Blood and Shadow | Exandria Unlimited: Calamity | Episode 3 

HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing 2:50 Brennan’s advice: if you’re killing your PC’s, do it by the book 4:55 Intro cinematic 6:30 EPISODE STARTS 7:30 Map out 10:55 Blu-tack 12:15 Undead are unfashionable 18:25 Seelie wants an interview 21:55 Battle begins 22:55 Dropping a dragon 28:10 Miles Friend 30:15 Milus’s true form 36:45 Sulim 37:35 Nydas pops his back 38:25 Reinforcements 42:55 Zerxus saves Loquatius 49:10 Right under my beak (still a fan) 51:05 Brennan does good villains 52:50 This is a very trendy neighborhood (Beyond sausage is actually pretty good, btw) 56:05 Way out 59:05 Zerxus is good at this 1:01:55 We’re all the same on the inside 1:05:35 Brennan has more stuff 1:07:30 Brennan gets them with the fireworks again 1:12:50 Twisted ankle 1:17:15 Laerryn, do something 1:18:55 Narc energy 1:21:20 Nydas is the most surrounded person in history 1:22:45 Kinda cool though 1:25:50 Loquatius betrayal 1:30:30 Freedom of movement 1:37:15 Mirror image house ruling 1:43:00 Laerryn makes a decision that I sense will be important 1:54:25 Brennan explains that they should probably finish this fight 2:00:25 Lou’s dice come through 2:03:05 Seelie you later 2:05:05 Counterspell battle (to keep Patia from getting fingered) 2:08:35 Beautiful 2:10:05 Language confusion 2:11:20 Holy Avenger 2:14:25 HDYWTDT 2:20:15 Xartaza 2:23:35 Loquatius sends his barbs to… others 2:24:45 Sock on the dimension doorknob 2:31:20 Cerrit cannot see glass 2:32:50 HDYWTDT 2:34:00 Counterspell battle (Patia’s impenetrable bubble) 2:38:40 Dutch ovening Lacrytia to death 2:41:55 BREAK STARTS 2:46:30 Art Montage 2:51:55 BREAK ENDS (my money says Travis says Wesley Snipes, Lou is Dutch Oven) 2:53:35 Faerie fire (rolling for the batteries) 2:57:25 Loquatius and Laerryn 3:05:55 Shorting the tithe 3:11:30 Self-insight and self-deception 3:14:25 There are a lot of stories of mortals falling in love with fey creatures…. 3:23:40 Cerrit vs. Nydas 3:30:10 The fate of Evandrin 3:40:25 Zone of Truth 3:44:10 Zerxus’s memory 3:52:05 Checking the mage’s memory 3:58:15 Generic tablets 3:59:30 Lacrytia hates Patia 4:05:45 Considering what should be done 4:17:35 Cerrit gets mad 4:22:45 Time to tree (Nydus and Zerxus) 4:26:20 The Arboreal Calix 4:30:25 Loquatius took Dwarvish in high school 4:34:30 Casting Blight 4:38:10 Initiative on the attack of the tree 4:42:40 Patia asks the tree for a name 4:44:25 Nydas is trying to understand what is happening 4:45:55 PVP 4:51:05 Brennan, are you saying that people can get in the comments? 4:54:40 Ever been in PvP in the IRL early morning, and you don’t know what to do? 4:55:25 Cerrit chimes in (Dweomer comes in hot) 4:59:55 Tree or scroll 5:01:45 Loquatius sees Elmenore 5:06:15 Cerrit makes a call to Talon 2 5:10:55 The belief that there will never be consequences for any of this 5:13:00 The purpose of the Gau Drashari 5:19:50 Coming out to betray, I’ve been doing just fine 5:21:15 Episode Ends The in-game start date for the episode was in the year 0, I guess. Another great Brennan game (outside of Dropout) is The Great Knucklehead Rally (search on RU-vid). It is one of my favorite one-shots, Liam and Aabria are there, metal music gets invented, and Brennan delves into the horror of awakening animals. Give it a watch! Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?

The fact that Brennan got them twice with the same fireworks troll is wonderful.

Brennan: Think about how good of a warrior you have to be to have any status in a city of wizards. Zerxus: I cast Fist.

a bunch of powerful people attacking a tree that protects them from their own stupidity, all so they can explore planes they ain't supposed to be in. real billionaire energy with this crew.

