#critical role analysis

[omenarchive]

Braius Doomseed Analysis

Sam Riegel is back, and he’s brought with him—forgive us—a real beefy boy!

How many levels does Braius have in Bard vs. Paladin? What are his subclasses? Exactly how big a punch does this minotaur pack?

While we wait to learn more, there's a lot we're able to infer from Episode 98.

Braius Doomseed is a minotaur Bard/Paladin multiclass, wielding a drippy black double flail. We have not yet been made aware explicitly how his 14 levels are distributed between the two classes. We can, however, extrapolate a fair bit of information about his build from the gameplay in his debut, Episode 98: The Nox Engine.

Let’s start with the easy stuff. We know that he is at least a 3rd level College of Tragedy Bard, as Braius used the Sorrowful Fate feature to change the save Dominox had to make against Dorian’s Otto’s Irresistible Dance spell to a Charisma save (03:09:43) (confirmed by Sam to be this feature at 03:11:57).

Sorrowful Fate does the following:

When you or an ally you can see forces a creature to make a saving throw, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to change the type of saving throw to a Charisma save instead.

Sam did, however, forget to use the secondary part of that feature, which would allow him to do psychic damage equal to the value of a Bardic Inspiration die roll when a creature fails the associated save. Also, if Dominox had reached 0 hit points within 1 minute of failing the save, he would have been magically compelled to “utter darkly poetic words before succumbing to their injuries.”

Level 3 in College of Tragedy also confers the following feature, called Poetry in Misery:

Whenever you or an ally within 30 feet of you rolls a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to soliloquize and regain one expended use of your Bardic Inspiration feature.

Information on this subclass can be found on page 167 of Tal’Dorei Reborn. This particular subclass does not confer any additional spells beyond the standard Bard fare, so cannot account for any spells Braius has that fall outside of the Bard or Paladin spell lists.

That brings us to the next thing we can suss out: Braius’ possible Paladin Oaths. We know that Braius has both the Misty Step (03:12:47) and Moonbeam (03:13:07) spells. There are only two known Paladin Oaths that give access to Moonbeam: Oath of the Ancients and Oath of the Watchers. Oath of the Ancients seems like a likely option, as it also gives access to Misty Step at paladin level 5; however, that on its own cannot act as definitive proof as to Braius’ Paladin subclass, as we don’t yet know what feats Braius may have on board and—as Imogen , Chetney, and Orym know well—Misty Step can also come from the Fey Touched feat. Another point in favor of Oath of the Ancients is the fact that Braius did not make use of the Aura of the Sentinel initiative bonus conferred by Oath of the Watchers at paladin level 7. However, since this is a new character with quite a lot of features to juggle, it is entirely possible that Sam simply forgot this feature. We know, however, that he must have whatever features are associated with level 7 in his Oath because of his use of Blinding Smite (02:37:12), a 3rd level Paladin spell. Paladins do not get access to 3rd level spells until they reach level 9 in the class.

All of this points to Braius having at least three levels in Bard and at least nine levels in Paladin, which leaves two levels unaccounted for (as Braius, unlike the rest of the party, is already at level 14). This is where things get a little tricky.

Unfortunately, Sam did not give out any Inspiration during Episode 98, so we can’t use his Bardic Inspiration die as an indicator. This moves from a d6 to a d8 at Bard level 5, so if in future episodes Braius’ inspiration die is revealed to be a d8, we’ll know he is a level 5 Bard. For now, though, we’ll instead take a look at his use of Lay on Hands to inform our speculation.

