#nothing on Raishan

[olessan]

Re: TLovM episodes 3x07-3x09

[andi-o-geyser]

Sure, we may have gotten the Purvan jokes made in canon for the animated show which is a massive win, but if we don’t get a running gag of 50 "I assume” jokes made when Seeker Assum Emring shows up I’m personally starting a riot. I need it animated and I need it now

[tiamat-zx]

I’ve just realized why it’s a good thing that Keyleth didn’t get her vestige yet.

Because Raishan would have been prepared for it.

She openly stated, “You think I’d have helped you acquire these vestiges if they’d be a threat to me?”

She pulled all their strings, made them dance as she wanted, both to get them to fracture and to use them for her own ends.

She showed no fear against the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, knowing that transferring herself into Thordak’s corpse gives her new flame breath necrotic properties that would overload and blow out the plate, thus rendering it harmless. And in the process, Pike was put out of commission, thus removing Vox Machina’s healer from the board.

Her undead body felt no pain, thus ruling out the various elemental properties of Fenthras, the sonic slashes of Mythcarver, and even the thunderous might of the Titanstone Knuckles, neutralizing anything that Vex, Scanlan, or Grog could have done.

She easily held Vax in place in spite of the Deathwalker’s Ward granting him speed and flight, and easily could have done him in.

And even if they had retrieved Cabal’s Ruin… any redirected magic would have been useless as she would have been unfazed.

She even intentionally baited Keyleth into killing her original form, knowing how vengeful she was.

She had everything calculated to be in her favor.

…except for one thing.

She didn’t anticipate Keyleth seeking out the other Ashari, or for her to unlock her earth elemental form.

Nor did she anticipate Keyleth baiting Raishan herself into reducing “herself” and her old body to ashes. Once she did that, those diseased ashes were able to be “reclaimed” back into the earth… and redistributed back to her undead form thanks to Keyleth’s earth elemental form serving as an anchor keeping them connected.

In other words, Keyleth utilized all she had learned across three seasons to outlast and ultimately outwit… or rather, dare I say, DECEIVE the Deceiver.

And now she’s nothing more than a DECEASED Deceiver. All because she woefully underestimated Keyleth’s persistence, cleverness, tenacity, and natural strength.

She called her a “child”.

She really shouldn’t have.

Because now, all of her plotting and planning to escape her curse… amounted to nothing.

And thus nature took its course and finished the job.

Hail to the fucking Tempest.

[sunsetlovelydreams]

I have a lot of thoughts on LoVM Season 3 but I just want to talk about one thing: the gender-role reversals in Vaxleth.

First, to the LoVM team: one day, I'm going to die from emotional overload, and I want you to know it was your fault. You will be invited to my funeral.

On to the main topic. I've always pegged Vax (yes, I know what I wrote) as more emotional than your average man. Compare him to Grog and you'll get what I mean. He's an empath. He loves his sister. You might almost say he's a family man.

But boy did this season put this on display in his relationship with Keyleth.

First big piece of evidence. The eye-opening moment. They are fighting Raishan. Keyleth is vaporized, Vax falls to his knees and cries. The poor princess mourning her hero slain by a dragon. And evidence #1.5: while Raishan looms over Vax, about to vaporize him, Keyleth emerges with a killing blow, saving our damsel in distress and taking the day. Knight and princess. A classic à la Vaxleth.

Family vs ambition: "I would gladly give my soul for one day of your happiness." As if we needed more proof that Vax loves his sister to death (again, I know what I wrote). Traditionally, though, story-telling gives woman one main interest: their family, while male characters are given personal development. Not Vaxleth. Keyleth is the one travelling the world to perfect her skills and earn high achievements, to sit on the council, and become a household name throughout Emon. But nothing Vax has ever done is for his own advancement. He goes where Vex goes, tells her several times that he'd leave the team if she did, sacrifices his soul for her and then for Percy because she loves him. He's never had personal ambition, or we're never told of them. Trophy wife material. Give me more.

The Swoon factor. Honestly, look at these two and tell me which one is more likely to swoon if this were a Victorian period drama? It's "So chunky with an adoring smile on his face" Vax. It's "I have no words because you stole them with this kiss" Vax. That man is BESOTTED. That man is the romantic. Keyleth is poised, words at the ready, newly self-confident in her feelings. If we're talking clichés: she feels with her brains, he feels with his heart (imo). The switch up is delicious.

I feel like there's more; I remember I had more in mind, so I might add to this later. Let me know if I've missed something.

Vaxleth, you are my modern-day greek tragedy, and it is a pleasure to weep for you.

