345rexter for sure! The best part is that by the time hes able to case magic of that caliber, if hes come to terms with his past, he can still get them back if either cleric wants to true resurrect them. Imagine that moment where caleb is finally able to forgive and move on, only to get exactly what he wants not by pursuit of power, but by his friends.
He's looking for 'Wish' to turn back time. Bend reality, make it the way he wants it. Nott is also looking for 'Wish'. To make her beautiful again. Make her herself again. But those two things can not exist at the same time, paradoxically.
It only occurs to me now that Caleb protesting the 'you were brainwashed' part is horrifyingly similar to a child sex abuse victim who'd been thoroughly groomed and blamed themselves for what was done to them. I wonder if the parallel to his mental violation is deliberate.
I think this story is meant to be reminiscent of that experience and Liam constructed this character to give a voice to those who have experienced that
Marisha flipping her pencil while Nott is constantly saying, “it’s not your fault”. With how easily she cried in Campaign 1 as Keyleth, I know for a fact all she was thinking was: Dont cry don’t cry dont cry don’t cry don’t cry dont cryyyyyyyyyyy I’m Beau, Beau doesnt cryyyyy.
"This pain that you have, that you wear all over you like a mask. It's just that, and you can take it off someday." Sam is so amazing. Tying in Nott's literal struggles with Caleb's psychological troubles. Emmy award winner indeed.
Hoo... and we get to the penultimate boss fight, and that's exactly how he saves another woman he loves. Through nothing but imagination and effort, bending reality to his will.
It’s moments like this where Nott steadily becomes one of my favorite characters. And moments like this that exemplify how she really is like a mother to Caleb.
"Anybody can make lights. Anybody could send a message through a wire... I want to bend reality to my will," says the manic-depressive, self-loathing man with a tendency towards vengeance rather than justice... Let's hope Beau or Fjord can help Caleb re-calibrate that moral compass!
well I mean, I think he wants to "bend reality to his will" so he can undo what he did to his parents. If it's possible, which I don't think he even knows whether it is or not, but he's going to try to become powerful enough to find out.
@@tuesdaynext7370 Plot twist; he is the campaign's end game villain who will try to go back and save his parents through a wish spell, but it will change the time line for everyone else !
I absolutely loved the scene with this trio, I thought it was a great balance of humors all around. Liam and Sam's acting is amazing, of course, and puts me on the verge of tears. And I genuinely love Beau's element. Her Zuko-like bluntness, not really knowing to respond to this sledgehammer of a backstory, is perfectly in-character. At the same time she does try to reach out, her comment about the dancing lights, as clumsy as it is, showing that she truly appreciates what Caleb contributes to the team and that he can do good things, great magical power or not. And even more important, she gives him a road that doesn't just lead to lonely vengeance; they can do a good deed by taking down Trent as a team, without having to pursue dangerous magics. It was a great combo and one of the campaign's crowning moments so far.
I loved the dancing lights comment. As you say, it's clumsily worded (as per usual, because Beau is terrible with this shit, bless her heart), but the meaning is so clear nonetheless. And there's an added element to it; not only is teamwork the better, and easier, way to go, but she also points out that even as 'weak' as he feels right now, magically, he is useful. Dancing Lights is a CANTRIP, for crying out loud, but employed correctly it has been CLUTCH in several battles. You don't have to be all-powerful to win a battle.
A women was there for Caleb in his time of rehabilitation into becoming the man he is now... a women was there when Nott became a Goblin, putting her in the path to meeting Caleb.... a women was there when Molly was resurrected... his lost memories lead him to meeting Yasha, Jester, Fjord, Beau, Caleb and Nott.. I would like to theorize, this "Women" is the same person, bringing the Mighty Nein all together.. It just seems very coincidental
Completely gonzo theory time: what if the mysterious "other prisoner" who took Caleb's madness and false memories away is a time-travelling Jester from the end of the campaign? Probably not the case, but the idea got stuck in my head and I needed to get it out.
The tragedy of this is that there was no magic forcing him to kill his parents, all the magic did was give him a reason to, he killed them by his own choice. He was brainwashed by mundane means, sure, but that's really hard to detect in yourself, and it's easy to blame yourself for letting that happen, whereas magic is much more of an excuse, so the pain is so much more than in Trent had forced him by magical means
Caleb is great because this is what it looks like for a human adult to take emotional responsibility for their actions. Its easy to blame some external force, Caleb is taking ultimate responsibility for his actions. Love Liam's acting!
That “I have an idea” at the end gave me the creeps and I Love it!!! Caleb is so deep and Liam portrays that unhinged desperate nature so powerfully!!!
Liam's expressions when mommy Sam tells him it's not your fault at 7:38. That noble brow of Liam's has known pain before. He shows it so well. My gosh.
Everyone does a great job here, but I just want to call out how impressive it is that Sam is doing so much heavy lifting while maintaining Nott's character voice. That has to be a serious challenge. He's the Ginger Rogers to Liam's Fred Astaire, doing everything backwards and in heels.
Not sure if I'm the last to pick up on this, but that desire to "bend reality to [his] will" is probably behind Caleb's decision to go with the transmutation (I think?) subclass/school since that aligns the closest with his goals. There are others that seemed like a better fit at first, but it makes a lot of sense now.
I know it's a late comment but I have to agree. Caleb's affinity with fire leads me to believe he was in evocation beforehand. Also makes me believe Caleb, Astrid, and Eodwulf were the first of war mages for the empire and that by killing their loved ones steeled their emotions. It's some dark stuff but golly as a writer, I think this is a brilliant backstory!
Remembering that time when Caleb was telling everyone what forms Frumpkins can take _’Nott was in a burning building and couldn’t get out’_ JESUS FUCK IMAGINE WHAT CALEB FELT IN THAT MOMENT
the best part of liam's portrayal is always the maddness that always creeps back in and holds in him a cleric an wash away the damage , can pull the mad thoughts from your head but without the memories that made those thoughts being removed the madness will always return
Caleb’s backstory is crazy deep! If anyone could tell me the song that is used in the background of this part of his backstory that would be great. 1:08
caleb gonna alter time and space itself to create a n alter demention where his parents alive. but hes gon need to be powerful as f. i bet hes gona do even more fucked up stuff to get it.
@@thetomfooler3192 While that occasionally happens for one on one role play moments between Matt and a player, in this case it’s a bit different. Liam is the one who asked the other players to leave so he could have a private conversation, which is the first and so far only time a player has done that.
I hate how condicending Beau is in this scene. She makes up for it for being supportive in the end but it bothers me still. I just don't see that being a proper reaction for a friend confiding in you their deepest shit
I mean on one hand yeah, on the other hand, Beau is emotionally constipated and doesn’t really know how to react. Seems to me like the kind of stuff that comes with absolute shock. When you’re thrown into something this strong, your brain can choose the most random things to focus on.
You seem to be forgetting how much of a social train wreck Beau is. Remember the "pat pat" hug when Yasha and Fjord are trying to teach Caleb and Beau how to HUG?? I don't think even Cadeucus would have been able to navigate this terrible story easily either, with his incredible worldview. It's a miracle Beau didn't outright anger or upset Caleb, let alone get through it in one piece herself.
I thought Beau was very in character. She's a drunk teenager who has bad people skills and was completely unprepared for this angsty backstory from a guy on her team that she doesn't know great. While his pseudo mom watches.
That certainly wasn't the right way to say that though. Marisha doesn't suck at dialogue when she's next to Caleb, they're just both staying in character. Doing some serious deep talk for the entire thing (and doing it well) would really not have been Beauregard.
Burc Kutukoglu ^this. That’s just not the way Beau do, and she’s just not emotionally equipped to deal with shit like this. If it had been Keyleth at the table? It’d still be awkward, but at least in a more nurturing direction.
I disagree heavily. In fact i think beau and caleb have the best dynamic out of anyone in the entire m9. This is a huge bombshell that someone like beau is not equipped to deal with in the heat of the moment and its all perfectly in character
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Calebr is one Nott death away from becoming a tragic villain and I love that.
What IF: Critical role edition
The day Nott dies is the day Caleb kills everyone.
He'll just destroy the Empire with flames
I want to call it now before I've seen anyone else say it... Caleb doesn't care about revenge... he wants to turn time back and save his parents...
Resurrection mabye
345rexter for sure! The best part is that by the time hes able to case magic of that caliber, if hes come to terms with his past, he can still get them back if either cleric wants to true resurrect them. Imagine that moment where caleb is finally able to forgive and move on, only to get exactly what he wants not by pursuit of power, but by his friends.
Definitely my first thought too 😼
He's looking for 'Wish' to turn back time. Bend reality, make it the way he wants it. Nott is also looking for 'Wish'. To make her beautiful again. Make her herself again. But those two things can not exist at the same time, paradoxically.
YES! This is perfect!!!
Jesus. Caleb's laughter when Beau says "it's nothing to be ashamed of". That's some rough stuff.
Liam is an absolute master
this dude got me teared-up over a fake guys fake parents
It only occurs to me now that Caleb protesting the 'you were brainwashed' part is horrifyingly similar to a child sex abuse victim who'd been thoroughly groomed and blamed themselves for what was done to them. I wonder if the parallel to his mental violation is deliberate.
thank you for saying this
This is exactly what I thought when he said stuff like “I still wanted to do it” and “I’m a disgusting person”
I think this story is meant to be reminiscent of that experience and Liam constructed this character to give a voice to those who have experienced that
Marisha flipping her pencil while Nott is constantly saying, “it’s not your fault”. With how easily she cried in Campaign 1 as Keyleth, I know for a fact all she was thinking was: Dont cry don’t cry dont cry don’t cry don’t cry dont cryyyyyyyyyyy I’m Beau, Beau doesnt cryyyyy.
"...until YOU can forgive it." SAM MASTERING RP AND BREAKING MY HEART
Sam is SO GOOD at turning a moment on its heels like that. It reminds me of "WHAT IS THEIR NAME??" (without spoilering further). Just heartwrenching.
"This pain that you have, that you wear all over you like a mask. It's just that, and you can take it off someday."
Sam is so amazing. Tying in Nott's literal struggles with Caleb's psychological troubles. Emmy award winner indeed.
I can't wait to meet him in about a month and a half.
It's actually terrifying how well liam play's a partily insane wizard
I want to bend.. reality to my will. Sends shivers down my spine. Everytime.
He just wants to bring his parents back
its the build-up, when he mentions the first two like theyre simple "tricks" - dramatic tension plus D&D, im in!
Hoo... and we get to the penultimate boss fight, and that's exactly how he saves another woman he loves. Through nothing but imagination and effort, bending reality to his will.
It’s moments like this where Nott steadily becomes one of my favorite characters. And moments like this that exemplify how she really is like a mother to Caleb.
"Anybody can make lights. Anybody could send a message through a wire... I want to bend reality to my will," says the manic-depressive, self-loathing man with a tendency towards vengeance rather than justice... Let's hope Beau or Fjord can help Caleb re-calibrate that moral compass!
tugboatyan I mean, this could just as easily be a villain origin story.
well I mean, I think he wants to "bend reality to his will" so he can undo what he did to his parents. If it's possible, which I don't think he even knows whether it is or not, but he's going to try to become powerful enough to find out.
Don't you mean re-CALEBrate?
@@tuesdaynext7370 Plot twist; he is the campaign's end game villain who will try to go back and save his parents through a wish spell, but it will change the time line for everyone else !
hamanu666 I’ve always hoped that that would happen, and with the addition of Dunamancy, this is possible.
The way he delivers "I want to bend reality to my will." That's still my favorite moment from campaign 2.
I absolutely loved the scene with this trio, I thought it was a great balance of humors all around. Liam and Sam's acting is amazing, of course, and puts me on the verge of tears. And I genuinely love Beau's element. Her Zuko-like bluntness, not really knowing to respond to this sledgehammer of a backstory, is perfectly in-character. At the same time she does try to reach out, her comment about the dancing lights, as clumsy as it is, showing that she truly appreciates what Caleb contributes to the team and that he can do good things, great magical power or not. And even more important, she gives him a road that doesn't just lead to lonely vengeance; they can do a good deed by taking down Trent as a team, without having to pursue dangerous magics. It was a great combo and one of the campaign's crowning moments so far.
I loved the dancing lights comment. As you say, it's clumsily worded (as per usual, because Beau is terrible with this shit, bless her heart), but the meaning is so clear nonetheless. And there's an added element to it; not only is teamwork the better, and easier, way to go, but she also points out that even as 'weak' as he feels right now, magically, he is useful. Dancing Lights is a CANTRIP, for crying out loud, but employed correctly it has been CLUTCH in several battles. You don't have to be all-powerful to win a battle.
A women was there for Caleb in his time of rehabilitation into becoming the man he is now... a women was there when Nott became a Goblin, putting her in the path to meeting Caleb.... a women was there when Molly was resurrected... his lost memories lead him to meeting Yasha, Jester, Fjord, Beau, Caleb and Nott.. I would like to theorize, this "Women" is the same person, bringing the Mighty Nein all together.. It just seems very coincidental
Beth Dunbar No spoilers, but you’re wrong. Shame, because that would have been pretty cool.
I hope you've managed to catch up to where the campaign is currently at! a good theory for sure :)
Completely gonzo theory time: what if the mysterious "other prisoner" who took Caleb's madness and false memories away is a time-travelling Jester from the end of the campaign?
Probably not the case, but the idea got stuck in my head and I needed to get it out.
@@michaelbryant3640 no spoilers, but that’s incorrect it’s explained who does it later on in the series and it isn’t Jester. Fun theory though.
The tragedy of this is that there was no magic forcing him to kill his parents, all the magic did was give him a reason to, he killed them by his own choice.
He was brainwashed by mundane means, sure, but that's really hard to detect in yourself, and it's easy to blame yourself for letting that happen, whereas magic is much more of an excuse, so the pain is so much more than in Trent had forced him by magical means
Caleb is great because this is what it looks like for a human adult to take emotional responsibility for their actions. Its easy to blame some external force, Caleb is taking ultimate responsibility for his actions. Love Liam's acting!
That “I have an idea” at the end gave me the creeps and I Love it!!! Caleb is so deep and Liam portrays that unhinged desperate nature so powerfully!!!
Liam's expressions when mommy Sam tells him it's not your fault at 7:38. That noble brow of Liam's has known pain before. He shows it so well. My gosh.
Mama Nott for the win.
It's amazing how well Caleb reacted to Beau throwing this all in his face just a few weeks later.
Everyone does a great job here, but I just want to call out how impressive it is that Sam is doing so much heavy lifting while maintaining Nott's character voice. That has to be a serious challenge. He's the Ginger Rogers to Liam's Fred Astaire, doing everything backwards and in heels.
Meanwhile Nott is like thinking...."So...how do I fill this Trent bastard with crossbow bolts?"
Not sure if I'm the last to pick up on this, but that desire to "bend reality to [his] will" is probably behind Caleb's decision to go with the transmutation (I think?) subclass/school since that aligns the closest with his goals. There are others that seemed like a better fit at first, but it makes a lot of sense now.
His goal I assume is Wish. He wants to Wish his parents back. Or undo his history.
I know it's a late comment but I have to agree. Caleb's affinity with fire leads me to believe he was in evocation beforehand. Also makes me believe Caleb, Astrid, and Eodwulf were the first of war mages for the empire and that by killing their loved ones steeled their emotions. It's some dark stuff but golly as a writer, I think this is a brilliant backstory!
From what I understand from his studying in the monk library, he wants to turn back time.
Fun fact he was originally an Evocation wizard while he was at the Academy. After he left, he changed
NOTT OMG IM CRYING
Same. Nott is the best lil buddy
Caleb is either going redeem himself, or become the next Vecna...
I could totally see a timeline where everyone in the Mighty Nein dies and this becomes reality. Caleb becomes the god of flames.
Remembering that time when Caleb was telling everyone what forms Frumpkins can take
_’Nott was in a burning building and couldn’t get out’_
JESUS FUCK IMAGINE WHAT CALEB FELT IN THAT MOMENT
the best part of liam's portrayal is always the maddness that always creeps back in and holds in him
a cleric an wash away the damage , can pull the mad thoughts from your head
but without the memories that made those thoughts being removed the madness will always return
Liam is a really phenomenal actor and he's made Caleb such an amazing, memorable character
If nott dies. Caleb is gonna go insane
Caleb: I want to bend reality to my will.
Beu: Note to myself suckerpunch Caleb if he tries to do something stupid.
Watching this after episode 97 is amazing... Look how much he's grown as a character!
"Whateever you need." - Why do I feel like Nott is going to regret this later on....
The scary thing is she cares for Caleb so much that she won’t...
She won't. If Caleb asked her to follow him into the nine hells, she would.
the thing i liked most about this was how damn solemn matt was during all of this
there's the phrase "watching a story play out in front of you" and then there's watching YOUR story, play out, in front of your very eyes,
Oh Matt loves it.
And that's why Caleb can't stand watching people burn alive, even , no Especially when he does it to them .
7:20 that reaction to her statement 😢
Someone get this poor bean a hug :(
This is very serious but Trent is such a funny name for a big bad evil villain
I'm not crying, you're crying!
His life really went up in flames...
#NoRegrets
✌
This group… this group is amazing.
Put Sam and Liam in a film!
Yeah, they should really pursue acting or something.
It's almost like it's actually their job^^
Best photo ever on those percentage dice
Man I can't wait for all that drama to come up, I'm just WAITING for it to happen.
7:08 Appropriate response.
Oh mama Nott, you done hurt my heart
Never let Nott die
OH MY GOD, The Time Travel shit was there since the beginning!!!!
Watching this moment after 141!
Caleb is *this* close to being a BBEG.
I wanted ot so bad
I desperately want to know who the woman that fixed his memories is. She has to be at Vergessen still I have a feeling.
literally crying rn
Good Caleb Hunting @7:39
Liam is incredible...
A touch of insanity is part of every creative soul 😂
7:25 Nott therapy
liam. fucking. obrien. the absolute phenomenal preformer
Just saw this ep...I am so glad Im meeting him at NYCC.
Caleb’s backstory is crazy deep!
If anyone could tell me the song that is used in the background of this part of his backstory that would be great. 1:08
caleb gonna alter time and space itself to create a n alter demention where his parents alive. but hes gon need to be powerful as f. i bet hes gona do even more fucked up stuff to get it.
Does anybody know what the song is in the first 4 minutes of the video? I really love it.
4:32
I FUCKING SKIPED THIS EPISODE WITHOUT REALIZING!!!!!!!!!!1
caleb is still crazy hehee
So I didn't watch at this point in the campaign, can someone tell me why there's only 3 people there?
Sometimes Matt will tell the others to leave the room if it’s only a few people there in game
@@thetomfooler3192 While that occasionally happens for one on one role play moments between Matt and a player, in this case it’s a bit different. Liam is the one who asked the other players to leave so he could have a private conversation, which is the first and so far only time a player has done that.
Caleb will be C3 villan mark my words. They are walking us into a Ned Stark moment and we all will die inside a little.
I hate how condicending Beau is in this scene. She makes up for it for being supportive in the end but it bothers me still. I just don't see that being a proper reaction for a friend confiding in you their deepest shit
I mean on one hand yeah, on the other hand, Beau is emotionally constipated and doesn’t really know how to react. Seems to me like the kind of stuff that comes with absolute shock. When you’re thrown into something this strong, your brain can choose the most random things to focus on.
You seem to be forgetting how much of a social train wreck Beau is. Remember the "pat pat" hug when Yasha and Fjord are trying to teach Caleb and Beau how to HUG??
I don't think even Cadeucus would have been able to navigate this terrible story easily either, with his incredible worldview. It's a miracle Beau didn't outright anger or upset Caleb, let alone get through it in one piece herself.
Nah thats Beau being her awkward self. I love it
I hated Beau for a long time for pressing him on this - that he had to share this just to get into a library was awful.
Marisha sucks at dialogue when she's next to Caleb
I thought Beau was very in character. She's a drunk teenager who has bad people skills and was completely unprepared for this angsty backstory from a guy on her team that she doesn't know great. While his pseudo mom watches.
Marisha can be very good at dialogue, campaign 1 can attribute to that.
She was simply in character.
That certainly wasn't the right way to say that though. Marisha doesn't suck at dialogue when she's next to Caleb, they're just both staying in character. Doing some serious deep talk for the entire thing (and doing it well) would really not have been Beauregard.
Burc Kutukoglu ^this. That’s just not the way Beau do, and she’s just not emotionally equipped to deal with shit like this. If it had been Keyleth at the table? It’d still be awkward, but at least in a more nurturing direction.
I disagree heavily. In fact i think beau and caleb have the best dynamic out of anyone in the entire m9. This is a huge bombshell that someone like beau is not equipped to deal with in the heat of the moment and its all perfectly in character