis gently reaching over to reassure his wife that she had made the right choice was so incredibly sweet.
The thing is that I didn't even realize it was bad what he said until Taliesin and Marisha were like: He's a dick! And your comment about how it is abuser talk. In her position I would have taken his proposition and accepted. In my head it was like: He needs love in his life, someone who will remember him. Man I didn't even catch it....
@@animadea4449 in future, anytime someone appeals to you with a shared weakness instead of in support of a shared strength run! It is the most classic manipulation of abusers. No love can be based on need and guilt, it has to be based on desire and respect.
15:40 - Swamp Things 21:18 - Talking Trees? 22:00 - Grog Kong 37:58 - To Fling or Not to Fling... 44:07 - Mansion Song 48:10 - Scanlan Inspires Percy 1:02:30 - Grog vs Scanlan 1:05:20 - Roll for Disappointment 1:12:10 - Shoe Rage 1:15:15 - Life needs things to live 1:38:46 - Break Ends 1:48:27 - Entering The Tree 1:58:17 - Saundor 2:09:07 - Initiative 2:30:07 - Scanlan Healing Song 3:00:45 - Scanlan Heals Vex 3:35:57 - Shock Through the Heart... 3:51:05 - True Identity
God watching Laura get the description of Fenthris when Vex first gets hold of it, her tongue goes out her eyes go wide, she looks like someone watching their perfectly filet's steak get prepared.
More than anyone else, Laura is just hanging on every word of narration when awesome things are happening to her character (like here, or when Trinket was defending her from the Spirit Bear). It's pretty fantastic how invested in her characters she gets. Episode 9 of Titansgrave had some long narration where she was just 100% fixated on Wil Wheaton's narration for many minutes. When I see that happen in Critical Role, it always reminds me of that (because I saw it first, and because it went on for so long; much longer than any monologue from Matt because it was a more scripted episode, but still with a character that she had developed).
Travis' journey up to this point has been great. I remember watching the first few eps and he was very passive and let the group make decisions, I'm sure because of the novelty of RPing a 6INT character and just on camera in general. Now you can see him wanting to cause trouble and make hilarious decisions doing his own thing, love it.
Putting my "caption appreciation comment" here. Have been watching with it for a while because English is not my first language and on this episode, as the top comment mentions, this was essential because of the audio blips. Thanks, All, who volunteered to do this!!
That grog kill at the end (3:37:38 ) is one of the most hilarious kills ever.He basically spends his time chasing him, meanwhile stumbling a million times and yet gets to kill him after a nice provoking message.
14:10 - Swamp Things 19:48 - Talking Trees? 20:30 - Grog Kong 36:28 - To Fling or Not to Fling... 42:37 - Mansion Song 46:40 - Scanlan Inspires Percy 1:00:41 Cow Punch'n: Part 2. 1:01:00 - Grog vs Scanlan 1:03:50 - Roll for Disappointment 1:10:40 - Shoe Rage 1:13:45 - Life needs things to live 1:37:10 - Part 1 ends 1:46:26 - Part 2 starts 1:56:10 - Entering The Tree 2:06:00 - Saundor 2:14:11 - Vex's heart 2:16:50 - Initiative 2:37:50 - Scanlan Healing Song 3:08:28 - Scanlan Heals Vex 3:16:39 - Scanlan's literal disruption 3:31:02 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls) 3:43:40 - Shock Through the Heart... 3:57:12 - Scanlan reminiscing about life. 3:58:45 - True Identity
Hey, so just a heads up, but the times are different from this and the original vod post. So the comment you copy and pasted from Phalinx is off. Don't know if you want to adjust that or not, but its just a heads up.
During Vax and Vex’ talk (right before the break) I just kinda automatically thought of my sister and all the feelings suddenly hit a hundred times harder because damn, I think she’s the coolest person ever too. I actually can’t believe my luck, getting stuck with a person like her. I always like sibling dynamics in fiction but this just really made me love their relationship even more; I feel like the consistent bickering is at least partially another way of showing love, but I appreciate that they also just Say It every once in a while
Yes! That is one of the many things I love about this series. Some might think "voice actors" as people who just read scripts and use interesting voices, but this is a group of Very talented actors, masters of improv and dedicated to their characters. They breathe such life into their stories that the audience actually cares about each of them. I find these people fascinating. They are individually as interesting as the characters they so beautifully portray. Liam and Laura as Vax and Vex make such an inspiring duo, I am glad you see yourself and your sister in their mirror. That's pretty cool friend.
testfire3000 I think you’re completely right! Many people find it easy to look down on ~”the arts”~ and those who work with them as a full time job, that it’s not as necessary as some other jobs, and that may be true, but we all still love art, and need it in some form or another to reflect on our own lives. We need to express ourselves and explore our own feelings and connect with other people and understand their feelings in relation to our own, and I think art in all forms allow us to do that in incredible ways (especially Critical Role)
3:09:45 Sam is the best kind of player in my opinion, when the DM makes a ruling that is unfavorable to him, he asks for clarification, then inserts a joke (in this case "I said it really loud") and then ends by conceding to the DM's ruling rather than pouting, with a "it's fine". By being a class act when he doesn't get his way, Matt is incentivized to be more lenient with him in the future, since there is no contention.
He really is an excellent player. If he’s unsure if his character would know something he asks presuming they don’t know and is all around great at putting himself in the characters shoes. It’s also a real mastery to be able to break tension with a joke at the right time and while doesn’t seek out many serious or sentimental scenes he won’t shy away when one comes his way.
Sam is a good roleplayer, but his weakness is mechanics. He rarely reads his own abilities and often mistakes how things work that he should know. Such as some forty episodes not realising cutting words consumes a use of bardic inspiration. He cant even remember in three sequential episodes that his advantage on saving throws is a gnome thing. In cp2 he doesnt get used to the basic rules of sneak attack until over 100 episodes in. He is lax on arguing, because he generally doesnt seem to care much about the mechanical aspect of the game. He's there to share awesome moments and roleplay with his friends, and meme or troll a bit. This makes him both a treat to watch and a fun person to have. But also frustrating to watch, as he doesnt pay a lot of attention to any mechanical aspect of a scene, or even want to make any decisions about mechanical aspects of his character. And as a result, It leaves the DM having to pick up the slack a lot which isnt a good thing, the DM has enough to keep at the ready without having to double check your abilities for you Its less obvious in this campaign as most players are still learning a new system and most of what he needs to know are spell descriptions. But in subsequent campaigns he ends up needing to be helped as much as Ashley despite not having the excuse of being unable the game consistently. I love sam as a viewer, and his personality is wonderful at bringing the mood back up when things are grim. But I can't honestly call him a good *player*
I feel sad we missed out on this amazing moment where Percy's ingenuity and grogs experience as a shoe maker could have been a wonderful bonding moment for the two characters. However Taliesin forgot grog's background since it so rarely came up (I think only twice in the whole campaign)
It's fun to pause every time Matt asks "How do you want to do this?" and just watch the different looks on their faces. Especially this time with poor Grog really deserving that last hit
1:27:16 I can confirm that throwing pure sodium - Percy's cannonball - at the soggy roots of a (normal) tree would definitely hurt it very much: - it produces a hot flame that can not be extinguished with water - bog plants are used to a rather acidic environment, so the water suddenly turning _extremely_ basic would be quite disturbing
Creepy Dude: Lol, You're broken. We should date. We're sooo alike, totally vibin. Vex: Sorry, I'm into someone else. Scanlan: Aww, but he's just a lonely guy! Give him a chance! Percy: We'll have no respect for anyone who'll try to get us with the "We're not so different, you and I"
Whether the combination of spells used by Marisha was legit or not, the imagination applied was too cool to not allow. This is what Rule of Cool is for. Super clever.
