@@TheStockportHatter1986 spoiler. . . . . . . . . . Pike died pre-stream to a Glabrezu, specifically it cut her in half. When she came back her hair was white.
It's funny you said Gavroche when Scanlon does his Revolutionary speech. Sam Riegel actually played Gavroche on Broadway in 1989. Did you already know that, or was it just amazing coincidence?
@@cryofpaine What's funnier is Sam's episode of "Between the Sheets" when he talks about going to the hospital after falling off a barricade during a Le Mis performance in Los Angeles. The Rodney King riots were going on at the time.
regarding Percy giving Vex that title, no he wasn't insinuating that they were married. as Lord of Whitestone he can grant titles to people, and he gave Vex one in that moment to try and make her father respect her more, even though it failed to do so.
To be fair, it does work in the campaign. Moreso than in the show...the show seems to be channeling the Syldor from the Kith and Kin book...and less so who he was in the campaign... He was still a dick...but less so.
@@AnxietyRat Agreed. The Syldor we meet in the stream has already had a minor reunion with the twins (during their home game) wherein they save Velora. Unlike here in LoVM it's the first time they meet her. So we're gonna hopefully see him mellow out and recognize their strengths and worth in later seasons.
He's not Lord of Whitestone. He abdicated any responsibility and left Cassandra with that title - he's just, at best, an Ambassador. He wasn't even that in the campaign. Not that Cassandra would refuse him, and not that Syldor didn't need his attitude checked.
4:55 No. As Lord of Whitestone Percy can offer land and titles to people to help with the rule of Whitestone. For example, when the Briarwoods ruled Whitestone Vedmire, Anders, and Stonefell were all given titles and mansions in Whitestone.
It's worth noting that you're not alone in that comforting feeling Nerdy. Campaign 2 of Critical Role got a lot folks who discovered it through the depression of the pandemic.
@@vanessaaves3271same! C2 got me through going on disability for severe depression last year. Only discovered CR through this show. So grateful for it.
@@timothyjuvet4073 I had heard of it due to having played D&D with my friends, but had never watched it. I hope you’re feeling better, depression is an insidious and relentless disease.
Campaign two is the players really spreading their wings and "writing" characters for themselves. Campaign 1 started as a one shot for Liam's birthday; so, it was a plug and chug of race and class for the players. Since they are all voice actors and worked in games and anime for so long, this was their time to shine and say, "this is MY character."
I can confirm that the behavior of The One Who Left was awkward from the jump, but didn't feel as obviously problematic at the time as it did when I went back for a re-watch of C1 and knew how it all turned out. There's a lot of "oh, maybe that's just how they are with each other" that goes out the window when you know it was all building up towards them giving him the boot.
Yeah, I remember distinctly thinking, "I don't know if this dude's an asshole or if his character is just meant to be an asshole." And then THAT episode made it clear. Kind of the reverse of the hate poor Marisha got.
Agree. It makes me uncomfortable when new Critters jump on the Hate Orion bandwagon. Feels like bullying to achieve in-group status. Dude was going through some stuff AND is the most selfish of the bunch. But I assure you it is far more unusual to have a gaming group without a player like that than one with it.
@@hawkname1234 A sympathetic villain is still a villain, but I agree that folk should have their facts straight and know all contexts before making accusations or judgements of people.
@@soccertl Pike also refers to him as "Grandpa Willhand" in the present day when Grog first starts telling the story, so it's just a short hand instead of having to say "great great" every time. This was clarified by the cast during this week's watch along.
@@soccertl The Vox Machina cast confirmed that it was Pike, during their most recent watch party on Twitch. I see your point about how there might be some confusion due to the wording that was used.
Percy's titling of Vex'ahlia took place before their first live audience show, and there were people in the audience who thought the same as Nerdy, that he'd proposed to her, or married her somehow. But, no, the had ended up freeing up some of the seats of nobility when they were fighting the Briarwoods and their lackeys, so there's an opening for the baron/baroness of the third house. Mistress of the Grey Hunt is ... something else. The Feywild storyline took place over 5 episodes, and two of them were liveshows. Another awesome moment from Keyleth occurred during the second liveshow, where she took out a crocodile topiary plant monster with a pair of Blight spells (which do max damage to plant creatures). It was so good, the audience started chanting her name. The person Garmelie changed into at the end was someone important to the second campaign. Apparently, the suppository was designed by the animators to be twice as big, and they had to tone it down. (None of that was in the original campaign). The brown-haired gnome in Wilhand's locket, and who healed Grog at the end, that was Pike. Her hair went white because of a traumatic event, much like Percy. You can notice Grog's muscles slowly beginning to fill in as he comes to terms with his past and reaches an epiphany of what purpose his strength is for. There are more than half-giants (goliaths in the campaign) in the Herd of Storms, there's half-orcs and orcs, there are even humans and half-elves (in the campaign Kevdak had absorbed a number of different tribes into his "herd"). Aside from obeying Kevdak, the only requirement is strength.
4:53 No, her title is Baroness of the _third_ House of Whitestone, if she was part of the de Rolo family it would be the first house. And the Grey Hunt thing is a whole sepparate thing.
"Approval, cuz your father will never give it" "But Percy will [insert guitar string noises]" "Yeah if he calls his dick approval" "I mean he calls his hand diplomacy" I am deceased.
Your experience with Critical Role kinda mirrored mine when I first found it after season 1 of the show introduced me. I did not expect it to be so engrossing but by the time I finished campaign one I legit felt like I had just finished a really good epic fantasy audio book. It's remarkably engaging.
The main reason why Vex and Percy sort of enter into a romantic relationship is that Percy at least in the campaign was comforted by Vex the most during his hardships in the briarwood arc. it's harder to spot in the show rather than in the campaign. However, the point is that Percy always cared deeply for Vex often giving her gifts from his inventive mind creating arrows and all sorts of stuff. You only really see this once in the show but there are a lot of small moments between them. The biggest point here is probably that Percy realized a part of his feelings towards her when he got her killed and felt guilty because of it and probably incredibly sad that he almost lost her. It's my favorite ship of that campaign tbh, there is some natural realistic feeling to their impression of each other that I really like.
There is a very good reason pike grew up with wilhand, as some have already said that IS pike, won't spoil why her hair is white now bc it might be mentioned when her back story is explored a bit more... Edit: The herd, is a mix of mostly half giants, but half orcs, humans, and elves are also members. "mustashe" is a half orc.
