#vox machina meta

[tenderesthands]

the entire ripley fight is SO good and there's too many good moments to talk about them all but vox machina collectively joining forces to kill ripley truly is the most insane scene of the episode and 1 of the best vox machina moments ever in MY humble opinion.

like "everyone gather around her. we are gonna fucking kill her together. everyone ready? for percy." but ALSO "this is percy killing you. not us." yeahhh honoring percy's death by finishing off the person who killed him but also recognizing that it SHOULD be percy to kill her. and the fact that he is not is wrong and horrifying. and she needs to know that this IS percy. that their shared combined anger and cruelty comes together to honor percy's will. they wield the weapons but percy is the true final executioner.

and i'm just continuously fascinated by how fucking CRUEL they were... the way they all just take and carve out pieces of her. the way they are not content with simply killing her: they have to watch her suffer. together. the way they are not satisfied with merely one of them dealing the finishing blow. they all have to all participate in this bloodshed. together. because she took percival from them. and that is unforgivable.

the fact that percival, knowing that this might be his end and being ready to finally face the consequences of his actions, grants her his forgiveness. and he recognizes that ultimately he's not killing her for satisfaction. he's not doing this to avenge his family and scratch the itch inside his bones that always seems to want to take more. not this time.

he's not the same percival he was when he faced the briarwoods... he's no longer consumed by that soul crushing anger and grief and he has a new family now (one that he loves and that loves him back). and he's a different man. perhaps not a better one yet. but different. or at the very least he WANTS to be. so he forgives her. because he knows that is the only way forward.

he's no longer doing this for himself. he's doing this because he knows this is what's best for the world. because he knows she's far too danger to walk freely (as he's far too danger to walk freely) so he has to end this. and mostly he's doing this for all the innocent people that she has hurt and all the innocent people she will certainly continue to hurt if she lives. he makes the noble choice, the righteous choice this time.

but vox machina? oh no. vox machina are doing this entirely for percy. she took percy away from them, so now she has to suffer. she took percival away from them, so now they'll take little pieces of her as retribution. they will watch as she squirms in pain and chokes on her own blood.

and in that final moment ripley dies, not because of who she is and the danger she poses, but because she killed their friend. she dies, not because this is the right thing to do, but because vox machina love percy. and they have lost him. and they are all so consumed by this soul crushing anger and grief. they no longer care about doing the right thing, only about making her pay.

vax sinks his daggers into her shoulder and rips her fake arm off her body with all of his hatred, scanlan viciously carves the "de rolo" crest in her forehead with all the calculated cruelty of a friend in mourning, grog swings his axe to cut her in half with all his mighty anger as keyleth weaponizes the nature that she loves so very dearly to choke ripley with a grasping vine, and vex, broken and in love, shoots her through the heart in one devastating poetic final blow and watches as ripley chokes in her own blood and silent screams.

they watch the life drain from her body and the light fade from her piercing eyes as they tear her apart, little by little, slow bit by slow painful bit, and with every blow, every stab, every wound they say: "we love you percy and this is for you."

this is vox machina's love letter to percival. and it is covered in blood.

#they are so full of anger because they are all so full of grief. and they are so full of grief because they are so full of love. #that's a moment for the history books #vox machina #percival de rolo #vex'ahlia #vax'ildan #keyleth #scanlan shorthalt #grog strongjaw #tlovm #vox machina meta #my meta #critical role 1 #critical role

[fire-of-the-sun]

I think it's fitting that we got the most romantic progression in episodes that focused primarily on specific individuals of certain couples.

For example, 2x05 is undoubtedly centered on Keyleth. Though this episode focused on developing her character by showing her backstory and addressing her internal conflict, it's no surprise that it also featured the most Vaxleth content of the season, which included their argument, a verbal reminder that Keyleth would do anything for Vax, Vax showing the most concern when she disappeared into the fire plane and a spotlighted reunion and ceremony afterward that purposefully put Vax at the forefront. Heck, we even got approval from Keyleth's dad. Despite the fact that they get far less content together this season than the previous one, the interactions in this episode serve as an effective reminder of their bond and foreshadowing of their romantic future.

