What made Vax the boss while in the tomb is that he's a rogue and rogues have special skills for finding and disarming traps. That's why he's going out to look around. Plus the guilt for him busy as Vex bites it.
Eh, I'd argue that you're correct, but that's because nobody is really the boss. It's a perfect team dynamic. There is no boss until one is needed. He was boss in this situation. I love Percy and Grog, but they both touch things they shouldn't. Boss is whoever has the best grasp of the situation. Trinket was boss for finding the switch.
Travis also snapped a mechanical pencil in half with one hand after Orion made a VERY inappropriate comment to Laura, Travis's wife, and the look Travis gave him and Matt basically was "get this guy out of here, now!" It was also Orion's last game in Critical Role.
@@lewd2851 I think they are talking about the half chub moment. I just watched it again, and travis didn't snap a pencil then, but hooooly shit did he have murder in his eyes. So I'd say the post isn't entirely incorrect
Fun fact, during the maker's commentary for the episode they mentioned that they deliberately had no music in the majority of this episode to help amplify the "wrongness" of the Tomb (people feel uneasy but don't notice it's because there's no music), and it heightens the emotion of the music coming at the end. The only exceptions are very brief musical stings and light music in the flashbacks/combat to help hide the overall lack of music elsewhere. (edits for spelling)
Kinda like No Country For Old Men, highlighting the banality of the story of Llewelyn and Sherif Bell while making Chigurh even more intimidating. The presence or the absence of a soundtrack can have such an effect on the watching experience !
The sequel campaign to Vox Machina (The Mighty Nein) just got green lit for a series of its own! This series is gonna go on for a very long time! What a decade to be a Critter!
I suppose it's *technically* a sequel, but calling it that kind of misrepresents the series, especially for new critters. It's more of just another story set in the same world.
Now you have me worried. I ate MREs in the army. They they introduced veggie omelette. It was technically edible. I get nervous when I hear technically.
@@neonom1024 well if we're getting pedantic it's another story in an anthology, but considering minor events like Percy inventing guns pretty much became a part of Hupperdook's economy, or the fact that Campaign 3 has heavy ties to part 1, I'd say it's both a sequel, and yet a story that needs no prior introduction to the series as well
Welcome to D&D- nobody has plot armor (unless the DM and players agree, and Matt doesn't give his players that option). Fun fact: Grog had a beard BEFORE the art for bearded Kratos came out!
Wouldn't say that. Matt does seem like a DM that would respect a wish for a character to not die. Just that I'm sure everyone at the table wants the threat of death to be present.
well the players do have some sort of plot armor. matt doesnt like his players to die therefor he actively tries to avoid killing them. if it makes sense narrative wise. that said.. matt is also the type of dm where if you do stupit things like repeatedly ignore danger warnings.. then you win stupid prizes.. and if the dice then lands on a one.... you get this scene right here.
@@josh___something yeah, Matt has said in interviews that if a player character really REALLY wanted to continue a character's story arc he would find a way for them to be able to do so. Either by somehow being able to resurrect the dead character or allowing them to create a new character that would be able to continue the story path of the old character by them being a relative of that dead character or something along those lines. Because at the end of the day he wants his players to be having the most fun they can, right? So if someone really really wishes to continue a storyline he finds a way to make that happen that makes sense narratively.
You have to remember, this is based on Critical Role streaming their D&D game, where things sometimes happens due to a bad roll of the dice. Conventional story tropes are not in affect, anything can happen. This really happened this way, Vex'ahlia really got instakilled by the trap set upon the sarcophagus.
I cried when I watched the game, and I cried when I watched the episode. They did everything perfectly, the build up with the flashbacks, the music, the animation (the sequence when Vax's tears falling on Vex looked gorgeous), the VOICE ACTING (Liam O'Brien pierced my heart with Vax's sobbing)
The music, and the lack thereof. In the watch-along, they talked about how there wasn't any music in this episode, except for a few key moments. It really adds to the tension, not having that background music.
If there's anything you can rely on from Critical Role stories, it's that they make death, whether final or not, truly matter to the story. Hang in there :)
Honestly, death really doesn't mean anything in CR. Most of this is because of the nature of DND as a system for roleplaying. If you are in the mid tier range, death means nothing to you. At higher levels, you can bring back people that died years ago. Dying doesn't mean anything except for a short term emotional moment. It has the same problem that shows like DBZ have, death is nothing but a minor inconvenience. If I remember correctly, this was the second player death in the campaign, first being Pike. But that maybe part of the prologue, regardless. In CR, this moment happened because Tal(the player who plays Percy) failed on his skill check to retrieve the armor and Vex was caught in the blast and died because she was greedy and went for the loot. This was a shocking moment, but then once Pike does the Revivify ritual and brings back Vex, she proceeds to continue to be greedy. The problem with CR as a group is they learn nothing from their experiences. Vex who died because she couldn't control her hands, proceeded to not control her hands. They joke about it, but do nothing to address the problem. THere is very little of an arc when it comes to their characters. Percy who had a cursed item for so long, continues to make shady deals with otherworldly entities. Keyleth despite many people hyping her up, continues to mess up the simplest of things.
@@piquantement CR season 1? I would say about episode 110 or so? How much more do I need to finish to know that in the show at season 2 where they are still fighting the Conclave, VM are incorrigible children playing with Godly weapons like they were toys?
