Critical Role - Wrap Up: Campaign 3 and the Era of Reclamation

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Join the cast of Campaign 3: Bells Hells AND the cast of Exandria Unlimited: Divergence for a wrap up event! We'll be discussing the epic conclusion of Campaign 3, the beautiful new beginnings created in Divergence, and answering your burning questions from the chat! Cast of Campaign 3: Bells Hells!Game Master Matthew Mercer: https://twitter.com/matthewmercerTravis Willingham: https://twitter.com/WillingBlamLiam O'Brien: https://twitter.com/VoiceOfOBrienLaura Bailey: https://twitter.com/LauraBaileyVOAshley Johnson: https://www.instagram.com/ashleythejohnson/Taliesin Jaffe: https://www.instagram.com/executivegoth/Marisha Ray: https://twitter.com/Marisha_RaySam Riegel: https://twitter.com/samriegel Cast of Exandria Unlimited: Divergence!Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan: https://www.instagram.com/brennanleemulligan/Matthew Mercer: http://instagram.com/matthewmercervoLiam O'Brien: http://instagram.com/voiceofobrienCelia Rose Gooding: https://www.instagram.com/celiargooding/Jasmine Don: https://www.instagram.com/birdclump/Alex Ward: https://www.instagram.com/alexanderward777/ BEACONWe’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. YOUTUBE MEMBERS / TWITCH SUBSCRIBERSTwitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows, moderated live chats, and custom emojis & badges:https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole/joinhttps://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole   ""It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)"" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel, Hexany Audio, Ghiya Rushidat, Karam Salem, Neal Acree, and Colm R. McGuinness""Welcome to Marquet"" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah FriederichsAnimated Introduction by Kamille Areopagita, Kevin Areopagita, Mark Adams and Peggy Shi

Hey there, Critter podcast listeners! We have a special new membership service at Beacon.tv, where you get early access to all new podcast episodes, including Critical Role for the first time ever. Beacon members also get things like live event pre-sales, merch discounts, access to a private community Discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown. Think of it as our digital Critical Role land.

Head on over to beacon.tv to check it out for yourself and start a seven-day free trial. Thank you so much for your support, for being a podcast listener, and for being part of our community. Hey there, Critters. We are so excited to share with you our brand new podcast from the world of Exandria, The Re-Slayer's Take. In this audio adventure, you'll be guided through the wild continent of Isilra, home to some of the most dangerous creatures. Here, the Slayer's Take is the most notorious monster hunting group in the realm.

But when previously slain creatures start returning from the grave, it's up to six misfit mercenaries to band together and re-slay these supernatural threats as the re-slayers take. So come follow along these audio escapades as the second coolest monster hunters this side of Exandria battle a growing undead army of dangerous creatures. The party is led by a duo of game masters, George Primavera and Nick Williams,

with the main cast including Jasmine Bular, Caroline Lux, and Jasmine Shion. Listen to new episodes every Monday anywhere you stream podcasts, or become a Beacon member and listen to the podcast two weeks early and uninterrupted by ads. to watch the stream as it airs, you can tune in on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Pacific at twitch.tv slash Critical Role or at youtube.com slash Critical Role. The video on demand versions are immediately available for our Twitch subscribers or on YouTube the following

Mondays at 12 p.m. Pacific. Podcast episodes are right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network on Thursdays, one week after the initial broadcast. Now that we've got all that covered, let's get this adventure going. Hello, everyone! Welcome to tonight's campaign wrap-up! We're a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors. Sit down and talk about how they played Dungeons & Dragons.

Hey, Robbie! What's up, Robbie? Oh, you're going to make my mom. Robbie, go! Wait, no! I don't want to. Marisha? Okay. I swear there's a wrap-up happening in here. But this week, we are actually celebrating our 10-year anniversary.

Oh man. In fact, yesterday was our 10-year anniversary. It's true. It's true. It's true. Happy birthday, guys. Happy birthday, happy, I love you all. I love you all.

Wait, what is the 10-year anniversary? Is it wood? Paper? Paper? No, paper, five. Aluminium, I think it's Chepicumax. No, it's not. Chepicumax. No, it's not.

Radium. Anyway, we're planning a big year with merch, off-the-wall content, and live shows that we can't wait for you all to see. So thank you so much for helping us keep this dream alive for ten years. It's been ten years. It's for all the chess. We've all the chess. We have a few beacon exclusives

coming up this week as well. On Monday at 7pm Pacific, Nick Williams and George Primavera from the Re-Slayers Take Club will be joining us for a fireside chat. They're super awesome. Sam's got my back here. I can attest, they are awesome.

They are awesome. On Tuesday at 1 p.m. Pacific, we will host an AMA with the creators of MITSED, third person, AKA Matt Rowan, Sarah Weil, and Zen, through our beacon discord. So once again, get on that. And for everyone who loves the MITSED cosmos, on Wednesday, you'll be able to enjoy

the Un-End Season One round table, right on the heels of its finale, available on all platforms. And then, Ashley and Taliesin. What? Oh yeah, oh wait, hold on really quick. What? Okay, it's tin and aluminum.

Oh! It's tin and aluminum, representing durability and flexibility. Motherfuckers are home. Durability and flexibility. You represent durability and flexibility. I am not flexible, but apparently they're a bill. Guys, I got you some pebble. Honestly, fuck yeah.

Should we roll for it? Yeah, let's go with no second vote. Here we go. So that means you have to do it. I do it. We recently announced our new show. We just announced our new podcast, Weird Kids, starring Ashley and Taliesin. That's right, got that one done. Join us next Thursday at 7 p.m. Pacific for a live lunch party. What have I done? We're back again next week, live. It's in your calendar.

It's in the calendar. No, I know it's in. I can't read. Everyone knows that. We'll share behind-the-scenes, I'm making this up, not the teleprompter. We'll share behind-the-scenes details about the making of the show, and take questions from you, and we'll give you all a first look at Weird Kids. Hey, everyone! We want to celebrate this launch with everyone, so... The livestream will be available on Beacon, as well as Critical Role's Twitch and YouTube.

The full first episode will also be available to everyone on Tuesday, March 25th, on all platforms. But afterward, two episodes will release every Tuesday exclusively on Beacon. Nice. Get in on Beacon. So get in on it. We have a good time. Anyway.

It does look so pretty, Ashley. Thank you so much. The color is so pretty. I know I can't figure out what to do with the color now, you guys, the fern is dying. It's staring at the back, but it's so beautiful. I dyed it red for fern. Well, fern's not done.

Hey, Laura! Guess what, guys? There we are. Available now in all shops. That was actually pretty cool. It's a brand new red Mep dice bag of hoarding. It's too big to cup. Is it evil?

This is where all of your evil dice. It's lined, it's pretty. Y'all, it's pretty. Pattern art by Savannah Mayer, inspired by our very favorite critter, Christina Arenth. Thank you for designing those bags to begin with. Christina Arenth is our favorite critter? Well, she made a bag for me.

Oh, okay, okay. Plus, guess what? Those are big words. That was a big word. In all of our shops, we have a free shipping promo going on right now. That's cool. Get a deal and a big sale just this weekend

on Dyson Accessories to help you fill up this awesome dice bag. That's cool. Get a deal. And a big sale just this weekend on dice and accessories to help you fill up this awesome dice bag. Woo! And for your closet, oh, this is cool, heroes and villains, nope, you scrolled too far. They made something. Heroes and villains just released a new set of Mighty Nein apparel with a grungy, grungy look fit

for all our misfits. That's right. Oh. Yeah, no yeah, we did, oh shit. It's such a high chair. We're going to design apparel with a grungy look fit for all our misfits. Oh shit! It's such a high chair! Nineties are back. Okay, look, we got some really cool t-shirts. They do such good work. These badass t-shirts. There's a really awesome cardigan. You've worn it. The Mighty Nein cardigan. It's so cool. And then there's one that's like a jacket with Jester on the back.

It's like super punk. It's super cool. I like how they just drew Asher. Anyway, check it out. Heroesvillains.com. I don't know what they're talking about, scrolling and teleprompters. I'm doing this all impromptu. And with that, let's tie this tonight's wrap-up of Critical Role Campaign 3. Critical. Critical. It's Thursday night.

One by one we climb until we reach the top. Two by two we fall. Will we meet our end or meet our destiny? Hold your breath and roll. How do you want to do this? It's Thursday night. All ye critters come join us. It's time to continue our flight.

There is magic and mystery. Who knows what will happen? He might. But one thing's for sure We never give up on the fight From the healer to the renegade We all share the same goal Adding more allies, taking more chances Hold your breath and roll You can certainly try

It's Thursday night All ye critters come join us It's time to continue our play It's Thursday night There is magic and mystery From darkness our friendship will rise. When one thing's for sure, we never give up on the fight. Oh, get ready, it's Thursday night. Welcome back to the wrap-up.

I get it now. It's hard. It is tough. And the age of reclamation. We're going to begin tonight at the end. We're going to cover the most recent arc first and slowly work our way backwards through campaign three. And here in this magical tome, it's a tablet, I have some questions for you all written by the amazing Dani Carr.

Yay! Woo hoo! We see you. We see you. We too, Dani. Yay! Happy anniversary. I'm sorry, Robbie.

No, no, please. And if you're in the Discord chat right now, feel free to drop Q and we may be able to answer it on the air. Is that really possible? That is possible. We can see the questions. Technology. And so, let's begin.

Welcome, everyone. We have a very first question, and it's not for all of you, it's for one specific person. My favorite of you. Just kidding, it's for Sam! Oh! Oh!

Oh! Wow! I'm just kidding. That's how I'm really gonna win you guys over in this interview process. I got it. Our first question is, how would FCG have felt about the prospect of the gods taking on someone's name

is in the thing on top of the question, so I can't read it, it's okay. They're mortal forms. Technology, they're mortal forms, and leaving Exandria without divinity for a time. Wow. Well, spoilers, FCG is dead. Whoa!

Hey, god. Yeah, so wouldn't feel anything. But, hypothetically, I think FCG would ultimately feel like that's the best way to get out of the pickle that we were in, which is sort of how I, Sam Riegel, also think about it. I liked seeing the gods up on their perch, and I'm going to miss them up there.

But I also don't want to see them being chased around the galaxy. So, what? You're just laughing at... I just keep seeing things. It's just, okay. Let's get this out of the way. Fuck you, Travis! Let's get this out of the way.

Travis shaved his you, Travis. Let's get this out of the way. Travis shaved his beard, guys. We know, Travis. We know. We know. We are aware. Okay. Hashtag we know.

I came into Critical Role this way. I come out. It's also because of mocap. I hate it, so does my son. Explain. So fucking hateful. I shaved it down to just a mustache. Which was really fun. Which was fun, I was like a cop for a day.

And then he was like, I hate it, Daddy. And so I just shaved it for mocap, and every time I come in he goes, oh. Throw it back. Because I can take some of it. Throw it back. Nobody wants this, okay? I think you look great!

You look great. It's very circa 2014. Yeah. It's more bringing it back around, right? Yes, full circle. It's a full circle situation, which is why it's happening again. That's right, thank you. I'm all for the mustache coming back.

The mustache was great. I like the mustache. Yeah, it was really fun. I liked it a lot. Just the mustache? Yeah, just the mustache. I didn't. I'm team Flavor Saver. Yeah.

It's a little reactable. No. Oh my god. And not everybody can be Robbie, okay? Robbie looks like a cologne commercial over there. I feel like we're all for round one. I know, I know. I'm jealous of that chain. I don't think we're all for real. I know. I know. I always, I'm jealous of you.

I don't think we finished a single question. We're one for the question. This thing is full of them. I'm super disappointed that FCG didn't get to ever really find out the deal with the gods and the change bringer. And maybe this would be good news because now FCG could find the change bringer and have a lot of different questions answered. So ultimately, good news. And also, good luck rushing Sigma Nu. Sigma Chi, thank you very much.

Oh my goodness. All right, our next question is for Matt. Everyone loves loot. Are there any other relics of the Red Solstice besides seedling? Does the Ring of Remembrance count? Oh yeah, the Ring of Remembrance. Well, the Ring of Remembrance... Yeah. Yeah. The Ring of Remembrance was actually technically crafted during... No, no, no, no, no.

That was some... Sorry. I'm trying to get... You're ticking through what it's saying. I'm ticking through my elements there. Yeah, I get it. No. No, that was... That would be one of the solstice.

Yeah, there are plenty of artifacts that were crafted in the area. Like I said, each era has its own artifacts that are distributed or crafted and then given that delineation for that time period. The Vestiges were definitely the most prominent because they were required to be on a certain level of power, both from a divine

scale and from competing arcana in the wake of the Age of Arcana. And so yeah, there are others and maybe we'll get to explore those down the road. Yes. That was the most thorough and nerdy yes I've ever heard in my life. It was perfect. Oh, bro,

the night's still young. Next question is for Travis. I said I look like a handsome squidward. What the fuck does that mean? You don't know. You don't know the meme? I know!

It's a meme? Guys, there could be a lot more. You don't know handsome squidward? I don't know handsome squidward. Give us the weird images in the chat right now

for Travis. We have them turned off. Oh, you do? Well, otherwise we're not gonna be able to see any questions. That's very true. Otherwise it will just be Green Matt jerking off the whole time.

Which is kind of like, I need this day. Sorry, Robbie, I'm so sorry. Watch it in your own time, O'Brien. I am! Whenever I'm not here. Thank you so much for joining sorry, Robbie. I'm so sorry. Watch it in your own time, O'Brien! I am! Whenever I'm not here! Thank you so much for joining us, everybody. This is going great. It's going great.

This is going great. Like a bus to Garoag. The next question is for Travis. This is the answer! There it is! Love Squidward! Yes, it's perfect. It is you. I love it.

Travis, why did you decide to shave your beard? I'm just kidding. Did Chetney plan to deliver Ashton to the Bright Queen as she requested? Yeah. Ooh. I think he definitely would have considered it. Only, well, for two reasons. One, because it would have been entertaining as shit to watch.

Fair. And because I think Ashton could handle themselves very, very well, even in the clutches of the Kree Dynasty. And I just would want to see what would have happened. Suck up, but I'll accept it. No, no, it's true. If there was somebody that I would have felt was less capable, then maybe not, but,

poor them. If you get Ashton on your hands. It's hungry. Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt. Robbie? Do you know where the gods are now? Like, do you know where they are? Do you know? In your big old brain.

Are they on the council? We need coordinates. We need time. Are they all the same age? Do they all get instantly reborn as children, as babies, like at the same moment? These are all great questions that maybe we'll get a chance to explore down the road.

Now, I have some inclinations on a handful of them, but also, for the moment, I'm kind of leaving it a mystery until the opportunity arises to develop, you know, opportunities to explore that. But aren't we done with Exandrian content forever? Absolutely not. But no, I

yeah, part of this too is an invitation for those who are playing Exandria and want to explore a campaign post the solstice and the whole chaos of Prodothos and the catathiosis of the Pantheon to where now there can be storylines that we can explore and you can explore that involve this new epic and the hunt for where these gods might be coming to consciousness and awareness in the generation to come. So fun and teasery. I love it.

Taliesin, Ashton seemed rather different after he came back to life, after having become a living beacon. Are they different? Yes, for a number of reasons. One, you can only have, I think, so many brain transplants before you start to question the nature of your sense of self. And they're on brain number three now.

That's heady, pun intended. fulfilled their greatest wish in life, which was to be irritatingly heroic in a way that was just inconvenient and obnoxious. So there's kind of a lot of, now what? And getting a sense of something that will actually bring some sense of pleasure. Yeah, it was really, I think I'm going to go travel and find myself. So yeah, they're very different for a number of pleasure. I think I'm going to go travel and find myself. They're very different for a number of reasons. I think that Ashton and Kingsley should spend some time together. Both characters have had their snow globes shaken real hard.

I don't know who would be a bad influence on who. Sure. That's fun. Kingsley. Kingsley would be a bad influence. Very bad influence. Ashley, what does Fern think of Ira's warning that the Unseelie Court is searching because of Zathutah's death? Is she worried or unconcerned that they might be looking for her?

Wait, why are you worried? I didn't think about that. Yeah, I... Don't worry, neither did she. I was going to say, I feel like, I know that's always been going on a little bit in the background, but I feel like she's not really that concerned about it. I really do. I feel like it just feels more firm to just be like, well, we'll figure that out. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Yeah, that's fine. Miss Galilea, you have a whole kingdom looking for you. Cool!

Oh, okay. Yeah. I think she's unbothered by it. It's like that meme that unbothered, moisturized, in your lane, where there's just a capybara that's in water hanging out. We'll see if I can find it. Just turn into some capybaras. There's a whole bunch of them. I'm sure. There are tens of millions of memes you're getting. Yeah, then it would all make sense.

I choose to believe that Nana Mori is paying attention to that four fern. I do too, I do too. I feel like Nana Mori's got a bead on that. Matt, what will happen to the Allm's burn seed on Ruinous? No! What's going to happen? You can tell us that. That's a thing that you can reveal. I'll reveal elements. I will say, with the destruction of the Weavemind and the slow reincorporation of Ruidian culture

and kind of into Exandria, that alleviates one massive dangerous power structure on Ruidus, but one unknown entity now forever changed from two coming together as one now begins to weave its way further into the rock and stone of Ruidus. So the All Minds Burn and the Mycete fungal network of Ruidus independently are no more. Something new has come to that union, and maybe we'll have an opportunity to explore that in the future.

I know it's going to be an answer to a lot of things here, but intentionally there are threads that kind of, you know, weren't part of the final dovetail of the main campaign arc that, you know, were things maybe we'd get a chance to do down the road. I have a question going off of that. Were we supposed to do that like way sooner than when we did? That was originally my assumption.

And in doing so, it would have altered aspects of the final confrontation and the return to Ruidus. Listen, it was always in our mind to do it, but every time I was gonna, something else happened and I was like, I'm not gonna stop the scene just so I can say, I'm planting a seed. So you did it so much better. No, I mean, we both did that.

Yeah, we were both like, now, now, now? Yeah, and then it just kept like, and then we were off of the moon and then we were back on the moon. You didn't do anything wrong. Matt or Dani, remind me how many weeks this story was or months. It's not that much, right?

It's like three and a half months. I don't even know if we got to four. I have the timeline somewhere. I'm not going to search for it right now. It's like four months, maybe. Okay. Sounds right. D&D.