Braius used this Paladin class feature twice during Episode 98: once on himself, and once on Orym. A Paladin has points in their Lay on Hands pool equal to 5 times their Paladin level. Based on our previous analysis that he is at least Paladin level 9 and Bard level 3, that means Braius has a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 55 points in his pool. Orym’s healing was stated outright to be 30 points (03:40:10), leaving Braius between 15 and 25 points to have used on himself previously. In another bit of poor luck for our analysis, however, Sam did not state the exact amount of healing Braius did to himself. Since he said that Dorian’s 24 points of Cure Wounds healing got him “halfway” (01:05:07), it seems reasonable to assume that it was more than 15 points, since calling 24 and 15 approximately equivalent halves seems like a bit of a stretch. 20 and 25, indicating Paladin levels 10 and 11, are much closer. If we were to take Braius’ comment about Dorian getting him halfway completely literally, then we could definitively call him a level 11 Paladin. However, there’s one more wrinkle.

When Braius used his Blinding Smite spell on his melee weapon attack, he rolled 4d8 (02:38:11). The base damage for a flail is 1d8, and Blinding Smite adds 3d8 radiant damage. However, a level 11 Paladin has the feature Improved Divine Smite, which means that all melee weapon attacks gain an additional 1d8 radiant damage. That means that if Braius were a level 11 Paladin, he should have rolled 5d8 damage on the attack (02:37:46), as initially stated before Matt let Sam know that Dominox would be immune to the additional poison damage granted by Braius’ weapon (02:37:59).

This leaves us with two possible options: either Braius is a level 4 Bard/level 10 Paladin and Sam rounded up when saying 24 damage got him halfway there, with Braius healing himself for 20 points of Lay on Hands, or Braius is a level 3 Bard/level 11 Paladin and Sam either misunderstood Matt’s reminder not to add Poison Pen’s extra poison damage or forgot about the level 11 Improved Divine Smite. Either mistake would make quite a bit of sense with a new character in a high stakes situation! However, because of the uncertainty here, we cannot say definitively which it may be. We also do not yet know what Braius’s Paladin Fighting Style is. We’re looking forward to seeing more of him and finding out for sure.

All told, here is what we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, barring any homebrew changes:

Braius’s race is Minotaur, which (assuming the class is drawn from its most recent iteration in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse) conveys the following racial traits and bonuses:

His walking speed is 30 feet

Using his horns to make an unarmed strike does 1d6 + 5 piercing damage

Goring Rush: After taking the Dash action and moving at least 20 feet, he can make an unarmed strike with his horns as a bonus action

Hammering Horns: After hitting a creature with an attack, he can use his bonus action to attempt to push the target 10 feet; the target must make a DC 18 strength check

Labyrinthine Recall: He always knows what direction is north, and has advantage on any Survival check he makes to navigate or track

It’s hard to imagine Sam won’t use this internal compass to poke fun at Liam for Caleb’s Keen Mind feat at least once

He is a paladin of Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells

He is at least a level 3 College of Tragedy Bard, which grants him at least the following:

Two Bard cantrips and six Bard spells, with four level 1 slots and two level 2 slots

Bardic Inspiration using 1d6, with a total of 4 uses per long rest

Jack of All Trades, which adds half his proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check he makes that doesn’t already include his proficiency bonus

Song of Rest, conferring an additional 1d6 of healing to the party on a short rest

Expertise in two skill proficiencies

The Sorrowful Fate feature, which can be used once per short/long rest

The Poetry in Misery Feature, which can be used any number of times as a reaction

He is at least a level 9 Paladin, of either the Oath of the Ancients, Oath of the Watchers, or a homebrew Oath subclass, which grants him:

Divine Sense, which allows him to sense any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of him that is not behind total cover, a total of 5 times per long rest

At least 45 points in his Lay on Hands healing pool

Divine Smite, allowing him to expend a spell slot to pump up to an additional 4d8 damage (circumstantially 5d8) into a melee attack—that is, 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 4d8 given that his highest spell slots are 3rd level. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.