@@thefonz8373I was responding to your point about death not mattering, not the rest of your rant. You're free to dislike CR, but the main plot points of the story prove that wrong.
@@piquantementReally? Pray tell how am I wrong? Also you did mention me not finishing the story, but I clearly did.. I don't dislike CR. Criticizing them is not equal to hating them. I know CR fans love to ravenously defend them, but make it make sense
Also, blink and you'll miss it moment, the cast confirmed in their watch party that Vex comes to rest on the tile Percy discovered/moved to reveal the sarcophagus, just to subtly underline whose fault this is in the moment. I rewached it and you can just see the divot in the tile her head comes to rest on.
Not gonna lie: Liam O'Brian (voice actor for Vax) should get some kind of Emmy nod for his performance this episode. He absolutely made you FEEL it, both in the campaign and here.
I think I remember that Liam was also going through an IRL death of a family member at the time(?) So, that could contribute to the absolutely heart shattering performance.
@@josh___something He was, both a death in the family and a health scare of his own, if I remember right. Percy reached for the Vestige because Talesin Jaffe (voice actor for Percy) knew it was intended for him. When that went down the way that it did in game, Matt (the DM) - at the risk of sounding too vague to not give away spoilers - did a hell of a job making it work.
I thought I was ready. Even in game, it was sad, but I don't remember crying over it. But here, even knowing it was coming, and knowing what happens after, I still cried. In fact, I've watched several reactions, and I cry every single time. Liam is just so good.
Osysa’s prediction fits this episode. Vax can’t stand being without Vex, and Percy’s guilt ridden because of what just happened and will seek forgiveness.
fun fact: When Matt(The DM) came with the Name Purvon, everybody starts to make jokes and laugh exactly as the scene goes, Matt turn red when he realizes the mistake of choose that name for the NPC.
I just watched this scene in the campaign in a side by side comparison and the party is as shocked as the fans watching. Yeah, from what I've gathered that's basically what happened in the campaign. They're in a dungeon of a death goddess and the rogue is trying to look through it for traps and treasure and trying to emphasize how dangerous this place is( Vax's player was one of the more experienced players at the time I believe with only Percy's player and Matt having more experience) and they triggered a trap on the armor of the champion of the death goddess and bam. That happened, she was dealt over 50 points of necrotic damage. And I was not expecting it at all. The trap was specialized so that if you went below 0 HP you died instead of going unconscious. Matt does a great job describing the scene in the campaign but it's still heartbreaking.
Yeah, Liam is like the third most experienced person at the tabl. Granted, he played during high school and was playing a different edition of D&D... But yeah, he did have experience playing D&D prior to Critical Role. And yeah, both Taliesin and Matt have been playing for DECADES they are the most experienced of the group.
So what's funny here, Kash the cleric that flirts with Keyleth, is voiced by Will Friedel, Eric from Boy Meets World. When Will guest starred on the show he learned Marisha, Keyleths VA and player, had a MASSIVE crush on him as a teenager. So his character kept flirting with hers in-game to make Marisha embarrased.
@Mr. Movie Mafia I mean at that point in the game, remember, one of their main table members characters was also flirting with Marishas sooooooo its less about a bold move I think and more of they seperate game from irl. Matt doesn't seem the type to take flirting in game as a serious thing
@@thehappyaipomwho’s that? You mean Liam? He was just doing it out of the role playing potential relationship between the characters of Vax and Keyleth. That’s different from basing it on an actual irl crush.
@@thehappyaipom I’m sorry, I don’t understand your second comment. You stated “remember, one of their main table member’s character was ALSO flirting with Marisha’s.” which I interpret as you referring to a different character from kashaw.
No spoilers. This death happened in game, excatly like this. This is THE REASON for a MAJOR part of the story. They already teased us a little. We will see the consequences next episode.
Fun fact - Kash calls Keyleth "Earth, Wind, and FIre". Her Aramente that the keeps mentioning is to visit each of the tribes of the Asharii - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. She has completed all but water. Which we've seen her use all except water. Also, in the game, it was actually Vax that cuts off half of Grog's beard as a prank. The actual item that gives Grog his beard (because Goliaths like Grog can't grow hair) takes a special dice roll every day. You roll a 100 sided die (which are actually two 10 sided dice, one that is the 10s, one that is the 1s). You have to roll under a certain number in order to get any growth. It took him several episodes before he rolled low enough to get a full beard, and Vax immediately shaved off half of it while Grog was passed out.
I can still remember watching Critical Role's campaign, season 1 episode 44, years ago, when Laura Bailey, who plays Vex in the campaign, rolls a critical miss on a saving throw and slowly realizes that her character died, while Matt Mercer, the Dungeon Master, describes what was happening in detail. Damm, visualizing that event like this hits a little bit more.
I was lucky enough to watch it happen live in the game and let me tell you the week waiting to see what would happen next was a long, long week. So now my teenagers watch the show with me and I do not spoil. They are so happy it's Friday and after school we will watch the next 3.
One of the most iconic moments of the entire campaign. I won't say what happens next, but this was the moment when everything changed. Just so you understand what happened. Percy set off the trap and Laura bailey (voice of Vex) rolled a natural 1 on her Dex save. A critical failure. And because they were in the tomb of the matron of the Goddess of Death the trap did necrotic damage. In that situation if you drop to zero hit point you're instantly dead. No save throws.