We also got the big Vex and Keyleth talk where Keyleth is encouraged to pursue Vax in 2x11, which was a pretty big episode for Vax. Though they didn't share any real interaction with each other, the episode still provided necessary progress on both their ends that will eventually result in their union e.g. Keyleth finally decides to pursue Vax no matter what happens/is happening and Vax finally comes to terms with his new duties and has opened himself up once more.

Likewise, we got the most Percahlia content in Vex's main episode, 2x08, which featured some pretty significant moments between them that progressed their relationship and made it abundantly clear of its romantic course. Just like Keyleth's episode, this one focuses on Vex and her own internal development that exists beyond but is still benefited from the support of her loved ones, in this episode's case: Percy.

And it goes without saying that the episodes that Scanlan and Pike spent together showcased the unmistakable roots of deeper feelings that culminated in a kiss in the finale.

Yes, it's important that all these characters get their own spotlight and personal progression outside of their relationships and I think the show is doing a great job with that but, it only makes sense that the most important relationships to a character shine in episodes that focus on them and that was very evident this season as each of these characters takes the necessary steps to allow their romantic relationships to flourish come season 3.

#vox machina #the legend of vox machina #tlovm #vaxleth #percahlia #vax'ildan #keyleth #vex'ahlia #percy de rolo #scanlan shorthalt #pike trickfoot #pikelan #vox machina meta

[burr-ell]

Something I just noticed and really enjoy about Campaign 1 is how often their story involves becoming incredibly powerful and accomplishing so much and yet still not being able to do what's truly important to them. It's not only the gutpunch of the final episode, it's a thematic underpinning throughout the campaign.

Way back in their prestream adventures, the party was strong enough to defeat the Dread Emperor and save all the kidnapped children from Tal'Dorei—except one, a child Keyleth killed by accident, an act which haunts her through at least much of the early campaign. The party defeats the Briarwoods and reclaims Whitestone, but Ripley still escapes and 19 still misses, and the Chroma Conclave raze half the continent. Percy has great intellect and access to a powerful magical amplifier and forced out a demon through sheer force of will, but his carelessness still killed Vex and he only rolls a 6 to try to save her. The party has slain a dragon and is armed with four Vestiges of Divergence, but they couldn't save Tiberius and can't even give him the proper burial they want to. They brutally slaughter Ripley, but not before she gets the revenge she wants; she kills Percy, sending him to Orthax, and spreads guns throughout Exandria. The Conclave is slain, the whole party made it out alive, but Scanlan is forever scarred by the experience and leaves, tearing the party down as he goes. Even Vilya, prior to the campaign's beginning, was at the very end of her Aramente, likely a level 16-17 druid like Keyleth was, and still failed the trial of the Water Plane and was gone for almost 40 years.

And of course, Vox Machina became some of the most powerful people in the world, slayers of a god, legends to be immortalized for centuries...and none of their power could save their brother.

Percy points out to Bell's Hells, thirty years later, that fate isn't always kind and not everyone gets a second chance, and to me that's underscored by what we don't see. Elaina is still dead. Juniper is still dead. Percy's parents and five siblings are all still dead.

I mean, if any or all of their bodies are intact, it wouldn't even require True Resurrection to bring them back—not that Keyleth or Percy are averse to a little heresy, but hey, conserve your resources. If there are bodies, all they'd need is 7th-level Resurrection; none of those people have been dead for over a century, and if they need to find the bodies, well, Vex has Locate Object and Pike gets a Divine Intervention freebie once a week, right? Even if they did need True Resurrection, it's a heftier cost but probably not something too difficult to pay over time for one of the wealthiest families in the world.

But none of them have ever done that, nor do we get an indication that they've pursued it. Vox Machina is, probably more than any other CR party, defined by grief—how individual PCs respond to their own profound losses; how they succeed and fail to shoulder each others' burdens; and at the end of their story, how they deal with one of the most painful losses imaginable, and how they move forward and find peace in spite of it. Campaign 1 is just as much about how to deal with what you couldn't do as it is about what you now can do.

#critical role #cr meta #vox machina #percy de rolo #vex'ahlia #vax'ildan #keyleth #scanlan shorthalt

[blorbologist]

ok im going to get off my usual perc’ahlia soapbox to outstretch my hand to the vaxleth mains (hi babes we really in it now) and say holy shit

these new parallels between Vax and Keyleth

(or if not new so very strengthened)

LIKE. LISTEN.