Yeah, I felt that would have been a pretty minor thing to show, especially since Vex the character could have seen the way things were set up and would have done it that way from the start.
Matt is also running a game with 6 PCs, 5 NPCs, keeping track of legendary reactions and actions, spell slots, hit points, everyone’s spells, and abilities. All on top of making it a fun, interesting, and difficult encounter. I have a hard time trying to handle doing that for my 3 players against a deadly lvl 12 encounter. I can’t imagine during a deadly 14th?? Lvl encounter
@@tylerschoen5643 It get's easier the more you do it. I also recommend using a laptop or notebook. It may slow things down a little but makes everything easier.
1:59:00 I can't, with words, express my joy every time Matt's descriptors and narration are woven seamlessly with the music in the background. 😘👌 The introduction and revelation of Saundor, and the following dialogue are just another in a looong list of these beautiful moments of storytelling I witness over and over again watching Critical Role. I love these moments so much. 💙💙💙
I really like this story arch. Even in the most grim of times, Vox Machina still stumble upon times of levity and positivity. I think we can all take a leaf (or feather) out of Vox Machina's book.
It's wild how many of these comments are recent. Going through for my third time but always amazed by how much I love the community as much as the show. Your all great people
The lack of comments about the audio cutting out keeps gaslighting me into trying to fix the issue on my end. Hello, future traveler! If you have audio issues, that's okay. It's nothing to worry about.
Edit: The initial audio issues don't last the entire episode. Keep watching.
Oh thank god. I even went to trying to fix my internet connection, just in case. You're doing the Lord's work.
lol thanks. Now l can stop checking whats wrong with my audio.
Thank you!
Thank you! I was so confused
I had to block it out cu I had a feeling it wasn't my phone
vox machina took garmelie's list of things to avoid and used it as a tour guide
That's the privilege of being far tougher than whoever wrote the Do Not Do guide. Not many travellers to the Feywilds are groups of a half-dozen 13th-14th-level adventurers
They were exp farming.
It still bugs me they didn't take the time to figure out a way to conquer the happy campsite. Probably a great deal of loot just left behind, not to mention a potential ally or two if the elf and wolfman were getting death saves.
Daniel Morris they would have probably gotten on the werewolves’ good side if they managed to save that guy. But alas, they didn’t wanna waste time I guess and some of the party weren’t invested
@@kuroneko1813 The party was being prudent.
2:05:49
When Sandour is making the offer, Laura looks enticed for just a moment until Liam says a simple, "Vex'alia" and her whole demeanor changes, as if she was shaken from a dream. Brilliant acting, powerful moment.
She wasn't enticed at all, she didn't know how to say no without offending him, since he already took one rejection so badly. In fact, Laura breaks character, laughing until she sees her friends' serious expression before resuming character.
Vex wasn't tempted by the offer at all, he began by bringing up traumatic moments in her life, then basically says "I was betrayed and I took rejection so badly, do you want to be my companion?".
Also the fact that Liam was looking off-camera on a zoom call to make it look like he made eye contact with Laura. These folks may be voice actors but they know how to work a camera!
@@Jason-kp4vc I disagree, i think laura did a good job at contemplating it for a moment, it seemed like she was at least entertaining the thought more than anything, like wanting to know more or try to find different solutions before Vax, than steeled herself a bit more after what he said, not that she wasnt already leaning towards a negative already.
though i do think it might have been a bit more politic to see what else they could do, like idk cast greater restoration or something, but then again, how it turned out was dramatic.
@@midshipman8654 Yeah if anything, I'm inclined to believe Vex was looking for a solution that didn't involve fighting as she expected him to attack them if she rejected him. I just don't see how or why Vex would be enticed.
@@Jason-kp4vc Sandour was toxic inside and out
Percy: *usually has countless killer one-liners that gives you chills*
Percy: *says one (1) sucky line*
Scanlan:
Scanlan: im about to ruin this whole man’s career
its "this man's whole career" - scanlan is more like half a man anyway
percy's part here 1:14:45 (line at 1:15:45)
scanlan's part here 3:00:40
@@danithedorito I like that you can see Sam write it down for later.
What’s funny is this meme wouldn’t have played in 2016 but it makes sense now.
i mean, i agree, but the joke is super funny anyway xD
I usually watch episodes with the captions on because I hate missing what someone says. I quickly found that the captions for this were done professionally and can often be funny (for example, Talisen’s eerily realistic cawing). It ended up really helping for this episode since the audio has blips but the captioning fills in the talking. I know it’s several years late, but I’m sure I’m not the only one watching these now.
Thank you very useful! I didn't even think of that!
You right
I read your comment 4 hours too late
Professionally done, by a group of amazing volunteers actually. Critters who gave up their time for the sake of us all. They were amazing. As someone who is pretty hearing impaired, I appreciate all that they've done.
I came down in the comments to see if others were talking about the skipping in audio (I'm 26 minutes in) and I came across this gem! Thanks for the tip. I'll be putting on caption for the remainder of episodes so I don't miss things said, which happens more than I like >.< lol
I love that Matt gave Vex a really good chance to multi-class into warlock, with an Archfey patron, to mirror Vax bring the chosen of the Raven Queen
I wish SO BADLY that Matt would have had Garmelie's voice suddenly be heard yelling from off in the distance "NO THEATRE!" after Sam used the Shakespear Insult Generator.
Shakespeare insult generator: a useful tool for all bards everywhere
Omg
@@kiwithekiki234 Duly noted
@@kiwithekiki234 I use it for my warlock whenever she uses Counterspell. So, it's not just for bards 😂.
The audio skips had me checking me internet thinking it was a buffering issue.
+
same
Thank god it isn't just me. Haha
i thought it was me >_>
Thanks for the comment, I thought it was my phone/connection.
"I was only NOT shooting him to be POLITE."
That is the most Percy-est Percy-ism I have ever heard. That one line encapsulates everything you need to know about Percy's whole character.
I also noticed that the audio switches over as he says the word polite and gives it an unintended cool effect 🤣
@@ryanhoskins728iokijo😊i😊juih
"Life needs things to live." so proud I reached the episode with this quote.
I'm watching C2 and did a double take when I heard this. I had no idea he said it earlier, in C1.
What's even better is he doesn't pile on in the moment but actually notes it down for the right moment 🤣
Has same energy as this:
m.ua-cam.com/video/-GMrOxRmJXA/v-deo.html
But life always finds a way.
@@chrisweb8 Time is a weird soup.
"A tree is just a door that hasn't been made yet"
My gods, Taliesin
Life needs things to live
Mary Zorn well I mean if you actually stop and think about it that was very profound really.
@@NerdyAngel1989 I guess it was profound... to someone with a purely consumeristic view toward nature.
Eric Hanson I was thinking less take down the tree and more trees are homes to animals some of them living inside it so therefore the tree would be a door. Or you know the trees that are huge and naturally hollow and people used to make homes in them. Or you know forests in general the line of trees are a doorway to that. But nice to know your default with people is they are all nature hating asses glad to know your not someone I would want to talk to, thanks for the warning!
@@NerdyAngel1989 Hmm, I just reread my previous comment, and you are quite right; it really does make me sound like a disrespectful asshole. I apologize for the tone there, and thank you for responding to my unfairly harsh comment with a more thoughtful and considerate one.
That said, the whole idea of nature being just a collection of 'natural resources' that gain their worth only when manipulated by human hands has always seemed more than a bit off to me. But then, that's probably an outdated viewpoint now that relatively few subscribe to anymore.
When the music finishes at that note when Vex says "My heart is someone else's." Fucking CHILLS.
So glad it wasn't just me who noticed! The build up sounded so intentional 😮
My favorite moments in all three campaigns are those when epic descriptors or heavy dialogue meshes seamlessly with music beats. ✊
Couldn't agree more about this one.
is she talking ab percy
😮
@@kendallfromsdorf3415 about 6 episodes and you'll learn who she was talking about.