An unknown Fighting Style

Immunity to disease due to Divine Health

Two attacks per round

Aura of Protection, granting any ally within 10 feet of him a +4 bonus on saving throws

Sacred Oath features from levels 3 and 7 in either the Oath of the Ancients, Oath of the Watchers, or a custom Oath subclass

He has a Battering Shield, which confers a +3 bonus to AC (an additional +1 over the base shield bonus of +2), and has 3 charges that can be expended when a target is pushed 5 feet to push that creature an additional 10 feet, knock it prone, or both. It regains 1d3 charges at dawn (03:16:16, with details from page 266 in Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount)

His signature weapon, the dual flail “Poison Pen,” confers additional poison damage when it strikes a target (02:37:59)

He really, really wants to date somebody and he’s not real choosy about who

[happycattail]

okay genuine question, can you elaborate on how "having the gods can be helpful and good, they just don't need to be worshipped anymore"? isn't that kind of contradictory since most of how they're helpful is via worshippers? like, we've seen a few instances of them sending visions etc to people who don't follow them, but that seems to be pretty rare and on a way smaller/more individual scale than the help clerics or paladins get/the amount of good they can do with that

Good question and unfortunately the answer is I don’t know! And I think it’s the same with all the characters in the campaign and the players too. Everyone is so used to how things work: The Gods should be worshipped, the Gods gets power from being worshipped, Aeor was creating a weapon to kill all the Gods, Ruidus has always been a part of Exandria, etc

And this campaign specifically is meant to make everyone question that. It’s revealing things and making people realize that how they knew the world to work isn’t the actual case so can’t that be the same with the Gods? No one’s fully sat down with them and asked them without a veil of worshipped around it you know?

And I think it’s going to be really fun to watch the BH try to grapple with that and as a viewer see what will change in Exandria because of everything.

[otdderamin]

Analysis: Essek's Accent As The Shadowhand Fades

I'm watching the Essek Supercut again, and I noticed Essek's accent and when it starts to settle.

Watch the first few clips, until about about 0:4:40

Mostly this is just Matt settling into Essek's voice, but when he was first introduced, Essek had a very stern authoritative court voice. But once they were in the antichamber together, and Fjord says they need to check their underwear for accidents after that first interaction with the Queen and made him laugh, Essek slips into what we hear as his personal accent.

Essek really did just make up this version of himself to be as successful as everyone pushed him to be, and make really selfish choices to protect that act. But those personas ultimately felt like lies about himself. So what difference does it make protecting it with more lies? Which led himself down some really dark paths until Thw Mighty Nein discovered him and it all unraveled.

Essek is a dramatic theater gay who pulled off a character so well he couldn't stop playing him even when it was turning into a Shakespearean tragedy. Everything he says in these early days is so intensely dramatic and selling his vast accomplishments. Essek is giving them a list of reasons to respect him because he doesn't think his inner self is respectable. Essek always felt like it was the lies people loved and not him underneath, so what would hurt people more would be trying to stop. To be anything less than ruthless.

But this bunch of goofballs, whose very first direct comment to him was a self-depricating joke about being scared, they broke through. And what broke his heart most on that ship, was knowing he'd let them down with those lies. Because he'd let them see his true self, like he hadn't done for anyone in years (decades?), and they loved that one the most. Especially Caleb because they'd shared that instant attraction and interest Essek almost wasn't sure he could feel.

So after he was caught, even if Caleb was telling Essek he could choose to be better, he was obviously hurt and mistrustful and not calling. And feeling like he couldn't go back ate at him.

But then The Mighty Nein call on him again for help with their more dangerous thing ever. These weirdos are going to run headlong into danger not for gain or glory but because it stops someone else making a catastrophic mistake. And they want him to come with them. They want him to show them he's changed. And he has.

And even if they fight it, that attraction is still like magnets. They're so scared of hurting each other again or getting hurt, they can talk in meaningful coded riddles with each other, but not dare cross the threshold where they can hold that pull back. Where they'd have to find out if they enable or temper their worst impulses.

