#critical role campaign 2 episode 121

[thelavendersquid]

“Imagine, if you will, that every thought you had was accompanied by a hundred screaming thoughts fighting for attention.”

Sounds like an average Tuesday to me, Lucian. Maybe that’s a skill issue.

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Critical Role’s fights cannot be as long in animation as they are in the stream. They just cannot. And even if they could, they shouldn’t, because it’d be a massive slog in that context.

However.... some battles need to feel long, even if they’re not. They need to feel tense and dangerous, like you just want them to end already. Not in a boring way, but in a suspenseful, scared for characters you love way.

The final battle of campaign 2 is an obvious pick. But there are others in that campaign that come to mind besides that one.

Let's talk about one of them.

(Spoilers for Campaign 2, specifically the last arc, below.)

More than almost any other fight in Campaign 2, we need the one between the Nein and the Tomb Takers from episode 123 to feel long.

And there’s something we can do to get us there. We can make the fight feel longer without actually making it longer if we inter-cut the fight with other previous scenes.

In episode 121, while traveling with the Takers, the Nein takes watch. Jester with Yasha, and then Fjord with Beau. During these shifts, Jester and Fjord reveal their kiss, and Yasha and Beau reveal their upcoming date. Everyone is excited by these developments.

I say, don’t show the romance talks when they are supposed to happen in the timeline. Skip them. Then, during the fight, flash back to them.

Like so:

Beau slams down off the back of a giant eagle into the snow among the Tomb Takers, popping several of them in the face one after the other. We cut away to:

Beau: No, on that note, I kind of — We were in, like — We just walked through a creepy forest and we were, like, a mile beneath the earth and I kind of asked Yasha on a date. Fjord: You did what?! Beau: I know. Fjord: You asked her out on a date? Beau: Yeah, yeah. Fjord: What’d she say?

We cut back. Lucien stalks up to her while she’s still swinging and unawares. When she turns, he puts his hand to her throat. His eye tattoos glow. Her head rocks back, but not out of his grip. Blood gathers in the corners of her eyes like tears.

Beau: She said yes. She said yes. That she was— Fjord: Shit!

As blood pours down out of Beau’s eyes, out of her nose, as she gags up a thick trickle of blood from her lips, as Lucien’s grin widens in sadistic satisfaction, we don’t cut away. Instead, this audio plays over him Rending her Mind.

Beau: She was, like, really excited. She was like, “I’m happy about this because, like —" I don’t know whether it’s — I just want a fresh start with Yasha because we’ve been through so much.

[...]

Beau: So it just felt like maybe, maybe a date.

She sucks in a desperate, blood choked breath.

Caleb and Cad crawl backward through the snow, frantic and trying to get their magic to work. Yasha swoops down towards Beau in her eagle form. Just before she gets close enough to make the grab, we cut away:

Jester: But did you give her the poem? Yasha: Well, I was working on it and then I just sort of ended up writing her a letter. I still have a poem, but I just ended up writing her a letter. It felt weird and it felt like really I wasn’t ready yet. So I just wrote her a note and yeah, and then she asked me out on a date, yeah.

Yasha makes the grab, Beau’s free.

Later, when Fjord’s on the opposite side of the battle field from everyone else, he brings his blade down on Lucien’s back. It's blocked without him even turning around. As he does turn and the two lock blades, Fjord’s eyes travel to the rest of the group and we see-

Fjord: Hey, I meant to tell you, I-- I told Jester how I-- how I... Beau: You did? Sorry, Caduceus. Caduceus: (snores) Beau: You did? Fjord: Yeah, on the-- real, yeah. Beau: How’d it go? Fjord: It went okay. I was pretty nervous. Beau: Yeah? What do you mean okay, though? What’s okay? Fjord: No, it was good. I-- uh. We kissed. Beau: (gasping) Sorry, Caduceus. Sorry.

He’s struck, he teleports near Zoren. He’s closer to the rest than he was, but he’s not there yet.

