Downfall: Part Three | Critical Role | Campaign 3, Episode 101
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- This episode is sponsored by RAWMEN: Food Fighter Arena. Play RAWMEN for Free! On the Epic Games Store! - rawmengame.com/cr
All of the Divine planning and improvising comes to a head in the final battle within Aeor's underbelly...
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Downfall is a tragic tale and therefore deals with much darker and heavier themes including body horror and self-harm. Practice self-care and use your best judgment to step away if needed. Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: bit.ly/PsycomRe...
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"his name is Purvon...?"
"It's normal where i come from" was a fantastic moment
Timestamp?
@@noone-ld7pt 2:54:30
Leave it to Brennan to throw some levity into asuper sad and traumatic moment.
I love the double call back to calamity too
If I had a nickle for every time Brennan Lee Mulligan DM’d a six hour finale to a critical roll story about a city falling out of the sky, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened more than once
Great quote
Dan Povenmire would be an EXCELLENT npc guest.
The 2 best nickels you could ask for❤.
My name is Commander Shepard and this is my favorite comment on The Citadel
No it ain't, I want them to make you a millionaire.
Abubakar was definitely the right fucking choice to play Corellon - I am not even sure he _isn't_ the Arch Heart
And Tallesin for a Wildmother. Remembering Caduceus 😁 iit is just AMAZING.
And Laura as Raven Queen is a little harsh 🥺
And Ashley as Everlight considering her first character was a follower
@@guyfromdubai right, Sarane (i dont remember how to write it 😁)
@@voilav2890 Sarenrae
Laura and the Ravenqueen too :)
The way. Nick. carried the party on his back with his billion support spells, feats, and took over 200 points of damage in the first half of the fight was mind. boggling.
He was so on top of it that i only freaked out when even he went "i got nothing"
Most impressive team support I've seen ever.
Genuinely. Nick is a legend
Exandria Jesus is at it again
His portrayal of Pelor suprised me it would have been so easy for him to do what I expected and just make him stern and judicious but... he didn't.... and I loved every minute of his RP. My socks were knocked off.
3 episodes to become one of my favorite CR characters. Wild.
and that's on top of taking a ton of extra damage from warding bond. It gives resistance to everything. Changed how I think of playing a support character entirely.
as a player and a rules lawyer, loved him. his build literally eating damage was just great.
his rp was also great but he just talked so slow in character.
still great but just me complaining.
Noshir: "I have Demolishing Might"
Brennan: *sweats in DM* "wHaT dOeS DeMoLiShInG MiGhT dO?!?"
🤣🤣🤣
Edit: I didn't think this would get so many likes lol glad you all enjoyed this bit as much as I did!!
Brennan - this is all happening a little too fast. Me - looks at run time...
2:11:27
"How did you know there'd be a plinth in this fight?"
But... It was a ranged attack...
@@KellyDemonoid I was thinking the same thing!! 😂😂😂😂
“I can’t believe you have more follower than me”
Brennan didn’t lie. The Ruiner’s got jokes.
i bet the ruiner is a great partier
@@ghomerhustdeep crossover, they partied with Festo
1:07:21
"I have *so many* more followers than you." Wildmother is SAVAGE.
@@TheBadcave please keep the garbage out of the critical role pool
@@redrichmond8485haughty and conceited more like
"your magic blotted out the sun, and so you could not see the stars and forgot there were things above you" Is probably one of my fave quotes and the fact it echoes asmodeus' speech to zerxus is cherry on topp.
also the moment where asmodeus tells everlight “i always take the form of the most beautiful person you have ever seen” echoing all the times xerxes saw asmodeus as evandrin 💔💔
And such a strong counterpoint to his conduct before that moment. I love the concept of the different aspects, the Dawnchild and the Dawnfather.
@@Lurklen And what does it say that as the wards break and the totality of the Dawnfather starts to flood in, he starts using the same rhetoric as the Lord of the Hells? Which part of the Dawnfather's nature is closer to the core - the part that deeply and truly cares about his children, or the part that agrees with his brother that he's just better?
@@liminal_fruitbat Well, they are "just better". That's the thing the mortals struggle with. Everything the mortals do is an echo or response to the gods. The mortals say "They're just like us, imperfect, impulsive, emotional. Flawed." But they've got it backwards, mortals are just like the gods, only lesser.
You position those two perspectives like they're at odds. But they aren't. He does truly care about his children, and he knows his place in relation to them.
There has never *been* a perfect god in Exandria. Just these ones, and the Primordials before them. These gods never claimed to be perfect, they stake their claims and their moral positions pretty clearly. They've all got their alignments. Their slices of the moral pie, of which they represent the _ideal._ And in representing that, they by definition cannot be perfect. Because they have an antithesis, an area they oppose and that is anathema to them, abhorrent and mysterious.
The imagined perfection, this standard that some mortals in Exandria hold the gods to is a fiction. One that will eternally disappoint them, and that they aspire to and will forever fall short of.
But the gods are just great, just better, just more. They aren't perfect. And never have been.
I think both are parts of the Dawnfather, he's big enough for that, and more complicated than mortals would think. But which part is closer to his heart likely depends on what has happened to him. The gods are not set in stone, they change and react, and hurt. In fact when they do these things they do it in greater and more titanic ways than mortals. Such hurts and changes are more devestating for the scale of the being they are happening to. I've no doubt he took shelter behind the armour of the Dawnfather, and probably shelters behind it still in the modern Exandria. But some aspect of the Dawnchild is in there still.
@@Lurklenthis is the rhetoric that led to Luda to wanting to get rid of the gods.
Noshir's child voice for The Emissary and "Are you here to take me to mama?" broke me. I survived all the possible waterworks until that point.