[randomcrcontent]

TLOVM ep. 7-9 (spoilers)

About Glintshore

I know a lot of ya'll were disappointed by how things turned up in episode 7

*BUT*

I'd like to remind everyone that Ripley is still alive as we see her getting away on the boat. So, that final showdown to kill her is still very much happening. It just seems that for time's sake and not to mention the level of cinematic impact, they're having Percy just die once instead of twice, like in the OG streams. His death packs a way bigger punch when it is more isolated and not 'oh he died, revivify, oop he died again ressurection' like having it be this big tragic moment lands way more and raises the stakes. You know death is not nothing to these guys, as it sometimes can be with DnD because of cleric abilities and such.

All that being said I really think the big showdown is still coming with Ripley, and I got a feeling the end of this season (i.e., episodes 10-12) will tie together Ripley's death, Raishan's death and the Bards Lament just shifted to flow a lot smoother. I still think those moments from the OG streams in Glintshore will come back with the group killing her for Percy together in this big moment, as well as Vex's confession because, make note, she still hasn't said she loves him at this point.

So all ya'll just hold your horses for now, cause I got a feeling the next three episodes are gonna pack all kinds of emotional punches, so get ready!

[burr-ell]

I wanted to ask your opinion on the way TLoVM treats Vex's character in comparison to the campaign?

It feels like it started great on the first season, did some great stuff on the second, but nose dived on this last one

Sorry, second question but it's a continuation Vex and Keyleth both feel like they stepped down on the series, and Pike is the only one that had something to do other than look sad for the majority of the season Like yes yes, arcs tend to have a character in the forefront, and there is a time limitation for character development over on the plot B side, but also this doesn't feel great.

Truth be told I don't have a problem with how Vex was adapted in this season; I thought that, on the whole, the changes they made were fine and even good! I'm disappointed that Saundor had no presence, but that's a minor change in the scheme of things. Her insistence on the FWB thing lent a real gut punch to how badly Percy's death affected her; it felt real and was one of the changes I liked.

Keyleth, though? Just abjectly awful. She's a nothing character in the show itself, never mind compared to her campaign counterpart. She's literally just Girlboss Aang. None of her relationships have any bearing on her except her boyfriend and some token references to "my friends". She complains no one listened to her about Raishan but no one's close enough to her or willing to point out that half her accusations made her sound like a child because guess what? The one guy who would have done that hasn't had a conversation with her since season one. Her actual, canonical lifespan angst is given to Vax, because god forbid he not be the rational sturdy one compared to those silly emotional women in his life. Her anger at Raishan is irrational or played for laughs half the time. Her only flaw the narrative will ever acknowledge is that she doesn't believe in herself.

Like this is not a question of "it's an adaptation they didn't have time". It's not about the writers' strike, because they were writing scripts and recording dialogue in 2022. They HAD time. They PLANNED how to use their time. And they used it like this.

[utilitycaster]

So far in campaign 3, 5 of the party have died and been resurrected and 2 have died permanently, with only Imogen, Dorian, and (presumably) Braius not dying ever. In campaign 2, again 5 of the party died and got resurrected over the whole thing with Beau, Yasha, and Kingsley surviving, and Molly permanently dying. BUT, in Vox Machina, everyone except Tary died at least once with the twins dying FOUR TIMES EACH and only Vax permanently dying. What do you think changed after the first campaign? Is it that Matt got “better” at scaling encounters, the players got better at staying alive, a group decision to take resurrection more seriously, or is it a total coincidence?

It’s just something I noticed all of a sudden tonight and I’m not sure if I’m just seeing something where there is nothing or if other people have noticed this too and have thoughts on why it is.

Hi anon,

I started to write up a massive and lengthy analysis this morning and realized it was not very good and that I had to leave for work in 20 minutes. Anyway I think it's mostly the players getting better at staying alive, mostly through party comp:

Vox Machina unexpectedly, for "Ashley got cast on a TV show that filmed in NYC" and "Tiberius's player sucks" reasons found themselves abruptly down not only a healer (most of the time) but an arcane caster, leaving Scanlan and Keyleth doing double and triple duty. Vex did a pretty impressive amount of healing for a ranger, actually, but only had touch heals and limited spell slots for them. Add the fact that Keyleth couldn't heal while in Wildshape until pretty much the endgame and Scanlan was absent for an arc, replaced by Tary, who could heal but was not a full caster, and that explains a lot.

Vox Machina also had two characters with relatively low HP/terrible con saves to go with it (the twins) and only one true, full-time tank (Grog). Vex and Percy were often out of healing range but could get hit by an AOE attack. Also, dragons are particularly lethal for AOE reasons and four of those deaths are Raishan, two from when they tried to get Raishan immediately after the Thordak fight.

