The burden Kaylie left Scanlan was not in a cursed sword. Its the knowledge he has a daughter that sees him as a despicable selfish man that is not worthy of being a father to her. And that he can probably do nothing to fix it. Tho she did give him some hope at the end: "After all the wrong you have done, you would have to do a hell of lot to right."
Eeehhhhh. Kaylie is the worst. Her tricking him into bed without telling him who she was is way more despicable and disgusting than anything he ever did.
@@transientanusactually, it shows how despicable scanlan is. the only reason she does that is bc she KNOWS that it is an easy way to get his guard down bc of his reputation across the world. if he was known as something besides a man/womanizer, she would have done something else. but he’s not. and it makes the fact that he left her mom so much worse
@@ranniwolves He didn't know about her. The lady never once tried to get in touch with him. Also, he didn't knowingly try to sleep with his daughter. He just saw a pretty Gnome. She KNOWINGLY SEDUCED HER OWN FATHER. The fact that you're not understanding that is suuuuuuuper weird.
@@ranniwolves Also he didn't "leave her mom". He had a one night stand and moved on. And the fact that she never tried to pursue him proves that she was FINE with that. How is anything he did despicable in the least?
Liam O'Brien (voice of Vaxildan) was dealing with his mother's death when he became the Matron of Raven's champion. (She actually passed away around the time that Vexahalia died in the Sunken Tomb.) He was going through a lot during this time. He used D&D and this arc to help cope with his emotions.
This is so good. In the game, they have a lot more spells, so they just teleported into the dragon, but this is so much funnier. And yeah, speaking of Vax and his chat with the Matron, have you re-watched the intro they've had for two years now? How's that for foreshadowing?
Dragons gain more and more magical powers as they get older. If you're facing an ancient one, it's going to be full of tricks, like Umbracyl's invisibility.
It’s such an awesome perspective to see new Critters who aren’t familiar with this world. Just getting to see you two experience the stories and characters for the first time, and seeing how well they did to make the show amazing even for new people is just so awesome. I wish more people would give this show a chance!
The Matron DID kind of cast him as the Grim Reaper… but not in the horrific ‘cause of death’ sense. She asked him to function as a psychopomp, a guide for souls between one world and the next. The Matron is all about that solemn dignified last moment where a person’s story ends. Ironically, her biggest function isn’t about CAUSING death, it’s about making sure Death is a meaningful, beautiful thing… and that it remains as such. She’s on record as actually having significant objections to undeath as a concept, and necromancy as a practice, so if she WERE to send her champion out against a living person specifically it would probably be to get rid of someone like Delilah Briarwood.
Fun Fact: In the campaign the magic word for Vex's flying broom was the Draconic word for candle. Laura (Vex's VA) decided that was pronounced... Hawk Tuah! Matt, the DM, said, you better write that down. And thus, Vex had to hawk tuah anytime she wanted to use the broom. This was in 2016. Laura Bailey is the OG hawk tuah girl.
Yeah, Vax' chat with the Matron of Ravens is SO beautiful, in so many ways. The art - gorgeous. The scriptwriting - pulchritudinous. The voice acting - the Matron's VA read the script as a godly power who needed Vax to understand his purpose perfectly. This one's my favorite episode thus far.
So a little bit of context. In the original campaign vax and scanlan did also end up in the dragon. Only then scanlan used a spell called dimension door to teleport them in. It was pretty messy, because they didn't perfectly end up in the stomach. They also didn't have the sword from scanlan's daughter, but instead an item called the immovable rod. Probably changed all that because of copyights or to not overcomplicate things for new critters.