Tell us an action-packed, adventurous lifestyle. But it's going to be a little sad if we rescued all these people from one hive mind to just throw another one in there and be like, deal with that now. On brand. Yeah. Yeah, they've got experience, though, so yeah, that should be fine. Taliesin, Caduceus asked Belzhelz to be kind when they made their decision regarding Prodathos. What does he think of the path they ultimately chose? I think he's pleased.

I think he is, I think it is, I won't speak for Percy, but at least I can speak for Ashton and Caduceus. Which are Percy. They were both. Yeah, Percy's answer is different, though. Ashton and Caduceus have the same feeling of this is the perfect outcome because it's kind to everybody. It's kind to the gods.

It's kind to even the villainous gods. And it's kind to the gods it's kind to even the villainous gods and it's kind to everybody people who wanted the gods gone, everyone gets a little bit of what they want and there's nothing more, that's so rare in life that it feels like everyone got a gift yeah

that would be it, everyone got a gift there we are that's a good answer, But finally, the kissy questions. That's what I've been waiting for. This is for Marisha and Liam. Is it enough for Keyleth and Vax to meet up every once in a while, or does that just make them miss each other even more? Oh, well, you know, separation makes the heart go fonder.

There you go. And all that, you know, for 30 years. Well, I imagine, though, you would have, like, an extended reprieve, right? Well, I don't know what it is, and I don't feel the urge to rush to, like, stamp what it is yet. Like, one of the things I liked about the beautiful ending to Campaign 1

was it was a very poetic, soft final note, and then it left it up to our imagination and our audience's imagination to wonder what that was like for Keyleth and moving forward from there. And similar to Matt, you saying, well, who knows what we'll explore in different ways in the future.

I don't know what we're going to do for all of Exandria or for these two, but I mean, it's definitely an improvement than being dead. But I don't want to, I would rather you guys and we, at least right now, leave that up to our imagination I think it definitely feels like a very

adult like it's a working relationship like I'm very busy with my career you're very busy with your career dead stuff and we're gonna navigate that as we go what is your career now?

Taking care of the baby. Well, it's like finding the Dalai Lama every several decades, probably, looking, the matron's flock is, and getting to know his nieces and nephews and eventually their kids and, I don't know. I don't wanna try to predict or carve out what we might see in some form someday. Wait, I forget, do you have a long life like Keyleth now?

That... That's a good question. That was part of the hope and intent for this was he continues to be the champion, much like how Pravahn lived an extended life as part of that station, until eventually he was slain in the Calamity. But yeah, in an odd way, this allows them to enjoy more time together in the theory than they would have otherwise. I also like the idea that in the past,

people said, well, Vax will show up and shuffle everyone off to the afterlife. I think that's still true, but he'll just be at the bedside beforehand and then off they go. At the bedside. Whoa. Yeah.

Oh fuck. He comes out again, full circle. You're gonna show up randomly at our beds at like 3am going, it's time. Oh god, now I just want to see it. How many times has Vax appeared to Chetney? Not yet, you fucking bird! I'm going to explode up out of your hot tub at just the right moment.

That's how I'd want to go. Marisha and Matt, is Laudna truly free of Delilah now that she's trapped in her chest? And was it ever possible for the two of them to be completely separate? I never want to tell a player no if ingenuity allows them to out-think the logic. In my mind, the magic that keeps Laudna alive, like present, is t't continue to exist in Exandria without the other at this point. However, it's an interesting question in the wake of your decision at the end of campaign three to shuffle off the undead curse, if you will, to join Imogen in her natural life.

So, I mean, I'd say before that it would be very, very challenging to do so since they were so irrevocably tethered. Now you're alive with a crystal, with a necromancer still in your torso. Inside my body. Yeah, she's definitely still there. She's very contained.

She's my own little arc reactor. As your hands were like touching each other and you just got the color back in your skin. Oh! Yeah. Arporn. Yeah. Laura, I have a question. I want to toss something in real quick.

Toss. And just say that one of my favorite moments of the final game was you guys deciding to go find Lievtel. That was nothing I planned. I didn't even think of that ever. And you just, and I broke into a panic too, and I was like, oh, Matt's gonna take it now, right?

Nope, okay. Okay, I'm the Elf Lady again. And I just, seeing the two of you so heartbroken and longing for something, my brain just started going like through all the math of my character sheet. I'm like, I'm on a level 20 character. Can I do anything? And it just was just one of those accidental magic

things. I'm really fond of that moment. Yeah, that was great. Laura, I want to hear from you. So you got a multi-parter question. Oh, yeah. This one goes deep. You once said, I'm sure you remember, on Foresighted Dive, that Imogen saw Liliana as her savior growing up,

keeping her safe in her dreams. How does Imogen feel now that the roles are... We blacked that out too early. Hang on. There we go. Now that the roles are reversed, and she's quite literally her mother's savior, how is their relationship now?

Oh, wow. I think their relationship now is kind of starting from scratch. She had an ideal, an idea of what her mother was when she was growing up, like, she was her savior. She's the thing that's, you know, and it's like anybody meeting their heroes, you know, and and seeing, oh, you're human. Yeah, wait, didn't we have this conversation once?

It was, there's a moment every child realizes that their parents are just people. Yeah. Do you feel like that occurred through the course of this? Yes, 100%. Yeah, and I think she has to get to know Liliana now for who she actually is and not a concept in her mind. Actually, from my mind, Liliana, post this main narrative, really,

I see her akin to a person coming out of a cult a person who is kind of brainwashed by perspective and so deeply closed close to a particular world view that they are kind of learning how to be

themselves divorced from that being put upon them and kind of probably a lot of guilt about time that she lost in doing what she thought was right. And to your point, trying to reforge that relationship. Yeah, and probably find out who she is, too. A little bit, yeah. Yeah, it's funny, because with Jester,

it was like, I will definitely get them back together. They're going to have the most fabulous, you know, fairytale life, my parents. And Imogen does not feel that way. It's kind of like, you know, I would be shocked if they find each other again. Does your mom still, can she call you in your dreams? Yeah, we can still, I can still dream talk to people, so. But is it like, is it like when your mom calls and you're like, oh hi.

Hi, yeah, no, I'm fine, fine. I really gotta, I gotta go. Is that how you like when your mom calls? No, I love my mom. You're having a problem watching. I know, I love her. That's a real problem though, because in our world, You have a problem watching him. I know, I love her. That's a real problem though, because in our world,

you have to pick up the phone to answer mom. Who knows what you're doing with Laudna when that call comes in. Well, luckily, I'll be dreaming. She can't just like, well, I guess she could pop in just like Jessica. Who knows? Chow, you have Travis convinced

he is Handsome Squidward now. Please. Stop. Oh my god. Travis, you haven't had enough questions. Did PopCon happen? And if so, did Chetney go to it as special guest and headline keynote speaker? Yes! Of course he did. 100%. Yes. If he survived long enough, he absolutely did. It definitely happened. And people flocked from near and far.

The weave stitcher, fate stitcher, is very powerful. And so PopCon sold out of its VIP badges on its first day. Where was the venue? Where's the venue? Oh shit. It's got to be on Rumblecusp. Rumblecusp has become the new convention spot now. Since TravelerCon was such a success.

It's like the Joko cruise. I've heard it's gotten a little too corporate lately. Yeah, it's gotten too big. We're no stranger to watching Matthew Mercer do one-man shows as multiple NPCs, but with Campaign 3 being Critical Role's first major crossover event, the cast also got a taste of what it's like to RP opposite yourself. My friends, take a look. Following the brisk jog of Pike Trickfoot. I notice that Ashton is not with us, and I'm going to turn around and...

I totally got confused. I saw Pike turn around and wave at him. Oh, yes. Yeah, that's right. Pike's mine now. Cleaveth has a strange habit of talking to this tree. He talks. Well, she talks to it. What does she say?

She says it's nice. Oh, I was thinking the immediate notion would be... Reverse alphabetical order. The reverse notion would be... Actually, it was difficult because it was Ashton's idea. Actually, no, it's no problem. It's really nice not to be the most fucked up in the group for a month. Alec is there! Not possible.

Lady Keyleth. Lady Laura. Possible. Waiting for hands in the beards to come up. Lady Allura. Percival. Waiting for hands and the beards to come up. Professor. Lady Allura. Or Percival. The rest of the game. All the buildings look like bodies and body parts.

What city was this? That sounds awesome. Just so you remember. The, the, the, the. Oh, I got confused again. Yeah. We do have parts of our friend that we keep just in case. You carry parts of his body?

Well, his face. Oh wait, no. Ha, you did it! Fuck. You know what's interesting about her, though, is she can do a message, and it's very precise. Yeah. It wasn't the same at any point. Just a little, just like right to the point.

Yeah. Great. A little less hard, though. Yeah, that's pretty good. What, like that's hard or something? I could do that too if I really wanted to. Listen, Jessie. I know.

I like the way you do it. Well, thank you. It's a total waste if you don't use all your words. I mean, what's the fucking point? 400 years and counting, I've seen many things, but none of them as pretty as you. Oh, well, I mean, so many suitors today. Right? All right.

Yes. Are you single? No. Well, then, no. It was so good seeing you guys. I'm so glad we got to meet you before we all perish in a great red dew. Jester, that is not what's going to happen. No. Nope, that's not what's going to happen. Nope.

That's not what's going to happen. Is there any kind of time differential between in here and out there? Like, are we going to come out a couple days later or anything? What do you mean? No. We are just one.

We are just, uh... We're still in enemy territory. Away from me, Satan. Everything's going perfectly. Welcome to the next section. It is downfall question. The first one is for Matt. Okay. If Ludinus

had been successful in releasing the events of Downfall to Exandria, how would that have been, how would that have affected things? Thank you. Thank you. It's interesting

because like from the perspective of the Ruby Vanguard specifically Ludinus Ludinus is loathing for the gods and the history that they in his mind have wrought destruction upon he's in that mindset of if other people could see this they'll see my perspective

many would have to a certain my perspective. Many would have, to a certain degree. Many folks just would have been left kind of questioning. Some folks probably wouldn't have believed it. It would have led to a lot of chaos throughout the world. But I don't think it would have been a total flip of culture in the way that he had wanted. You know, Ludinus is very caught up in his mind.'s hyper intelligent in a lot of technical ways but his emotionally driven hatred is one of the few blinding things about him

as well as his sense of ego which you guys were very good about knocking out from under him and pissing him off it was great so yeah I think it definitely would have caused a lot of social rows and probably a lot of it would have shaken up a lot of the discussion about the history of that era, of the place of the gods in the world. And it would have caused a lasting rippling effect through a lot of Exandrian culture for a long time surrounding faith and mythology.

But I don't think it would have had the profound impact he would have hoped for. That's kind of him being blind from his perspective a little bit. How much time would you say after a decision like that is made by a player? And this is just me making up a question. I have to know because it's what we're talking about in essence, a hypothetical.

How much time do you spend thinking about the way that player choices could affect this world that you and your cast have created? Whenever I'm driving. Yeah, yeah. Whenever you're in the middle of an existential crisis? Yeah. All the time.

Yeah, and whenever I have a quiet moment, like driving on the road is usually when I'm doing like a campaign, you know, thought process and trying to ponder on what player choices might happen and how it might affect the world so I can have some kind of rough background noise that I can pull from.

And then often it's nowhere near enough and then you guys do crazy shit and I have to make it up on the spot and follow the logic. So, yeah. That's awesome. Laura, having played the Matron in Downfall, how do you think she feels

about Vex outrunning Death so much? And Matt, do you think Vex was also high on the list to be the Raven Queen's champion? No, I want wanna know that one! You first. That's hard because I... I feel like... I feel like she doesn't really have a problem with it

because the twin is hers, so it's kind of like payment. The noises you are making. I know. Fully committed to this bit. I just think, she never like turned undead or anything. It was all like fair play, you know? That's how I look at it, that the matron was just doing facts a solid. Steering things slightly away.

Yeah. Honestly, in campaign one, when you first arrived at the Sunken Temple with the intent of retrieving the Deathwalker's ward. I didn't have in mind who that would go to, necessarily. There were members of the party that was probably likely going to, based on just skill set and abilities. But I had considered it, it could have gone to Percy, it could have gone to you. You know, no one had really kind of built up a rapport with any of the divine forces in the world, aside from Pike. And Pike was very kind of, maybe, I wouldn't say antithetical, but wasn't, well, partially wasn't even there for half the campaign,

because you were in New York. But when you were there, the Everlight and the Matron kind of fill very different roles. So I didn't expect that to be there. So yeah, I think Vex could very well have been an interesting opportunity for that. But also, a champion in a different sense. Because at that point in time, there wasn't, you know,

if you had taken the armor upon yourself, it would have been like a chosen more than a champion. Right. You know, much like everyone else kind of became champions as the campaign went on, but it was more like you were given a boon and you represented some of their will and force in Exandria in this chaos with Vecna. It was truly the fall of Vex and the deal that Vax made that sealed him as a true champion and a

you-are-now-tied-to-the-fate of the Matron. Based on how it continued to go in the campaign, further and entirely bound your entire future fate to her. Side note, you can binge all the seasons of Blindspot right now. Yeah. Love you. I love you. Let's keep the spotlight right on you. Oh, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you think happened to Trist's children? Who do you hope they became? I just... I hope they became good people. I mean, I wasn't hoping that they would become... I mean, obviously they would, but at the time I wasn't thinking that they would be demigods.

But I hope they do good in the world. I think when we played it through and then we sort of got to the end, and Triss deciding that she does have to go back with her original family and go with the gods, I was like, why did I choose this as my backstory? Because this is an awful choice that we have to make in this moment. But, yeah, I hope

they do good. I hope they're doing good in the world. I think they are. I'll say it was also a really strong example of one of the many ways that a celestial bloodline can be forged. That can lead to ASMR celestial ancestry variations, as well as just individuals with touches of celestial blood, like Pike has in Legend of Vox Machina. Fun bits.

Taliesin, did you enjoy seeing Asha's Wild Mother still have influence in Divergence? Was your take on her still Caduceus's Wild Mother? I, yeah, I mean, I will say that tends to be a bit broad because it's very Bounty Wild Mother versus Famine Wild Mother. Nature's got modes. It was really nice to see that the cruel,

the nature desperately trying to crack its way out of such a terrible environment. It was like, oh, there's my little mice, just rooting their way in, just getting a little seed in that crack and shattering that mountain. Oh, here we go. Yeah, it felt really good. Yeah, that was a nice touch. Yeah, it felt fun. Tasha.

Hey, Matt. I got a question for you. Okay, what's your question? Did you and Brennan work together on the original names of the gods? And more. And the other name of the original names of the gods. And more. And the other name of the original god of death. Okay. It's interesting.

The original discussion for Tengar was to have the gods' names not be legible or recognizable by the audience. It was meant to be like their titles and names were intentionally beyond the concept of a mortal mind to understand. And so as part of that ethereal space of Tengar, the names were more or less like whatever Brennan wanted to create

because they were going to not matter in the final series. Unfortunately, I think the subtitles kind of undercut that when the episode went up. So in my head canon, those are the best approximations that a mortal mind can make, but their actual true names of that era themselves are beyond language and really concept, much like how the matron's true human name has been cast from memory and understanding. So that's how I consider it.

That was a moment. Remember when the entire audience thought that that first 10 minutes was going to be the entire run? Yep. Like, I can't do it. And I was like, I swear, just give it a second. Just wait. It was an artistic choice on our standpoint

that I still stand by. I think it was awesome. I think it was really, but I can see where it would be hard if that was your assumption, that was the entire run of the season. You're like, this is it. There's just going to be weird orbs over people's mouths. I'm a talking ball of light! My apologies. He knew the choices were nobody!

Look out for the rumpets. What happened to Halas? The sick little boy that Ymir saved. Oh yeah, Halas, not Halas. No, Halas was of another floating city. It's weird, over history, people can have similar names. No, I envision that child, yeah, it's weird. My next character is going to be named Jameson. Please. Someone has to be Jameson.

They are legion. They get together every year, they have a big reunion. I think Halas likely became a figure recovering and helping be a caretaker and protector of survivors through the Calamity. Probably being more focused on the communities in the ground, especially going through that experience and the terrifying cusp of Aeor in those moments, likely focused on trying to protect the common folk that were more or less the biggest casualties to the middle of that chaos. So that would be my interpretation. Bullshit. He's a loss.

Teleprompter's telling me to move on. I'm going to ignore it. Wait, I'm going to jump in. I'm going ignore it. Wait, I'm gonna jump in. Yeah. I'm gonna take a question from Beacon. Whoa! Damn it! Oh fuck! Do it! Do it!

Do it! That's what it's for! I know, and it's crazy! How can someone participate in that sort of Discord? Well, it's really great. You can actually, you can subscribe to Beacon.tv right now if you want to participate in the live discord chat that's happening it's my only job

right now they're either all what job you're missing out on memes about Travis or people pumping us up okay this one I've seen kind of a version of this a few times but this is from that guy, Dylan.

It's for you, Sam. Okay. Brayus was brought into the campaign, obviously, very late. Would you have wanted to have made his character this campaign or another campaign because you didn't have a chance to expand on him as much as you would have, like in another campaign? Sorry.

Get it together, Dylan. It's not so easy, is it? Would you have preferred to make the Nissen need in one for this campaign? I'm sorry. Explain it. They did write the, look, I'm trying to. Explain it. They did raise the... Look, I'm trying to get through it.

Thank you, Dylan, for that. No, he said the question. No, I think... I think I certainly would have loved to do more Brayus. I really like Brayus as a character. But I don't feel like I missed out. He got a nice little arc, which is all you can really hope for with the character.

And he got a big choice at the end, which is all you can really hope for for a character. And he got to woo some people and do some evil and paint some paintings. And yeah, I would love to see more of him in the future, but I don't regret not having him around

for more. Yeah, I guess to the very wordy question that I was trying to get through... I will say this... You made him as a response for this campaign. I did, yes, yes. We needed some god stuff, we needed some healing, we needed some evil. I will say this, though, and this is no slight against Matt, I feel like Brayus had more questions answered than FCG did.