She did not choose this path, she did not, she embarked on the same journey her mother did. For her family, for her tribe, out of love, out of duty. Like her mother before her. Made to pass through fire. 

One day a mantle will rest on her shoulders and though she can take it off it writes its weight into her skin. She sees it in the mirror even when it’s not there. She did not choose this power or this responsibility and she rises, she rises to the challenge.

He did not care what he chose, only that he chose for his sister to live. Whatever the fuck he chose, it wasn’t this, he had no idea what he signed up for but he will not balk, he will not falter, he can’t because his sister breathes. For his family, his family of one, out of love, out of duty. They have a deal. Do not go far from me. 

Today, he can’t take it off. It clings like a lover’s touch (such loneliness in her eyes), he can’t forget it even for a second, can’t rid himself of what the mantle he has taken up. This role is his now and he will not forget it

Voice of the Tempest, Champion of Ravens

Yall got some good fuckin food is all I’m sayin

#tlovm #the legend of vox machina #tlovm s2 #tlovm spoilers #critical role #critical role spoilers #vaxleth #vax'ildan #keyleth #vax x keyleth #tlovm meta #cr meta

[jibril-thelibraryangel]

I just had a realization, Vax repeatedly coming back and not letting Keyleth truly move on…. It’s exactly what he did to Gilmore in campaign 1 when he started seeing Keyleth.

How he told him he was in love with someone else and then immediately kiss him

How after every mission he kept coming back to him to repeatedly tell him he couldn’t be with him but that he still love him

How he didn’t hesitated to follow Gilmore into a dark corner of a castle wearing nothing but a bathrobe he gave him

He might now be an immortal demigod champion of the Raven Queen but deep down he’s still the same scare little elf boy starve for love and unable ever let go.

#critical role #cr #4 sided dive #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #not a Vax hate post #he’s just complex #campaign 3 #vox machina #cr3 #bell’s hells #bells hells #campaign 1 #cr meta #vax'ildan

[all-made-of-stardust]

Oh no. Oh no i just thought of how they could do the actual canon Scanlan death in TLOVM.

In this episode, he had big huge emotional death flags moments. But then when he stepped up and looked like he died, he immediately went "haha! Fooled you into confessing your love! Aren't i silly :3"

What if the opposite happens in the Raishan fight. What if the fight happens, everyone's gunning in on it. Hell, maybe they put death flags on someone else! But Scanlan is 100% in the background, kicking ass. Zero fanfare. He gets hit, but the camera doesn't focus on it.

Raishan is defeated. Hell yeah, everyone's cheering! Hey, where's Scanlan? Oh, found him, he's lying by the rock. Haha, he's faking dead again. Battle's over, silly, we know you're just trying to prank us again. Come on, wake up.

Wake up. Scanlan. Scanlan this isn't fucking funny.

(Bonus from the actual campaign ep bc i looked it up and screamed:)

#tlovm spoilers #vox machina #c1 #scanlan shorthalt #cr spoilers #vox machina spoilers #c1 spoilers #theories #tlovm #critical role #cr meta

[shorthaltsjester]

god i have so much i could say about tlovm s2 so far but all my brain is providing is rot about scanlan and vex and oh boy i am. so very intrigued by the space that the show is giving their dynamic because it’s certainly one that I think is essential to their character arcs in campaign one but i also know that isn’t an opinion that is always held by campaign one enjoyers. but god between their hostile but caring dynamic in s1 and the foiling that is happening between the twins and scanlan and his lack of someone who evidently cares for him (post dragon splitting up, when the twins reunite scanlan has a witty comment about how he’s also glad he’s alive and then in ep3 after vax stops vex from trekking across the lake to find the tomb because it might not be safe, no one stops scanlan from doing the same when he volunteers seconds later) i am so, So happy that my favourite mask wearing, comedy wielding, self hating members of vox machina are being presented as the power duo that they are.