@@SomeoneTookMyOldName I'm glad Taliesin was able to make good use of it (kind of) in campaign 3 XD. idk if this is where he got the idea but it's such a cool one
Vax'ildan being fate-touched is why he saw the Matron of Ravens in Emon when the Chroma Conclave attacked, and again in Vasselheim. It's also how he was able to see the thread connecting him and Vex in the sunken tomb. The Matron being the goddess of death, fate and winter has an important aspect to it in Exandria that doesn't exist with death in our world. There are demons and devils that will try to capture mortal souls by deception (like Orthax, a demon) or infernal contracts (this is the devils' schtick), which means the soul does *not* transition into the afterlife naturally. And above that, there is necromancy and the undead. Remember when Delilah raised the dead in Whitestone? Those people were already dead, but her steward who was the catalyst for that Raise Dead spell was living. And she used his blood and soul as fuel for her spell when she killed him, the spell then amplified by the residiuum glass in her necklace. The stewards soul is consumed, and that means it can't pass into the afterlife. Necromancers can also bind souls into dead bodies, which also prevents them from passing on. All this is why the Matron of Ravens hates (unsanctioned*) necromancy and the undead. They violate the natural order and breaks the cycle of life and death. In our world, the moment of death can be untimely, people dying "too early" due to accidents, illness or murder but nothing can stop the soul from passing on as it should, according to your beliefs. But in Exandria, the very moment of death and the soul passing on can be violated. Vax'ildan is now the champion set to protect that moment so it happens as it should. Which is why the Matron of Ravens counts as a neutral goddess, not evil. *resurrection rituals, like Kashaw did with Vex'ahlia in the Sunken Tomb, also counts as necromancy. But, these rituals performed by clerics asks the soul to come back and gives it a choice. The soul can refuse. Necromancers will force the soul to do their bidding, or use them as fuels for their spells.
pretty sure she is opposed to liches too, things that are immortal unnaturally and use magic to cheat death in ways beyond cleric means. Idk where resurrection crosses that line, probably would depend on the person, the god, and the DM! But it's such a neat aspect and I'm really glad Matt and Liam leaned in so much with it.
A bit of background lore for Exandria re: the Matron of Ravens She was originally a mortal wizard in the Age of Arcanum before the Calamity. She devised a ritual to ascend to godhood. In doing so, she erased the original god of death from having ever existed. Meaning that, after her ascension, she was ALWAYS the god of death. Even the other gods, while they know there was another god in that spot before, can no longer remember who her predecessor was. Likewise, even people living at the time who knew the Matron when she was mortal couldn’t remember her name either.
In D&D, there is a feat you can take for your character called "Lucky" and it lets you reroll if you get a crappy dice result, a limited number of times per day. Vax had that feat, which was translated by Matt Mercer as 'fate touched' like that. And Umbrasyl going invisible wasn't due to a vestige. Anciant dragons like him can learn and use magical spells beyond their natural powers and attacks. Some dragons or types of dragon may put more or less time into mastering magic, depending on their personality, rather like some dragons are less incline to shapeshift than others as part of their trickery. (I once had an idea for an evil NPC who was a green dragon who shapeshifted to look like a pretty harmless older woman and ran a 'murder inn' like there's folktales or stories about IRL out in the wilderness, at a place where adventuring parties might be inclined to want to stop and rest at a quaint inn rather than camp, and who had trapdoor beds and poisoned meals or drinks to take out anyone with loot she felt was worth it or just found annoying as a guest. SOME day I will get up the nerve and energy to DM a campaign with that as a possible side happening.)
Notice in the opening, it starts with seven separate golden threads, and by the end of the opening, they are intertwined into a combined fate. The Matron of Ravens is the goddess of death and fate (and winter, etc...)
7:19 I loved the way the animated her. So beautiful 8:26 the line about death giving meaning to life is so good 12:22 they went in differently in the campaign but this version is hilarious Enjoyed your reaction as usual. Looking forward to the finale reaction.
Wow you ladies are putting these out fast! I am so happy you loved last episode as it is my favorite as well! Good stuff as always and thank you for your reactions!
It's like the fan theories on whether Ant-Man could've just flown into Thanos ass and expanded from the inside to kill him. But unlike Hollywood where we'd not see this possibility even considered, let alone explored (aside from maybe meta franchises like Deadpool), at the table you can just live out those theories in practice. lol
Regarding the sword, as I don’t see any comments relating to it. It’s basically an “immovable rod” that locks itself in a specific position and cannot be moved from that spot except by the one who placed it there. So, activating it inside of the dragon was a really clever way of keeping it grounded, but they didn’t expect him to literally rip himself off of the blade. That was brutal. lol
Matt Made Vax fate touched to give Liam a gift as he was going through a rough time. It was very sweet. And in a meta sense Liam truly is fate touched in real life. It was his birthday party that brought them all together, so I think Matt wanted to honor that in the game with Vax.
7:24 the only proper reaction to the Matron :DD 11:23 Umbrasyl`s invisibility comes not from the Mythcarver, dragons are very magical creatures and can use magic the same as humanoids do. I love that this episode ended _exactly_ how it did in the campaign: with Scanlan and Vax in a stomach of the ancient dragon and Grog being carried along :DDD
Also, it's great seeing the Matron of Ravens finally reveal herself and speak with Vax one on one. She's based on the Raven Queen, the goddess of death, fate, and winter in DnD. So as the Matron's champion, Vax's duties include protecting the sanctity of life and death, which also means that anyone who would try to cheat death by unnatural (non-holy) means would be an enemy of the Matron. Vax is a protector of the balance that is the natural order of life and death. So necromancers and any undead entities/creatures would be considered mortal enemies of the Matron and thus also Vax.
