Whispers of War | Critical Role | Campaign 2, Episode 18 

I like to imagine the Stubborn Stock has their own DM who's narrating their view of the Mighty Nein's fight: "Suddenly, you hear an almighty, thundering tread, and the ground shakes as an enormous Hill Giant makes it's way into the arena. It's muscular, flabby bulk effortlessly topples a stone pillar as it shoulders it's way into the open air, and you can see from here, that the monster has long barbs driven into it's skin: it has been tortured and goaded to the point of complete and directionless fury. It bellows a challenge, and the Mighty Nein move to engage. The raggedy, dishevelled wizard of their group throws a firebolt as he darts into cover, which bursts almost harmlessly against it's massive barrel chest. The bubbly blue tiefling who had spoken to you earlier gestures through the air, and unexpectedly, a great pink lollipop snaps into existence, and broadsides the giant across the face. Roaring in retaliation, the Giant snatches up a rough handful of shattered masonry and bowls it at the wizard, who just manages to throw up a magic shield to deflect it away. The flamboyant purple tiefling in the red coat, who you had seen carve open a Winter Wolf in the previous bout, draws his scimitars and rushes at the Giant's flank, slashing at it's leg; with a roar, the furious beast swings it's club in an unstoppable arc at it's attacker, and when the dust from the impact clears, the tiefling lies motionless in the dirt. A member of the team wielding a quarterstaff and dressed in a cloak in the colours of the Cobalt Soul flicks out a hand in a flash of metallic light, which resolves itself into a throwing star a moment before it wholly buries itself in the Giant's gut. The half-orc dashes to it's blindside, seemingly unarmed; but as he reaches his target and swings with an empty hand, there's a burst of water and a strange, jagged blade materialises in his grasp, which rends a ragged gash into the Giant's flesh. Without breaking stride, the half-orc just runs on at full tilt, beyond the range of the Giant's retaliatory swing. As he does so, the musclebound, pale-skinned warrior woman, who you had seen grow to gigantic size and slay a otyugh in a single blow in the first round, blindsides the Hill Giant and swings her broadsword devastatingly into it's buttocks. As she does so, the strange, grey cloaked halfling in the team takes two rapid crossbow shots, the first going wide, but as the Giant turns in her direction, the second catches it full in the eye, and it bellows in agony, thrashing out of the path of another firebolt. The tiefling Clerics' spiritual lollipop bashes the Giant on the elbow, but after the attack lands, the enraged and suffering Giant turns and belts the barbarian woman so hard that, even at this distance, you hear the horrendous crack of her shoulder joint popping out of socket, and the second blow sends her into the earth in a slowly spreading pool of blood, clearly in a bad way. The clerics waiting in the wings start to their feet, faces set in concern. Crashing through the ruined walls of the arena, the Giant chases after the fleeing halfling rogue, while the monk tries to yell and draw his attention off her team-mate. As this happens, the half-orc sends out a blast of arcane energy from his sword, searing it's shoulder. Undeterred, the Giant's club clears a massive arc and slams the small form of it's target hard into the wall, where they stay, barely on their feet. The little figure yells out a terrible joke, and for some reason drops pastry crumbs on the ground, and in the slender moment of confusion this causes, gathers herself and dashes as far as she can from the danger. The party is in a bad way by this point, with two of their number down for the count and the rest either wounded or visibly flagging, when the wizard steps out from behind cover, snatches a handful of sand from the arena floor, casts it through the air and chants a spell. As he does so, the enraged Giant pauses... then it staggers. And yawns. Then, to the apparent surprise of everyone, including the wizard, the monster slumps to the ground, snoring, and fast asleep. After a brief moment of confusion, the team rallies, reviving their downed members and healing their wounds, and then slowly take their places around their unconscious target. As the monk stabs the slumbering beast in the eye, waking it and blinding it at the same moment, the rogue fires one last crossbow bolt at the Giant, and the whole shot vanishes into it's gut. Blood pours from the wound, and the Giant slumps back to the ground, and gently comes to a halt, defeated."

The moment an NPC picked up Frumpkin and started petting him I smiled so wide. I think Matt felt bad about how many times the poor lil guy was kicked..

1:17:10 Caleb’s quiet “no” gets lost beneath Fjord’s “sure, yeah” when Yasha asks if everyone is going to speak with Trent. Oh man, Liam’s acting and all the subtle foreshadowing is phenomenal

Liam is a freaking genius actor. But can we talk about how Sam can improvise such touching moments in the spot?

Liam: "I'm going to tell you the story of how I murdered my mother and father." Sam: "ooohhh." *Marisha immediately begins taking notes

"There's people out there who" *Head snaps to Marisha* "Steal the mail" DYING

3:00:59 "What you did was awful. Truly terrible. Despicable and unforgivable. ...Until _you_ can forgive it." **ugly sobbing**

I just love the small panic attack Jester had when Marrion "only" sent 200 gold. You could tell she's been very pampered growing up. She's very down to earth most of the time, but its nice to see her showing some of her privlage, even if she tries hard not to.

Beau:"Why are you afraid of fire?" Caleb's Mind: "No! I don't want to relife that trauma again, please don't ask me that!" Liam's Mind: "Yes, yes! I've been waiting 18 Episodes to tell my amazing backstory!"

"This fuuuucking old guy" is probably my favorite description Matt has delivered about an NPC.

I have a confession to make. I didn't leave the room when everyone was requested to do so.

Ok but the moment Matt mentioned trent’s name, immediately Liam stops and it’s Sovereign Uriel mentioning the briarwoods in the early episodes of campaign 1 all over again with Talisen

Caleb: "Guten Abend." Grog in the distance: "Yes yes, Bidet, good almonds to you also."

Yasha "Do you want me to do the talking?" Everyone "Yes." Yasha "I was kidding." Yasha is the best.

"You talk to them Yasha, you won't draw any suspicion!" ... "Where are you from?" "Xhorhas..."

Nott: *wanders into dungeons completely carefree, sets off multiple traps in the process* Jester gets mail from her mum Nott: Check for traps.

Fjord: Know anyone who's graduated from the Solstryce? Caleb, dying a few feet away:*dial up noises blue screening*

Liam just stops being Liam when hes playing and it just breaks my heart when he looks so devastated and shell shocked

"This is my compatriot, Master Trent Ikithon." Liam.exe has stopped working

“Your pain is a mask that you wear and you can take it off whenever you want” Both in campaign 1 and now Sam always has the most incredible improv, this one hit me like a brick

Caleb singing, "We are the mighty nine." Under his breath in the beginning of the fight was adorable.

*Episode 1* Jester: How much silver did I get? Beau: 7! Jester: Woo! *Episode 18* Jester: How much gold? Nott: 233 Jester: Woo!

I like that they’ve all played level twenty characters, but are still amazed by fifth level features

Caleb's reaction to Trent being introduced is comparable to Percy first hearing the Briarwoods being mentioned, such a instantaneous response

Liam's sad smile when Jester said that she loved her mother was perfect given what you learn about his backstory not long after

can we appreciate how quickly Liam switched from being out of character to in character multiple times this episode?? there are so many but especially the end of the big convo where he jokes to Marisha "but don't leave the table, im not asking you to leave the table" and then IMMEDIATELY goes back into character and laughs, crazed and manic... Liam is such a fantastic actor!

Liam is an absolutely blessing to Matt, its so rare that a player gives a shit about your world building to the point they actually read things in a library and care about the contents beyond plot hooks.

I want an episode where it's entirely just Caleb in a library and Matt talks lore to Liam for 4 hours

"Do you consent to this piggy back ride?" - Matthew Mercer

Good lord Sam Riegel is a masterful voice actor. The dialogue after “I give him a hug” was just beautiful. I can’t believe I actually cried over watching a bunch of nerdy ass voice actors sitting around and playing dnd.

I think it's amazing how Liam acted uncomfortable/anxious the entire episode! He never dropped character unless he talked as himself. He is truly the best imo.

This episode taught me that indifference can be a kindness. I think Beau's impassive response to Caleb's backstory was exactly what he needed. She wasn't completely apathetic, but her reaction was incredibly mild and largely neutral - in both directions. She neither condemned him nor consoled him. The closest she gets to expressing sympathy is saying "I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of", and she doesn't push it or even seem to care if he takes it to heart. She insisted on _looking_ at his past, but she keeps a respectful distance and doesn't try to touch it. I also find it interesting what she _did_ care about. She had nothing to say about Caleb's past, or how he should feel about it, or whether he should try to atone. But she _was_ very insistent that he has a responsibility to stop Trent from hurting more people - not to make amends for anything, but because he has knowledge that most don't have.

The way Caleb drops his head when Nott begins with, “what you did was awful,” just breaks my heart every time, and the way he holds his hands is like a kid begging for forgiveness or someone on their knees repenting. Anyways- The good news is I watered the plants. The bad news is I used my tears to do so. THERE IS SO MUCH PAIN.

Matt: mentions a part of Caleb's backstory Liam: Freezes for like a minute

"I want to bend reality to my will" Caleb's looking for the 3.5 rulebooks.

Liam's freeze as Matt says Trent Ikithon's name is absolutely FANTASTIC acting. for a minute there I really felt Liam feeling the things Caleb was feeling. that was legitimately impressive.

when Beau says, "He made you executioners..." as if she was trying to absolve caleb of the guilt and caleb just interjects with, "we wanted to be..." man, that broke my heart. These guys are so talented!

I love how Matt completely gives control of the table to Liam for Caleb's backstory moment. When Liam asks if everyone can leave the room he agrees without a second thought and actively stops Liam and Marisha from rolling insight checks on each other while they were still trying to get into the scene, so they had to trust the other person was being honest. Matt totally stepped out of the DM role and let his players craft their own story. His "how do you want to do this" line is the only way I can think to describe his DMing style in general and it's obvious how much he trusts and loves them all to share in their stories

the most painful thing is gonna be waiting for caleb to speak to fjord about the academy

Sam talking to Laura : "I wouldn't want to send 5000 gold over the mail system" looks over at Marisha "There's people out there who steal mail". 🤣

"I'm going to tell you the story of how I murdered my mother and father." Marisha immediately starts taking notes.

Beginning of Episode: *Bright eyed* I love you Caleb End of Episode: *Crying and hugging Caleb* I love you Caleb

The two most important character moments happening in the background of other characters' scenes: 1) Caleb's reactions while Yasha is talking to Trent Ikithon 2) Yasha letting Jester give her a piggyback ride when Caleb is talking to Beau at the Tri-Spires

2:44:03 Caleb's backstory begins... I'm sorry, I got tears at the end of this, especially after Nott's insistence that nothing was Caleb's fault, and that she would be there at his side until he forgives himself. Liam is SUCH a magnificent story-teller and weaver of his character's story!! ((all of them are equally great too, but for this clip seemed Caleb-centric))

no ones talking about jester apologizing to caleb about what she said about the money? i think thats really mature of her, especially seeing how childish she acted when talking about it in the first place.

"So if they're garbage people then I'm like their rare cousin, the trash person." - Beauregard

Sir, this is my emotional support goblin

It's horribly realistic when Caleb says he's disgusting. The venom behind it was so painfully real, from experience. (2:53:45)

Might Nein: We want to lay low..keep our heads down Last Episode: Party, displays of strength and luck, also becoming victors in a monster pit in front of tons of people This episode Mighty Nein: Uggggh why does everyone want to hire us for stuff??? We wanted to stay in the shadows!

Holy shit, Liam absolutely took that note Matt gave in an earlier episode about asking if a character is lying instead of just calling out 'Insight check!' I realize that's small, but players/people who really listen are so undervalued.

I have to give it to Liam... it was a really clever move getting everyone to leave. They would've behaved COMPLETELY differently for the rest of the episode if they'd known the context for their decisions.

Mollymauke walking into a room wearing only a gaudy tapistry around his waist and a fruit platter in hand a la Dionysus the Wine Twink and saying "I am your god, long may I reign" is SO iconic and SO in character plus Beau replying with an emotionless "Long may he reign" its juST SO good

1:22:54 "This is my compatriot, Trent Ikithon." *Caleb FREEZES*

Thinking about when Caleb was freaking out about the guy burning to death in front of him and Beau said “you did that though”. In retrospect that’s just..... ouch

There is a blacksmith still wondering when that blue Tiefling girl is going to pick up her box

1:30 Gunslinger features 4:15 Matt’s commitment to character (also, fanart?) 10:20 Episode Starts 13:40 Battle begins 51:20 HDYWTDT 52:50 Nott a champion 54:05 How old was he? 1:20:35 Yasha being casual 1:24:20 Everybody wonders why they sent Yasha to talk 1:27:25 Beau throws inter-office shade 1:31:05 TFW you see a cat at the party 1:36:15 Plausible Demiability 1:39:20 They are the pullout kings 1:44:40 Jester offers “stress reduction” 1:51:05 Break Starts 2:01:25 Art Montage 2:07:50 Break Ends 2:11:05 Beau segues hard 2:19:55 Nott tries to get info for the shippers 2:22:10 Scholastic fairs are canon, and the Critters will remember 2:24:10 The Ruby of the Sea sends the best May letter 2:28:20 Mail thieves are everywhere 2:30:20 Molly gets some stress reduction 2:35:05 Catchphrase practice 2:42:30 A truly private conversation 2:44:00 Caleb’s story starts here 3:03:10 Molly is a fruit god 3:42:15 The cool kids left Caleb’s nerd ass 3:46:30 Dirty Molly 4:05:05 This woman needs some throat coat

3:46:17 "when Caleb did it he was like 'uhhhh I love you mom and dad'... and then he started crying!" - BOY I LOVE DRAMATIC IRONY

Imagine if Nott managed to steal Ford's letter Nott: Hey, Caleb, I got you a way into the best magic school ever. The Soltryce Academy! To learn better magic 😊 Caleb: **Internal screaming** CooOOoOol 😐

What I love most about how Caleb(Liam) gives his story is that you can see how he could become a tragic, redeemed hero... or possibly turn into one of the greatest power hungry villains of all time.

"There's people out there that STEAL THE MAIL" ... I'm deceased Sam

That moment when Caleb (Liam) hear the name and he just freezes, then you can see in his eyes how he starts planning his moves to get away, and he's battling internally with himself, and no one but Matt knows what just happened, and at that point even Liam is breaking, and Caleb starts remembering. Gosh, the imagination and creativity that goes into this. Love it!

can we give liam an award or commendation for his retelling of caleb's backstory? holy shit. the way his voice quakes. the look on his face. its so real, its almost scary. but *wow* is it impressive

Timestamp for Trent Name Drop: (1:22:53) Timestamp for Caleb Lore: (2:42:27) Anybody else need some tissues and a hug after that huge lore drop?

There's a lot to be impressed with regarding Matt's skills, but the speed with which Matt is able to just find whatever he's looking for in the DMG/PHB at any given moment is astounding to me.

Wow. Many people have pointed this out, but Liam's dedication to his character is outstanding. The way he starts acting out caleb visibly becoming more nervous as they enter the "party", fidgeting and asking what every suspicious figure looks like. His quiet "no" at fjord saying they'd all go over to the two wizards by the window. And how he just. Freezes. When he hears Trent's name. Another instance is when he's acting out caleb noticeably lying at 1:40:16 . His dedication and talent are just so awesome

Liam: trying to share Caleb’s tragic backstory Everyone else: has a seven minute conversation about how to cook a rat

"I want to bend reality to my will" Caleb has big ambitions

Trent grilling Yasha, Yasha freaking out, and meanwhile Caleb is having a full-blown mindfuck right about now. 😂

Matt: it looks and glares at fjord Travis: ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Me: remembers when grog headbutted a giant into submission

1:22:53 *You can see Liam still in character of Caleb (Bless him), PTSD freeze at his name.*

YOU CAN TOTALLY TELL WHEN LIAM/CALEB RECOGNIZES TRENT'S NAME, OH MY GOD.

having just watch an episode of Dimension20, hearing Matt's apology for rolling well during the giant fight is sooo funny. His and Brennan's energy are so different, I love it

caleb: dark, manic laughter after spilling his darkest secrets *5minutes later* liam: sLeEpy TiMe? tHx dAd :D

Liam may not have Vax and his daggers any more, but man does he still know how to stab thousands of people simultaneously in the heart ;__;

Caleb's mask is metaphorical while Nott's mask is physical. One day they can both take off their masks together. They are a great pair

“What you did was awful, truly terrible, despicable and unforgivable... until you can forgive it” Wow, this definitely hit hard and I don’t know why. Sometimes in life, we can be our own worst enemies. And with such a simple and quick-witted line; Sam managed to capture that perfectly. This is a truly heartfelt, heavy and amazing moment. I’ll remember this line for many years to come

Liam's physicality gets me every time bro. There are moments when other stuff is going on (eg. Beau and Yasha talking to the men at the window) where he let's Caleb have a moment even though the attention isnt on him and you can see how uncomfortable he is and how much he wants to leave just by staring deadpan across the table and his breath hitching. Truly amazing character work.

Watching Caleb explain his backstory and the way he reacted broke my heart. You can tell that he has a form of PTSD from that and it’s so weirdly freeing to see such an accurate portrayal of PTSD and after watching this episode I opened up to my friend with my struggle with the same disorder. Caleb just makes me feel more comfortable in regards to opening up and I can’t quite explain it but I’m already starting to owe quite a lot to him as a character

Wow. I expected Caleb to have some skeletons in his closet, but this one was dragon sized. Poor guy, to be screwed over by someone power hungry like that. And Liam plays him incredibly. Also, Nott is an amazing creation as well.

54:10 "There's this reeally... FAACKIN' OOOOOLD GUY." Personal timestamp to such a funny delivery that I've rewind to multiple times now.

Jester apologizing to Caleb about their argument over money hit me directly in the feels. I think a lot of people passed over it but it was so so sweet and as someone who’s struggled for cash around people who are always flush it honestly made me cry a bit.

"And his name was Trick-a-tick-a-ting-tong!" "No. Trent Ikithon."

Marisha's face when Travis said "One of those was full of dip spit" is the face of a chick from Kentucky who has *absolutely* taken a sip out of somebody's beer can full of spit before

I knew ahead about Caleb's backstory but god was I not prepared to hear Liam's delivery on it. Amazing

2:24:30 Liams face listening to jesters letter, Physical roleplaying for a character is another reason Liam is great

Liam: "Can I ask everybody to leave the table, please?" Sam: "That means you too, Matt." Me: "LOOK AT ME! ...I am the Dungeon Master now."

Caleb: "It was a good time" Also Caleb: "Our teacher was cruel"

I didn't know Liam could cast Power word Kill on my heart

New to the CR fandom, and had been told about this episode.. holy shize. As an RPer, I am so jealous of this table. I love players that focus on RP. Sam and Liam have been slowly building the emotional center of this entire journey. Laura fosters warmth that breaks through any tension, while Tailisen makes sure to foster questioning and never getting stuck in line. And Ashley, I know it's hard when you have someone bouncing in and out, but she is dedicated to this shy giant devastater. But, Liam, Sam, and Marisha, these three specifically have to remind people when their person is talking, not the character. Then during what was a heart clenching performance, Marisha (who has a huge heart IRL) just stone faced it, cold heartless listening, even angry about being emotionally dumped on. That takes dedication when all you want is to hug your friend. Then Matt, holy shit! The best story set up. