a craftsman can make anything.. but in the end its only a emulation of true creation.. woman are gods.. the teth they ask depends on your perceived guilt. notice your confidence is always the variable
Cool fact Sprigg is a continuation of a character Darin De Paul originally played in a D&D game with Matt Mercer's mother from over 37 years ago. from the wiki
Thanks for commenting that, catching it out of the corner of my eye really changed the episode: All Sprigg's talk of past adventures, the friends he once travelled with, the story and characters of many years ago he says he's forgotten but clearly hasn't... I feel like that was really hitting home with the critrole gang, even sam started the waterworks ;u;
@@transgirltalks1140 Yup, Darin De Paul knows Matt's mother and actually played in a d&d one shot with her 30+ years ago, this is the character he made back then all these years later in her son's game, really cool story.
In Talks Machina, Darin de Paul said that when they were in the library and Percy was reading all the books, all he could think about was a quote from Doctor Who: "We're all stories in the end. Just make sure it's a good one." That hit me real hard.
Wow. I had to look up Darin De Paul's history with DnD during this. Turns out he's played DnD with Matt's mom before he was born, and he watches CR every week. Makes sense, considering he seems to know EVERYTHING.
That makes so much sense. He slipped in seamlessly into the mechanics and lore of the game unlike a lot of the other guests. Any hesitation on his part was clearly a result of adapting to 5e.
It took a couple of minutes for them to come through, I think/hope what must have happened is that when she couldn't find it, a few people went to last weeks episode and watched what she did with it after Matt handed it over. Because the alternative, that they just already knew, is too creepy to contemplate. :)
I am mean it's not like there is video evidence of where she put it! I mean who could fathom that someone could go to the last episode and watch the end of the encounter to watch where should put it?
ever heard of Q, from Star Trek? you know, almighty being, with too much time on his hands? got bored, and started trolling people around? that guy? that's what happens when you have a million megabytes of internet speed.
The whole table is professional voice actors but Darin takes that to a whole new level. It's amazing watching the cast react to him like children watching a magical Disney movie. 11/10 performance.
I'm so curious about how he came up with/envisioned his character. He definitely put quite a bit of thought into it, but I wonder how much of it was off the top of his head. His character had A LOT of depth for being someone that just appeared in the story and only had a short bit of dialogue. The imp companion, the trapped house, the mention of Craghammer, the connection to Ioun, his past as an adventurer, his quirky behavior, and his wisdom...it was a lot.
Taliesin's comment "He has a vague point" after Liam's rant about not being an elf was soo good. His puns are always underappreciated. This was one was on point.
Percy quietly whispering to Keyleth "point him out and we'll make him into a canoe" about the asshole sun tree is one of my favourite things said in this arc.
My favorite moment was when percy kills a necromancer and matt sadly says"Bye by necromancer" really quietly, knowing he had cool shit he could do but never acted.
I love that the game that Matt's mom and Darin played with their friends all those years ago has now become canon in Matt's world. That's just so amazing that he got to immortalized their old campaign that way.
Matt's life must be crazy imagine being surrounded by DnD he loved Playing it most his life his mother even played now he runs one of the biggest shows on the internet THE biggest DnD show people will give them 11million to animate one of his games.
@@GoblinPrincessKyo Laura spesifically told them NOT to get married, and she did and now the other two can't cos Vax is going to die soon. You can understand why, right?
@@aliince9372 No I don't see it that way at all. I remember Vex making the joking comment not to run off and get married without her, of course and in a normal life I would greatly understand the anger that she herself had then run off and got married without her twin. However they don't live a normal life, they live a life where each of them could die at any moment. I think it's perfectly understandable that in a moment of calm in their lives they had that private ceramony together. I've also read so many stories where couples got married in the moments before death just so that they were married before death. So, I just don't agree with making them feel bad for them having that.
I agree, he did a wonderful job. A few of the other comedy characters they've had guest star kinda ruined the mood of the episode they were in, but De Paul hit just the right balance of kooky and cryptic.
This episode has the single best guest star to date. Darin De Paul is the only guest that feels like part of the world, the others were great in their own right but Darin has brought his character completely to life.
Know why she has so much trouble finding the Tome of Quickness of Action? Because her buddy Percy gave that wondrous item away to the Cobalt Vault in exchange for some very general information about the Nine Hells that he could have picked up from several other places more easily. She should know, since she was there at the time.
Percy's absolute glee in the library is one of the most heartwarming scenes in this show. He's so jaded and cynical, but to him this is proof that someone is caring for these people. Someone will remember them, someone will see their sacrifices and learn their secrets. "It all matters"
@@MmeHyraelle I'm assuming that they are building to just that. Tal is showing Percy break here and it's a perfect set up. Granted I came to this same conclusion before he voiced it so Matt's setting them up and Tal is knockihg them down. Wonderful scene.
So much. This is *the* religious experience that would mean *anything* to him. Seas of jewels or towers of gold or bastions of hellfire don't impress him any more than a dragon would. But books of life? Well, that'd do it.
It's a matter of perspective. In a way, only a fool would "not" talk to a sun tree if they had the chance. Sprigg is not a druid, there's things that have importance and reason for druids that seem foolish to anyone else, mostly because they are ignorant to them.
For as amazing as Caring as Kerrick was, as amusing as Lionel was, as fleshed out as Zhara and Kashaw are. Darin obliterates all of that and is an incredible character who is so loveable and wise and sad and funny. Sprigg is my new favourite.
I think that's because the other characters were freshly created. From what I know, Sprigg is a almost 40 year old character that underwent a lot of character development already. I wanna know what he was like at the beggining of the initial campain he came from.
Man when Laura asks why it was bad that Keyleth was upset hearing the wedding March song and Liam solemnly goes, “Because we don’t get that.” Way to rip my heart out. 😭
@@GutoIima But she wasn't. She was just acting pissy and angry and Vax was just silent and sullen. They didn't even try to act even slightly happy for Vex and Percy. I get they don't have long together, but that's a shitty attitude to show to your friend/sibling's new marriage.
@@GutoIima That's a load of bullshit. In that moment, when first being told, she was nothing but dwelling in her own misery. She didn't have to get super excited or anything, just a congratulations or saying she was happy for them would have been enough. But no, she just made angry noises and stormed off with her fire hands.
@@andrevieirahyurem287 That's one way to look at it. I'm more of the opinion that a lot of things that repackage ideas miss the value of the original work. Thank God we have the dialogue at all.
Rewatching this months later and just saw Travis' realization of Sprigg's backstory at 1:37:19 as he whispers to Laura "he played [DnD] with Matt's mom!" - priceless!
Thank you!!! i was trying to see what he was saying, but his hand crossed over his mouth and i couldnt read his lips. I knew it was something important, because Everything Sprigg was saying Really made it sound like he has seriously intimate knowledge of who they are, like he's literally one of them... Like he's Scan's Ghost of Future Past
Yeah, lol. And Laura seems to already know about it, and Matt just gives a quiet finger to his lips as Travis silently freaks out. I guess he had heard stories about Matt's mom's game since he recognized the party dying to hobgoblins thing. It's such a crazy coincidence that now this game is happening with Matt and Darin and really makes this episode a massive coming-full-circle moment for the both of them. xD
I absolutely love the sheer joy on Travis' face watching Darin's acting, it's like every time Matt does something unexpected during the campaign; no matter what's happening he's always having fun, it's great to see.
I agree. He picked the dumb barbarian all those years ago because he didn't really want anything too hard to "play" - but he enjoys the raw storytelling more than probably anyone else in the group. Just watch, any time shit goes down, everyone else is freaking out but Travis either has a gigantic grin on his face or is giggling with joy. Just wait until you see his character in Campaign 2, though... He's sharp as a tack when he's not restricted by a dumb character anymore and it is equally wondrous to behold.
EnDSchultz ah dude I honestly can't wait, there's been so many points during this one where he has so many good ideas and knows exactly what to do but either has to not say anything because it's meta gamey or find a feasible way for grog to express that and lead the others there haha
Darin De Paul is absolute genius. I mean, that was a masterful performance. To perfectly portray a character in every possible moment, improvised, with such depth and believability... Mercer, too. Everyone on this show is great, but it was so spectacular to see Matt and Darin's talents on display, and building off each other. What a treat. And Sprigg, what a character. I have been watching this show from day one, and I don't think I've ever been so taken with a character. Bravo.