Same. I am not one to cry at such things but Cerrits kid at the end of Avalir and The Emissary in the embrace of the matron were something else man....
Same. 😭
05:29:46 for anyone who needs it
Oh man I was just commenting elsewhere that I really thought I was gonna make it through Downfall without sobbing like I did at the end of Calamity and then he had to go and do that.
If you wanted moral ambiguity and philosophical conundrums accompanying a potential destruction of an entire cosmology who has defined right and wrong for every mortal sentient being in a fantasy setting, ask your doctor if Downfall is right for you.
Side effects may include depression, crying, inexplicable bouts of laughter, hugging anyone close to you, and existential dread
@@Ghostleeee in parts of C3 I agree, but things like this… god it’s hard to not feel that calamity and downfall are both masterclass actual play dnd.
Reddit chat has been great, lots of people arguing without being horrid for a change.
@@Ghostleeee this is a wild assumption
@Ghostleeee ?
I never like my own comments, so you make assumptions like this a lot
Abubakar Salim was absolutely sensational. God he has such a strong presence, beautiful voice and incredible comedic timing. Hope to see much more of him!
And such a fantastic laugh!
You should check him out as Valkos in Haunted City, the Glass Cannon Network's Blades in the Dark campaign. He is an absolute gem.
I wish so too! Fortunately he's in some older stuff you can find on the Internet. But being a big time actor, I don't think we'll be seeing him any time soon! At least there's house of the dragon 😂
Abubakar Salim should be the next James Bond, ngl.
I love that The Emissary, the only mortal among the divine, is the only one who is willing to, quite succinctly, explain to Cassida the motivation of the gods. The gods keep saying she could never comprehend it, when at their core, their reasons are very simple.
Agreed. I didn't notice this right away but this is such an important remark.
Is there a timestamp for this?
@@ArturKamberg 1:15:15
I think thats actually so deliberate. The gods simply didnt want to talk about it because it was uncomfortable and messy and painful and they just didnt want to bother. But The Emissary, a being of cold logic, was unburdened by these messy emotional and political ties.
✊Flando we have not forgotten✊
What happened to him?
@@TelosNiteOwl Died....
Jk, UA-cam kinda arrest him in the UA-cam jail ( UA-cam see his comment as bot and don't allow)
@@TelosNiteOwl i think it was how abt youtube kept flagging his comments as spam (something abt wordcount/timestamps??)
@@TelosNiteOwl UA-cam removed the ability to post timestamps in the replies. ☹
Seriously, he's been a life saving time guru for years. Then, all the sudden, YT decides no more? 😡☹️
With a single spell that went from "oh fuck we need a miracle" to "oh fuck, we are the miracle" real quick
Forces of Aeor: "You are outnumbered!"
Archheart: "Yes. But you are clearly outmatched."
I can’t wait for Essek’s reaction(AND Liam, let’s be honest) to seeing the Somnovum ward bamf’ing out of the city
“Nothing bad could happen from THAT….right?”💀🤣
@@ChasingDeathbeds the way i was like the physical embodiment of the 😱emoji. I was like oh no! That's gonna become a problem!
Don't know why Essek or Liam (via Caleb) should have a special reaction to this, don't they kinda already know about this from the events of C2?
Imagine if Cognouza had just stuck around a little longer, they would have also had the Factorum blueprints in their heads.
@@t3rcx AND would have been able to teleport away with it. Cognouza sucked all the magic in the air with it's massive planar shift!
I think I missed when this happened. Could someone post a timestamp for me? Much appreciated.
"its not a fair fight and it never was" Brennan just casually dropping the COLDEST line I've ever heard.
Bloody brilliant!
Commenting to say Nick was a wonderful inclusion in this mini-series. I (and I am sure Brennan) appreciated having someone who knows the rules so well in a high level campaign like this. And above that, he is so thoughtful with his actions, descriptions, and holds tightly to his themes.
He is by far the best supporting actor in this epic tale. I really hope to see him at the table again some day.
Every group needs a rules lawyer besides the GM, and Nick was perfect in that. I actually want that for BH
RIP Bolo. She will be missed. At least the Cognouza Ward got away. They're probably fine...
Maybe Bolo was in the Cognouza Ward when it teleported and escaped again👀
@@apodemarche6484 Bolo lore spoiler below lol:
The silver dragon in the God Hammer fight might have actually been Bolo! Brennan speculated in the Calamity Wrap-up that Bolo was either a spy that was in Avalir to steal scrolls or she was a polymorphed silver dragon that just flew away before the city fell. The woman that became a silver dragon in this episode's fight also had Bolo's accent. As the dragon died, Brennan said its last words, "My name was..." basically trolling us by not confirming. So it's still just a theory, but we all know that was our girl.
@@TitoMcFadden Oh my god! I didn't get what was that bit about, and now part with "this is my city" makes so much sense! Headcannoned!
@@glebmiroshnikNo need for headcanon. It’s canon canon. Brennan confirmed on four side dive
No issues whatsoever 😂😂
"The gods can't physically approach, this is just their wake" is an unreasonably cold line, JFC Brennan
“This feels so wrong!”
Love that Ashley’s acting chops met her role play. She said as a role player that this feels wrong. There was a palpable conflict. Then in character she leaned into it and delivered a line that broke me.
"i always look like the most beautiful person you've ever seen," does inflict major exu calamity ptsd
Who where when and why
@@aaronfort8760 Major spoiler if you haven't watched it. It happened in the ep 2, when zerxus met asmodeus the second time in the hall of prophecy. Brennan described asmo looked so beautiful and resembled zerxus's husband, evandrin. When asked by zerxus, asmo explained that he would look like the most beautiful person that mortals have ever seen and that he had no control of whom he would look like because "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."