The Matron of Ravens is sort of a 'psychpomp', a guardian and guide of the passage from life to death. She is especially opposed to necromancers and the undead, as they defile the sanctity of that passage.
I like to think there's a trans dude out there named Burt that Scanlan legit thought he could have gotten preggo. (also, Burt Reynolds Esquire, Attorney at Small, was an alias Scanlan used on occasion if someone got arrested - coughKeylethcough)
Man, I was so hopeful for you. But it seems like 90% of this is going over your heads, even the stuff you don't need to be a Critter to understand. You're even missing stuff that is outright being told to you. :(
I miss the lair actions, but I'm glad they didn't introduce them into the show, if only because they would have bogged down the combat in something like this. Still, a great mechanic at table.
The burden Kaylie left Scanlan was not in a cursed sword. Its the knowledge he has a daughter that sees him as a despicable selfish man that is not worthy of being a father to her. And that he can probably do nothing to fix it. Tho she did give him some hope at the end: "After all the wrong you have done, you would have to do a hell of lot to right."
Eeehhhhh. Kaylie is the worst. Her tricking him into bed without telling him who she was is way more despicable and disgusting than anything he ever did.
@@transientanus she pulled an Old Boy
@@transientanusactually, it shows how despicable scanlan is. the only reason she does that is bc she KNOWS that it is an easy way to get his guard down bc of his reputation across the world. if he was known as something besides a man/womanizer, she would have done something else. but he’s not. and it makes the fact that he left her mom so much worse
@@ranniwolves He didn't know about her. The lady never once tried to get in touch with him. Also, he didn't knowingly try to sleep with his daughter. He just saw a pretty Gnome. She KNOWINGLY SEDUCED HER OWN FATHER. The fact that you're not understanding that is suuuuuuuper weird.
@@ranniwolves Also he didn't "leave her mom". He had a one night stand and moved on. And the fact that she never tried to pursue him proves that she was FINE with that. How is anything he did despicable in the least?
Liam O'Brien (voice of Vaxildan) was dealing with his mother's death when he became the Matron of Raven's champion. (She actually passed away around the time that Vexahalia died in the Sunken Tomb.) He was going through a lot during this time. He used D&D and this arc to help cope with his emotions.
This is so good. In the game, they have a lot more spells, so they just teleported into the dragon, but this is so much funnier. And yeah, speaking of Vax and his chat with the Matron, have you re-watched the intro they've had for two years now? How's that for foreshadowing?
Dragons gain more and more magical powers as they get older. If you're facing an ancient one, it's going to be full of tricks, like Umbracyl's invisibility.
Fun fact: Burt was a reference to the campaign where Scanlan would disguise under the alias of Burt Reynolds.
i never put those two together! Makes a lot of sense!
But Reynolds, esq. The last part is very important.
Attorney at Small
It’s such an awesome perspective to see new Critters who aren’t familiar with this world. Just getting to see you two experience the stories and characters for the first time, and seeing how well they did to make the show amazing even for new people is just so awesome. I wish more people would give this show a chance!
The Matron DID kind of cast him as the Grim Reaper… but not in the horrific ‘cause of death’ sense. She asked him to function as a psychopomp, a guide for souls between one world and the next.
The Matron is all about that solemn dignified last moment where a person’s story ends. Ironically, her biggest function isn’t about CAUSING death, it’s about making sure Death is a meaningful, beautiful thing… and that it remains as such. She’s on record as actually having significant objections to undeath as a concept, and necromancy as a practice, so if she WERE to send her champion out against a living person specifically it would probably be to get rid of someone like Delilah Briarwood.
Fun Fact: In the campaign the magic word for Vex's flying broom was the Draconic word for candle. Laura (Vex's VA) decided that was pronounced... Hawk Tuah! Matt, the DM, said, you better write that down. And thus, Vex had to hawk tuah anytime she wanted to use the broom. This was in 2016. Laura Bailey is the OG hawk tuah girl.
Watching this back with you actually inspired me to go back and re-listen/watch to this campaign.
Yeah, Vax' chat with the Matron of Ravens is SO beautiful, in so many ways. The art - gorgeous. The scriptwriting - pulchritudinous. The voice acting - the Matron's VA read the script as a godly power who needed Vax to understand his purpose perfectly. This one's my favorite episode thus far.
Thanks for introducing me to the word "pulchritudinous". What a crazy word for "beautiful", I love it.
@@riolkin Right?! Me too!
So a little bit of context. In the original campaign vax and scanlan did also end up in the dragon. Only then scanlan used a spell called dimension door to teleport them in. It was pretty messy, because they didn't perfectly end up in the stomach. They also didn't have the sword from scanlan's daughter, but instead an item called the immovable rod. Probably changed all that because of copyights or to not overcomplicate things for new critters.
It was also Vax's idea, not Scanlan's.
But also using an immovable rod as the hilt of a sword is a really cool idea
@@SomeoneTookMyOldName I'm glad Taliesin was able to make good use of it (kind of) in campaign 3 XD. idk if this is where he got the idea but it's such a cool one
Vax'ildan being fate-touched is why he saw the Matron of Ravens in Emon when the Chroma Conclave attacked, and again in Vasselheim.
It's also how he was able to see the thread connecting him and Vex in the sunken tomb.
The Matron being the goddess of death, fate and winter has an important aspect to it in Exandria that doesn't exist with death in our world. There are demons and devils that will try to capture mortal souls by deception (like Orthax, a demon) or infernal contracts (this is the devils' schtick), which means the soul does *not* transition into the afterlife naturally.
And above that, there is necromancy and the undead. Remember when Delilah raised the dead in Whitestone? Those people were already dead, but her steward who was the catalyst for that Raise Dead spell was living. And she used his blood and soul as fuel for her spell when she killed him, the spell then amplified by the residiuum glass in her necklace. The stewards soul is consumed, and that means it can't pass into the afterlife.
Necromancers can also bind souls into dead bodies, which also prevents them from passing on.
All this is why the Matron of Ravens hates (unsanctioned*) necromancy and the undead. They violate the natural order and breaks the cycle of life and death.
In our world, the moment of death can be untimely, people dying "too early" due to accidents, illness or murder but nothing can stop the soul from passing on as it should, according to your beliefs.
But in Exandria, the very moment of death and the soul passing on can be violated. Vax'ildan is now the champion set to protect that moment so it happens as it should.
Which is why the Matron of Ravens counts as a neutral goddess, not evil.
*resurrection rituals, like Kashaw did with Vex'ahlia in the Sunken Tomb, also counts as necromancy. But, these rituals performed by clerics asks the soul to come back and gives it a choice. The soul can refuse.
Necromancers will force the soul to do their bidding, or use them as fuels for their spells.
pretty sure she is opposed to liches too, things that are immortal unnaturally and use magic to cheat death in ways beyond cleric means. Idk where resurrection crosses that line, probably would depend on the person, the god, and the DM! But it's such a neat aspect and I'm really glad Matt and Liam leaned in so much with it.
This is such a beautiful explanation, that you for devoting your time to write this.
A bit of background lore for Exandria re: the Matron of Ravens
She was originally a mortal wizard in the Age of Arcanum before the Calamity. She devised a ritual to ascend to godhood. In doing so, she erased the original god of death from having ever existed. Meaning that, after her ascension, she was ALWAYS the god of death. Even the other gods, while they know there was another god in that spot before, can no longer remember who her predecessor was. Likewise, even people living at the time who knew the Matron when she was mortal couldn’t remember her name either.
Percy spends 2 hours explaining the plan
Scanlan: "The plan is: I'll just go up to it and introduce myself"
Alsonthe burden isn't the sword. It's the knowledge that she exists and he messed up.
In D&D, there is a feat you can take for your character called "Lucky" and it lets you reroll if you get a crappy dice result, a limited number of times per day. Vax had that feat, which was translated by Matt Mercer as 'fate touched' like that.
And Umbrasyl going invisible wasn't due to a vestige. Anciant dragons like him can learn and use magical spells beyond their natural powers and attacks. Some dragons or types of dragon may put more or less time into mastering magic, depending on their personality, rather like some dragons are less incline to shapeshift than others as part of their trickery.
(I once had an idea for an evil NPC who was a green dragon who shapeshifted to look like a pretty harmless older woman and ran a 'murder inn' like there's folktales or stories about IRL out in the wilderness, at a place where adventuring parties might be inclined to want to stop and rest at a quaint inn rather than camp, and who had trapdoor beds and poisoned meals or drinks to take out anyone with loot she felt was worth it or just found annoying as a guest. SOME day I will get up the nerve and energy to DM a campaign with that as a possible side happening.)
They actually added a feat (or background, I forget which) called "Fate Touched" in one of their official D&D books for the Exandria setting.
Notice in the opening, it starts with seven separate golden threads, and by the end of the opening, they are intertwined into a combined fate. The Matron of Ravens is the goddess of death and fate (and winter, etc...)
7:19 I loved the way the animated her. So beautiful
8:26 the line about death giving meaning to life is so good
12:22 they went in differently in the campaign but this version is hilarious
Enjoyed your reaction as usual. Looking forward to the finale reaction.
Backdoor action comes unexpected sometimes, but when it works, it works.
Wow you ladies are putting these out fast! I am so happy you loved last episode as it is my favorite as well! Good stuff as always and thank you for your reactions!
Two fingers... 😂
This has been the perfect way to rewatch in preparation for season 3 !
fun reaction ladies ☺ BUT your greeting was EVEN MORE FUN! 😄👍
It's like the fan theories on whether Ant-Man could've just flown into Thanos ass and expanded from the inside to kill him. But unlike Hollywood where we'd not see this possibility even considered, let alone explored (aside from maybe meta franchises like Deadpool), at the table you can just live out those theories in practice. lol
Regarding the sword, as I don’t see any comments relating to it. It’s basically an “immovable rod” that locks itself in a specific position and cannot be moved from that spot except by the one who placed it there. So, activating it inside of the dragon was a really clever way of keeping it grounded, but they didn’t expect him to literally rip himself off of the blade. That was brutal. lol
Matt Made Vax fate touched to give Liam a gift as he was going through a rough time. It was very sweet. And in a meta sense Liam truly is fate touched in real life. It was his birthday party that brought them all together, so I think Matt wanted to honor that in the game with Vax.
Congratulations on the wedding! 🎉🥳
Yesss I just finished the other two reactions! Let’s gooo!! 💕
7:24 the only proper reaction to the Matron :DD
11:23 Umbrasyl`s invisibility comes not from the Mythcarver, dragons are very magical creatures and can use magic the same as humanoids do.
I love that this episode ended _exactly_ how it did in the campaign: with Scanlan and Vax in a stomach of the ancient dragon and Grog being carried along :DDD
12:27 - Hahahaha!!!! 😆😅🤣😂
Also, it's great seeing the Matron of Ravens finally reveal herself and speak with Vax one on one. She's based on the Raven Queen, the goddess of death, fate, and winter in DnD. So as the Matron's champion, Vax's duties include protecting the sanctity of life and death, which also means that anyone who would try to cheat death by unnatural (non-holy) means would be an enemy of the Matron. Vax is a protector of the balance that is the natural order of life and death. So necromancers and any undead entities/creatures would be considered mortal enemies of the Matron and thus also Vax.
Action packed! Yeah, that was for the algorithm.
Bidet everyone! ♥
Bidet Meesh and Dee!
The Matron of Ravens is sort of a 'psychpomp', a guardian and guide of the passage from life to death. She is especially opposed to necromancers and the undead, as they defile the sanctity of that passage.
I like to think there's a trans dude out there named Burt that Scanlan legit thought he could have gotten preggo. (also, Burt Reynolds Esquire, Attorney at Small, was an alias Scanlan used on occasion if someone got arrested - coughKeylethcough)
Vox Machina reactions all weekend long🥹🔥 y’all are saving me from boredom😭🫶🏽
Please react to the new League of Legends Worlds Song "Heavy is the Crown" by Linkin Park.
"Bidet" while I am on the toilet. 🤯 How'd you know?! 😲
Watch jujutsu kaisen very good you will like it
Man, I was so hopeful for you. But it seems like 90% of this is going over your heads, even the stuff you don't need to be a Critter to understand. You're even missing stuff that is outright being told to you. :(
I miss the lair actions, but I'm glad they didn't introduce them into the show, if only because they would have bogged down the combat in something like this. Still, a great mechanic at table.
Umbrasyl uses a lair action in the next episode, when he makes all the stalagmites explode.
I'm sorry, but while I get why Kaylies is angry, how can he prove himself if she doesn't even let him try?
Not to show my traumatised ass, but if this is all it takes to get a parent to give up on their child, they shouldn't have kids. Good writing imo
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