Of Vox Machina's deaths, two of Vax's, one of Vex's, Keyleth's, and one of Grog's are all out of combat and primarily due to player choice. They got way better at not doing this (well, Vax's are kind of unavoidable, but we only had one in C2 of this nature with Veth and the Power Word Kill trap, and none in C3).

One VM death (two if you count the wedding one-shot) was a direct assassination vs. one in the Nein and none for Bells Hells.

Now consider:

The Mighty Nein and Bells Hells each have at least two tanks; Bells Hells has three. The Nein have two full clerics (*extremely tired voice* Jester actually is a very good healer, Caduceus is just exceptionally support-focused) even without Fjord and Yasha's healing. Bells Hells had one full time cleric, and now they have a full bard and a bard-paladin.

No one dumps CON anymore. If only I could get them to start dumping WIS again and stop dumping INT, but I digress.

People are getting better at checking for traps and not selling their souls to cursed items.

Otohan Thull's build is in fact, I must admit, pretty good and cool, her lack of any personality traits not withstanding, but her lethal nature is specifically because she exclusively faced a super tapped party in a situation where they couldn't get out of there. She is responsible for all 5 deaths that weren't a Bertrand Bell Clear Setup situation; I think if Bells Hells hadn't been trapped and tapped things might have gone differently, whereas Vox Machina often was like "rests are for SUCKERS" and got their asses beat in avoidable manners.

My other caveat is of course not to count your chickens before they're slaughtered, namely, while none of Vox Machina died in the final Vecna fight unless you count Vax, which I don't, Vecna did kill two of them earlier on, though; Vax permanently (the Raven Queen just let him hang out a bit longer). The Somnovem/Lucien hybrid killed two of the Mighty Nein in the final battle. Ludinus or Predathos could fucking level the party. Otohan could have gone much worse in episode 91 without many changes; that was the first time I've ever heard Matt talk like a TPK was potentially imminent. Some of this is also luck, and some of this with Bells Hells is that *Myst voice* the ending has not yet been written.

[blorbologist]

look, ima just say that yes, the cast understands their characters best - but they are not writers, and might not know how to best get those traits across to their audience.

My brother is like, the ideal target audience for a new fan. Big nerd into anime and mature animation already, a fan of several of the VAs and has a smattering of D&D experience. He absolutely loved seasons 1 and 2! In fact, his favorite characters in s1 were Grog and Keyleth, and I believe that held true in s2 as well.

While live chatting to me watching s3, he was so frustrated by how stupid and childish she was acting. He's completely naïve to C1 (but has endured some C2 when my dad and I would watch together). Without me to explain the complexity and depth of her in the campaign, he's gone from absolutely loving a character to loathing her appearance on screen because the writing did her so dirty in ways that are, frankly, easy to spot and easy to fix. Telling him how Keyleth was in the campaign was heartbreaking - he found it so cool! That was the character he found so interesting!

But whoever she was, she wasn't apparent in s3 Keyleth.

He also called Raishan 'the worst schemer (archetype)' he' ever seen, and enjoyed bitching about episode 10 with me more than he did watching it, soo...

I use Keyleth as an example because she' the most relevant one, as a favorite of my brother’s and having been done so dirty this season. But it applied to... a lot. From the friendships to the character choices to just the whole structure of season 3.

It's one thing to know Keyleth is strong, and angry, and feels responsible for her people, and doesn't trust Raishan. It's another thing to communicate that effectively - and this goes for everything and everyone else this season too. You just hear more vocal complaints from fans who know the show because they have, right there, a blueprint for how these inner conflicts and personalities were shown very well, and so have easy examples for how it could have been done better.

But hey, how dare we engage with s3 as a work of art on par with s1-2 instead of turning our brains off, right? The campaign will always be there - as a reminder that this season definitely lost new fans and those that stay will walk away with carricatures of the characters compared to what they were in s1-2. Look - genuinely beautiful battle sequence! 😍 I have no concept of storytelling or writing and clap in delight at the third Ripley fight of the season! Wahoo!

(Ignore that all that gorgeous animation and score were not enough to keep my brother invested when he, a member of the target demographic, started getting annoyed by the writing. Nothing is worse for art than being annoying.)