I'm fine with both not being round the man was more drama then play an if I had to hear hello im tibberius storm wind from draconia every 5 secs in another episode I'd have grog step on my head lol
Reposting so i don't have to scroll down: 17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card 20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole 33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping 39:01 Side effects of not-dying 43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots 45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card 1:01:00 Bear traps 1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul 1:20:00 What will you give me ? 1:23:10 Let's pick a card 1:39:50 Cliffhanger ! 2:01:14 Breaks ends 2:20:50 Healing word 2:36:52 Free wild shape ? 2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ? 2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth 2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack 3:03:25 Inspiration 3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ? 3:12:50 Gargamel 3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards 3:21:39 Power and redemption 3:30:15 New religion 3:31:30 Episode summary 3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books 3:50:02 Wedding march 3:53:00 Angry mime
Deron de Paul was born with 25 wisdom. He was speaking straight poetry and proverbs all session mixed in with pure comedy gold. Forget character stats, this man exudes 25 wisdom and 25 charisma so naturally I just found myself enthralled by his performance.this episode is gold
He felt like a straight up Tolkien character to me, like he was improv-ing a Tom Bombadil type of character with all the chaotic wisdom which is mindblowingly awesome to me
it felt like he played DnD his whole life and everyone else on the table could admire what PEAK looks like. I hope he returns in the future for like 2-3 sessions in a row or more!
My favorite guest player from campaign 1... absolute legend. Sumalee is my favorite from campaign 2. Their characters are both so uniquely odd and well crafted/portrayed by the player. 🙂
The thought of the certainty of losing a sibling immediately after accomplishing a goal you're both going towards is the saddest thing on the show for me, typically a non-crying person.
Yeah, back in ep103 when Bax is lying there paralyzed and Vex gets Death Fingered right in front of him, completely helpless and unable to even scream or yell... just killed me. I could see a single tear escape his eye and run down his sidewise face to the ground.
Imagine an Ioun book chronicling the daring adventures of Taryon Darrington telling Doty to Chronicle it. And another book chronicling doty chronicling Tary's adventures telling him to chronicle him.
@@tmarcb1296 I don't think it works like that. Ioun is the goddess of knowledge but if the books were souls than only her followers would have a book. And that would really turn the Everything Matters scene into a travesty. Basically the same mistake VM made with Pelor's fruit.
A shame we couldn't have Tary and doty be here just so that we could have the circumstance where the construct has to record the book recording the construct recording the book recording the construct... ad infinitum. lol And then the multiverse either implodes in the recursive anomaly or ioun's domain swells and breaks as it is filled with a book of infinite size.
@@MorinehtarTheBlue I actually think it does work like that. She's the goddess of knowledge so it stands to reason that these books would hold the knowledge of all the lives lived. Her followers may have a dedicated and labeled wing of the library however
@@cussundriakneal9904 you always remember your favorites. I played a ranger in a one shot nearly 25 years ago and I remember that character like my most recent.
I was moved to tears when Sprigg was talking about his friends right before they plane shifted. The excitement of him remembering and the pain of the loss. Truly a wonderful performance by Darin.
@@corey41837 For real. Seems like she constantly does that whenever another character gets some limelight. She's got a serious Protagonist complex and it completely ruins immersion.
Honk Honk - Him remembering was literally happening when he was talking to her about losing things because she didn’t want to lose him. It was a moment created by her, and it was him talking to her because of what she said. She didn’t “make it about herself.” It was a topic she initiated, and she simply acknowledged what he was trying to tell her.
@@miker.9132 Sprigg's character is literally an echo of what Keyleth's future is: a thousand year old druid, friends and lover long dead while trying to lead her people. His entire character was 1) a way to get to Ioun, 2) character development for Keyleth and Scanlan and 3) a reference to an old old one shot Darin played with Matt's mum in the early 80s.
I absolutely loved Percy's reaction to seeing Ioun's library. Not even the childish glee (which was fun), but the existential realization that accompanied it. I wasn't feeling Vex's oath to Pelor and I was planning on being even more cynical about Percy suddenly warming up to Ioun, but Taliesin played it perfectly. His talk of Whitestone giving him immortality remains my favorite moment from any episode of this show. As a history nerd, I empathize with it. For all of Alexander the Great's accomplishments, he would be a half-remembered myth were it not for Callisthenes. Ioun removes that burden from mortals. Percy doesn't need to be remembered by Whitestone because he'll be remembered by Ioun. If everything is recorded, and everything is remembered, then everybody is immortal. Whatever his opinion of the gods before now is irrelevant because the idea that Vecna could destroy this is literal blasphemy. Percival is on the road to Damascus!
The only other fit for Ioun that would have made sense (ironically) would be Grog. Unlike Pelor, I never felt that the Percy/Ioun fit would be forced at all. He's always been all about the knowledge. Ioun doesn't care about the method of worship. Just the reverence for knowledge.
Even gods are not immortal, let's not forget the even Ioun was almost killed and the library could have been destroyed, so I think Percy's thoughts are a bit naive.
Imagine Ioun telling Grog that his strength, with smarts, would be unstoppable, then blessing him to have 10 Int? Smart Grog would be a sight to behold, specially because we'd get a Pike Teaching sequence xD
I feel so sad for Keyleth because not only will she outlive her love, but all of them. And if they all keep wearing the necklaces, she is going to feel when every single one of them dies.
@@sunblade52 Saddest necklace moment was when they all got rolled by Vecna and Sam mentioned that somewhere Taryon was weeping on the floor because all he knew was that in some unknown place, for some unknown reason, his friends were dying.
I never understand the likes on this show, they always seem to be 10-12k but kinda irrelevant to the episode - like by all accounts this should be pretty high up but really isn't!
@@seamustheshameful9498 I've honestly tried to like every episode I watched up until this point and 105 episodes later I might have missed 1 or 2. But yeah people should really like it more kind of sad.
Didn't realize that's what it was, but hell yeah. Travis is probably the most enjoyable player to have. Not just as a person, but also as a type. Never disagrees or rule-lawyers, always up for anything, and clearly has the best head when it comes to combat. Legend.
Travis and Sam are the best players, IMO. Sam is just always so on top of his shit, even though he has a bunch of crazy spells (and magic items as Tary), and like you said, Travis acknowledges his weak links and does what he can to fix them, and it's awesome. I would kill to play with either of them even just once.
@@mattsmith457 A *player* with high CHA/INT can play a *character* with low CHA/INT, but a *player* with low CHA/INT can't effectively play a *character* with high CHA/INT. Obviously it can be done through dice rolls, but it's just not effective as RP to say "the dice say you succeed, even though it was a stumbling mess". It's the trope of writing smart characters. You can't really come up with clever things for the character to say/do if you're not clever enough to come up with them.
Best thing is Laura and Taliesin did it out of spite because they were annoyed with the others for something they couldn't remember. They say it in a talks episode. 😂
@@BacksquatchTo be fair, UA-cam puts seemingly random comments at the top where they're visible before the video even loads. I've had things spoiled like this a number of times because remembering to physically block the lower half of the screen until I can fullscreen the video is the only way to prevent my brain from automatically and instantly reading them.
Sprigg reminds me so much of my grandfather who died a few years ago. Silly sense of humour, making word jokes out of everything and anything, the same kind of sad, quiet wisdom, even the same kind of laugh. Thank you Darin de Paul. I felt like my grandpa was in the room again.
Oh geez...I just realized they haven't been back to Whitestone since the battle with Vecna. Tary still doesn't know if any of them are still alive after his necklace reacted to the twins' temporary deaths.
He has been a Broadway actor for over 40 years, followed by 6 as a VA in California. here is a delightful Talks Machina episode (WARNING. it is for E106) with him, Matt and Marisha. he is such a delightful man to listen to. (and he looks/talks like he walked out of the 1950s to be here) ua-cam.com/video/S0j-1KIMB9g/v-deo.html
START - 11:15 17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card 20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole 33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping 39:01 Side effects of not-dying 43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots 45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card 1:01:00 Bear traps 1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul 1:20:00 What will you give me ? 1:23:10 Let's pick a card 1:39:50 Cliffhanger ! 2:01:14 Breaks ends 2:20:50 Healing word 2:36:52 Free wild shape ? 2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ? 2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth 2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack 3:03:25 Inspiration 3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ? 3:12:50 Gargamel 3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards 3:21:39 Power and redemption 3:30:15 New religion 3:31:30 Episode summary 3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books 3:50:02 Wedding march 3:53:00 Angry mime
Wow... Daren De Paul is amazing. He just sat down and he was immediately in character and nailing everything about it. It looked effortless and he was just mesmerizing. I'm not sure I've ever seen a person define a character so quickly and effectively.
Darin is a complete gem in everything I've ever seen him in. In or out of character. Seems like a total sweetheart to rival Matt Mercer himself. (There's an anecdote about how those two once got stuck in a 'nice-off' outside a door that both of them wanted to insist the other go through first.... 🙃) On the off change that you're a Whovian, he plays a fantastic Sontaran in "Eric's TBD RPG," which also features Matt and Taliesin as guest players.
DePaul's "departing" speech legit hit me in the feels. The sound of an old man failing to even remember the names of his friends was just heartbreaking. Best guest player so far!
34:00 I feel that Travis touched on a pretty relatable subject of lategame instant travelling negatively affecting DnD campaign's flow. It's no longer travelling, it's hopping between important instances to check all of the boxes before inevitably fighting the final boss.