There is something about Critical Role that makes you feel like your listening to friends. And I think that is its real strength. I totally agree with you Nerdy. Im glad you are enjoying the campaign too!
Definitely. That's the one thing that the show doesn't have that the campaign does. There are so many moments that are memorable not necessarily because of what happened in the context of the story, but because of how the table reacted to it. Thinks like the tub for example, or avocado. There's a channel I watch, marisharaygun, who does edits of the past week's episodes, and it's mostly just the cast asides - the side whispers and things like that. Any actual plot elements are included only to enhance the moments they're capturing.
I definitely think CR taps into that primal, telling stories around the campfire itch we all have. I would pay at least twice as much to hear Matt Mercer tell me about a terrible movie than to watch most blockbusters
Also it was pike. She just misspoke which they did all the time in the campaign. Lol. Her hair went white when she died fighting a Demon before they started streaming. :-)
Re: Percy names for things, his new gun is called Retort. He's big on one word innocuous names for terrible devices. Bad News a little bit of an outlier there.
Retort is also Percy's "rebuild" of Ripley's experimental revolver that he took from her at Whitestone. He modified the damaged weapon (which had blown up in her hand) and got it working.
Critical Role is really comforting. I've spent the last three weeks catching up on campaigns 2 and 3 and after having not watched it for a few months it had the same feeling as visiting old friends. They just make me smile.
love the reactions to this show :) As someone who has been watching Critical Role live since the first few episodes, it makes me so happy to see new people getting to know these characters. Regarding “that person”, i don’t remember me or the small fandom back then noticing much of the problems until it was like… unbearable lol a particular episode comes to mind, maybe because we didn’t know better. But now watching it back it’s wild how the problems are clear from the beginning and surprising that they lasted that long on the show lmao
10:50 Am I the only one who can just about hear Saundor saying "But I'm really a nice guuuyyyy" as he melts away? 21:10 No that is actually little Pike. She just shortened it to grandfather because the dying kid didn't need the full accuracy of their family tree at that particular moment, lol. Also yes, Pike did go gray early. If you notice she also doesn't have the scar over her eye yet. Since you're watching them, the early episodes of Critical Role have the character's backstories playing at the beginning of them and that should explain why Pike's hair changed.
Yup. Shit was tense and uncomfortable from the beginning at the table and his behavior only gets WORSE as the episodes go on. The vibes are COMPLETELY different and what we now know as their normal vibes at the table the first episode he is gone. The relief and relaxation of that constant tension at the table is palpable. Hope you reach episode 28 soon...it's smooth sailing from there.
Apparently Orion had a lot of problems outside of the the game so I try not to judge him too harshly. But on the show he was clearly rubbing the other players up the wrong way, especially Travis, and Marisha, bless her, worked so hard to subtly keep Orion in line.
The funny thing about you commenting on Scanlan playing Gavroche, is the actor Sam Riegel, did indeed play Gavroche in his youth in a tour of Les Miserables that ended up on Broadway.
I really hope to hear more of your experience going through the actual campaign! Especially when you reach episode 28 or 29 and the energy shift is *palpable*.
As a Critical Role watcher, a lot of people say to just skip over those first 27 episodes(I kind of agree) because it really does drag the story and group down. Which is sad because a lot of fans really liked the one player's character a lot! What I found interesting was that Geek and Sundry used to show the behind the scenes of when the show was on break; you could see the cast joke around, move back and forth from the set, etc. That last episode, there isn't any volume, but there are not happy faces talking back and forth (unsure if it was to that specific person or just about said person) and it was rough! You can literally see the moment from Matt being annoyed to "...and you're done at the table." Episode 28 though, it's like night and day with the group, the cast is immediately so much happier.
Saying your strength comes from your heart still makes it completely an internal thing. I have the feeling (if there was a direct answer in game I don't remember it) the answer is going to be that the true strength is going to be something that comes from the bond with his friends, his found family. That together they are stronger
Discovering Critical Role is what got me through the first year of the pando. Having never played D&D and not familiar with TTRPG in any way.... a "Most Emotional Scenes" compilation popped up in my autoplay and I was hooked. I was consuming; sometimes, 2 and 3 episodes a day... I started with Campaign 2, caught up to current and then went back and binge watched C1. The best decision that I've ever made.
I don't know which made me laugh harder, the reference to Scanlan as Gavroche when Sam actually played him on Broadway or the fact that I said "Well, he calls his hand Diplomacy" a literal half second before y'all! Loving your reactions (and yeah, "he who shall not be named" from campaign 1" was pretty grating from the very start. That's a whole complex set of circumstances to unpack, but sadly his departure was the best thing for the show and I think for their friend group as well.).
Campaign 1 was so hard for me to even try to watch. I started with Campaign 3 and the production value and the refinement of their storytelling and style is so on point that going back to Vox Machina is almost painful.
Critical Role is my therapy and my trauma. 😁 No, Percy didn't imply they're married. The de Rolos are the 1st House of Whitestone. In the campaign, there's a conversation Percy has after with Vex to explain that yes, the title is real, and normally there would be a manor that comes with it, but the manor she would have received is the one Duke Vedmire was living in, which Scanlan burned down. There's a rather extensive backstory to Whitestone in the CR wiki, and the various published source books. I remember watching that moment with Keyleth going fire elemental and using tree-stride to burn the trees from the inside out in the original stream. Such a clever move! Fun trivia (not sure if you already knew this or not): Sam (Scanlan) actually DID play Gavroche in Les Miserables when he was a kid. ruclips.net/video/VWDjbdiSvJQ/видео.html No, that actually was Pike. She did go grey early. In their house game, before they started streaming, she was killed. They brought her back, and that's when her hair turned white. "Mustache" is an orc. But yes, in D&D, goliaths don't typically grow hair. I think that they changed that in the show, maybe. That's confusing.
Really appreciate my sister introducing me to CR. Whenever we were both at my Grandma's house I'd see her listening to the streams while painting minis or helping with meal prep, then I started to sit down and listen as well and just fell in love with those idiots.
Totally understand how you’re feeling about this show. We found Critical Role at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. They became our favorite imaginary friends, and really helped get us through it.