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

Okay so I thought I’d share some of my theories for this season now with the benefit of having seen the first 3 episodes. This is just what I think based on the threads being pulled at so far. I think some of these have already been thrown out there so forgive me if I repeat something everyone is already guessing (‼️CAUTION: campaign 1 spoilers for show only folks‼️)

There’s no way they’re nixing Glintshore and it’ll be the catalyst for Vex to admit she loves Percy (true love’s nat 20). I think they’ll do a similar thing to Vex’s death where we end one of the three episode releases with his death- leaving us waiting a week for the next episodes (and I know Laura is gonna fucking kill the voice acting for this scene) so I think it’ll happen either episode 6 or 9 (I’m guessing 6 so they can get Ripley out of the way to focus on Raishan)

I think the chroma conclave arc is ending this season and we’ll see a lot jam packed in episode 12 to set up the Vecna Whispered One arc (based on the opening credits with the siphon/portal being shown at the end)

I think we’re going to get The Bard’s Lament at the end of the season (ep 12 after Thordak) and the fact that Pike is the only one who has checked in on Scanlan about his daughter - and Scanlan’s anger at Vax (who technically knows that Scanlan has a daughter but has never followed up with him about this) and Vex (who’s been railroading him and his ideas most of the time) are going to be the biggest points of contention. Maybe we will get a Scanlan “what is my daughter’s name?” jab instead.

This is just fan service and something I just really want to see- but with the dynamic shake up between Vex and Vax being the ones pushing away the person they love, it would be so nice to have a scene with Percy and Keyleth mooning over/venting about the twins to pay homage to their friendship in C1 (let them be drunk besties together please!)

For vestiges, I think we’re not going to get Whisper at all (Vax having two vestiges in C1 was awesome but kinda OP imo and with the time constraint I think they’ll just leave Whisper out entirely)

This is a wild guess based on nothing really (just the talks of grief and facing fear being huge themes this season) but I think we’re gonna get the disintegrated Vax moment this season so we know for sure he’s on borrowed time. (it would be diabolical for Vex for it to happen so close to Percy’s death but I wouldn’t put it past them - they serve us pain on a platter and I say thank you every time) And since The Matron of Ravens has this ability to show Vax the future - we won’t necessarily need to know about The Whispered One threat to give reason for Vax to stay longer. I mean how angsty would it be to have them think Vax is going to die after they kill Thordak and then when he doesn’t, they learn about The Whispered One? (Oh it’d be so juicy but this theory is founded on nothing but my insane need to create the most pain possible this season in my head)

Anyway these are just theories from my unhinged mind.

[tsundere-freak]

VM balking Raishan at every given moment feels a little foolish imo.

I know. Big evil dragon, killed a bunch of people. But since they’ve been working together, she’s been nothing but truthful and they’re still like “NO! We’re done with you Raishan!” 🙄 Oookay, turn away your most powerful ally against a demigod; seems reasonable

[ravendruid]

Because I'm still waiting for that "rain check" to be cashed in the future, how about "slow dance" with Vax and Kiki?

Hello! Thank you for the prompt!! This fic was inspired by the trailer for Season 3 of The Legend of Vox Machina. Spoilers for anyone who has watched/is watching TLOVM but has not watched Campaign One!

If I could hold you for a minute

(Read on AO3)

Vax leans over the rail on the high balcony that overlooks the scintillating lights of Whitestone, far down below him. The light of Catha shines brightly in the new leaves of the Sun Tree in the center of town, a sign of hope and prosperity for the newly rebuilt city. With two dragons down, Vax allows himself to feel that slight burn of hope, too, even though he is not entirely confident about their alliance with Raishan. The day will come when Vax will enact his revenge on the creature who murdered his mother, but for now, he will enjoy the warm feeling of hope and the respite after an arduous battle.

It’s funny, though, how Vax sees the light go off two rooms down and the corner of his mouth immediately curls up into a smile. He exits the balcony and waits by the door of his bedroom, listening to the not-so-quiet footsteps of his favorite druid, and, right on cue, she knocks at his door.

Vax opens the door, not entirely surprised to see Keyleth still in her battle gear—he is still in his armor, after all—with a tight smile on her face. “Can I stay with you tonight?” She asks. Gods know how much Vax wants her to stay, but instead of opening his mouth and accidentally saying something shitty as he is prone to do sometimes, he simply takes a step back and invites her in with a smile.

“Were you outside?” Keyleth asks, noticing the open glass door. Vax nods, still too scared to speak. He holds out his hand to her, which she takes, then leads them both out into the chill of the night. “Today was hard,” Keyleth whispers as if she is afraid the city will hear her vacillate. “I was afraid I was going to lose you for a moment, there.”

“I’m sorry,” Vax manages with a hoarse voice. 

“You know, I’ve been afraid for so long that I would lose you–all of you, but you specifically,” Keyleth turns her back on the city and looks up at the stone walls of the castle above her. Vax glaces sideways at her and waits for her to continue as he knows she is not done yet. “And I guess it’s a valid fear considering…”

“Considering what?” Vax persuades her when Keyleth takes too long to continue.

“I don’t think I’ve told you this but, if by some crazy chance we all somehow make it through this alive—with the Chroma Conclave, I mean—and I go on to complete my Aramente, I will still watch you all die.”