It's a fair point (though personally I don't enjoy seeing Travis visibly bored or whining , but that's a separate issue / pet peeve). Matt mentioned on Talks that in his experience, campaigns rarely, if ever, get to this high level - so maybe it's an issue he didn't anticipate? In Campaign 2 (no meaningful spoilers) he seems to have adjusted by (1) no PCs have this level of fast travel - they can just use teleportion circles in specific cities (2) NPCs can fast travel, but the party needs to earn their favor and often they only know the general region they're going to - once there, they still have a bit of travel & problem-solving to find the the person/object/location they seek. At one point I thought he might also implement "if you use magical means to travel, the bad guys will find you and catch you off-guard" but I think I was wrong on that. Either way, seems to have learned from C1 experience
This is why in my new campaign I'm removing plane shift. There is a realm between realms that's full of portals, which is the primary way of getting to other planes.
@@epicglitter7218 He hasn't adjusted anything in C2, it's just that the players have none of the powerful fast-travel spells yet. There's no druid with Teleport via Plants and Caleb isn't high-level enough for Teleport yet. Just wait for two more level-ups and you'll see, Caleb will be able to teleport anywhere.
@@epicglitter7218 Probably after whatever conclusion the peace talks come to would be my bet. Or after two of them finally hook up, to stay in line with the long-running level-up scheme xD
Like the entire reason for her not wanting to fall in love with Vax is happening even sooner than expected, and she won’t just lose them, she will lose them all. And if they all continue to wear the necklaces, she will feel it each time.
@@thespankmyfrank the hate against keyleth it's something beyond time and space. Fortunatly, Marisha's new character its far different and she take well the criticism abouth keyleth
@@Dave004 Yeah, cause being frustrated that the man she loves is gonna die in a matter of days or weeks and she is gonna have to spend the rest of a thousand years watching everyone she knows and loves turn to dust centuries before she even starts to feel age get to her definetly sounds like a teenager wanting attention on their fucking instagram
Timestamps 17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card 20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole 33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping 39:01 Side effects of not-dying 43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots 45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card 1:01:00 Bear traps 1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul 1:20:00 What will you give me ? 1:23:10 Let's pick a card 1:39:50 Cliffhanger ! 2:01:14 Breaks ends 2:20:50 Healing word 2:36:52 Free wild shape ? 2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ? 2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth 2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack 3:03:25 Inspiration 3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ? 3:12:50 Gargamel 3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards 3:21:39 Power and redemption 3:30:15 New religion 3:31:30 Episode summary 3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books 3:50:02 Wedding march 3:53:00 Angry mime
Tyler H I believe the context is Percy broke the 4th Wall. You know, when a character looks at where a camera is/would be and talks directly to the audience. Deadpool does this a lot.
+The_One_BoZoiD Yeah it is i learned that in Theater that in the fourth wall is when the actor in in this case Percy talks to the audience while the sence in going on and the actors are doing another thing while that character breaks the fourth wall
The subtitles don't capture it, but when Marisha's ragging on herself for destroying Sprigg's house and being a homewrecker, what makes Darin laugh at 3:09:27 is Sam saying "I find Sprigg's box of old photographs and I _burn_ them." 😆
Matt is flexing with his precise knowledge of his world's geography. Sam asked what time of day was and the man visualized it, realized they were in Vasselheim and adjusted for the time difference. Just another little thing about Mercer that blows my mind!
I mean, yeah, but also you have to realise he can just look thoughtfully for a second and then say anything. What time of day is it here? stares, looking like he's doing mental math, "it's 3pm here"
@@TraskTrojanek Not anymore, there's a campaign guide lol nerds WILL do the math on what time of day it actually is and call him on it. plus I've seen him adjust it, like "actually no, because you traveled X it would actually be earlier in the day, not night time" etc. It really seems like he's actually doing it. For someone with that much insane detail in their head, memorizing fantasy time zones doesn't seem like a stretch.
@@mayaenglish5424 it is definitely just guessing lol the fact people think he's 'calculating the precise time," is so dumb considering he's said himself alot of the things he does during episodes is just improvised. Before he revealed that the common theory was that he planned out every detail and event that happened in an episode, then he simply said he improvises the majority of the time. Critters are just massive dick suckers.
It's one of those things that you start having to constantly be aware of once your players hit a certain level. Teleporting and teleport adjacent spells mean jetlag and sending and scrying and the like make time zones super relevent.
Not shoes, BOOTS! Shoes are weak, but comfortable. You don't adventure in shoes! My companions wore shoes. I wore boots, and I ran. I ran with my boots. Those boots were good at running, if nothing else. You'll be me, you just need to wear boots!
I lost it. Who the f came up with such an enchanting delightful genius of a character? I would've sworn he'd been practising his intro with Matt for years, and I've only seen 8 minutes of it.
Jack Hood From what I heard, he is reprising a character from a campaign he played with Matt's mom over 30 years ago. That and with how old he is, he has had many years to hone excellent improvisation and commitment to characters. That intro was pretty amazing stuff
Deathven Yup, and most actors who have studied it and didn't just get lucky (I'm sure he studied it) have improv training as part of their education and do it for fun.
From one gnome to another, Sprigg telling Scanlan that he's going to outlive the entirety of Vox Machina (cuz gnomes live a very long time) is somethin' else.
Not Keyleth though. Druids gain an ability at like level 18 that makes their bodies age at a tenth of the normal pace. So for a half-elf that can get up to 150 years old, currently in their twenties or thirties Keyleth will easily live for another 1000 years. That always made me sad. Keyleth the one who I felt craved company the most, who needed her friends the most, will outlive all of them by so much that were they not legends the world would have long forgotten the names of Vox Machina...
@@TheBrywarrior90 worst and least consistent character at the table played by someone who acts like a child whos parents let them have too many sodas, she's just obnoxious.
In an alternate reality. Scanlan: No, my father didn't fight in the old wars. Sprigg: That's what your mother told you. She didn't hold with your father's ideals; she felt he should've stayed here and raised you, not gotten involved. Scanlan: You fought back then? Sprigg: Yes. I was once a great hero, the same as your father. Scanlan: I wish I'd known him. Sprigg: He was the best spell caster in Exandria, and a cunning warrior. I understand that you've become quite a good spell caster yourself... And, he was a good friend.
@@thegaspatthegateway might not be as many Gnomes on Exandria as Humans but think about cultural tendencies towards naming child. Most John Smiths in the English speaking parts of our Earth are not directly related.
Percy's pure unadulterated joy of being in the realm of the goddess of knowledge is so refreshing. Seeing the most well put together member being so giddy is so fun
@@JosePerez-jl9bu No they just dicked him immediatly before he got any big spell out. Which really, is what they should always do. Always dick the mage first!
Honestly, having watched over 100 episodes of this incredible show, bingeing my way through them, and through all the emotional ups and downs of multiple character deaths and powerful moments - the most powerful moments are the ones such as we see from Darin DePaul in this episode. The subtle influence of loneliness on the mind, and the realisation of lost and treasured memories returning. It's not just voice acting and role play, it is truly great performance art on behalf of everyone involved.
I honestly think Darin might be the best guest they've ever had. He was so captivating and incredibly quick at improv-ing anything- clearly he was perfectly in character. It was cool that he knew some things the cast didn't and he sprinkled it all in so well! I can't even word it, he was fantastic.
I think he just meant being a gnome in general. That being said Sprigg's speech resonates with Keyleth way more. One of her greatest fears is that she'll outlive everyone thanks to Timeless Body. Something that is slowly becoming true with Vax now on borrowed time.
@@omnilisk279 I think it has to do with Darin's role with Sprigg, in the campaign with Matt's mom 37 years ago, was being the face of the group, like Sam is with VM
C1 will always be my favorite because you get to see the people behind it all grow, you get the B reel so to speak. They drink, they grub, its after they've done they're day jobs and they're winding down and hanging out and its all so magical. CR is amazing and I love them but the beginning holds a place in my heart the most.
I love how they're at once so comfortable around him but also all seem to look up to him so much. It's cool seeing these awesome RPers we've watched hundreds of hours of and been so impressed by then being impressed again by someone more experienced than them in turn
Darin was the most genuine, most precious and endearing guest they've had. He was hilarious, but took us all on a beautiful journey. He is by far my favorite guest.
Darin is the most wholesome person ever, I met him at comic con and told him I wanna do voice acting. There was a huge crowed around us cause it was an overwatch gathering. He pulled me away from the group to have a private conversation with me for 10 mins ignoring the hoard of people trying to take photos with him. Gave me some amazing advice and inspiration I still carry with me. Such a humble and empathetic person.
Thanks to Quidd for sponsoring this episode! Check them out at bit.ly/CRQuidd
I'm slightly offended by Sam's British accent. But also slightly amused.
next stop, Mark Thompson!!! Please make him do a Malgus voice!!!
a craftsman can make anything.. but in the end its only a emulation of true creation..
woman are gods.. the teth they ask depends on your perceived guilt.
notice your confidence is always the variable
it's far too accurate.
When is the next stream from Critical role on twitch?