They didn't get there before they parted ways after Aeor. But we know that sometime in the last six months they let themselves pull together. They go back to Aeor to know what it feels like to just be together, the two of them, if no one at all was there. Caleb, down on one knee, holding a magic ring, "[Essek Thelyss], I know we're not relationship people, but will you date me for three months, and then we'll reassess?"

And it worked. Maybe being apart much of the time helps them get perspective on the world outside themselves and the freedom to lead two very different lives. The Essek who visits the man with green beans, no longer sounds quite like the Shadowhand did. He found how to use his power in the world more responsibly, when only a handful of people will hear about it, but they will listen so much closer, and see him more than any accomplishment. With the bustle and fear of the world shut out.

[greenteaandtattoos]

Nearly everything in Campaign 3, and I do mean nearly everything, has been slowly connecting back to Calamity. 

We’ve got:

- The apogee solstice coming up which Laerryn used to teleport the Primordials

- Hints of a god trapped on Ruidus by a Divine Gate

- The Ashari who are descendants of the Gau Drashari

- Fresh Cut Grass who was built during the Age of Arcanum

- The Changebringer who is the arch nemesis of Asmodeus

- The Paragon's Call which could be a reference to the chosen champion of three Prime Deities during the Calamity, Alyxian, also known as The Paragon, who was Ruidus-born

- More Changeling Seelies playing important roles

- Ruidus which has several theories, including one that it was placed in Exandria’s skies during the Schism by the Betrayer Gods

- Ruidusborns who are theorized to be sensitive to “fiendish touches” and “boundary flares and failures”, and the boundaries of other planes become weakest during an apogee solstice

- A possible connection to The Raven Queen with Paté being made with a raven skull and now being given wings, and it is noted “for the Prime Deities, she portends the possibility of another Calamity” who was not only friends with Patia and was the one to teach her about apogee solstices, but is also theorized to be ruidus-born herself, not to mention that she ascended during the Age of Arcanum and was used by Vespin Chloras as inspiration to try and become a god himself, which of course, helped kickstart the Calamity

- And of course, the timing in which EXU: Calamity took place

I absolutely believe that Campaign 3 is building to a second Calamity, I have almost no doubt in my mind that this is where Bell’s Hells’ story is headed. And I’m so freaking excited.

[deramin2]

Theory: Ludinus is younger than the Calamity, but he did survive Molaesmyr. The source of corruption is said to have come from Caes Mosor. In the Critical Role Campaign 2 Wrap-Up, Matt confirmed the source of corruption was an artifact brought back from Aeor.

So what if this fucker was already studying Aeor and was part of the team that brought something back, and he's rationalizing that their experiments destroyed the city tampering with things they didn't understand with "it's the gods' fault."

He's a historian who got so into his period it took over his whole world view. And doubled down when he made their same mistakes. And instead of learning anything from this, he's just planning on blowing up even more of the world.

[shellem15]

Thinking about how, out of all the betrayer gods, Asmodeus is perhaps the most incapable of changing. Of redemption. Of becoming better.

Because at least the others are honest. Honest about who they are. Honest about their love for their siblings. They know exactly what they are and what they are here to do, even if it is for ill. And that means they can be worked around. Can be changed.

Asmodeus, however, cannot do this. He is the god of lies. Even his truths are rotten. He cannot be honest. Not with others, not even with himself.

Do you think he knows what he even wants? He says he wants eternity to torment his siblings yet tries to kill them. He tries to kill them, yet (whether he realizes it or not) gives them just enough time to stop him. They are gods, after all. One round is all they need.

He says he hates his siblings yet told trist he loved her when in disguise. He didn't need to do that, she was already going to leave. It's the truth, but rotten.

You cannot change, you cannot become better, if you are not honest with yourself. And Asmodeus is the most dishonest of them all. It's no wonder he is always banished by the light of Pelor's truth. He cannot face it, so he runs and hides and lies.

Always burning, always lying, always turning away from the light. Never changing, never growing, never moving on from past hurts. Lashing out at those who try to help, a dagger in the side of his family.

It would be better to remove him. Kinder, for all of them. But he is their brother, eternal, and they cannot lose him. They will keep him, even if he kills them. And he will keep lying, stabbing, burning, because it is all he knows how to do.

[wardensantoineandevka]

between Calamity and Downfall, we're working up a corpus of evidence that the god who most does not want to put any effort into compromises or dispute resolution is Asmodeus. when Vespin took his shot at a god to replace to try to shift the balance, he really correctly identified the one who is on purpose causing the most problems, huh.

[hello-eeveev]

I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but having rewatched the T-Dock scene after seeing Essek being in love and settled with Caleb seven years on, I think it’s pretty likely that if they weren’t already together when they destroyed the T-Dock, Essek was fully aware of the depth of his feelings for Caleb at that point.

The love was already in everything Essek said in that scene, but it becomes obvious just how open he was being with his feelings once you know what Essek-in-love looks like.

[cassafrasscr]

Just thinking about Orym watching this and seeing the Prime Deities being forced to choose between protecting their family or saving the people of Aeor.

Having been told several times in the last few months that if any of Bell’s Hells turns against the cause, he'll have to eliminate them. That for the sake of protecting the world, he'll have to kill one of these people he's claimed as his family.

Orym, who has been the target of friendly fire more than probably anyone else in the party. He's been mauled by Chetney multiple times, been directly attacked by murder-mode FCG at least once, and was ambushed in his sleep by Laudna JUST LAST NIGHT. And even when he's angry, he always meets them with compassion and forgiveness.

Orym, who allegedly has contingency plans for each of his friends if they turn, but who always pulls his punches when he does have to fight them.

Orym, whose home was invaded by a hostile force, who lost his father and husband and probably more of his comrades. Not unlike when the original home of the gods was attacked and destroyed.

Every day he has to make the impossible choice: save the world, or protect his family? Even as flawed as they are, and with how much he's been hurt by them, he loves them. He has insisted repeatedly that he won't HAVE to kill his friends, because he trusts them not to betray him. He believes in them wholeheartedly.

And now he's watching the Prime Deities have to grapple with that same choice. Even knowing that the Betrayer Gods didn't die, and the Calamity lasted another 100 years.

I'm so interested to see how Orym reacts, with everyone pressuring him to choose the world over his family. Knowing that, at least on some level, the Prime Deities chose their family over the world. And look what it cost the world.

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

The Hypocrisy of Vex'ahlia

Before you all come for me, I am a Vex stan and I will defend her until I die - she is my favorite Critical Role character and I'm so glad we're getting a deeper dive into her psyche.

The complexities of her character cannot be overstated. She has a lot going on under the surface, and the breadcrumbs of her deep-seated insecurities have been there the whole time.

I'm really excited we get to explore those in season 3 through her relationship with Percy, in a way different than what we've seen in the actual play streams. I want to commend the writers for being able to convey so much in so little time.

We are introduced to Vex as a sexy, confident woman who uses her looks and charisma to her advantage. She takes charge most of the time, being the unofficial "leader" of Vox Machina. She presents herself as someone who doesn't really need anyone else and does not care about anyone outside of her brother. Keyleth even comments on this in the first episode, "Vex and Vax only care about themselves".

This, of course, is a complete fabrication, a mask she wears to hide her insecurities. A mask, she wants no one to see through. The irony here is that she can so easily see behind Percy's mask - "Darling, take off the mask". It takes one to know one, after all.

She so badly wants to get underneath Percy's mask, for him to show himself to her fully. There's something inside of her that sees the guilt and shame inside of him and that resonates with her belief that she is deeply broken. Vex truly believes that something must truly be wrong with her. And why wouldn't she? Saundor, who said he knew everything about her, saw this, too, after all.

Saundor says plainly, "you will never be enough."

So it must be true, right?