Bored Grog is why you don’t get a large dog if you live in a small apartment.
Unless it’s a Great Dane lol they are the tiniest big dog
@frenzelian will you please start writing PSAs??
I've never seen a better justification for the Athlete feat for a mundane frontliner.
@@tylerschoen5643 They’re very calm dogs?
That's really funny.
If the Briarwoods were in a lesson in always bringing a Cleric to a Vampire apocalypse, then Sandor was a lesson in always bringing a Druid to a cancerous tree.
And a bard to any fight whatsoever, specially Scanlan. The right tools for the right work.
Agreed, Keyleth is MVP in this episode :)
Kiki has a lot of cool clutch moments. I love to watch Marisha play. The way she uses and/or manipulates the terain to her advantage is some peak druid shit.
And always bring a barbarian to a Goliath herd fight
@@themeanlesbeann That treestride plus fire elemental move was inspired!
2:02:08 Just noticed on the rewatch that Vax looks to his right as if he's looking at Vex, but really Liam is just looking at an empty room. Even for a minor detail that only a handful of viewers will ever notice, he still puts on a show. What an actor, man. That shit's in his bones.
I didn’t notice that and it’s such a cool detail!
That dude's immersed!
Holy shit good catch
He has been doing it through the whole episode - I was so impressed when I realized what he was doing because it's HARD to act into the empty air when you can actually see the person you're supposed to be interacting with RIGHT THERE ON THE SCREEN!
What a BAMF....
I recently noticed I do a similar thing while playing D&D with my group over discord and we just do voice calls, we don’t turn our cameras on, so I’m literally just looking at different spots in an empty room for nobody’s benefit 😂
2020 Crew bringing it up top again:
14:10 - Swamp Things
19:48 - Talking Trees?
20:30 - Grog Kong
36:28 - To Fling or Not to Fling...
42:37 - Mansion Song
46:40 - Scanlan Inspires Percy
1:00:41 Cow Punch'n: Part 2.
1:01:00 - Grog vs Scanlan
1:03:50 - Roll for Disappointment
1:10:40 - Shoe Rage
1:13:45 - Life needs things to live
1:37:10 - Part 1 ends
1:46:26 - Part 2 starts
1:56:10 - Entering The Tree
2:06:00 - Saundor
2:14:11 - Vex's heart
2:16:50 - Initiative
2:37:50 - Scanlan Healing Song
3:08:28 - Scanlan Heals Vex
3:16:39 - Scanlan's literal disruption
3:31:02 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls)
3:43:40 - Shock Through the Heart...
3:57:12 - Scanlan reminiscing about life.
3:58:45 - True Identity
Bless you, my child.
Woot woot, just got here, thanks for this 2020 brudda.
@@irishtimelord3314 You are welcome but don't credit me. I am just copying from below
The entirety to of the "Scanlan" tags tells me this is going to be a Scanlan MVP episode.
The Part 2 times are off for some reason. Probably something to do with the break. These are the Part 2 times minus 7 minutes and 50 seconds, which I think fixes the problem?
1:38:36 - Part 2 starts
1:48:20 - Entering The Tree
1:58:10 - Saundor
2:06:21 - Vex's heart
2:09:00 - Initiative
2:30:00 - Scanlan Healing Song
3:00:38 - Scanlan Heals Vex
3:08:49 - Scanlan's literal disruption
3:23:12 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls)
3:35:50 - Shock Through the Heart...
3:49:22 - Scanlan reminiscing about life.
3:50:55 - True Identity
The illusion has been shattered: I always thought that "Life needs things to live" and "Your secret is safe with my indifference" were deep, meaningful quotes, not discussions about fae ecology and prostitutes.
That’s a solid summary of critical role.
we're in the same boat, but i'm still gonna use "Your secret is safe with my indifference."
1. And now you know *the truth.*
2. To be fair, that *is* a fairly solid summary of Critical Role. It sounds like this *amazing* story, given to us by professional voice actors in a compelling atmosphere (which it is!) When really, more often than not, it's a bunch of MASSIVE nerds sitting around, fart arsing about, playing D&D, cussing out their beloved DM, and forgetting how to play.
I think that's the nature of proverbs in general; someone says a thing and often by accident it has broader applicability than the original context so it gets reused and takes on some weight through that diversity of use.
These phrases have no less ability to carry the meaning you saw in them before now that you know their origin.
@@GeorgieChaos it'd actually be more natural if they were altered. Most quotes aren't used in the same way as they were first used. Sometimes, they're used to mean the opposite of what they actually mean.
For example, "pick up by your bootstraps" literally trying to do the impossible (because you normally can't do that).
Vax's protective ass doing the badass "if you want her you'll have to go through me" and Percy just SHITTING HIM UP and then Grog ending him it's just the ultimate "you know you have a lot of strong men willing to do anything for you, right?" THE LOVE FOR LAURA BAILEY LADIES AND GENTS AND OTHERS
When Vex said “My heart is someone else’s” i screamed
RIGHT?!
code for i am a gold digger
@@Ziajin why are you everywhere???
and always such a dick?!
Ziajin do you have a staff up your butt or what mate
timestamp?! 😭
Woah! Travis signs. :) (23:24) I don't know much, so I had to watch it three times, but I'm pretty sure he said "Gorilla know sign language. Want food."
T Keil Good eyes I never would have noticed that!
Duuude, that's so cool!
I though he was just messing around. I didn't know he actually used sign language😅
Awesome thank you for pointing that out
Well... if you pretend travis was signing broken asl while hammered drunk.... then it was 'gorilla', 'mind/think', 'me/I', then something that looks like he might be trying/failing to sign 'control' or 'exchange' or 'charity', then what looks like a backwards facing wonky 'tournament', then 'food/eat'. So it could look like he was trying to sign: The gorilla thinks I control the eating contest.
bringing it up top
8:25 Taliesin's magic again (Tal is so cute)
14:04 Scanlan being Yoda-carried
20:52 "You think my giant ass is gonna jump frockily-fucky-fucky from branch to branch?!"
26:34 "Anime shit" "oh yeah"
48:10 Scanlan inspires Percy
1:00:22 Grog just wants to hit people ("I grab again. I grab again. I grab again.")
1:02:39 Triceratops Scanlan (Grog "Is this my day-birth or something?")
1:05:00 Percy running experiments
1:05:23 busy being disappointed (nat 20)
1:06:58 angry-singing attack
1:12:10 Grog popping in to insult Percy's shoes
1:15:45 "Life needs things to live"
1:22:01 "Sondur" "Poovah" "Shamalaka" "Terry"
1:35:44 Vax talks to Vex (vaguely about Percy as well)
1:39:02 Perc'ahlia
1:44:54 "A tree is just a door that hasn't been made yet"
2:30:07 Scanlan healing Percy with a song
2:47:11 "Come on, dangerous nerd, do it!"
2:56:06 Percy made a friend
2:58:40 Sam takes good care of his item cards
3:00:46 Scanlan using Percy's nspirational quote to heal Vex
3:02:40 secret to rolling good
3:13:12 Travis is too big for the set
3:20:58 "Bastard" 3:29:56 "Asshole"
3:35:52 dead-ent (random pink panther theme)
3:36:17 "NOBODY CARES" (everyone liked that)
3:37:34 Grog (who got nothing done during battle) gets the kill
3:43:15 Keyleth and Percy "making a show"
3:49:30 Sam will never let Taliesin forget this one line
Thx, someone's gotta do it 😊 🙏 still gaining new fans and it's fun for the og fans to rewatch
Thanks
✊
Boost
Boost
"You paid allot of money for those dice, make them work for you." The first statment Matt has made that screams, "She is my girlfriend."