I feel you on the finding respite in critical role, just like many others, I found it during a very dark time in my life, I watched the entire first campaign (all 115 episodes) in slightly less than a month. I essentially did nothing else but watch and sleep. It allowed me to escape into a safe place with friendship at its core. Things are better now, but I am still grateful for what I found, completely on accident, years ago. I am happy others are now discovering it too (and a bit jealous that they get to watch it with fresh eyes).
I love the contrast of the twin's father figure vs Pike and Grog's father figure. Loved them getting the delightful Henry Winkler to be Wilhand. Percy kind of publicly declared feelings for Vex, by giving her a place in Whitestone as a home. It's the one important thing in the world to him since, remember, they just recovered Whitestone. HUGE romantic gesture. It was done in front of a live audience in the real campaign and nobody knew it was coming. The reactions are priceless. for episode 9, everyone gets torn up seeing our sweet boy Grog back in the past being a legit part of the Herd. the upcoming fight is one of the most epic battles in Vox Machina. The writers have done a masterful job telling Scanlan's back story so quietly all through everything. Some really fun stuff coming up. for the actual game comments... yeah the chemistry of the table changes dramatically very quickly after their departure. It gets soooo much better.
Just to make sure it's clear, that's definitely Pike who healed Grog. Per Grog's intro thing that played during the campaign, "Exiled from his herd, it was then that the relative of the very gnome he fought to save, saved him. It was the kindness of a gnome cleric named Pike that healed Grog, bringing him back from death's edge. And they have remained close friends ever since." Pike's hair changed after a pre-stream campaign thing.
The tree teleporting thing happened in game iirc, marisha is a storytelling badass But yeah I agree with you on the critical role being a comfort thing. Campaign 2 streams are my first go to when feeling off
The whole situation with that one player in particular definitely may be skewed a bit by the knowledge of the ending of those events. A lot of things can come off as just slightly clashing play styles and growing pains of changing systems and figuring out live play instead of home game, maybe even just plain old miscommunication causing tension. I went into campaign one without any knowledge of what was to come (completely blind). There are some things that were like oh that wasn't great, but I didn't know the group and could assume that some friends, who would supposedly know each other's boundaries and respect them, could be not bothered by it. If there was tension it didn't seem to last and I could believe it may have been handled out of game either by the players or with the DM. I only found out what happened after that player left. That's when the dots started connecting and the benefit of the doubt was lost.
Funny you should mention Gavroche... because that's how Sam Riegel, Scanlan's voice, got his start in musical theatre.. There's a fun anecdote he tells about when he was in a production in LA at the times there were riots in the streets.. and when he had an accident on stage he was brought to the hospital, scruffy makeup and all, where he said he'd fallen off the barricades, which the medics took to mean there were barricades in the streets due to the riots... And yes, that was Pike, not her mom. Also, Pike didn't go grey.. she went white. She died in the campaign, prior to the streaming... and was brought back, as they were moving from pathfinder to 5E, she became a war priest for the occasion. The white hair was part of the process
Please do a video about the situation with "the one person on Critical Role." Presumably after you get through those 27 episodes. That would be really interesting.
Some reactors have said that the fight between Vex and Saundor didn't feel like it had stakes because they didn't feel like Vex was actually in danger and, as such, weren't the biggest fans of the fight. I, however, loved this fight because it was a major vehicle for Vex's character growth and development. Sure, it felt like more than likely Vex would have come out of it physically okay. But what was much more interesting was the fact that she was able to use that fight as a means to confront her feelings of inadequacy towards her father and, in so doing, also reject the manipulations of a narcissistic controller who would weaponize her mental issues in order to isolate her and create dependence upon him. Instead she not only chooses to pursue a relationship with a partner who has not only been caring but also supportive of who she is and her own self-worth, but takes that self-worth to heart. I also like the episode because it doesn't outright "fix" Vex. She's taken a step towards self-actualization, but she also recognizes that she isn't quite yet ready to face the major source of toxicity in her life (likely because she'll probably fall into old habits and thinking). Heck, when she DID stand up to her father, she recognized that it hurt her more than felt good, which is itself a sign that she still has a ways to go to better internalize her self-worth. The episode and the fight (which itself was gorgeous) wasn't about physical survival, but about mental and emotional growth in the face of adversity and toxicity, and in that sense I think it did marvelously.
That is Pike in the flashback. She just calls him grandfather for short because saying Great--great everytime is a mouthful. There is a reason her hair turned white, and this isn't a spoiler really because they have re-written Vox Machina's history, but in the home game she was killed and resurrected and her hair turned from black to white after her resurrection. But in this animated series canon, apparently she has never died before so... They are probably going to come up with a new reason why her hair spontaneously turned white. This death took place waaaaaaay before the events in the Vox Machina series as well, so it isn't something that is going to happen during the series.
I started watching Critical Role before that player left and didn't know about any of the behind the scenes tension when I started watching, so as a person who began campaign 1 with no preconceived ideas about how that situation would turn out: It was super uncomfortable, at times offensive, and as a viewer I was so relieved when that player was no longer at the table. So it's definitely not just you reading into things.
With half giants facial hair caaan happen but it's so rare it's almost noon existent. That's why IF one can grow one it's a huge deal. they'll always show it off, ala Grog lol
4:53 Nah, that was just him bestowing a title on Vex'ahlia, "Third house of Whitestone" had they been married, it would have been the First house. 21:00 Yeah, she did die at one point, and by reviving her, she went through some changes, like having white hair. and yes, this is Pike, not her mother, the mother don't have those powers.
Small correction, the campaign has 115 episodes total (plus 3 oneshot epilogues) and only about 40 episodes (plus a bit of material from their home game, from before they started streaming) are covered in these two seasons. Sam has said they're aiming for 5 seasons total for LoVM, and knowing what's yet to be covered that seems like a very reasonable amount.
Percy did not insinuate that they were married. He titled her so that she could hold that over her father's head. You'll notice he only made her Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone. She would be Baroness of the First House of Whitestone if they were married. Also, Grog's strength doesn't come from his heart.
I discovered Critical Role (C2) during the pandemic and immediately fell in love, it was pure therapy (and great entertainment!), so I totally get what you're saying :)
It is Pike, not her mom. Pre-Stream Pike dies and gets revived with her new hair colour. Also the Herd isn't just Half-Giants (Goliaths), there are humans, Half-Orcs, etc.