Death in D&D is always a possibility. It's hard to actually kill a player's character though. Most parties have a healer, like Pike. And death isn't usually automatic. When you hit 0 hit points, you have a chance to roll death saves. You have to have 3 failures before you actually die. Like Keyleth and Cassandra, you're dying, but not quite dead yet. If you have 3 successes, you stabilize. Along with 3 failed death saves, there are a couple ways to die immediately. If you take damage after you drop to 0, you lose 2 death saves instead. If the attack that takes you to 0 has any damage left over, and that amount is equal to your max health, you die. So for example, let's say your max health is 50HP. You're at 1HP, and someone hits you for 51 points of damage, the 1 would drop you to 0 hp, and the rest of the 50 is equal to your max, so you'd die. That's what happened with Urial in the season premiere. Civilians typically have very low HP (a level 1 adventurer is about 10HP, so they'd have slightly less). So even 20 points of damage is an instant kill for a civilian. The second way is the way that happened here. There are certain spells that have instant death as an effect of the spell, so if you drop to 0, it instantly kills you. Bringing someone back from death is harder than bringing someone back from 0HP. Matt as the DM has specific rules to make it a little harder. He makes it so you have to perform a check (the D&D rules just say you cast the spell and it happens). And in certain cases, you actually have to perform 3 checks. The way it works, you have the healer casting the spell, and 3 people can participate (including the healer). You have to explain how you will help - maybe you plead for them to come back, maybe you sing their favorite song, maybe you do some tough love and berate them into not giving up - whatever. THen you make a check based on that. So if you're pleading, maybe you roll persuasion. If you're singing, you would roll performance. And for berating, you could roll intimidation. Each roll has a difficulty. If you succeed, you decrease the difficulty of the final roll by 3. If you fail, you increase it by 1. Then he rolls for the healer to see if it's a success. The base is 10, so if he rolls a 10 or above, you live. If you had 2 successes and a failure by the people helping the ritual, then you have to roll a 5 or above (10 - 3 - 3 + 1). If you fail the check, you can't bring them back. And performing that spell requires you to be at a certain level. Plus in the game, Ashley was out this episode because she was back in NY filming. So yes, death of a player character can be permanent.
was just as abrupt on the stream, made worse by the fact Laura (vex) initially thought she was just going unconscious (which is the norm, but this is the armor of the goddess of death, so the trap was an instant kill) her realizing she had died when matt asks her "did that take you to zero?" sad, sad times...
14:58 No,no,no...Their mother was a Human & their father an Elf. A high standing diplomat in the Elven city of Singourn. Vex & Vax were intially raised by him in said city. However he & many others showed only contempt & disdain for them, given that they were only half elves. Their father was ashamed that he had had a relationship with a lowborn human woman: Their mother. So he tried to raise them as pure elves. Though his mindset was cold & strict in that regard. In the end Vex & Vax chose leave Singorn & the Elves entirely & return to live with their mother in rural Byroden...
Every death goddess needs her Pervon. But us men; We. Got. A. Beard! (And then Grog promptly leans on a pull door, replaying one of the most classic Far Side comics of all time. "School for the Gifted" and the kid is leaning on a door with a sign saying Pull)
I love your reactions. Seeing new Critters watch the show for the first time. Love it !!!!!!!!. It gives me a fresh take on a show I flowed long ago. When Vax said "Don't touch anything, Don't say anything, Dont do anything" each player character has there strengths. Grog is Strength, Pike is the Everlight and Divinity. Vex is stealth, traps and disarming traps. Vex's moment of "Power grab" as you reacted to it was a warning to the others. Vex is not in charge but in that moment of time he is the best person to keep everybody safe including his sister. I will enjoy your reation to episode 4. It is BY FAR the most unexpected thing you will watch and literaly changes the direction of meany characters. That is the organic nature of the game.
Girls just keep in mind: This is a tomb dedicated to the goddess of death Therein lies the body of the most famous champion of the goddess of death He's wearing the vestige, deathwalkers ward (if the name didn't give it away its dedicated to death) And Vex got shot by a spell/trap dedicated to protecting the above from thieves So Vex died in the tomb of death because a spell of death ment to protect the champion of death wearing the armor of death hit her. If the theme doesn't sell it I can't make it more obvious🤷♂️
Well, she is legit dead. This is not a fake out death. The other death scares (Cassandra and Keyleth in S1) were near-death and could be healed. As with any good story, this death will have consequences. And that is all I'll say about that.
So, as a note, this does follow what happened in game. In Matt’s world, resurrection magic comes down to a dice roll (along with people bringing things to the ritual to try to improve the odds); so, whether a character lives or dies is -at least in part- up to chance.
don't forget, this is based on their D&D game. While the story may be set now, literally anything could happen as they were playing. Anyone could make a mistake or have a bad roll and die.
If you ask me, It's clear Vax has depression. Vex is the only thing he has that keepa him going. Without that, he doesn't have anything to live for. I think a lot of people miss that angle.
100%. They haven't really showed this in the show but in the campaign he was CONSTANTLY putting himself in extremely dangerous and risky situations when fighting enemies. He was absolutely borderline suicidal in the way that he would literally sprint into the battles. Especially, after what happens now... he gets very depressed. Probably partially because Liam was also going through an extremely EXTREMELY difficult time in his life... And those emotions, for sure, were bleeding through into Vax.