....And I mean, I think you get the idea at this point. You'd maybe want to pace it out slower or a little differently, but this is just to give you an idea of what you could do.

What also could be cool is intercutting this fight or later ones with scenes where the Nein talk about the city; what’s coming to Exandria if they die in Eiselcross without stopping the Tomb Takers. Remind the audience what’s at stake on a macro level (the city coming to swallow the world) and a micro level (the Nein have started more intimate relationships and might not get the chance to experience them) to keep tension high.

This is just one example, but you could use it for multiple important fights. Other good candidates include both Iron Shepherd fights, the King’s Cage fight, the Cathedral Fight and one or both fights against the Sea Spawn that come for the orb.

Sometimes you really don’t need a lot of fancy effects or animation. Sometimes just some creative storyboarding and/or editing can elevate a story in a way you wouldn’t expect.

[littlebosslady7]

Critical Role Schedule for the week of February 3rd, 2025

Monday, February 3rd — Tales from the Stinky Dragon Campaign 3, Episode 10 for Beacon.

Monday, February 3rd — Re-Slayer's Take season 2, episode 15 for podcast streamers, 17 for Beacon.

Tuesday, February 4th — Critical Role Abridged Campaign 3, Episode 39 for YouTube, 61 for Beacon.

Wednesday, February 5th — UNEND Season 1 Episode 15 for Midst YouTube, 17 for Beacon at 10AM PST.

Wednesday, February 5th — Narrative Telephone episode 4 will be uploaded to YouTube at 10AM PST.

Thursday, February 6th — Tale Gate Party Live to celebrate with the cast as Bell's Hells and a 3-Campaign story closes a chapter. This starts at 6PM PST on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch.

Thursday, February 6th — Bell's Hells concludes with an 8 and a half hour finale in Campaign 3, Episode 121 on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch at 7PM PST. YouTube VOD: Monday, February 10th at noon PST.

Thursday, February 6th — Critical Role Cooldown airs directly the final campaign 3 episode, only on Beacon.

[deramin2]

In a media landscape where "the protagonist is the hero" is such a dominant narrative, I find Critical Role Campaign 3 so refreshing.

Are Bell's Hells doing the right thing? No one at the table knows.

Are they being smart about their decisions? No one at the table cares.

Have they made a well-reasoned plan? Not one bit. They've been asking each other about their destination for 121 episodes like beat poets on a hitchhiking road trip to nowhere in particular.

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, … "who drove crosscountry severtytwo hours to find out if I had a vision or you had a vision or he had a vision to find out Eternity, … "with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years." - Allen Ginsberg, Howl

I just love seeing a show where the intention is to just feel out the story and create without a predestined path or destination. Where the creators talk about how their joy comes from not knowing what's going to happen and not being bound to "good" choices, but rather to interesting ones. Instead of "the narrative needs the characters to be these sorts of people" it's reversed into "these are the sort of people who cause this narrative."

It's so easy for storytellers to need to prove something, but most real people aren't living their lives to justify them to other people, but to justify them to themselves. And real people get caught up on their interiority a lot. A lot of historical turning points happened because certain people happened to be there, happened to believe certain things (cosmic truth being irrelevant), and happened to think specific actions were a good idea. No one was vetting who should swing hammers at the Berlin Wall.

Historians debate for a 1,000 years if acts were "justified" without consensus, while quite often the people doing them were thinking some version of "You know those days when you're like, this might as well happen?" Critical Role is all about "this might as well happen." Being adult is all about carefully planning out your choices to not fuck yourself over (and hopefully no one else). It's really fun to play out what the consequences of "poor" decisions could be. Who cares if you can back it up? It was fun!