*gasping, panting, clawing over here in 2023*…ten…more…episodes…
That's two of us
we can do this
Frfr
Letss goooo we can do this
We walk this path together!
Cool fact Sprigg is a continuation of a character Darin De Paul originally played in a D&D game with Matt Mercer's mother from over 37 years ago. from the wiki
That is awesome!
Holy balls that's cool.
That is the coolest shit.
That's insane
Thanks for commenting that, catching it out of the corner of my eye really changed the episode: All Sprigg's talk of past adventures, the friends he once travelled with, the story and characters of many years ago he says he's forgotten but clearly hasn't... I feel like that was really hitting home with the critrole gang, even sam started the waterworks ;u;
An old gnome with PTSD from adventuring based on an IRL DnD one shot from almost four decades ago is absolutely LEGENDARY
PTSD and driven kinda mad by isolation
Wait really?!
@@transgirltalks1140 Yup, Darin De Paul knows Matt's mother and actually played in a d&d one shot with her 30+ years ago, this is the character he made back then all these years later in her son's game, really cool story.
@@Checkmatex3that is so cool :o
@@Checkmatex3that's so bloody cool ❤
In Talks Machina, Darin de Paul said that when they were in the library and Percy was reading all the books, all he could think about was a quote from Doctor Who: "We're all stories in the end. Just make sure it's a good one."
That hit me real hard.
Eleven💙
Same.
My doctor 💙
Wow. I had to look up Darin De Paul's history with DnD during this. Turns out he's played DnD with Matt's mom before he was born, and he watches CR every week. Makes sense, considering he seems to know EVERYTHING.
And he's a regular contributor to the channel's other programs, so it's not like he just wandered in out of the blue.
That makes so much sense. He slipped in seamlessly into the mechanics and lore of the game unlike a lot of the other guests. Any hesitation on his part was clearly a result of adapting to 5e.
My favorite guest by far! I adore him.
I love him so much! He needs to come back
that's fucking adorable and sweet and i love it
Chat knowing where Laura's card is may be the most impressively creepy moment ever
It took a couple of minutes for them to come through, I think/hope what must have happened is that when she couldn't find it, a few people went to last weeks episode and watched what she did with it after Matt handed it over.
Because the alternative, that they just already knew, is too creepy to contemplate. :)
I am mean it's not like there is video evidence of where she put it! I mean who could fathom that someone could go to the last episode and watch the end of the encounter to watch where should put it?
ever heard of Q, from Star Trek?
you know, almighty being, with too much time on his hands?
got bored, and started trolling people around? that guy?
that's what happens when you have a million megabytes of internet speed.
That's obsession right there, lol xD
some also have autistic memory
victor the black powder merchant meets sprigg and vox machina just stands there and watches for an entire episode
get the popcorn
Can that be the third campaign? Could someone invite the Pumat Sols as well?
I know I would.
YAAAAAAASS!!!!!
I would watch that for like a week
The whole table is professional voice actors but Darin takes that to a whole new level. It's amazing watching the cast react to him like children watching a magical Disney movie. 11/10 performance.
a grand master stepping in among experts. Truly a wonderous experience
Really sells the old folk rambeler
I was feeling some Don Bluth movie vibes by the end. Land Before Time feels 😭
Dude was incredible.
I'm so curious about how he came up with/envisioned his character. He definitely put quite a bit of thought into it, but I wonder how much of it was off the top of his head. His character had A LOT of depth for being someone that just appeared in the story and only had a short bit of dialogue. The imp companion, the trapped house, the mention of Craghammer, the connection to Ioun, his past as an adventurer, his quirky behavior, and his wisdom...it was a lot.
Taliesin's comment "He has a vague point" after Liam's rant about not being an elf was soo good. His puns are always underappreciated. This was one was on point.
Oh my god, I completely missed that. Thanks for mentioning it!
"I have vaguely pointed ears, but my mother was human"
"He has a vague point"
How did that go unnoticed? XD
I noticed it
Most of Percy's comments get passed over. He is a joy to have on screen
Travis chuckled at it.
I burst out laughing at that
It didn't
Percy quietly whispering to Keyleth "point him out and we'll make him into a canoe" about the asshole sun tree is one of my favourite things said in this arc.
Man I missed that one!
I'll have to go back and catch it!
I've almost always found the little quips that Talisin offers are hilarious!
Timestamp?
@@musclecat1005 around the 12:00 mark. I had to go back and watch because it's been like 2 years since I watched the episode haha
Thx
Vex: “...the only reason I do things is that I take great joy in irritating you”
Classic siblings rivalry
My favorite moment was when percy kills a necromancer and matt sadly says"Bye by necromancer" really quietly, knowing he had cool shit he could do but never acted.
Taliesan wisely followed the 1st rule of Shadowrun: "Geek the mage first."
So true. It sucks when my players kill a character before I get to do cool shit with them.
I like to imagine Matt has like a diary/graveyard of NPCs that never got their chance.
@@TrashDeviant I like to think that he can recycle a few of those preemptively ended ideas and save them for later.
@@YorkJonhson Yeah, I mean that makes sense. But let me have my fantasy of Matt's Book of Sadness.
I love that the game that Matt's mom and Darin played with their friends all those years ago has now become canon in Matt's world. That's just so amazing that he got to immortalized their old campaign that way.
Matt's life must be crazy imagine being surrounded by DnD he loved Playing it
most his life his mother even played
now he runs one of the biggest shows on the internet THE biggest DnD show
people will give them 11million to animate one of his games.
@@SPACEHARICE and now we have a kickass show thats currently ongoing
This is one of my favourite things about it! Like that's so amazing and cool!!
Sooooooo all I heard was Matt's mom and her party need to be resurrected and their party be on the show. If that is possible.
Wow no way!!
"He's an old guy. We're either gonna kill him or burn his house down." Sam Riegel, 2017
I mean, it did somewhat burn down 😂
Wait, what old person’s house did they burn down before?
The secret of the De Rolo marriage being revealed in Ioun's realm, a goddess who despises secrets, is just too perfect
Delicious irony
It was kinda revealed in Elysium. No one acknowledged it afterwards but Percy did say that Vex is his betrothed
Made me really sad though that they were not shown any love just scorn :(
@@GoblinPrincessKyo Laura spesifically told them NOT to get married, and she did and now the other two can't cos Vax is going to die soon. You can understand why, right?
@@aliince9372 No I don't see it that way at all. I remember Vex making the joking comment not to run off and get married without her, of course and in a normal life I would greatly understand the anger that she herself had then run off and got married without her twin. However they don't live a normal life, they live a life where each of them could die at any moment. I think it's perfectly understandable that in a moment of calm in their lives they had that private ceramony together. I've also read so many stories where couples got married in the moments before death just so that they were married before death. So, I just don't agree with making them feel bad for them having that.
Darin De Paul is literally magic. This episode is a blessing.
I agree, he did a wonderful job. A few of the other comedy characters they've had guest star kinda ruined the mood of the episode they were in, but De Paul hit just the right balance of kooky and cryptic.
A masterful performance in every respect
A-Mazing! I was instantly captivated.
This episode has the single best guest star to date. Darin De Paul is the only guest that feels like part of the world, the others were great in their own right but Darin has brought his character completely to life.
I'm so glad they FINALLY got around to having him in an episode
Marisha: I pull out the Tome of Quick Movement... Hold. Hold while I find the paper
Sam: Ironic...
Know why she has so much trouble finding the Tome of Quickness of Action? Because her buddy Percy gave that wondrous item away to the Cobalt Vault in exchange for some very general information about the Nine Hells that he could have picked up from several other places more easily.
She should know, since she was there at the time.
@@DurandalsFate that also happened rl months ago
@@seven-cats-3She plays the game that happens in her head not what happens in game. That's why she forgets.
@@Moralatheist101 I didn't remember that and I've been binging, so much, much less time has passed for me.
@@Moralatheist101 don't be a douche
Episode title: The Fear of Isolation
Me, watching this episode during the corona self-isolation crisis: Huh
Well this is oddly relatable.
Right there with you! Good luck and stay safe!
Hah same
Guessing we all have joined the train! X3
Same. Germany here.. enjoy it and stay healthy and safe everyone..
What better than our favourite party to cheer us up? This is a hell of an episode..
*casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter*
"Knock knock!"
*laughs uncontrollably*
"Oh, you've heard this one before..."
Percy's absolute glee in the library is one of the most heartwarming scenes in this show. He's so jaded and cynical, but to him this is proof that someone is caring for these people. Someone will remember them, someone will see their sacrifices and learn their secrets. "It all matters"
Since that moment i just want to see percy ioun champion.
@@MmeHyraelle I'm assuming that they are building to just that. Tal is showing Percy break here and it's a perfect set up. Granted I came to this same conclusion before he voiced it so Matt's setting them up and Tal is knockihg them down. Wonderful scene.
“This is immortality.” Love Percy quotes.