You have to keep in mind that this is based on D&D and the narrative rules are very different than most media. In D&D there is always a chance your character gets killed and that's it, if someone doesnt have enough spells slots, didn't have the right spells prepared that day, it takes just a little to long to get you, or your body is to badly damaged, there's no fixing that. It's one of the things that new players have to overcome, accepting the fact that no character in D&D is immortal, and there is no plot armor.
So no spoilers, but anyone can die in D&D. There is no plot armor. And Vex is dead dead. Keyleth was dying last season and they got to her in time. This trap though killed Vex outright. She's dead. In Critical Role, there are ways to bring people back but it's not a given. There are no guarantees that it works, even with the most powerful magic.
I'm with Achara on bringing people back after they die. I only make exceptions for D&D (it's built into the game) and LoTR which funnily enough inspired dnd.
D&D has many ways of bringing back dead characters. Depending on how thoroughly dead a character is, the needed resurrection spells greatly increase in power requirements and material costs. Matt, the DM of _Critical Role,_ added some additional homebrew rules to the process, to make it more involved and keep the stakes up, so that a character death never becomes a mere inconvenience. The most epic and awe-inspiring resurrection that ever happened in the history of D&D is _probably_ the one at the end of campaign 2 (The "Mighty Nein").
@@AnxietyRat I know that, Im just saying simply because he raised them, doesn't necessarily mean that he is their biological father. For all they know, his wife could have cheated on him and he hated his "children" because of that.
6:22 Every reaction with her... 14:53 Orphans aren't strictly the children of dead parents but generally those who grew up without parents. Also, you watched this way too much with the expectation of regular TV storytelling, but this is an adaptation of a D&D campaign. What happens in the show is more or less loosely what happens in the campaign at the table, which is not scripted. Characters in D&D can die - and not when it fits the narrative, but when someone fucks up in most cases. The DM gives USUALLY some leeway if possible, but your character is not protected by plot armor. If you mess up, they'll die, and you have to roll a new one. It's sad that you did not watch the vox machina / critical role comparison videos for season 1 & 2 because it would've given you a much better understanding of what is actually happening.
Am I the only one who thinks that Grog with a beard now looks JUST LIKE KRATOS from God Of War? I predict that the next episode he will instinctively call Scanlan BOY!
The slayer girls a teifling Half fiends fiend is a lower realm outsider outsider is any spirituak or suoernatural being like angels and demons fiends include demons devils and yogsloths if a being make a deal with a devil or is cursed by demon or somthing their chance a child in their blood line will be born a teifling somtimes passes down so get teiflings popping uo at random in a bloodline or a family of teiflings their descriminated against for basicly bing half demons
What made Vax the boss while in the tomb is that he's a rogue and rogues have special skills for finding and disarming traps. That's why he's going out to look around. Plus the guilt for him busy as Vex bites it.
I'm sure He would do anything at this point.
well that, and Vex being dead because they didnt let him be the boss is why.
and we can dump some guilt on Percy too, for egging her on, and then triggering the damn thing.
Yeah, maybe if they had listened to him......
Eh, I'd argue that you're correct, but that's because nobody is really the boss. It's a perfect team dynamic. There is no boss until one is needed. He was boss in this situation. I love Percy and Grog, but they both touch things they shouldn't. Boss is whoever has the best grasp of the situation. Trinket was boss for finding the switch.
Note: In the streamed campaign, Vax shaved off half of Grog's beard as a prank and Travis snapped a mechanical pencil out of anger.
With one hand
Travis also snapped a mechanical pencil in half with one hand after Orion made a VERY inappropriate comment to Laura, Travis's wife, and the look Travis gave him and Matt basically was "get this guy out of here, now!"
It was also Orion's last game in Critical Role.
@@Dragon_Lair Was this during the 'half chub' comment? Because if so this entire post is straight up incorrect
@@lewd2851 I think they are talking about the half chub moment. I just watched it again, and travis didn't snap a pencil then, but hooooly shit did he have murder in his eyes. So I'd say the post isn't entirely incorrect
What’d Orion say?
Fun fact, during the maker's commentary for the episode they mentioned that they deliberately had no music in the majority of this episode to help amplify the "wrongness" of the Tomb (people feel uneasy but don't notice it's because there's no music), and it heightens the emotion of the music coming at the end. The only exceptions are very brief musical stings and light music in the flashbacks/combat to help hide the overall lack of music elsewhere.
(edits for spelling)
I hadn’t noticed that but now that you mention it, that’s really cool. You definitely feel the wrongness of it
Kinda like No Country For Old Men, highlighting the banality of the story of Llewelyn and Sherif Bell while making Chigurh even more intimidating. The presence or the absence of a soundtrack can have such an effect on the watching experience !
The sequel campaign to Vox Machina (The Mighty Nein) just got green lit for a series of its own! This series is gonna go on for a very long time! What a decade to be a Critter!
there going to Love Jester that little ball of sugar charge Hyper active Chaos
Mighty Nein sounds like a German fetish brothel.
I suppose it's *technically* a sequel, but calling it that kind of misrepresents the series, especially for new critters. It's more of just another story set in the same world.
Now you have me worried. I ate MREs in the army. They they introduced veggie omelette. It was technically edible. I get nervous when I hear technically.
@@neonom1024 well if we're getting pedantic it's another story in an anthology, but considering minor events like Percy inventing guns pretty much became a part of Hupperdook's economy, or the fact that Campaign 3 has heavy ties to part 1, I'd say it's both a sequel, and yet a story that needs no prior introduction to the series as well
Welcome to D&D- nobody has plot armor (unless the DM and players agree, and Matt doesn't give his players that option). Fun fact: Grog had a beard BEFORE the art for bearded Kratos came out!
Wouldn't say that. Matt does seem like a DM that would respect a wish for a character to not die. Just that I'm sure everyone at the table wants the threat of death to be present.
well the players do have some sort of plot armor. matt doesnt like his players to die therefor he actively tries to avoid killing them. if it makes sense narrative wise. that said.. matt is also the type of dm where if you do stupit things like repeatedly ignore danger warnings.. then you win stupid prizes.. and if the dice then lands on a one.... you get this scene right here.
@@MBoeltje41 That's what I mean. He doesn't keep them alive for no reason- there are consequences to actions.
@@josh___something yeah, Matt has said in interviews that if a player character really REALLY wanted to continue a character's story arc he would find a way for them to be able to do so. Either by somehow being able to resurrect the dead character or allowing them to create a new character that would be able to continue the story path of the old character by them being a relative of that dead character or something along those lines. Because at the end of the day he wants his players to be having the most fun they can, right? So if someone really really wishes to continue a storyline he finds a way to make that happen that makes sense narratively.
You have to remember, this is based on Critical Role streaming their D&D game, where things sometimes happens due to a bad roll of the dice.
Conventional story tropes are not in affect, anything can happen. This really happened this way, Vex'ahlia really got instakilled by the trap set upon the sarcophagus.
I cried when I watched the game, and I cried when I watched the episode. They did everything perfectly, the build up with the flashbacks, the music, the animation (the sequence when Vax's tears falling on Vex looked gorgeous), the VOICE ACTING (Liam O'Brien pierced my heart with Vax's sobbing)
I’m heartbroken! 😭
Liam deservers an Emmy nod for this episode alone.
The music, and the lack thereof. In the watch-along, they talked about how there wasn't any music in this episode, except for a few key moments. It really adds to the tension, not having that background music.
6:22 "Keyleth you're a goddess" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 IYKYK
And there's the intro comments about falling. 😳
She is powerful. It's a logical conclusion. "Totally logical!" IYKYK
They're practically gods!
🐠
If there's anything you can rely on from Critical Role stories, it's that they make death, whether final or not, truly matter to the story. Hang in there :)
Honestly, death really doesn't mean anything in CR. Most of this is because of the nature of DND as a system for roleplaying. If you are in the mid tier range, death means nothing to you. At higher levels, you can bring back people that died years ago. Dying doesn't mean anything except for a short term emotional moment. It has the same problem that shows like DBZ have, death is nothing but a minor inconvenience. If I remember correctly, this was the second player death in the campaign, first being Pike. But that maybe part of the prologue, regardless. In CR, this moment happened because Tal(the player who plays Percy) failed on his skill check to retrieve the armor and Vex was caught in the blast and died because she was greedy and went for the loot. This was a shocking moment, but then once Pike does the Revivify ritual and brings back Vex, she proceeds to continue to be greedy. The problem with CR as a group is they learn nothing from their experiences. Vex who died because she couldn't control her hands, proceeded to not control her hands. They joke about it, but do nothing to address the problem. THere is very little of an arc when it comes to their characters. Percy who had a cursed item for so long, continues to make shady deals with otherworldly entities. Keyleth despite many people hyping her up, continues to mess up the simplest of things.
@@thefonz8373You clearly didn't finish the story.
@@piquantement CR season 1? I would say about episode 110 or so? How much more do I need to finish to know that in the show at season 2 where they are still fighting the Conclave, VM are incorrigible children playing with Godly weapons like they were toys?
@@thefonz8373I was responding to your point about death not mattering, not the rest of your rant.
You're free to dislike CR, but the main plot points of the story prove that wrong.
@@piquantementReally? Pray tell how am I wrong? Also you did mention me not finishing the story, but I clearly did.. I don't dislike CR. Criticizing them is not equal to hating them. I know CR fans love to ravenously defend them, but make it make sense
Also, blink and you'll miss it moment, the cast confirmed in their watch party that Vex comes to rest on the tile Percy discovered/moved to reveal the sarcophagus, just to subtly underline whose fault this is in the moment. I rewached it and you can just see the divot in the tile her head comes to rest on.
Ugh. My heart
Not gonna lie: Liam O'Brian (voice actor for Vax) should get some kind of Emmy nod for his performance this episode. He absolutely made you FEEL it, both in the campaign and here.
I think I remember that Liam was also going through an IRL death of a family member at the time(?)
So, that could contribute to the absolutely heart shattering performance.
@@josh___something He was, both a death in the family and a health scare of his own, if I remember right. Percy reached for the Vestige because Talesin Jaffe (voice actor for Percy) knew it was intended for him. When that went down the way that it did in game, Matt (the DM) - at the risk of sounding too vague to not give away spoilers - did a hell of a job making it work.
FR that was some of the best sobbing I’ve ever heard
I thought I was ready. Even in game, it was sad, but I don't remember crying over it. But here, even knowing it was coming, and knowing what happens after, I still cried. In fact, I've watched several reactions, and I cry every single time. Liam is just so good.