For the last part of the video, personally I followed the advise of starting around the Briewood arc, so I only listened to one episode with that person. So far I don't feel lost on anything, but maybe someday I'll check out storyline from earlier episodes
"I'm surviving on Critical Role right now" I feel this in my bones. It's just... *wordless enthusiastic arm waving * UGH, it's so GOOD, in the sense that it puts good into the world, as well as being good entertainment. "DnD saves lives" Okay but FR though.
Nerdy I have been doing that same thing. While watching Campaign 3 every week, I had also been watching the others. I finished Campaign 2 and am almost done of Campaign 1. I live in Canada too.
As a Critter, it is heartwarming to hear that Nerdy finds this his favourite show so far, even more than Last of Us! It's always hard to tell as a watcher from the start how anyone else would feel about it
I came in blind to Crit Role. I never knew what "that person" did before I jumped in. I actually liked their character! The character, not the player. I cringe at some of the things this player does. I thought it was fine at first because I've only seen one TTRPG actual play before Crit Role. I eventually noticed that it's not from how the other players sublty reacted. It's especially hard to watch on episode 28. It felt more like a back-and-forth fight between this player and Matt 😅
It's understandable that everyone is confused about Pike. Her hair is a different color, and she says "grandfather" instead of "great great grandfather". But her hair was darker, and "grandfather" just seems like a reasonable shorthand than having to add "great great" all the time. It's also confusing because she says "I never knew", which is weird because she was there at the tail end. We can surmise from this that she didn't know all the details.
I still find it surprising just how many mistake flashback Pike as her mother or something. Pike calls Wilhand "Grandpa Wilhand" multiple times, and yet when she says "grandfather" in the flashback somehow that's taken more literally?
Originally, Syldor did amend the name; I'm hoping for a bigger payoff down the road. The satyr is actually an archfey. You'll see him again. And then again, and again... No, that is Pike. Her hair turned white after she was bisected by a glabrezu and resurrected. Grog's heart was in the right place, but it's not quite the right answer.
The girl with the black hair who saved Grog's life years ago is Pike. There's a reason her hair is stark white that happened before they went to stream. Also Grog's backstory was changed in the show compared to the campaign1. He was a lot younger in the campaign. Kevdak doing basically the same thing to a ten year old probably sat badly with some people so they aged him up a bit?
About Orion. On my first watch I didn't really... notice? Anything wrong? Or just wrote off any weird moments as part of the game. However, I was _very_ new to the world of TTRPG and I wasn't nearly as familiar with the cast as I was when I went back and rewatched the beginning for the first time. And ho boy. Knowing what is and isn't cool to do at a TTRPG table and being able to distinguish between in-game and above-table talk and read the cast's faces a lot better, suddenly there's a _whole lot_ of weird ass moments.
So actually in the flashback that *is* Pike, not her mom, though I don't blame you for making that mistake. Idk if they'll talk about it in the show but in her past Pike had a death and revival experience that turned her hair white
By the way...Completely off topic but...Have you guys watched Russian Doll with Natasha Lyonne? I'm watching Poker Face now with her and it made me remember how good Russian Doll is. If you havent seen it, put it on your playlist.
He didn't insinuate they are married... he gave her an official title... basically made her royalty. So, I believe status wise she is above her father now. He is a senator or something so politically he is above normal citizen but yeah Vex is 100% Official Baroness.
Actually, that was Pike that healed Grog, as for the hair color....there is a reason her hair went white, but not sure if they are going to pull that backstory into the show, so gonna leave it at that.
It is indeed Pike healing Grog in the flashback, her hair was black before a certain event in the campaign but that happened before the stream.
it'd be baller if they ever covered that certain event!
Not been in any of the campaigns I only watched the animation is it spoilery to ask what said campaign was to make Pike have her hair changed?
@@TheStockportHatter1986 spoiler.
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Pike died pre-stream to a Glabrezu, specifically it cut her in half. When she came back her hair was white.
That's not a spoiler as it already happened and won't ever be shown anyway
@@CoL_Drake They might eventually show it in some flashback, just like Grog's Backstory here, or like the Twins' and Trinket's.
It's funny you said Gavroche when Scanlon does his Revolutionary speech. Sam Riegel actually played Gavroche on Broadway in 1989. Did you already know that, or was it just amazing coincidence?
I was just about to leave this comment haha!
If you've never seen it, there's a video from back then about the kids that auditioned. Really interesting. ruclips.net/video/VWDjbdiSvJQ/видео.html
I had no idea 😂
@@cryofpaine What's funnier is Sam's episode of "Between the Sheets" when he talks about going to the hospital after falling off a barricade during a Le Mis performance in Los Angeles. The Rodney King riots were going on at the time.
regarding Percy giving Vex that title, no he wasn't insinuating that they were married. as Lord of Whitestone he can grant titles to people, and he gave Vex one in that moment to try and make her father respect her more, even though it failed to do so.
Actually, this: ruclips.net/video/r9FeIbgDFK0/видео.html
@@LeeCarlson yes, that's what i just described
To be fair, it does work in the campaign. Moreso than in the show...the show seems to be channeling the Syldor from the Kith and Kin book...and less so who he was in the campaign... He was still a dick...but less so.
@@AnxietyRat Agreed. The Syldor we meet in the stream has already had a minor reunion with the twins (during their home game) wherein they save Velora. Unlike here in LoVM it's the first time they meet her. So we're gonna hopefully see him mellow out and recognize their strengths and worth in later seasons.
He's not Lord of Whitestone. He abdicated any responsibility and left Cassandra with that title - he's just, at best, an Ambassador. He wasn't even that in the campaign. Not that Cassandra would refuse him, and not that Syldor didn't need his attitude checked.
Marisha really did that teleportation move through the two trees in the campaign, too. Legendary move, incredible stuff
4:55 No. As Lord of Whitestone Percy can offer land and titles to people to help with the rule of Whitestone. For example, when the Briarwoods ruled Whitestone Vedmire, Anders, and Stonefell were all given titles and mansions in Whitestone.
And after those three got killed, there are suddenly some openings for titles. 🤣
“It occured to me that we had killed 2 of the 3 lords of whitestone while we were there!”
@@bandi138138 well, all 3 were killed in the show (though I know Vedmire was just relieved of his title in the campaign)
" I bestow upon you the title Grand Poobah deDoink of all of this and that."
-Percy DeRolo.
