#like sure Chained Oblivion and Vecna were kind of a big deal but what if there was a secret third time before

[topaz-mutiny]

So the episode is over and I am stuck on the giant green glass column that spans a mile and more vertically of this underground city.

Because the first thing I said when it was described, before we found out the Weave Mind (I'm assuming that's the 5 minds) are inside of it, was: "That's a big-ass trammel."

... And then I thought about it.

...

So, what if? What if that's literally what it is.

A giant trammel piercing through the crust, piercing Predathos. Probably one of a few.

But maybe you only need to pull out one to release a god-eater from its binds.

Perhaps the Ruidian flares, said to be ushered in by the Weave Mind themselves, are their attempts to pull the trammel out.

The flares are getting more frequent, more powerful, because of an increase in their attempts, and the aid being given to them through the Ruidusborn and Ludinus.

If it's true, if this ties into the lore from all the way back in the last arc of C1 I'm going to scream.

[crittergallery]

So I don’t usually make text posts or metas, I just need to dump some thoughts that have been stewing in my head for a while, and after this latest episode they are now boiling over. 

I’ve thought this for a while, but after the discovery of the murals in the temple of Uk’otoa, I’m now pretty thoroughly convinced that whatever kind of endgame Matt might be considering for this campaign, it’s going to be absolutely cosmic in scale. Across the whole campaign there have been consistent hints toward several of the Betrayer Gods: the theme of the carnival performance in the very first episode, the communion bowl of Tiamat, Sif Duthar’s lab and his notes on the Crawling King, Uk’otoa being the emissary of Zehir, the Dwendalian Empire going to war with Lolth’s people in Xhorhas, and the recurring appearance of chains hinting toward the Chained Oblivion, who was also mentioned several times in the first campaign by the by, and who seemed like THE Big Bad of the Calamity. And this isn’t even going into hanging plot threads from Campaign 1 that might come back to bite them, like the still missing second horn of Orcus and Arkhan the Cruel out there somewhere with the Hand of Vecna. Some of these might end up being false leads, but there’s been so many hints that I don’t imagine this campaign will be allowed to end without at least one Betrayer God making an appearance. Suffice to say, a shitstorm of epic proportions is brewing in Exandria’s future.

And the people that are burrowing (mostly unintentionally) to the heart of it all... are the Mighty Nein. Which is kind of blowing my mind. 

You know, even after watching three times as much of Vox Machina as I have the Mighty Nein, I still like the Mighty Nein a bit more. I’m sure some of that is some bias because I watched Campaign 2 first, but I think a large part is also because of who this party is. Even back when Vox Machina were The SHITS, most of them had something greater than average about them or in store for them. Percy was in exile, but he was still the heir of Whitestone. Keyleth was preparing to lead her people. The twins and Taryon came from money even if they didn’t embrace it completely. Tiberius was an important political figure’s son. Even Grog was the son of a chieftain. 

But the M9? An orphan, a cast-out rebel child, a graveyard keeper, a carnie, the sheltered daughter of a courtesan, an ex-child soldier, a goblin, and whatever the hell is Yasha’s deal. None of them come from greatness, or are even adjacent to it by association. They’re reckless and dumb and all very messed up in their own ways, to a greater degree than most of Vox Machina were. Most of them have been alone or at least felt alone for large portions of their lives, and even now, forty episodes into things, they’re still just edging into “We’re friends, right?” territory.

And yet these guys, THESE GUYS, are being set up against ALL of the shit I mentioned above, so much shit that if even half of it comes to fruition, it’s going to make Vecna look like a goddamn picnic in the park. It’s crazy and ridiculous and kinda scaring the hell out of me because this chaos vortex of a group going up against gods seems incomprehensible at the moment... but imagining what it’ll be like to see them reach the point where they can do it, how these nutballs are going to develop into the kind of people that could hold the fate of the world in their hands, has me so goddamn excited for what waits in the future. As much as I adore Vox Machina, seeing this group that’s going to have to overcome so much, internally as well as externally, to become legends is appealing to me in so many ways. I’m terrified, but I also can’t wait, and Fjord’s arc of pure lore dump is not helping.

I’m really feeling the Mercer send-off tonight. Is it Thursday yet???