Imo it's so fucked up because whenever you see asmo, you'd see someone you think the most beautiful but it's not them. It's as if your own mind was messing with you and asmo uses it to manipulate you and your feelings. Now imagine you see someone you love unconditionally did something awful as murder some innocent and it turned out to be asmo.
It took three decades for Aeor to rise rebellion against the gods, to block their sight and draw their blade. It took six seconds to uncloud their eyes, and twelve more to crush that weapon to dust.
Love that this mini-arc is further perpetuating the fact that the spider queen is one sassy lady XD
The comparison between this portrayal of the Spider Queen and EXU is fascinating. This is how she looks to equals - a mischievous little spider skittering around - but EXU is how she appears towards mortals: a monstrous, terrifying nightmare.
The first time I have ever seen a successful Meteor Swarm go off. Bravo, Silaha.
I feel like Trent and Raishan rocked the M9 and VM pretty hard with meteor swarm
@@kendras8545 true, but did any of them die from it?
@@edwardfrench9368 I think Vex did
@@kendras8545 Vecna hit them with one as his first move like Raishan did. Then again in rounds 3 and 4. BBEG gets to land 3 of them lol
@@kendras8545 trent fucked them up a bit with it, I think caleb went down
“I believe.”
FULL BODY CHILLS, THE POWER BEHIND THAT STATEMENT
Especially after the Garathran and Acastriel both spoke about their programming as divine constructs. If they can make beings with souls follow their commands, why not everything else?
@@emmakane6848 But I like that she didn't cast Command or Suggestion. She literally just asked if he would do it for her. And seeing the light of hope, redemption, and love is what did it for him. He wasn't forced or programmed, he straight up started believing
@@__-vb3hthe shall return one day!
@@obadijahparks Maybe he has. What if D is just the broken remnants of that construct repaired/fused with what parts could be scavenged. I mean, if anything could survive that blast and the gods' true powers revealed, it's an anti-magic, anti-divine construct turned believer.
My favourite moment so far (it just happened)
“But i have evasion”
There are not many times i laugh out loud irl, but that was one.
I missed that where was it
The dance moment was perfect! 🤌
@@lordpepper6932 4:11:50
To be a rules lawyer, not sure that really would have worked since its not Asha that made the saving throw. But...they're gods and it was a moment!
@@PJRZ1 I thought so too but I also think that Brennan follows the rule of cool a bit more than Matt.
I was doing okay at the end until Ayden's "I wanted to save them." Instant tears. Goddammit man.
girl - trist talking to her family with her voice almost breaking BROKE ME
I was in tears
That silver dragon has to be Bolo right? Brennan previously joked she was a dragon and the dragon was female, had her accent and why else would she almost mention her name before dying?
That's what I believe as well. It would be such a BLeeM thing to put that as an easter egg.
My thought is... that it's Brennan trolling us. . . by allowing us to make up our own minds.
The people who want it to be Bolo can easily imagine it to be... while he also doesn't tie his world to a joke made by the fan base. He specifically refused to reveal the name. That is, made an active decision to not confirm this was Bolo. And I think it was so that he could have the best of both worlds, and a very funny anti-reveal.
Yes I do believe that was the intent.
Wait I remember the moment but didn’t put it together. Does anyone know the timestamp? I HAVE to go back and listen
4:47:05
2:11:28
Brennan getting some SERIOUS “Operation slippery puppet” flashbacks right here.
“How did you know there’d be a plinth in this fight?”
My thoughts exactly!
I love that Ashley points like Emily does! 🤣
That’s exactly where my mind went too haha
One of his best incredulous quotes! 😂
Nick is the living and breathing reason why every table needs a 3.5 player
Why? Is 3.5 more rule heavy? I’m not really that informed of other editions
@@DanteAlecto notoriously so
where is nick from? i've never seen a 3.5 game but i really like the way he plays, does he have an actual play he's in? or does he just play off camera with friends
@@mac_sour pretty sure he’s just in home games with Brennan. Would love to see more actual play with him though. He was fantastic!
I started with 3.5 when I was twelve years old and my dad began teaching me and a friend. I'm 30, and my 5e DM of the last 4 years (we're level 18 now!) still has the exact same reply when I ask insane questions or pull rules lawyer shenanigans. He sighs, opens google and says "Ideally not in this edition" to whatever I asked. 😂
The episode hasn’t even started yet and the “nobody commandeer my cake!” made me laugh so freaking hard 😂
but is Cake > Almonds ?? that's the real question
At the end: still laughing ?
Honestly the best cold open in CR history I think
@@flanbeau nope. Sobbing 😩
It was “I’ll tell you that much for free” for me 🤣🤣🤣I love Brennan
As recompense for the emotional damage of Downfall, I want Brennan to DM a critical role adventure of a bunch of lil guys.
He needs to DM a camping with Luke friends on Notts camp.
I am rarely interested in the actions of gods. But mortals? I love!
@@dariovelasquez1025i came here to say something similar.
God, the way that Brennan said they didn’t understand what was happening after seeing Divine Prowess gave me chills! I knew it was BAD immediately, but I didn’t see how it would look to Bells Hells until the Sunburst.
The gods came slamming into the room and held off three dragons, powerful devils and celestials, and multiple Archmagi, tanking insane amounts of damage. And in the instant that a single mortal made a mistake almost every protection the city had came crashing down. The gods unleashed their Divine Wrath, and the whole room was incinerated.
Their retribution is not just something to be feared, it terrified the most capable and intelligent magic users in the history of Exandria. If even a single Betrayer god could not be kept in check ever mortal would die in an instant. There would be no stopping it. No fight to be had. Nothing could even slow them down, except their relatives who are able to choose, at any moment, to stop caring about the people of the world and decide to put their family first.