Extra fun when Scanlan is "helping" Grog with the pill he's whistling pull my beads of love that sang early in the campaign season one
It's worth noting that you're not alone in that comforting feeling Nerdy. Campaign 2 of Critical Role got a lot folks who discovered it through the depression of the pandemic.
I absolutely loved C2, it got me through recovering from a major surgery. I can't wait for the animated series!
@@vanessaaves3271same! C2 got me through going on disability for severe depression last year. Only discovered CR through this show. So grateful for it.
@@timothyjuvet4073 I had heard of it due to having played D&D with my friends, but had never watched it. I hope you’re feeling better, depression is an insidious and relentless disease.
Campaign two is the players really spreading their wings and "writing" characters for themselves. Campaign 1 started as a one shot for Liam's birthday; so, it was a plug and chug of race and class for the players. Since they are all voice actors and worked in games and anime for so long, this was their time to shine and say, "this is MY character."
I can confirm that the behavior of The One Who Left was awkward from the jump, but didn't feel as obviously problematic at the time as it did when I went back for a re-watch of C1 and knew how it all turned out. There's a lot of "oh, maybe that's just how they are with each other" that goes out the window when you know it was all building up towards them giving him the boot.
Yeah, I remember distinctly thinking, "I don't know if this dude's an asshole or if his character is just meant to be an asshole." And then THAT episode made it clear.
Kind of the reverse of the hate poor Marisha got.
Agree. It makes me uncomfortable when new Critters jump on the Hate Orion bandwagon. Feels like bullying to achieve in-group status.
Dude was going through some stuff AND is the most selfish of the bunch.
But I assure you it is far more unusual to have a gaming group without a player like that than one with it.
@@hawkname1234 A sympathetic villain is still a villain, but I agree that folk should have their facts straight and know all contexts before making accusations or judgements of people.
Legend says, he's still dipping out on the BBEG with a magic carpet to shop for fuckin mirrors.
@@motorcycleboy9000 Guys I need a nap.
But the villain is just about to get awa-
I NEED A NAP!!!
That was actually little Pike saving Grog. This was before a certain event that led to her hair color changing to how she looks in the present.
But the little Pike called him grandpa and the actual Pike called him great Grandpa. That makes it seem like it was Pike's mom.
@@soccertl Pike also refers to him as "Grandpa Willhand" in the present day when Grog first starts telling the story, so it's just a short hand instead of having to say "great great" every time. This was clarified by the cast during this week's watch along.
@@soccertl The Vox Machina cast confirmed that it was Pike, during their most recent watch party on Twitch. I see your point about how there might be some confusion due to the wording that was used.
Thanks for the clarification all.
Percy's titling of Vex'ahlia took place before their first live audience show, and there were people in the audience who thought the same as Nerdy, that he'd proposed to her, or married her somehow. But, no, the had ended up freeing up some of the seats of nobility when they were fighting the Briarwoods and their lackeys, so there's an opening for the baron/baroness of the third house. Mistress of the Grey Hunt is ... something else.
The Feywild storyline took place over 5 episodes, and two of them were liveshows. Another awesome moment from Keyleth occurred during the second liveshow, where she took out a crocodile topiary plant monster with a pair of Blight spells (which do max damage to plant creatures). It was so good, the audience started chanting her name.
The person Garmelie changed into at the end was someone important to the second campaign.
Apparently, the suppository was designed by the animators to be twice as big, and they had to tone it down. (None of that was in the original campaign).
The brown-haired gnome in Wilhand's locket, and who healed Grog at the end, that was Pike. Her hair went white because of a traumatic event, much like Percy.
You can notice Grog's muscles slowly beginning to fill in as he comes to terms with his past and reaches an epiphany of what purpose his strength is for.
There are more than half-giants (goliaths in the campaign) in the Herd of Storms, there's half-orcs and orcs, there are even humans and half-elves (in the campaign Kevdak had absorbed a number of different tribes into his "herd"). Aside from obeying Kevdak, the only requirement is strength.
Matt Mercer is such a thoughtful DM, he made a cute gnome NPC just for Scanlan to borrow a flute from. What a swell guy.
I love how this bot said something that could be insinuating as “Oh boy wait till you learn,” when it was just trying to sell you a virus 🤣
4:53 No, her title is Baroness of the _third_ House of Whitestone, if she was part of the de Rolo family it would be the first house. And the Grey Hunt thing is a whole sepparate thing.
"but what if I need you?" 😭😭😭 that is a great callback from season one when Pike decided to go to the Everlight
"Approval, cuz your father will never give it"
"But Percy will [insert guitar string noises]"
"Yeah if he calls his dick approval"
"I mean he calls his hand diplomacy"
I am deceased.
Your experience with Critical Role kinda mirrored mine when I first found it after season 1 of the show introduced me. I did not expect it to be so engrossing but by the time I finished campaign one I legit felt like I had just finished a really good epic fantasy audio book. It's remarkably engaging.
It's about 10 times longer than an average audio book, so that helps to get more invested.
The main reason why Vex and Percy sort of enter into a romantic relationship is that Percy at least in the campaign was comforted by Vex the most during his hardships in the briarwood arc. it's harder to spot in the show rather than in the campaign. However, the point is that Percy always cared deeply for Vex often giving her gifts from his inventive mind creating arrows and all sorts of stuff. You only really see this once in the show but there are a lot of small moments between them. The biggest point here is probably that Percy realized a part of his feelings towards her when he got her killed and felt guilty because of it and probably incredibly sad that he almost lost her. It's my favorite ship of that campaign tbh, there is some natural realistic feeling to their impression of each other that I really like.
There is a very good reason pike grew up with wilhand, as some have already said that IS pike, won't spoil why her hair is white now bc it might be mentioned when her back story is explored a bit more...
Edit: The herd, is a mix of mostly half giants, but half orcs, humans, and elves are also members. "mustashe" is a half orc.
There is something about Critical Role that makes you feel like your listening to friends. And I think that is its real strength. I totally agree with you Nerdy. Im glad you are enjoying the campaign too!
Definitely. That's the one thing that the show doesn't have that the campaign does. There are so many moments that are memorable not necessarily because of what happened in the context of the story, but because of how the table reacted to it. Thinks like the tub for example, or avocado. There's a channel I watch, marisharaygun, who does edits of the past week's episodes, and it's mostly just the cast asides - the side whispers and things like that. Any actual plot elements are included only to enhance the moments they're capturing.
