HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing 0:15 Giving Matt what he craves 1:50 A special message from the Thumb 6:15 Will Friedel shows up 10:20 Intro cinematic 12:10 EPISODE STARTS 15:25 Recap Ends (messaging Ashton) 17:35 Second message 19:40 Laudna is bad at lying 24:35 FCG is a curser 26:20 Chetney looks around 27:35 Ashton returns? 29:45 Sam’s flask 31:40 Ashton’s story (this sounds like a future one-shot) 43:15 Fresh Calzonay 44:35 Laudna and FCG almost attack each other 49:30 Lying sets FCG off 51:55 Professer Isham 57:50 FCG and the professor 59:40 Poking around 1:02:10 FCG’s background 1:04:05 Is this Matt’s best voice? 1:12:40 Bell’s Hells are technically homeless 1:15:35 FCG becomes an easy bake oven 1:16:20 Fresh light (Sam knows a suspiciously specific phrase) 1:20:10 Professor Sumal 1:24:15 Imogen’s background 1:41:30 Ludinus 1:42:25 BREAK STARTS 1:51:45 Art Montage 1:53:40 BREAK ENDS 1:55:45 Fearne waves 1:59:45 Ludinus speaks to Imogen and Fearne 2:08:25 Mind minis 2:15:40 Ludinus’s final statement 2:20:05 Ashton is still telling the story 2:23:20 FCG is having a great day 2:28:15 Ashton helps to intimidate 2:38:55 Smelling for Ludinus 2:42:05 Pate is having a good day 2:44:35 FCG has corrupted Orym 2:46:35 Reconstituting Pate 2:48:00 Ligament Manor 2:50:05 Matt has been broken 2:53:00 The Fey Realm (Matt noises) 2:55:30 Fearne knows this place 2:57:50 New animators 3:03:50 Don’t be creepy to the flowers 3:07:00 Laudna is scared of flowers 3:08:25 High fives 3:12:55 Everyone is turning on each other 3:15:15 Singing 3:18:55 Screams 3:20:35 Toucan Samming 3:28:55 Grandma 3:34:45 Episode Ends The in-game start date for the episode was the 8th of Fessuran in the year 843. Sam’s gas can says “Chetney and Fearne make a p***o” with Fearne’s head and a wolf head pasted over the movie poster (censored to hide from the RUclips comment algorithm) So, WotC seems to be backpedaling on changing the OGL, which is hard to trust but a good sign. The chat was full of opendnd messages all game, and CR has released a diplomatic but clearly pro-opendnd statement. Paizo, who make Pathfinder, have united some publishers in creating an Open RPG Creative License, which would basically constitute a system neutral OGL beyond the ability of any one company to change. Definitely an interesting space to watch, maybe time to dust off my Starfinder book. Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?
Ashton speaking with Kadija was just precious. They know what it is like to have your brain meesed with and it feels that they really sympathize with her.
2:35:04 the fact Ashton immediately recognises that he's been through something similar and knows how best to talk to someone in a state of not knowing yourself is incredible.
honestly, it was so sweet to se this punk who is just a vessel of anger be so soft and kind to someone, because they recognize how awful it feels to have a broken mind.
Ashton with BH: cool older brother, can be impulsive but has a surprisingly good head on his shoulders, can fill the Only Sane Man position when Orym’s not there Ashton on their own: unhinged, absolute disaster, careening through life, will say “yes” to anything or anyone, covered in marinara
@@TheMaestro1275 they're* This shit isn't hard. They're = They are There = A location (Over there, there it is) Their = Ownership (Their hammer, their car, their head)
Matt's consistent introduction of NPCs that terrified previous parties at higher levels just to scare the pants off this gang is something I am so here for
@George Tourloukis Delilah, Ludinus, everything to do with ruidus, even the name dropping of Vasselheim's judicator's are all threads from previous campaigns taking a pretty major center stage in campaign 3.
Ashleys face the entire time Matt is describing Mori is the best. She is so damn happy. Hell, all of their faces the entire time are wonderful. Liam is terrified and wide eyed.
Came here to look for/make this very comment. Ashley's enraptured, all-encompassing, subsumation into Matt's storytelling and descriptions is just a joy to watch.
I'm now living for the day Bell's Hells the animated series gets produced and we see Ashton's story as an elaborate and overly dramatic montage sequence.
I absolutely love the way Taliesin plays, when they cut back from imogen and fearne to chet ash and orym and immediately Taliesin picks up a story halfway through a sentence like he's been talking the whole time. Incredible role playing as always from him
@@stevexracer Care to explain this "back story" of me? Actually, care to provide any proof whatsoever that the show is scripted? Either way, you're a moron for believing this lol
@@stevexracer I've heard that before but I think that that is completely false I know that they're voice actors but still just look at the way there playing plus the dice give an aspect of randomness that not even Matt Mercer can completely account for. There is a possibility that some of it could be talked about in advance to state the premise of the next episode but still that's just a little prep that even some people do at they're table's
I love that you can just see Ashley's excitement started when they entered the Fey Realm, like she just fully become Fearne, and is really happy to be back home. All her smile, like "yes this is my home, it totally rocks" so in her element. And when meeting Nana Morri, she looks like a kid who just wants to introduce her cool grandma to her friends
@@Direwolf181 I always find this such an odd comment, I think Pike is far more like Ashley as a person but Fearne allows her to just focus entirely on her quirky crazy side. On top of that she is a pure rper that couldn't care less about game mechanics and power gaming which is just wonderful to see. To sell that as just Ashely being Ashley, hard pass.
@@krogan3760 a more fair statement would be to compare Ashley and Fearne to Marisha and Beau. There's clearly a lot of their player's outward personality in their character. And there is nothing wrong with that!
@@krogan3760 I mean, when they visited Pike, even after all this time, Ashley still accidentally slipped into and responded as Pike a few times. She clearly has so much fun as Pike. Fearne's great. Inhibitions who? But I'll still think of her as Pike first.
It's interesting, because to me, out of all her characters, I always see Ellie the most in her. But Fearne is definitely a big part of her personality as well, even though she's so different from Ellie (yes, I know people are complex). I just think it's funny how contrasting the different sides and characteristics of a person can be.
She's mentioned before that she goes through her notes later and cleans them up so and makes them more relevant/ coherent so yeah, I wonder how disjointed, stream of consciousness scribbles they are to start with.
@steveXracer I mean to an extent sure it's scripted but not every word and detail. Matt even talked about it in a few interviews. He has key points that he tries to lead the group to. Any good DM does the same thing for story progression. I appreciate you joining the conversation and expressing your opinion. But you don't know just like the rest of us what they do. This is all speculation.
Yes! The empathy from Ashton’s own experience with memory loss, having their mind messed with, & chronic pain - really shone through in such a kind sweet way.
This is how I speak with my grandmother who has dementia. It really stood out to me and glad to see a comment already mentioning it so I didn’t have to.
That was one of the biggest things that turned me off from season 2. She just mentioned out of the blue that she had sprinkled the dust of deliciousness on the cupcake. And Matt just allowed that retroactively. It was such a shitty cop out.
@@AnshumanKantiBose That wasn't a cop out lmao. That was her plan all along. Mentioning if the dust was sprinkled or not wouldn't change the roll that made the hag eat it. Matt also clearly knew there was something with the cupcake, he just didn't know what it was.
@@matthewincendi it quite literally gave the hag disadvantage on the roll. What the fuck are you even talking about? Also on that point, how the fuck did the hag not notice a spell being cast? Modify memory has a somatic component which would have instantly been recognizable. Like I said, the worst cop out on the show. I stopped watching season 2 after that, it was so fucking bad.
@@magoshighlands4074 Campaign 3 is only about 8 years after C2 so It's probably not Kiri because she was 4 last time we saw her so she'd be 11 or 12 now. Not that I know what that means in Kenku age ranges, but still.
Ludinus. The Luxon. Ruidus. The Calamity. EXU. Molaesmyr. Aeor. The gods. Predathos. Mortality versus godhood. The Fey. The planes. You're meaning to tell me that for three campaigns, nearly a decade of playing DnD, Matthew has been slowly leading up to THIS?! It's ALL connected. Slowly but surely it's becoming clear that it's all connected. What a madman he is.
@@jeanvalero1597 That’s an amazing video! I still remember the vague sense of foreboding I got when I first heard that Cobalt Soul scholar talking about the moon. I knew Matthew Mercer was not the kind of man to leave Chekhov’s gun unloaded.
Yeah the first time i came to the realization he really is a madman playing the longcon when the M9 found Keyleths mom. U know he has plans and no wonder his players are so paranoid.