My biggest takeaway from this, is I need to be ten feet or closer to Luis at all times.

How many potential plotlines of destruction have been setup? The city falls and kills everyone The city lands and kills everyone The tree dies and kills everyone The Taxmen robots come alive and kill everyone Patia delves into some old magic and she ends up killing everyone Laerynn teleports the city and kills everyone Quay makes everyone forget some key information that ends up killing everyone Zerxus brings Asmodeus to Exandria and he kills everyone Cerrit fails to solve the mystery of Vespin and Vespin kills everyone Bolo straight up one shots all of Avalir

"But there's one story of a fairy who fell into this world and fell in love" "I've seen a lot of selfish choices here today" THESE LINES FUCKING BROKE ME

I've never seen such selfishness from PCs with absolutely no selfishness from the players themselves. This is masterful stuff

"It's not a statement. It's a plea." That's such a raw line for such a quick moment.

Ashley Birch, "I've caused more death and suffering than any guest in critical role history." Aabria, "Hold my dice."

"There is one story of a fairy who stumbled into this world and fell in love" was a critical hit on Aabria xD

on god the fact that Laerryn was *ready* to let all this go, to abandon her lifelong dream in a way because Loquatious looked afraid of her (and as she said before, without him none of this matters), but then the tree attacked him and she *struck*, dooming them all? THE SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY OF IT ALL

I don't think there is a better time for this quote to be said: "The path to Hell was paved with good intentions."

Sam: Who's a good Scapegoat? *Smash-cut to Bolo running through the streets, fighting a one-woman guerilla war agaibst Avalir

The instant we learned Cerrit had kids last episode I felt a whole new kind of dread set in. We always heard about how the Calamity was brought on by prideful, hubris-driven wizards who sought to overtake gods and were destroyed for their arrogance, but this was a reminder that there was more than that in the city. There were children who liked to make up code names and play Spy with their dad. There were teenagers who just wanted to sneak out to a cool party and talk with cute girls. There were single parents doing their best to make sense of the world. So as soon as we found out about Cerrit's kids, I clung to one small hope: even if all this is doomed, even if there's no stopping what's to come, I can pray that at least one family can get out of this alive.

4:17:27 It's so nice seeing a voice of reason character like Cerrit clap back at all this arcane hubris after watching 13 hours of wizard shenanigans. He goes full dad mode. Not mad; deeply disappointed.

This whole calamity short needs to be either animated or fully acted out. The lore, story telling, and general plot is amazing

The true betrayers were the friends we made along the way

Brennan: Milus Phren is slowly becoming Miles’ friend. Captions: We’ve never known anything else.

When Cerrit leaves, what a moment! "This woman is out of her mind, I have to get my family out of here, immediately."

Just noticed that with each episode, the stone frame around the screen is getting progressively more cracked. Wonderful detail.

Gosh. The line “Kir, listen to me” was amazing. And then, realizing that he’s scared his son, Travis goes back to his sons playful nature with “remember, code names.” I love this so much cause it helps distract and relax his son. I love Travis so much, you can tell he’s an actual father here.

I'm still in awe how Brennan organized the final confrontation at the tree in a way that it felt like a movie script with tighter and tighter cuts the more you get to the moment of catastrophe. And then right before it happens juxtaposing it with a concerned father trying to safe his family as he feels something horrible is about to happen. How he managed to do this on improv is nothing short of miraculous.

“Your mages were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” - Dr. Ian Malcolm the Wise

It took me until hour 4 to realize that Sam’s tropical shirt, had his own face as the coconuts and now I cannot look away. Lol

Can’t get over Lou’s acting in the backhalf of this episode. All of Nydas’s jovial flourish gone. Speaking to his best friend in a way he’s never spoken to him before, his speech in general so radically different than how he spoke in the previous episodes. Just so desperate, so frantic, acting in ways he’d never thought he’d act to try and stop the inevitable. That prophecy man. In a way, it drove Nydas mad too.

I would 100% wear an ExU/Critrole branded shirt that just says in fancy, POWERFUL script: "Are they within 10ft of me?"