@@cryofpaine avocado, that's some legendary guacamole
I definitely think CR taps into that primal, telling stories around the campfire itch we all have. I would pay at least twice as much to hear Matt Mercer tell me about a terrible movie than to watch most blockbusters
@@facistdic so, Narrative Telephone? 😁
i fucking LOVE Grog's scream at the end "KEVDAAAAK!!!!!!" Travis Willingham is such a beast.
Also it was pike. She just misspoke which they did all the time in the campaign. Lol. Her hair went white when she died fighting a Demon before they started streaming. :-)
Re: Percy names for things, his new gun is called Retort. He's big on one word innocuous names for terrible devices.
Bad News a little bit of an outlier there.
Retort is also Percy's "rebuild" of Ripley's experimental revolver that he took from her at Whitestone.
He modified the damaged weapon (which had blown up in her hand) and got it working.
Critical Role is really comforting. I've spent the last three weeks catching up on campaigns 2 and 3 and after having not watched it for a few months it had the same feeling as visiting old friends. They just make me smile.
Sam Reigel was Gavroche in the touring production of Les Mis
That is actually pike her hair turns white in her back story
love the reactions to this show :) As someone who has been watching Critical Role live since the first few episodes, it makes me so happy to see new people getting to know these characters.
Regarding “that person”, i don’t remember me or the small fandom back then noticing much of the problems until it was like… unbearable lol a particular episode comes to mind, maybe because we didn’t know better. But now watching it back it’s wild how the problems are clear from the beginning and surprising that they lasted that long on the show lmao
10:50 Am I the only one who can just about hear Saundor saying "But I'm really a nice guuuyyyy" as he melts away?
21:10 No that is actually little Pike. She just shortened it to grandfather because the dying kid didn't need the full accuracy of their family tree at that particular moment, lol. Also yes, Pike did go gray early. If you notice she also doesn't have the scar over her eye yet. Since you're watching them, the early episodes of Critical Role have the character's backstories playing at the beginning of them and that should explain why Pike's hair changed.
Yup. Shit was tense and uncomfortable from the beginning at the table and his behavior only gets WORSE as the episodes go on.
The vibes are COMPLETELY different and what we now know as their normal vibes at the table the first episode he is gone. The relief and relaxation of that constant tension at the table is palpable. Hope you reach episode 28 soon...it's smooth sailing from there.
(At 2:32) they have a little half-sister? Maybe this "might" motivate them to come back a little often.
Apparently Orion had a lot of problems outside of the the game so I try not to judge him too harshly.
But on the show he was clearly rubbing the other players up the wrong way, especially Travis, and Marisha, bless her, worked so hard to subtly keep Orion in line.
The funny thing about you commenting on Scanlan playing Gavroche, is the actor Sam Riegel, did indeed play Gavroche in his youth in a tour of Les Miserables that ended up on Broadway.
I really hope to hear more of your experience going through the actual campaign! Especially when you reach episode 28 or 29 and the energy shift is *palpable*.
07:21 Percy names everything. This is canon as far as I'm concerned. 🤣🤣🤣
The fire elemental tree stride move was 100% on stream. It's such a great moment to see animated.
As a Critical Role watcher, a lot of people say to just skip over those first 27 episodes(I kind of agree) because it really does drag the story and group down. Which is sad because a lot of fans really liked the one player's character a lot! What I found interesting was that Geek and Sundry used to show the behind the scenes of when the show was on break; you could see the cast joke around, move back and forth from the set, etc. That last episode, there isn't any volume, but there are not happy faces talking back and forth (unsure if it was to that specific person or just about said person) and it was rough! You can literally see the moment from Matt being annoyed to "...and you're done at the table." Episode 28 though, it's like night and day with the group, the cast is immediately so much happier.
Saying your strength comes from your heart still makes it completely an internal thing. I have the feeling (if there was a direct answer in game I don't remember it) the answer is going to be that the true strength is going to be something that comes from the bond with his friends, his found family. That together they are stronger
I think so too
17:34 Sam Riegal did actually play Gavroche (on broadway i think?) when he was a kid
Discovering Critical Role is what got me through the first year of the pando.
Having never played D&D and not familiar with TTRPG in any way.... a "Most Emotional Scenes" compilation popped up in my autoplay and I was hooked.
I was consuming; sometimes, 2 and 3 episodes a day... I started with Campaign 2, caught up to current and then went back and binge watched C1. The best decision that I've ever made.
I don't know which made me laugh harder, the reference to Scanlan as Gavroche when Sam actually played him on Broadway or the fact that I said "Well, he calls his hand Diplomacy" a literal half second before y'all! Loving your reactions (and yeah, "he who shall not be named" from campaign 1" was pretty grating from the very start. That's a whole complex set of circumstances to unpack, but sadly his departure was the best thing for the show and I think for their friend group as well.).
Campaign 1 was so hard for me to even try to watch. I started with Campaign 3 and the production value and the refinement of their storytelling and style is so on point that going back to Vox Machina is almost painful.
That's why I'm really happy I started with campaign 1 😅
Critical Role is my therapy and my trauma. 😁
No, Percy didn't imply they're married. The de Rolos are the 1st House of Whitestone. In the campaign, there's a conversation Percy has after with Vex to explain that yes, the title is real, and normally there would be a manor that comes with it, but the manor she would have received is the one Duke Vedmire was living in, which Scanlan burned down. There's a rather extensive backstory to Whitestone in the CR wiki, and the various published source books.
I remember watching that moment with Keyleth going fire elemental and using tree-stride to burn the trees from the inside out in the original stream. Such a clever move!
Fun trivia (not sure if you already knew this or not): Sam (Scanlan) actually DID play Gavroche in Les Miserables when he was a kid. ruclips.net/video/VWDjbdiSvJQ/видео.html
No, that actually was Pike. She did go grey early. In their house game, before they started streaming, she was killed. They brought her back, and that's when her hair turned white.
"Mustache" is an orc. But yes, in D&D, goliaths don't typically grow hair. I think that they changed that in the show, maybe. That's confusing.
As a critter from the very beginning, I 100% agree with you on Orion. Nuff said.
Really appreciate my sister introducing me to CR. Whenever we were both at my Grandma's house I'd see her listening to the streams while painting minis or helping with meal prep, then I started to sit down and listen as well and just fell in love with those idiots.