Oh my gosh yes! As much as I'm enjoying C3, it makes me miss Mighty Nein! I wish they got to continue this story, as I know Caleb (and Beau) mentioned at the end of C2 how determined they are to shut down the corruption in the Assembly and the Empire.
That opening Sending sequence between Laura and Taliesin is something I have always needed in my life. It felt like vindication for all of Jester's messages, but with that Taliesin snark we all love
Just wanted to comment here that this episode is a fantastic performance of Matthew, with so many shifts, so many characters, and so many vivid descriptions. He went absolutely all out and rocked it. Some characters were funny, and some were absolutely terrifying. What a performance.
Ashton was so gentle and caring with the professor when she got mind wiped. Ashton pretends like they don't care, but they're so empathetic and loving to the people around them.
I mean... it's only natural to show happiness with cheering and extatic noises when all you have is an ability to make sound ^^ okay i should go back and dance with my pumpkins now byeee~ ❤
OMG. Taliesin just won my heart with that authentic grief of coming back from a restaurant COVERED in food refuse. As a cook myself, that pain is felt so much.
The exhaustion that Taliesin is portraying is 100% real for restaurant workers. I'm watching this directly after a 10-hour shift on the line AND the dish pit, and I have NEVER felt more accurately represented in popular media in my life. Does Taliesin have restaurant experience???
It's so wonderful when the cast keep up little character quirks like that. Especially when it's just a reaction with no intent to draw attention to themselves.
Sam's subtle and gradual increase in anxiety and stress with FCG is fabulous to watch especially now we know where it could lead to. His voice starts to get more timid and nervous. It's terrifying, well played Sam
This must be a very intense day for the party from the in-game time perspective. In one day, they got a lot of info they need, staged an orgy, went to two planes, encounter Daleth face to face, F.C.G got easy-bake oven function. And finally meet Fearne's grandma, who turns out to be grandmas.
⚠️ 😳 😬 🫡 . . . My genuine reaction to Nanas. This is genuinely so great. Lol all of Ashley's facial expressions made it that much better. This episode was the equivalent of that one friend taking you deep into the foothills or the ghetto of place you have never been before to meet their kin, knowing full well if you make a mistake it could be a glorious disaster but also they are so confident you will have an amazing time. By the end of it... the bond will be so strong with you and their kin that their family is now your family. ( whether you want them to be or not lol 😆 love it ✨️ )
@@miafiolekova5817 I think most of FCG's stress is from their encounter with Shithead, the undead bird that haunts them. That was the morning of this day, before magically charming Carolle the receptionist on her lunch break and setting up a blackmail option as well as paying her off, which they tried to use to their advantage this episode since she was still at her desk after the hours they spent walking, talking to the Grim Verity + Ryn, and carting a prisoner across the city for interrogation.
I want it to be like Luigi in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, where you can talk to Luigi and he's got his own adventure going on and it's like this entire crazy side story that I kinda wanted to play.
@@dragonmikoPerhaps. It's not exactly confirmed. On the other hand, the Calamity and the following Divergence was a decades spanning event, so he might have been born during that time.
That look of intense GLEE plastered across Ashley's face for the last 45 minutes of this show made the whole experience even more awesome than it already was...!
@@WorldbuildyMcNPCface Don't forget the absolutely infectious eldritch cackling. 🧛♂ Liam's laughing is always adorable, so both of them dying from laughter and covering their faces next to Laura is irresistible.
Yios has go to be the most insane place the cast has been to in terms of tone. Like, we arrive with the gas-leak casino episode, then we get the lore dump with Ryn and Co about Predathos, then its basement orgy time and then LUDINUS JUST WALTZ'S IN LIKE-.. Fuck i love this campaign lmao
There were a ton of great moments in this episode, but I think my favorite has to be FCG's interaction with Professor Isham. Whenever Matt introduces a firbolg character you know it's gonna be good, but what he said about FCG not being defined by his past and being more beautiful than a binary answer hits right in the feels. I don't know if Matt had that in the back of his head or just made it up on the spot, but it really amazes me how he can just pull out nuggets of wisdom like that at the most unexpected moments.
I came here to say this. I’m in a place now where it didn’t hit me that hard personally, but I knew the moment I heard that message that someone desperately needed to hear it. Matt does an amazing job with that kind of thing. ☺️
This entire group is filled with moments like that. When I first started watching Critical Role, it was during the summer of 2020 COVID-19 bullshit. I lost my beloved dog the previous summer, and my grandmother that very summer. It was at that point I heard the eulogy for Tiberius, and I broke. All those emotions I had bottled up exploded. And I felt much better in the following days.
Ashton being super gentle and patient with the professor made my heart melt for some reason like he acts all big and tough but deep down he really does care about people and has a concern for their well-being
2:35:02 Can we talk about how absolutely GENTLE Ahston "If it isn't broken I'll break it" Greymoore is with Kadija here?? I for one is mesmerized, like, wow. I came back here JUST to rewatch this scene to see if it really was as good as I remembered it, and I was right. I am drinking every word, gesture and expression in this scene. Well done, Tally. Well done.
End of the campaign we just get an Infinity War of Teleportation sigils and Transport Via Plants as every player character, guest character and allied NPC arrives in a massive team up.
@@Smilexx97 like full on, Ra's Al Ghul and the Lazurus Pit style? An interesting theory. With what he said to Fearne about watching everything burn, and specifically mentioning the Raven Queen's ascension and the creation of the Vestiges, he certainly did speak as if he was alive during the Calamity.
I love how Chetney takes like the dark responsibilities of the group. The party: Are we leaving this guy here untied? Chetney: Nope. We tie him up hands and feet. And a gag.
Sam: "I wish... I mean, it would be way easier if you were just to tell me that I was made to kill, and that's my purpose, or made to heal and that's my purpose. But if I got to find my own purpose, that's... That's harder." This line... holy moly
I can't help but imagine Taliesin, at home sick (of course, lounging in his yeti fur slippers and gryphon-down comforter), frustrated he can't play, so he says to himself "I might as well have a *little* fun. Pasta crime."
Bells Hells before this episode: "Man, where the f*ck is Ashton?!" Bells Hells after hearing what Ashton went through: "How the f*ck are you even still alive?"
I feel really bad for Marisha, she's been on point with tactics, without going over the top, and her build is really freaking good, the dice have just hated her all campaign.
I ADORE the silent interaction at 2:07:20 Liam ringing the Lore Drop Alarm, Travis and Marisha answering the call, and most of all Taliesin, grinning but still gesturing to "cut it, pay attention, do not distract everybody else". We stan a respectful King
I think it's worth remembering that the Calamity and the Divergence aren't ancient history for Exandrians, even for shorter-lived races like humans and halflings - the equivalent of the 14th century; while for Elves and Gnomes it's no more distant than WWII is for us. Chetney's grandparents likely lived through it, as would Vax & Vex's Elven grandparents. It's no surprise that a talented wizard from the fall of the Age of Arcanum would have found a way to extend their, already long, lifespan through magical or alchemical means
2:44:35 Orym: “Ludinus is one of the most powerful people on the surface of this flat earth.” FCG: “ Orym gets it.” :) Matt: “I would like to rage with advantage.”
Well on the bright side we definitely get to go on the moon this campaign if only so Matt can narrate to the group how they see a “completely round not all all flat planet” while looking at Sam.
"It's a very big house and has a lot of rooms. I don't know why it had so many rooms. Not a lot of people live there" Might be one of my favourite things I have ever heard from Taliesen haha
Soon as Mat described Ludinus I was like "Oh shitballs..." I was pretty sure it was either him or someone else from the Assembly coming in right from the voice and on the edge of my seat the whole time that scene!
Taliesin describing Ashton’s sidequest feels like recounting a game of Fiasco. Which just makes me want to see them do a sidequest of The Nobody’s as a game of Fiasco.
I loved how Fearne just so earnestly insisted that if Nana Mori offered them anything to eat or drink, don’t refuse because it would be rude. SHE’S A FEY!!! FOOD AND DRINK = OBLIGATIONS AND DEBTS!!!
To be fair she could actually be right, refusing hospitality is a taboo in some myths. In particular Cu Chulainn gets tricked by the morrigan in disguise when she offers him dog meat, he can't refuse but eating the food also weakens him (because he's breaking other taboos imposed ob him).
@@jackalope_hunter how can you doubt grandpa Nurgle so? You horrid, horrid, non-infected creature. Grandpa nurgle cares for all, and sure, you would die a horrible and painful death, but you would have become a seed for new life! Isn't thst beautiful?