Why wouldn't something be so wrong with her? It would make sense. Her father carries no love for her, her mother died, and Vax had to sacrifice his life for hers. She knows Vax loves her, and she believes he is the only one who does. Even Kamaljiori, an ancient and all-knowing Sphinx, fed into this during their test when Vax fell: "you have no family left who cares for you".

Her hypocrisy lies in the facade she built as a woman who does not need anyone or anything. She presents herself as someone who does not need the love of others, when in reality, she desperately wants to be loved.

Saundor saw this as well.

Vex longs to love and be loved. And yet, she cannot allow herself to give up her facade and let Percy love her and admit her love for him.

The last person to see through her walls was Saundor, and we know how that went.

What he said really cut her deep, as we see after the Kevdak fight when she brushes off Pike's inquiries about her experience in the fey realm.

As we see her relationship with Percy move from harmless flirting to physical intimacy at the beginning of season 3, we see her embrace the physical closeness to Percy but starts to block him out the moment he wants to cement their relationship. But she can't let herself tell him how she feels because that would mean admitting her heart is his - and that would be doomed to end in tragedy, as Vex admits later in the cave.

Putting up this emotional wall between her and Percy will not give Vex what she wants: love.

Love is that emotional intimacy. Vex loves to point out the importance of love between other people- in season 2, pushing Keyleth to tell Vax how she feels ("it always matters"), assuring Allura that Kima's love for her will help her endure after Vorugal's attack, and putting faith in the rest of Vox Machina.

Vex understands what makes love so special, and how important truth and intimacy are to real, lasting love.

And while she comforts others and pushes them to be vulnerable and embrace love, her own fears prevent her from fully doing the same. It's ironic and sad, how one of the only people who can see through her mask is the one she's pushing away.

Trauma makes hypocrites of us all.

Image credits @blorbologist @aq2003

[sparring-spirals]

okay. i mean this with the utmost affection. but. while imogen and laudna telling each other "im you're anchor. you're my tether" as reassurance about going "dark" or giving into the lure of power is very meaningful and important. it also kind of struck me like. hey wait one of you anchoring the other. fine. possibly-functional. but doesnt BOTH of you tethering to each other risk creation of a spinning centrifugal blur whirling down the road to power.

and like yes yes this isnt an original thought and the proper terminology for this is probably like "dual corruption arc" or in CR "i broke the world for you" yes but. i wanted to share the specific imagery my brain provided for this train of thought, which is roughly:

like. thanks. brain. i guess.

bonus thought that popped up when drawing this:

[ariadne-mouse]

I imagine Essek had one or two record scratch moments in his youth

Such as, alternately,

[otdderamin]

Hey, remember how in Exandria Unlimited Thordak's Cater in Emon was flaring and the Fire Ashari suspected something was trying to push through. And then a huge plateau burst up and on top of it was a massive burning purple-red sigil that was incomplete. (Exu:Prime E2)

Which Gilmore identifies as pre-Calamity magic of the lost civilization of Qoniira in the Rifenmist Peninsula jungle. (ExU:P E3)

Which the Crown Keepser subsequently found the hidden remaining city of Niirdal-Poc. There Elam Genar translated it as "place of burning." Tetrarch Thrascuur says the rune marks a place full of too much energy and ripe for creation and potential. Something deciding what it will be and dangerous. (ExU:P E6)

They head south to Niirdal-Sarqet where they find a floating cube with runes on it that they translate as:

The universe above The universe within Remember what came before Decide what happens next Provide for all A shield to protect.

It breaks, and guardians attack. (ExU:P E7)

[greenteaandtattoos]

Chetney believing that his wolf form is his “better self” because he finds self-worth only in his ability to support others, because he knows what it feels like to be alone, to have no one to fight for you or have your back, and he doesn’t want others to feel the same way. He’s willing to rely on the curse that set him apart of put him through years of being hunted and discriminated against to protect and fight for the people who care about him and he cares about, his pack.

