#but it’s why their conflict and Laudna’s actions feel realistic

[vvitchllng]

In addition to Everything Else that happened this episode, I can’t stop thinking about the moment where Laudna asks him why Seedling isn’t enough why he wants This sword and Orym’s whole demeanor shifts and he looks Laudna dead in the eyes and says you’re right why Would you reach for a darker power.

Orym and Laudna are the characters with the most interparty conflict and they’re the same!!!!!!! At their core their strongest motivation is their drive to protect the ones they love at the cost of themselves if necessary. We see it all the time with Orym throwing himself in front of his friends over and over again, making deals with fae to try and keep them safe. And we see it all the time with Laudna and Delilah, where over and Over again she lures Laudna with the promise of being strong enough to protect her friends, to keep them safe. We saw it again tonight when Delilah manipulated her to get the sword by telling her it was a danger to Orym!!

Both of them looked at the power that caused their pain and decided to take it for their own, to use it to protect their loved ones instead, because if it was capable of such devastation against them, it was capable of delivering that same devastation to their enemies. Laudna asking why seedling isn’t enough (why he isn’t enough, the frustrated self-deprecating response “I have Push-ups!”) and Orym returning the question because Laudna Does have her own power separate from Delilah, she just doesn’t think its enough for what’s coming!!!

They both lost their families, but where Orym had the rest of his family, a purpose, a home, Laudna lost Everything and only had the voice of her murderer as comfort in the cold. So now they’re both taking on the power that destroyed their lives, but Orym can be rational and willing to have a discussion about doing so, while Laudna absolutely Cannot do the same because of how entwined she is with Delilah (with Delilah quite literally guiding her actions in addition to the years of psychological manipulation and abuse), and so they’re the same and yet so utterly different that they keep coming up against this fundamental inability to understand the other’s position because despite the same underlying motivations, their responses are so different.

Why would you reach for a darker power, why can you not understand why I’m doing this, why can you not see I’m doing this For You. Distorted reflections of each other wanting to be understood and at a loss when faced with the differences between them, what a fucking dynamic.

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr3 #Laudna #orym of the air ashari #sorry for the long post this episode made me insane #Orym knows Ludinus is more powerful than Otohan but to him Otohan is the most powerful version of who he could be #just like Delilah is for Laudna #‘the sword wasn’t the power that killed his family Otohan was’ and by that logic what do you think Delilah’s magic is #it’s the tool they used to deal damage which is now being wielded by their victim #I do think Orym is more capable of understanding Laudna’s position than vice versa #due to the aforementioned Evil Witch Who Killed Her In Laudna’s Brain Who Is Constantly Manipulating Her #which doesn’t absolve Laudna of her actions nor is it fair to demand Orym constantly be the more understanding person #but it’s why their conflict and Laudna’s actions feel realistic #‘’Laudna was being so unreasonable and destructive this episode’ yes. I wonder why.