Totally understand how you’re feeling about this show. We found Critical Role at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. They became our favorite imaginary friends, and really helped get us through it.
Sam did play Gavroche. Pike's hair was originally black put turned white pre-stream when she died and was resurrected in the home game.
I feel you on the finding respite in critical role, just like many others, I found it during a very dark time in my life, I watched the entire first campaign (all 115 episodes) in slightly less than a month. I essentially did nothing else but watch and sleep. It allowed me to escape into a safe place with friendship at its core. Things are better now, but I am still grateful for what I found, completely on accident, years ago. I am happy others are now discovering it too (and a bit jealous that they get to watch it with fresh eyes).
I love the contrast of the twin's father figure vs Pike and Grog's father figure. Loved them getting the delightful Henry Winkler to be Wilhand.
Percy kind of publicly declared feelings for Vex, by giving her a place in Whitestone as a home. It's the one important thing in the world to him
since, remember, they just recovered Whitestone. HUGE romantic gesture. It was done in front of a live audience in the real campaign and
nobody knew it was coming. The reactions are priceless.
for episode 9, everyone gets torn up seeing our sweet boy Grog back in the past being a legit part of the Herd.
the upcoming fight is one of the most epic battles in Vox Machina.
The writers have done a masterful job telling Scanlan's back story so quietly all through everything. Some really fun stuff coming up.
for the actual game comments... yeah the chemistry of the table changes dramatically very quickly after their departure. It gets soooo much better.
If the barbarians have a tusk, they’re probably half-orcs, not half-giants
Just to make sure it's clear, that's definitely Pike who healed Grog. Per Grog's intro thing that played during the campaign, "Exiled from his herd, it was then that the relative of the very gnome he fought to save, saved him. It was the kindness of a gnome cleric named Pike that healed Grog, bringing him back from death's edge. And they have remained close friends ever since." Pike's hair changed after a pre-stream campaign thing.
Yeah, Pike died and her hair changed during the resurrection
The tree teleporting thing happened in game iirc, marisha is a storytelling badass
But yeah I agree with you on the critical role being a comfort thing. Campaign 2 streams are my first go to when feeling off
The whole situation with that one player in particular definitely may be skewed a bit by the knowledge of the ending of those events. A lot of things can come off as just slightly clashing play styles and growing pains of changing systems and figuring out live play instead of home game, maybe even just plain old miscommunication causing tension. I went into campaign one without any knowledge of what was to come (completely blind). There are some things that were like oh that wasn't great, but I didn't know the group and could assume that some friends, who would supposedly know each other's boundaries and respect them, could be not bothered by it. If there was tension it didn't seem to last and I could believe it may have been handled out of game either by the players or with the DM. I only found out what happened after that player left. That's when the dots started connecting and the benefit of the doubt was lost.
“Is he about to play Gavroche?”
Are you aware how Sam Riegal got into theatre?
Funny you should mention Gavroche... because that's how Sam Riegel, Scanlan's voice, got his start in musical theatre..
There's a fun anecdote he tells about when he was in a production in LA at the times there were riots in the streets.. and when he had an accident on stage he was brought to the hospital, scruffy makeup and all, where he said he'd fallen off the barricades, which the medics took to mean there were barricades in the streets due to the riots...
And yes, that was Pike, not her mom.
Also, Pike didn't go grey.. she went white.
She died in the campaign, prior to the streaming... and was brought back, as they were moving from pathfinder to 5E, she became a war priest for the occasion. The white hair was part of the process
Please do a video about the situation with "the one person on Critical Role." Presumably after you get through those 27 episodes. That would be really interesting.
that was pike with the black hair, prior to this show/stream she died and was brought back and her hair went white when she was resurrected.
Some reactors have said that the fight between Vex and Saundor didn't feel like it had stakes because they didn't feel like Vex was actually in danger and, as such, weren't the biggest fans of the fight.
I, however, loved this fight because it was a major vehicle for Vex's character growth and development. Sure, it felt like more than likely Vex would have come out of it physically okay. But what was much more interesting was the fact that she was able to use that fight as a means to confront her feelings of inadequacy towards her father and, in so doing, also reject the manipulations of a narcissistic controller who would weaponize her mental issues in order to isolate her and create dependence upon him. Instead she not only chooses to pursue a relationship with a partner who has not only been caring but also supportive of who she is and her own self-worth, but takes that self-worth to heart.
I also like the episode because it doesn't outright "fix" Vex. She's taken a step towards self-actualization, but she also recognizes that she isn't quite yet ready to face the major source of toxicity in her life (likely because she'll probably fall into old habits and thinking). Heck, when she DID stand up to her father, she recognized that it hurt her more than felt good, which is itself a sign that she still has a ways to go to better internalize her self-worth. The episode and the fight (which itself was gorgeous) wasn't about physical survival, but about mental and emotional growth in the face of adversity and toxicity, and in that sense I think it did marvelously.
That is Pike in the flashback. She just calls him grandfather for short because saying Great--great everytime is a mouthful. There is a reason her hair turned white, and this isn't a spoiler really because they have re-written Vox Machina's history, but in the home game she was killed and resurrected and her hair turned from black to white after her resurrection. But in this animated series canon, apparently she has never died before so... They are probably going to come up with a new reason why her hair spontaneously turned white.
This death took place waaaaaaay before the events in the Vox Machina series as well, so it isn't something that is going to happen during the series.
I started watching Critical Role before that player left and didn't know about any of the behind the scenes tension when I started watching, so as a person who began campaign 1 with no preconceived ideas about how that situation would turn out: It was super uncomfortable, at times offensive, and as a viewer I was so relieved when that player was no longer at the table. So it's definitely not just you reading into things.
With half giants facial hair caaan happen but it's so rare it's almost noon existent. That's why IF one can grow one it's a huge deal. they'll always show it off, ala Grog lol
Fun fact about Wilhand: he’s voiced by “The Fonz” Henry Winkler. 😊
4:53 Nah, that was just him bestowing a title on Vex'ahlia, "Third house of Whitestone" had they been married, it would have been the First house.
21:00 Yeah, she did die at one point, and by reviving her, she went through some changes, like having white hair. and yes, this is Pike, not her mother, the mother don't have those powers.
