Four more times Matthew Mercer's reveals/plot twists stunned the cast | Critical Role 

That would make a great item to sell, a notebook hat. Same blue with the symbol on it.

Marisha has turned book-as-hat into a MOOD.

12:50

How she just reverts back into Keyleth in a moment, it was beautiful.

I also always love her tone when she says that XD

I wholeheartedly agree. It wasn't "Keyleth's mom?!" but "My mom?!" Even after all the time since the previous campaign, Keyleth is still a part of Marisha. It's completely understandable when you sink yourself into a character for years.

I have always found this happens when recounting a d&d game with friends. It's never "my character did this" it's more like "do u remember when ur brother & I had to crawl out of that trolls stomach!" I like d&d!

And like everyone instinctively knows Marisha is talking as Keyleth.

I also love Travis' reaction to that moment, like he just geeked out and I love that 🥰

Im more into Travis actually, i love how far he recoiled! 😂😂

I was actually thinking of putting that one in the next video..

Do you recall what episode that is?

@@beckahmarie2 Campaign 1 episode 28, 2:38:50

Episode 28 from campiagn 1.

And we get to actually SEE it in the animated show!

Oh it wasn't Caleb they are worried about... Look at Marisha's face when that was revealed... She has that look of mischief...

This is why Energy Substitution is the best feat for any caster. Fireball? More like Elemental ball

And that's why I turn off chat for the sessions. Damn party poopers.

usually chat is full of people going “ummmm ACKTUALLY” with the rules or being negative about character choices, but that would have been amazing to read live

@@stormcloudsabound fr the only time I had time to catch a stream was during the VM vs Mighty Nein one-shot. So many people being annoying trying to rules lawyer a _prerecorded_ game between friends having fun and forgetting that Deflect Missles also adds your Dex mod

@@sagescribe_ the worst kind of rules lawyers are the ones who are wrong

The best part was that was the chat Sam was reading. They were being pre-taped so he was checking that previous episode's chat

She could have been thinking about how they might have somehow released or stirred up that huge red dragon they saw in the elemental plane of fire, a theory that was floating around for a while although I don't know if it was ever confirmed.

Its because they stole gold from the basement of a dragon they had previously killed - who happened to be part of the conclave. When they did so, they were spotted through some orbs and so they thought that this might be retribution for killing and stealing from them. Matt confirmed that this act had allowed the dragons to see their faces but that the attack had always been planned and wasnt directly related. Nor was it related to keyleth's trial in the fire plane, which was another thought they had briefly. That was just Matt foreahadowing the attack. If you've not watched the chroma conclave arc then i highly recommend it. From the first attack through to A Bard's Lament, it has a lot of amazing moments, including grog's collecting a certain deck that gave the campaign the perfect ending 😂

@@pub1 agreed. The Vecna arc pales quite considerably compare to the conclave arc. Probably cuz they are so much higher level and a god is harder to comprehend than dragons razing a city.

I'd love to see it animated. Matt's descriptions alone were incredibly cinematic.

When I first watched it, it scared the shit out of me

That was the moment I fell in love with CR. The last sentences from Matt reminds my that something like that might happen at any time: I destroyed something that I build... What an amazing DM!

And then came 123. That was a roller coaster with a jet engine strapped to the back.

It was so damn scary

THIS !!! Absolutely this!!! I see this nowhere in any critical role plot twist videos and it KILLS ME

Yeah for someone who is so immersed in roleplay that was a stupid move. Wouldve taken away from that moment so hard. Makes you wonder how many we missed cause the cast can't shut up for 10 minutes and has to whisper everything to the person next to em immediately, cause they do it quite a lot when they are next to each other.

@@Yenix4 right. Even afterward Sam said not to text her but Liam was like, “cmon we always do this!” We wouldn’t have had this gem if she checked it, soooo

I’m more glad they weren’t sitting next to each other like they usually do

The best thing about it is, if you watch Dalen's Closet, they both figure out what's going on at the same time and get just as excited waiting for the reveal. It's great.

It would have been funny if they ended the session without realizing who it was.

it's funny because viewers already had it figured out the moment the character was introduced as a female druid with a missing leg and no clear memory of her past :)

@@StMargorach Sam does mention he read it off of chat I believe :)

@@FennelRPG Except they were correct? Give credit where credit is due.

@@escobarisanoctopus no, Critical Role's twitch chat sucks

That wasn’t a plot twist or reveal.

@@broadwaybroad she was about to have her hands taken from her for a deal and matt didn't remember she had the dust of deliciousness or even what it was, that is ABSOLUTELY a plot twist.

@@broadwaybroad It actually was a plot twist, Jester was playing the long game, slowly tempting the hag, slowly looking sadder and sadder and then just offering a single cupcake, the fact that the cupcake had the dust of deliciousness changed the entire context of the scene, Jester was not just sadly offering a final usage of her hands, she was playing a long con, recontextualizing the whole encounter, it is a PC-based plot twist.