and just god. their relationship in the campaign was so small and so big at the same time and i love that it seems to be the same in the show even though it Easily and Understandably could’ve been something they cut because of the massive editing they have to do. just . god. they are so important to me and what was his mothers name and they went into the feywild to deal with her daddy issues and he helped her figure out a magic broom and she wore the stupid hat he had made for her and he minor imaged her skin green and he was a triceratops down the aisle and she isn’t perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of them and in his absence she said that their leader wasn’t with them and he turned her into a dragon and she flew him around a library and he made a wish for her and she told grog to stop carrying him like a football and he relentlessly bullied her bear and she wrote him a limerick to make fun of him almost sleeping with his daughter and he gave her 30 gold for a book and she saw a stranger with a shorter shadow and a familiar moniker and they’re best friends and they’re enemies and they’re family and they mean the world to me

#vex’ahlia #scanlan shorthalt #tlovm #tlovm season 2 #critical role #cr1 #vox machina #laura bailey #sam riegel #cr spoilers #scanlan & vex #vex #vex’ahlia de rolo #cr meta #kind of #tlovm meta

[deramin2]

(Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 1)

I don't have any expectations for wherever FCG will stay dead or come back somehow because I've spent 9 years watching Sam Riegel totally subvert my expectations in a narratively compelling way.

But I will say that "FCG shouldn't come back because it would lessen the impact of a narratively perfect death" is EXACTLY what people were saying about Percy's first death after C1 E68. (The first televised character death.) If he had to have an end, it was a fitting end that, while tragic, neatly tied up the thesis of the story. Would Taliesin even want him to come back? With Whitestone saved and Ripply killed, was there even much left to explore?

They found Percy's death letter telling them he loved them all but please bury him in a ditch with all his designs so he could be forgotten by history. He was so sorry for all he'd done and he could never make it up.

But they tried anyway, having to wrest Percy's soul away from Orthax. The players knew what they said in the resurrection ritual was meaningful along with their rolls. But they did not know they were also having to convince Taliesin. If they'd tried to appeal to Percy's soul in the wrong way, dice be damned, Percy was going to refuse. What we got was really meaningful and powerful roleplay (especially from Marisha and Laura) that did convince Percy along with successful rolls.

Being brought back did not at all weaken Percy's own sacrifice or the impact of his death. It forced him to confront everything he'd been running from. It forced him to see that there were people who loved him and would not let him throw himself away for them. They didn't want a martyr, they wanted their friend. It utterly changed the trajectory of his character.

There's only four ways I can think of on the table to bring FCG back:

True Resurrection — Incredibly expensive high level spell. They would have to find the materials as well as someone who both can and is willing to cast the spell in the middle of a war to stop a second Calamity. None of this would be easy. The ritual could still fail. FCG could decline to come back and the other players would not know that until they went to all the effort. The Raven Queen views True Resurrection as heresy which is why they didn't try it on Vax. How would a second chance change them?

Reincarnate — Lower level and cheaper spell. FCG would come back as a fleshy being instead of an Aeormaton. Would the experience live up to FCG's fantasies about it? How would it change them to realize they are truely alive, and always were, but are now also mortal? Reverse Veth story? Wild ass Pinocchio retelling? What does it mean to get a second chance but everything about you is different?

Wish — I think this would count as duplicating True Resurrection. High component cost and requires a high level magic user. (If it's duplicating a spiral there's no risk of no longer being able to cast Wish.)

Hag Deal — They do know a fatestitcher Hag who likes them and limes making deals even more. Orym may be able to just extend his existing deal. What are the consequences for the deal marker as well as FCG? Would the robit feel responsible for that person's fate? How would that affect how they feel about coming back and the meaning they need to make from it.

I don't think there's a right or best option because whatever we speculate on, the actual result will be full of meaning and very poignant. I can't imagine that Bell's Hells won't try to bring him back. They've lost so much already. They couldn't bring back Eshteross or Bertrand or Will & Derrig. They couldn't live with not even trying. Maybe their method works, maybe it doesn't. But at least they tried.

And if FCG does come back, they have to live with knowing that even though they saved their friends and put an end to Otohan, they also hurt their friends by treating themselves as disposable. They forced their friends to confront that each of them might have done the same and that's deeply unhealthy. It will change the character development tremendously.

My favorite film and play genre is where the protagonist dies (or nearly dies) (usually self-inflicted) at the beginning and has to journey through purgatory to find themselves again before they can return to the living. Films like Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) or Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기 2009). Death matters because it reminds you to live. The journey is finding meaning in both life and death and coming back utterly changed.