@@emmakane6848 For years now I have been unimpressed by any arguments made by characters or by critters that killing the gods is a sensible decision. Even now, I would still very much echo Ormy's sentiment that Ludinus kills innocents and for that alone must be stopped.
That at any moment the gods could choose to stop caring is a terrifying and compelling thought though.
@@42laxer84 It still feels like a lot of people are just thinking of this as "kill or don't kill the gods" but completely forgetting or ignoring the second part that comes with killing the gods - Predathos. He is the void, all consuming. Releasing Predathos isn't just killing the gods, it likely ends EVERYTHING.
I'm generally on the fence as to whether I think the gods deserve to stick around, but it isn't really about that. It's about stopping someone from ending the world, possibly the universe.
@@danitini14 In short, there are unknown and unpredictable cosmological consequences to killing primal forces of that world ... Though Predathos is a good somewhat concrete example of one consequence, good point !
The hanged bodies of the believers flapping and fluttering in the wind like flags announcing the arrival of the gods, of their soon-to-be conquest and the inevitable doom of the city is just *chef kiss* .
I feel like downfall keeps getting taking out of context. Gods were pottering around, doing their own thing, shithead family in jail. Mortal came along and killed one of them. Another one got ideas tried to kill one of them, failed and broke them all out of jail.
I was SO SCARED Brennan was about to reveal Amaris had been Asmodeus the entire time Trist had known him and had a family with him
wait is that not what happened? or was he disguised as arcadia?
@@hannahlee4878 no, i think what happened was he was revealing himself to be Asmodeus, and as Asmodeus he appears as whoever the viewer finds the most beautiful. In EXU Calamity he appeared as one of the character's late husband, and in this one he appeared as Trist's husband too, but it's only an illusion
@@daneroberts1996Thank you that makes so much more sense! I was trying to figure out why Amaris was mentioned for just 1 line and then it was suddenly Arcodeus
@@daneroberts1996 gotcha gotcha, so was Asmodeus actually Arcadia the whole time since The Knowing Mistress was captured, and Brennan said Father Milo was an illusion the whole time?
@@hannahlee4878 yes that's what I understood
This episode is an absolutely incredible end to this arc. Everyone at this table is so talented.
From the intimate beats to the epicness of the fight, just blown away.
May I just say that Nick is a gem. Seeing him juggle his own class with ease, helping Noshir & his grasp on D&D as a whole… just so good. Would very much like to see Nick, Noshir & Abubakar back in some capacity in the main campaign proper, be it this one or the next.
I absolutely adored Nick and Noshir's budding friendship at the table. As a DM I always find it super rewarding when a game I'm running can help develop new friendships.
Yes pls.
And apparently Nick is new to 5e!!! They were all incredible but he absolutely blew me away!! Strategically and emotionally, he nailed the role of Ayden. I’m so sad we’re done with these characters in these forms because I would love to spend more time with them. ❤
He was fantastic in the roleplay of the game and the game play. I LOVE that he rules lawyered stuff "against" the PCs to keep it in balance. And Noshir saying 35 words in the whole 3 episodes yet still crushing it as the Emissary was so cool to see.
@@wisportsfan1 surviving in 3.5 requires a lot of system mastery so I'm not surprised he excelled here. Being in Brennans 3.5 home game for over a decade definitely helps
"I love you" 2:58:07 said Asmodeus to Sarenrae. He had said that once as himself as Imri to Luz as they were escaping in the ship (Downfall ep 1, 32:30) , and since they came to Exandria and he became real as the father of lies he could only say that behind lies... in the guise of Arcadia, but despite his nature, despite all he has done as The Father of Lies and to her, could it be that he loves her? This is probably the most heart wrenching, easily missed detail of this entire series, and its probably one of my Brennan Lee Mulligan favourites.
I’ve watched that moment so many times. Because it’s AFTER his manipulation has already worked. She’s agreed to leave - it’s entirely unprompted.
Also notice that in the scene where she heals the child, “Arcadia” forces “her” pupils open to take in as much of the divine light as possible.
There’s something so compelling about the tragedy of the relationship between the gods not being “oh the bad ones hate the good ones” but rather “they all love each other and it doesn’t change anything”
“Little lies are ok…”
I think the statement just before that (2:57:44) is the real start of this retroactive emotional gut punch. "No-one looks to me for comfort or light," followed by the exchange of 'I love you's, followed by Sarenrae willingly extending the same sentiment towards another Betrayer. It's cinema!
I think if Asmodeus had shown his face, this scene wouldn't have played out much differently - but he would never have done that because on some level he _needs_ to hate the other gods. It's his nature! That's what it is to _be_ a god! Asmodeus cannot dilute his hatred any more than Erathis can break her promises. So being in disguise for this scene both gives him plausible deniability (and ultimately they are still family; the love can still be there even if he hates them) and lets him tell himself that he's right, that nobody would ever come to _him_ seeking/bringing comfort or love while the other gods exist. It's a fascinating dynamic! The gods are messed up!
Destroys the pretty much everything in the room. Brennan starts to move on to the next thing.
“That was my action.”
Right after Ashley said ”Insight check” at 1:00:20 I got an ad with a woman’s voice singing “That’s the biggest lie of my career” and I was so caught off guard I had to pause the video ‘cause I was laughing too hard
2:56:37 There’s a reason Ashley has two BAFTAs. This really had me crying.
But all dialogue in the midst of battle?