Time stamps
So much. This is *the* religious experience that would mean *anything* to him. Seas of jewels or towers of gold or bastions of hellfire don't impress him any more than a dragon would. But books of life? Well, that'd do it.
Only a fool would talk to a sun tree. That got me so good
The expression on Marisha's face!!!!😆
Then the right person was talking to the tree.
It's a matter of perspective. In a way, only a fool would "not" talk to a sun tree if they had the chance. Sprigg is not a druid, there's things that have importance and reason for druids that seem foolish to anyone else, mostly because they are ignorant to them.
@@darthvader1166 when has it ever been useful to talk to sun trees? They're fucking useless except for comedic relief.
And as a portal.
For as amazing as Caring as Kerrick was, as amusing as Lionel was, as fleshed out as Zhara and Kashaw are. Darin obliterates all of that and is an incredible character who is so loveable and wise and sad and funny. Sprigg is my new favourite.
What about gern blanston! But no, I agree Sprigg is amazing. Simply stunning.
Gern is an honorable mention
I think that's because the other characters were freshly created. From what I know, Sprigg is a almost 40 year old character that underwent a lot of character development already. I wanna know what he was like at the beggining of the initial campain he came from.
This is just a spectacularly executed guest spot. A+
You forget the horrid luck of Torbir
The difference between Daren’s dapper suit and Sam’s “vacation” shirt is so striking
Sprigg's shared grief with Keyleth over the inevitability of losing all your friends had me weeping
Ikr! “I’m already in the prison,,,,and they don’t know” had me sobbing on the floor
I grieve for the world having to suffer Keyleth for a thousand years lol that tribe won't be around long.
@@bowserbrowser6559 They seem to be doing pretty well. Especially considering she lives rent free in your head.
@@Roiben100 you sound real original, your insult isn't even that good..so by your own insult my heads a nice place to live..thanks? True moron lol
It hits deeper bc don't druids live hella long?
Darin de Paul was freaking incredible! Pure wit and performance the whole way through!
Jonathan Herzog Indeed. I could honestly say he's been the best, and most entertaining guest to come on the show.
I get a family friendly Don Rickles vibe from him
@@rakkatytam 💯 accurate!
dude if I could the 1% of the role player he is :o
Man when Laura asks why it was bad that Keyleth was upset hearing the wedding March song and Liam solemnly goes, “Because we don’t get that.” Way to rip my heart out. 😭
I understand that but I also see it as you should be happy for your friends and basically sister in law. She's focusing on only the bad..
@@nataliepeters8459 She can be happy for her friends and sad for lost Vax at the same time.
@@GutoIima But she wasn't. She was just acting pissy and angry and Vax was just silent and sullen. They didn't even try to act even slightly happy for Vex and Percy. I get they don't have long together, but that's a shitty attitude to show to your friend/sibling's new marriage.
@@thesugarthief1476 Marisha talking about in Talks Machina: ua-cam.com/video/S0j-1KIMB9g/v-deo.html
@@GutoIima That's a load of bullshit. In that moment, when first being told, she was nothing but dwelling in her own misery. She didn't have to get super excited or anything, just a congratulations or saying she was happy for them would have been enough. But no, she just made angry noises and stormed off with her fire hands.
This is one of those episodes where it feels like they could take the dialogue word-for-word without having to edit it for the animated show
It's kinda sad that most of the dialogue is not gonna make it to the animated series
@@andrevieirahyurem287 That's one way to look at it. I'm more of the opinion that a lot of things that repackage ideas miss the value of the original work. Thank God we have the dialogue at all.
There were a lot of minor changes to the show that threw me off
@@wolfnote6679 Like what?
@@otakugirl5512 the whole game play aspect lols. I still enjoyed it. I liked it more tbh. Just idk why it threw me off
Rewatching this months later and just saw Travis' realization of Sprigg's backstory at 1:37:19 as he whispers to Laura "he played [DnD] with Matt's mom!" - priceless!
thank you for pointing that out haha otherwise i would have missed that hilarious moment
Thank you so, so much for the callout and time stamp!
Thank you!!! i was trying to see what he was saying, but his hand crossed over his mouth and i couldnt read his lips. I knew it was something important, because Everything Sprigg was saying Really made it sound like he has seriously intimate knowledge of who they are, like he's literally one of them... Like he's Scan's Ghost of Future Past
Yeah, lol. And Laura seems to already know about it, and Matt just gives a quiet finger to his lips as Travis silently freaks out. I guess he had heard stories about Matt's mom's game since he recognized the party dying to hobgoblins thing. It's such a crazy coincidence that now this game is happening with Matt and Darin and really makes this episode a massive coming-full-circle moment for the both of them. xD
@@ScorchHellfire you can also see at 1:16 when he starts telling the "memories" and Travis is like "Nooo... no it cant.."
I absolutely love the sheer joy on Travis' face watching Darin's acting, it's like every time Matt does something unexpected during the campaign; no matter what's happening he's always having fun, it's great to see.
I agree. He picked the dumb barbarian all those years ago because he didn't really want anything too hard to "play" - but he enjoys the raw storytelling more than probably anyone else in the group. Just watch, any time shit goes down, everyone else is freaking out but Travis either has a gigantic grin on his face or is giggling with joy. Just wait until you see his character in Campaign 2, though... He's sharp as a tack when he's not restricted by a dumb character anymore and it is equally wondrous to behold.
EnDSchultz ah dude I honestly can't wait, there's been so many points during this one where he has so many good ideas and knows exactly what to do but either has to not say anything because it's meta gamey or find a feasible way for grog to express that and lead the others there haha
I think we can all agree that 2 years later Travis is still a Gem. Little Fjorgetful though
“no matter what’s happening he is always having fun,”
Shopping episodes?
@@ataberkdedemen9802 He still makes do. He broke some jaws awhile back, plus when he shops he does some great bartering, lol.
Darin De Paul is absolute genius. I mean, that was a masterful performance. To perfectly portray a character in every possible moment, improvised, with such depth and believability... Mercer, too. Everyone on this show is great, but it was so spectacular to see Matt and Darin's talents on display, and building off each other. What a treat. And Sprigg, what a character. I have been watching this show from day one, and I don't think I've ever been so taken with a character. Bravo.
Holy cow, he's from Palm Beach. Come on back, Darin. Lunch is on me.
...I like him from SWTOR.
The only other character even close to Sprigg is Viktor the black powder merchant
Sunny Sonne BLACK POWDER!?
I want to watch a poker game between Sprigg, Victor, Dr. Dranzel and Kashaw... just to see how quickly Kashaw's head explodes
i can’t believe that everyone was making those macaulay culkin jokes about sprigg and not a single one landed on “gnome alone”
This does not have enough likes
Darin reminded me of Tiberius if Tiberius didn’t metagame or constantly steal thunder. It was the bumbling charismatic man we missed.
Oh wow, you're right. Damn, I miss Tiberius sometimes :(
I miss Tiberius. But I dont miss Orion.
I'm fine with both not being round the man was more drama then play an if I had to hear hello im tibberius storm wind from draconia every 5 secs in another episode I'd have grog step on my head lol
@@liambonham-schriver7713 this is the comment i was looking for
@@NoOne-mj2gj I relate to this comment on a cellular level.
Reposting so i don't have to scroll down:
17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card
20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole
33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping
39:01 Side effects of not-dying
43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots
45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card
1:01:00 Bear traps
1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul
1:20:00 What will you give me ?
1:23:10 Let's pick a card
1:39:50 Cliffhanger !
2:01:14 Breaks ends
2:20:50 Healing word
2:36:52 Free wild shape ?
2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ?
2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth
2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack
3:03:25 Inspiration
3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ?
3:12:50 Gargamel
3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards
3:21:39 Power and redemption
3:30:15 New religion
3:31:30 Episode summary
3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books
3:50:02 Wedding march
3:53:00 Angry mime
Bump
Bump!
Bump bump
Thanks for this.
Bump
1:16:24 "You are looking into a mirror of your future"
Sprigg - Arcane Trickster
Nott/Veth - Arcane Trickster
WHAT THE FUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I am having a brain meltdown becouse of that rn... aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Had the same realization when it was being said
fucking spoilers asshole
@@wenbluepirate3954 That's not a spoiler, don't be a fuckface.
Deron de Paul was born with 25 wisdom. He was speaking straight poetry and proverbs all session mixed in with pure comedy gold. Forget character stats, this man exudes 25 wisdom and 25 charisma so naturally I just found myself enthralled by his performance.this episode is gold
He felt like a straight up Tolkien character to me, like he was improv-ing a Tom Bombadil type of character with all the chaotic wisdom which is mindblowingly awesome to me
it felt like he played DnD his whole life and everyone else on the table could admire what PEAK looks like. I hope he returns in the future for like 2-3 sessions in a row or more!
@@dawidpotega882 that would be very nice
My favorite guest player from campaign 1... absolute legend.
Sumalee is my favorite from campaign 2. Their characters are both so uniquely odd and well crafted/portrayed by the player. 🙂
Attack, Attack
Attack, Attack
Attack, Attack
And I walk away.