#critical role #Critical Role Spoilers #critical role meta #critical role campaign 1 #critical role campaign 3 #vox machina #Bell's Hells #Percival de Rolo #Fresh Cut Grass #wristcutters a love story #Castaway on the Moon

[andi-o-geyser]

Every day the raven came to visit. Every day. For 30 years, that raven was with her, through thick and thin, right by her side. A comfort, a companion, a… friend. Something more. Something that meant more than a simple raven. It was visiting her so much that she built a perch in her room. Just for him. Just for that raven. A vestige of their love, a reminder that he could not stop sending because his love for her was so great. And then their love was used to brake the world. And now he is trapped in his cage of pain and she is now trapped in her cage of pain and duty that will not cease and spinning plates that will not stop spinning and just keep crashing and he was there but now he’s gone again and the raven visited every damn day but now that perch is empty.

#*crying screaming sobbing etc* #haha. this is fine. i’m fine. the most beautiful line from cr1 turned on its head so casually and i’m sooooo fine #the weight of it just punched me in the fucked gut it feels like a visceral LOSS i am UNWELL #cr meta #critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #cr3 #cr3e68 #cr1 #vox machina #bells hells #keyleth #keyleth of the air ashari #vax'ildan #vax'ilorb #vaxleth #andis thought geyser

[nothingwithdignity]

When Percy first tells Vox Machina the story of the Briarwoods he’s so open and vulnerable in a way that I tend to forget he can be. So much of that arc burns with anger and smoke but the very beginning is so different. The beginning is a scared boy confronted by his worst days and turning to confession. It doesn’t last long, but before the anger, what spills out is guilt and fear and an unspoken plea. He has always wanted to be the adult in the room, to put on respectability and nobility like armor, but in this moment he doesn’t try to hide any part of what this is. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful and a poignant reminder of just how young and broken he is. We see the part of Percy that never left that castle. The part that ended up catatonic on a boat. The part that prayed once, before gods became a thing for other people. And we see him, truly and completely, for the first time. The broken desperate boy hidden in the brilliant man. Because he doesn’t hesitate to say the reason he didn’t go home is because he’s scared. That he doesn’t know what he needs to do. He doesn’t hold back on who these people are to him. He isn’t hiding behind the mask, he’s just Percy, just a lost person who opened the floodgates. To the fear and the unknown and the anger but also to the hope that maybe these are the people who can help him finally face the things that haunt him.

#critical role #percival de rolo #percy de rolo #cr meta #vox machina

[figurative-critter]

I think a lot of people have assumed that because of laudna's ties to Delilah that vox machina won't want to help her, but I feel like that's just not what they would do.

I mean for one thing, Orym is there to vouch for her and they all know that Laudna doesn't want Delilah there anymore, but beyond all that, ignoring Delilah for a moment, consider who Laudna was to Vox Machina.

Laudna was one of the Sun Tree victims. An innocent person murdered and violated purely to send them a message. Do you really think that upon learning all that, they would just leave her like that? That Vex wouldn't see this person who died only because she vaguely looked like her and not take the chance to remedy that? That Keyleth, who fought so hard to make sure they didn't take the sacrifices of Whitestone's people lightly during the rebellion, would just leave her to die again? That Percy wouldn't hear her story, feel responsible for her safety and well-being as lord of Whitestone, and not do everything he could to help her? If anything, going to Vox Machina would only serve to help both save Laudna and possibly help her get rid of Delilah.

Laudna isn't a threat to Vox Machina, she's a chance at redemption.

#cr spoilers #critical role #cr3 #cr meta #bells hells #vox machina #laudna #vexahlia #percival de rolo #keyleth of the air ashari

[setsailforthestars]

Vex and Vax get it so right.

Being a twin, and an identical one at that, is having a part of your soul detached and walking around in a different body. “Do not go far from me” is not a request but a demand, because you cannot bear it.

It’s a disorienting feeling looking at another person and seeing a mirror of yourself, but you blink and they’re just a few steps sideways of who you are. They’ve always been there, as constant as your own reflection, and nearly as accurate. They’ve always been who you wish you were.