FCG was supposed to be a longer journey that got cut short. I have so many questions about FCG. Yeah, and you would have had them answered in Aeor if you would have fucking made it. The whole point was to get them to Aeor. There were so many answers for FCG. Yeah, and you would have had them answered in Aeor if you would have fucking made it. The whole point was to get them to Aeor. There were so many answers for FCG in Aeor. I had cancer.

Cancer. You should be apologizing to us. The storyline did. We'll take it. And get it there. Yeah, we'll get it there at some point. Between Downfall and the origins of Ruidus, Chetney totally being Orym's biological father,

Campaign 3 was full of Exandria-shaking revelations. Let's take a look at some of the most memorable. And as I walk, I look up at him and I say, boy, I bet you think you're real scary. You think good has a gift. Oh! There it is! Wait till you get a load of me. My shoulder pops out. My back cracks.

Yes! Oh, yes! He's a tiny werewolf! He's a terrier! I knew it! You're trying to atone me, and I didn't do anything wrong. Yes! And he stabs you through the heart.

Ooh! No! Oh my god. As I live and breathe. Wait, you know? No, did you know each other? No, couldn't be. Wait.

Wait, are you a gnome? Yes. Deanna. Been around. Wait, what does it say? I wrote a heart and it says, former lover. Yes, yes, yes. Where there once was a golden, impish, sweet little boy.

I'm going to drop that shit. What the fuck? Oh my god. I'm gonna drop that shit. What the fuck? Oh my god. I yell, I saw you. You killed my friends at Marquette. You were there. I'm jumping full speed at this one.

I need everyone to roll initiative now. What the fuck? Are you? Oh my god. I didn't want this to happen. I guess I'll just buzzsaw him. Woo! We're Bells Hells, and don't you forget it. And I'm going to keep walking out.

Are we? And I run after her. This might be too forward, but do you remember much about the inn? My parents thought that getting an invitation to the palace, to the castle, to meet the lord and lady Briarwood was a great boon. We were promised a wonderful feast and

an amazing party and we were told we were going to be serving a greater purpose for Whitestone. That was it. They dragged me away, separated me from my parents. I was brutally beaten, and then...

It's a little fuzzy after that, but next thing I remember was waking up being hung from a tree. It was the sun tree, actually. It was quite a spectacle. Yeah, I gathered. As Keyleth lies, kind of frozen, eyes wide, Otohan goes for like a heart strike,

and there is a dark flash in the air. And you see where Otohan's blade was. Instead, you see a cloak of feathers. Oh, what? Jesus, fuck, what the hell? Black raven feathers. Wait, put it on the bingo. Put it on the bingo. Is Vax on there? What?! Jesus fuck, what the hell? Black raven feathers. Is Vax on there?

You see a masked figure with long arms. Shut the fuck up, man! Shut up! No fucking way! What is happening? You cannot be serious! Where is it? She is now standing over and protecting her body. Ah!

Daggers in each hand. Don't you even dare. The door opens. Inside, a darkened closet and a figure huddle defensively against the back wall. If we could have... If we could please have Sam Riegel come to the table. Its head shifts and looks down at the rest of you. What's happening right now? No. No. No way. No fucking way.

I think I know what's happening. No fucking way! No! No fucking way! You are so bad! Awesome. You are so bad! You sneaky! Oh my god! We're back

with the seven founders of Critical Role and Handsome Squidward and Robbie David oh yeah whatever I have an answer are you gonna get any questions? I've been skipping them all Robbie

I've seen one I've seen skipping them all. Oh fucker, you better do one. Robbie! Robbie, you have to do one. I see one. Wait, wait, I've seen a bunch in, once again, in our Discord about when you realized you had feelings for Orym. That has been spammed a few times. Who's running this show?

Well. Game recognizes game, motherfuckers. All right, we'll ask the deep lore after that. When it's Liam O'Brien across the table from you, Game recognizes game, motherfuckers. All right, we'll ask the deep lore after that. When it's Liam O'Brien across the table from you, minute one, baby. Oh! That's true, but to be fair, I was eyeing you all.

Ow! That is actually the question that we got a lot, was there anyone else that Dorian had eyes for because you hinted about it. Did Brance have a shot? In the first foresty. You just looked at Chet very quickly. Who was it?

Who was it? Everybody. I know that's a cop out answer, but I was like, I'm gonna get one of you. But you can't run from your true love. I wonder if Dorian saw the porn they shot. Okay, I'll give you a real answer because I've ducked it for however many years.

And I really did eye you all, because you're all, whatever. Well, actually, number one. There was a moment early in the season when I was princess carrying Laudna up to look at the top of a roof. And I had this thought, I was like, hmm, is this the moment?

Yeah, I thought about it for a second, and then I abandoned it from my sweet little boyfriend. Oh my god! Oh man. That's it. I thought about it for a second, and then I abandoned it from my sweet little boyfriend. Oh my god. Oh man. That's it. I thought about it. Complicated. Wow.

That's rude. What? I'm not gonna blush. Sorry. You thought your dead girl was gonna be unromanceable. You fool. I think you got the better end of that deal. If Robbie has taught us anything, you can date anything.

You can't teach us anything. It is true. Back to the real... Back to the real questions. I'm going to fireman carry. Him a big load. What a baby. Yeah, him a big load.

Matt? Yes? What would have happened if Imogen had given in to Predathos earlier on or on Ruidus? Yes. Whoa. If you had given in, it would have led to direct Predathos' communion.

There would have been visions of Predathos' past, visions of other entities, the two original gods devoured, and it would have unlocked additional powers for any future combat that you wanted to do, but Imogen, each use would have brought you closer to more or less

leaving with your mother. So it would have been an opportunity for Imogen to eventually get to a point where she leaves the group and you would have had to make a new character? You're saying that would have transformed her into an NPC, technically.

I assume that every time, if I'd have failed one of the wisdom checks and delved into Perdothos, then each time that I tried to block it again, it would have been harder and harder. Oh yeah, the DC would have gotten higher and higher each time. The idea being that, and it would have been an immediate thing, the first time would have been a really intense communion, and that draw would have been there.

A really intense communion, you guys. But it would have been, with each one, the draw would have been stronger. The promise of power would have been larger, and each use of the power and each opportunity for you to reconnect would have been a much more intense thing. I could have nine-eyes'd this shit. You blew it! I told you! Wait, really?

Oh yeah. I wanted her to give in. Chat wants forever. Someone in the chat just said, is it just me, or does Matt look more tired than normal? Oh, yeah. I wanted her to give in. Chat wants forever. Someone in the chat just said, is it just me, or does Matt look more tired than normal? They're all taking it as yes. We play for ten years, and all of a sudden.

And to answer your question, absolutely. You thought ending campaign three would slow my life down? Absolutely not. I was being very sarcastic when I said the chat is pumping us up earlier. That is not what they were doing. Keeping us humble! It does. They're keeping us humble. Speaking of slowly dying on camera, Sam, how do you feel about FCG's end. Not the landmines. I want it to be the way you mean.

Oh, you can't breathe. Not the landmines. Robbie, that was really insensitive. You're gonna be fine. It really is a gift for Thanksgiving. Oh my goodness. Oh, yeah. Transformation. Stay 15 feet back.

Oh my god. Let me ask the question. So you mean when I was undergoing radiation? Yes! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no. Oh my god.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Listen, the truth is we're all slowly dying. No one makes it out alive. It's truth. It's truth. How do you feel about FCG's end? I got a full-on question. Okay.

How do you feel about FCG's end? Yes. Were you hoping for a way to save them, or are you happy and wanting them to sacrifice themselves? And would FCG even want to be revived? So many questions. First of all, very pleased with my end. It meant something.

It made a difference. It was, I thought, a pretty nice moment. I am pissed as a character that I didn't get the answers that I wanted, and I hope that right now, after I'm done talking, Matt answers them for me. I don't think that FCG would want to be resurrected. No, they did their thing, and they're done. That's it.

I think that's... Death's okay. And you had kind of chatted to us or me or That's it. I think that's death's okay. And you would kind of chat it to us or me or whatever about it. I have this vague memory of you being like, I don't want to be brought back, right? That was how you felt

after it happened. For sure. Also, I mean, makes it a little bit more meaningful, but also I told that story. It had an end. There's no reason to dig it back up again. Yeah. I also love the idea that, like, after searching for the possibility of having a soul and the question of FCG's own, like, present, got the realist answer, which is an afterlife and a purpose beyond that, you know, under the path of the change bringer. But is the change bringer cool or not?

You were giving me all these mixed signals. Change bringer changes from moment to moment. No, change bringer's awesome, but change bringer, she was being wishy-washy intentionally sometimes. Why? Because it's one thing to be told the path to walk, it's another to walk the path and then find your way how you're supposed to.

Fucking A! Fucking A! Dick! Tell me this. What would I have learned if I went to see Devexian? That is a great segue. You don't even have the questions. What do you think would have happened if FCG had visited Aeor and and had he met up with the Devexian? Devexian, one, would have had the capability of upgrading elements of FCG. You're missing this. With other... Sorry, I think Omar farted.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You think? We had to confirm. They were like, was it a fart? Was it like nose and tongue and mouth and mouth? Taliesin. Upgraded. So we started it. Upgraded with a tongue and legs?

Or upgraded like laser beams? They would've made those little flat things real. The vaccine does not have a tongue. Damn it. Don't all Aeormatons? Has he been gathering other parts? Next question. What does he do if he finds other Aeormatons?

Not all Aeormatons that were found were repairable, and so Devexian sometimes cobbles them together, sometimes builds new ones from what can be located. Davexian more or less is trying to restart the Eor Matan people, not locked into the memories of the past in the hopes that they can forge a new future without the weight of Eor behind them. So Davexian is more or less trying to be a soft messiah for the Aeorian people from the background. You get a little bit of that in Rhys Leier's take, actually. There's a fun little interaction in that series with Devexian, specifically. But with that, Devexian may have given FCG a little more context to what Aeor meant and what their purpose was and the challenges they had in Aeor society.

As in the past robot? Yeah, and would have said to go to Aeor to find the true answers, because only there you would have found them. And in Aeor, you would have had more memories come up of what you were built for. The Care and the Culling was specifically Aeormatons designed as aid helpers and supportive care workers. And you were part of a group of this particular group designed to be given as gifts to diplomatic allies to Aeor that were more or less sleeper cells that would be signaled to then turn on their gifters. Yeah. And so there would have been a lot of dark history where you were, but a lot of also philosophical ideas of you were not bound by a history you had no control over, your destiny is

yours to carry forward. A lot of fun. Good messages. Is there a place in Aeor, buried deep, where there's a whole bank of fresh cut grass models and you're all networked? And you set off the memory like Luda, maybe we could turn you on somewhere else. You can always turn me on somewhere else. The chat is out for the guys, by the way, because I saw a comment that said, Laura, your makeup looks so lovely tonight. And then I saw a follow-up that said, Liam looks like he's being tortured.

I haven't changed in ten years! tonight, and then I saw a follow-up that said, Liam looks like he's being tortured. I haven't changed in ten years. I don't know what the guys did, but we're fucking high-value targets. Not to give a little peek behind the curtain, we're all wearing makeup right now.

So we just look extra shitty. It shines behind the curtain. We're all wearing makeup right now. So we just look extra shitty. It shines through the makeup. Sam, I really want to stay focused on you. Okay, great. Oh, well, did you intentionally play Minotaur just to break the trend of many years of playing small characters, or were you specifically trying to create

a thirst trap for your previous character? That one. I knew it. It's the best. It's the joke. It's all for the joke. It's all for the bit. It's all for the bit.

I've played larger characters before. Tarion Darrington is a normal-sized... Also a second follow-up character. That's true. That's true. It's just I start campaigns as Smalls. That's the only rule. He's a grower. Speaking of big, hunky guys, Travis.

Do you know what happened to Chetney's family? Do I don't? I don't. Can I see some ID, young man, please? This is no alcohol. Not alcohol. By the way,

it says Taliesin isn't catching any hate at all, which I think we just have to recognize. You're just too fine. I know where you all are.

Chetney has no idea where his family is. No. They all fled during the first, what was the red dragon's name? Not before Thordak, it was before? Erevan the Rime Lord? Yes, the Rime Lord, yeah.

Wow. Yep. Bro, that is my job, I know. So are we suppressing still? We're talking pools of Wittebok, the area outside of where Kraghammer is. Okay, gotcha, yeah. Erevan the Rime Lord, that was during the Ice Lost Years. Not a dragon, actually. Oh, really?

Large elemental lord. Oh. I read that wrong. Wait, there was a question that said, what was the deal with Shithead, the bird? That's a great question. That is an amazing question. I totally forgot about Shithead. What was the backstory with that? The backstory was Fresh Cut Grass, when I designed the character,

was gonna have a pet bird with him named Shithead, but then I realized how hard and how stupid it is to have an animal companion. Wow. But I had already had the drawing done. I had already had the art made for Shithead. And so I told Matt right at the beginning of the campaign, I was like, hey man, I had this art done.

I don't know what to do with it. His name's Shithead the bird. Just have it menace me at some point. That was it. And that was it, and that was up to Matt to make it a sort of a harbinger of doom. Well, because I remember. What?

What's happening over there? What? Don't worry about it. It's I'm roasting you now! You did too fine. How'd that now. It's too hot. Have at ye. Our handsomest host here. Got down to our level.

Cheers for the savagery in the chat. This hair, right? This hair. You have such good hair. I'm going to immediately throw away from the compliments. From tankard to a flask, then a gas can, and eventually an infernal Stanley Cup, which is just a normal Stanley Cup. No one knows how to cause a ruckus with a cup,

quite like Sam Riegel. We're still talking about me? We are, it's all you. It's all you. And here is two and a half minutes of proof. Ooh, we get a proof! My name is Sir Bertrand Bell. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. You're a get a proof! My name is Sir Bertrand Bell.

It's a pleasure to meet all of you. You're a knight? Are you a noble? Not a noble. A knight is generous. Oh no. I mean, we knew that already. You know, things happen when you come and go from there. Years have gone by, and it only feels like a couple minutes for you. Oh my god.

It's pressed like a dark leather. It looks almost like a heavy, almost oni brow with these horns that curve up. Oh wow. Oh my god. Oh, wow. Got my mask ready. What? What? That is amazing. It's my human skin mask.

First, I'm going to cast Yasufy. Oh no! Bye, guys. First, I'm going to cast Yasufy. Oh. Guys, I'm already tired of this. 26. Oh my fucking god.

Oh my goodness. Oh my. Oh no! There are a number of folks rushing around in similar robes that are... Okay. Okay. Wow. Okay. Okay. Wow. Okay. I just finished baking a Bundt cake. I can give you guys a Bundt cake. You've been baking Bundts?

Oh no. Oh shit, it fell! Go ahead and eat it, Emily. Hey, Emily. Show it to the DadSundown on this side of the table. Hello! You damn it, Sam. It's bad here. I'm going to do it with my special rolling device.

It's also a dice tower. What? Six. Seeing all of this action, I have to take a sip from my Stanley cup. Oh. Oh! What?

Ew! Gross. Damn. That's amazing. Yeah! It's like the mushroom. You did good. You did good.

I think instead of the flask, I think you now need the fan and just need to... Her back. That was the softest entry. You let me get away with that? Thanks, team. It's time for questions.

Oh, better. Race to the moon. All of these start with you. It's just the way it is. Okay, let's go. You're my world. I do like this question quite a bit. Was Mori's deal with Orym always meant to be a fake out, or did you plan to follow up on it, but the plans changed during the game as it

progressed? I look that tired? No. I'm kidding. I'm kidding! I'm kidding. I really like your haircut, Matt. Thank you. I wanted to have an end of C3 and divergence connotation cleansing to back when we first started. Kind of like a bookend. It is a lot of freshly shorn boys here. Back to the question at hand! It was funny, because thinking from the mindset of Morgan during that time, of the

Fate Stitcher, in those moments, her beloved adopted granddaughter, essentially, and her compatriots were going to be leaving for a dangerous mission that'll have impact on the realms beyond, including the Fey Realm and the space where she has interest over fate. Orm comes to her saying, I request a boon to keep us and your sweet fern safe. In which, in her mind, she's like, of course, I'll give you a boon. It's like, and in return, I offer my fealty to you unending. She's like, great. I'll take it. He's like, however,

you must promise that we all come back alive. And she's like, I can't promise that. You're going to the moon. You're going so far beyond my ability to control that. But sure, I was going to give it to you anyway. So in the moment, it was like, sure, if you want to make the deal, because if you all come back alive, I get someone bound to me at practically no work from her standpoint, but she's not going to tell you that. She's going to

let him believe that and worry about it. Because in my head, I was like, she's willing to make a wheel and deal here if he wants to bring it, and the more it began to form, she's like, this ask is a little beyond my ability on where you're going, but I'm not going to correct anything. In the off chance that everything goes perfectly and I get a free servant out of this, I'm going to let it ride. And so when it finally came down to that moment of conflict, it was like, yeah, no, you're good. Your friend died, so technically our contract's broken, sorry. I bet that one of our players would die, so thank you for eating shit. I will always eat shit for you. What are you doing after this?

Follow-up. Did Nana make the sea poppers, or did they exist before Chetney's deal? Yes. Yes. Great. You also, you don't have to really answer that. No, he does. Did it reconfigure Caleb's upbringing or did little Bren always, did he always, had he always fallen in love with those toys

on his scarce trips to the Rexentrum? So, the best that I could, the best that I could convey this to all of you. This is important. This is important. Take your time with this. This is the real minutiae we need. Whatever you say will be canon. This is the glue.

We'll use it all together. These crafted eggs and such fine woodwork has always existed in Exandria, but it's very easy to adjust elements of memory tethered to such things as to who is responsible. You didn't even make the wood eggs, but you have one up your butt? Or maybe he did. You don't know. Oh. Chet. Even Chet thinks he made the wood eggs.

Bow, bow, bow, bow. Tell me this, is Chetney Scanlan's father? Yes. Is that true? Yeah. And Orym's dad. That's not true. I believe both of these.

Yeah, I do. I know. They're not the only ones. Of course. All right, this one is for Matt and Taliesin. So many things have been said, and I'm so confused. Someone's yelling at me to grow my fucking beard back. Y'all need to calm down. I'm a human being.

They just want you to grow it so you can donate it to Travis. That's true. So wait, is he a fraud? I'm not confirming anything. I'm just saying in the logistics of it. He has made all kinds of stuff in history. It's true! Does he know if he made the eggs or not? I made the eggs, yes, of course. I made all these toys. That's what you remember.