I love that she was able to play to her strengths… sometimes people forget that DnD is an RP game rather than /just/ a fighting sim. She does the RP so well! ❤
@@KyleRokuthey're actors they're gonna take every chance to ignore the rules in order to do some good drama 😅
@@KyleRoku Talking is a free action jsjs
Also adding onto this, if your dm decides you can't roleplay your character during combat, probably not the right table for anyone hoping for a narrative focused game. It's an RPG for a reason. Sure some people can go and just roll dice, their fun is their fun. However, the fact of the matter is that these are all game mechanics built with the intent of having a game that supports your creativity and roleplay. If the game gets in the way of the RP, to the point of not being able to RP during combat, you're just playing a wargame at that point.
Nick sitting with such incredible posture at the end so the light behind him looked like a halo chefs kiss to the dawnfather
I love how Taliesin played the wildmother as this heartless and unempathetic elf until the time was to shed her mortal coil and afterwards he was to the brink of tears all of the time showcasing the empathy and love of the wildmother, such an ambiguous goddess that reflects both the mercyless of nature and its caring at the same time
My favourite part of the entire final fight, putting aside the absolute Super Smash Bros. "EVERYONE IS HEAR" vibes of dragons and demons and archmages (oh my) is the fact Silaha essentially gets juggled like a fighting game character for his first few turns and then the millisecond he's allowed do anything again, he wins them the fight. Like, my poor man got CC'ed to hell and back and the moment he got space, instant win. That's my MVP right there.
also, shoutout asha for making the entire thing do Z E R O friendly fire damage. truly insane plays
3:52:40 Abubakar, "So it is my turn"...
Brennan let it go, but Asha wasn't the one to make the saving throw so the Evasion should not have allowed the 0 damage.
@@JDOTczar ive the same thought about that as i do to the Laudna/Luda counterspell off in the volcano that one time. If they followed the rulebook, the moment would've been ruined so its hard for me to care about it that much
@@Lynch2507 Rule of cool does take precedence
"Stop that spellcaster!!"..."OH NO".
4:36:00 "12 damage to each of you from four Wish spells." Yeah, those mages are cooked. :D
this is such a power flex and truly shows how terifiying the fucking gods are
@@theloraxxz1753 I loved how Brennan said: "This was never a fair fight."
Just puts in to perspective the absolute arrogance and hubris of those mages for ever believing they were ever more than an order of magnatude weaker than the gods, let alone their equals or even superiors
Look how far we have come with Critical Role.
Then: It’s fine, we’re basically gods!
Now: Nothing is fine because we ARE gods
Hahaha
Keyleth: It's fine. We're Gods!
With great power...
With great power comes great responsibility.
With impossible power comes impossible responsibility.
@@jonathan4158 it now showcases the naivety of Keileth back then, the absolute hubris of her newfound power, absolute power corrupts absolutely, but it's different finding absolute power than being born absolute from the beginning of times
He said "Im scared" and i started crying.
theres something so heartwrenching about an innocent character being afraid
"For me, a nightcap means a HAMBURGER." 😂😂 I have never loved this man more!
I couldn't agree more
Made me think that the video about Brennan loving food really needs to be updated 😂
I found myself falling in love with The Everlight. Sorry Ludinus there's nothing you can say to make me hate her 🥰
can't wait to see Ashley's whiplash going back to the chaos that is Fearne Calloway
Episode 102: Bell's Hells view the story, and then all vote to become clerics of Sarenrae.
@@warheadsnation they return after a break all in cleric levels
i know the game was telling them how the did what they did, but if i recall, the devices ludunis and bells hell are looking at only show in the area around it, so im curious how it plays out, and if the group actually got to see and hear what the gods were actually doing.
No spoilers, but that was the greatest moment of rules lawyering I've ever seen. In a good way. omg.
Brennan is so freaking good at this. That response to Ayden near the end gave me chills. You can feel the hurt that Asmodeous feels when he screams, "I HATE YOU! AND I ALWAYS WILL!" It's that kind of hurt that only a betrayal of a brother can give. It's so sad but such a good story.
now that ashley gets to be with the group all the time, we get to fully appreciate just how damned good she is at RP at the table. she was so hamstrung by her other commitments. a beautiful ending.
she's a f-ing great actress and quite a shame that she hasn't had that much playtime to get used 100% to playing the game itself that she seems "slow" when struggling with the rules, (she's just the way they all were back then, but they had practice and she didn't) it makes her look clumsy and she's definitely NOT
@@FedericoVetencourt ? Not that much playtime?
Three campaigns over the course of around 10 years is plenty of time, even with breaks.
@@HalenShredder she was barely present in the first campaign, skipped pretty much 60% of the second campaign, it shows how much she struggles with the rules even now, I don’t judge her DnD 5e might be the easiest DnD out there but it’s still a rules-heavy game. I’m just saying she’s got like half the playtime of the rest of the cast
@@FedericoVetencourt I love her roleplay, but I really wish she would take the time to at least learn the rules of her characters in the main campaigns. It takes me out of it when it gets to her turn and she's struggling or forgetting to use the same abilities she has had for hundreds of hours of playtime and more than a dozen combats.
She still made an amazing character come to life, despite only having one hand on the wheel.
I love listening to 1:07:50 and knowing that that is one of the most horrific and traumatizing things to ever happen to anything in the entire history of exandria, and for this campaign it "A ward of the city teleports. Dang."
What is it a reference to I can't put it together?
@@jacobneal8221 The last arc of the second season of Critical Role was based around Cognoza, a ward of Aeor that escaped the destruction of the city by plane-shifting into the Astral Plane.
Taliesin's "nothing bad will ever happen to them" is referencing (SPOILERS and content warning: body horror)
.
.
That the Astral Plane affected greatly the Ward, merging the buildings and the inhabitants in a grotesque bioarchitectural space whale.
@@NWolfsson oh duh that's sick
@@NWolfsson oh i cannot WAIT to get to that arc!
@@NWolfssoncame to the comments looking for this. I completely forgot about this. Yes that’s right. Thank you.