Initially, I was thinking the same thing. Then I realized that Matt was also getting really sick of all the 20’s people were rolling the last couple of episodes. He might just be sandbagging them
Jeffrey Bomba I think the ladies of the table have the same obsession and it annoys their men. Both Have made so many comments about their different dice and curses.
You can hear Travis from time to time complain about Laura’s massive dice collection or all the ones she brings.
But Matt’s the dm so cant make the same comments all the time so I’m thinking it was a slip of his annoyance at her dice obsession (don’t get me wrong LOTS of players share this obsession)
Sam does a bit (actually he has Laura do a bit) on this in the early days of the second campaign. Here is the snippet ( it is just the bit, none of the game, if you are worried about spoilers) ua-cam.com/video/EtkaNAMOORw/v-deo.html
Sun Tree and Keyleth, what you talking 'bout? lolol
@@reedk2402 Superstitions are crazy. I mean, NASA and the baseball leagues in America have their own that they flatly refuse to break. Not surprised about dice blessings/curses.
The music when Vex says "my heart is someone else's" at like 2:06:15 is nearly perfect.
2:10:03 The echoed audio bug when Taliesin says "I was only not shooting him to be POLITE" made it sound like Orthax came back for a hot second
I specifically looked for this comment. It startled me when the bug happened due to overriding microphones. He sounded demonic!
An ancient tree dude, wrapped in a tree stuff, living inside a tree, summons 2 tree helpers.
Druid sets herslef on fire.
*it was at this moment he knew, he fucked up*
Keyleth: We mean no harm to nature, unless we do. Then we do lots of harm!!!
Still, another episode and another misunderstood spell by said druid. But mat is suck a great dm he went with it and made it work
@@arieltorres3594 Honestly, if any of Keyleth's misspells should get a pass it's this one for creative use. Though jumping from one to the other, setting them both on fire, and THEN attacking the exit door guy would work better and go with the spell specifics.
@@arieltorres3594 She has a lot of spells and a huge part of DnD is to be creative and let your imagination fly.
If everyone gave a shit about rules like you Marisha-hating stooges, DnD would be _such_ a boring game.
@@arieltorres3594 i mean I see no issue with the way it was ruled. Treestride doesn't say you can't do any of the things she did. Marisha may not be the best with spells, but she got this one right.
I can not say how much I appreciate Laura Bailey. I mean, if you watch Vex and watch Jester, it really is two completely different people. Even her speech patterns and the way the two characters cry is wildly different! Wow.
Sometimes jester slips through and i love it
@@9474sammus Seeing as this predates Jester, I suspect Jester is just her RPing herself.
@@danielboatright8887 it dosent for me i knew jester and all of the m9 well before i knew VM i understand what you are saying but my context is different
@@9474sammus Same, Inwatched VM first then started my VM journey waiting for episode 100 (wooo july second its back)
@@danielboatright8887 just watched it but i think im going to catch up on camp 1 then watch episode 100 then rewatch camp 2 lol
It's so cute when Grog worries about Vex just because Travis is worried about Laura. Warms my heart
You could tell he was trying to go back to acting like Grog though and not her husband lol gotta be hard for him 😅
@@nataliepeters8459The only time I’ve seen Travis break is when Laura’s character is in genuine danger
Laura meeting Artagan: "I really like him"
C2: indeed
C2 Critter: "Indeed!!"
This is vague, but with the right foreknowledge it could be rather revealing of something pretty major in campaign 2, so you might want to add a spoiler tag.
SPOILER****
Have you heard of the Traveler? He's pretty cool.
The Treveler be with you
@@zacharydunn6577 no it's really not and if it was they would get it regardless of the comment. Spoilers here tho For all anyone knows they just meet him like they do other characters and he doesn't do anything naturey until just before we know its him
Vex: *complains about the price of superior healing potions from that one scammy sales guy*
*20 episodes later*
Vex: *near death, again, takes a clutch superior healing potion*
Matt: Mhm.
lmao when Matt said "yeah that's one of the pricey ones" I thought Luara was going to put it away and save it for later lmao
@@Kurse_of_KallAnd once again Vex would have died because of her damn greed 😂
What a great in game moment.
I love how Vax and Percy are first in the initiative order against Sondor. I know it is just die rolls but it fits the story dynamic so well.
The one time the Skype stream is solid, the audio is corrupted! URRRRGGGHHHH!
There has to be a balance...
Leisure I do believe Liam was using the technology as an excuse to not answer the question about Vex’s past with the bloody dagger. Could be wrong but he seemed to cheese it up and Travis I think picked up on it.
If you knew anything about any of them you'd know Liam loves conflict. Seems highly unlikely but could have been. I'd have to find out what the dagger is but I don't see why Liam would be the one to skirt around a question like that. Feels biased
@@Alberecht I feel like he was kinda saying "ask her, that's not my story to tell"
I like how Liam saying "Theater" reminded Matt to bring Artagon back in for his proper introduction...so smooth! Lol
Also in his newest appearance..
Taliesin: "You don't get something from nothing."
The first Law of Alchemy
This is how we ended up with Travis being Colonel Fjord Mustang
@@Veritas_Boz 🤣🤣🤣🤣
And Laura as Lust.
This message approved by Ed and Alphonse Elric.
Grog, Grog, Grog of the Shademurk, strong as he can be, Grog Grog, Grog of the Shademurk, WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!
Underrated comment
This needs WAY more upvotes.
2:05:49 When your real-life husband, your character's love interest, your character's twin, and all your other friends are concerned then you know you should run if you haven't already.
The Vax & Vex relationship is so well done by Liam and Laura. Every interaction feels so genuine.
They really are spiritual siblings, in every way that matters. (In much the same way that Liam and Sam are 'married.')
I don't know if you're watching C3, but Laura and Liam get to sit together again for that and the twin vibes (out of character) are consistent and adorable. :)
"It does not like being on fire"
-Matt Mercer
PyreGnome Ay “Life needs things to live.” -Percy
Really though, there’s not many things that enjoy being on fire.... pine cones, fire elementals...... thaaaat’s all I can think of.
@@christopherriley6299 Sugar cane?
@@leahsander5490 Ohhhhh, Did not think of that...
'If there was a time to not be us, this is the moment.'
I love self-aware Percy.
Scanlan's songs get better and better. 'Home, home on the range...'
Edit: That Cheap Thrills song. Oh wow. That's seriously excellent.
The twins' conversation was interesting. It's easy to talk about finding self-worth when you're low, but it's also a good idea to talk about it once you've /got/ the things that you thought would help with it - in this case, the title. It's worth evaluating not only how your self-worth is faring, but where it comes from every once in a while.
Okay so they're just going in? I guess sometimes you just have to go for it! What else could they do?
I think it's really interesting how Sondur went after Vex. Trying to play on her insecurities, her weaknesses, her temptations. Putting in truths (like 'unwanted daughter') to make the lies/seeds of self-doubt (like 'you're putting your family in danger for your own gain'*) more believable.
If that's how you tried to get your last girlfriend, no wonder she left you, mate.
(*If anything, Vex has seemed the /least/ determined to get the bow. She's been more focused on facing her past, and even joked about just turning around and abandoning this particular Vestige.)
Also, I totally get why Laura (and maybe Vex?) felt guilty for attacking first, when Sondur hadn't proved to be violent yet - but let's be real, here. This guy turned into a monstrous tree and corrupted acres of land for centuries because he was spurned once. He was hardly going to take another 'no' well. That first attack doesn't sit well with the most noble of honour codes, perhaps, but I reckon it was the smartest play tactically.
I love how everyone's like 'Vex, he clearly has it out for you, heal yourself, use all the potions.'
Edit: And then when she wonders whether she should have just said yes, they're all like 'NO! He was fucking awful! You don't wanna deal with that piece of shit!'