I love the fireworks bit. Not just because it’s funny, but it reminds us of the juxtaposition of the celebration and the battle but also just a constant reminder that this celebration is on the eve of tragedy

I really like how Brennan aproaches insight in general: not only he doesn't use it as "he's telling the truth/he's lying", he adds depth to human emotion, making it complex "you realize it's a plea" was fucking awesome, also using it as an ability in itself to rationalize things that happen in the world not only against other people/creatures, which should be an obvious use of the ability but never seen it in any games. Lastly, the auto-insight to Sam was fucking poetic. I was already sold on Brennan as a DM but now I will definitely check Dimension 20.

Brennan suddenly changing demeanour entirely to jovial like nothing horrifying is going on is my favourite thing.

"KIR, LISTEN TO ME" had that same impact as "FIX HIM" Travis has a knack for throwing out emotionally powered lines that will force a tear drop out of you, it's crazy.

I love how you can see Luis just shrinking in his seat every time one of the opponents mentions “the chosen”. He’s like “Oh shit, I did make a promise with a Hell God….. Damn it”

A suggestion for CR creative/production team: can we get pre-recorded 360 closeup shots of the character miniatures? Could show them in a smaller panel during the fight or at the beginning. Kind of like the character art portraits.

"Oh, no! You grabbed the wrong mini!" Brennan: "Oh, I grabbed the right mini." (Something you don't EVER want to hear your DM say.)

I find it _incredibly_ poetic that it was Marisha's character who said that she didn't accept a decision of the Raven Queen's, especially around the fate of a loved one's soul.

"You are in a burrito of pain." "That is a breakfast bowl of pain." "You don't want that bratwurst." - Travis "Hungryman" Willingham

"Only the last three syllables of their name will remain" gave me LEGITIMATE brain tingles. Holy shit.

This tightly-wound tragedy is some of the most compelling storytelling I've ever seen. Feels deliciously Shakespearean!

4:25:30 Patia watching Cerrit tell them they made “incredibly selfish choices” on repeat is so heartbreaking. Might be the last thing he ever says to them!

"The guy you are fighting has received lots of training on how to efficiently kill other warriors... has received NO training in how to fight the eyes of Avalir. You've got this guy wherever you want him." Just moments after telling the cast that they're definitively going to die (I mean... they have to lore-wise, right?) he STILL knows how to make these players feel like they're incredible, legendary characters. Brilliance.

Can we talk about the fact that Laerynn stopped casting blight when Quay said he was afraid of what she was doing, and Brennan kinda need that to happen so he had the tree stab Quay and Patia 😭 worked like a charm

I have all the respect towards Aabria for being the one to press the biggest red button in D&D history

Im convinced Brennan was heavily disappointed that everyone became friends at the end of Escape from the Bloodkeep and this time, he came to the table ensuring that the cast wouldnt be able to be heroic together so he could have the pvp hes desired all along.

I love that Brennan holds pauses with "amazing" "incredible" and "HELL YEAH!" Keeps the energy up, and the DM is cheerleading for the party, because he gets to live the story along with them, even though he orchestrated it.

I cast blight. I stop her. I frighten him. He succeeds. Silvery barbs. Activate paladin aura. I cast hold person. Paladin aura. Someone casts disintegrate. Counterspell! That back and forth between friends was so good!

If I had a nickel for every time a humanoid woman with anger issues broke the world of Exandria and killed an all-powerful tree for her slightly non-human husband, I have two nickels: which isn’t a lot, but oh my god I can’t believe’s it’s happened twice.

I love how when things started getting too fucked up, Travis was like "nope I'm out, gotta go be a dad now."

I love how well they've really played into the sheer arrogance of the people who would run a flying city of mages

Really fun to jump into level 14 combat. “You are hit for 20 points of damage.” “No.” “‘No’?” “Arcane ward.” “Okay. Another attack is incoming. That’s gonna be 39 damage” “My turn. I’m gonna use my reaction to take that damage.”

Travis fucking killed it with this miniseries. Certit was a phenomenal foil to all the hubris and arrogance of the wizards. Just a guy trying to find the truth and do his best for kids while some idiot wizards fell victim to the age old, well we could do it so clearly it should be done and nothing bad will happen. (Even after bad things already did)

Nydas straight up summons the Dragon of Bleeker Street. But seriously, Travis is the Lou of Critical Role and Lou is the Travis of Dimension 20. Getting to see them play together has been an absolute treat.