Small correction, the campaign has 115 episodes total (plus 3 oneshot epilogues) and only about 40 episodes (plus a bit of material from their home game, from before they started streaming) are covered in these two seasons. Sam has said they're aiming for 5 seasons total for LoVM, and knowing what's yet to be covered that seems like a very reasonable amount.
Sam Regime actually did play Gavrosh on Broadway when he was a kid
Percy did not insinuate that they were married. He titled her so that she could hold that over her father's head.
You'll notice he only made her Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone. She would be Baroness of the First House of Whitestone if they were married.
Also, Grog's strength doesn't come from his heart.
The gavrosh references were abundant in C1 because Sam originated that role on Broadway in the 80's. 😂❤
Aww, it's always heartwarming to witness the birth of a new Critter XD
I love that you guys seemed to also realize that despite Scanlan's claim to "know how to work both ends," that's not how you work that end...
21:10
Campaign only detail, but her hair is white now as a side effect of a resurrection spell. Pike died once before, long before the show’s start.
I think Earthbreaker Groon said Grog was wrong about where his strength comes from, because Grog’s heart was not in the right place at the time.
Also too nonspecific and cliche an answer, IMO.
I discovered Critical Role (C2) during the pandemic and immediately fell in love, it was pure therapy (and great entertainment!), so I totally get what you're saying :)
10:11 She did it in the campaign, too, if I remember correctly. ❤🧡💛💚💜💙
This built on to my already high level of excitement for the last three episodes of the season tonight. Such a fun reaction.
The comment about Scanlan trying to be Gavroche is funny because Sam actually played Gavroche (in the National Tour for Les Mis I believe)!
Thank you Nightly for addressing the Orion in the room. That little sentence is all it takes :)
Just remember what Garmilie said at the end for the future.
Nerdy I'm so happy you're RAGING through C1! Let us all know when you've caught up to Season 1 Finale!
Will do!
That is Pike. Before the stream started during their home game. Pike died and was resurrected. Her white hair is a result of that.
He has a beard because of the belt. Love the Chewy mug!
It is Pike, not her mom. Pre-Stream Pike dies and gets revived with her new hair colour. Also the Herd isn't just Half-Giants (Goliaths), there are humans, Half-Orcs, etc.
For the last part of the video, personally I followed the advise of starting around the Briewood arc, so I only listened to one episode with that person. So far I don't feel lost on anything, but maybe someday I'll check out storyline from earlier episodes
It kind of cool to see grog cosplay as Kratos in the show
"I'm surviving on Critical Role right now" I feel this in my bones. It's just... *wordless enthusiastic arm waving * UGH, it's so GOOD, in the sense that it puts good into the world, as well as being good entertainment.
"DnD saves lives" Okay but FR though.
Nerdy I have been doing that same thing. While watching Campaign 3 every week, I had also been watching the others. I finished Campaign 2 and am almost done of Campaign 1. I live in Canada too.
As a Critter, it is heartwarming to hear that Nerdy finds this his favourite show so far, even more than Last of Us! It's always hard to tell as a watcher from the start how anyone else would feel about it
Now I finally get why Clarus always says she doesn't want to have children. That's because she already has a very big one. 😜
I came in blind to Crit Role. I never knew what "that person" did before I jumped in. I actually liked their character! The character, not the player. I cringe at some of the things this player does. I thought it was fine at first because I've only seen one TTRPG actual play before Crit Role. I eventually noticed that it's not from how the other players sublty reacted. It's especially hard to watch on episode 28. It felt more like a back-and-forth fight between this player and Matt 😅
It's understandable that everyone is confused about Pike. Her hair is a different color, and she says "grandfather" instead of "great great grandfather". But her hair was darker, and "grandfather" just seems like a reasonable shorthand than having to add "great great" all the time. It's also confusing because she says "I never knew", which is weird because she was there at the tail end. We can surmise from this that she didn't know all the details.
HEY KEVDAK you got somethin on yo face, IT'S MY AXE!
I still find it surprising just how many mistake flashback Pike as her mother or something. Pike calls Wilhand "Grandpa Wilhand" multiple times, and yet when she says "grandfather" in the flashback somehow that's taken more literally?
Originally, Syldor did amend the name; I'm hoping for a bigger payoff down the road. The satyr is actually an archfey. You'll see him again. And then again, and again...
No, that is Pike. Her hair turned white after she was bisected by a glabrezu and resurrected. Grog's heart was in the right place, but it's not quite the right answer.
The girl with the black hair who saved Grog's life years ago is Pike. There's a reason her hair is stark white that happened before they went to stream. Also Grog's backstory was changed in the show compared to the campaign1. He was a lot younger in the campaign. Kevdak doing basically the same thing to a ten year old probably sat badly with some people so they aged him up a bit?
About Orion. On my first watch I didn't really... notice? Anything wrong? Or just wrote off any weird moments as part of the game. However, I was _very_ new to the world of TTRPG and I wasn't nearly as familiar with the cast as I was when I went back and rewatched the beginning for the first time.
And ho boy. Knowing what is and isn't cool to do at a TTRPG table and being able to distinguish between in-game and above-table talk and read the cast's faces a lot better, suddenly there's a _whole lot_ of weird ass moments.
It was indeed Pike, and there is a backstory reason that pike's hair went white prematurely.
You should watch Between the Sheets with Matt Mercer. All of them really, but that one in particular.
just seen the last 3 episodes of the season, YALL ARE IN FOR A FUCKING TREAT
We CANNOT WAIT
So excited to see you both go on your critical role journeys.
So actually in the flashback that *is* Pike, not her mom, though I don't blame you for making that mistake. Idk if they'll talk about it in the show but in her past Pike had a death and revival experience that turned her hair white
By the way...Completely off topic but...Have you guys watched Russian Doll with Natasha Lyonne? I'm watching Poker Face now with her and it made me remember how good Russian Doll is. If you havent seen it, put it on your playlist.
He didn't insinuate they are married... he gave her an official title... basically made her royalty. So, I believe status wise she is above her father now. He is a senator or something so politically he is above normal citizen but yeah Vex is 100% Official Baroness.
Actually, that was Pike that healed Grog, as for the hair color....there is a reason her hair went white, but not sure if they are going to pull that backstory into the show, so gonna leave it at that.
These are fantastic.
I love your reactions.
Pretty much agree with everything.
Now want to know what happened on Critical Role!
4:28. Oh no. You don't realise how correct you are.