3:55:37 Keyleth : "You know, for someone who hates the theater, you've made quite a show of all of this."
OOOOOOooooo, that one-line burns hotter than her fire elemental form.
Keyleth burns are rare, but that one landed *well.*
@@Lucifronzoh man, why would you?😅
Matt's use and choices of background music are masterful here. The special piece during Sondor's initial speech, and then the Mechanist's Theme thereafter during the tense discussion. Absolutely fantastic and created such a close and tense atmosphere. Amazing.
Can't figure out the source for the song during sondors speech @2:00:10?
@@TheNewton Ruins of Bone Hill
@@laiuhhajad65 Awesome ears! ty for info went through several of their playlists and never managed to ID it.
all i hear is repetitive skyrim music.
That TIMING when Vex drew her bow. HOW.
It feels absolutely poetic that after Vex fires her arrow and combat starts, Vax and Percy are the first ones to go. Also I am here for Vex-centric storylines, give me more, I crave them!
I thought "Vex-Centric" was a wordplay as it is so close to eccentric and they met Artagan, in the feywild. I figured I read too deep but its true anyways :D
I was disappointed she did it so quickly though. I felt like the story could have had a lot more meaning if they had talked more. But instead she shot first at a guy who had shown no hint of malice, for essentially proposing to her. Strong case of "It's just a game" syndrome. Just because it's DnD doesn't mean shooting first is the answer to every problem.
@@Draezeth No hint of malice? He's asking her to abandon her family and friends to join him, he's creepy as all heck, he blames an unnamed woman for him becoming the evil entity that he is, and right before Vex shoots him, he gathers up all his tendrils and vines and shit and demands an answer from her. It was clear that he was going to attack if she just said no, and she clearly wanted her no to be poignant, because no matter what he offers, she's loyal. It was a test for her, and something to show her that she needs to change. I think the pacing was perfect, and I don't think there would have been anything else gained from continuing to talk to him, though of course, I don't know everything Matt has up his sleeve.
@@tinnytintinnabulation Yeah, he's asking her for something unreasonable, and he's malicious, but the guy has been stewing in heartbreak for thousands of years. The least they could have done was say "Here's a better offer, you come with us. If you and Vex really are so similar then it's not romance you need, it's a family." It would have been a great character moment.
@@Draezeth dude what?
My personal head cannon- the reason Saundor targeted Percy after Vex was knocked out is because was while he was reading her mind or heart or whatever earlier he realized he was the person who had her heart.
"SAM: (softly sings along with the background music)" is my favourite caption.
*TALISEN: (eerily realistic crow noises)*
I feel like that convo was Matt saying to Laura "y'all wanna take a level in warlock?" "Cause I can give you level in warlock"
I love those rp opportunities
If Vex took a level in warlock she would have become a witch. Yet isn't Zara a witch since her class is a warlock?
@@zacharygadzinski3147 "witch" is not an official/meaningful term in 5e, but sure anyone can call themselves that.
@@elbruces wouldn't "witch" be the female term for "Wizard"?
@@Rztro1544 Nope
Can we just appreciate Liam's eyelines this episode? He's Skyping in and still acting up a storm.
3:43:10
Keyleth to Vex: I don't ever want you to date an asshole.
Percy: *thousand yard stare*
i was so waiting for him to make some kind of quiet off hand comment but the "oh really" stare was just as good
❤@@whitemoonwolf13
"You know for someone who hates the theathre, you've made quite a show of all of this."
Oh wow...Keyleth made her first epic one liner, that was impressive!
And she also made quite a badass move in the fight too with the fire element into the treant XD
She was on fire in this session! :3
Yeah, it only took 60+ episodes too
Murphys law. Its inevitable that she would eventually say something in her career that wasnt a completely retarded statement or waste of time. Will it continue going forward? Probablyyyyyy not.
Most underated member of the cast. She was great. The replies to this comment are pretty shit though
@@spencerpommier806 Aye, by far the most underrated, and by far my fave of VM:), the constant whining about her playstyle is especially galling considering how much of what Vox Machina can do is only possible because of her, since she is the linchpin that all of their rapid mobility hangs from, like Planeshift or Transport Via Plants. also all surveillance via scrying spells.
And not to mention that Marisha is one of the most awesome members of the cast. the fact she could still RP true to her character even with all the hate she got on a daily basis is a testament to what a badass she is, that level of crap she received from the supposed "Critters" would break most people.....
@@sydney4814 It also goes to show that people always have trouble seperating actor and role. Which is quite evident when comparing Beauregard and Keyleth.
They are nothing alike.
Sam: "I will now heal Vex. She's close right?"
Taliesin, sweating in nearly-dead: "Yeah."
Sam: *PROCEEDS TO MOCK TALIESIN'S ONE AND ONLY BAD ONE-LINER*
For the next 7.5 years!!!
Taliesin and I have the same problem...
DM: *describes something in the feywild*
Us: "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!........unfortunately, I don't think my character knows what that is.... :( "
The Dice: Um, aren't I the judge of that?
@@alexv3357
As well as the DM
What's worked wonders for me:
Every time you're going to a place that's "new" for the characters, but not for the players, you should jot down a list of everything in there with some DCs, then have them make some related knowledge checks right off the bat. Give advantage to any characters who purposefully spend time researching where they're going. This becomes their "passive knowledge" of what they come across or should know to expect. They can reroll once they encounter something, but for planning and suspicion purposes, the passive knowledge really helps metagame-proof your party.
@@SomeUA-camTraveler I ask my dm this all the time. Especially as I am a guy who will just read stat blocks for fun. I dont want to meta so I ask if my character knows. Especially when I am playing a high INT character.
@@deathless12345678 I tend to presume my char knows nothing and unless its somthing ive encountered or researched i wouldnt know.
lol Marisha "the wind from Vax's wings start stoking the flames of Keyleth's form and I'm kinda into it" - hell yeah you are, gurl XD
Time stamp?
@@DredgenStorm 3:31:50
I love that she basically said she was turned on by Vax's wings 😂😏
@@nataliepeters8459 Possibly the same reason she was turned on by Yasha
Timestamps, get ya timestamps!
1:31 Recap & start of Part 1.
14:45 - Swamp Things
21:37 - Talking Trees?
25:12 - Grog Kong
38:12 - To Fling or Not to Fling...
44:12 - Mansion Song
48:10 - Scanlan Inspires Percy
1:01:26 Cow Punchin': Part 2.
1:02:38 - Grog vs Scanlan
1:05:25 - Roll for Disappointment
1:15:50 - Life needs things to live
1:38:32 - Part 1 ends
1:38:45 - Part 2 starts
1:54:10 Entering the tree
1:55:56 - The "Tranus"
1:58:10 - Saundor
2:26:21 - Vex's heart
2:09:00 - Initiative
2:30:11 - Scanlan Healing Song
2:31:27 - Keyleth goes Johnny Storm and Flames on (attack at 2:34:45)
3:00:51 - Scanlan Heals Vex
3:09:11 - Scanlan's literal disruption
3:23:21 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls)
3:36:17 - Shock Through the Heart...
3:49:33 - Scanlan reminiscing about life.
3:51:03 - True Identity
Boost
Boost!
Ukurat is low-key bestest, most honorable boy.
Sam every time Grog takes out the Javelin of Lightning: What? You have a Javelin if Lightning?! Why have you never used this?!
I love these guys lol
Ikr? EVERY time
trinity It's true that for those who are playing one game session a week for public audience is more difficult to remember, but I always find funny and annoying. "How you can't remember? I remember when and how was found and by who!"
@@HDloly oh absolutely, I forget the names of all the npcs from the campaign I'm playing (to be fair, ever since I've moved abroad I've played quite sporadically). However, Sam saying "you've NEVER used this/this has NEVER happened", which tbh he does say relatively often, is always funny to me.