The fact that it was acts of showing proof that Bells Hells cared for him that helped get through the Wildmother’s possession. Fearne flirting with him, showing him that she saw something in him besides his fighting ability, and Orym presenting his wolf wood carving, showing him that his eagerness to offer his time and effort into crafting presents for others using his talent for wood carving was something that inspired others, more so than what he can do as a werewolf.

[deramin2]

Thinking about this quote:

CR C1 E56 2:02:47 Kerrek: "You need to find a way to live with the fact that you do what you can, because that's what you can control. And sometimes bad things happen anyway, and so you just have to decide where you're going to pick your hill. You find your hill. Everybody gets one hill, and you plant your flag and you can die on that one. But you have to be careful, because you only get one. If you're really unlucky, you get more than one."

Keyleth: "And what if the ultimate problem is that I feel like I've had zero control from the start, since birth? I didn't want any of this. I didn't want my abilities. I didn't know I was special until now. And I so desperately just want to be normal. I want to go back to being ignorance and bliss."

And thinking about how Bell's Hells are the B-Sides. The NPCs who wandered into a story much much bigger than themselves and don't know what to do next. Some power fell in their lap. Chose them when they didn't want to be chosen. Radically altered their life.

And now suddenly the thing they were looking into, that crashed into them, has turned into one of the most important questions in Exandrian history: Do we need to save the gods from this threat?

We have Ludinus who's firmly in the "Fuck the gods" camp. We have the Loam and the Leaf who just don't want anything to do with the gods or their followers. We have Vassleheim who will protect the gods at all costs. And we have Bell's Hells who are mostly grappling with whether this should be their responsibility.

Team Wildmount have been contacted by gods demanding they save them. Orym isn't exactly pro-gods, but he's against Ludinus and his followers. Team Issylra is really grappling with whether the gods have done enough good for the world to be worth protecting. They're seeing the harm of the worshipers whose mortal actions give the gods their power.

The conclusion they're coming to is that this is simply beyond their power to defeat Ludinus and this is out of their control. Their new goal is to get their people out of this shit show and get out. Survive this. Not defeat it. Not heroically save the day. Survive. If the path to that goal means saving the gods, fine. But fuck them they don't have priority.

I think that's a really cool story. A conceit of D&D as a game is that you are strong enough to be the heroes. It's nice to see that challenged.

[shellem15]

Okay, I know the Dawnfather and the other primes are running interference, but we NEED to get a full, one-on-one conversation between Asmodeus and Raei (I need it. So bad.) It would hurt so much but so GOOD. I know the hardest bars would be dropped, fucking "My greatest heartbreak...is that I will only have eternity to punish them" levels of bitterness and resentment.

Especially considering what we learn about them in the intro! Imri was straight up ready to die for Luz! Fucker threw himself into the goddamn flames for her!

You know there's so much angst over that. Over how she apologized before healing him. Is Asmodeus hung up on that? About how he sacrificed himself out of love and all she gave in return (in his mind obvs) was guilt? Does he think that's why she tried to save him during Calamity? Not out of love but out of guilt for trapping him?

Asmodeus, who was changed (change, a thing he hates above all else) for her. Who refuses to be changed ever again. Who would hurt the ones he loves in his pursuit of revenge. Who loves his hatred more than he loves his siblings.

The Everlight, who was just trying to help her brother. Who was just trying to help the world. Who got stabbed in the back for her efforts. Does she regret it? Trying to help him? Does she regret saving him on that ship in the first place?

Perhaps Torog is right. Perhaps death would have been the greatest mercy for him. Anything that isn't pain, that isn't all-consuming hatred.

Imagine if she told him that. How much that would fucking hurt him (them both). If it was a lie, would he know? Would he call her out on it?

Probably, I imagine. He'd probably say something like: "Mortals think we are different. That you are honest while I am not. But between us, you've always been the better liar. The greatest, cruelest lie that's ever been told, is that there is any mercy to be found in this wretched world."

TLDR, this miniseries is driving me insane.