He needs to drop an emo monologue before walking away, otherwise the magic doesn't work. It's in the book.
@@Shornaal13 Now I want to home-brew an emo subclass for the Rogue xD
@@leahsander5490 That sounds fucking glorious. Do it, my man
You forgot Bonus Action and Enough Movement To Get Anywhere lol.
The thought of the certainty of losing a sibling immediately after accomplishing a goal you're both going towards is the saddest thing on the show for me, typically a non-crying person.
The twin’s interactions are my favorite, so this hits hard ;(
Yeah, back in ep103 when Bax is lying there paralyzed and Vex gets Death Fingered right in front of him, completely helpless and unable to even scream or yell... just killed me. I could see a single tear escape his eye and run down his sidewise face to the ground.
Imagine an Ioun book chronicling the daring adventures of Taryon Darrington telling Doty to Chronicle it. And another book chronicling doty chronicling Tary's adventures telling him to chronicle him.
Doty doesn't have a soul, he won't be a book
@@tmarcb1296 I don't think it works like that. Ioun is the goddess of knowledge but if the books were souls than only her followers would have a book. And that would really turn the Everything Matters scene into a travesty. Basically the same mistake VM made with Pelor's fruit.
A shame we couldn't have Tary and doty be here just so that we could have the circumstance where the construct has to record the book recording the construct recording the book recording the construct... ad infinitum. lol And then the multiverse either implodes in the recursive anomaly or ioun's domain swells and breaks as it is filled with a book of infinite size.
/Grog takes 1 D-8 psychic damage from reading this.
@@MorinehtarTheBlue I actually think it does work like that. She's the goddess of knowledge so it stands to reason that these books would hold the knowledge of all the lives lived. Her followers may have a dedicated and labeled wing of the library however
This dude has such an amazing voice that in a room full of voice actors his still stands out.
Well he is also a famous voice actor so...
I just read that Sprigg is a continuation of a character Darin De Paul played with Matt's mom. That's adorable.
That's AMAZING! Oh this does my heart good! Even after 37 years, he still remembers his old character! ;o;
@@cussundriakneal9904 you always remember your favorites. I played a ranger in a one shot nearly 25 years ago and I remember that character like my most recent.
I was moved to tears when Sprigg was talking about his friends right before they plane shifted. The excitement of him remembering and the pain of the loss. Truly a wonderful performance by Darin.
And then keylith mad it about her lolz
@@corey41837 For real. Seems like she constantly does that whenever another character gets some limelight. She's got a serious Protagonist complex and it completely ruins immersion.
Honk Honk - Him remembering was literally happening when he was talking to her about losing things because she didn’t want to lose him. It was a moment created by her, and it was him talking to her because of what she said.
She didn’t “make it about herself.” It was a topic she initiated, and she simply acknowledged what he was trying to tell her.
@@miker.9132 Sprigg's character is literally an echo of what Keyleth's future is: a thousand year old druid, friends and lover long dead while trying to lead her people. His entire character was 1) a way to get to Ioun, 2) character development for Keyleth and Scanlan and 3) a reference to an old old one shot Darin played with Matt's mum in the early 80s.
I absolutely loved Percy's reaction to seeing Ioun's library. Not even the childish glee (which was fun), but the existential realization that accompanied it. I wasn't feeling Vex's oath to Pelor and I was planning on being even more cynical about Percy suddenly warming up to Ioun, but Taliesin played it perfectly. His talk of Whitestone giving him immortality remains my favorite moment from any episode of this show. As a history nerd, I empathize with it. For all of Alexander the Great's accomplishments, he would be a half-remembered myth were it not for Callisthenes.
Ioun removes that burden from mortals. Percy doesn't need to be remembered by Whitestone because he'll be remembered by Ioun. If everything is recorded, and everything is remembered, then everybody is immortal. Whatever his opinion of the gods before now is irrelevant because the idea that Vecna could destroy this is literal blasphemy. Percival is on the road to Damascus!
In the ice cream shop that is the D&D mythology, Percy has finally come across his favorite flavor.
The only other fit for Ioun that would have made sense (ironically) would be Grog. Unlike Pelor, I never felt that the Percy/Ioun fit would be forced at all. He's always been all about the knowledge.
Ioun doesn't care about the method of worship. Just the reverence for knowledge.
@TurtleWhiskey, agreed, and also, if Percy doesn't end up Ioun's champion, I will throw things!!!
Even gods are not immortal, let's not forget the even Ioun was almost killed and the library could have been destroyed, so I think Percy's thoughts are a bit naive.
Imagine Ioun telling Grog that his strength, with smarts, would be unstoppable, then blessing him to have 10 Int?
Smart Grog would be a sight to behold, specially because we'd get a Pike Teaching sequence xD
I feel so sad for Keyleth because not only will she outlive her love, but all of them. And if they all keep wearing the necklaces, she is going to feel when every single one of them dies.
I never thought of the necklaces before, that just makes it sadder.
@@sunblade52 Saddest necklace moment was when they all got rolled by Vecna and Sam mentioned that somewhere Taryon was weeping on the floor because all he knew was that in some unknown place, for some unknown reason, his friends were dying.
@@ewanreilly2988holy shit that was so sad. It hurt 😭
This was the highest rated episode for Critical Role on IMDB and honestly, Darin and his character is a heavy contributor in that.
I never understand the likes on this show, they always seem to be 10-12k but kinda irrelevant to the episode - like by all accounts this should be pretty high up but really isn't!
@T that’s because everyone is binging and forgets
@@seamustheshameful9498 I've honestly tried to like every episode I watched up until this point and 105 episodes later I might have missed 1 or 2. But yeah people should really like it more kind of sad.
Mercer and De Paul really killed this one.
Travis' cheat sheet for dice rolls makes me smile. He's acknowledged his poor math skills and adjusted to not waste time. Dude is a legend.
Didn't realize that's what it was, but hell yeah. Travis is probably the most enjoyable player to have. Not just as a person, but also as a type. Never disagrees or rule-lawyers, always up for anything, and clearly has the best head when it comes to combat. Legend.
@@VG-fk6nk I find that players like Travis often play low CHA characters but have high CHA irl, negating the issues with having low charisma somewhat.
Travis and Sam are the best players, IMO. Sam is just always so on top of his shit, even though he has a bunch of crazy spells (and magic items as Tary), and like you said, Travis acknowledges his weak links and does what he can to fix them, and it's awesome.
I would kill to play with either of them even just once.
@@mattsmith457 A *player* with high CHA/INT can play a *character* with low CHA/INT, but a *player* with low CHA/INT can't effectively play a *character* with high CHA/INT. Obviously it can be done through dice rolls, but it's just not effective as RP to say "the dice say you succeed, even though it was a stumbling mess".
It's the trope of writing smart characters. You can't really come up with clever things for the character to say/do if you're not clever enough to come up with them.
@@TraskTrojanek OK
Before the year, Vex: "if you get married without me, I'll kill you"
Year later, Vex and Percy are married in secret
I just... I just can't...
Best thing is Laura and Taliesin did it out of spite because they were annoyed with the others for something they couldn't remember. They say it in a talks episode. 😂
Dude. Spoilers.
@@rettima8921 If you read the comments before watching the video it’s your own fault
@@BacksquatchTo be fair, UA-cam puts seemingly random comments at the top where they're visible before the video even loads. I've had things spoiled like this a number of times because remembering to physically block the lower half of the screen until I can fullscreen the video is the only way to prevent my brain from automatically and instantly reading them.
Sprigg reminds me so much of my grandfather who died a few years ago. Silly sense of humour, making word jokes out of everything and anything, the same kind of sad, quiet wisdom, even the same kind of laugh. Thank you Darin de Paul. I felt like my grandpa was in the room again.
Oh geez...I just realized they haven't been back to Whitestone since the battle with Vecna. Tary still doesn't know if any of them are still alive after his necklace reacted to the twins' temporary deaths.
I see him in my mind weeping threw the castle only saying thier dead. Dead. Dead
Darin feels like an old master of acting. His transitions into character and his execution seem so effortless.
He has been a Broadway actor for over 40 years, followed by 6 as a VA in California. here is a delightful Talks Machina episode (WARNING. it is for E106) with him, Matt and Marisha. he is such a delightful man to listen to. (and he looks/talks like he walked out of the 1950s to be here)
ua-cam.com/video/S0j-1KIMB9g/v-deo.html
@@sydney4814 yep, that explains it.
START - 11:15
17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card
20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole
33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping
39:01 Side effects of not-dying
43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots
45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card
1:01:00 Bear traps
1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul
1:20:00 What will you give me ?
1:23:10 Let's pick a card
1:39:50 Cliffhanger !
2:01:14 Breaks ends
2:20:50 Healing word
2:36:52 Free wild shape ?
2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ?
2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth
2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack
3:03:25 Inspiration
3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ?