I feel like he used it on an old lady
@@paulm3952 Yeah he did, the old lady mercenary near the beginning of The Briarwood Arc
"and remember, a tree is just a door that hasn't been made yet" yes, cause y'all have an impeccable track record with doors
im *so glad* percy, keyleth and vax immediately acknowledged the emotional manipulation this creep of a tree was laying upon vex. showing the importance of support, that *even strong seeming women* are vulnerable and need it, in the face of a potential abuser grooming them into trauma bonding and codependency
Agree with the sentiment, disagree with the way its worded. It shouldn't have "seeming", and men should be mentioned as well. Men need support too, they're not independent or invulnerable, not more than women atleast.
@@Jason-kp4vc oh dear god. you're taking an issue over the specific wording of a situation specific comment written in the context of the episode and taking offence that a stranger on the internet didn't include theoretical men into said comment. You honestly remind me of those people who will look at a woman who's gone through this and instead of helping go, "Yeah, but what about the men"
It's completely unnecassary, of course men need to be included in those dicussions, but not as a what aboutism
@@erisplaysgames You misunderstand my point. Their comment came off as "strong women are actually vulnerable and need support", like strong men are badasses and don't need support. It's quite the opposite of what you think I said.
I'm saying strong women are only as weak as strong men. This isn't a "haha biological difference means men are stronger", neither is it a "men are abused too" comment. I'm just clarifying that what they said could easily be construed as putting strong women down, and I wanted to rectify it.
@@Jason-kp4vc you’ve completely missed her point. She’s literally affirming what you think you said. She says in her reply exactly what you’re saying that of course men are included, that’s to be inferred. there was nothing to fix. You simply didn’t need to go “strong men need support too” because yeah of course they do.
@@Jason-kp4vc also the comment says nothing, and has nothing for you to come to the conclusion that it’s saying “strong men are badasses and thus don’t need support” that sounds like your subjective perspective. And that was part of the issue she was taking with you commenting that.
Sondur: “Love me, fear me, do as I say and I shall be your slave.”
Vex: “You have no power over me.” *draws bow*
When they were talking about Arch Fey and then this happens? Labyrinth was all I could think about
Slightly inspired
Also, notice how her demeanor changes when her brother says her name?
Seriously...
You know, she *does* remind me of the babe...
This is an important lesson, folks. If a creepy dude pretends to know you and tries to guilt you into being with him, that ain’t alright.
Especially if he’s made of tree.
"No breakup is _that_ bad." From Taliesin. I think that's a nice related point. No matter how bad his breakup was, it can't justify all of this, and shouldn't be used to make anyone feel guilty.
Especially if he's made of tree.
@@NinjaWLOGexactly. Any manipulative tactics are giant red flags, and should be avoided at all costs. Anybody who justifies trying to manipulate people like that over a bad breakup is in no way a good or decent person.
Especially if he's made of tree.
Marisha is really something to watch battle, because she always has the craziest most out there ideas that either don't work whatsoever, or they work fantastically and are pretty mind blowing, like her tree slide
I absolutely did not believe that scene came from the game until I saw it with my own eyes.
Enjoyed her landing a few ideas after her brooding when she couldn’t grapple the dragon or finish off the Herd’s archers…
She really had a good battle this time! I was surprised Soundar was not hardier given his large number of legendary abilities, but Vox Machina must be also fairly impressive just now.
One of the things I love about Matt aside from the voice work for the NPCs is his ability to describe things. When he was describing the tree I imagined an more twisted and evil version of the tree that envelops Hexxes in FernGully.
Same!!! That's exactly what i was picturing what the tree was looking like, too!
Never seen that movie but upon googling it, thats how i imagined it too!!
Marisha: I also have blackheart here? What is that?
Matt: Uh... his heart is black? I don't know why you wrote that down...
Marisha: Oh... just thought it'd be important.
Eternal struggle of DMs vs players :D DMs read their long description where they don't think certain words are important, but players hang on the words you didn't even think of xD
Marisha is also the one that writes the most notes out of eeryone
To be fair, Master Mercer had created such an intricate and detailed world, it's no wonder they try to extrapolate meaning from every word he gives them. I love every silly moment it creates.
@@zackrose6261 and yet despite all that data, she makes the worst decissions by a long shot
@@TheHighborn TBF, notes written by players is generally out of character stuff, not in character stuff. The notes you take down should not affect how your character was made to act
I feel called out and I don't even play. XD
Percy's and vex's dynamic is just so natural and pleasant. Like them or hate them as characters, they just vibe so well with each other. And yet laura's and tal's characters have an entirely different dynamic in C2. That's just excellent acting all around yall.
The audio change when Talisin/Percy says "I was only not shooting him to be polite" Orthax came back for a second.
2:30:12 This is legitimately one of Scanlan's best bard songs. Taliesin, Laura and Marisha all start moving their head to the beat within the first second, and then even Matt starts to move to the beat after just the first few lines. And then Laura enters it perfectly with that perfect double fist beat on the table.
Seriously, even carefully pre-planned musical numbers in broadway shows don't come together as quickly and as seamlessly as this totally impromptu Bardic Inspiration.
I agree, this is my favorite of Scanlan’s songs. I’ve heard it on some compilations of his best songs and I’m so happy I’m finally at the episode where it happens :D
I’m so upset that I recognize the songs enough to recognize them but never enough to know what song it is a parody of so I can find it later!!!
@@hag8752 that specific song is called "Cheap Thrills" by Sia if you still need it
@@SpieleteufelLP thank you so much
THIS !! If you look at Travis/Grog as well, he gets a his little smirk because of Sam's lyrical genius.
watching laura completely whither during the saundor encounter, and then travis looking at her with such concern, marisha and liam being like “saundor’s a manipulative dick, don’t feel bad!” just makes my heart ache
To me I wish for once they would have actually conversed or bargained with instead of jut straight to killing I get it you need combat to punch up the story and for the game experience but I wanted to hear Sandor out and maybe see one of them bargain for power not just taking it
@@Nixo66 Agreed, this could have turned out as much more of a character growth moment. Very disappointing.
@@Draezeth i mean. sondor was being shitty and raising every single overly possessive red flag. what at first came across as insightful immediately got revealed as him tearing her down to make her vulnerable so he could prey on her but it shook her so much that even she was doubting herself for simply not taking shit from this weirdo. he wanted to possess her. no growth comes from giving your freedom up completely to another being
@@Draezeth what kind of character development would that be? Seeing a character locked into a toxic situation? Yeah we don't need any more of that shit.
@@Nixo66 Matt has practically been screaming at them to NOT trust anything they encounter in the Feywild since before they entered, and now you’re disappointed that they didn’t try to make a bargain with an Archfey, the final boss who is literally poisoning the land? For once they actually made a good decision here.
travis desperately trying to comfort his wife while also trying to stay in character is so cute i love them
'He was fun, I really liked him' says Vex about Artagan. And you can already see a blossoming of The Jester in Laura Bailey's eyes.
Laura had already played Jester in a one-shot they did early on, maybe sometime around the Slayer's Take section.
"Life needs things to live"
Tal drops pearls whenever he opens his mouth. Has one sucky line in five years of the show and it gets immortalized!
Welcome to the internet
Tbh it ain't even something I'd call sucky. Like just blunt and obvious. Just compared to shit like " Ana, I'm willing to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that you are a smart woman" it just seems even worse.
@@als2480 Taliesin even admits it was a bad line...he was very very sleep deprived during this episode...and so that line happened. He seems to deal with insomnia at times. c2 Spoiler.
The night before Molly died he hadnt slept and didn't sleep the next night as well. He said in an interview he had a lot of emotions after Molly died and kinda just cried, curled up in bed, until the sun came up.
@@AnxietyRat is it his best line? No. But I like it. It is true and obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said.