Osysa’s prediction fits this episode. Vax can’t stand being without Vex, and Percy’s guilt ridden because of what just happened and will seek forgiveness.
fun fact: When Matt(The DM) came with the Name Purvon, everybody starts to make jokes and laugh exactly as the scene goes, Matt turn red when he realizes the mistake of choose that name for the NPC.
And he didn't learn that lesson. Mike Hunt moment
I just watched this scene in the campaign in a side by side comparison and the party is as shocked as the fans watching.
Yeah, from what I've gathered that's basically what happened in the campaign. They're in a dungeon of a death goddess and the rogue is trying to look through it for traps and treasure and trying to emphasize how dangerous this place is( Vax's player was one of the more experienced players at the time I believe with only Percy's player and Matt having more experience) and they triggered a trap on the armor of the champion of the death goddess and bam. That happened, she was dealt over 50 points of necrotic damage. And I was not expecting it at all. The trap was specialized so that if you went below 0 HP you died instead of going unconscious. Matt does a great job describing the scene in the campaign but it's still heartbreaking.
Yeah, Liam is like the third most experienced person at the tabl. Granted, he played during high school and was playing a different edition of D&D... But yeah, he did have experience playing D&D prior to Critical Role. And yeah, both Taliesin and Matt have been playing for DECADES they are the most experienced of the group.
So what's funny here, Kash the cleric that flirts with Keyleth, is voiced by Will Friedel, Eric from Boy Meets World. When Will guest starred on the show he learned Marisha, Keyleths VA and player, had a MASSIVE crush on him as a teenager. So his character kept flirting with hers in-game to make Marisha embarrased.
Bold move, especially in front of her husband, Matt Mercer. Still funny though, I bet they were good sports about it 😂
@Mr. Movie Mafia I mean at that point in the game, remember, one of their main table members characters was also flirting with Marishas sooooooo its less about a bold move I think and more of they seperate game from irl. Matt doesn't seem the type to take flirting in game as a serious thing
@@thehappyaipomwho’s that? You mean Liam? He was just doing it out of the role playing potential relationship between the characters of Vax and Keyleth. That’s different from basing it on an actual irl crush.
@@NoLifeKing_0 no Kashaw who is played by Will Friedel....as stated in my original post....
@@thehappyaipom I’m sorry, I don’t understand your second comment. You stated “remember, one of their main table member’s character was ALSO flirting with Marisha’s.” which I interpret as you referring to a different character from kashaw.
6:21 “He’s nothing.”
Actually he’s Batman.
Also he's not too fond of goddesses, considering his patron
Nice one.
Be prepared, we just got greenlit for the 2nd campaign as well.
LET CHAOS REIGN!!!!!!
_Uk'otoa_
@@Kimbrell *Uk'otoa*...
edit: how on EARTH did you make it italic?????
@@laurahart1337 _Uk'otoa _
Production hasn't started yet. Sit down, take a breath, have a cupcake... ;)
Kashaws VA(Will Friedle) used to have a series where he learned to paint miniatures, that's how I got into it lol
Nope Laura Rolled a Nat 1 on the Dex Saving throw and took 56 HP of Damage killing Vex instantly.
No spoilers. This death happened in game, excatly like this. This is THE REASON for a MAJOR part of the story. They already teased us a little. We will see the consequences next episode.
Fun fact - Kash calls Keyleth "Earth, Wind, and FIre". Her Aramente that the keeps mentioning is to visit each of the tribes of the Asharii - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. She has completed all but water. Which we've seen her use all except water.
Also, in the game, it was actually Vax that cuts off half of Grog's beard as a prank. The actual item that gives Grog his beard (because Goliaths like Grog can't grow hair) takes a special dice roll every day. You roll a 100 sided die (which are actually two 10 sided dice, one that is the 10s, one that is the 1s). You have to roll under a certain number in order to get any growth. It took him several episodes before he rolled low enough to get a full beard, and Vax immediately shaved off half of it while Grog was passed out.
I can still remember watching Critical Role's campaign, season 1 episode 44, years ago, when Laura Bailey, who plays Vex in the campaign, rolls a critical miss on a saving throw and slowly realizes that her character died, while Matt Mercer, the Dungeon Master, describes what was happening in detail. Damm, visualizing that event like this hits a little bit more.
I was lucky enough to watch it happen live in the game and let me tell you the week waiting to see what would happen next was a long, long week. So now my teenagers watch the show with me and I do not spoil. They are so happy it's Friday and after school we will watch the next 3.
One of the most iconic moments of the entire campaign. I won't say what happens next, but this was the moment when everything changed.
Just so you understand what happened. Percy set off the trap and Laura bailey (voice of Vex) rolled a natural 1 on her Dex save. A critical failure. And because they were in the tomb of the matron of the Goddess of Death the trap did necrotic damage. In that situation if you drop to zero hit point you're instantly dead. No save throws.
I think it's funny that you struggle to remember the names of the various party members, but you remember the name of the bear.
6:21 you're right, she's a goddess. They are basically gods, and she knows it!
Yes gods... exactly....nothing fishy here...