Matt never lets anyone make fun of a character's speech impediment or accent, he always makes it lowkey uncomfortable to do so and I really respect that, it was the same whenever someone tried to make fun of Orly. even if the character isn't real, they represent ways of speaking that exist and shouldn't be made fun of
as far as I know, Matt himself had a speech impediment in his younger days and he did mention in one of the interviews somewhere that playing accents in harmful stereotypical ways is not good in his opinion, so that tracks
I'm dying here, Horse Immorality and "If you feel small, funny looking or not as popular as your friends you're not alone." "At some point in our lives every one of us has felt THUMBY." XD XD XD Ok that was just GOLD!
@@Brion57042 also nana character was modeled after Ashley's mom, so it 2 things 1 she messes with her friends and 2 seeing a character she helped shape.
Sam: We lost our moral compass, apparently. Tallesin: That's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard you say. I am so scared. Sometimes I'm not sure who's talking.
Yes some characters have that effect. That cast and character mix in one way or the other. Like with Fearne possessing Ashley everytime she talks about feywild stuff. Or Jester scrambling inside Laura’s brain when a message is sent. With Tal and Liam it’s like every character takes up their essences. With Tal it’s always a wise old soul with some deep hurt they try to swallow to get the job done. With Liam it’s a cutiepie with traumatic memories trying to be cool(edglord like) but just being sweet in the end. Adding: Sam is always a source of chaos and I never know if character or cast is the source.
Thank the gods FCG wasn't in that room when Da'leth came, could have been enough to trigger his killer mode, and I don't want to even imagine what would have been the outcome
I wonder what the next kinda unexpected thing is that he'll add to a character that's low key super powerful and messes with Matt. He has now done "guy who can see literally everything without even really trying" and "guy with a perfect memory"
@@branharak1331 I believe there is conjure food and water, They did it last campaign when they were captured by kobolds on their way to Xorhas for the first time (the Spurt episode) and also they counted conjured food into their supplies when they were at sea.
@@miafiolekova5817 Yeah, according to the spell it's pretty bland and stuff you'd eat through necessity rather than choice, but thanks to FCG's burgeoning skills as a chef they'll probably be able to make something more palpable. I hope Mercer gives them Heward's Handy Spice Pouch; boon to thematic roleplaying, and has a surprising degree of utility, as my DM found out when I was able to isolate someone from a banquet by spiking their plate with ground ghost peppers. It's also just occurred to me that, between Pike's bakery the Slayer's Cake, Jester's love of pastries, and Caduceus' aptitude with vegetarian recipes, every CR Cleric has shown they know how healing a good meal can be.
these entire last few episodes I could literally see the gears turning in Travis and Marisha’s heads but this moment takes the cake, I think they had literal Calamity flashbacks 2:13:47
Had a friend who had a finger nearly chomped all the way off by a horse. The mother of a friend (an adult horsegirl) had a horse for years decide to take a big bite out if her chest like it was an apple one day. A different horse loving mother of a friend got deliberately hung up on some cactus and left there by the horse she was riding. Luckily the horse went back to the stable without a rider and the other people there knew who was missing from that picture. That's without even mentioning infamous horses that I've only read about, like Freight Train, the horse that liked to chase down and eat baby chickens, or Lisette, the french mare that is said to have eaten an entire Russian officer during the Napoleonic wars.
The Cerberus Assembly is my favourite group of villains in Exandria. Every one of them is so intimidating with their own awful agenda. And it is so funny how strongly the cast reacts to these guys.
@@thatrainbowquickie8395 A lot I suppose. Such power & closeness to the king doesn't attract the best kind of people. And they always seem to be in for the long game, very strategically moving chess pieces to get closer to their own secret goals.
Liam CORRECTLY realizing this is probably the biggest bad in all of exandria, let alone this campaign and freaking out about it the whole time, i felt that DEEPLY.
Hey small reminder that although I doubt Matt and the players are supportive of the OGL changes they are most likely under legal obligation to make those ad reads or they may get into legal trouble with WotC. So while it feels kind of weird to see them shout out dnd beyond they most likely have to and hopefully the new OGL changes aren't supported by the cast.
@@MynMonster Nah, they knew. They went over and beyond (hehe) to make the other ads interesting and then dndbeyond got the copy and paste version, as quickly as could be done.
Or they’re most likely not under nda, and stand by their sponsor that pays them money while placating the masses with vague statements that mean nothing. They left things so anyone can believe anything they want, and all I know is that they have legal rights to disclose they are under an nda in general, and are choosing not to do so.
Smash cuts whenever they ask about them or during more chaotic moments. So anytime they are not receiving the secrets of the universe. You can’t just ruin the moment like that.
I'm more excited for chutney and orem, both invisible trying to climb from a balcony to the roof with a rope 😂😂 just the static shot of the balcony with the VoiceOver 🤣🤣
1:07:59 I swear to god, if FCG is somehow going to use this in the future to sacrifice themselves to save their friends/the world I'm going to break down _so_ hard.
I really think we keep forgetting that Fearne is also ruidus-born. Imogen’s entire backstory with her mother is built on it but it tends to overshadow the fact that Fearne has the full ability to be just as powerful. It’s interesting to see how Matt’s tying the two together when they’re extremely different characters with technically different skillsets
SPOILERS: Of all the bad guys that Matt has created, Ludinus, _low key_ has some points. He's nowhere near one-dimensional. I _almost_ want to believe what he's doing is right. I love this so far.
@@thatrainbowquickie8395 Half the gods were fighting that war to protect the world. The other half was trying to conquer both the gods and all mortal races. So definitely not their beef.
Unfortunately it's gonna be a bait and switch and the Martinet is just gonna turn out to be a cartoon villain like every other villain. The Gods are gonna come out and say that they don't actually harvest souls and people come to them of their own free will. CR villains are incredibly 1 dimensional
@@AnshumanKantiBose What about all of the Kryn Dynasty? They were basically considered villains for the first 40 episodes of C2, but then they became just as humanized as the Empire. Maybe more so. Not to mention Essek.
On one hand u are correct that he has a point, on the other if the gods are not around to give divine magic to their followers then the next ones on the food chain to rule Exandia are wizards. And while there are a handfull of powerfull good wizards, most get to a point where they are selfserving and powerhungry. There are examples a plenty: Somnovem, Opash, Vecna, Halas, Trent, DeRogna, Essek, wizards of the age of arcanum, etc.
In light of the unfortunate ad read timing, remember to unsubscribe from DNDBeyond if you haven't already! We won't let the execs at WoTC and Hasbro take away a game that has fostered such a wonderful community! Love yall and stay strong critters!
And for the people in the back who still are not aware, this episode was filmed around December, so there's a batch of sponsored episodes from way before the ogl fiasco came to light, it's out of their control
@@wumbojetthey didn't meet with everyone the day of the leak. It is possible that CR and Kickstarter were contacted earlier and NDAs were signed. They could have met in November. We don't know anything with certainty, other than CR is playing things carefully and trying to not upset the fans or the lawyers.
@@xEvilRaptorx i don't blame them, Hasbro execs are notorious authoritarian assholes and they are under contract, their hands are tied in more ways than one
@@xEvilRaptorx or get dragged into a court case, because WotC/Hasbro can and probably will sue the snot out of the company and person that leaked it, for damages, and that can mean pulling in every other entity that contributed to the loss of revenue and loss of reputation, why oh why do none of the youtubers covering it not cover the legal ramifications for the leaker and the company that employed them, because they made themselves unemployable and unless a WotC/Hasbro probably former employee, a company is now looking at their bank accounts and their lawyers and reaching for a second or twentieth pair of underwear. This is not as simple or as limited in reach as Hasbro of the Coast bad!, boycotting them and shouting out that their the chaotic evilest of chaotic evilists, will just mean they get to claim more damages and those damages comes out of a companies bank accounts and when a company gets a rep for breaching NDA's no other company is going to touch them with a 10" pole, it's just not worth it.
🤣🤣🤣 3:01:17 : Orym feels the weight of the dangers surrounding them, and worries if he can keep everyone safe. 3:01:19 : Orym hears there might be pie, and suddenly... maybe things aren't so bad after all.
Generally Matt makes them roll for outcomes of things that happen to them when not with the party so I'm super curious how much of that was Tal ad libing and how much of that really happened to poor Ashton.
I love how Ashley Johnson has a look of just delight to listening to Matt describe Nana, because she's portraying Fearne (also so is Marisha because Laudna likes people who are creepy), while a vast majority of the other cast just seem to be terrified, as their characters would be.
HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing
0:15 Giving Matt what he craves
1:50 A special message from the Thumb
6:15 Will Friedel shows up
10:20 Intro cinematic
12:10 EPISODE STARTS
15:25 Recap Ends (messaging Ashton)
17:35 Second message
19:40 Laudna is bad at lying
24:35 FCG is a curser
26:20 Chetney looks around
27:35 Ashton returns?
29:45 Sam’s flask
31:40 Ashton’s story (this sounds like a future one-shot)
43:15 Fresh Calzonay
44:35 Laudna and FCG almost attack each other
49:30 Lying sets FCG off
51:55 Professer Isham
57:50 FCG and the professor
59:40 Poking around
1:02:10 FCG’s background
1:04:05 Is this Matt’s best voice?
1:12:40 Bell’s Hells are technically homeless
1:15:35 FCG becomes an easy bake oven
1:16:20 Fresh light (Sam knows a suspiciously specific phrase)
1:20:10 Professor Sumal
1:24:15 Imogen’s background
1:41:30 Ludinus
1:42:25 BREAK STARTS
1:51:45 Art Montage
1:53:40 BREAK ENDS
1:55:45 Fearne waves
1:59:45 Ludinus speaks to Imogen and Fearne
2:08:25 Mind minis
2:15:40 Ludinus’s final statement
2:20:05 Ashton is still telling the story
2:23:20 FCG is having a great day
2:28:15 Ashton helps to intimidate
2:38:55 Smelling for Ludinus
2:42:05 Pate is having a good day
2:44:35 FCG has corrupted Orym
2:46:35 Reconstituting Pate
2:48:00 Ligament Manor
2:50:05 Matt has been broken
2:53:00 The Fey Realm (Matt noises)
2:55:30 Fearne knows this place
2:57:50 New animators
3:03:50 Don’t be creepy to the flowers
3:07:00 Laudna is scared of flowers
3:08:25 High fives
3:12:55 Everyone is turning on each other
3:15:15 Singing
3:18:55 Screams
3:20:35 Toucan Samming
3:28:55 Grandma
3:34:45 Episode Ends
The in-game start date for the episode was the 8th of Fessuran in the year 843. Sam’s gas can says “Chetney and Fearne make a p***o” with Fearne’s head and a wolf head pasted over the movie poster (censored to hide from the RUclips comment algorithm)
So, WotC seems to be backpedaling on changing the OGL, which is hard to trust but a good sign. The chat was full of opendnd messages all game, and CR has released a diplomatic but clearly pro-opendnd statement. Paizo, who make Pathfinder, have united some publishers in creating an Open RPG Creative License, which would basically constitute a system neutral OGL beyond the ability of any one company to change. Definitely an interesting space to watch, maybe time to dust off my Starfinder book.
Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?
sir how are you so fast
Love ya Flando ✌️💙
Your doing gods work my man 🫡
thank you!
6 min, yo you awesome
Man Pate is actually fucking hilarious. When Matt started voicing him the dynamic between Pate and Laudna got 100000% funnier
He reminds me of a mighty boosh character
Meeeeeh.
"It's rude if you don't take a drink."
-Ashley Johnson, about to turn the whole party into feylocks.
This Ashton story has one-shot potential
Call it: Ashton's no good very bad day
YES! This needs more recognition!
Fabulous idea!!
Ashton’s constant references to marinara sauce made me grin.
I NEED this to be a thing so bad!!!
@robertnope1993Well, they just did a MN live show not to long ago, if they had the possibility it would be really cool
Ashton speaking with Kadija was just precious. They know what it is like to have your brain meesed with and it feels that they really sympathize with her.
I know, it’s really giving father figure
I missed him glad he is here now :')
I thought the same thing
2:35:04 the fact Ashton immediately recognises that he's been through something similar and knows how best to talk to someone in a state of not knowing yourself is incredible.
Like talking to lost child, it was simple and concise; though extremely delicate. Probably the only time they've acted this way all campaign
honestly, it was so sweet to se this punk who is just a vessel of anger be so soft and kind to someone, because they recognize how awful it feels to have a broken mind.
I was worried it was going to be too 'Caduceus', but no, that was very much Ashton being Ashton. Props to Tal.
Ashton with BH: cool older brother, can be impulsive but has a surprisingly good head on his shoulders, can fill the Only Sane Man position when Orym’s not there
Ashton on their own: unhinged, absolute disaster, careening through life, will say “yes” to anything or anyone, covered in marinara
I love how the last point implies that they're ALWAYS covered in marinara when they're by themselves
That explains Ashtons reputation
That explains Ashtons reputation
Turn out Ashton was the moral compass of this party. 🤣
@@TheMaestro1275 they're*
This shit isn't hard.
They're = They are
There = A location (Over there, there it is)
Their = Ownership (Their hammer, their car, their head)
Matt's consistent introduction of NPCs that terrified previous parties at higher levels just to scare the pants off this gang is something I am so here for
It's honestly so fun how much of this campaign is the "Find out" to the previous twos "Fuck around"
@@scrumpors8706 Couldn't agree more!
Who are you referring to? Delilah?
@George Tourloukis Delilah, Ludinus, everything to do with ruidus, even the name dropping of Vasselheim's judicator's are all threads from previous campaigns taking a pretty major center stage in campaign 3.
@@georgetourloukis7194
not antagonistic but also here and hinted at previously is Planerider Ryn
Knowing that FCG is a walking bomb makes him being the front wheel to a crawler absolutely hilarious 🤣🤣
Holy shit, I didn't even think about that! That could have ended so badly!!! 😂
But.... he doesn't walk.
@@lymandeann-gaines3921 bomb on wheels
Hindsight is quite a gift on this comment
Needs arcane overload to be a bomb. Not rolling around on the ground xD
Ashleys face the entire time Matt is describing Mori is the best. She is so damn happy.
Hell, all of their faces the entire time are wonderful. Liam is terrified and wide eyed.
Came here to look for/make this very comment. Ashley's enraptured, all-encompassing, subsumation into Matt's storytelling and descriptions is just a joy to watch.
I'm now living for the day Bell's Hells the animated series gets produced and we see Ashton's story as an elaborate and overly dramatic montage sequence.
Well mighty nien got a show, so it wouldn't surprise me if we get it eventually.
I think the porn scene might cause some issues
@@TheMartyredextras Not so sure about that, given the nudity and lewdness in LoVM.
@@paulscott2037 fair. Scanlan in the first episode
I'm secondly living for seeing the "did we change animators?" joke come to fruition
I absolutely love the way Taliesin plays, when they cut back from imogen and fearne to chet ash and orym and immediately Taliesin picks up a story halfway through a sentence like he's been talking the whole time. Incredible role playing as always from him
Absolutely!
@@stevexracer huh
@@stevexracer get a life steve
@@stevexracer Care to explain this "back story" of me? Actually, care to provide any proof whatsoever that the show is scripted?
Either way, you're a moron for believing this lol
@@stevexracer I've heard that before but I think that that is completely false I know that they're voice actors but still just look at the way there playing plus the dice give an aspect of randomness that not even Matt Mercer can completely account for. There is a possibility that some of it could be talked about in advance to state the premise of the next episode but still that's just a little prep that even some people do at they're table's
I love that you can just see Ashley's excitement started when they entered the Fey Realm, like she just fully become Fearne, and is really happy to be back home. All her smile, like "yes this is my home, it totally rocks" so in her element. And when meeting Nana Morri, she looks like a kid who just wants to introduce her cool grandma to her friends
I mean leta face it Fearne is basically just Ashley playing herself only BARLEY exaggerated
@@Direwolf181 I always find this such an odd comment, I think Pike is far more like Ashley as a person but Fearne allows her to just focus entirely on her quirky crazy side. On top of that she is a pure rper that couldn't care less about game mechanics and power gaming which is just wonderful to see. To sell that as just Ashely being Ashley, hard pass.
@@krogan3760 a more fair statement would be to compare Ashley and Fearne to Marisha and Beau. There's clearly a lot of their player's outward personality in their character. And there is nothing wrong with that!
@@krogan3760 I mean, when they visited Pike, even after all this time, Ashley still accidentally slipped into and responded as Pike a few times. She clearly has so much fun as Pike. Fearne's great. Inhibitions who? But I'll still think of her as Pike first.
It's interesting, because to me, out of all her characters, I always see Ellie the most in her. But Fearne is definitely a big part of her personality as well, even though she's so different from Ellie (yes, I know people are complex). I just think it's funny how contrasting the different sides and characteristics of a person can be.
Marisha's ability to take notes and watch others at the same time is super impressive. I wonder what her handwriting looks like.
Lol same. Not joking. Pen to paper or pencil to paper when I sketch or something is super satisfying.