Also that breaks my heart Molly is tied with Jester for my favorite C2 character. I'm still not over it.
@@als2480 more C2 spoilers. I agree the line made sense within the specific context it was used! But used out of context...it's hilarious that the " smart royal posh character" said it. which is why the cast keep doing callbacks to it.
Yeah, it was heartbreaking to hear that story from him...I can't remember exactly where he said it...on Talks or in the wrap-up for C2 or in Between The Sheets...I can't remember. Yeah, Jester is one of my favorites as well..she will always hold a special place in. My heart. She is such a bright light. Tbh I really only liked Molly once Matt started doing the full on Irish accent and we learned a bit more about Lucien but maybe that's because we didn't have Molly around for very long. Not long enough for any super significant character development, IMO. he changed in minor ways, sure, but not enough for me to care about him as a character, personally. The character arch in its entirety was great. I honestly wish C2 went on longer...there were so many loose ends that were just...left. whereas. In C1 things were much more rounded off and complete. Sorry, started rambling on a bit. I could talk about these guys for days!
Percy: anyone who says "we aren't so different" is usually a terrable person.
Scandalin: mainly because we are terrible people
Me: You guys did kill an old lady and have referenced punching children.
They have punched children, remember Kinen? (Or however you spell it)
I got so worried for that hag they decided to skip earlier 😂 they don't deal well with the elderly
@@yeet9397 Kynen was like 18 though? Or something
Keyleth, the closest thing to a moral center they have has apparently killed a child sometime in the past.
@@christopherbacon1077 pre stream she was trying to pull a child away from The Dread Emperor, inadvertantly choking the child to death. At least if memory of them bantering on the side about the past serves.
Keyleth's Flame Elemental x Tree Stride to take on the awakened trees was brilliant.
I myself am a little confused as to why she cast tree stride. Being a fire elemental allows you to enter the space of the tree anyways. What did tree stride add? I thought she was going to use it to teleport to the other tree when the first one died, but no she just walked to it
@@im9550 I think she was planning to use it to bounce between the Ents to set them on fire one after the other but she lost the spell due to damage and a bad concentration roll before she had the opportunity to do so.
@@sw96 3:01:38 she walked over to the other treeent before making the concentration check though.
@@im9550 Fair point, I'll admit I hadn't followed the battle that closely.
With how the battle played out Tree Stride was a bit of a waste but had the Treants moved apart during the fight it would've been useful.
@@im9550
I think because the one she was inside died of DoT between her turns, she didn't have the action to stride to the other one, and when she did it was dead and couldn't be used.
SPOILERS
When Laura said she was feeling guilty about shooting Saundor, who had just given the most classic abuser speech in history, Travis gently reaching over to reassure his wife that she had made the right choice was so incredibly sweet.
but then again she threaten his husband in and out of character because a stolen flying broom, lol.
these extreme polarities are fun,
@@Chronostra no it doesn't. Greed is shit
@@Chronostra its called having a good relationship with your partner. You can make little quips like that and both get have fun with it.
The thing is that I didn't even realize it was bad what he said until Taliesin and Marisha were like: He's a dick!
And your comment about how it is abuser talk.
In her position I would have taken his proposition and accepted. In my head it was like: He needs love in his life, someone who will remember him.
Man I didn't even catch it....
@@animadea4449 in future, anytime someone appeals to you with a shared weakness instead of in support of a shared strength run! It is the most classic manipulation of abusers. No love can be based on need and guilt, it has to be based on desire and respect.
15:40 - Swamp Things
21:18 - Talking Trees?
22:00 - Grog Kong
37:58 - To Fling or Not to Fling...
44:07 - Mansion Song
48:10 - Scanlan Inspires Percy
1:02:30 - Grog vs Scanlan
1:05:20 - Roll for Disappointment
1:12:10 - Shoe Rage
1:15:15 - Life needs things to live
1:38:46 - Break Ends
1:48:27 - Entering The Tree
1:58:17 - Saundor
2:09:07 - Initiative
2:30:07 - Scanlan Healing Song
3:00:45 - Scanlan Heals Vex
3:35:57 - Shock Through the Heart...
3:51:05 - True Identity
Correct list, thanks!
Bump
bump
Bump
Boost
God watching Laura get the description of Fenthris when Vex first gets hold of it, her tongue goes out her eyes go wide, she looks like someone watching their perfectly filet's steak get prepared.
More than anyone else, Laura is just hanging on every word of narration when awesome things are happening to her character (like here, or when Trinket was defending her from the Spirit Bear). It's pretty fantastic how invested in her characters she gets.
Episode 9 of Titansgrave had some long narration where she was just 100% fixated on Wil Wheaton's narration for many minutes. When I see that happen in Critical Role, it always reminds me of that (because I saw it first, and because it went on for so long; much longer than any monologue from Matt because it was a more scripted episode, but still with a character that she had developed).
She’s the ahegao touch that this show needs
Travis' journey up to this point has been great. I remember watching the first few eps and he was very passive and let the group make decisions, I'm sure because of the novelty of RPing a 6INT character and just on camera in general. Now you can see him wanting to cause trouble and make hilarious decisions doing his own thing, love it.
2:05:55 to become a warlock of the archfey, press 1
Press 2 for Great Old One?
Im sorry we are out of stock but we have 1 cleric left. Laura Bailey: I will take it!
To become a Trickster Cleric, please stay on the line, and don't mention the theatre.
whenever I am watching something happen to a character my go to face to watch is Travis.
@@Wicked_Necrosis Yeah it is one of the two
Travis usually, then I rewind as I missed all the others. Sometimes I watch an incident 8 times.
Yes it's necessary.
Laura is mine, she’s always so invested. I rewind for big moments to watch each of them though. 😆
Mine is Taliesin 😂
Putting my "caption appreciation comment" here. Have been watching with it for a while because English is not my first language and on this episode, as the top comment mentions, this was essential because of the audio blips. Thanks, All, who volunteered to do this!!
Catching up on Campaign 1 whilst watching C2. Percy: "Bow is on the ground!" Me: I didn't even know she was grappled?
Ot was rigjt after she missed that flurry of beaus
had the exact same thought! lol
Same here! xD
2:10:02 I'm dying the audio change had me thinking Talesin was about to show us his true form.
That grog kill at the end (3:37:38 ) is one of the most hilarious kills ever.He basically spends his time chasing him, meanwhile stumbling a million times and yet gets to kill him after a nice provoking message.
14:10 - Swamp Things
19:48 - Talking Trees?
20:30 - Grog Kong
36:28 - To Fling or Not to Fling...
42:37 - Mansion Song
46:40 - Scanlan Inspires Percy
1:00:41 Cow Punch'n: Part 2.
1:01:00 - Grog vs Scanlan
1:03:50 - Roll for Disappointment
1:10:40 - Shoe Rage
1:13:45 - Life needs things to live
1:37:10 - Part 1 ends
1:46:26 - Part 2 starts
1:56:10 - Entering The Tree
2:06:00 - Saundor
2:14:11 - Vex's heart
2:16:50 - Initiative
2:37:50 - Scanlan Healing Song
3:08:28 - Scanlan Heals Vex
3:16:39 - Scanlan's literal disruption
3:31:02 - Scanlan Heals Vex (Spice Girls)
3:43:40 - Shock Through the Heart...
3:57:12 - Scanlan reminiscing about life.
3:58:45 - True Identity
You da real mvp.
Hey, so just a heads up, but the times are different from this and the original vod post. So the comment you copy and pasted from Phalinx is off. Don't know if you want to adjust that or not, but its just a heads up.
They cut out the break, so all timestamps after ~1:38:50 are off by 8 or so minutes.