Glad we're all getting Brennan's money's worth for his philosophy degree
"May this ruin stand as a monument to all your sins."
Yo, who invited the gravemind?
*remembers the final arc of c2*
...oh, yeah...
@@TheWorldBelowDnDgravemind?
Its from Halo 2/3
@@TheWorldBelowDnD "Those who built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent, or all shall perish, as they did before."
What's most interesting is that this mini-arc didn't necessarily change opinions of the Gods, rather I feel it just solidified everyone's opinions on the matter. It's also interesting how much our personal biases account for our thoughts on the gods, as in our world it does tend to be a touchy subject.
In a personal thought, I went into this pro-gods and am leaving pro-gods. I don't trust Ludinus, I don't trust Predathos, and I don't trust mortal exandrians with a lust for power. At least we know the god's intentions, even more so now.
Are exandrians just a dollhouse to them? Little figurines in a sandbox? Possibly. Are exandrians their children they want to protect? Living in a world they fostered and shaped? Possibly.
But we know they cared, at least some of them. We also saw the constant pain they felt from mortal prayers. The anxiety, the strife, the hunger, the fear. They carry that weight, and without them where does it go?
I love the level of complexity this added to the gods as characters. This concept could not be more up my alley.
Great points!
I agree with your first 2 paragraphs completely
I went in leaning to anti-god and came out standing straight against them.
Their views on mortal existence are basically alien to us.
They dont see people, they see little concepts or little representations of things
Their values are thus completely different from ours as well.
At least in my opinion
Like
If my brothers tortured idunno ants as a habit?
For fun or out of indiference i probably would not love them as much as i do now
And if they tormented them just to hurt me.... sheesh
But if I change ants to... Kittens? Dogs?
So how much could the gods TRULY care?
Something I love about the concept of God's being factual in any fantasy world is there are always those who want to tear them down and those who think they should be worshipped and praise but, in my opinion, not enough time spent on what happens without them! If gods are part of your ecosystem, what happens when you take them out? If there are dire consequences for wolves or bees leaving a world they have helped shape, what consequences would there be for no gods? Not to mention the power vacuum.
I'm pro gods for dnd because they are part of the world, are in balance and serve to keep each other in check, and they've largely removed themselves from the mortals which gives more free will.
But I'm MOSTLY in favor of them, because I think they are an awesome storytelling element. 😅
@@Jackodanteryou are against the gods, but are you pro freeing Predathos? Cause I'd take the devil ik over something totally alien, and something I can't be sure would be satiated by just the consuming of the gods. All the mortals of exandria have a piece of divine energy in them since they were created by the gods using their divine energy, who's to say predathos won't sniff that out and choose to turn around and consume them once he feasts on the gods? Also as just foll viewing the events from the outside, we have seen 2 possibly world ending catastrophes be stopped with help of folk with the gods at their back granting them the power needed to do so.
This is a great analysis. It's worth noting that our view of religion in the real world and our view of religion in game can also differ, as I am an atheist in real life but am pro-god in D&D (long story), and your point about not trusting Ludinus is valid, as it's the same thing I'm going through. Ludinus is not dumb, and he would realize that someone who is pro-god would not have their mind changed by viewing this. So what is his goal in showing this to the Hells?
Cassada refusing to look at Everlight was heartbreaking. Ashley has such good reactions
Anyone else love that Ashley plays the god Pike was a cleric for?
And one of the monsters in the fight is what killed pike pre video
Also Taliesin plays Melora, who was worshipped by Caduceus, and Laura plays The Matron who took Vex'ahlias brother away from her
@@__-vb3ht But also the Matron allowed Vex to be resurrected begin with.
@@WeretigerX I was more so phrasing it as Vex would see it. She probably forogt about ther own resurrection .17 seconds after learning her brother was to become the new champion
I had no idea, but it's fitting for her.
Downfall has been an absolute delight. Huge shout out to all three of the guests for being amazing. Please bring Brennan back once a year to smash a sky city! Enthralled start to finish, can't wait to see how Bells Hells reacts.
Next make him sink a floating city!
-Avalir-
-Aeor-
Zemnia ?
ever since C2, id wanted to know how it happened. what a blast! (literally)
Given the history of their past collaborations, I wonder if they'll have Matt guest DM over at D20? I'd love to see him try his hand at a story in Starstruck Odyssey.
@@andrecarpenter2432 Or alternatively, raise an aquatic city full of merfolk? 😁
2:25:34
"You're telling me this dungeon has a dragon in it?"
Nick Marini is the Rules Lawyer that we should all strive to be. Seriously, tho, like, think about it. He is so gorram knowledgeable that he's able to let other players know what THEIR characters are capable of. He makes sure you don't forget that you have a special ability for JUST this scenario. And he does it for both the DM and the players.
The rules help tell the story, and Marini understands that, I think. . .
Yeah, he's pretty shiny.
Aeor: "You can't take the sky from---oh.."
Maybe for a home game here it is just annoying, they are gods they are going to win no matter what, just don’t be so hard on it, I skipped his turns because they were annoying
@@pepenips5095 I mean, feel free to have wack opinions, I guess?
If you want a game without rules, or where people constantly miss out on things that they forgot they could do (as Nick has kept from happening, multiple times, further letting the other players thrive)
for the people that don't know, there's a song called Valhalla by Blind Guardian that was writen over 30 years ago that describes almost perfectly this entire Aeor situation. For the people that know, I salute you
@@EdySok17 YES
Ashley must be such a dream player to have at the table for a DM purely for how ENRAPTURED she is by every single syllable coming out of his mouth as Brennan narrates something cool happening. She does it for Matt too and undoubtedly to any other DM if she's involved in any home games, but it really stood out to me here how invested she gets.
I absolutely love that about Ashley ❤😊
What Ludinus thought would happen after showing Bells Hells the fall of Aeor: they convert to his side, or at least understand him.
What (I hope) will actually happen: "Guys lets become followers of the Everlight"
Bro, I wouldn't be very fond of the Everlight knowing she was pals with Betrayers... those guys are like... the worst beings imaginable.
@@ivoandre8345 I mean, its less pals and more "I've family who are cunts". If there's one thing Downfalls done amazingly, it's humanise the gods
@@Lynch2507 it really doesn't. they are irredeemable. I say release the god eater and then kill him once he's good and full.
@@Lynch2507 Humanizing the gods isn't necessarily a good thing, it will only make people look at them like just a Human but with way too much power and it will make people hate and fear them even more. They have to be greater than Humanity in order to inspire people to be better than they are. Instead, these all-powerful immortal deities squabble like children and are surprised when Humanity turns its back on them
@@thefracturedbutwhole5475
that's kinda the point lol. Exandrians are reflections of the Gods, imperfect beings. the very thing Exandrians like Ludinus say separates them from Gods is the very GIFT the Gods gave to them: Humanity.
How naive of me to assume that Asmodeus would behave; also 35:50 has to be the coldest line I've ever heard in my life
4:47:07 Bolo. The Hero of Aeor. You fought bravely.
Secretly a Silver Dragon. Who knew?
OMG I needed this comment so badly, I was looking for the moments of the silver dragon so desparately after the 4-sided dive
Oh my lord, that Asmodeus reveal after the Factorum Malleus fight was ROUGH! Brennan did a great job portraying the Lord of Lies!
Imagine if gravity actually got one of them at the Anvil, though. Keylith's 'We're practically Gods' would gain an entirely new MAGNITUDE of irony!
5:52:16 - Taliesin does what likely is the best acting I've seen from CR. How would Nature respond to be shut off from nature? Utter devastation almost beyond the ability to speak.
This episode is an incredible rollercoaster. Enjoy the ride, y’all!
I keep forgetting that you are a Critter as well, which is a wild crossover for 12-year-old me listening to Princess Rap Battle
@@WhitneyAvalon wait wait… YOURE A CRITTER? This is the best thing I could’ve learned today. You’re incredibly talented, by the way.
@@WhitneyAvalon is the ending near ? Bc I’m skipping c3
@@Ghostleeeenope. Keep skipping.
Preferably out of the comments section of a C3 episode 🙌
@@butHomeisNowhere___ freedom encompasses the right to critique any subject, as long as such critique does not incite violence or hatred. If one desires to live in a society where criticism is prohibited, it would be advisable to refrain from engaging with the internet.
If a product is of high quality, it will retain its appeal over time. I concur that the quality is diminishing, which is evident in the statistics.
I can present numerous examples of television shows that have been on air for over six years without experiencing a significant audience drop of nearly 40% midway through their run.
Nick is living proof that rules lawyers can be fun to have at the table and if there's only one thing we learn from Downfall I want it to be that.
3:59:33 There must be something about Marisha's chair. Beautiful and magestic, S.I.L.A.H.A/Abubakar Sadako-ing out of the screen 🤣🤣🤣
The RAY embodies whoever sits at the chair
"I can't imagine what the little number at the bottom says how long this will be"
*looks at number*
*whistles*
*gets snacks*
ashley's voice cracking while saying "i can't comeback home" broke me, made me tear up so much
just realized that the actor who plays SILAHA also is lord corlys’ bastard son from house of the dragon 🫡
@@marisarabia7572 THAT'S WHERE I KNEW HIM! THANK YOUUUUU
🤣
My favorite is Dawnfather standing alone as he still faintly feel Ayden saying "It's ok, Father." Dawnfather still feel sadness and remorse for the mortals before shedding a tear.
I hope the main players find it in the sea later
Good lord, Nick is the poster child for what a support character should do
I need the 4-sided dive of DOWNFALL LIKE RIGHT NOW
After 4 years, with this episode I can finally say I am up to date on Critical Role!
Let's go! Congrats, that's a lot to catch up on!
What an episode to catch up on! Congrats!
High five, aslo catched up!
Loved that Tal, Laura, and Ashley chose gods that have been huge parts of characters they played.
The things we do for family, the tragedy that sometimes creates, and the destruction it can leave in its wake.
God, does Brennan Lee Mulligan sure know how to narrate emotional damage. I was uncertain about how to feel about the Gods and their actions at the start, and I still am, but here I am sobbing with them as eternals realize the harsh reality of the end of things and the roles they took in damaging a thing they held so close for reasons they were uncertain about.
It's gonna be weird to return to the main plot again after this epicness
"So THAT just happened" but it's sincere and everyone agrees
The Chef: Abubakar Salim
The Dish: Spaghetti and Meteors
The Rating: POTENTLY DIVINE ☄️
A damn worthy successor to Calamity. Bring on the Schism arc 🌊
I can visibly see Nick age 30 years while taking damage for everyone. Gods I would love if this short stint got animated.
Everyone played their roles so perfectly. Ashley for Everlight, Laura for Matron of Ravens, Taliesin for Melora, Abubakar, Nick, Noshir, they all did so wonderful. It was quite literally the perfect cast for those gods. I slightly wish I would have seen Travis on the Stormlord (I know, not enough room at the table).
Overall this was an emotional rollercoaster and I'm so glad the ride was free. Thank you everyone at Critical Role for giving us this masterpiece. Now I'm gonna go rewatch the moment with Trist's kids and bawl for hours again.
I love you all, be kind, drink your water, and I'll see you all next Thursday.