When you grow up joined at the hip against the world, sometimes with no one else but them, it feels like every fight, every disagreement pushing you apart is the most devastating hurt you can imagine. It feels unfixable, until you cannot bear to be apart any longer and you fall back together like you were meant to be.

There is an incandescent rage flickering in your heart on their behalf at all times, even at the mere thought of an injustice against them. And when they’re hurt, or worse, of course you’re going to do everything you can to make it right. To fix them.

There is also sorrow. The knowledge that someday, somehow, inevitably, you will be the only one left. And you will be alone, and only half a person because you could not bear to make yourself whole when that would mean separating yourself from them.

And maybe one of you is the strong one, maybe one of you needs the other more, maybe you both think that about yourselves.

Maybe you would sacrifice yourself over and over so the other may live — selflessly, but also secretly selfish — so you don’t have to be the one left behind at the end of it. You don’t have to be the one who is alone.

#okay this got away from me but fuckkkkkkkkkkkk #I’m sorry to my twin who has to read this #they’ve died before fun fact I kinda know what it’s like #critical role #the legend of vox machina #tlovm spoilers #tlovm #TLOVM meta #cr meta #vex and Vax #vex’ahlia #vax’ildan #the sneak twins #do not go far from me

[the-velvet-worm]

The fact that Syldor called Vex a mistake is just ⎯ wow was that a powerful moment because it confirms every single doubt, every single fear that she’s ever had in her life. That just by being born, she’s made everyone else’s life worse for it, that her mere existence is an inconvenience. She doesn’t even have to courage to stand up for herself yet, all she can do is stand there and take the unwarranted abuse from a man she so desperately wants the approval of.

But Vax, sweet, loving Vax will take absolutely none of it. He may at times feel like a fuckup and feel like a failure and question what his purpose in life is but he refuses to let anyone make his sister feel small ⎯ he’ll even call out Vex herself if she ever tries to put herself down. His unwavering, unconditional belief in her, his absolute reverence of her, is exactly what she needs to build herself back up, whether she realizes it or not; even if he thinks she doesn’t need him or she doesn’t adequately express it, she does need him, she needs his reassurance, she needs his guidance, she needs his opinion on all matters. Even if it doesn’t entirely make the insecurity go away, even if she still feels the sting of her father’s rejection, the lingering ache of her mother’s murder, she has the comfort, love, and devotion of her brother, her best friend, her biggest fan.

And something that Vax will never be able to understand, is how anyone as wonderful as his sister could ever feel as low as she does sometimes, how anyone could ever think she was a mistake. The one he shares everything with, the one he always protects, if not from others than from her own self-doubt and shame, the person he depends on and trusts most in the world; in no way is she a mistake. He’s not so sure about himself sometimes, but his sister? No way, she’s perfect in his eyes, and always will be.

#as you can tell I am having a lot of twin feelings tonight :') #tlovm #tlovm spoilers #the legend of vox machina #the legend of vox machina spoilers #vex'ahlia #vax'ildan #tlovm meta #meta #critical role #cr1

[blorbologist]

Confession time:

In the campaign, I loathe Mythcarver.

Vox Machina are given the Vestige as a sidenote - 'here are the locations of a ton of cool ancient weapons, and also this sword I can just give you guys'. While every other Vestige involves a quest for it, or at least some planning, often with some degree of expectation of who will get it (Fenthras, the Titanstone Knuckles, Whisper, the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, the Spire of Conflux - they all really fit one party member well. Cabal's Ruin is more up in the air until we find out who has it, and the Ward has already been given to Vax by this point). Many of them are tied to character moments for the party members in question - 'take me instead you raven bitch', the killbox, 'my heart is someone else's', 'i forgive you, but I cannot let you leave'.

Scanlan doesn't get a noble quest with his friends to power him up. Scanlan does's even do anything of particular note in Kamaljiori's canon trial. He's just... given this Vestige as loot, and because it's made with bards in mind and he's the bard so he should get it.

Except Mythcarver doesn't suit *Scanlan's* style of bard, at all, and I can count the number of times he uses it on one hand, one of which required heavy prompting by Matt because Sam was so used to ignoring the thing. It's a glorified stat stick that buffs some abilities but never sees use because Scanlan is so heavily focused on support spells. It can't match the damage output or utility of his spells, so it just sits on his belt looking pretty. He gets one cool moment with it, against a minor boss, and that's it.