"One of the things that often, I think, leads to people making poor choices in life is the misunderstanding that life doesn’t have a third act. Third acts are fictional. You have a first act, and you have a messy second act that’s really poorly written, and that’s it. The third act is like the worst invention of modern man because it doesn’t- The resolution is only something that happens when you sit down and write it. There’s no such thing as closure! No, there is no third act! It’s in your head!" - Taliesin Jaffe, The Wednesday Club: More on Moore

No one knows what life's going to turn into. There's no strategy guide that can actually chart the decision tree. Plenty of people have opinions about it, but no one knows. And no one can backseat game your life for you, though plenty try. There isn't a fixed destination you must get to. Critical Role doesn't really have third acts. Campaign 1 sort of did, but then the story didn't really end. Campaign 2 didn't have a 3rd act, and that upset a lot of people who had their own completionist agenda. No Exandria Unlimited mini series or Downfall really had a 3rd act. Since Matt came to view Campaign 3 as the end of a trilogy, maybe it will have something vaguely 3rd act shaped. But overall the 3rd act seems to be the heat death of the universe. That's so compelling to me.

It's all about cycles and how nothing is really new and nothing really ends. The Exandrian Pantheon was conceptual, immortal, and beyond reality before they came into the world. The world will doubtless persist beyond our gaze. We just see little drips and drabs of Exandria's history.

There are so many more stories to be told than "heroes made good choices and save the world through the power of undying loyalty." It's a good story, I do like hearing it, but it's boring when that's the only story that is ever allowed to be told. Sometimes I just want to put some fucked up little gremlins into a rat maze and just see what happens. And if they manage to overthrow the scientists and low up the lab, at least it was a memorable day.

[wheniscriticalrole]

Lots of updates to day folks!

Updated Estimated dates for the following:

Campaign 3 Episode 121 - FINALE

Campaign 3 Episode 121, Rebroadcast

Campaign 3 Episode 121, VOD

Campaign 3 Episode 121, podcast

Campaign 3 Episode 121 Cooldown (Beacon)

C3 Wrap-Up talk show

Fireside Chat, Matt Mercer (Beacon)

Added fields for the following:

C3 Tale Gate Party - LIVE

EXU: Divergence Ep 1

EXU: Divergence Ep 1 Cooldown (Beacon)

EXU: Divergence Ep 2

EXU: Divergence Ep 2 Cooldown (Beacon)

EXU: Divergence Ep 3

EXU: Divergence Ep 3 Cooldown (Beacon)

EXU: Divergence Ep 4

EXU: Divergence Ep 4 Cooldown (Beacon)

When is Critical Role?

[chakytron]

Ice and Fire | Critical Role | Campaign 2, Episode 121

Ice and Fire | Critical Role | Campaign 2, Episode 121

Ice and Fire | Critical Role | Campaign 2, Episode 121 Category Main Description: This episode is sponsored by Grim Hollow from our friends at Ghostfire Games! Get 10% off the Grim Hollow: The Player’s Guide by using code “CRITROLE” at … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At: 2021-01-18T20:00:11Z   Tags: …

[pawthorn]

"I know your type."

98% sure that this statement is just a personality-based assessment.

But...

Is it so unreasonable to think that maybe the leader of the Tombtakers who was born in Shady Creek Run might have had dealings with the Clay family, who guarded a graveyard and frequented Shady Creek Run in disguise?

I mean, Lucien really might have known Caduceus' type.

[a-gaggle-of-bastards]

[annelisters]

- nott the brave, critical role, campaign 2 episode 121

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 121, "Ice and Fire"

[thelavendersquid]

The M9: “Feel free to ask us anything you want.”

Lucian: *asks a question*

M9: *completely ignore the question and ask more of their own*

[echoes-lighthouse]

Something that amuses me is the fact that I’m not caught up on literally any of my fictional others’ source material! 

This is a brief study of where I left every single media (and why): 

these are my personal experiences and i certainly don’t judge anyone for not sharing them or for enjoying a plot twist/plot arc that i disliked! 

BNHA (anime)- I watched to the end of season 4 and never picked up the next season: I was getting tired of suppressing my emotions about the whole hero/police parallel issues and just decided the fanfiction would be more fulfilling than the actual story. 

Homestuck- I read the original webcomic to the end, but I abandoned HS2 like a hot potato and refused to touch the whole franchise for a year and a half: it was such a bitter piece of writing, mocking the fandom and erasing the progress most of the characters had made in their original arcs, and I don’t know that I’ll ever fully forgive the creators for it. 