3:12:50 Gargamel
3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards
3:21:39 Power and redemption
3:30:15 New religion
3:31:30 Episode summary
3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books
3:50:02 Wedding march
3:53:00 Angry mime
Thank you!!
2023 binge watchers thank you ❤
Bump
Thanks
Bump!!!!
The relationship between Sprigg and the Imp was THE best thing ever!! Also, it's good to see that Matt and Laura are part of the Rattpack :D
Wow... Daren De Paul is amazing. He just sat down and he was immediately in character and nailing everything about it. It looked effortless and he was just mesmerizing. I'm not sure I've ever seen a person define a character so quickly and effectively.
Darin is a complete gem in everything I've ever seen him in. In or out of character. Seems like a total sweetheart to rival Matt Mercer himself. (There's an anecdote about how those two once got stuck in a 'nice-off' outside a door that both of them wanted to insist the other go through first.... 🙃)
On the off change that you're a Whovian, he plays a fantastic Sontaran in "Eric's TBD RPG," which also features Matt and Taliesin as guest players.
Good actors are so fun to play with.
I JUST GOT TO THE PART WHERE HE HAS THE EMOTIONAL MOMENT WITH KEYLETH AND IT’S THE BEST ACTING IVE SEEN IN YEARS
He's legendary in this episode. He does have the slight advantage of having already played this character albeit it was a very long time ago.
It's OK when the DM is mad at you. It HURTS when the DM is disappointed in you.
Percy is a true Gentleman, he fights utilising manners and diplomacy.
Hes honorable enough for bad news too, and doesn't mind keeping a list
Always ready with a witty retort.
However never challenge him to a drinking game. He just takes shot after shot after shot. I don't know how he does it. Must be his resolve
This whole comment chain is gold
@@briangronberg6507 but when offended, he will respond with animus
Vax-"Let me have my last two months of liiiiiife"
Percy-"That's hopeful..."
DePaul's "departing" speech legit hit me in the feels. The sound of an old man failing to even remember the names of his friends was just heartbreaking. Best guest player so far!
The 10 episode count down to the end begins 😭 4 months of listening/ watching, I dont want to say goodbye to Vox Machina yet 😭
34:00 I feel that Travis touched on a pretty relatable subject of lategame instant travelling negatively affecting DnD campaign's flow. It's no longer travelling, it's hopping between important instances to check all of the boxes before inevitably fighting the final boss.
It's a fair point (though personally I don't enjoy seeing Travis visibly bored or whining , but that's a separate issue / pet peeve). Matt mentioned on Talks that in his experience, campaigns rarely, if ever, get to this high level - so maybe it's an issue he didn't anticipate? In Campaign 2 (no meaningful spoilers) he seems to have adjusted by (1) no PCs have this level of fast travel - they can just use teleportion circles in specific cities (2) NPCs can fast travel, but the party needs to earn their favor and often they only know the general region they're going to - once there, they still have a bit of travel & problem-solving to find the the person/object/location they seek.
At one point I thought he might also implement "if you use magical means to travel, the bad guys will find you and catch you off-guard" but I think I was wrong on that. Either way, seems to have learned from C1 experience
This is why in my new campaign I'm removing plane shift. There is a realm between realms that's full of portals, which is the primary way of getting to other planes.
@@epicglitter7218 He hasn't adjusted anything in C2, it's just that the players have none of the powerful fast-travel spells yet. There's no druid with Teleport via Plants and Caleb isn't high-level enough for Teleport yet. Just wait for two more level-ups and you'll see, Caleb will be able to teleport anywhere.
@@leahsander5490 ah - fair point. and maybe won't be too too long. feels like they've been level 11 forever, so 12's gotta be coming soon yeah?
@@epicglitter7218 Probably after whatever conclusion the peace talks come to would be my bet. Or after two of them finally hook up, to stay in line with the long-running level-up scheme xD
Character name: Darin De Paul
Race: Human
Class: Guest star
Level: 20
Str: 8
Dex: 8
Con: 10
Int: 26
Wis 26
Chr: 26
Skills:
Roleplay +10
Funny as hell: +10
Owning the stage +10
Acting +10
Enhance episode +10
Language: Common, English, Funny, Dramatic
:-) :-) :-) :-)
"I found my religion...I'm Bluish!"
That might be the funniest line that's happened on this show. Darrin is an absolute riot.
lol i didn't get that joke what did he mean?
Rhymes with "Jewish"
SirBrittanicvs And Pike's hair is blue ^_^
Keyleth: "I guess I have to get used to losing things." *looks at Vax*
Vax: *avoids eye contact*
😭😭
Like the entire reason for her not wanting to fall in love with Vax is happening even sooner than expected, and she won’t just lose them, she will lose them all.
And if they all continue to wear the necklaces, she will feel it each time.
@@Dave004 she's just an obnoxious teenager with wisdom 20 and epic lvl, beyond absurd. I can't handle she much longer.
@@Dave004 Wow, Keyleth hate in 2023? Really? Revolutionary, mate.
@@thespankmyfrank the hate against keyleth it's something beyond time and space.
Fortunatly, Marisha's new character its far different and she take well the criticism abouth keyleth
@@Dave004 Yeah, cause being frustrated that the man she loves is gonna die in a matter of days or weeks and she is gonna have to spend the rest of a thousand years watching everyone she knows and loves turn to dust centuries before she even starts to feel age get to her definetly sounds like a teenager wanting attention on their fucking instagram
Timestamps
17:37 Teacher, I lost my Pelor card
20:35 Let's walk through that a-hole
33:50 Grog misses the old days of walking and camping
39:01 Side effects of not-dying
43:30 Twins bickering yet again about the boots
45:20 Chat knows where Laura put her Pelor card
1:01:00 Bear traps
1:06:00 Enter Darin De Paul
1:20:00 What will you give me ?
1:23:10 Let's pick a card
1:39:50 Cliffhanger !
2:01:14 Breaks ends
2:20:50 Healing word
2:36:52 Free wild shape ?
2:42:05 Who destroyed the house first ?
2:43:40 Thanks Keyleth
2:55:00 Attack attack attack attack
3:03:25 Inspiration
3:09:00 How can we ruin this house further ?
3:12:50 Gargamel
3:17:30 Ethrid Brokenbranch sends his regards
3:21:39 Power and redemption
3:30:15 New religion
3:31:30 Episode summary
3:43:00 Percy gets really excited about the books
3:50:02 Wedding march
3:53:00 Angry mime
You are my hero
Julie Raimbaud to
8:30 Right before recap begins.
3:26:05 KEYLETH CATCH
Thanks
"I sometimes talk to the fourth wall" Best line ever
Jeffrey Bergeron i don't even know the context yet and i love this line.
I don't know the context either, but it sounds like a dumb Deadpool line.
Not a dumb line said by Deadpool, but an alternate 'Dumb' universe Deadpool.
Tyler H I believe the context is Percy broke the 4th Wall. You know, when a character looks at where a camera is/would be and talks directly to the audience. Deadpool does this a lot.
+The_One_BoZoiD Yeah it is i learned that in Theater that in the fourth wall is when the actor in in this case Percy talks to the audience while the sence in going on and the actors are doing another thing while that character breaks the fourth wall
Just your run-of-the-mill fictional character self-awareness that they're in a fictional world designed purely for others amusement. Typical.
“I don’t think you can restore 35 years of loneliness” that got me Marisha
I'm on about year 5, and I wonder if I can make it back.
@@OneHippiesMusings You're a typing baby, I'm sure there's nothing you can't do!
I haven't missed a single Sam's announcements at the begging of every episode, they are so freaking brilliant
The subtitles don't capture it, but when Marisha's ragging on herself for destroying Sprigg's house and being a homewrecker, what makes Darin laugh at 3:09:27 is Sam saying "I find Sprigg's box of old photographs and I _burn_ them." 😆
No, the subtitles do get that part.
@@cjtrules1 They must've fixed it in the last couple years
Everytime Vax and Vex try to have a serious conversation one of them is always naked
Does anyone else want a one-shot where the cast chooses an npc from the campaign and play as them for the whole session
][ that would be amazing.
Cassandra, Victor, Kima, Allura, Gilmore, Kaylie, and Earthbreaker Groom.
Or just Matt playing a game by himself doing all the voices
Yes to all of this
Kern the Hammer would be good
Matt is flexing with his precise knowledge of his world's geography. Sam asked what time of day was and the man visualized it, realized they were in Vasselheim and adjusted for the time difference. Just another little thing about Mercer that blows my mind!
I mean, yeah, but also you have to realise he can just look thoughtfully for a second and then say anything.
What time of day is it here?
stares, looking like he's doing mental math, "it's 3pm here"
@@TraskTrojanek Not anymore, there's a campaign guide lol nerds WILL do the math on what time of day it actually is and call him on it. plus I've seen him adjust it, like "actually no, because you traveled X it would actually be earlier in the day, not night time" etc. It really seems like he's actually doing it. For someone with that much insane detail in their head, memorizing fantasy time zones doesn't seem like a stretch.
@@mayaenglish5424 it is definitely just guessing lol the fact people think he's 'calculating the precise time," is so dumb considering he's said himself alot of the things he does during episodes is just improvised. Before he revealed that the common theory was that he planned out every detail and event that happened in an episode, then he simply said he improvises the majority of the time. Critters are just massive dick suckers.
@A.Garcha Wow you must be fun at partys... And you are here why exactly?
It's one of those things that you start having to constantly be aware of once your players hit a certain level. Teleporting and teleport adjacent spells mean jetlag and sending and scrying and the like make time zones super relevent.
As Sprigg kept talking about seeking power for redemption, I just kept wishing Ashley was there since Sarenrae is a goddess of redemption. :(
Damn you Blindspot!
1:38:01 - "Continue counselor, but watch yourself!"
I just choked to avoid spitting out my coffee. Darin is too fucking funny!
Shoes :D :/
Not shoes, BOOTS!
Shoes are weak, but comfortable. You don't adventure in shoes!
My companions wore shoes.
I wore boots, and I ran. I ran with my boots. Those boots were good at running, if nothing else. You'll be me, you just need to wear boots!
I lost it. Who the f came up with such an enchanting delightful genius of a character?
I would've sworn he'd been practising his intro with Matt for years, and I've only seen 8 minutes of it.
Again... wow. He is 100% sure of himself and the character. He's perfect
Jack Hood From what I heard, he is reprising a character from a campaign he played with Matt's mom over 30 years ago. That and with how old he is, he has had many years to hone excellent improvisation and commitment to characters. That intro was pretty amazing stuff
bombshellblonde544 isn't he an actor too? it's just perfect. really is
Deathven Yup, and most actors who have studied it and didn't just get lucky (I'm sure he studied it) have improv training as part of their education and do it for fun.
You're talking about keylith right ?
From one gnome to another, Sprigg telling Scanlan that he's going to outlive the entirety of Vox Machina (cuz gnomes live a very long time) is somethin' else.
Not Keyleth though. Druids gain an ability at like level 18 that makes their bodies age at a tenth of the normal pace. So for a half-elf that can get up to 150 years old, currently in their twenties or thirties Keyleth will easily live for another 1000 years. That always made me sad. Keyleth the one who I felt craved company the most, who needed her friends the most, will outlive all of them by so much that were they not legends the world would have long forgotten the names of Vox Machina...
@@cassandramuller7337 the idea of this world suffering Keyleth for that long is terrifying haha
Bruh why the hate on Keyleth?
@@TheBrywarrior90 worst and least consistent character at the table played by someone who acts like a child whos parents let them have too many sodas, she's just obnoxious.
At least you have an actual reason. Most people I ask say “oh idk I just don’t like her” or something similarly stupid.
Sometimes names stick to you like blood on a knife or fingers on a wallet that is not quite yours.
Haha that was terrific
Right!! He was spitting pure poetry
Far and above the best guest they've had on this show so far.
(Catching up in 2020. Hello fellow late-comers!)
Hello! On the home stretch of campaign 1!
Quarantine catch up crew!!!
I have been catching up for years and finally in the home stretch of only 10 episodes left... AH!
I was a big fan of Tova and Garthok, but I agree, great guest!
Agreed my friend, agreed
Reinhardt and Emperor Calus? Oh, I bet he's gonna play a terrifying...
...elderly gnome. OK. Yeah. That's what I was going to say. Definitely.
Zero Kelvin THAT’S where I know that voice! Thank you
Also Samuel Hayden/Samur Maykr.
I can’t not hear Ardyn.
Also Valcorion and Quan Chi. So that's a number of villains
On Campaign 3 now....another elderly gnome is stealing the show.
In an alternate reality.
Scanlan: No, my father didn't fight in the old wars.
Sprigg: That's what your mother told you. She didn't hold with your father's ideals; she felt he should've stayed here and raised you, not gotten involved.
Scanlan: You fought back then?
Sprigg: Yes. I was once a great hero, the same as your father.
Scanlan: I wish I'd known him.
Sprigg: He was the best spell caster in Exandria, and a cunning warrior. I understand that you've become quite a good spell caster yourself... And, he was a good friend.
Hehehehehehhehehehehee
I thought Sprigg was more of a Yoda/Yoghurt mashup. :p
I'd like to imagine Twiggy is a decedent of Sprigg
idk if that's true, but head canon accepted.
Both are batty, gnomish arcane tricksters with plant-related names... there's gotta be a connection
@@thegaspatthegateway might not be as many Gnomes on Exandria as Humans but think about cultural tendencies towards naming child. Most John Smiths in the English speaking parts of our Earth are not directly related.
Travis/Grog continues to be one of the MOST entertaining parts of Critical Role
Ginger Monster Sam and Travis are hands down my favorite players. they really bring the party together
Matt keeping up with a geeking out Percy was beautiful.
Brandon Duckett that was REALLY impressive improvisation from Matt. He's sooooo good
Percy's pure unadulterated joy of being in the realm of the goddess of knowledge is so refreshing. Seeing the most well put together member being so giddy is so fun
Vacation scanlan here to sing your fears away
Dm: Goodbye necromancer
(Tears the card in half)
That was kind of sad.
They missed out on a possible info source apparently?
@@JosePerez-jl9bu i think he couldn't do anything xD
@@JosePerez-jl9bu No they just dicked him immediatly before he got any big spell out. Which really, is what they should always do. Always dick the mage first!
Honestly, having watched over 100 episodes of this incredible show, bingeing my way through them, and through all the emotional ups and downs of multiple character deaths and powerful moments - the most powerful moments are the ones such as we see from Darin DePaul in this episode. The subtle influence of loneliness on the mind, and the realisation of lost and treasured memories returning. It's not just voice acting and role play, it is truly great performance art on behalf of everyone involved.
....yup. you nailed it.
Sprigg and Demistrik are the best roleplaying duo I've ever seen, this is absolutely beautiful.
Matt's description of the library: perfect
Percy's reaction: priceless
Darin De Paul should be a regular cast member. He is the best guest they’ve had. I was fascinated watching every little thing he did.
I honestly think Darin might be the best guest they've ever had. He was so captivating and incredibly quick at improv-ing anything- clearly he was perfectly in character. It was cool that he knew some things the cast didn't and he sprinkled it all in so well! I can't even word it, he was fantastic.
Can we talk about how long Darin held Marisha's hand for until he thought she was okay ❤
"I am your future" Scanlan's future as a hermit gnome or Sam's future as an arcane trickster?
I think he just meant being a gnome in general. That being said Sprigg's speech resonates with Keyleth way more. One of her greatest fears is that she'll outlive everyone thanks to Timeless Body. Something that is slowly becoming true with Vax now on borrowed time.
@@omnilisk279 I know what he meant. It was a joke about Sam's character in the next campaign ending up being an arcane trickster like Sprigg.
@@omnilisk279 I think it has to do with Darin's role with Sprigg, in the campaign with Matt's mom 37 years ago, was being the face of the group, like Sam is with VM
@@bloodydove5718 Well, to be fair, The Bard's job is to outlive everyone else and tell their story.
@@ForeverDegenerate yep!
Not to knock other guests but Darin De Paul is hands down the best guest and guest character.
Yup and in my opinion a close second is Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
...and that's how Darin De Paul became a permanent cast member for the next series.
MW_Gaming bump^
shame
If only
I wish!
C1 will always be my favorite because you get to see the people behind it all grow, you get the B reel so to speak.
They drink, they grub, its after they've done they're day jobs and they're winding down and hanging out and its all so magical. CR is amazing and I love them but the beginning holds a place in my heart the most.
This guest is amazing. You can visibly see him blowing everyone's minds, even mercers
I love how they're at once so comfortable around him but also all seem to look up to him so much. It's cool seeing these awesome RPers we've watched hundreds of hours of and been so impressed by then being impressed again by someone more experienced than them in turn
@@c0niferal wouldn’t say he is more experienced. He’s just damn good at his job.
Jochen Panjaer - To be fair, he did play this character with Matt’s mom around 30 years prior, so I’d say he has a fair amount of experience.
@@FrostyTheSnowPickle That doesn't mean he has been playing DnD for 30 years.
Darin did such an amazing job, he was what Vox Machina needed and I hope they learned from him
To be clear I mean VM learning from sprigg not the actors learning from darin
internet nowadays, gotta clarify every word you'r saying, so nobody gets offended ;D
Yeah he really did school those kids didn't he..
Darin was the most genuine, most precious and endearing guest they've had. He was hilarious, but took us all on a beautiful journey. He is by far my favorite guest.
Darin is the most wholesome person ever, I met him at comic con and told him I wanna do voice acting. There was a huge crowed around us cause it was an overwatch gathering. He pulled me away from the group to have a private conversation with me for 10 mins ignoring the hoard of people trying to take photos with him. Gave me some amazing advice and inspiration I still carry with me. Such a humble and empathetic person.