(Notably, he pulls it out and tries poking for a Blinked enemy during a critical fight which I'm not naming due to spoilers, and he just... still doesn't get to do anything with it. That one round could have prevented a death - sinking a turn into trying to use that sword actively hurt the party. It sucks.)

Credit where credit is due: I really appreciate the vision Matt had for the weapon and the intent behind it! On the other hand, it just... further fed into Scanlan feeling like he was an afterthought to the party. They didn't go on a quest for him. They didn't even think of getting him a Vestige - he's just handed one, in a fairly forgettable sidebar, and then hardly ever uses it again. It sucks. I hate that stupid sword.

So when I tell you I was grinning so, so massively during episide 6 of season 2 -

Mythcarver isn't given to Scanlan by default - it's given to him, specifically, by a friend. Kamaljiori is the first person to see through his exterior, his many masks, who bonds with him over love and longing and sincerity. It's not an offhand 'oh while you're here take this' it's for him. He gets a cool moment with it!! It reveals the locations of the other Vestiges!

Here, now, Mythcarver represents what Scanlan wants to be: a hero, a valued friend, someone who matters and has an impact on the world. Someone loved.

(And also noteworthy that this happened not long after Pike was dismissive of him, too. Whistles.)

And then Umbrasyl swoops in to take it, singling Scanlan out for what he carries - and Kami fights for him. Kamaljiori protects him, over and over and over, not for Mythcarver but because it’s Scanlan, it's his friend. He's going toe to toe with an ancient black dragon for Scanlan. And dies for it.

Not only does Umbrasyl kill Kamaljiori but he steals this Vestige. This gift for Scanlan alone, this first fucking testament to having mattered to someone, to being valued and cared for. Mythcarver isn't just a reward, it actively pushes the plot and Scanlan's character development forward, gives Scanlan what he's been quietly looking for in the background, and then viciously takes it away.

(This also gives Scanlan a bigger motivation to be part of that one stupid plan with Vax that's in the trailer: Umbrasyl killed his friend and stole something representing everything Scanlan wants. And he wants it badly and he wants it back, you flying fuck.)

I can't wait to see what's in store. This was, I think, my favorite change to TLOVM so far after 'darling take off the mask' getting a bigger Moment. I can't believe they gave weight and meaning to that stupid sword and I'm here for it.

#critical role #tlovm #the legend of vox machina #tlovm s2 #tlovm spoilers #scanlan shorthalt #campaign 1 #cr meta #tlovm meta #kamaljiori #anyways this is why I gave Scanlan another Vestige in my AU bc i think its Integral to him deciding not to leave in One for sorrow

[druidposting]

Response by @gorgynei on this post;

I honestly dont even have much to add to this comment because I completely agree. Everything we know about Tharizdun is framed around how he's different from the other deities in some alien way. It's apparently also said that "It is feared that the nature of Tharizdun, being unlike the other deities, could shatter the Divine Gate alone if unleashed", which is presumably why they have him chained and bound by the prime trammels and the six shackles. The other Betrayer gods were all banished, but Tharizdun is the only one who had to be (and continues to be) physically chained within its plane.... Besides Predathos, who had to be physically bound within Ruidus and sealed behind a divine gate. So.

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr meta #tharizdun #predathos #enjoying the god theories very much #still hoping for a journey to the abyss arc #like the Hells with Vox Machina Goes to Hell. One of my favourite CR arcs in the whole show lore-wise

[awsok]

i'm already seeing discourse about tal pulling that shit but i'm going to be honest. i fucking loved it. there was drama there was angst. there was conflict between pcs that's going to last for a long time right before they go into a very dangerous situation. JUICY!!!!

#i love c2 and c3 but i miss the good old vox machina days of constant resurrection rituals #critical role #bh #* #ashton greymoore #people complaining the bell's hells don't seem as close as the mighty nein. but thats the appealll #taliesin is so good at playing insufferable characters who make stupid selfish decisions #and it WORKS because he's fully aware how annoying his characters can be #(sole exception is caduceus who has done nothing wrong ever except be a little arrogant at times) #*meta