She's mentioned before that she goes through her notes later and cleans them up so and makes them more relevant/ coherent so yeah, I wonder how disjointed, stream of consciousness scribbles they are to start with.
@Seabreeze no worries. Everyone is allowed to like and dislike what they want. I don't judge.
It's just doodles of physics equations of jumping off cliffs into water from ungodly heights with a few mathematical errors.
@steveXracer I mean to an extent sure it's scripted but not every word and detail. Matt even talked about it in a few interviews. He has key points that he tries to lead the group to. Any good DM does the same thing for story progression.
I appreciate you joining the conversation and expressing your opinion. But you don't know just like the rest of us what they do. This is all speculation.
Ashton's conforting voice when he talked to professor Sumal was so sweet! He was so kind and patient. I love him
Yes! The empathy from Ashton’s own experience with memory loss, having their mind messed with, & chronic pain - really shone through in such a kind sweet way.
New things we learned about Taliesin: he knows how to talk to people with dementia
Ashton is probably my favorite of them all, I was so sad when he was gone
This is how I speak with my grandmother who has dementia. It really stood out to me and glad to see a comment already mentioning it so I didn’t have to.
@@wasganzandreas6108 hes given it to dozens of his followers, inadvertently
It never fails to amuse me how the arch nemesis of Laura Bailey, who tricked a fey using ENCHANTED FOOD, is a 25-word limit.
Bwahaha.. Laura Bailey's achilles heel is a limiting her vocabulary.
Admittedly she did use a lot of words to trick that fey
That was one of the biggest things that turned me off from season 2.
She just mentioned out of the blue that she had sprinkled the dust of deliciousness on the cupcake.
And Matt just allowed that retroactively.
It was such a shitty cop out.
@@AnshumanKantiBose That wasn't a cop out lmao. That was her plan all along. Mentioning if the dust was sprinkled or not wouldn't change the roll that made the hag eat it. Matt also clearly knew there was something with the cupcake, he just didn't know what it was.
@@matthewincendi it quite literally gave the hag disadvantage on the roll.
What the fuck are you even talking about?
Also on that point, how the fuck did the hag not notice a spell being cast? Modify memory has a somatic component which would have instantly been recognizable.
Like I said, the worst cop out on the show.
I stopped watching season 2 after that, it was so fucking bad.
37:30
"There are some really nice kenkus out there"
Kiri: Yes I'm very sweet
How much do you wanna bet the kenku they kidnapped was actually Kiri? The MN didn't exactly set them on the path to righteousness
@@magoshighlands4074 Campaign 3 is only about 8 years after C2 so It's probably not Kiri because she was 4 last time we saw her so she'd be 11 or 12 now. Not that I know what that means in Kenku age ranges, but still.
I came here for this comment precisely, thank you
Honestly I was waiting for Ashton to say “This Kenku kept telling me to go fuck myself, I liked it, kinda wanted to adopt it”
*pulls knife* “I can send a message”
Ludinus. The Luxon. Ruidus. The Calamity. EXU. Molaesmyr. Aeor. The gods. Predathos. Mortality versus godhood. The Fey. The planes. You're meaning to tell me that for three campaigns, nearly a decade of playing DnD, Matthew has been slowly leading up to THIS?!
It's ALL connected. Slowly but surely it's becoming clear that it's all connected. What a madman he is.
You should search for a video om every time matt has mentioned the moon. He has been laying down the cosmic thread for forever
@@jeanvalero1597 That’s an amazing video! I still remember the vague sense of foreboding I got when I first heard that Cobalt Soul scholar talking about the moon. I knew Matthew Mercer was not the kind of man to leave Chekhov’s gun unloaded.
Yeah the first time i came to the realization he really is a madman playing the longcon when the M9 found Keyleths mom. U know he has plans and no wonder his players are so paranoid.
Leave it to Mercer to create a villain, lay his origins and background, then make us feel for why they are doing the thing they're doing
Matt's hand is literally pointing to Ruidus in the official M9 character art
Ashley: turns into a Clydesdale
Ashley, the very next episode: LET'S STUDY HORSE IMMORALITY
Well last session was a study in Horse Immorality
While low key stomping out enemy wizards and laudna lol
I felt it was a plural genitive.
otherwise known as Equine Ethics. That should be the area of study of the next sage or researcher they meet.
@@matthewgordon3281 That's what Professor Calaway will teach after the campaign is over and she learns Speak with Animals.
Watching Liam through that whole talk with Ludinus was a treat hahaha. It was like Caleb was actually there
Turns out Caleb was just 2 halflings in a trenchcoat.
@@wolfox7776 This comment is spectacular.
I wonder of Ludinus and Wildemount getting involved mean we might get a meet and greet from Beau Yasha and Caleb
Oh my gosh yes! As much as I'm enjoying C3, it makes me miss Mighty Nein! I wish they got to continue this story, as I know Caleb (and Beau) mentioned at the end of C2 how determined they are to shut down the corruption in the Assembly and the Empire.
I love that fearne is the happiest as can be Ashley grinning ear to ear and the rest of the cast looks absolutely horrified
That opening Sending sequence between Laura and Taliesin is something I have always needed in my life. It felt like vindication for all of Jester's messages, but with that Taliesin snark we all love
"You are more beautiful than a simple binary answer" -That is a gem.
I came here hoping someone acknowledged that beautiful quote from professor vitro Isham 🥰 I seriously almost cried when I sat and thought about it 🖤
I had to pause to write that down. It's fanart time 🫡
@@tybronx2446 I would love to see that.
It's kinda poetic in a, don't overthink it in context of, a binary answer is intrinsically LESS beautiful, kinda way
@@andy2069 Even a binary answer isn't necessarily simple ;) Everything is wonderfully complex
Just wanted to comment here that this episode is a fantastic performance of Matthew, with so many shifts, so many characters, and so many vivid descriptions. He went absolutely all out and rocked it. Some characters were funny, and some were absolutely terrifying. What a performance.
also? the frog noises omfg
@@beanielowery6017 exactly what I'm talking about, the sheer depth shown in this episode was stunning.
You wrote his name wrong. It's Mitch.
+
Agreed, absolute masterclass in DMing this session. Gotta study this one too!
Ashton was so gentle and caring with the professor when she got mind wiped. Ashton pretends like they don't care, but they're so empathetic and loving to the people around them.
3:19:21 "Flowers can't clap" he says, as though a perfectly natural and expected alternative is for them to FUCKING SCREAM AT YOU MATT
I mean... it's only natural to show happiness with cheering and extatic noises when all you have is an ability to make sound ^^ okay i should go back and dance with my pumpkins now byeee~ ❤
OMG. Taliesin just won my heart with that authentic grief of coming back from a restaurant COVERED in food refuse. As a cook myself, that pain is felt so much.
The exhaustion that Taliesin is portraying is 100% real for restaurant workers. I'm watching this directly after a 10-hour shift on the line AND the dish pit, and I have NEVER felt more accurately represented in popular media in my life. Does Taliesin have restaurant experience???
@@DredgenStorm I think he mentioned he did just out of high school in the between the sheets?
Literally I said out loud "Heard."
AA.
I saw comments that said Tal played a cook in ESO three shots like he had worked the kitchen before.
3:01:17 I love that Orym visibly perked up when Fearne mentioned pie at Nana's
Lol I didn't catch that so great
did someone say pie?
Orym may have near-Jedi discipline, but remains a Hobbit at heart.
It's so wonderful when the cast keep up little character quirks like that. Especially when it's just a reaction with no intent to draw attention to themselves.
@@Baraz_Red I'm more amazed he didn't suffer pie-related PTSD after EXU.
In tonight’s episode of Critical Role, Ashton demonstrates the downsides of the gig economy
I spit out my water
Fun fact: the list is _long_
So I had this job offer I could not turn down. Good news, I only lost $4.
Orym asking "Did you get a job?" in full disbelief that Ashton could ever do that
Yeah, he missed out on crime, fighting AND an (almost) orgy!
Sam's subtle and gradual increase in anxiety and stress with FCG is fabulous to watch especially now we know where it could lead to. His voice starts to get more timid and nervous. It's terrifying, well played Sam
Taliesin's face when Matt said "Flowers can't clap" was perfect. Brought back Tzimisce memories.
This must be a very intense day for the party from the in-game time perspective. In one day, they got a lot of info they need, staged an orgy, went to two planes, encounter Daleth face to face, F.C.G got easy-bake oven function. And finally meet Fearne's grandma, who turns out to be grandmas.
Let’s not forget that Ashton went undercover, performed a heist, got captured, fought his way out, and got covered in marinara!
When u put it like that no wonder Letters was getting the jitters again.
Holy crap. They did what most people could do in a month… IN A DAY.
⚠️ 😳 😬 🫡 . . .
My genuine reaction to Nanas.
This is genuinely so great. Lol
all of Ashley's facial expressions made it that much better. This episode was the equivalent of that one friend taking you deep into the foothills or the ghetto of place you have never been before to meet their kin, knowing full well if you make a mistake it could be a glorious disaster but also they are so confident you will have an amazing time.
By the end of it... the bond will be so strong with you and their kin that their family is now your family. ( whether you want them to be or not lol 😆 love it ✨️ )
@@miafiolekova5817 I think most of FCG's stress is from their encounter with Shithead, the undead bird that haunts them.
That was the morning of this day, before magically charming Carolle the receptionist on her lunch break and setting up a blackmail option as well as paying her off, which they tried to use to their advantage this episode since she was still at her desk after the hours they spent walking, talking to the Grim Verity + Ryn, and carting a prisoner across the city for interrogation.
If Taliesin is ever absent again he should come back with an even crazier story like this.
Although it was funny, I would rather like his chaos in every session 😍
I want it to be like Luigi in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, where you can talk to Luigi and he's got his own adventure going on and it's like this entire crazy side story that I kinda wanted to play.
@@Forke13 yeah but if he *has* to be gone we might as well get a sick story out of it
I loved that he frowned nearly the whole d&D bEyOnD ad read. He wears his heart on his sleeve and that is admirable for an actor.
One where he's just crying and doesn't wanna talk about what happened
“I saw the world burn at their behest”
Travis and Marisha: *LEANS FORWARD*
The moment we learned he is old enough to have seen the calamity 🙈
@@dragonmikoPerhaps. It's not exactly confirmed. On the other hand, the Calamity and the following Divergence was a decades spanning event, so he might have been born during that time.
@@SchwartzerAdler elves live a long time. Wasn't the Calamity about a thousand years prior?
@@Usagi33353 Yes, and yes. More like 800 years prior.
@@Usagi33353 as to this episode it was 843 years before
That look of intense GLEE plastered across Ashley's face for the last 45 minutes of this show made the whole experience even more awesome than it already was...!
The amount of laughter that Tal and Liam were holding back during Laura's "The Thumb" promo was hilarious. You could tell they were dying inside.
Taliesin has two modes of humor reaction:
Cmon, you could do better
Incapacitated
@@WorldbuildyMcNPCface Don't forget the absolutely infectious eldritch cackling. 🧛♂
Liam's laughing is always adorable, so both of them dying from laughter and covering their faces next to Laura is irresistible.
Yios has go to be the most insane place the cast has been to in terms of tone. Like, we arrive with the gas-leak casino episode, then we get the lore dump with Ryn and Co about Predathos, then its basement orgy time and then LUDINUS JUST WALTZ'S IN LIKE-..
Fuck i love this campaign lmao
It’s got the same energy as speed running getting banned from Darktow, mixed with the lore and gas leak vibes of the Aeor arc. I love it.
@@vespernight4236 The Darktow comparison was especially apt. Excellent take.
i’m like ludinus????? now????
@@siobhan-rae if there's one thing matt likes, its having the big bad show up with the same fanfare as a pizza delivery guy
@@Lynch2507 it’s such a guy punch technique i hate this man
There were a ton of great moments in this episode, but I think my favorite has to be FCG's interaction with Professor Isham. Whenever Matt introduces a firbolg character you know it's gonna be good, but what he said about FCG not being defined by his past and being more beautiful than a binary answer hits right in the feels. I don't know if Matt had that in the back of his head or just made it up on the spot, but it really amazes me how he can just pull out nuggets of wisdom like that at the most unexpected moments.
I came here to say this. I’m in a place now where it didn’t hit me that hard personally, but I knew the moment I heard that message that someone desperately needed to hear it. Matt does an amazing job with that kind of thing. ☺️
To quote Matt, "You are more beautiful than a simple binary answer."
...Then you picture the weird face he was pulling to speak in that voice 😆
This entire group is filled with moments like that. When I first started watching Critical Role, it was during the summer of 2020 COVID-19 bullshit. I lost my beloved dog the previous summer, and my grandmother that very summer. It was at that point I heard the eulogy for Tiberius, and I broke. All those emotions I had bottled up exploded. And I felt much better in the following days.
Ashton being super gentle and patient with the professor made my heart melt for some reason like he acts all big and tough but deep down he really does care about people and has a concern for their well-being
2:35:02 Can we talk about how absolutely GENTLE Ahston "If it isn't broken I'll break it" Greymoore is with Kadija here?? I for one is mesmerized, like, wow. I came back here JUST to rewatch this scene to see if it really was as good as I remembered it, and I was right. I am drinking every word, gesture and expression in this scene. Well done, Tally. Well done.
I absolutely teared up at that moment, both Taliesin and Matt did an amazing job at making me care deeply for that poor NPC, I felt so bad for her. 😥
You could literally see Caleb trying to emerge and take over Liam’s body someone get that ginger wizard flown in STAT
Please let us get Matt NPCing Caleb one episode.
@@harpoonlobotomy It's gotta happen at some point, can't wait
"I cast wall of fire..."
I hope Caleb, Beau, and Yasha make an appearance to save the party against the Martinet.
End of the campaign we just get an Infinity War of Teleportation sigils and Transport Via Plants as every player character, guest character and allied NPC arrives in a massive team up.
That moment you remember elves can live a real long time and then realize how big a problem one with no morals and a axe to grind is
You think he might have used beacons to stay alive even longer?
@@Smilexx97 like full on, Ra's Al Ghul and the Lazurus Pit style? An interesting theory. With what he said to Fearne about watching everything burn, and specifically mentioning the Raven Queen's ascension and the creation of the Vestiges, he certainly did speak as if he was alive during the Calamity.
Couldnt he just use a clone spell?
@@Smilexx97 if he's consecuted(sp?) it would explain the assembly's interest in the beacons outside of dunamancy
How long are elves lifespan in this setting? Longer than gnome who has about 400 years?
I love how Chetney takes like the dark responsibilities of the group.
The party: Are we leaving this guy here untied?
Chetney: Nope. We tie him up hands and feet. And a gag.
Chetney... or Travis? lol
I was kind of surprised that he didn't just slit his throat.
That's the kind of attitude that you need to be the oldest living Elf at the North Pole.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
hes 400+years old, dude is past the age of having chill
See, this attitude and a few details make me believe that there is more to Chetney's past than just woodworking
Sam: "I wish... I mean, it would be way easier if you were just to tell me that I was made to kill, and that's my purpose, or made to heal and that's my purpose. But if I got to find my own purpose, that's... That's harder."
This line... holy moly
And the responce, very wise
I can't help but imagine Taliesin, at home sick (of course, lounging in his yeti fur slippers and gryphon-down comforter), frustrated he can't play, so he says to himself "I might as well have a *little* fun. Pasta crime."
Bells Hells before this episode: "Man, where the f*ck is Ashton?!"
Bells Hells after hearing what Ashton went through: "How the f*ck are you even still alive?"
Orym: oh hey, where's Ashton?
Meanwhile, Violet: oh! An Earth Genasi?
Ashton, donning a new hat:
Violet: **ASHTON** THE EARTH GENASI!
“Where the f*ck, Ashton??”
“WHAT THE F*CK, ASHTON??”
Ludinus being older than we know is just perfectly creepy. This campaign really does feel like the culmination of all critical role storytelling.
he was talking about the calamity like he was there. he might have been a mage during the age of arcanum
@@akirastcroix it’s possible he could’ve been from Avalir.
i feel like he's consecuted into the luxon. he's seen the beginning of time and has been reincarnated all the way here
@@VQuaileggs Kinda like the Bright Queen maybe? Because we know she’s been around a long time.
If he turns out to be Loras of the Weaver's Mask I'm going to FLIP.
"You should've let Laudna die." What a line. XD Also, the way Pate is summoned, good god.
Wait, who said that? I must have zoned out.
Marisha after she rolled really low for about three 80th time these past two sessions
I feel really bad for Marisha, she's been on point with tactics, without going over the top, and her build is really freaking good, the dice have just hated her all campaign.
I ADORE the silent interaction at 2:07:20
Liam ringing the Lore Drop Alarm,
Travis and Marisha answering the call, and most of all Taliesin, grinning but still gesturing to "cut it, pay attention, do not distract everybody else".
We stan a respectful King
Not only did Taliesin kill it with his roleplaying this episode, but might I say that man can pull off a beard!