Vax shifts uncomfortably, looking at Keyleth more seriously now. She is still so young and she already bears a heavy burden, but then again, don’t they all? Doesn’t Vax, too, now that he thinks about it? Doesn’t the weight of the armor press on him in a permanent reminder of his bond to the God of Death?

“By becoming headmaster of the Air Ashari, I will enter a bit of a realm of immortality of sorts, where I could live for a very, very long time. And I’ve been afraid every time I look at one of your faces that it’s going to be the last, and, deep down, I know that day is coming.”

Vax turns sideways to look at her, noticing the downwards curl of Keyleth’s lips, and says, “I know that with everything that has happened, between my new patron and killing dragons, we haven’t had the time to talk properly, but I need you to know, through everything, nothing has changed about how I feel about you. I know death is unavoidable,” Vax snickers at that seeing that he now works for the God of Death herself—whatever that means—then continues, “even if you go on to live a long time, if you are willing to spend some of that time, any time, with me, then I will simply count myself lucky to have it. You’re very dear to me.”

Vax is shocked at the tremble in his voice. In his head, his speech sounded more confident, but hearing his words be spoken in the cold air of Whitestone makes them sound less solid.

“I’ve… had an interesting talk with Vex’ahlia recently, and then with Pike. They have helped me see the other side of the coin.” Keyleth says, then she pulls away from the rail and re-enters Vax’s bedroom. He observes her through the open door and sees the half-elf light the fireplace with her magic—a sight that makes Vax warm and fuzzy inside—and stand by the fire. He follows her then, closing the doors to make sure the heat doesn’t escape, and joins her.

“You know… I’ve been thinking and I think I realized something,” Keyleth approaches Vax and grabs one of his hands by the side of his torso. The touch is warm and comforting, but her hopeful smile is even more. “I realized this whole time that I was afraid of losing you to a future that ultimately has not yet been written, which I know it’s stupid, and I realized that it’s okay to be scared. We still have a lot of demons to face, but we can face anything if we’re together, and I know I, personally, would rather face them at your side.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you, Vax. I have for a long time, and I’m sorry it took me this long to say it.” Keyleth finishes, placing a hand on Vax’s chest. The touch burns through the thick leather of his armor, through his skin and muscles until it reaches his heart and encloses itself around the organ. If the sight of the moonlight on the Sun Tree’s leaves and the flickering of life in the city of Whitestone were already hopeful boons, Keyleth’s words and touch practically make Vax float with hope.

“I–I love you,” Vax smiles brighter than he’s ever done recently. Keyleth sniffles and chuckles lightly, then says, “I love you, too,” and, for a moment, Vax thinks she raises her hand to ask for a high-five, but then thinks better of it and wraps her arms around his neck. 

“May I kiss you?” He asks, knowing full well Keyleth is not as experienced as he is and not wanting to scare her. She nods bashfully, so Vax leans down and kisses her softly. Her lips are warm like fire and sweet like the berry wine they had for dinner. Vax could easily get lost in the softness of Keyleth’s touch, of her lips responding to him, of the tip of her tongue timidly searching for his. Vax indulges his curious druid and slips his tongue inside her mouth. Gods, if he already wanted to leave it all behind for her, now truly feeling the buzzing in his stomach at the contact and the love he has for this woman, he wants to disappear with her from the face of Exandria and live a secluded life, just the two of them.

“Oh, wow,” Keyleth pants. Even though their foreheads are touching and they are too close, Vax can still see the deep red blush on her cheeks, which he finds adorable.

“That was pretty fucking great,” He says, short of breath, too.

“That was pretty great, yeah,” And this time, Vax doesn’t imagine it. Keyleth does raise her hand in a high-five motion, which he awkwardly and giggly replies.

“I–I owe you a dance, don’t I?” Vax remembers all those nights ago in a lost tavern in the ruins of Westruun. Gods, has it really been that long?

“We don’t have music,” Keyleth points out, but Vax shrugs, “We don’t need music.”

Vax places Keyleth’s arms around his shoulders again, then wraps his own arms around her waist and leans foreheads with her one more time. He starts swinging them, side to side, with only the flames of the fireplace and the stray rays of moonlight lighting the room as he murmurs an old son his mother used to sing when she worked on her clothes. Keyleth sighs as she allows herself to relax and leans into Vax, following his lead, which he savors, not knowing if this is the last time they get to do this.

With two dragons to fight, and who knows what’s going to happen next, Vax can’t still fully relax, but right now, in Keyleth’s warm embrace, he tries his best to leave his fears at the door. It’s the least he can do for for the woman he loves.

[nezumidou]

Hoping I'm wrong, since these are just sneak peeks, but the exchange between Keyleth and Raishan, while correct, felt a bit underwhelming compared to the "Call me child one more goddamn time!" moment from the stream. The same thing happened to me with Vex and her "If I could pull the blood of you from my veins and give it back, I would." during Season 2. Well, nothing to do about it, really... still a cool moment nevertheless.

(But I'm hoping I'm wrong.)

[void-lioness]

The Legend of Vox Machina, Season 3 episode 11: Get out of my head!

The Penultimate Episode

Oh this ritual is dangerous dangerous.

You got this Keyleth, I believe in you.

wow, someone being used as a meat shield. yikes.

Let yourself FEEL, Keyleth.

AYYYY, SHE DID IT!

Never mentioned it until now, but I love Kaylie's accent.

Poor Grog.

Aww, that was such a sweet moment between Scanlan and Kaylie. And very much needed.

annnnnnnnnnd back to the action!

"Fucking how many of you are there?"

Explosion

So Keyleth can speak through trees now? Cool

Thank you for being so supportive, Kaylie.

Ripley really shot someone to make room. Not surprised.

It's HIIIIIIGH NOON.

Ripley and Vax having a DBZ fight.

Is.....Percy's soul somehow in the weapon?

Ooooh, Vex used the arrowhead Percy made!

🎶SHOT THROUGH THE HEART-🎶

That was uh--- quite the shot, Vex.

Why did you grab the possessed gun, Vax?

Did.....Vex make a Titanic reference?

False hope is worse than no hope.

"One more dragon, one last stand."

heeeey. Vax'leth kiss and nothing bad happened this time. PROGRESS.

Oh, not another Ziggurat.

ahhh the disease is holding up the ritual....

WHAT THE HELL DID RAISHAN SUMMON?

sHE Had TO DIE TO POSSESS THE BODY!

FUUUUUUUUUU-----

This is it. The second to last Episode. I'm not ready for it to be over.

[jibril-thelibraryangel]

I found it kinda odd how they handle the Raishan plot because… I thought it was common sense that she was a bad guy who hated Thordak more than she wanted to conquer the world for the few months she had left to live, so they were going to be allies for as long as he was alive and not a second more

Where did this idea that she was a good guy now and Keyleth needed to apologize came from? Why her betrayal played as shocking??

Everyone acts like Keyleth was right all along and they should’ve never worked with her but… no?

Working with her was necessary, they would’ve actually died without her. They should’ve just also been ready for when she was very obviously going to pull something

Also it is patently false that none of them listened to Keyleth, in the first meeting everyone was willing to hear Raishan out until Keyleth said no and then they all pounced on that dragon

It wasn’t until things got more dire, the information Raishan gave them kept proving to be reliable and she LITERALLY saved their lives that they reluctantly agreed to it, even Keyleth did eventually

Like I don’t understand why they act like it was all or nothing in trusting Raishan, “she’s being truthful about wanting to kill Thordak and we can’t do it without her” and “She may still be planning something, let’s keep an eye on her” are two statement that can and should’ve coexisted

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Siege and Silence (3x08)

Oh boy oh boy. I'm hyped for episode nine, I must say.

Cons:

A couple of things in this episode made previous episode aspects in this season a little frustrating. The main one is how the Scanlan situation was handled... like, I don't mind him leaving and then coming back, conflicted about where he belongs - that makes sense as an adaptation change from what we saw in the campaign. But the solemnity with which he left, the silent goodbye to Pike, it felt so... charged, and specific, and then it led to nothing in this moment other than him not being around when Percy died. And there's no specific indication that he could have done anything to help in that instance, either. I think if I could go back into episode six and change something, it would be that Scanlan would tell the group straight out - I need to go and find my daughter and have a real talk with her. And then the group could be a little disappointed but tell him to go. And then when he turns up again and everything's gone to shit, it doesn't feel quite so pointless of a detour? Maybe I'm just a little annoyed at Scanlan's emotional arcs being siloed into scenes with just Pike or Kaylie, and none of the rest of Vox Machina getting involved at all.

The other thing is Raishan showing up and being like "never mind, the truce is back on." Why did they do the whole breakup thing if they were going to bounce right back to this? Just another moment where the pacing felt strange and unnecessary to me. The earlier scene could have been them getting angry with her, then she convinces them that she wasn't the one who sold out Whitestone, and that she'll help kill Thordak. Instead, it was an unnecessary detour that they call off their agreement just to put it back into place two episodes later.

And I feel a bit the same way about the way Keyleth and Vax was handled as a romance, here... sorry, I've really tried to like how they were handled this season, and the whole thing just seems very... meh. After Vax being an asshole early on, then they're just kind of awkward and strained and then they have their first night together after burying one of their closest friends? I mean, Vaxleth being a relationship just soaked in angsty vibes isn't exactly far off from the campaign in some ways, but come on. Ultimately their relationship arc has felt like they tried to do some grounding and focusing of the hemming and hawing and back and forth that happened in the stream, and I'm not quite sure I enjoyed the ultimate result?

Pros:

But look. Y'all. This is the big gathering of the troops episode, this is where all the pieces get on the board for the big Thordak fight in the next episode. It had so much that I wanted to see, and I really did love it. The montage of going to fetch help from around the world was so fun - Keyleth using her Ashari contacts, Grog getting back into touch with Earthbreaker Groon, Vax going after Kash and Zahra, and Vex going after her father and his elven troops. We see the Whitestone troops prepping with Cassandra blessing their involvement, and Gilmore and Allura vowing to use their magic to get involved as well. It's the Avengers Assemble moment, and it's so satisfying to see these characters come back! I wonder if there was any thought given to whether Grog should go find the Herd of Storms instead, but I kind of like this more direct tie to a specific deity granting his blessing to this fight.

Let's back up for a moment and talk about how the episode starts, with just... pouring on the Percy death grief as intensely as possible. I won't go into specifics for those who haven't seen the campaign, but this is shaking out significantly different from what stream viewers expected. I'm kind of obsessed with it. I think back over all the deaths of all the major characters in Critical Role history, and what worked at the table isn't necessarily always going to transfer to the show very well. They pivoted Craven Edge killing Grog into a different kind of trial, but left Vex's death and resurrection pretty unchanged. Now, for Percy? Dude is dead. He's dead and entombed. It's intense, I was not expecting to have to contend with how it would feel to see his funeral at Whitestone, Keeper Yennen talking of how he brought hope back to his home. Cassandra leaving a flower on his chest and weeping. Vax and Grog as pallbearers. Ouch ouch ouch!

And then Vex's grief - again, props to Laura Bailey for this exquisitely painful performance. Her weeping in front of Percy's marbled tomb, clutching the arrow he made for her... and then Vax showing up, offering her comfort... I also loved Scanlan's returning scene, even with my complaints about how his brief departure was handled. Him running up and seeing the group all gathered together, slumped and defeated, without Percy... I love this found family and how devoted they all are to each other! We also get a lovely Scanlan moment as he takes his chance to mourn, with Pike at his side. He's feeling guilt for not being there, but Pike's right that this isn't at all his fault.

While the journey to get here was a little weak in my opinion, I am happy for Vax and Keyleth, and I liked the image of Vax waking up curled around her in bed, with the strings of fate dancing in the room, beckoning him out into the dark. A very poignant image! And speaking of poignant, I thought the lighting in the scene where Vax tells Vex what he's just heard from Raishan, that Thordak is the one who burned down their hometown and killed their mom, was so beautifully lit. The shadows playing over Vex's face were completely gorgeous!

Vex's confrontation of her father was also very satisfying. I like that we don't have any full reconciliation or hint that their relationship will in any way improve, here. But Vex uses the truth of her grief about Percy to convince her father to do the right thing, here - and Syldor actually listens, which is awesome! It was very much like that scene at Helms Deep when the elves show up to fight side by side with men.

Scanlan's song for Kaylie is going to hurt my feelings before the end of this season, so that's going to be fun. I do love how awesome and supportive Pike is being, but I hope someone notices that she's also going through a weird time right now and needs support! Pike is very much a "mom friend" in a lot of ways. You're so used to her being there to support you, that maybe you forget to offer that support in return.

So then the last bit of the episode is all setup for what I assume will be an epic showdown in the next installment! We have our plan, with the ground forces set to engage Thordak's children, while Vox Machina sneaks in and fights Thordak with the vestiges. Only... when their elite team tries to sneak in, they find the cavern empty. Which means... dun dun dun...

When Thordak burst out of the ground at the end, I said out loud: "oh, that is very cool." It's going to be an intense fight to come, but I'm ready to see it! And very curious about how a couple of things that happen in the stream will manifest here...

In conclusion, Trinket letting out a mournful sound at Percy's funeral made me cry a little bit, and this was a very effective episode even with my qualms about the season's pacing in a few spots!

8/10

[thessalian]

Thess vs TLOVM S3, Ep 3

Tried some Silent Hill 2, but a bad pain day has overtaken me and I am not up for getting ambushed by Lying Figures two at a time, once in an enclosed space. (Fucking record store.) Not that I didn't survive; it as just not fun when I've been having pain spasms in my left elbow most of the evening.

So instead, I'm going to liveblog TLOVM. I understand from the few spoilers I couldn't really avoid that I'm going to see a variation on one of my favourite scenes. So let's see.

Oooooh Raishan ... I mean, you're not as trustworthy as you want anyone you've been dealing with to believe, but ... say smarter things, Deceiver...

Okay, honey, your only hope is that Vorugal withholds that message he was told to give because he's greedy enough to want your empire. And hope that you can get Keyleth to believe that you're at least not immediately selling them out to Thordak. Otherwise, certain bits of your fate are going to happen a lot sooner.

Grog ... that is an A-B conversation, so C yourself out. Also ... I know people are going to think this is happening too fast, even those who saw the campaign as it happened, but ... what the fuck else are they supposed to do when they didn't have, "The arrows were flirting?" "The arrows were totally flirting"?!?

I guess Scanlan is very much invested in that whole thing he was talking to Kaylie about. If he forgets who he is when the lute goes down, he's going to hold it for as long as possible.

Someone taught Grog the phrase "spill the tea", and he only used about half of it. Typical.

"...perhaps I'll cut down the Sun Tree and build an extravagant canoe." Cassandra, you have recovered from your ordeal so very well.

YOU TELL HIM, CASSANDRA!

Yeah, Percy, "eugh" is right; that's terrible. Just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind that isn't self-recrimination and you will be fine-- Yeah! THAT'S the spirit!

Admittedly? I miss the multiple bottles. Maybe the animators in charge of this weren't up for Taliesin's earlier demand: "I will be expecting labels for all of those".

This is why we all need to be glad that Vex is ... Vex. If she was too much like her brother? This would be the result. Vax, borrow your sister's chutzpah for one night.

Wait. Wut.

"...Right. Shutting up now." So ... we decided on 'after', then. And that thing you said just before you knocked, Percival? Her. Not 'it'. HER.

Ah, so someone on screen has finally figured out the bit about "it doesn't necessarily mean everyone but her gets brutally murdered". Still, take your joys where you can, you idiot.

"So ... joy today isn't worth pain tomorrow--" THAT'S WHAT I JUST SAID. THANK YOU, KEYLETH.

Well ... at least one of the Vessar twins is happy. And ... you know ... not a self-sacrificial dipshit.

Well. They had a good time.

"Good talk." BWAHAHAHA!

Well ... this is probably better than being high on magical drugs at important moments? Maybe?

brb - laughing at the dipshits.

I still have to wonder how they got this allowed. I thought Orion Acaba owned the rights to the name Draconia. Then again, he's done shit-all with it since 2019, so ... I dunno, maybe a deal was cut, or something? No one's even made mention of it.

Scanlan ... you bundle up that far and you still leave half your chest exposed?

Dohla... Dohla ... Rachel House. Hrm. Nothing I've seen, but most people would be all about Thor: Ragnarok, Moana, and Our Flag Means Death. Right. Moving on!

Okay, if we have the good ship Perc'halia being dragged in and out of dry dock for the sake of angst when we've already got Vaxleth beached and Scanlan ... you know, having a significant identity crisis that he's not getting help for (partly because he won't let anyone, but that's another thing)? I'm going to slap someone.

Well. Welcome to Hell. Nice place. In a "Night On Bald Mountain With Better Lighting" sort of way.

I ... was going to suggest that they spell it for Grog, but then I remember that they never did the thing where Pike taught him to read, so that'd be basically pointless. I ... don't think there's any way to correct him on that one.

Is it wrong that I'm not trusting Dohla?

Vex, what are you--? Ooooooooh shit. Well, that explains Yenk things.

So ... they're keeping the destruction of Draconia? Because however this come's out, Vorugal's going to tear shit up.

Also ... not trusting Dohla ... for a reason, apparently. This is a really interesting take on how things went in the campaign.

Seeing Allura and Kima fight is impressive.

I'm impressed no one did anything with the "We're edging" line. Then again, Scanlan's currently in Hell, so...

Dohla ... yeah, no, don't shit-talk ancient dragons. They will-- that. Yeah, there goes the story of you.

...I didn't know Fenthras could do that...

I know Kima is going to be okay. I know Kima is going to be okay. I know this entirely too well. It is going to be an object lesson of the "sometimes this shit works out" variety and everybody will be okay. I know this partly because campaign and partly because I need to know this down to my bones to get any sleep tonight.

At least Vex has somewhat more emotional intelligence than her brother-- mostly. Sort of. But at least Percy seems to understand what she's not-saying. And she did at least communicate worth a shit.

(Also that is probably the only way they can actually convey that will-they-won't-they dance of frustrating nonsense they had going during a lot of the campaign while dealing with a shorter-form format like half-hour episodes.)

Well ... that could have been a more painful cliffhanger... But I'm grateful it wasn't because I can't handle more adrenaline tonight.

Right. Winding down time. Hopefully I'll be in better shape tomorrow and the flu vaccine doesn't hit me too hard.