Death in D&D is always a possibility. It's hard to actually kill a player's character though. Most parties have a healer, like Pike. And death isn't usually automatic. When you hit 0 hit points, you have a chance to roll death saves. You have to have 3 failures before you actually die. Like Keyleth and Cassandra, you're dying, but not quite dead yet. If you have 3 successes, you stabilize.
Along with 3 failed death saves, there are a couple ways to die immediately. If you take damage after you drop to 0, you lose 2 death saves instead. If the attack that takes you to 0 has any damage left over, and that amount is equal to your max health, you die. So for example, let's say your max health is 50HP. You're at 1HP, and someone hits you for 51 points of damage, the 1 would drop you to 0 hp, and the rest of the 50 is equal to your max, so you'd die. That's what happened with Urial in the season premiere. Civilians typically have very low HP (a level 1 adventurer is about 10HP, so they'd have slightly less). So even 20 points of damage is an instant kill for a civilian. The second way is the way that happened here. There are certain spells that have instant death as an effect of the spell, so if you drop to 0, it instantly kills you.
Bringing someone back from death is harder than bringing someone back from 0HP. Matt as the DM has specific rules to make it a little harder. He makes it so you have to perform a check (the D&D rules just say you cast the spell and it happens). And in certain cases, you actually have to perform 3 checks. The way it works, you have the healer casting the spell, and 3 people can participate (including the healer). You have to explain how you will help - maybe you plead for them to come back, maybe you sing their favorite song, maybe you do some tough love and berate them into not giving up - whatever. THen you make a check based on that. So if you're pleading, maybe you roll persuasion. If you're singing, you would roll performance. And for berating, you could roll intimidation. Each roll has a difficulty. If you succeed, you decrease the difficulty of the final roll by 3. If you fail, you increase it by 1. Then he rolls for the healer to see if it's a success. The base is 10, so if he rolls a 10 or above, you live. If you had 2 successes and a failure by the people helping the ritual, then you have to roll a 5 or above (10 - 3 - 3 + 1).
If you fail the check, you can't bring them back. And performing that spell requires you to be at a certain level. Plus in the game, Ashley was out this episode because she was back in NY filming. So yes, death of a player character can be permanent.
was just as abrupt on the stream, made worse by the fact Laura (vex) initially thought she was just going unconscious (which is the norm, but this is the armor of the goddess of death, so the trap was an instant kill) her realizing she had died when matt asks her "did that take you to zero?" sad, sad times...
"Keyleth's a goddess" Oh my.😯
I genuinely loved "Well it seems like a you kind of problem". That was some good clap back
14:58 No,no,no...Their mother was a Human & their father an Elf. A high standing diplomat in the Elven city of Singourn. Vex & Vax were intially raised by him in said city. However he & many others showed only contempt & disdain for them, given that they were only half elves. Their father was ashamed that he had had a relationship with a lowborn human woman: Their mother.
So he tried to raise them as pure elves. Though his mindset was cold & strict in that regard. In the end Vex & Vax chose leave Singorn & the Elves entirely & return to live with their mother in rural Byroden...
Spoiler much? Delete the last sentence. Unconfirmed in the show.
*Syngorn
Fantasy spelling is a bitch. Lmao.
Every death goddess needs her Pervon. But us men; We. Got. A. Beard! (And then Grog promptly leans on a pull door, replaying one of the most classic Far Side comics of all time. "School for the Gifted" and the kid is leaning on a door with a sign saying Pull)
Gotta keep in mind with these that it's based on a d&d stream. There is no "plot armor". We'll see what happens ;)
Kash is voiced by Eric Mathews from Boy Meets World! Fe Fe Fe FEEENY!!!
The first season was also released three episodes at a time. This is a great cliffhanger and I would say bring some tissues to the next sitting
I love your reactions. Seeing new Critters watch the show for the first time. Love it !!!!!!!!. It gives me a fresh take on a show I flowed long ago.
When Vax said "Don't touch anything, Don't say anything, Dont do anything" each player character has there strengths. Grog is Strength, Pike is the Everlight and Divinity. Vex is stealth, traps and disarming traps. Vex's moment of "Power grab" as you reacted to it was a warning to the others. Vex is not in charge but in that moment of time he is the best person to keep everybody safe including his sister.
I will enjoy your reation to episode 4. It is BY FAR the most unexpected thing you will watch and literaly changes the direction of meany characters. That is the organic nature of the game.
you had their names right at first and then ended up switching vex and Vax lmao. Vax is the brother and good at traps/stealth.
Girls just keep in mind:
This is a tomb dedicated to the goddess of death
Therein lies the body of the most famous champion of the goddess of death
He's wearing the vestige, deathwalkers ward (if the name didn't give it away its dedicated to death)
And Vex got shot by a spell/trap dedicated to protecting the above from thieves
So Vex died in the tomb of death because a spell of death ment to protect the champion of death wearing the armor of death hit her.
If the theme doesn't sell it I can't make it more obvious🤷♂️
Vax is the thief/ninja/rogue that is why he is the best and finding traps aka the boss with those kinds of tasks.
Vex is one of my favourite characters across all fandoms and I remember that week between episodes 1 - 3 and episodes 4 - 6 was torture
Well, she is legit dead. This is not a fake out death. The other death scares (Cassandra and Keyleth in S1) were near-death and could be healed. As with any good story, this death will have consequences. And that is all I'll say about that.
So, as a note, this does follow what happened in game. In Matt’s world, resurrection magic comes down to a dice roll (along with people bringing things to the ritual to try to improve the odds); so, whether a character lives or dies is -at least in part- up to chance.
Isn't it interesting how one can be so invested in animated characters?
"Why weren't they born into it, they're elves right?"
The characters in the show have said multiple times that Vex and Vax are *half* elves.
Next batch of eps is out now
I didn't know about any spoilers but they are in the tomb of the champion of death goddess and seeking artifact so death may not be what it seems here
don't forget, this is based on their D&D game. While the story may be set now, literally anything could happen as they were playing. Anyone could make a mistake or have a bad roll and die.
It was freaking just as brutal in the home game too how sudden that happened.
And the deal will be made! This was a good episode, and during the campaign. One of the best sessions!
Kratos!
Vax wasnt saying to not touch anything because hes being bossy its because as a rogue he has the highest stats for anything stealth or detecting traps
It's why typically the DM will say are you sure you don't want to listen to the dude with the highest stats in detection OK
If you ask me, It's clear Vax has depression. Vex is the only thing he has that keepa him going. Without that, he doesn't have anything to live for. I think a lot of people miss that angle.
100%. They haven't really showed this in the show but in the campaign he was CONSTANTLY putting himself in extremely dangerous and risky situations when fighting enemies. He was absolutely borderline suicidal in the way that he would literally sprint into the battles. Especially, after what happens now... he gets very depressed. Probably partially because Liam was also going through an extremely EXTREMELY difficult time in his life... And those emotions, for sure, were bleeding through into Vax.
Percy woulda got the dagger, dagger, dagger real quick.
You have to keep in mind that this is based on D&D and the narrative rules are very different than most media. In D&D there is always a chance your character gets killed and that's it, if someone doesnt have enough spells slots, didn't have the right spells prepared that day, it takes just a little to long to get you, or your body is to badly damaged, there's no fixing that. It's one of the things that new players have to overcome, accepting the fact that no character in D&D is immortal, and there is no plot armor.
I like Grog's looking like Kratos!
Thing is, that's dnd. Characters die.
Yo Kratos has an animated show?
I just watched ep 4/6 and it only gets more interesting x3.
So no spoilers, but anyone can die in D&D. There is no plot armor. And Vex is dead dead. Keyleth was dying last season and they got to her in time. This trap though killed Vex outright. She's dead. In Critical Role, there are ways to bring people back but it's not a given. There are no guarantees that it works, even with the most powerful magic.
I'm with Achara on bringing people back after they die. I only make exceptions for D&D (it's built into the game) and LoTR which funnily enough inspired dnd.
Laura rolled a natural one against a necrotic blast that took her below 0 hit points. Instakill.
Damn, i can't say much of anything without spoiling stuff, you're in for one hell of a ride though i'll tell you that much
Amazing episode.
D&D has many ways of bringing back dead characters. Depending on how thoroughly dead a character is, the needed resurrection spells greatly increase in power requirements and material costs. Matt, the DM of _Critical Role,_ added some additional homebrew rules to the process, to make it more involved and keep the stakes up, so that a character death never becomes a mere inconvenience.
The most epic and awe-inspiring resurrection that ever happened in the history of D&D is _probably_ the one at the end of campaign 2 (The "Mighty Nein").
Just a heads up the Dragons are gonna be the big bads for this season AND next season. Season 3 is already greenlit!
Now plz start defender and then daredevil s3
It takes two to tango unless father himself was not part of that tango. :/
Their father shown in the show is their biological father so he absolutely was a part of the tango. Lmao.
@@AnxietyRat I know that, Im just saying simply because he raised them, doesn't necessarily mean that he is their biological father.
For all they know, his wife could have cheated on him and he hated his "children" because of that.
Daredevil Season 3 plss
6:22 Every reaction with her...
14:53 Orphans aren't strictly the children of dead parents but generally those who grew up without parents.
Also, you watched this way too much with the expectation of regular TV storytelling, but this is an adaptation of a D&D campaign. What happens in the show is more or less loosely what happens in the campaign at the table, which is not scripted. Characters in D&D can die - and not when it fits the narrative, but when someone fucks up in most cases. The DM gives USUALLY some leeway if possible, but your character is not protected by plot armor. If you mess up, they'll die, and you have to roll a new one. It's sad that you did not watch the vox machina / critical role comparison videos for season 1 & 2 because it would've given you a much better understanding of what is actually happening.
Am I the only one who thinks that Grog with a beard now looks JUST LIKE KRATOS from God Of War?
I predict that the next episode he will instinctively call Scanlan BOY!
Technically since the campaign's from 2015 Grog got his beard before Kratos!
Kratos be a fanboy. But it's Grog, so I'm not going to fault him.
The slayer girls a teifling
Half fiends fiend is a lower realm outsider outsider is any spirituak or suoernatural being like angels and demons fiends include demons devils and yogsloths
if a being make a deal with a devil or is cursed by demon or somthing their chance a child in their blood line will be born a teifling somtimes passes down so get teiflings popping uo at random in a bloodline or a family of teiflings their descriminated against for basicly bing half demons
Noooo!
PLEASE get rid of the two poles behind.
plz do rarct to SRI ASIH trailer . female superhero movie from southheast asia
Feh
Don’t worry Vex gets resurrected 3+ times in the source material 😅
dont put spoilers here dude