I think it's worth remembering that the Calamity and the Divergence aren't ancient history for Exandrians, even for shorter-lived races like humans and halflings - the equivalent of the 14th century; while for Elves and Gnomes it's no more distant than WWII is for us. Chetney's grandparents likely lived through it, as would Vax & Vex's Elven grandparents. It's no surprise that a talented wizard from the fall of the Age of Arcanum would have found a way to extend their, already long, lifespan through magical or alchemical means
I expected Nana to be quite terrifying but goddamn this exceeds all my expectations, and I love it.
I love the image of this terrifying hag to be a sweet grandma, that would be a nice change.
I guess Fearne takes after Grandpa’s side?
Liam's face at 3:33:10 is exactly my face.
2:44:35 Orym: “Ludinus is one of the most powerful people on the surface of this flat earth.”
FCG: “ Orym gets it.” :)
Matt: “I would like to rage with advantage.”
Ashton: *backhands Orym* "19 to hit. Not even kidding."
Well on the bright side we definitely get to go on the moon this campaign if only so Matt can narrate to the group how they see a “completely round not all all flat planet” while looking at Sam.
@@vespernight4236 "you see the beautiful curvature, and pointed tip of the cone that the world clearly is."
"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped."
@@nonnayobiz2959 Gigachad move
I love how Ashton becomes a tender sweetheart when dealing with the "afflicted" professor. Really nice touch by tal
"It's a very big house and has a lot of rooms. I don't know why it had so many rooms. Not a lot of people live there" Might be one of my favourite things I have ever heard from Taliesen haha
That description of Ashton's day was a wild ride start to finish
I'm definitely stealing the "Kenku who works as a logbook" idea.
he’s gonna be black out drunk in a bar explaining this story to someone one day and
they will not believe him
Eagerly awaiting the future one-shot of Ashton's great Yios adventure
🤣
The fan animation are going to be SO GOOD
Before or after Veth’s magic camp?
And, if we can't get a one-shot, then it should be written as a novel and then Taliesin can narrate the audiobook for it.
Same there was too much to unpack for just a walk and talk
When Matt described the villain when he entered the professor's office I was like hello Sephiroth
Finally, Matt truly feels at home as a villain
Soon as Mat described Ludinus I was like "Oh shitballs..." I was pretty sure it was either him or someone else from the Assembly coming in right from the voice and on the edge of my seat the whole time that scene!
matt: provides flowers that scream
also matt: "Flowers can't clap." : )
The look on Ashley's face when Matt was describing the Fey Realm - invested and loving it
3:01:13 Liam's face when he heard the word pie was just priceless, deep cut
i really want a little shy orym ‘uh ma’am, i heard there was pie?’ next session ❤
Taliesin describing Ashton’s sidequest feels like recounting a game of Fiasco. Which just makes me want to see them do a sidequest of The Nobody’s as a game of Fiasco.
This would be BRILLIANT! I never knew I needed this until right now!!
I loved how Fearne just so earnestly insisted that if Nana Mori offered them anything to eat or drink, don’t refuse because it would be rude.
SHE’S A FEY!!! FOOD AND DRINK = OBLIGATIONS AND DEBTS!!!
Well technically. Food ad drink=addiction and inability to eat normal food.
Thank you, gratitude, gifts, and favours=obligation and debts.
For real!! “Never accept an offering from the Fae (Fey), because then you’ll owe them something” is like the FIRST thing you learn about the fae!!
To be fair she could actually be right, refusing hospitality is a taboo in some myths.
In particular Cu Chulainn gets tricked by the morrigan in disguise when she offers him dog meat, he can't refuse but eating the food also weakens him (because he's breaking other taboos imposed ob him).
It's basically like how if Nurgle gave you a cupcake and you ate it. He's giving you a gift! What kind of gift? Find out!
@@jackalope_hunter how can you doubt grandpa Nurgle so? You horrid, horrid, non-infected creature. Grandpa nurgle cares for all, and sure, you would die a horrible and painful death, but you would have become a seed for new life! Isn't thst beautiful?
Matt never lets anyone make fun of a character's speech impediment or accent, he always makes it lowkey uncomfortable to do so and I really respect that, it was the same whenever someone tried to make fun of Orly. even if the character isn't real, they represent ways of speaking that exist and shouldn't be made fun of
as far as I know, Matt himself had a speech impediment in his younger days and he did mention in one of the interviews somewhere that playing accents in harmful stereotypical ways is not good in his opinion, so that tracks
lmao oh brother
I'm dying here, Horse Immorality and "If you feel small, funny looking or not as popular as your friends you're not alone." "At some point in our lives every one of us has felt THUMBY." XD XD XD
Ok that was just GOLD!
best grandma ever! I love how ashley is all smile and excitement while everyone else looks more horrified by the minute.
Either concept of her design was her idea, or she is perfectly playing in character, cause whoever is smiling is totally in love with that design.
In a 4-Sided Dive, she admitted that she really likes using this char to screw with her friends. I'm sure it's Ashley's genuine amusement.
the absolute unbridled glee of her while the rest are descending into dread... I loved it.
@@Brion57042 also nana character was modeled after Ashley's mom, so it 2 things 1 she messes with her friends and 2 seeing a character she helped shape.
The sheer joy on her face was so cute!
Even after all these years, Matt's vocal characterizations continue to amaze me!
Sam: We lost our moral compass, apparently.
Tallesin: That's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard you say. I am so scared.
Sometimes I'm not sure who's talking.
Yes some characters have that effect. That cast and character mix in one way or the other. Like with Fearne possessing Ashley everytime she talks about feywild stuff. Or Jester scrambling inside Laura’s brain when a message is sent. With Tal and Liam it’s like every character takes up their essences. With Tal it’s always a wise old soul with some deep hurt they try to swallow to get the job done. With Liam it’s a cutiepie with traumatic memories trying to be cool(edglord like) but just being sweet in the end.
Adding:
Sam is always a source of chaos and I never know if character or cast is the source.
So great to see Ashley literally light up travelling through the Feywild, while see others grow increasingly terrified =)
1:17:12 Marisha looking so proud of herself when she says Freshlight, and the approving smile and nod from Sam. 😂
Thank the gods FCG wasn't in that room when Da'leth came, could have been enough to trigger his killer mode, and I don't want to even imagine what would have been the outcome
....I actually would've loved to see FCG go berserk on a Cerberus Assembly member.
I didn't even consider that :O That would have been a blast but probably an FCG permadeath?
Here’s a funny thought. What if FCG’s original target for assassination was Daleth? Since it seems both of them are older than dirt
@@seturon That's very interesting, it could also connect with the theory I saw in another comm about Daleth being Loras from ExU Calamity
@@biggiouschinnus7489 Why, do you want them to die? lol
At this point Orym is gonna be able to see anything with how insane his perception is, as long as he's the one rolling they'll see everything
Between Orym, Vex'alia and Caduceus, all the major landmasses of Exandria are practically surveillance states.
Orym can see that he's a character in a web series by now. By level 10, he'll be able to SEE US.
By the end of the campaign he'll be able to see the end of campaign 4.
I wonder what the next kinda unexpected thing is that he'll add to a character that's low key super powerful and messes with Matt. He has now done "guy who can see literally everything without even really trying" and "guy with a perfect memory"
I just realized this would have made a really good live show gag: Orym rolls really high on perception and goes, "Guys, we're being watched!"
FCG is becoming an EBO (easy bake oven) and I couldn't be happier.
Everyone who follows Morbidnumbskull's animations knows that FCG is practically a fully fitted kitchen at this point.
It's not a toy. It makes real cupcakes, with a 40 watt bulb, and there's icing packets. But the secret ingredient is love. Damn it.
@@Zombiewithabowtie Are their any cleric spells that conjure food? xD (Besides heroes feast)
@@branharak1331 I believe there is conjure food and water, They did it last campaign when they were captured by kobolds on their way to Xorhas for the first time (the Spurt episode) and also they counted conjured food into their supplies when they were at sea.
@@miafiolekova5817 Yeah, according to the spell it's pretty bland and stuff you'd eat through necessity rather than choice, but thanks to FCG's burgeoning skills as a chef they'll probably be able to make something more palpable. I hope Mercer gives them Heward's Handy Spice Pouch; boon to thematic roleplaying, and has a surprising degree of utility, as my DM found out when I was able to isolate someone from a banquet by spiking their plate with ground ghost peppers.
It's also just occurred to me that, between Pike's bakery the Slayer's Cake, Jester's love of pastries, and Caduceus' aptitude with vegetarian recipes, every CR Cleric has shown they know how healing a good meal can be.