Especially Travis!

God his reaction to "MY MOM?!" is so fucking good

I love how he's Jocks Machina and the Archgeek at the same time. Basically seems like a teddy bear of a man.

@@MrBrachiatingApe Archgeek lmao, love it

Ronin is always going to know his parents are there and supporting him at ANY school event be it plays or sports events

I think that happened later, with Allura and the others present. But yeah, Percy is famous for moves that look extreme, but are actually well thought.

@@giorgiomauceri410 Uh no. That move was terrible in every aspect

​@@Rrojas200bad b8

@@SuperMCFreak ??????????

​​@@Rrojas200it was very tactical. If it worked, it would have been three surprise attacks with a blade specifically designed to deal extra damage to dragons, in a room filled with nearly all of Vox Machina's most powerful allies both magically and martially. If Raishan had actually been there, the battle would have been stacked in VM's favor. Since she wasn't, it forced her to reveal her deception in front of everyone, removing her potential ability to sow discord among them separately

:D Hope you're excited

It was incredible😭

5:12 made me happy too :)

Right after Travis: You... You just committed genocide Matt: I.. (in a justifying way) I destroyed something that I built. (Smiles)

@@loganmorris4137 as a dm who has done similar/has similar planned for the current campaign im running. Its a weird proud yet bittersweet feeling

Writers have the biggest body counts. In setting up a situation with a world I sometimes write in, I've killed millions, practically causing the extinction of a sentient species. All that remains are zombified individuals.

I'm subbed for it

Thank you

My fuckin homie

We are lost in the desert of a month kong break and you are an oasis

A certain arcanist may be a part of such a part? ^^

It was at a real "These characters SHOULD have emotional catharsis" moment so you were lulled into a real false sense of security and then WHAM.

Raishan didn't "refuse" to go near the orb, she didn't know about it at all. She probably thought that room in the castle _was_ the most secure room, because she'd already scanned it for magic and/or placed some of her own magical traps before the meeting, in case the party reacted negatively to her. Watch the scene again, and see how Vex and Keyleth talk about going "downstairs". They don't mention the orb, or why "downstairs" is any more secure than that room. The ziggurat and the orb were closely guarded secrets at that time. Raishan wouldn't have learned about them in the brief time (a couple days, maybe) she masqueraded as Assum.

@@Celedam I think by that point they had already requested that everyone meet downstairs specifically because of the anti-magic zone. You really think Raishan wouldn’t have known about it?

@@TotallyNotLoki Yes, I really think Raishan didn't know about the anti-magic zone. (What a condescending question…) Vex and Keyleth suggested moving the meeting downstairs, but they never actually said why because they believed they were talking to the real Seeker Assum. It was a closely held secret, known only by Vox Machina, the town leaders (Cassandra, Yennen), the Tal'dorei Council members in exile (Allura, Kima, the real Assum), and the other wizards (Gilmore, Eskil). They didn't just stroll around and openly talk about it, specifically because they were concerned about scrying and eavesdropping. So if Raishan-as-Assum had been there only a short while, and if she had avoided talking to other people in order to preserve her disguise, then she'd have no reason or opportunity to learn about it. She might have been an ancient dragon, but she wasn't perfect; as Matt said at the end, she made a few mistakes (e.g., teleportation circle) that could have given her away.

Same! Sitting on something like that for like seven years?! Good lord

And the cast reactions are so good. Marisha is absolutely adorable. Sam's joy watching them figure it out. And just all their various excitement.

It shows 2 things in the extreme that make the show (and D&D as a whole) great. 1. The sheer dedication Matt puts into his world to sit on that info for 8 years before the streams even started is insane. The fact that it was related to his now wife's character makes it even crazier. 2 (goes more for D&D in general) the sheer dedication and attachment they have to the characters they play. The fact that Marisha says my mom before clarifying she means Keyleth just shows how engrossed one can become in the characters and stories the game helps to create after a long period of time, they literally become extension of the person. Obviously part of this is the fact that all of them are world class actors but anyone who has played a long running game will tell you the characters you play can become a part of you and the character can sometimes become inseparable from the person who is playing them.

Same

same

The dragons are still more stressful, nothing will beat the worry of whether Gilmore and Allura are still alive or not lol. The world was literally ending. And C2 has been VERY stressful on occasion but it's never quite hit that C1 stress level, there's a couple things in C1 where my blood pressure must have been through the roof.

@@mayaenglish5424 Difference in personality, I expect. I found it way worse watching them try navigate the political structure of a foreign country, not knowing who they can trust, but knowing they could easily be accused of espionage and become enemies of the state - in TWO different nations. Dragons are comparatively more straight forward.

​@@sybariticcupboardrat3763 Oh don't worry, that was also VERY stressful. But I think with dragons, like you say, it is more straight forward after the fact, what you have to do, well, sort of, after they stop panicking and almost create a bigger problem with the skull, then talk to the sphinx and get an actual game plan, but the initial attack was done so heart-poundingly flawlessly by Matt that the stress level was insane, whereas with the political situation the stress was constant but only spiked at certain key moments (like in the throne room lol) otherwise it was less terrible, (certainly cringe inducing at times, Jester and Nott talking to important people is it's own special category of stress lol). Maybe BECAUSE the threat was more straight forward world domination it was more stressful in a way? There's no running away from that and VM are too heroic to run away from saving the world anyway, but I always kinda felt like, if things went REALLY wrong the M9 would like, create new identities and flee to Marquet or something lol. You have to admit, it's very them. Also just in general between campaigns it's the difference between 2 clerics and a sometimes there cleric. Or really, Jester counts as like half a cleric but Caduceus is easily 1 1/2 clerics so the math still works lol. Keep in mind VM are the people who went to hell without a Cleric... AAAAAAH! SO MUCH STRESS Whereas with Caduceus around even super scary, super stressful situations seemed less scary and stressful as he yanked Fjord and Caleb and everyone from death's door repeatedly, sometimes without them even noticing with those crit cancels, like the one that saved Fjord in the mountains in Xhorhas when they are retaking the Giant's home for them so they'll leave the mining camp. Fjord gets attacked by the demon mosquito or whatever it was, He would have been Dead Dead, not 3 death saves first dead lol yikes. c2 e59

I'm pretty new to Critical Role, and I'm still in the Briarwood Arc. I don't really care all that much about spoilers (duh, cause I'm here), but the attack on Emon is one thing I have specifically avoided watching. I know it's coming, but I don't want to see it until I'm on that episode.

i remember watching the first few eps of c1 and then taliesin shows up with the "weird emo hair". little did i know that the emo was the normal and the "normal hair" was the anomaly xD

I completely agree, that whole episode and the interactions between the character really cemented the enormity of what happened, the disarray, the fear, it was amazing, so compelling

I nominate Fjord chucking the falchion into the lava. Also Jester's cupcake.

"What's my mother's name?"

"My name is.... Bren."

"Edith, it's me, Veth. Where's my son?"

@@kaitlynwickham6237 the cupcake. Jesus christ

And it's totally going to be Season 2 of The legend of vox machina

Same! 🤣🤣🤣

As far as I can tell from what others say as well as personal experience as a dungeon master, it's probably a mix of both.

From what I have read, Matt does plan a lot of these in advance, but doesnt have a specific timeline for most. When the time feels right or makes sense he decides "why not now" and drops the bombshells.

I think he definitely has short and long term plans & contingencies. There have been times where the party does something either unexpected or very successful that ruins them - water action against the other ship in C2 for example.

I’ve got two completed campaigns under my belt, so I think I can comment on this. The most impactful information reveals I’ve ever done were ones I thought I would do upwards of 5 sessions later. Sometimes there’s just a little tickle in the back of your head as a DM that tells you to do something big. Most of the time, I ignore it. However, the few times that I’ve decided to just go for it have resulted in my tables most memorable and RP heavy sessions. Some of them are even revealed at the “intended time”, but there’s something really fun about throwing my own plans out the window with such an important moment, and just allowing the players to 100% shape the narrative, and improvising everything.

Matt said the Chroma Conclave reveal was planned in advance, and it's likely that he decided to do it right after the Briarwood arc.

Rewatched the whole thing and so worth it

Episode 113. Not traumatized at all by it. 😭

I still think about that one. Matt is terrible and I love him

It's been another campaign and a bit and that's still the worst thing he's ever done by far, that and the Gilmore/Rakshasa thing. lol C1 is so good, why people skip it is beyond me. The characters in C2 were too douchy, navel gazing, and nomadic to get attached to many NPC's to such a level where we knew anything personal about them to such a degree where we got deeply invested, in C1 we met Gilmore's parents! We still don't know what happened between Essek and his dad, or even why Pumat Sol left the woods and started a business. Thank goodness C3 seems to be going back to where they talk to NPC's like people again! (I loved C2, but still, you know it's true, they're a big bag of dicks and Caduceus lol. 🤣)

Don't forget Cassandra's betrayal.

Oh she claimed to use a teleportation circle we know was destroyed?

@@AnxietyRat Yup, also It's their own fault that they don't know anything about Seeker Asum because they decided to be drama queens and sabotage Percy while they were meeting with the Clasp, which is where the REAL Seeker Asum was working on and off to help save the city from the inside. Leaving Raishan the perfect cover to enter Whitestone because they have no channel of information from inside Emon. I wonder If they ever realized that... Probably not. lol.