They suddenly got much, much better, I think. And much more expensive, am I right? To help clarify from my standpoint here, there are some elements of history that are fun for me to answer and confirm, and there are some that are fun to raise more questions about and leave it there. I made a series of eggs, along with a litany of other toys after the Nana Mori stuff. The toys got much more intricate,

like much more complicated than they previously were. But the originals are still fucking highly sought after. But wait, so the eggs you, all of the eggs you made after you made the- No, no, no. He had made them before. You'd made them before, okay. I only made two after the deal. Did Chetney carve the interrogation chair from Campaign 2? Yes.

Yes, that was in canon. I wonder it had so much weight to it. It was extremely ominous. Just chuck under the leg. Beautiful. So that was the reason to give Nana a tiki bar, I'm pretty sure that was just from discussing a little bit with you with what your home was about. I think so. Yeah. We just discussed it. It had to have tiki?

I just thought a tiki bar. It feels a fun thing to give a hag in the middle. Yeah. I just wanted it to have a fun house. Who doesn't want a tiki bar? You guys have a tiki bar. You guys have a tiki bar? You do have a tiki bar? It's like inspired by home life. I mean, you instantly know the vibe

when you walk in and you see a tiki bar. That's true. You're like, all right, we're down. They have a tiki bar. You really do. You really do. You know you're gonna have a good time. Most of it good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're a mess. Most of it good. But you know you're going to have a good drink. Not for sure, but it's going to be sweet. That's all we know. It's going to be sweet. All right, next question.

Yeah, Ashley, does Fern have any worries about Tevin Clask and the Lord of the Hells, what they have in store for their future? Not at all. No. Does that care? No, I really think, yeah. I don't, I think she just... Every burn answer is like,

well, it's down for the fucking ride. I mean, I think if there was worry there, she wouldn't have done it. Yeah. You know, and it's just kind of like, well, let's just see what happens. I will say. She's got to get on that.

She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that.

She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got to get on that. She's got Tevin wrapped around her finger, according to a certain book. Burned on her hand. I mean, we'll see how that maybe one day pans out. Oh, I very much have interest in a future fern-centric Bells Hells game.

Really? That, where a lot of these might come into play. Ooh! Consequence! It has to be. Moving on, moving on! Too much to then take a sidetrack

in the middle of our finale, but definitely something to explore in a post- post-Katathiosis era. I did have moments during the game where I was like, maybe we should go talk to Asmodeus and try to... Buddy up? Buddy up, or I don't know.

I was like, there were so many possibilities of using that sort of relationship, but I don't think she doesn't care in the world about it. Okay. I really don't. I have a pitch. I have a pitch for a future one-shot. Great. It's like Fern, but like Love Island. Or like the ultimatum or something.

Really? Bachelorette number two. Yes, yes. Elevator pitch? She's a host or she's the bachelorette? She's the bachelorette. Okay. She's the bachelorette.

And you have Ashen, you have Chetney, you have Braus, you have Tevin, you have the ghost pirate that you snuggle with. Yeah! You have all these people that you go on dates with, and it's like redo-it-reality show style. We could do it like Marvel's Secret War, where we're just all stuck there and we can't leave under threat of death. Like it is just under penalty of death, we have to be there and compete. If we were to spend three weeks together

in the nine house, how hot would it get? Those kind of questions. I love it. So, you live in the nine house. What would we do for a first date? Perfect. I love it. which would be the first bone you would show me? Hey, dead pirate got a girlfriend.

Oh, well. Yeah, but I saw the tiki bar on his boat, so. Yeah. I wish I had a funny question to ask, but they're all just so serious, and it's for you. Me? Oh god. I wish I had a funny question to ask, but they're all just so serious, and it's for you. Me? It's serious? Yes, not too serious.

Okay. How did wearing the circlet change Imogen's perspective on the people around her? Does she keep wearing it in her downtime? Oh. Gosh, the circlet changed everything for Imogen. I mean, she hated being around people before the circlet. And then it was just like, oh, you guys can be, you're my friends.

It's the best. Yeah, so I don't, there were a couple times in the end of the campaign that I ended up taking the circlet off because I had more powerful items that I needed to use. Wow. But no, and I did keep it in mind, like, any time that I was unattuned to the circlet, I was, like, aware of the fact that it was, like, kind of back.

But I feel like as her power grew, her control of that element also grew. So it wasn't as dominating past a certain point. Yeah. Yeah, like taught you how to like, got you to the steps to like deal with it in a way. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool.

Yeah. I really like that. Yeah, because I remember early on we would like try and find booths in the far back corner and stuff, which was really cool. Yeah, I remember the first time we got out of the city and I was like out in nature and I could step away and it was like, oh my God.

Yeah, it was a really good dynamic. I was just like having this conversation a couple of days ago about like, that was a weird choice to make at the beginning of a campaign to choose a character that was like tortured to be around people, because it was really hard to show her character at the beginning.

Yeah, that's interesting. So yeah. That's a real fun complication. It was a fun complication. I think also relatable, probably, for a lot of people. Yeah. A very different swing from Jester.

Yes. You have to answer a question for yourself, Robbie. Yeah, Robbie A very different swing from Jester. Yes. You have to answer a question for yourself, Robbie. There are none on my page. There's not a single one. Robbie, I saw one in the Discord. Uh-oh. What is your mother's name? You're gonna ask me a lore question?

My mom's name is Mom. No, what is your name? She's the best mom in the world. Make it up now if you don't have it, make it up. I do have it. You just don't remember it? Dad's name was, they were all wind puns, I'm afraid.

There's a Zephyr in there for sure, which I think was Pops. And Matt's trying to desperately save her. Harry Storm. What is it? Nepheli. That sounds right. You found it the same second I did.

Thanks, guys. See, You need a team to figure out your own lore. The two Wyvern Wins and the up-and-coming Sun Bronte. I'm going to drop it in chat so that they have the spelling. It's one of those things where Cyrus was always the

linchpin for moving forward. But as far as mom and dad go, it was more about the concept of them than I didn't have her name running through my head at all times. Yeah, but yeah, if you want to pop it in the chat. I'm glad we got to have those moments at the end of the campaign. It was heartbreaking when he went back to find the Silken Squall outside of Vasselheim and walking in and having heard that you had chosen a different name than the one they gave you and trying to, like...

Yeah. Lean into that. It was, like... Oh, and I didn't clock it until we got to RP a little bit, which was great. I just thought that you were calling me that. And then I'm like, oh, no, this is a conscious choice by Matt in this RP moment. And I missed it which is interesting for anyone who's chosen

to go by any name in the world you go back home to mom and dad and all of a sudden you potentially become who you used to be so I thought that was a really fun way for that to unfold and thanks for letting me have that moment because I kind of just took it which is a scary thing to do in any game

that's the best part of these games I have a Dorian question as well I thought it was fascinating because I kind of just took it, which is a scary thing to do in any game. That's the best part of these games. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. I have a Dorian question as well. Uh-oh. I thought it was fascinating to see how losing Dorian's brother through your whole story on its head upside down.

Sure. What was it like having to reconfigure when that happened, like that week or those two weeks as you were like, I'm this. No, I'm not, I'm this. What was that like? Yeah, well, thankfully I created a character that compartmentalized really well.

So that was the aspect of like, well, how do you play the story but fold yourself into a story that's already been unfolding without like, oh, I want to shine the spotlight on me and I want to talk about my tragic backstory. but also do service to what happened within the game. So I think there was a real craftsmanship in getting Dorian back into the story, where everyone was on the same page, and that unfolded between Aabria and Matt, so I feel like, you

know, we were meeting at a time when they had just suffered a great loss, and I had suffered a great loss, I had suffered a great loss and we could all just feel that together without sitting around the campfire going, let's talk about our dead friends. So it did make me feel like after being away from the table for so long that

at least the wavelengths were the same with the rest of the crew. And then I always felt a little bit unresolved because there was so much to do in the last 30 episodes or so but having that moment with mom and the guilt of being the catalyst of losing a family member through that scene being able to give dorian closure on that and and and let go of some of that guilt and breathe in the love of his family, that wrapped it up for me in a way that felt okay to where I felt like Dorian could move on.

So yeah, it's really, yeah, it's a different thing. Can you also, can you tell Chat to relax and tell them that you'll be coming back as many times as we ask you for forever and ever? I'm still waiting for the contracts to come back from the lawyers, you know, we have some truly incredible battle maps in Campaign 3. We're not letting them go.

Yeah, he's not going anywhere. One of us, motherfucker. And with all those sexy new beauty shots and our amazing crew has been getting, we would be remiss if we didn't pay tribute to some of the standout maps of Campaign 3. Who doesn't like a good map? Take a look.

Map Mercer. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome back, everyone. Here's the deal. I'm about to say a bunch of names, and everyone's name who I say are incredibly talented. This is a shout-out to our amazing crew behind our miniatures. Tyler Walpole, Ian Irontus. Don't cross in front, go behind. Nice! Knoxweiler, Burp, Jesse Jurdek, Daniel Airely, Peyton Keough, Laceball, Ron Ogden and Angela Bassett. Yes, that Angela Bassett. No.

No, not that Angela Bassett. This one goes by DM underscore Ophelia on IG, but seriously though, could you imagine? Sorry, I did that. I did that, and I don't know what I was thinking. I thought my mic pack was falling off. No, I just touched your butt with my foot, I'm sorry. If I said your name incorrectly,

I still love you very, very much. Team, we got a whole new set of questions about a whole new art. Are you mentally prepared? Yes, I know I sure am. I'm gonna start at the bottom. Just kidding, it's back to you, Matt. Yay!

Okay. Give us answers. Okay, this is interesting. What were the personal dynamics among Ludinus and his generals, like Odahan, Liliana, and Zathura? How did they vibe together? I mean, originally they vibed well.

They were all brought under Ludinus, who had a very prominent figure historically and between multiple different cultures and communities of power in Exandria, and especially in the wake of the Apex War IV, Otohan, in which case, if you are a legendary soldier, it's tough in times of peace, especially when you're a soldier that loves the violence like she did. And so she was eager to be part of this for the promise of another opportunity to rise to prominence and lean into the cruelty. She's not a good person. As if you didn't know that.

Zathuta, Lyanna, they were all brought together under the auspice of Ludinus' plot. And when they were all brought there, they already were kind of within a trusted space, shown enough to see

how much work he had put into this, and saw it kind of like more or less a surefire thing. And the more they began to extend these last-minute plans

that he required them to help with, the more they began to extend these last-minute plans that he required them to help with, the more they began to butt heads further and further. And so they got together okay at the beginning, but even with the short time that Ludinus began to relax his grip on his plot and let other people handle things he needed them to do, the more they began to clash, the more they began to dislike each other, and they began to sow these seeds of discontent through the Ruby vanguard. But first and foremost, they were friends. Just buds.

Just buddies. Just chill bros. You know. I wouldn't consider them friends, but they were definitely compatriots in arms. I can't make my knuckles make a sound when I slam them together. How hard did you hit your knuckles together to make them? Not hard. Oh, you just did it. It was a crack. It was a slap, not crack. No, you should definitely keep trying until they make a sound. I didn't know it was a hand to knuckle. I thought it was...

Wait, Nux? Oh yeah. Yeah. You guys ever played Nux? I love this Nux player. Do you ever do quarters? Have you ever do it? Are you talking about- I love this Nux player. Do you ever do quarters? Smoke your noob. Have you ever done quarters? Nerd.

It hurts and you're like, whoo! Yeah. That's just the thing I looked out to try and avoid when I was leaving the arcade. Oh, yes. You want to play pencil break? Oh. Oh, dude.

Ow. Ugh. I sucked at that game. Back to the generals really quick. We've all done a ton of panels and answered questions from the audiences, and one of the toughest ones to answer is, what's your favorite?

So I'm not going to ask you that. I'm going to ask you, who was your favorite of the three generals to play? Wow. Ooh, good question. Oh, man. I know. I like them all for different reasons.

That's the thing. Answer it while doing Just Dance. Lady Gaga's a plus. That's a throwback. No, I'm okay. We could do Abracadabra now, because it's like a full circle. And I get to sit while I'm doing it? You can sit, yeah. God, so good. No, man. I mean, Odahan was so generally terrifying because of how cruel she was. Of the generals, she was definitely the most fun

to scare the players. So if I had to say, I'd say her. Zathura, from the time we got to see, was more manipulative and conniving. Definitely playing multiple angles, especially manipulation of Fern and the hope that he had for his daughter as his, more or less, his chip in the game

to get one over the other generals. Liliana was just a tragic figure, and based on how things went, could have ended up much more tragically. I'm kind of happy that it didn't, because it allowed for a softer narrative for you at the end. But yeah, Odohan probably was the most dangerous of them all.

But Zathuda, as a flesh tapestry, so much fun though, right? Honestly? What a terrifying end for him. I kind of love it. I love how you were acting it out, because I feel like I just saw it. Yeah! And then I was just thinking of the scenes in Brazil. You know, the pulled skin. Oh god, oh yeah. Loved it.

Did you throw that out in the moment? Yeah! Because that's what Nana Mori is about. Oh, that's right! You did throw it out in the moment, because you were always talking about the loom, and then it just happened, and you were like, all right, well I guess I'll just go with it right now.

Yeah, like, I knew there was a place in the tree called the loom, but I wasn't particular about what it did. I didn't think we'd ever go there. That was a just in the moment thing, Matthew. There's a lot of that. From you guys too, though! Any DM out there also does that shit all the time. You know. I don't know. Otohan's the one that's going to haunt me long after all this. You know, I know that the episode where we faced off in front of the Malay's Key and the whole bringing down Vax blew my mind. But before that even, Odahan seemed so terrifying to me with her duplicates on the field and standing over.

She's just really, really scary every time. I feel like she could have TPK'd us multiple times. Oh, I thought it was gonna happen. Every time. I think circumstance- I feel like it has to be said to any enemy that can move across a map. Like anyone who can clear a big distance is terrifying.

Yeah. That was the scariest fight. Yeah. When we're Laudna and Orym. I was like, this feels awful. Yeah. That was the hardest fight. Like, you wouldn't have beaten her if she might've gotten hurt and fled, but she wasn't interested in killing you all.

She was interested in trying to get her to exalt. It was very much that kind of like, if I can get her to exalt, she might be useful to me. Trying to be useful to everything, and at the very least confuse her mother, who I don't like. So there was a lot of idea of just trying to manipulate you, trying to get you to exalt to see if you were capable of that, and being useful to her and the overall plot. So it was fun to explore that. But that final battle was meant to be. Here's the thing. I've been blending these games for you guys for ten years

now, and there are many dangerous fights that I build up that I thought I'd plan well for, and you guys just kind of tactically do well and roll well, and you just kind of steamroll it. And I'm like, okay, that was a little anticlimactic. Cool. I was not going to let that happen with her. Good. No, it did not happen. We felt it. Horrifying. Well, you felt it, but when I wasn't at the table, I felt the ripples of what was going on via the internet. And I, that evening, when you were in that fight,

my phone just started going off, because I had my notifs on, and I was like, what's going on? Oh, they're in trouble. Because people were screaming, they were like, come help them, everyone's dying! What are you gonna do? Let me just drive over to the studio.

So when your fantasy world reaches its tendrils into the real world and interrupts my dinner, that's when you know you're going to die. That's an interesting thing, just a little behind-the-scenes thing that we've had to be mindful of, because I remember when FCG died and Christian Navarro texted me that night and he was like so excited to watch the game tonight and I was like did anyone tell him? Did we tell him? I need to tell him. Oh yeah that's right. And I was like hey I just want to give you

a heads up like something bad is gonna happen and people are going to be adding you and be in the know and he was like oh god what? So, yeah, sometimes if it's bad, we have to give people a heads up.

There are a lot of great questions here, but we don't have that much time, but I do want to give Taliesin a chance to get lost in the weeds for just a second. No, never. Because this question is so good, it's got to be my golden pick. I can make my way through any weeds.

Ashton's nature was a huge enigma in this campaign. Dunamis explains Ashton's unique abilities, but what race was Ashton born, and how was he transformed into an Earth genus? Well, as for, I mean, honestly, they don't really have a lot of memory into an earth genas. Well, as for, I mean, honestly, they don't really have a lot of memory about what, I mean, they kind of,

I always assumed they were basically human, some sort of humanoid. And it was going through the portal that really, like the elemental portal that kind of kicked that off, and we never really got into it, because I don't think Ashton ever smoked the pipe. That is not a euphemism. Just the tree did? Well, I don't think you ever got your proudest moment.

You didn't inhale? I didn't inhale. But should I save that for possibly in-game, or should I just let that one? Let that sit with you, sir. Yeah, the slow change into their rock form happened when they were younger and when they were in the home under the state's care. It was, like everything, kind of traumatizing. A life of trauma.

Well, yeah! Yeah. So yeah, they were born soft and got hard later. I wish to be a rock. Yeah. I will say there was a deep shit kicking that was involved. Sweet. I love how all I said was sweet and you immediately turned and looked at me, Liam. This is for you, my sweet little boyfriend. Is there

any information about Will's... Shut it, handsome Squidward. Is there any information about Will's sisters that never came up in game that you'd like to share? For example, does Aurum have a favorite triplet? I don't know if I would say

favorite, but I think he has the closest connection to Leta, who took over for Darragh as Master of Arms for Zephra, because he trained with her. So Will and Leta and Aurum were together for years, training under Darragh and preparing themselves for a life of service in Zephra. So he definitely spent the most time with her than the other sisters. I think that's probably the answer to that. And I also

I know that as the campaign made its way, I did talk to Matt about my hopes for Leta taking over for Darragh and how I saw her and the things that I hoped for her for her over for Darragh and how I saw her and the things that I hoped for her for her place in Zephra.

Even as the story, and I don't know what's happening next. I don't, but I really like her as a character and I like her taking over for her father and I like her being a part of Zephra. Here's a completely organic segue. Everyone's got weird habits, am I right? So weird.

For example, my weird habit would be... Yeah, think of something on the fly. That's rude. I love it. I don't have one! You'd better get things out of your belly button and eat it. I wish I did. Oh man, I got your belly button in either. I wish I did. Oh man, I'm sure I got one somewhere. Yeah, I know, I'm weird. But some cast members have habits so regular that you could practically set your watch by them.

Roll the clip! It looks like it was a heavy hit and it's looking pretty hurt already in one strike. Have the Feywild. Half undead blood and release the chill touch. The two skulls and claws. The guy on top takes full power. Matt!

We can divide and conquer, right? We're going to run out of time. Yeah, we got to go. I'll move up towards Ashton. Matt! We can divide and conquer, right? We're going to run out of time. I'll move up towards Ashton. 30 feats. 30? This is a new stance. Even the chairs evolved. But whereas once it emanated around you like a cage, now it's just the faintest little tickle on the inside. And as you begin to

push inward towards the darkness, the faint... It was indeed confirmed to be an excretion that is utilized by hard tunnels. Come on! Fucking hit you all so much. Pause a breath as you roll up your hole, which right now is pretty... Uh-huh. Yeah. Our hole is what? Your hole's pretty filled.

It's pretty... It's kind of at capacity. Filled and stanky. You are out and about, trying to just spread your legs a little bit. Spread your wings. I didn't even think, did I try to do that? I was spreading my legs all over town.

What? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I was trying to say, I was trying to say. Can't be done. Can't be done. You can't be done. Stretch! Stretch your legs! Break your wings!

They both collided. Let's grab a mushroom and ride it over. Okay, let's do it. Ride the mushroom over the bush. There are multiple sections of sticks. I'm going to steer the head of the mushroom right at the bush. Can I start rolling? Take that bush before the mushroom gets over there.

I know. Coughed again. Coughed and puffed again. Cocked again. Oh, with advantage. What? Cocked. Cocked. Ashley. I know.

That's cocked. That's cocked again. I hate that dice so much. Ashley. Okay, okay. Don't forget. Shit. Jesus. That's cocked. Also cocked.

Oh, that's good. Six dice rolls to get to that. I know, I'm sorry. I just... I don't know. That's cocked. That's cocked, I'm really sorry. That was almost a natural 20, too.

Okay, but look how good they're almost. That was. Your mom is, too. Okay. But look how good they're almost. That was. Your mom is a dwarf. What the hell? How does it do that? Thank you. That's good. What is that? That's a 10.

I think that's an 8. No. It's a what? What is that? I don't know what that is. That's a 3. No, that's a 10. No? Or is it an 8? Or is it a 3? Or is that? I don't know what that is. That's a 3. No, that's a 10. No? Or is it an 8? Or is it a 3? Or is it a 6? That's a lowercase a.

That's an 8. No, that's a 10. It's a 3? What? Does it all? Guys, are we? That's the very different numbers. The worst! How can you figure three different numbers?

One of them has two digits! This dice has no numbers on it. Starting the carnival. Zero gravity rage. Interesting. Let's fucking rage. Let's see what the hell tools I'm playing with. Interesting. Oh, that's fun. So what do I have built right now? Oh, okay. I'm going to rage. Yay! All righty. Now we're having fun.

Start the disco. Come on. That'll do. Come on, give me something fun. I can make that work. I'm going to rage and see what the fuck happens. Here we go. Ooh, okay. I'm going to do it the old-fashioned way. What does that mean? He's not going to look at it. It's good. It's high. Plus eight.

16 plus. Plus eight. Never look if you want to win. Never fucking look when you want to win. Don't act tough! Don't act tough! I say, never look if you want to win. Never fucking look when you want to win. You fucking asshole! Don't act like you don't know what you're talking about! I'll kick you in your face! Ball sack! God damn! Oh, are we back?

We're so back! It's time for the serious portion of the show. Oh! The solstice approaches. Solstice. Where the questions get hard-hitting. Taliesin, what happened during Ashton's pasta adventure? Oh, yeah.

Fish, fish, pasta. I have no idea what this question is. Well, I mean, we got into a little bit of it, but basically ended up accidentally stumbling into what was a underworld robbery that was going on. Kind of got picked up into it, couldn't get out. Ended up going to what was basically an Italian restaurant where there was mobsters downstairs having a showdown.

Picked a side, hoped it was the right one. There was a mad chase, hoped it was the right one. There was a mad chase, including helping rob the place, pissing off people that may come back, I don't know. He doesn't really know who they were,

he was just going with it because otherwise, you know, you have to do something. And eventually made off with what they thought was loot, but instead was just a lot of pasta and sauce and

and figured, you know, could be worse. And now we got to get out of town real fast before they figure out that I was part of that. These are the answers to the hard-hitting questions you want to know. Here's a romp. Here's one for Matt. This is great. But here's one for Matt. What were the range of possibilities when the Malleus Key was first activated? Was it possible for Predathos to have been released

early in the campaign if the party hadn't managed to damage any of the power supplies or destroyed the key in the Fey Realm? There was a possibility. If they had failed to destroy the key and the Fey Realm. There was a possibility if they had failed to destroy the key and did not do any damage to it, it would have begun the process of unleashing Pardothos rapidly.

There would have been a chance to still race to the core, like how the campaign ended in a way, but the key would have carved a majority of the path to the actual core of the moon where Pardophis was sealed at the Hallowed Cage. And so they would have had a chance to then

try and race Ludinus and the troop if they followed suit. Way lower level. Correct. Ugh. Which would have meant there would have been an opportunity, then there would have been a forced scenario where the gods would have likely fled or fled some realm or beyond to try and figure out how to

survive this before Protothos actually arrived. And I was going to figure out at that point if Protothos as an entity, which may have still been within Ludinus' vessel, would have begun the hunt for the gods and where they would have been beyond or also into their realm and it would have been kind of a

a chase at that point towards Ludinus as the vessel I didn't go too deep into like what it would have meant because I was you know I have loose ideas the campaign and I don't want to write too much if it's drastically alterable by player interaction but I had thoughts of what that could have meant

there would have been I There would have been, I probably would have seen which god stayed behind to take a stand and might not have survived the encounter of Pardothos. It would have been chaos. And a part of me did kind of want it to happen, but also I don't want to force a narrative and I want you guys to get the opportunity to do some cool things and prevent it.

And it ended up making a really interesting story anyway. But yeah, those were my loose thoughts around what could have happened. Nice. All right. How many times did your brain swivel in your skull when Laura rolled a natural 20 at the end? Oh! Bro!

Oh my god. I swear to fucking god, guys, it's not scripted. It's so frustrating when that shit happens, because then it's like, I don't know what to tell you! It was perfect. But also, I don't know, I was looking forward to a pantheon, missing a few gods here and there, to punch some holes into it. I was just ready to go with what happened, and when you rolled that, I was like, okay. All right. I mean, it's still getting weird, but yeah. It would've been interesting to be like, and, oh, Matron's gone now. That'd been weird.

Would you have rolled for which ones left? Yeah, I was going to randomly roll for which ones had decided to go. Dang. What would've happened if the Raven Queen went bye-bye? What would've happened to Vex? Vex would've taken over. Huh? Vex would've been... Vex or Vax? have taken over. Vax would have been. Vax or Vax?

Vax. Vax. And that would have blown the Q with Vax reunion. Yeah, if the Raven Queen went bye-bye. But Vax would have been the Raven Queen matron, and then she would let Vax go because he's worked hard enough. Sure. Next question. Sorry, Percy.

My next question is for Chat. Chat, are you enjoying the compilations and videos? The post team worked so hard. They're so cool. I want to see... If you are loving the vids, I want to see those comments fly, and I'm going to fly through these next two questions so we can get to some more.

This is for everybody. Do you regret crashing your airship? No. Isn't that what you do with an airship? Kind of. A little bit. Oh. A little bit.

I feel like you didn't do as much as you wanted. I regret that we didn't get another one. I regret that we didn't just go and get another one. It was a cool move. It was a cool move. It was a cool move. But it was a cool move. Yep. I think I, yeah, maybe, I don't know, when he held up his hand and it just shattered

into a bajillion pieces. Yeah, I was like, aw, you. And then a bunch of other people just died. I think that was some good famous bonus shit, though. Yeah, I want to see a moon fall. A really powerful wizard, whatever the, isn't going to be like, uh-oh, a boat's coming at me. Guess I'm done. Like, wall of force.

Yeah, that was what it was. But it still took out a bunch of the vanguard that were surrounding the Malleus Keys, so it had a benefit. It was cool. It was a cool move. But I couldn't in right conscience be like, nope, lewdness is getting murked by a boat.

Murked. Wrecked! Nope, lewdness is getting...merked by a boat. Merked? Fucking wrecked! Wrecked! Shipwrecked! That's one of the strongest things we could do. Oh no, it wasn't a bad idea at all! It was a great idea, and like I said, it still had benefits to it, but yeah. Robbie, YouTube thinks that you look like Domingo from Saturday Night Live.

I'm not familiar with the reference, but that's good. Somebody was asking what Bertrand Bell's fighter subclass was. He was a duelist and I think a champion? He was only level five in the end, the old bastard. Level five? He leveled down. Oh, boy. It is a simple question that Matt has asked all of us.

How do you like my new vest? And the answer is always, that's a new one? I wouldn't have been so mean to you. But there's another question that Matt... I'm not ripping on you, I promise! But there's another question that Matt lies to ask us, and the answer is always incredible and somewhat violent.

So let's take a look at some of the top how-do-you-wanna-do-this-is-is-is from campaign three. How do you want to do this? This is says campaign three Maybe maybe the audience should say how do I want to do this? Hey, bitches. Should we take this one out? Can each of us, as it blasts from our hands, it shoots out and like... So it braids? Yeah, so it braids.

Braiding is braiding! It's like a ponytail! In your head, you hear, Um, I've been swallowed! That makes me very angry. So I am going to just like, the top of it. Just laser hands through. Just laser handed.

Sure. As a reaction, can I yell, give her bangs. I will swing away with my weapon and strike several times. As I'm doing so, the black ichor that's flying off the weapon is making a splatter. You see that the splatter is forming a pattern, and it's the symbol of Asmodeus. Oh my god, I hate this. I deserve it. I brought it on myself. I love you.

It was very fun. For like, I don't know, she just gives in to the darkness. A beautiful circle of life surrounds the two of them. You watch the troubled life of Bordor Dogson reduced to ash and memory. I'm going to lightning bolt the tree trunk and I'm going to aim it right at the center of the trunk

so I can split it straight down the middle and make the two halves crash down. The bolt impacts. You watch as it hits the wood. You hear Delilah screech, No! Into white. No!

I'm going to make eye contact with Gridakos. You're mine. As the dust only begins to settle and the broken, shattered glass head of Prodothos itself is crumbled and motionless. I'm going to ask you an interesting question. How do you want to do this? I do have 56 hit points. Oh, I was looking at the wrong one.

Time for Sand and Shadow. What does that mean? The intros are going to keep getting worse. It sounds like a romance novel. These are the names of the arcs. I named all the arcs. Yeah. Perfect.

I wasn't sure if I should be reading them. I do, and I definitely made it sound like a romance novel. You're welcome, Laura Bailey. Sand and shadow sounds like it would chafe. Matt! Yep? What happened to Yusufiyad after they failed their mission for the Unsullied? Oh, Dusk, yeah.

Dusk. So in my mind, being- Chat, you can stop. Dusk, they essentially, as an upper-ranked assassin for the Unsealed Court, more or less volunteered for the specific mission in the hope of an honorable return, and failed in their mission, and failed not out of an attempt to try, but out of genuinely dropping the auspice of killing their target,

which is unforgivable, given the context of their work in the Unseelie, and so likely they were unable to return for the time being and are probably laying low either to find a way to clear their name or find a way to convince the Unseelie to allow them to restore the honor of their name or perhaps start a new life on Exandria and spend the rest of their existence, much like their target, ducking the Unseelie's interest in sight. So that's my interpretation, but I mean, you'd have to ask Erica.

Hey, what was that Gnarlrock shard? What was it doing to Imogen, and what would have happened if she had kept it? The Gnarlrock, yes. Gnarlrock. It is a and what would have happened if she had kept it? The Nauru Rock, yes. The Nauru Rock. The Nauru Rock.

It is a point of very strong corruptive magic in the Fae, and if Imogen kept it for a longer period of time, she would have seen more or less changes. Put it this way. Imogen as Pardothos was pretty terrifying. Imogen slowly over time through the campaign looking more and more like Ira Wendigoth would have been a very interesting twist as well. There are so many opportunities to become the villain.

Yeah, well, it's true. I mean, it was like whoever got in the stone. Like whoever got the Narwhroch and held onto it, it would have just slowly changed them over time. Ira? Or, like, into more of that look. Like, like... Twisted Fate look?

Cool. Speaking of Ira... What did Ira do to the mines of the Calloways? Like, did they ever try to escape? What did Ira remove from their memories? They tried to escape, but more or less Ira's a

complicated character that I like Ira. He's not a good person. I know. He was useful in ways, and he had to align goals at times, but he's not a good person. So? Yeah, exactly.

Eska is much better than Ira. But no, Ira more or less just Swiss-cheesed their memory. After we gave him soup. Like, when they try and flee, would bring them back and then punch a hole into their mind of recollecting them trying to escape and placing memories of more positive interactions to replace them. So basically had constructed, over time, a false dynamic between them to how they were when they first interacted. So yeah, it was not great. It was not great. That was such a scam. Ashley, Matt, tag team if you want. Fearne's afterlife looked very concerning.

Yes! Why was her afterlife so different from Orym's and what would have happened to her if FCG hadn't resurrected her? Oh. That actually, there was a little bit of that that took me by surprise. Because when I saw that I was like

wait, am I a bad person? Because clearly that wasn't a good place where she was going, which I like because I think it makes sense for... Because then you can be with Tevin. Because then I can be with Tevin. And then I can just like, you know, what, what, what, I actually would like to know the answer to this. In my mind, the dark fey tether within your bloodline, specifically the intent of Zathuda's creation of you and what your goal was with the Ruby Vanguard,

there is a deep thread of shadow that is just inherently in your essence that we've seen you tap into here and there. Yeah. And kind of puts you in this weird place of many oaths. Yeah. So that was a glance at a pact for your spirit that was sealed without your knowledge. Meaning upon birth, you were promised. Ooh!

Now that's a romance novel. Yeah. So Fearne's spiritual essence still sits under a contract she's unaware of. Ooh! She's not bothered by it. Fearne was Rumpelstiltskin. Yeah. I mean, it makes sense. I wondered that. That's really fun to know. Like I said, I'm very interested in a possible Fear Fern one-shot. Much like how Mr. Burns is only alive because all the diseases are in him and they're all fighting to kill him at once and cancel each other out, Fern Calloway exists because everyone at some point has some sort of contracted ownership over her or some vested interest, and they're all pushing at the same time and can't get to her.

It's kind of what it feels like now. I have to finish this deal. I have to finish this deal. We have to do this. It's going to be in court forever when you finally go. It's going to be nonstop. It's going to be the last days of Judas Iscariot, the play, but it's just for in soul.

That was a Peter joke for everybody. Robert? Sam Riegel. Yes, Robert. Sam Riegel's sponsored ad reads have always been unapologetic fever dreams. Great segue. But they went to some weird

and never-before-seen places in Campaign 3. Take a look. Yes. Digga digga digga digga. Welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons! Okay.

Let me shift into first-person view. Whoa! Is that the first shift? This is so cool! Unless I finish this commercial, I'm never gonna make it, and you'll never respect me. Blackwillowmotherfuckin69 at AOL.motherfuckincom! can come. It's me, Ludo McGillicuddy.

Now I have a HUD, which is a heads up display. And it's asking me, do I want to read the next part of the copy or give that part to Marisha? I choose Marisha. Why? Why me? Oh! Oh! What?

That's a net! Oh! That's a net! Oh, no! What? What? That's illegal! Oh, yeah.

Pum pilot! Wait, wait, wait, wait, can you at least release me from the ghostly curse that binds my soul and let me escape this eternal hell? Uh, you know what? Oh, you're breaking up! It's a bad connection! I gotta go, bye!

Wait, no, it's been decades! Okay, I, oh! It's my dog. Do nothing if it's really your, your, your really your dad. See? It's me! You really gotta hurry and... Oh! I'm okay! It's okay! Hi, I'm Sam. Did we meet before? I feel like... No? Hi. Sam? No? Okay, we're on. We're on camera. Run!

Destiny's Call! It's time. It's time for Destiny's Call. Matt, we're always going to throw it to you to start. Oh boy. I know, I know. This is your world. You've got to live in it. Why is your finger so thick? That wasn't a finger. That wasn't my finger. What? Why is your finger so thick? That wasn't her finger. It wasn't my finger. Whoa!

Ta-da! Thick fingers rolling in. A lot of amazing dream sequences in this entire thing. Matt, why did Imogen see people in her dreams after their deaths? For me, her burgeoning exultant status made her very psychically connected to figures that were either themselves exultant or had a recent kind of close connection. So deaths that were close to her that she either wasn't present to witness directly or perhaps was kind of in that kind of in-between heavily infused psychic state, there was a vision of that spirit transference,

their essence more or less passing beyond. And it was a fun narrative device for me to frame some of these moments as they occurred in the game. But that was a fun narrative device for me to frame some of these moments as they occurred in the game. But that was mainly the inspiration behind it, was just showing that kind of burgeoning psychic resonance and the fact that there was a much stronger power within Imogen beyond what she understood. Yeah, like the thumbprint of their psychic soul before it scattered away.

Yeah. What was the story behind the theft of Gianna Hexum's golem? Oh, that was a whole side quest that never happened. I have, like, four pages. Four pages of a full, like, jungle excursion. That's how it goes, though. That's how D&D works. That's so fun.

Yeah, it was a whole side quest that was going to lead you to, like, this other group of smugglers that were working near Jrusar and returning the gold. It was going to be another way to get in with Gianna and to learn more about her dealings with the Cerberus Assembly and

set up some of the elements that would come to play over in Bassurus and then it just never happened. That's what that was supposed to be. It's all good. We got there eventually. I have super fond memories of early, early Campaign 3, just because it was just such a wild, but I really gravitated toward your character

of Lord Eshteross. Oh, I sure did. I just thought that's a really great, really great character. What can you tell us about their past as a mercenary and what was the nature of their relationship with Mistress Prudaj?

Oh, yeah, yeah. So, for Eshteross, I envision somebody who made their name at a young age as a very dependably dangerous soldier of fortune and likely had been kind of fur hired

at the highest bidder in times of the Apex War, likely more on the side of Aishanador and probably had clashed previously with a younger Odahan during that conflict. Wow, that's funny. And so when it so in my head, while I didn't really get a chance to express it as much, because the story wasn't quite open at that point in time, but when Otohan did end up assassinating Eshteross early in the campaign, that was a blood feud. They had fought before, and that was her more or less closing the loop

with now exultant capabilities that she didn't have previously. There's so much with this Apex War that I kind of understand, and a lot that I don't get. We didn't get to go into it as deeply as I wanted to in the campaign. We kind of swerved and went in a different direction.

But the Apex War more or less was a massive geopolitical conflict between the Stratos Throne and Ashenador, which are the two southernmost regions of Marquette. And it was a number of years of conflict between the two that eventually just led to a stalemate. Both sides were expending like the Pentagrep Sands, and they all kind of went, it's like, guys, no one's winning this, and it's really kind of wrecking the region and wrecking both of you. And so they eventually agreed to give them to a ceasefire, and there was no victor over the war.

And it's been kind of a period of recovery ever since, and there's still, like, some tensions there, but mostly they kind of keep to their own, aside from, like, necessary trade. But the warriors that were using that war as a way to rise to prominence, like Odahan, were not happy that there wasn't a victory, that there wasn't a place for them to become a historical champion that won this cause. And that was around, after some time of that, it made her a very easy target for Ludmus to bring under his banner. But Eshteross, through some of that conflict, was on the side of Eshenador.

And kind of just, it disillusioned him to war. Like, he spent his life fighting for others and others' causes for money. And through the process of seeing both the terrible impact it has, but also the kind of lack of impact that it does. It is not a way, in his mind, to solve conflict on that scale. And so one of his great patrons and a friend that he made over time, Pradaj, more or less, like, she passed and left everything to him. They had, I will say, an unresolved romance in my mind. Like, they, it was, for lack of a better term,

they never actually got together, but there was a deep affection and profound respect. And, well... Over the pants stuff? Over the pants stuff. Yeah, yeah, OTPHJ, for sure. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, and I think a lot of his dealing with and coming to terms with that was a lot of their

discussion and her helping him through that. And as they bonded over it, and he didn't have much, especially as a soldier of the Force, and his contract did not complete, as the war was not won. Sorry, I could wax poetic about this for a long time. But yeah, that's kind of the general concept for Eshteross, and instead him wanting to kind of take others under his wing and see other people not fall on that path that he did. A few people in Discord have said, EXU Apex Wars, which could be sick. That could be sick.

Well, just listening to you talk about... Big ol' novel. Yeah. Big ol' novel. Listening to you talk about Es Big ol' novel. Yeah. Big ol' novel. Listening to you talk about Estros' backstory, I think really affected the way that they were played because obviously everyone in chat, there's a lot of shared love for that character.

I love that boy. So I think it's obviously so fleshed out in your mind that it came across on screen and people gravitated toward it. I hope so. I'm glad you guys liked it. Speaking of fan favorites, Liam, is pretty related to Buddy?

Oh! Son, nephew, cousin! It says please. I'll leave that to you to decide. I just assumed on that. No, make a choice, make a choice right now. Me? Yeah. It's your guy. Make a choice right now. Really? Yeah. It's your guy.

Make a choice, actor. But Buddy doesn't know, didn't know nothing about nothing. Obviously all ogres know each other, right? Yeah. Oh god. But they have the same- I didn't write the question, though. But they put their balls on the table.

I have a semi-related question. Was Pretty the Ogre an on-the-fly creation or something that you had waiting in that town? No, I think Pretty was on-the-fly. I'd fleshed out that particular tavern, that inn, but I think Pretty

was just an on-the-fly creation in that space. I think I snuck into the subconscious noodles of your mind and you grabbed... They're cousins. They're cousins? What if they're like second cousins? Why not first cousins?

Because you want them to get together? Is that why? And that's illegal? I mean, we don't know what's going to happen with Exandria moving forward. You did just call yourself a noodle grabber, basically, is what you said. Hey, how about a question you can answer?

Orim always has a green sash in his character design what is the meaning behind it that's a super simple basic answer I just thought of it as a Zephyrin design that he never wanted to let go of and reminded him of home

I like simple answers let's finish them all Matt what happened to the Shade Mother oh I mean she's still infesting Drusar, just in different tunnels. Flora! What kind of horse is Flora? Just a horse. What does she look like? You know all the breeds of horses.

Yeah, I know all the breeds of horses. A painter? No. Flora was like a... I don't know the breeds of horses. But I can tell you the color. Just say quarter horse. Look can tell you the color. Just say quarter horse. Look it up before the campaign. Shut up! He didn't know his mom's name!

Shut up! You asked me! You set me up! With revenge! I looked it up at the time. Name your top five horses. Listen, I looked it up back then, but I don't remember it now. It's like a soft, light tan with a white mane. I know that's a type of horse.

That answers the second half of the question. What does it look like? Very good. Everyone, lightning round. What area of Marquette was your favorite to explore? Is there any location you wish you could return to in the future? The one with the crazy car race.

Bassurus? Yeah, Bassurus. That was awesome. I liked Drusar! Everyone... I did like Drusar. I did. You know what I saw? A long time ago that somebody suggested for our group name and I saw it after we already named our group and I

really loved it. It was the Silver Reach because in Drusar, every single fucking ride we took was a Silver Each. And the Silver Reach was such a good name. And because we're all taking Centrum Silvers now. I like the good joke. That's a good joke. Thank you.

Speaking of old people about to die, Chetney! I want to give, this isn't in the script. Not in the script. I want to give you, because Chet is begging for it, one last opportunity to kill your... Let's go!

Let's do it! Three pairs of D100 pairings. So you're going to roll three times? Yeah, three times. It won't matter. We've done this. They've got to do it anyway. They want it. 64. No, 46. Come on.

Come on, die. 37. Come on, Uk'otoa, die. This would be the one. Die! 42? Yeah. 42. Hey!

No books! It worked! He lives another day. Isn't that the meaning of life? That's crazy! That is about it for the campaign. Three portion of this wrap-up. When we come back from break, we'll be joined by Bren and Lee Mulligan. And it's gonna be a free-for-all for all Exandria-related questions. Calamity, divergence, campaigns one through three,

that really cool and totally canon Guest Battle Royale we did that one time. It's all up for discussion. Oh yeah, you know the one. But before that, a loving send off to campaign three and all the amazing memories it made. Aww. Having the privilege of being able to tell these stories

with this group of people that I care so immensely about, it's hard to not think of it as the greatest honor of my life. I'm very grateful. Keyleth smiles and nods at the rest of you. Lady Fearne Calloway, Fae Scion of the Ancient Flame. Laudna, Veil Mistress of the Shadow Tree.

Oh shit. Ashton the Reforged, Hammer of Paradox. Oh! Chetney Pockapy, High Hunter in Lup of Paradox. Chetney Pockapy, High Hunter in Lupine Paragon. Dorian Storm, Master Muse in Son of the Wind. Imogen Temult, Exaltant Hope of the Red Storm. Aurum of the Arashari, savior blade of the Tempest, she says with a smile.

Playing this game specifically with the people that I love and care about and have made my found family over the past 10 years. And I can't get enough of this game. Why do we tell stories? To try to make sense of a world that can be terrifying and enormous. In Exandria, I don't know that your story will long be known.

I don't know who will remain to tell it. But it did happen. And it did matter. And the calamity is here because of you. It will not be here forever. Our real lives, for me, are really intertwined with the ones that we've lived in Exandria. So there's no aspect of it that doesn't feel precious.

I'm going to go to Laudna. It's hard to push your hair to the side. We'll find a way back for you, I promise. Oh, I don't like how this is making me feel okay I'll go to Orym can you please come back because

I'm getting a little scared the stress being so high and it is so intense that for the first time I realize that I am made of metal and wires but I am alive

I'm alive for the first time and I am alive not because I was made by Dee or Dancer or even the change burner, I am alive not because I was made by Dee or Dancer or even the Changeburner. I'm alive because they made me alive. And it's the connections that I made with all of them. And it's a feeling of joy. And I'm happy to do this because they saved my life and I'll save theirs.

It's amazing and heartbreaking and wonderful and exciting. And it's every emotion. I don't even have the words for it. And you immediately recognize the silhouettes of Laudna, Orym, Ashton, and another. Imogen! Laudna! You guys! I skid her over. You're alive, haven't you? You're alive! Which Orym?

There's a rapid patter of feet along the wooden floor, and then Orym flies through the air and latches around Fearne's neck. Well, I'm still a raccoon dog. There's a rapid patter of feet along the wooden floor and then Orym flies through the air and latches around Fearne's neck. Well, I'm still a raccoon dog. I lift her up. I'm a whore! You did it, good boy!

I like you, FCG. I like you, Frida. Oh boy. Oh, boy. A full caregiver. Suits you. Yes, sir. You have a lean-in kiss and you hear the clink. Yes!

Oh! Ow! Actually, the amazing thing is this. Despite how uncomfortable you are. I haven't been honest with you. I have feelings for you. I think... Almost from the day I met you.

I feel like the worlds have kept us apart ever since I've been back. And I've just wanted the tiniest moment with you, and I couldn't sleep either. You are the reason I'm here. You've always been the reason I'm here. Yep, just another day where we're getting our makeup ready. Just another day. Oh, hi.

You don't have to listen in to get my thoughts. I'll always share them willingly. You can just ask. Can I kiss you? I can't tell if it's all right or not anymore. All right. All right. So I will. I do. I do.

I kiss her. Describe it. No! Describe it. This is what you do. Use your imagination! I mean, you were role-playing across from BAFTA award-winning Laura Bailey. Like, it's always so surreal when you're doing this, and everyone is just so good at, like, giving and taking.

That's why we all cry all the time, because it's so damn real. I'm just going to stand behind her head and press her forehead. I'm not going to tell you to come back. I'm not going to try to compel you to come back because that choice, Laudna, is yours now. No one gets to control you anymore. All right?

Just know that I love you. Oh, man, it's so many feelings. It's sort of the end of an era. I think the last things I see are Bertrand and Dorian and Frida, and I just feel connected to everybody. Some connections are made with wires and some are made with blood and some are made with bone and some are made with wood,

but they all matter, even in this dark, dark cave. They make every day a smiley day. And so I just sign off and go. Why, hello there. This is Critical Role's resident art dad, also known as Liam O'Brien. We are continuously amazed at the artwork this community creates.

That's why each Thursday at 8 a.m. Pacific, we share a curated gallery of submitted fan art over on CritRole.com. If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, visit CritRole.com slash submit. And thank you to all of the incredible artists who share their talents with us week after week. Hello, you beautiful people. I'm talking to the audience, not the cast. I just want to wish you a happy 10 year anniversary. years that's insane um and yeah i think truly i know i speak

for many people but the crit roll team what you guys have done what it is the community you've built is life-changing uh the fact you even got me to dm for the first time ever in my life is like an achievement and an incredible confidence boost. So yeah, happy 10-year anniversary. Hello, Critters. Erica Lindbeck here. I just wanted to congratulate everyone on a wonderful 10 years of Critical Role. I hope you guys do it for another 100.

It has been one of my greatest joys to sit down at the table as Morgan joined the team. I remember when I first came in for Kaimo, I was so nervous and everyone made me feel right at home. I don't know why I thought I had anything to worry about. And by the end of that first little series, I was ready to play all night long. Um, but yeah, I love you guys. I think you're incredible entertainers. Um, but more importantly, you are some of the most magical and kindest people I've ever met, and it is an honor to breathe the same air as you. So yeah, love you guys.

Hey Critical Role family, this is Luis Carrazzo, and I just wanted to say really quickly congratulations to everybody on their 10-year anniversary and wrapping up their third campaign. It was a truly incredible experience to be able to play Xerxes in EXU Calamity, and if I had to choose a favorite moment at the table, it would have to be giving the Lord of Hells a sponge bath. Nothing quite like that, at least in my top three, but honestly, my favorite thing about doing this was being able to share the table with such incredible storytellers and being able to be a part of this incredible, awesome community. And I just want to say thank you, everybody. Can't wait to see what comes next.

And I will see you all around. Congratulations. Much love. Mwah. Hey, Critical Role and critters out there just wanted to say congratulations on 10 years pretty epic happy birthday getting to join downfall and play aiden the dawn child my sweet sweet aiden was such a gift and i love y'all it was just a gift. And I love y'all. It was just a blast getting to try and bring a broken family back together.

And may the sun shine upon you all every day. Love ya. Mwah. What's up, Critters? It's Anjali Bhumani. Well, if there is one thing that I have learned from these several years of getting to hang out with all of you, thanks to the dear, dear, dear humans

over at Critical Role, it is that Critters show up in the world for each other. You guys are just utterly amazing. Thank you so much for letting me be just a small part of this beautiful community that you've created. You are living proof of what Fierarai once said, not all family is blood, much family is chosen. So here is to 10 years of critical role and to many, many more years of love and light and creativity and not just the tiniest little bit of ridiculousness and of course to many more years of found family. Now, I gotta get back to some

reading. I was doing, excuse me. Ten years? Oh, this is madness. I don't know how you do it, Critical Role fam. You are amazing, and I love each and every one of you. Some of the best storytelling I have ever witnessed and that I've ever been a part of have been in Critical Role. And I think a big reason for that is because anytime that magic happens at the table, it doesn't matter how outlandish,

how big the characters are, it's the actors bringing their genuine self to the moment. And so to all the critters out there, I hope you will take that to heart and remember that celebrating your unique, beautiful, and genuine self will always be where the best adventures lie and where all the magic happens. I love you, Critical Role. And thank you. Happy anniversary.

Welcome back! To the wrap-up of Crystal Rolls Camp A3! That was awesome. And the Age of Reclamation. We had the whole break. I just thought of it in the moment. I planned nothing for this show.

Now that we've gone through Camp A3, it's time to come up to open up the discussion to a bit of Exandria overall. And who better to add to that topic than the man who gave Calamity a beginning, a middle, and an end, Brutally Bolligan! Get your ass out here, baby!

Oh my god! Oh my god! Hey! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Bam! Calamity! Oh! Aw! Aw! Aw! Aw!

Bam! Calamity! Oh! Oh, God! Oh, no, he's sitting. Hi, buddy. Aw. Aw.

That is good stuff. Sweet dude. Yeah, we're gonna give you all the hype. You're the second act opener. This had better be good, baby. Yeah. And it will be. Hello!

I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan. It's nice to be here. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, buddy. Yay! Thanks for sitting in the Thanks for having me, buddy. Thanks for sitting in the lobby while we dicked around and made fun of Travis. It was great.

I had a lovely pesto sandwich and I got some emails done. Hi, buddy. Oh yeah. It's like, I'm not done. I'm not done, more pets. Give me more. You know, strangely enough, you were not on the top of the call sheet

for who I should ask a question to first, but I feel like it should be you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, you're here. Yeah, it's gotta be you. Are you reading that tiny, tiny little font? I am. That's why his eyes are wide.

You can spread it. You can spread it. Yeah, you can spread it. Spread it, Robbie. Spread it. You're on camera. Spread it with your fingers. Spread it with your fingers. Spread it, make it a little wider.

I can't, I can't. Spread your legs and stretch your wings, baby. You have my attention. Spread your legs. Give the focus to Robbie. Hey, I don't wanna take this moment from you. You two are bonding on a deep level. You're just too good to be true.

What's it like to play around in Matt's map building room? What's it like in there? That map building room is so fucking sick. You have no idea. Because not only is it lovingly tended to, beautifully painted, rendered, okay, all of that exquisitely organized. May I, dare I say it, intuitively, intuitively organized. So you end up having these wonderful,

oh, the dungeon tiles are where the dungeon tiles should be, and here are the humanoids. But it is very funny to look at them and be like, humanoids one, humanoids two. And you're like, what gets you in humanoids two, And are they jealous that they're not in humanoids one? These are the hard-hitting questions I've been looking for all my life. Who you calling a humanoid? Next year I'm going to end up in humanoids one.

I can taste it someday. Keep trying, friend! You felt like you could get to work right away. You felt like you were in the space and it was there for you to be taken. There was a really funny thing actually building the Torm's Hill battle set for Divergence, where I got to work in there. It was like, okay, Torm's Hill, we'll start. And I was like, oh, you know, it's been so long since I've built a map by hand. Even when I was playing growing up, it was like Cabochon, Mon Cala beads, and a dry erase map.

And I'm like, all right, we don't have to overthink it or go overboard. It's a small little town, it's a little camp. And I was like, but these trees are kinda nice. Ooh, a well. And then suddenly you're just like, and then it's like 90 minutes, and you're like, but these trees are kind of nice. Ooh, a well. And then suddenly you're just like, and then it's like 90 minutes, and you're like, a fully rendered town.

I understand. I understand. It is like a flow state. You wouldn't, it's like matrix line code. Like, oh my god, everything, the world at your fingertips. It's intoxicating. Yeah. So, okay, in EXU Divergence, when did you get the idea to have some of the party members be gods?

Specifically for Matt to be the all-hammer. Right away! I got an idea right away! No, because it just felt like a... I love Matt with all my heart, and Matt's many virtues, generosity of spirit is key among them, by which I mean, you have to fucking overpower this guy

to give him his flowers, and you have to force the compliment, and so I did it through trickery. And it was really lovely. But it was just, too, the idea of knowing Matt's connection to dwarves, and also the idea of divergence being this period of the gods leaving. And specifically, too,

because we've had mortal gods in Downfall, and they've been, you know, that idea of catatiosis and and you know embodying mortal form it just felt like a beautiful way to have a story that was so much about mortals picking up the pieces that even the gods were like oh if we're gonna help we have to be people right that like that and that to me that was the moral of Divergence, was that it was about mortals saving their own world

and even the gods that want to help go the best way for us to help is to be mortal. I'm going to throw this and ask a question in my own brain. When you're starting off the process of crafting a story, do you like to come at it from a plot-driven,

or are you looking to impart a thematic idea first? What drops under your head first? Because your work is full of, obviously, themes and ideas that you want to impart, just obviously from the question that you just answered. So would you say you start with an idea, or would you say you start with character and story? It's really funny to,

this is, forgive a really nerdy answer, but it's like talking about space and time and they kind of can't coexist without each other. So plot and character or plot and character and theme, they don't, if you move any slider to zero they all disappear right so there's a sort of like uh but what's interesting is all of these were love letters to different parts of exandrian lore and just depends on the the series we're talking about so with calamity the initial thing was the calamity what we know in the lore is the calamity was started by a guy named Vespin Chloras.

And the very first fun creative challenge is, we know that we're going to have six players at the table. How do you make all of them responsible for something that a guy named Vespin Chloras did? And how do you make all of them share the sin of the age of Arcana, which is hubris. And so you go, oh, that's the first step, is thinking about six people experiencing hubris and how Vespin's error was compounded over a cascading disaster. So that's how you started with Calamity.

And then moving to Downfall, it was just like, in the destruction of that, what's the most painful part of that? Yeah, I guess pain directs me? I'm driven by pain? I'll unpack that later. But it was like, oh, well, the prime deity's experience of that has to be the most painful

part. So getting to a personal, first-person experience of the prime deities destroying a mortal civilization, and the crisis of self caused by that. And then for Divergence, it was like, time for the little guys. And really wanting to show that the thing that moves Exandria out of the calamity is actually not something as acute. The start of Calamity is the most acute,

and the end of it is the most diffused. The era ends, and now every single person shares an equal slice of responsibility for building the world again. Yeah. Well, you touched on it a little bit, the connectivity, which is a good segue to this question. How much of the trilogy

of EXU Calamity, Downfall, and Divergence was planned beforehand? Like, did you know where you would continue? Like, where to connect next series to series? Or was it more like

a stepping stone that you discovered along the way? Over the past several years, I've been falling down the hill of my own life at top speed. None of this is planned. Wow. Falling down that hill of my own life.

Yeah, yeah. Just like, hands in my wallet and my shoes are off. Don't eat shit, don't eat shit, don't eat shit, don't eat shit, don't eat shit. Yeah. So to answer the question as honestly as possible, every single one of these mini-series I have approached with total focus on that and that alone.

So there was no sort of thought of what was to come after. It all grew organically, which is like the intoxicating and mesmerizing part of this art form. Well, yeah, because we knew we wanted to do something with you. We had kind of already been toying around the idea of thinking of wanting to do something in Calamity. Aabria, of course, had come in and done the first EXU arc.

And I remember being like, man, I think Brennan would crush a Calamity miniseries. But if he wants to do something funny or something like pirates, the Rumble cusp, that's something cool too. And then Brennan came in for a pitch meeting and he was like, look, I could do something funny like pirates

or I could do Calamity., or I could do calamity. And I was like, thank God, yes, do that. It was a lunch with Matt and Travis specifically where, I think it was- At Sizzler. At Sizzler. Oh yeah. So the girl could think to have bread. Eat fresh, what do they say at Sizzler? Not much. Not much.

We'll see you later. Pizza, pizza. Matt had mentioned, hey, as we open the sandbox up and we want to play with our friends and have people come in and share stories, it really was this moment, I don't know if Matt, you intended this, but it was like, you were like,

and we could do anything. It's like, there's Wildemount, there's Marquette, and then we can even play with time. You could even do the Age of Arcanum. And that's how underlined it felt to me when you said it. And I was like, ooh, Matt likes that. And of course it immediately made me go like, and then I went and reread the lore and looked at it.

I think you guys had already made the video that was the schism through calamity explainer video at that point in time, just beautifully made video. Go check it out. And it was like, I just looked at that and I was like, oh man, you could do a sick disaster movie of these mages in their fucking towers and everything's fucked.

Yeah. And we did it. That's a sick logline too. Everything's fucked. I think it's good. It's better than true. Yeah, it's true. I saw one question on there, someone asking about

what happened to Patia's orb. Oh yeah, that's actually a question on here too. Oh, well there we go. So it must be a good question. Look at that. You should watch Divergence. You should watch Divergence, because it explains part of that. But you're here for spoilers, so I'm going to talk about it anyway. Well no, because it was the end of Calamity with the entire sequence with Patia's Orb

and the release of it that immediately, even just watching it happen when we were filming it, it was like, what an interesting jumping off point for the Cobalt Soul. Yeah. The idea of an entire collection of minds through history that are about the collection and safety of dangerous knowledge and disseminating and protecting that for an entire age. And so once that happened, it was like, well, that is going to be the spark. And, but we just kind of kept that in the heads

until the opportunity came for that being a book or something else. And instead you got to actually work it into Divergence. Which was awesome. And you know, like again, the fact that Marisha launched an orb filled with all knowledge through space and time to be caught by her beforehand, but centuries later, was so fucking sick. It was just awesome. It was so cool.

Yeah. In my mind, currently it exists deeply sealed somewhere on Exandria in the deepest of vaults beneath the most carefully guarded monastery of the Cobalt Soul. In a library subterranean vault that no one has probably stepped foot in for hundreds of years. With a stone statue of a swole dragonborn sitting in lotus position above it. It's also an incense burner, though. Yeah.

Hi, Spongebob! Yay! Oh god! Liam, how exactly did Brennan go about recruiting you for his sneaky divergence plans? Oh man, well, it was a great session zero and came with like two or three loose ideas, but my favorite one, the one that I was like, I could do any of these, whatever works

with the chemistry of what we figure out here today, but I could, I've been thinking about a dragonborn who is just sort of a lone wanderer on the road, like we're in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. And I remember saying, Goal, Dragonborn out loud. And in the middle of that meeting, Brendan's like, let's talk about that later.

So I just sort of accidentally walked in ready to conspire before I even knew it. I was just going to say that it was such a huge layup. And again, because like the, I don't know, there was a lot of confluence. Like there was very little trap laying on my part. The shapes all kind of took place. And especially because I feel like the Platinum Dragon

and the Allhammer were not gods that we had necessarily seen the most of or had like dedicated PCs for, but also are dedicated to things that are very like, what's the word I'm looking for, that feel very heroic. There are a lot of gods that have domain. The Stormlord's domain is enormous

and of the natural world, but you have like honor, justice, craft, creation as being really things that are in the domain of what mortals do. So it felt very fitting for those two to be like, no, we're zeroth level, we're trying to make the world better, we have this one last task, and then the gate is filled.

I just wanted to make an old dwarf. And baby, you made the oldest. I wanna know what the early conversations were, because I knew that he inceptioned you toward that outcome, but did you float a couple of ideas, or was it always like, this is my chance to play the quintessential dwarf, or how did it go in the beginning? It's hard to think back, but I love dwarf PCs. I love dwarves in general. They've always been one of my favorite races in the fantasy genre.

I love what they represent. I love their sense of family and craft and legacy through building and art and construction. And I just, no one barely plays dwarves in our games. Like you're the only person who's dip toes into it with the Darrington Brigade. And I was like, I'm just going to bring another dwarf. I don't care.

I don't get to play a PC very often, do the dwarf. But I also just love the idea of playing a character that is at the very end of their life, especially a very hard life, and having that opportunity in their final days to make a difference. And I feel like they left the world better than they found it. And I was truly fully invested in the idea of the bookend of divergence,

letting him kind of be the theme of the end of the age, who's also the end of this poor, torn dwarf's existence, and finally leaving something meaningful in the world, and then just fading into stone and dust. And you're like, yeah, about that. Instead, I'm going to punch you in the soul for the rest of your life. So, cool. Thanks. fading into stone and dust. And you're like, yeah, about that. Instead, I'm going to punch you in the soul for the rest of your life.

So, cool, thanks. Yeah! In the C3 finale, though, we're talking about creating and crafting, the Divine Gate is destroyed by all the gods together. Was the Allhammer wrong about the gods not being able to destroy it? Or was he just saying, like, meant that only one able to destroy it, or was he just saying,

like, meant that only one god can destroy it, but all of them together can? Or was it destroyed in some other not exactly godly way? And this could be for either of you, of course. I mean, I'll take this one. I defer to Matt. Well, in modern day Exandria, the Divining Gate, after it was finally placed and constructed, it could not be deconstructed unless there was a complete agreement. If there was... All those that were responsible for its construction...

And all gods, to a certain degree, all lent to the creation of the Divine Gate, the Primes at least. And it could not be dissolved unless all the Primes at least. And it could not be dissolved unless all the Primes were in agreement to it, to prevent an inner corruption from causing this terrible cataclysm. So that was the initial design. But in those early development stages of actually building it, there's a whole bunch of weird, fun, kooky things that can come up, which I thought was a fun question that got brought up in Divergence.

Yeah, I took it very much as the Allhammer thwarting an attempt for a single god to bypass the gate on their own, right? That essentially it's like, this is how we get around, because, you know, especially beyond Exandria, the gods are like, and I think we've talked about this before, like almost even more omnipotent as they get that one

step past. They're even more vast and cosmic. So the idea of, I've decided I'm done with this, ping, and the gate flies open, that there's a big difference between unanimity and some god being sneaky and being like, oh, I left my keys. I'm going back. If you're talking about crossing that threshold, what would have happened if the kid crossed the threshold and was taken by the Lord of Lies? Would we know that Asmodeus ends up beyond the Divine Gate? So if his plan worked, how would you have dealt with that?

That's not my problem. That's the PC's problem. I'm not here to have solutions in mind. I'm here to throw sticks at bicycle wheels. I do that, and then they fix it. I would say the kid would escape. The Lord of the Hells would be like, quickly, away to my vast chambers, that I might quickly speed run puberty, and then take this world by storm. And then they'd have to find the kid and exorcise him. I can imagine. Crazy montage. Crazy montage. The Divine Gate, they cannot cross the threshold back into Exandria, but there is

precedent for gods being shunted through the Divine Gate and beyond. That's how Vecna was sealed with the Divine Trammels at the end of Campaign 1. So there could have been an arc in which Asmodeus was locking the other side, and there would have been probably a narrative in the future to explore in some way in which how they finally managed to exercise

and punt him back beyond the gate and seal him once more. So you're giving your players tools and responsibilities and things that could hurt them or help them. How did you decide what vestiges to hand to your players? Were there any vestiges and divergence that we didn't see that you maybe would have liked to add? Oh, my God. Well, I got to hand over some of my favorite ones.

There are a bunch of amazing ones, some of which we haven't gotten to see on stream yet, which were, I believe, the Stormgirdle, which was so fun, Condemner. Now one of them I kind of lied a little bit about, which was that Infiltrator's Key was not, it was sort of a souped-up, modified Infiltrator's Key that had that little soul ruby in the middle. Literally, when that happened, I was like, oh, what an interesting take on that key. Well, because in the text of the infiltrator's key, it's like, made from the blood of 12 master thieves.

And I was like, that sounds like some devil shit to me. And the absence of text, I was looking at the source book and I was like, just like you, Asmodeus, to not reference yourself in the text of your own magic item. Left it all out, haven't you? Why would the Cobalts all know that? Why do they know that?

Yeah, but that's one of those things where if I was there and someone was like, a vestige? The blood of 12 master thieves. And I'd be like, should I have this? That sounds awful. Just do as you're told. Just do as you're told. Well, these answers are incredibly astute and so fun to listen to, but I think there's one that is burning in everyone's mind.

What happened to Grubling? Did he make it to Torm's Hill and join the Roach Gang? Did Gubbling? Gubbling. Yes, Gubbling did. In my head, he did. And I think that he went to go join the Roach Gang, and then they explained what they did, and he went that he went to go join the Roche gang, and then they explained what they did, and

he went, that sounds frightening. And then just became a farmer. Good. That's the happiest ending, to just become a farmer. Yeah, 100%. Agriculture sounds good. This was never presented as an option for me before. I just want a spade. This was never presented as an option for me before. For Matt and Liam, did experiencing EXU divergence make you really think differently about certain characters who lived through it, like Ludinus?

Or did it sort of solidify in your mind the reasons why those characters are so hardened by the life they endured. I mean, every human being, every mortal, reacts to the stimulus around them in different ways, right? I don't know, I would love to get a look at Ludinus' life in those days to see what knocked him around. Yeah, in my mind, Ludinus lost a lot. You know, as a young man kind of coming into the worst days of the Calamity and probably raised in a very loving environment

and then watching each person he cared about torn from him in horrible ways. And often from his vantage point and with no reason to believe otherwise, as a direct consequence of these conflicts. And then to watch them all just disappear. To watch them all just go away and to feel abandoned, destroyed, and kind of left with this knowledge that what was the purpose? What was the reason? He's someone that I can empathize with what he's been through and despise who he's let it turn him into. Yeah, we'll have an opportunity to explore

that in depth in some other way. I don't know. I love that we didn't see him in the game, too. I love that we never saw him in the game. It felt good that he was as inconsequential to us as humanly possible. Did you almost fall in the chair? No, I just almost broke it. There's a difference. I would have stayed in it, except the chair would have gone down. Fair. I'll add in that I like that Ero's mortal life was an antithesis for lewdness.

So he dove after his brother, knowing he was going to lose his memory. I think that the way I think of it is he aimed himself at two of his most faithful and even keeled, uh, um, followers, which were arrows, parents,

a priest and a paladin of the platinum dragon to get him raised right. Uh, and get him in and to like reinforce who he already was as a deity and then i the idea of having him travel across half the planet and lose so much was you know he's the god of of justice so his end result his decision is it is we really have to get out of here. It's not just what we're doing to these people. So the way to drive that into the bones of this mortal, doesn't remember he's a god,

is to make him lose horribly. So he lost his father, fleeing, crossing the sea. He got over here, I imagine it's sort of a Roanoke situation where survivors got here. Some of them went off to look. They came back. Those people were gone. Some sort of a they found a settlement, lived there for a little bit. Disease. His mother died. He had sort of an adoptive father, an associate or a friend of his parents. And then that guy died. and then he kept traveling alone. He'd kind of gotten bitter, then he found a woman

who made him find joy and love again, and had that ripped away. So I wanted him to kind of get hit hard, so that when he remembered who he was, and this is me above the table as deputy DM, when he remembered who he was, he could look back at the life he'd had and be like, what we've done here is not right, and it's time to go.

My favorite thing about that, too, was that it would be so easy to be like, oh, Arrow disproved something about lewdness. I think that's maybe overly simplified, because Arrow had the soul of a god and lost faith. So the Calamity was pretty fucking bad. Calamity was pretty bad. Someone who's literally got divinity in him. Well, that was my favorite thing, too, and Celia, who played Nia so beautifully. Shout out to Celia. Love you, Celia. So brilliant. I just love that there was a dynamic that Celia was not aware of, where she was going, like, I know the gods won't let us down. And two gods were like, they might.

Whatever faith you have, let me be clear, it would be gross if I had that faith in myself, have some fucking humility, but also, I don't know, man, I'm tired. I loved that. It was a perfect tired. I loved that. What a great- It was a perfect dynamic. I loved it so much. All right, we're going to open it up into general Exandria questions. Wait, oh, what happened? You just kicked him.

Yeah, kick him again. You're keeping him. Robbie, I saw one from chat. It was by a user named Vespin Clitoris. Oh! Great name. Solidis. Great name. Solid name. They had asked, is the Nordverse part of Exandria?

No. And I think yes. I think the Nordverse is in Exandria somewhere. No. It's in a snow globe. The greater cosmos. Yeah, it's in a snow globe. The Nordverse is also in the- Yes and no but no.

It's what was left when Tengar was destroyed. It's the Nordverse. On Team Snowglobe. Oh man. I saw a question earlier that I've been sitting on. Somebody mentioned that when the Matron did the ritual of catathiosis, someone asked why she knew about the beacon.

Does she understand the nature of the Luxon? And I was like, the gods do not fully understand the nature of the Luxon. The Luxon is still a large mystery, though they have their suspicions and more or less a subconscious understanding or theorem of what its cosmic essence would be. but the Matron, more than any other god, is very familiar with the power of Dunamis and the beacons, because they are specifically one of the things that breaks the cycle of death that she looks over. The passage of the soul into the afterlife was the structure the gods created when they came to Exandria. And the consecution process of the Kree dynasty that the beacons can maintain essentially breaks that cycle and tears those spirits away from the entire realm that she oversees.

And so she is very familiar with it. it in that final ritual was a very conflicting point for her, but was another one of those examples of doing what was best for the greater good of her and her brethren, using something that up until that point she largely despised. Yeah, that's interesting. There's just this one city in Exandria that just keeps giving her the finger.

More or less, yeah. So the gods are mortal, or about to be. So what does that mean for beings like Galdric and Uk'otoa now that they're gone? I know I messed it up, it's okay. No, it's not. Oh, did I mess it up? You did great!

You did great! Really? How do you? Oh man, I'm learning my lore someday. With the gods gone, can they rise to greater prominence? When the cats are away, baby. Divinity's gone for a while, and in some cases might be gone for extended periods. So lesser idols and beings of great interest and ambition. There's a power vacuum. There is a time for them to do their best to claim what space they can. This new age is likely going to be a very tumultuous one. There

will be a rise of demagogues and cults of personality and many entities that have been lying in wait and in the shadows under the watchful eye of the Primes, and now that they're away, this is an opportunity for them to seize. So, yeah, it's going to get real interesting in Exandria. So a power vacuum might be bad. It'll be

interesting. Okay. For the people playing or watching, great. Totally change subject for just one second. Yeah. Have you ever thought about singing It's Hard to Be the Bard? Have you ever heard that song?

I love that song. Isn't it so good? It's so great. And I was just like, the whole time we were talking, envisioning you singing it. It's actually a very new song. I think you'd be so good at it. What song is this? Thank you, Laura.

You've now imparted the internet's drive to force me to sing that at some point. It'll be great for your future. Has anybody already said it before? No. Oh. But now it will follow me to every event and convention. Luckily, you're an excellent singer. I thought she was about to apologize,

and she's like, no, it's perfect. Oh, eat shit, eat shit. Quick, Laura, what was Imogen's grandmother's first name? I'm kidding. You said in the past that Imogen could have gone evil. Obviously. What events? Like 12 different ways.

So what events of those 12 different ways in particular do you think could have pushed her over the edge? Oh, like personally, if like outside of just like exploring Predathos' body um oh uh if Laudna had died

if Laudna had die-died yeah I don't think Imogen would have stayed good and happy and if Laudna not only if Laudna

would have die-died but if Laudna would not only if Laudna would have die-died, but if Laudna would have, like, given over to Delilah. I would have broken bad with you. I know. We got close. We did. We got close to breaking bad. Yeah.

And then when it came down to it, I was like, no! I know, yeah. I chickened. You did. Yeah. It felt like, oh, I think I said this, that have you seen that fail video of the two girls, like, jumping off the cliff?

Yeah. And one chickens out at the cliff and one chicken's out of the other last minute and it causes the other girl to kind of slip and falls on the cliff? Yeah, I let you fall down the cliff. Also though, if you break bad, you're handing your character away and sometimes it's hard to let go.

I know, I know. Honestly, that seems kind of fun, but. I have a really silly question for people, if I can. I was just realizing, I've gotten to play with everyone here in one time in the past. I got three people, I got Travis, Sam and Marisha in Calamity, I got Ashley, Laura and Taliesin in Downfall, I got Matt andisha in Calamity. You've got Ashley, Laura, and Taliesin and down falling out Matt and Liam in Divergence. Which of your prime core

of the present Exandrian characters would have been the worst fit for your prequel? Oh. Like, if you had to swap out your prequel story character with one of your core Exandrian characters. Beau would have been horrible. Beau placed into the ring of brass. She'd be like, I hate this.

This is exact. She'd be like, I'm going to fucking bring this whole city down myself. Vespin who? Fucking Beauregard. Lord of the Hells opens the tree up like, hello. Ooh, it's burning already. Shit. I think Chetney would have probably been a pretty decent eye of Avalir, but Grog would have been just crime run amok. No wonder that city fell. Ring of Brass gathers and the doors open and Grog walks in and the rest of them just go,

It's all right, I'm here. Ring of Brass, perdure. This is the new one? This nemo baby? I think his pretty obvious gesture would have been horrible. For secret, for mission impossible god style? Oh no! Just horrendous. She would have had too much power as a god, number one, to just wreak havoc. But also, she would have really tried to make Asmodeus come to the good side. She really would have thought she could have helped.

Wow, Xerxes round two! Xerxes 2.0, yeah! Xerxes 2.0! 100%. The Jester-Astin combo would have been great up there. I feel like we would have really, it would have gone great. They need to hang out. I know, I'm really excited for any time

we finally get to do the, that looks breakable, you wanna hit that? Yeah! Okay! I wonder what that button does. Oh my gosh. I think that Bren Aldrich Ermondrud would have died of dysentery at age seven.

But Vax probably would have helped Phaedra start the Roach Gang. Yeah. He'd have been fine. Totally, totally. What about you, Gett? I mean, if Tarian Darrington were a broadcaster in Planet E, it might work for a while, but I think he would just be so overwhelmed with all the attention that he would be like, I think he

would just love it. He'd be like, I'll do whatever you want if you get me on TV more. Screw these druids! I don't care. Let's do bad shit and get me on TV more. Screw these druids. I don't care. Let's do bad shit. You're going to put me on TV. That's great! And the 75th annual Hunger Games begin! Yes, yes. Pompadour. I'm going with Fearne, because I just feel like it could go either way.

Yeah. It could go either way. I feel like following that track down, where it's like, one of our companions has alerted the Magistry that this is all happening. Oh no! The degree of chaos that would have unfolded from that would have been... I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to. I don't know! I'm not supposed to lie!

I just misunderstood. Oh, Ashton, definitely. Oh, for sure. Especially if... Fern and Jester, too. That trio would be a fucking chaos. It would be a mess. Fern, Jester, and Ashton infiltrating Aeor surreptitiously.

I kind of want to see it now. For cheer! How about NPCs for you, Matt? Who would you... Oh my goodness. You have a broad palette. Oh, Artagan. Artagan entirely. Just playing all sides. Gaz?

Oh, he's so? Gaz Tomo? It's like, all right, let's get this whole town here. Oh my god. They're asking for the song now, Laura, thank you. Of course they are. But hey, I am singing on April 4th for Creative Karaoke at the Vermont Theater in LA. Get tickets, throw them on my Instagram. Me and Freddie Wong and Caldwell Tanner. I am now because they're asking about karaoke stuff. We need to move tickets because it's fun. Well, I have two questions from at voice of O'Brien. The first is for Brennan. One is, why the Lord of Hells? What is it about the Lord of Hells that you love so,

so, so much? Is it something inside of you? Is it just rich, fertile territory to mine? I don't know. I feel like there was a, because the Betrayers, I was told that if I came and ran miniseries for Critical Role, I could take my own Betrayer home. Basically.

They have bags at the door. Well, I think, look, so I went to school, I went to SUNY Ulster, and I studied with an incredible professor there who's a philosophy professor. I've been obsessed with ethics. The formal study of ethics for a long time. It's pronounced Essek, actually. Ethics. Half our audience.

Ethics and Essek. There's a, and there's something about, there's a line from Calamity where, you know, I've talked about there are, and especially too because I feel like Matt, I've talked with Matt about the chained oblivion and how special a position the chained oblivion holds. And the evil of that being so alien and so monstrous. And it's the evil of looking at outer space and feeling like there's something out there that doesn't it just doesn't know know what i am i don't even register on its wavelength as something living and it's like that is a type of evil that is so frightening and i think the other side of that coin is the intimacy of something so human because trickery as a domain is not alien right it's deeply fucking human. There's a line in Calamity where it's like,

the Lord of the Hells hates you because he knows, he hates you because he knows you, and he needs you to know that you deserve it. Like that idea of punishment, of like, oh, you're bad because I'm bad, and you're here to punish me. That is so frightening. And I think it's a type of evil that is really freaky,

but captivating to watch and to perform because it's personal. He doesn't hate you dispassionately. He really sees you and fucking hates you. Why are you pointing at me? I'm giving you the uncomfortable. That's the green chair. That's the thing with Brennan, because you are one of the kindest, most stand-up guy. You are

an arbiter for all that is good. You are a fighter for humanity and human rights, and seeing the way you play the Lord of the Hells and some of the other bad guys, I'm like, oh, thank God you wake up and you choose that. Every day. That you choose to be good. Because it is fucking terrifying. You'd be real good at being bad. You'd be so good at being bad. Thanks, guys.

I would. He's got us primed to murder us all now. My voice of O'Brien's second question is for Matt, and that is, in campaign two, there was moon stuff. So when were you cooking lewdness in your mind for the top of the pyramid in campaign three mid campaign two prior to campaign two even starting so uh i wanted to eventually get to ruidus centric lore uh by the end of campaign one i decided if we got to a third campaign i want that to be kind of ruidus uh involved and

in campaign two i I began to consider how that lore would tie into a future event of Exandria. Like, I already had the idea for Pardothos in my head and kind of where that fit into the history, but I didn't want to show the hand too early. And so I began to drop little hints throughout campaign two, just little ones. And Ludinus, when I first created Ludinus,

was, I hadn't thought about it as a whole backstory. And so the two weren't immediately tethered. I just had these two disparate ideas. And the more that the Cerberus Assembly came to reality in the early third of campaign two, I thought Ludinus is exactly the person in a position of power, of longevity, and political influence to set up something on the scale that I would hope

to unveil in campaign three. And then I began to, through campaign two, develop in my head the history of Ludinus and how that would tie into the Ruidian chaos and the Apogee Solstice in campaign three. So that's kind of the timeline best I can recall. Okay. Satisf recall. Okay. Satisfied. Travis. Oh. You love werewolves.

I was shooting for the worst transition ever. Why did you choose to have a mechanic, the D100, where you could randomly kill your character and take away your sweet, precious werewolf at any moment. Why? Why'd you do it? Look, Chetty was just supposed to be fun. His old ass was supposed to die. But he wouldn't die in the fights.

And then I was like, okay, wait. Wait, wait, wait. What do old people do? They die in their sleep. Watch who old you told you. That's my favorite children's book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do old people do? They die in their sleep. What do old people do? That's my favorite children's book. He's got to be on the cusp of that thing. I've got to make a mechanic for this. And I even told Matt, I was like, if I roll trip zeros, can I die in my sleep?

He goes, if you want to. I was like, can I have it grow so that with each level that I grow, the number gets larger and larger? He goes, I think that's pushing a little bit. I regret it now. Because he's still alive. Why did you want him to die so badly? Because it's never happened in the game before. Because you would have to wake up after succeeding or failing

and being, as we do, all stuck in one budget room, and somebody's laying next to the dead guy. And that would be amazing. What budget room? Alright, tomorrow we take on the Malleus Keith. Chetney, are you ready? Yes!

Chetney. And he smells weird and shit's happening. Yes! Yes, there would be sad stuff, but fuck, that would have been great. And then I would bring something new in. I sat next to Travis, and I swear to you guys,

he got close a lot. You got close and just no cigar. I edged a couple times. You did. You did. Now, this is a transition I like. Speaking of edging. Yeah, there you go. Stop them, stop them.

Is Chetney Orym and or Scanlan's father? Oh, jeez. Oh, we already did. Yes, yes, absolutely. We locked it in, for sure. For sure. You agree to this? I don't know my father, so it's out of my hands.

He doesn't really have a say in it. There are franchises all over Exandria. Franchises! That's gotta be a bad question. so it's out of my hands. He doesn't really have a say in it. There are franchises all over Exandria. Franchises! He was very busy. He traveled a lot, and a lot of people liked his toys. Wait, sorry, you just referred to children as franchises? 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Region to region. For sure. 100%, yeah. Who does this in real life, too? That is the most Chetney thing. I'm stuck on Chetney thing. I'm stuck on Chet right now. The branding is strong.

What do you think happened in America in the 1800s? Were there any toys that you made that you didn't get to distribute? Yeah. There were two or three. I started writing down, after the Nana Mori pact, a bunch of designs. Things that would unfurl or fold or crawl or unwind. There was a tumbling oram that he made. There was... What's the Russian egg that has smaller... Matryoshka.

Thank you. Yeah, one of those that was each of the characters, and inside was one of the eggs. Yeah, yeah, a small one. Don't tell Fern. There was a whole bunch of stuff. But I was also trying to drop toys for Predathos and Matt's like, that's fucking cute. Pick that shit up. Trying to distract him

with your version of eggs. Ashley, we all know you want to steal Chetney's eggs, but you did steal a lot of stuff. Is there anything you wish you would have stolen? The beacon. I tried. Easy peasy.

Wow. It's just a shiny. It's a shiny, I mean, I want it. What a wild mirror that would have been to Caleb handing over the beacon a campaign ago and you being like, yoink. This is so pretty. You do have the scheme of fate now. I do.

Do you think that Fern would ever consider playing with the strings of her friends? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, just like a little. You know, nothing crazy. What, why not? Just like, not like a big pluck,

just maybe like a flick. But I feel like with Fern, it'd be like, you'd flick it and then be like, that wasn't big enough, I wanna see something cooler. Yeah, let me just see if I, you know. You know, just like. Strum that banjo. Yeah, yeah. I Strum that banjo. Yeah.

Absolutely. At Marisha underscore Ray has a question. Speaking of the beacon and the beacons, where were they during the calamity, during the Age of Arcanum? Good question. They were uncovered. They were und Good question. They were uncovered. They were undiscovered.

They were still undiscovered? Yeah. Except for one? Yep. There was one. The first one was discovered towards the end of the Calamity by the Bride Queen.

She found it? There was also the one that the Aeor got. No, there would have been two. So there was one that was uncovered in Aeor got. Oh, no, no, there was no, no, actually, so there would have been two. So, no, so there was one that was uncovered in Aeor, you're right, and was being experimented on. Correct, I was thinking of, like, the actual, like, canonical lore. You and I were thinking of two different beacons. Two different lore points, yeah.

No, Aeor did uncover a beacon and was in the process of studying it. And there was the one that the Bright Queen uncovered and began the Kryn dynasty, after they had gotten out from under the Spider Queen, and then came to the surface and started in the ruins of Xhorhas and built the city of Rosohna. So the Bright Queen has been around for as long as Ludinus has.

Correct. About a thousand years old, yeah. Whoa. A very 2001 A Space Odyssey. Whoa. But also, she's lived through many lives. Yeah. You know, and that has its challenges.

More about it in her Dark Horse comic. Indeed, indeed. So she uses that bong on fake creatures to stay alive. Yes. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, and the lore of the Luxon, which you actually get to see some cool representations of it in the Bright Queen comic, is a precursor to any other life on Exandria. It's early, early creation myth, maybe not myth, but yeah, all the beacons, the

fragments of the Luxon have been there from the very beginning and have just laid dormant, undiscovered, until then. Sick. Dang. Was Aeor trying to use the beacon that they had uncovered for the Malleus? They had just begun to research it. It was one of those things where it was like, we got this strange thing here. It seems to have some strange properties. They were using it to... We all were finding, whenever y'all were going through Aeor as the Mighty Nein, they were using it to do

the long rest tubes, it's why Fjord got his hair back, and why y'all were able to have a long rest for... But they were like, look at this rod of uranium. Yes, exactly, and that's what they were, and they were studying time travel with it. That's what Caleb disintegrated. Not a beacon, but their research. Yeah, it was more or less like, they were studying time travel with it. That's what Caleb disintegrated. Not a beacon, but their research. Yeah, it was more or less like,

they were like, there's something to this. With enough study, we'll be able to, what's that, a klaxon? Yeah, klaxon. We can do it. We can do it. Are we allowed to know where it came from?

Matt will never tell us. No. Okay. I'll never tell you. The story Okay. I'll never tell you. The story's not over, y'all! It is! And Sam. Oh my god!

The never-do-it-ever-and-sure-and-ass-fever! You're the only one who got fired. Everyone else is staying. What? Where are you from? I think I'm a logger. There are about a billion deep lore questions that we could spend the next several hours on, but

the night grows long. We got to wrap this baby up. Is there anything, thoughts that you have in your mind, things that you wanted to say during the show you didn't get a chance to, closing thoughts from anyone and any? I feel like we should just give a shout out to all of the guest players who played with us for this campaign. So many. Luke Parsh, Bria, Erica. Amy. Amy.

Emily. Emily. Christian. Christian. You will forget somebody. Christian. Why'd you start naming individually? We're going to forget.

Nashir. You're going to forget. I already said three. You didn't see that coming. Emily. We have Emily. Nashir. Oh my god.

Alex Ward. Abubu. Abubakar, oh my gosh. Fucking Nick Marini. Nick Marini, yeah. Lou Wilson. Lou Wilson. Jasmine.

Yeah? Limbeck coming in, kicking ass. Jeanette Velocquez. Angelica Moni. Angelica Moni. So many incredible people. I'm so grateful. Fuck, you guys keep talking. I'm going to get emotional. Keep going. Luis Car Fuck, you guys keep talking. I'm going to get emotional. Keep going.

Luis! Oh my gosh. Who's Luis? Two major people. I think it is worth talking about, you know, look, you guys do this at the end of every campaign, where you're like, there's so much to wrap up, there's still so many lingering plot threads. And the answer is, yeah, that's true. Because hopefully ten years isn't the end of this. We're just getting started. Just getting started.

Are we going to do more Exandrian content? We are going to do more Exandrian content. In fact, do you want to know who is dungeon mastering the next bit of Exandrian content? Who, Marisha? It's you, Sam Riegel. Holy shit. What? What?

What a perfect time for a pitch. Uh-huh. Good Karsh. Thanks, Good Karsh. We film next week, so if you could come up with an idea and put it on my desk by end of day tomorrow, that would be great. Sure. sure. Yeah, I might have to borrow you for some. Well, I'm always happy to lend a hand.

But yeah, there's obviously going to be so much more to do. Obviously, I know there's been a ton of people being like it feels like there should be repercussions from Bell's Hell's actions. Yeah!

No. It's been 20 minutes! Yeah. If I'm going to be honest, we had a very long finale, and there's so many things that I could have put in there and then decided we'll get to later, otherwise it would have been so much longer. And the way this year began, I think also it was best to not touch on some of the more intense, darker moments as well, because I think after the fires and many other reasons in our political sphere, best to not touch on that. Let's just keep it happy and end.

But indeed, there are many ramifications to the events at the end of C3 and Bell's Hells and maybe we'll get to touch on those in future stories future stories, future live shows we have Australia coming up wink wink, hint hint Chicago, Indianapolis

is that a wink wink? what are you trying to hint at? I'm hinting at the live shows that everyone already knows about. Hint hint. Hint hint. Get your tickets, they're already sold out. All right, last chance for romance.

Any more plugs? Robbie, you did so good tonight. Aw, thanks, baby. That's so nice of you. Yay! You're so natural. It's easy. Can we keep him, guys?

He already said his contracts are with the lawyers. I see. It's easy when the company's good. Folks, it's been fun, but it's late, and we are all talked out. I have one more thing to say. That's okay, just because we're at the end of campaign three after a ten-year celebration here.

Yes. I think I've got my emotions together a little bit here. This is the wildest, stupidest journey these past ten years and twelve and a half for us since our home game. And that family has expanded in so many wonderful ways with so many wonderful people. The fact that we get to collaborate and build and tell stories in ways that mean so much to us, that also means

much to you folks as well, through all of its wonderful, messy, chaotic swings here and there, dice rolls and motions. This is the greatest thing in my life, and all of you are the greatest thing in my life and all of you are the greatest people in it and I'm just very grateful and I'm excited for all the great things to come, still feels like it's we're just getting started just kidding

well guess what, I'm going to say something too at the end of Divergence when I was standing behind a curtain listening, trying to hear what was going on with everybody, I was so nervous. Probably the most nervous I've been in years. Because I wanted

to thank you fully and properly for everything that you have done for everyone in this room for a decade. You have kept us on the edge of our seats and kept us guessing and made us laugh and laughed at yourself and made us cry and just the amount of sleepless nights and effort that you put into telling stories for this group. It has not gone unappreciated, far from it,

quite the opposite. And thank you for setting me up for success to thank you so fully and properly. We love you and thanks for 10 years, Matt. Guys. As Brennan said, it was the greatest love letter. None of you are safe around me. Stay on your fucking toes. I think that's the perfect segue.

Thanks so much for joining us tonight. We got so much in store for you this year and beyond, so stick around. Follow us on our socials and be on the lookout for our next State of the Roll. I've been Robbie Damon, who knows what I'll be later. And! Is it

Thursday yet? Oh yeah! Thank you for listening to Critical Role. If you've enjoyed the adventure, please consider rating and reviewing this podcast. Your insight can really help support the show by bringing new critters into the fold. Until next time, dear critters,

adventure awaits!