Matt's voice and sound effect work was top tier this session.. truly a master in his element
Taliesin exclaiming "BEST GRANDMA EVER!!" gave me hope for the human race
these entire last few episodes I could literally see the gears turning in Travis and Marisha’s heads but this moment takes the cake, I think they had literal Calamity flashbacks 2:13:47
Sam doesn't move cause he didn't remember
@@Goop_3 the funny thing is that you can literally see him trying to remember lol
Ashley has a point, we are really in the dark when it comes to the morality of horses. What immoral secrets do they harbor???
As a stablehand, let me tell you, they are numerous and nefarious enough to melt a normal person's mind... ☠
@@rhokesh4391 my God... the things you could teach us... I don't think we're ready to know what secrets horses harbor.
There's a reason bad dreams are called night mares
Had a friend who had a finger nearly chomped all the way off by a horse. The mother of a friend (an adult horsegirl) had a horse for years decide to take a big bite out if her chest like it was an apple one day. A different horse loving mother of a friend got deliberately hung up on some cactus and left there by the horse she was riding. Luckily the horse went back to the stable without a rider and the other people there knew who was missing from that picture. That's without even mentioning infamous horses that I've only read about, like Freight Train, the horse that liked to chase down and eat baby chickens, or Lisette, the french mare that is said to have eaten an entire Russian officer during the Napoleonic wars.
@Mxmiaozers if the Officer Lisette ate was in full uniform... does that mean she ate him with Russian Dressing? 🤔
The Cerberus Assembly is my favourite group of villains in Exandria. Every one of them is so intimidating with their own awful agenda. And it is so funny how strongly the cast reacts to these guys.
I wonder just how much of the Dwendalian Empire's strength relies on them and their influence
@@thatrainbowquickie8395 A lot I suppose. Such power & closeness to the king doesn't attract the best kind of people. And they always seem to be in for the long game, very strategically moving chess pieces to get closer to their own secret goals.
@@urmeli0815 But that bears the question: How are the Cobalt Soul faring in keeping the CA in check?
@@thatrainbowquickie8395
Ludinus is the true head of state of the Dwendalian Empire.
@@NunoTavares_zonenders_ I know! It feels like Beau and Caleb are a chekov's gun at this point.
I love that Matt still does a noise every time Marisha throws Paté or puts him away.
Liam CORRECTLY realizing this is probably the biggest bad in all of exandria, let alone this campaign and freaking out about it the whole time, i felt that DEEPLY.
Caleb almost came out to play there.
Ashley just revelling in the Fey vibes.The way she does her make up adds a fair bit too.
Hey small reminder that although I doubt Matt and the players are supportive of the OGL changes they are most likely under legal obligation to make those ad reads or they may get into legal trouble with WotC. So while it feels kind of weird to see them shout out dnd beyond they most likely have to and hopefully the new OGL changes aren't supported by the cast.
Yup NDAs suck big time. Hopefully they don't last longer than a few months.
I'm still commenting in protest of it. Chaos Crew
and since they prerecord it mightve been recored before the whole OGL thing even came out.
@@MynMonster Nah, they knew. They went over and beyond (hehe) to make the other ads interesting and then dndbeyond got the copy and paste version, as quickly as could be done.
Or they’re most likely not under nda, and stand by their sponsor that pays them money while placating the masses with vague statements that mean nothing.
They left things so anyone can believe anything they want, and all I know is that they have legal rights to disclose they are under an nda in general, and are choosing not to do so.
Man I can't wait to see Ashton's solo episode in like 10 years in "The Legend of Bell's Hells"
Smash cuts whenever they ask about them or during more chaotic moments. So anytime they are not receiving the secrets of the universe. You can’t just ruin the moment like that.
I'm more excited for chutney and orem, both invisible trying to climb from a balcony to the roof with a rope 😂😂 just the static shot of the balcony with the VoiceOver 🤣🤣
1:07:59 I swear to god, if FCG is somehow going to use this in the future to sacrifice themselves to save their friends/the world I'm going to break down _so_ hard.
Oof
How are you feeling?
I really think we keep forgetting that Fearne is also ruidus-born. Imogen’s entire backstory with her mother is built on it but it tends to overshadow the fact that Fearne has the full ability to be just as powerful. It’s interesting to see how Matt’s tying the two together when they’re extremely different characters with technically different skillsets
The last words Matt says before the outro are "tiki bar" and "that's Morri", truly innovative storytelling at work here this episode
SPOILERS:
Of all the bad guys that Matt has created, Ludinus, _low key_ has some points. He's nowhere near one-dimensional. I _almost_ want to believe what he's doing is right. I love this so far.
If he lived through the CalamityvI 100% see why he would want the gods gone. That was their buff, we just got our planet stomped on
@@thatrainbowquickie8395 Half the gods were fighting that war to protect the world. The other half was trying to conquer both the gods and all mortal races. So definitely not their beef.
Unfortunately it's gonna be a bait and switch and the Martinet is just gonna turn out to be a cartoon villain like every other villain.
The Gods are gonna come out and say that they don't actually harvest souls and people come to them of their own free will.
CR villains are incredibly 1 dimensional
@@AnshumanKantiBose What about all of the Kryn Dynasty? They were basically considered villains for the first 40 episodes of C2, but then they became just as humanized as the Empire. Maybe more so.
Not to mention Essek.
On one hand u are correct that he has a point, on the other if the gods are not around to give divine magic to their followers then the next ones on the food chain to rule Exandia are wizards. And while there are a handfull of powerfull good wizards, most get to a point where they are selfserving and powerhungry. There are examples a plenty: Somnovem, Opash, Vecna, Halas, Trent, DeRogna, Essek, wizards of the age of arcanum, etc.
Ashton had a whole leverage episode while they were gone.
Ashton interacting with Kadija was sooo sweet
I will never get over Matt and Travis' exact synchronization at 49:45
Omg yes
In light of the unfortunate ad read timing, remember to unsubscribe from DNDBeyond if you haven't already! We won't let the execs at WoTC and Hasbro take away a game that has fostered such a wonderful community! Love yall and stay strong critters!
Thanks for the reminder, just cancelled my subscription!
And for the people in the back who still are not aware, this episode was filmed around December, so there's a batch of sponsored episodes from way before the ogl fiasco came to light, it's out of their control
@@wumbojetthey didn't meet with everyone the day of the leak. It is possible that CR and Kickstarter were contacted earlier and NDAs were signed. They could have met in November. We don't know anything with certainty, other than CR is playing things carefully and trying to not upset the fans or the lawyers.
@@xEvilRaptorx i don't blame them, Hasbro execs are notorious authoritarian assholes and they are under contract, their hands are tied in more ways than one
@@xEvilRaptorx or get dragged into a court case, because WotC/Hasbro can and probably will sue the snot out of the company and person that leaked it, for damages, and that can mean pulling in every other entity that contributed to the loss of revenue and loss of reputation, why oh why do none of the youtubers covering it not cover the legal ramifications for the leaker and the company that employed them, because they made themselves unemployable and unless a WotC/Hasbro probably former employee, a company is now looking at their bank accounts and their lawyers and reaching for a second or twentieth pair of underwear. This is not as simple or as limited in reach as Hasbro of the Coast bad!, boycotting them and shouting out that their the chaotic evilest of chaotic evilists, will just mean they get to claim more damages and those damages comes out of a companies bank accounts and when a company gets a rep for breaching NDA's no other company is going to touch them with a 10" pole, it's just not worth it.
🤣🤣🤣
3:01:17 : Orym feels the weight of the dangers surrounding them, and worries if he can keep everyone safe.
3:01:19 : Orym hears there might be pie, and suddenly... maybe things aren't so bad after all.
I'm SO MAD we didn't get to experience Ashton's 11.
Solid one-shot idea for the future
Generally Matt makes them roll for outcomes of things that happen to them when not with the party so I'm super curious how much of that was Tal ad libing and how much of that really happened to poor Ashton.
I’m leaving this comment here so I can check back on the thread when Ashton’s 11 happens!
@@Drekromancersame
Liam's face at the 2 hour mark. I get some serious Caleb energy from that face
God damn, the sequence description of Nanna Mori's hut, Ferne's carefree rush, and the description of Mori had my heart pounding in tension! 💚
Ok I’m actually interested in an Ashton oneshot. I can see some of the CR players as members of Ashton’s gig crew.
Gosh, that "What?" at 2:18:01 was hearth-wrenching
I love how Laura looks at Ashley as if she knows what Matt is doing. 😅
I love how Ashley Johnson has a look of just delight to listening to Matt describe Nana, because she's portraying Fearne (also so is Marisha because Laudna likes people who are creepy), while a vast majority of the other cast just seem to be terrified, as their characters would be.
I think this is the most that Ashton has ever told the party this entire campaign