Can I just say, I absolutely adore the elven deities even more now. I know I shouldn’t like the Spider Queen but I absolutely adore her portrayal in this so much and how she interacts with the Arch Heart. The hilarity of their family chemistry is just amazing. Also I feel like this portrayal, both their portrayals actually, explains the nature of elves so freaking much, like why they are the way they are.
Me: I'm glad most episodes are only about 4 hours.
Also me: Why can't every episode be 6 hours, this is amazing!
"Find those who are worthy, and take them home."
And _that's_ why the Emissary repeatedly say that *he'll be worthy* .
He wants to go home. He was born _hours_ ago and he's scared that he doesn't get to go home.
And he doesn't.
But he does? The Raven Queen's domain is the moment of death, but then she ushers souls to the domain of the deceased's God if they were religious. So the Emissary went back home to his mother's domain.
I think in C1 in one episode near the end we do see Vox Machina traveling to various gods' places and one lives in a beach where there is pearls instead of sand (maybe the Everlight's?) and Grog tries to keep one but the goddess tells him those are her follower's souls and to put it back.
@@4LorEVD that's good to know - I don't know Exandria that well. (also my athiest brain basically went "if your consciousness is gone then You are no longer there".)
@@pallas9113 So you made a baseless comment with no knowledge of what actually happened. *sigh* Research and literacy truly are dying skills.
@@Feldrawn so it's wrong and a moral failing to comprehend "death" as the thing that the word means irl. And, if this is how you get the sense of superiority that you want: it is slightly saddening, and I hope you get better.
@@pallas9113 It’s an understandable misconception, especially if you’re coming in with little to no knowledge about it. A small reminder for you that it IS fantasy lore knowledge in DND that doesn’t conform to the same ideologies/constructs that we hold outside of it. But don’t worry about it. I think I speak for the majority in just saying we’re glad you’re here to experience it with us too.
My God, that Nick fella is a great player. I was waiting for someone to pick Spelldriver since it was introduced. And the skill required to tank and mitigate so much damage... Poetry. 10/10. One of the best players to grace this table, equal to Emily Axford.
when this was live i fell asleep 3hrs in despite trying my best to stay up (parents with a newborn) and I'm just bawling over Ashley's decision at this point. Pumped this is up and I can finally see the rest unfold
First and foremost: congrats!
Secondly: have tissues ready all the way up to the end.
@@OttersDen no words, only tears, omggggg it was beautiful
Congratulations on the wee one fellow critter.
Still on the side of keeping the gods alive because I do not trust Luda, but this was rough and gave me delightfully complicated feelings towards all the gods
thats the thing, bells hells haven't been in it for the gods beyond "better they stick around and keep the sun not exploding", its mainly been a revenge quest for all the murder and mom gaslighting
@@Lynch2507 Oh I know, I was more so speaking for myself. Luda thinks this will change BH's mind, but it is about to blow up in his face big time.
The ironic part is that there are major parallels between how the gods treat mortals and how Luda has been treating other people. The main difference is that a bunch of the gods do care about the people they step on with their squabbles and feel guilt about what that has caused while Luda simply sees them as pawns.
@@Failed_Vestige_of_Exandria one evil doesnt excuse another gods are just as bad as luda but worse since they pretend to care while luda is honest who he is and how he treats others.
@f2pcoder92 I dont think the gods "pretend' to care, Matron, Everlight and Archheart were testaments to that. They just made choices. Betrayers, whole other story but like, in terms of whose "better", Luda is easily worse than some of the primes. Dawnfather needs some talking to
@@Lynch2507 still my point still stands one evil doesnt exclude another.
Many DMs will be using the Godly Boons/Upgrades to make custom gods (true form, not just avatars), I wager.
I asked my DM if I could find a Ring of Divine Magic in our home game and was promptly SHUT DOWN. 🤣🤣🤣
@@1Lanavis1 I've been running a campaign in Exandria for over a year and will probably use these to create the stats for the gods on the off chance my players try to take them on.
My player wants to be a lich, I'm definitly going to give him a taste of divine powers ala Brennan to wrench them back out on the way toward his transformation toward immortality, just cause
Nick delivers Morpheus vibes from the Sandman show as Pelor towards his angels and I am all here for it
"You're telling me this dungeon has a dragon in it?" DEAD. lmaooooo
I know I've seen it a few times now, but that Legends of Vox Machina trailer did NOT have to go that unnecessarily hard
"I would like to thank my mother". Everybody would like to thank Abu's mother today!
At 3:54:00 One of the greatest plays in the campaign is born
This gotta be a near-perfect turn
Taliesin’s acting toward the end 👌 the way he embodies the Wildmother’s transition from cornered animal to benevolent observer, I just… MMM
F in the chat for Bolo
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What happened to Slitch?!
I hope someone rolls a natural 20 in the Malleus ruins and finds a chain with a gem on it.
@@ElNuddles didn’t Imogen lift a necklace from one of the not-undead-yet-slowly-moving corpses? Maybe there’s more where that came from?
@@rilwena I have a terrible memory. I normally forget little things like that unless they made a big deal of the necklace at the time. Good shout though, I’m assuming this would have happened in the Nox Engine episode just before Downfall started?
@@ElNuddles ngl my memory is super selective, so I had to look it up to be sure: Laudna picked the necklace up (after Imogen was scolded for trying to touch an unknown item); it was ep 96, soon after they started descending into Aeor. I don't believe it's been identified yet
@@rilwena I just checked it out and the scene from Downfall. I hope Marisha thinks to identity it soon.
Ya Downfall is a three part story. Brennan what’s that behind your back? We can see that half an episode you’re hiding next the cake by your almond mouth.
Yeah, my players always joke when the one-shot turns up to be a three sessions game. Wouldn't I love to have the luxury of throwing a 6 hours session at them? 😂