I'm just saying it should have been Gorilla Grog (like Gorilla Grod) instead of Grog Kong
20:30 I would have also said gorilla grog
During Vax and Vex’ talk (right before the break) I just kinda automatically thought of my sister and all the feelings suddenly hit a hundred times harder because damn, I think she’s the coolest person ever too. I actually can’t believe my luck, getting stuck with a person like her.
I always like sibling dynamics in fiction but this just really made me love their relationship even more; I feel like the consistent bickering is at least partially another way of showing love, but I appreciate that they also just Say It every once in a while
Yes! That is one of the many things I love about this series. Some might think "voice actors" as people who just read scripts and use interesting voices, but this is a group of Very talented actors, masters of improv and dedicated to their characters. They breathe such life into their stories that the audience actually cares about each of them.
I find these people fascinating. They are individually as interesting as the characters they so beautifully portray. Liam and Laura as Vax and Vex make such an inspiring duo, I am glad you see yourself and your sister in their mirror. That's pretty cool friend.
testfire3000 I think you’re completely right! Many people find it easy to look down on ~”the arts”~ and those who work with them as a full time job, that it’s not as necessary as some other jobs, and that may be true, but we all still love art, and need it in some form or another to reflect on our own lives. We need to express ourselves and explore our own feelings and connect with other people and understand their feelings in relation to our own, and I think art in all forms allow us to do that in incredible ways (especially Critical Role)
"You can have a jar full of honey?" "You've got a very little brain, don't you?"
Damn it, Tal, that deserved more of a reaction.
Okay but during that first, super intense conversation between Vex and Saundor, Liam and Taliesin's faces were kILLING me.
3:09:45 Sam is the best kind of player in my opinion, when the DM makes a ruling that is unfavorable to him, he asks for clarification, then inserts a joke (in this case "I said it really loud") and then ends by conceding to the DM's ruling rather than pouting, with a "it's fine". By being a class act when he doesn't get his way, Matt is incentivized to be more lenient with him in the future, since there is no contention.
He may be a lunatic, but Sam is a classy man.
Several players need to pick up on these things that make sam great instead of tryina copy his jokes and hope to be that beloved.
He really is an excellent player. If he’s unsure if his character would know something he asks presuming they don’t know and is all around great at putting himself in the characters shoes.
It’s also a real mastery to be able to break tension with a joke at the right time and while doesn’t seek out many serious or sentimental scenes he won’t shy away when one comes his way.
Sam is an amazing player
Sam is a good roleplayer, but his weakness is mechanics. He rarely reads his own abilities and often mistakes how things work that he should know. Such as some forty episodes not realising cutting words consumes a use of bardic inspiration. He cant even remember in three sequential episodes that his advantage on saving throws is a gnome thing. In cp2 he doesnt get used to the basic rules of sneak attack until over 100 episodes in.
He is lax on arguing, because he generally doesnt seem to care much about the mechanical aspect of the game. He's there to share awesome moments and roleplay with his friends, and meme or troll a bit. This makes him both a treat to watch and a fun person to have. But also frustrating to watch, as he doesnt pay a lot of attention to any mechanical aspect of a scene, or even want to make any decisions about mechanical aspects of his character.
And as a result, It leaves the DM having to pick up the slack a lot which isnt a good thing, the DM has enough to keep at the ready without having to double check your abilities for you
Its less obvious in this campaign as most players are still learning a new system and most of what he needs to know are spell descriptions. But in subsequent campaigns he ends up needing to be helped as much as Ashley despite not having the excuse of being unable the game consistently.
I love sam as a viewer, and his personality is wonderful at bringing the mood back up when things are grim. But I can't honestly call him a good *player*
Sam trying to hide his shit-eating grin as he says "She's just an old lady" knowing OOC that she's a hag gives me life
I feel sad we missed out on this amazing moment where Percy's ingenuity and grogs experience as a shoe maker could have been a wonderful bonding moment for the two characters. However Taliesin forgot grog's background since it so rarely came up (I think only twice in the whole campaign)
Matt and Laura durring the "poor sweet Vex'allia" speech were absolutely amazing. Laura's face was heartbreaking
It's fun to pause every time Matt asks "How do you want to do this?" and just watch the different looks on their faces. Especially this time with poor Grog really deserving that last hit
1:27:16 I can confirm that throwing pure sodium - Percy's cannonball - at the soggy roots of a (normal) tree would definitely hurt it very much:
- it produces a hot flame that can not be extinguished with water
- bog plants are used to a rather acidic environment, so the water suddenly turning _extremely_ basic would be quite disturbing
While I know what you mean by basic, my sleep deprived brain is just imagining water with a valley girl accent.
Does it make any sense that Percy has access to kettles of pure sodium? Where is he even storing them?
Creepy Dude: Lol, You're broken. We should date. We're sooo alike, totally vibin.
Vex: Sorry, I'm into someone else.
Scanlan: Aww, but he's just a lonely guy! Give him a chance!
Percy: We'll have no respect for anyone who'll try to get us with the "We're not so different, you and I"
Whether the combination of spells used by Marisha was legit or not, the imagination applied was too cool to not allow. This is what Rule of Cool is for. Super clever.
I think in this case though Tree Stride wasn't needed. Fire elementals can already do what she was trying to use it for.
“Normally don’t do that kind of retroactive thing”
“Actually, no. He’s going to use his legendary action”
"Actually, you should have done a concentration check"
Yeah, I felt that would have been a pretty minor thing to show, especially since Vex the character could have seen the way things were set up and would have done it that way from the start.
Matt is also running a game with 6 PCs, 5 NPCs, keeping track of legendary reactions and actions, spell slots, hit points, everyone’s spells, and abilities. All on top of making it a fun, interesting, and difficult encounter. I have a hard time trying to handle doing that for my 3 players against a deadly lvl 12 encounter. I can’t imagine during a deadly 14th?? Lvl encounter
@@tylerschoen5643 All in good fun. I'm a DM myself, and do it all the time. It was just a funny juxtaposition
@@tylerschoen5643 It get's easier the more you do it. I also recommend using a laptop or notebook. It may slow things down a little but makes everything easier.
Moments like Travis rolling nat20 on being disappointed is why I love this so much 😂
1:59:00
I can't, with words, express my joy every time Matt's descriptors and narration are woven seamlessly with the music in the background. 😘👌
The introduction and revelation of Saundor, and the following dialogue are just another in a looong list of these beautiful moments of storytelling I witness over and over again watching Critical Role.
I love these moments so much. 💙💙💙
Sam blows me away every time. So many fucking songs lol
1) Most of this episode seems like a dark and awesome Studio Ghibli film!
2) I wish I could buy Laura a drink half way in, she could use it.
You picked up on the Record of Lodoss War vibe too, eh?
when scanlan got on grog's back, all i could think of was "run run run jump. i can be your backpack while you run"
Hahahaha, I was thinking that too. I had never seen "Seagulls - Stop it now" until just a few months ago.
I literally had to put in effort not to go watch it for the trillionth time right then and there
Swing from a hairy vine I can be your backpack while you climb. I have watched that an ungodly amount 😅
I really like this story arch. Even in the most grim of times, Vox Machina still stumble upon times of levity and positivity. I think we can all take a leaf (or feather) out of Vox Machina's book.
It seems that Saundor and Vex'ahlia's relationship has resulted in many deceased treants.
I suppose you could say it's a dead ent relationship.
HA 😂
This is awful. God bless.
You win the internet
Got down to the root of it Hanson. Didn't branch away from the plot and your pun turned out to have more bark than bite. I'll leaf now, carry on.
Hahahaha
“My heart is someone else’s.......” **points to Percy** Hehe. Man she’s so badass. Go Vex go!
It's wild how many of these comments are recent. Going through for my third time but always amazed by how much I love the community as much as the show. Your all great people
Holy shit, third time?!
@@stefandiebel8775 xD yah. These got me through some hard times.
@@NarcolepticNerdProductions 3 years later and watching for the first time