When Brennan described Serrit's partner and his final message, i actually sat up and said "Godsspeed you fucking legend"

You can pinpoint the moment when Aabria realizes what she's just done and that her decision to save a friend ended the world. Incredible.

“It’s too loud for noir” is up there on the list of favorite things Marisha has said.

I don't entirely blame Laerynn for her folly with the tree. Destiny (Brennen) was very clearly setting her up for failure there. That being said the entire scene once again speaks to the arrogance of our wizards, Laerynn automatically assumes that the thing standing in her way is malevolent and that she knows better than everyone else in the room, while Patia immediately ignores Laerynn and Nydas' obvious breakdown thinking it to be beneath her and instead seeks the tree's knowledge... They truly brought this on themselves.

"Was it a Disintegrate or something?" "No, this was a Circle of Death" Me: Oh, that's even worse.

ok but pally going "is he within 10 feet of me" at literally every saving throw is so relatable i love paladins

Damn Aabria is so absurdly good at this. Every decision she makes for Laerynn fits the characters mental state perfectly and it's amazing how willing she is to make decisions that she as a player knows will fuck the world but is so keen to do it to advance the story and be emotionally true to her character. It slaps she's great 10/10 would recommend

I cried like a baby at Cerrit's scene with his kids, truly such an emotional episode.

Spoiler I love that Nydas went from taking a rare and beautiful tree, cut down, as a gift to show status, to pleading for a tree to be spared. So brilliant.

4:35:32 This moment when Nydas breaks. When he is turned. When he splits from pursuing the dream to protecting the dreamers such a wonderful moment and a great performance from Lou.

I love how when Marisha is sitting with Travis, Liam and Sam she's constantly smacking then but with Lou and Luis she's gentle and reassuring.

aabria took on the HARDEST role in this mini-series, and that is of the person who makes selfish mistakes. laerryn is a flawed character who (debatably) single-handedly set off the calamity, and aabria plays her INCREDIBLY. there is no conflict in her choices, she knows what laerryn would do, even as she the player knows it's wrong and will not end well. and it works so well with brennan who is such a dramatic and foreboding dm, he exudes this sense that 'no matter what you think you are choosing, this is the way it was always going to be' and aabria is making those difficult choices for this story. all these players are crafting a shakespearean tragic story of hubris where it all could've been avoided if these key characters were not who they are, and so it is unavoidable after all, and it's spellbinding. im so glad i got into critical role

Lou saying "attell spack" at 28:35 is truly underrated

This has to be the most lore-heavy season of any D&D series I've ever seen. Maybe it's just the energy of Critical Role and Dimension 20 coming together that makes all this feel so much more weighty and in-depth. Love both of these shows so much.

I really hope we get more Brennan. In fact this whole cast is great.

Ive never seen Sam as stumped as he was during the confrontation between Nydas and Laerynn, he just looked down for a bit and said "...I dont know..." and Travis' reaction (flailing his arms like hes revving up, essentially) says it all, this - this entire mini series - its unique and a quality thats never been seen before. There's so much conflict and yet it flows amazingly, Brennan catches the players' investment and makes it SO worth it. I love when he rolls in front of the DM screen and everyone leans forward to see the result, the energy is amazing, Brennan saying "you all are GOOD at playing dnd" was such a source of joy and just WOW - this series has a grapple on me and i am letting it happen

Nobody: Brennan: says 'hell ya' and 'incredible' to hide the pain

Cerret: Do we have to be docked to do it with Cathmoira? Laerryn: Yes, (rambles on) Cerret: Yes was all I needed.. Cerret got that DAWG in him.

“Wow. You guys are really good at D&D” is one of the best moments. Agreed!

To the people later reading this, enjoy the best episode of D&D I've ever personally seen!

"Everything's fine. Remember, codenames." This fucking killed me I was not expecting to cry today

Deeply ironic that when Brennan DM'd a group of evil PCs and fully expected PvP he got a group of lovable chaotic peeps who completely up-ended his plans (Escape from Bloodkeep), yet this group of good PCs who are trying to save the world from doom are the ones who have way more inter-character tension and genuine PvP moments. Absolutely love every moment of this episode!!!