Magic School Bus- I read most of the books when I was a kid, but I never watched the TV show! I was one of those 90s kids who didn’t have cable, and I’m not sure I’ve read ALL of the books: it’s been a while for most of them, though I do have 2 still on my bookshelf 

TMA- I always preferred the oneshot horror story part of The Magnus Archives, so I started to get pretty burned out around season 3, but I kept going until season 5! Season 5 tends to be less stories and more horror-themed poetry/abstract concepts, so I just didn’t.... bother? But I’m glad people who enjoyed the plot aspects seem to have liked the ending! 

Critical Role- uhhhhh I’ll get back to this some day! I’m thinking of starting Campaign 2 from the beginning again? The stakes just got too high and I didn’t love what the group was doing, and it just got stressful instead of fun... but some early-days episodes might get me hooked again! 

Rick and Morty- I have to consume this show at a bit of a snail’s pace because the abuse and alcoholism can really get under my skin. I just recently started Season 5 and I’m working at it slowly. 

(secondary F/O sources under ‘read more’ so I don’t flood dashboards!) 

Black Butler- I did watch the whole anime but I was honestly more into the manga, which is still running! I read until I was caught up in 2015, but I just haven’t gone back into the fandom since then, although I still lovingly stroke the spines in every bookshop: maybe I should make an effort to get the new volumes from the library! 

Welcome To Night Vale- I listened to the first hundred episodes! Actually, the first 121, but it was more and more multi-episode arcs and I wasn’t into it, so I let it go. I need to go back and catch up on my Kevin dearest’s arc though :) 

Danganronpa- I was watching the Game Grumps playthrough and I finished the first game with them, but they were super halfhearted about the second game, so I only watched one trial, and now I’m waiting to have enough money to buy and play games 2 and 3 for myself! 

Mary Poppins- okay this might be an exception BUT I haven’t read the original books! 

Nightmare Before Christmas- a second exception BUT I heard terrible things about the new book so I decided not to read it! Does that count? 

Sandman- I’ve read the comics fully, including the follow-up comics after the initial run. However, I have NOT watched the TV show: Death looks great but I can’t get over how much they butchered Dream and I just can’t bear to watch any of the scenes with him in it, and he’s the heart of the damn series so it doesn’t feel worth it 

American Horror Story- I watched a few full seasons but got a bit tired with the ‘in your face’ style of horror in each season, and categorically refused to watch the Coven season for ‘raised pagan’ reasons. I watched House, Asylum, Freak Show, Cult, and Roanoke, but I really only enjoyed House and Asylum as full stories. 

And that’s the story of why I’m not caught up on any of my f/o’s origin medias! Thanks for reading to the bottom, it’s something I’m quite insecure about (like I don’t love them enough if I haven’t finished the original media for their sake) so I decided to write about it in a fun way! 

[bluesclves]

How am I only just now, on episode 121 of critical role campaign 2... realizing that "nott the brave" is an anagram for "veth brenatto"? Like what the fuck Sam Reigal, since when??? This had to be intentional but??? Excuse me???? I feel like I've been personally trolled.

[bravenot]

caleb & veth moments 🔥🏹

here’s a list of some of my favourite caleb and nott/veth moments from campaign 2 of critical role, with linked timestamps. these do not include ones which were already covered in hla rosa’s compilation. enjoy!

episode 2 - “down, you beast!”

2 - “let me see your teeth”

3 - caleb squeezes her cheeks

4 - shielding nott

4 - ‘I scoop her up’

6 - distracting thaddeus

8 - checking in with each other

8 - 60 gold

8 - “that’s not exactly what it is”

8 - “you are adorably fucking wrong right now”

9 - transcribing a spell together

10 - thieves’ cant

11 - “so he can save me” until “I need him. I need him to live.”

11 - “come to bed,”

12 - mother’s love

12 - enemy of my enemy “seems extreme” (again)

12 - “we’re either a team, or you’re working for yourselves. decide”

12 - stealing the scrolls

13 - “people find my teeth off-putting sometimes” 

13 - nott sleeping against caleb’s thigh

14 - molly is nasty to nott / caleb steps in

15 - nott casts featherfall / caleb is ‘thoroughly impressed’

16 - “take my ring”

19 - “with all due respect, she is smarter than that”

19 - “I will go with you”

19 - cherry wine

19 - “the door is always open for you”

20 - “that means a lot to me”

21 - “bren” (caleb stares at nott for 50 seconds straight) - again - and again!

23 - “yeza was his name”

26 - “well done, nott. well done”

28 - be very quiet

31 - an agreement

46 - buddy system

46 - “I won’t stop thinking about you”

52 - fireline

57 - the group jokes about nott and yeza / caleb zones

65 - do you want my vulture?

65 - flying around the tree (for 1 entire hour)

66 - kiss for frumpkin

71 - pink flowers

76 - celebrate later

76 - invisible conversation

85 - reasons for the crush

85 - “come with me.”

90 - “lucky man” until insight check 

91 - stay with us for a while

102 - did you see that spell?

102 - enlarge veth

102 - scalding - caleb gives her the driftglobe

103 - hop hop hop

103 - conversation in the programmed illusion dome

106 - veth amulet

108 - “caleb do you want to come dance?”

108 - ‘I dance veth joyously over to the bar’ 

108 - “our home” - “I need you” - teleport commute

110 - “one: I need veth” - “maybe on another night” 

111 - Veth’s tower suite - “and you are my best friend” - name banter

114 - Hello Birdie - two hot cocoas 

115 - cat’s ire sled (“Join me?” “Yes!”)

116 - frumpkin in veth’s hood - “go with veth”

117 - The Magician and The Tinker

119 - veth gets swallowed - liam is Stressed 

121 - feeling guilty - “I love you”

125 - I care for him very much

126 - projection 

128 - bring it in bubby - shellshocked (cuddling distance) - caleb gives luc some gifts 

130 - five hundred if you have it - too steep

131 - “one more time. are you sure?”

132 - crawl space - message - “I don’t want you to go alone” - spider-caleb plays with veth’s hair

133 - arm squeeze 

134 - “HEY YOU GET AWAY FROM MY... FRIEND” (true love’s hdywtdt)

135 - “are you being careful?”

139 - sharing a beat - liam mad

141 - caleb’s produce flame

141 - “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, Veth Brenatto” (as his godfather)

141 - goodbyes

[loveisalwayswise]

A Guide to Critical Role

You’ve heard about Critical Role, the show where a bunch of nerdy ass voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons, but you don’t know how to start the show? Here’s a guide to help you!

I update this post regularly, so if you notice anything that isn’t relevant anymore, please tell me about it. Don’t hesitate to ask questions if you’re still unsure about something, and feel free to leave advice for new viewers in the replies.

If you just want to get a taste of the show and don’t mind mild spoilers, there are fantastic fan-made videos you can find online (e.g. The Door, Tree Shenanigans, Bats Like Bread, Spurt’s Swan Song).

First of all, if you’re new to D&D, don’t worry about the rules. A lot of people who watch Critical Role learn the rules while they watch the show, so it’s alright if you don’t understand everything right away.

The three campaigns of Critical Role take place in the same world, but they unfold decades apart and on different continents.

Campaign 1 follows Vox Machina (complete, 115 eps)

Campaign 2 follows The Mighty Nein (complete, 141 eps)

Campaign 3 follows Bell's Hells (complete, 121 eps)

It’s up to you which campaign you want to start with, and my recommendation is different depending on what you're looking for. Start with what sounds better for you, and then, if you want more Critical Role, you can watch the other campaigns. All campaigns are great in different ways, and the more you watch, the more you’re hooked.

Critical Role began as a game between friends, but has since morphed into a creator-owned media company. All legacy episodes of Critical Role (1.01-2.19) are available via Geek & Sundry’s channels, and new episodes are available on Critical Role’s channels.

Video format:

The VOD becomes available on Thursdays at 7PM PST on Beacon.

The show also streams on Thursdays at 7PM PST on Twitch and Youtube. The VOD is available immediately afterwards for subscribers, and it becomes available on Youtube on Monday for free.

Podcast format: Available on Itunes, Google Play, Spotify and more. Legacy episodes can be found on the Nerdist Industries podcast network, and new episodes can be found on the Critical Role podcast network.

CAMPAIGN 1 | Vox Machina

The first campaign follows a group of mercenaries named Vox Machina as they become heroes of Tal'Dorei.

You can find the Youtube playlist for Vox Machina HERE.

Disclaimer: This campaign doesn’t start at the beginning of the story. The cast had already been playing these characters for a few years when they started streaming the show, so in the first episode, they’re already around level 10. To help, they recorded some videos to summarize the adventures of the party so far: The Backstory + The Story of Vox Machina.

This campaign is being adapted into an animated series. Currently, three seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina are available on Prime Video and a fourth is in production.

CAMPAIGN 2 | The Mighty Nein

The second campaign follows a group of adventurers, The Mighty Nein, as a looming war between the nations of Wildemount threatens their safety and darker forces threaten the safety of the realm.

You can find the Youtube playlist for the Mighty Nein HERE.

This campaign is being adapted into an animated series (Announcement). The first season is in production.

CAMPAIGN 3 | Bell's Hells

The third campaign follows Bell's Hells as they investigate strange events on the continent of Marquet, and in doing so, uncover peculiar mysteries about the world of Exandria.

You can find the Youtube playlist for Bell's Hells HERE.

Disclaimer: If you don't want to be spoiled about previous campaigns, do not watch C3 first. This campaign is connected to both C1 et C2.

CATCHING UP

Don’t worry about catching up quickly! Half the fun is about the journey you take with the characters, and no one is ever going to pressure you to watch everything in a few weeks. You can take your time and enjoy the story.

It’s also possible that you don’t want to watch every episode of the show. If you want to jump in during a later arc but still want to get a summary of what happened before, here are some options:

For multiple campaigns:

Encyclopedia Exandria

Transcripts

Critical Recap (starting with 2.89)

For campaign 1:

Critical Role Primer : Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4

For campaign 2:

CritRecap animated

Critical Recap (video) for select episodes.

For campaign 3:

Critical Role Abridged

There are other ways to catch up on Critical Role, be it by reading other summaries or by watching highlight videos, but I feel like the options given above are a good starting point.

OTHER RESOURCES

There are many official or fan-made resources that are either really interesting for Critters or really helpful.

Official resources:

Critrole.com: Official website of the Critical Role company.

Beacon: Beacon is a special membership service and the new home for all things Critical Role. Members receive live event presales, merch discounts in all online shops and an invitation to a private Discord.

4-Sided Dive: Critical Role’s monthly talk show beginning with C3. Features a roundtable discussion between four guests.

Exandria, an Intimate History: Take a deep lore dive into the history of how Exandria came to be, from the Founding, to the Calamity, to the Age of Arcanum, and beyond.

Exandria, an Intimate Appendix (Spoilers up to C3E51): Deep lore dive into the history of Ruidus and the Gods.

Fan-made resources:

Encyclopedia Exandria: A fan-maintained wiki dedicated to the Critical Role Dungeons & Dragons campaigns and other media produced by Critical Role Productions.

Linkable transcripts: Browse or search the Critical Role transcript archive for a word or sentence, and be directed to the right place in the transcript or the right timestamp in the video.

The Omen Archive: A repository for statistics, data, and analysis pertaining to Critical Role, following in the tradition of the esteemed CritRoleStats.

CritRole Stats (archive): A critter blog keeping track of monster stats, dice rolls and anything else that can be quantified on Critical Role.

If you have any questions about the show, how to watch it or anything else Critical Role related, feel free to DM me or send me an ask, and I would be happy to answer.