Aabria at the end of last episode: I was real worried I was gonna cause the Calamity, thank god it looks like it's gonna be Luis's fault. Aabria at the end of this episode: FFFFUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK

Sam is not wrong... This episode had everything. Probably the best actual play I've ever seen. The lore, the players, the DM. Epic.

"What matters more the dream or the dreamer?" Is one of my favorite lines from this.

"Strength of a storm giant" "Think of how good a warrior you have to be to hold any kind of rank in a city of wizards" "This guy can punch through a wall, that's kinda like a spell"

This. Series. Is. In. Fucking. Credible. I'm equally excited and saddened that there is only one episode left (at time of writing) and just want months and months of this time, these characters, this setting- everything. I'm so invested and I'm going to be so heartbroken. I'm (not) ready. Everyone is *killing it* and I'm blown away by the sheer intensity of it all and the implications and the overhanging tragedy. Phenomenal storytelling all around, what an incredible medium to explore this in.

Mid-episode i was like "oh this shit will be studied as the highest art, revered and pieced apart and put back together like all the greatest literature is today" and by the end of the episode i am like "and it will also be studied by psychologists as to how imaginary worlds deal real psychological damage"

I just realised that you can tell by their dice trays that Travis is playing a rouge, the other people have a bit of a mess of dice and Travis has 7d6 lined up with no other dice in the actual tray.

Aabria lives in Laerynns mind so well. She is such a fantastic actor and fantastic player. The way she sits, hunched, hooded eyes, angry during the whole Calix thing. She IS Laerynn. You can see hate in her eyes. Powerful shit

I never expected Brennan and Travis to be such a tearjerking combination. I should have, both have Dorky-dad-energy. Yet here i am, bawling.

guys...remember when we were all laughing at the ridiculousness that is Bolo and not whimpering on the floor out of trauma? I remember

Not gonna lie, laerrin has BBEG energy in this episode, its the kind of character that becomes fucking disaster bringer to the world in the name of "higher" ideals while dismissing everyday normal people. Its great. I am resisting to bing ethe next episode, but damn! Its great!

Sam's reaction to "I love you Dad" is spot-on. Boy oh boy was that hard to get through without welling up. Utterly fantastic dynamic improv by Travis and Brennan. What a series this has been.

The way Cerrit almost whispers "I love you, too," is the most crushingly real and emotional delivery I've heard from any voice actor, maybe even actor in general. It held all of the weight of his great love and growing anxiety. Like a smell of death in the air, he knows the end is coming and this man, this dutiful, family-oriented man, is terrified of losing his most cherished people. It's hard for me to fully empathize with stories and people who aren't right in front of my face -- especially when it's fiction. I can understand and sympathize, but I don't often FEEL what any piece of entertainment is trying to sell me. So it's incredibly special to me when something/someone breaks through whatever wall that is and makes me feel something that isn't mine. I can count on one hand the amount of times a movie/show/game has made me cry, and this one sentence, an unspoken prayer, broke me. Beautifully done, Travis. And kudos to Brennan for being able to channel such a demonstrably good and lovable son that any father would be proud of. Teamwork so dreams work.

I think this is one of the first times we see Sam, who is usually so smart and always knows what to do, actually look like he is completely lost and borderline panicking. The cast is honestly amazing in this show, everyone delivers brilliant performances of characters who struggle to find their place in all these schemes.

I love how Brennan subtly pushed Laerryn to cast Blight afterall. She did see sense for a second and surrendered herself into Nydas's grapple. And then the tree staked Portia and Quay and she cast the spell. Soooooooo good!

Just once I want to tell a story to my players across the DnD table and have them genuinely gasp and react with so much emotion like Brennan did to the cast at the end of this episode. This is such a masterclass of storytelling and I cannot believe how good everyone at the table is to create such a masterpiece collaboratively and on the spot.

I absolutely LOVE how Aabria plays of her hubris! “I’m the smartest. I have been working on this for years. I can do this.“

The truly cinematic mind visual of Quay looking back at Laerynn, afraid, then being speared before she literally breaks the world. POETIC CINEMA

It always starts with a "They'll understand." And a lot of the time it ends with either "I thought you would understand" or "They could never understand." All of this makes me sad with how much hope they have knowing how it ends.

Brennan, saying he's never used so much Blue Tac, while wearing an Unsleeping City shirt, that had a final battle with nearly every PC and NPC fighting IN THE AIR and rolling around on moving platforms, is shocking

I love what Brennan does at the end of this episode! *MASSIVE SPOILERS INCOMING!!* Everyone’s blood is pumping, tension is building, stress is rising, everyone is fighting each other, no one can figure out what’s going to happen next; it’s all chaos. Patia and Loquatious are stuck to each other and to the Tree and seeing visions that no one else around them can see; Nydas is afraid and trying to stop Laerryn from casting a spell to harm the tree, head swimming with a prophecy of the destruction of the world and all he’s worked for. Laerryn just wanting to stop the thing that is not letting her perform the bit of magic that is her life’s work and somehow hurt her friend, trapped him in it somehow, and is actively, currently hurting her best friend, and her love, but stopping so as to not cause her love to be afraid of her. And Zerxus, just trying to read a piece of paper, to get information about what this thing is, then seeing his dead husband’s face in the Tree, and yearning to see him one last time. The Tree, trying to prevent Patia and Loquatious from seeing too much and going too far, trying to protect itself, trying to make them let go by causing them pain. Laerryn sees this, sees this f*cking Tree try and impale her people, in her city, and casts Blight. Now, in a movie, this would be the part where it goes into slow-mo; the whole scene shifts as you follow this beam of magic slowly hitting the tree and causing it to rot. But you can’t go into slow-mo in real life. Everything is moving so fast; how do you get everyone to slow down? Switch POV. He knows that there’s another player, another character, not in the room, who is about to discover something heart-wrenching and tragic. So: Cut to Cerrit, racing across town to his office, trying to see what the cultists found, where his partner is, call his kids to get them to come home; try and do something, anything to save his family with the few hours (he thinks) he has left before disaster. And then he finds the scene: his desk, cleared and empty, all evidence and tools and everything that could have given another clue as to how to stop or delay all this gone; Sending to his son, trying to show the importance of the situation without scaring him; his partner, dead, with two spell bottles in his hand so that Cerrit’s kids can get to their mom. Cerrit, flying, as fast as he can, to pack a bag for his kids, not knowing that at the same time, Blight hits the Tree. Get everyone, audience and players and even Brennan himself, to take a breath, to let the tragedy of the situation sink into their heart. Everyone has slowed down. Now, as the Betrayer steps foot into the city, onto Exandria, the event that kicks off the start of the Calamity, everyone is listening, everyone is paying rapt attention. It showcases a master level understanding of storytelling, and how to manipulate a narrative. Brennan is amazing!

can we all just appreciate Aabria for a minute? The way she played her character. The woman responsible for keeping the heart of avalir afloat would definitely have the hubris and ambition to destroy the calix if it meant taking their city to the next level. But her flaw was her love for Loquatius. The way he looked at her in fear - she wanted him to see and love the best of her. She stopped casting blight. She actually had a character arc. Before their marriage ended, I think she wouldn't have stopped. Her ambition would have seen her through. But she developed to someone who had friends and loved people. She stopped. It's so important to reiterate that when she finally cast blight, it wasn't in the name of her ambition, it was to save her friends. How brilliant is that? It's the character development we would want to see in a story but it's so perfect in how realistic it was; the arc was twisted to bring about destruction. Brilliant!

It's so hard knowing they are all going to die. It's like watching Titanic. You know the ship is going down but you still hope for a last minute reprieve.

Abriya’s portrayal has been so good. It’s enfuriating watching someone so clearly rush like a train straight at the side of a mountain, abandoning all their supposed rationality, blinded by an almost religious self-delusion. You just want to shake her and tell her to stop.

"i can punch through a wall, it's kinda like a spell." Greatest quote ever.

Imagine being Aabria and being all “Did I just cause the Calamity?” Like there’s impulse caused mistakes and there is blight on the world saving tree “you fucked up” kinda mistakes. And to make it even funnier, Brennan gave context to the tree to make EVERYBODY know how big of a fuck up that blight spell was like the genius he is. Give this man a promotion 😂

Abria has done a great job portraying Laerynn. It takes a lot to make me hate a character this much. The ignorance, the selfishness, the shortsighted amount of arrogance and hubris. I completely and utterly believe that a character this smart can and would be this incredibly stupid, when something goes against what they want.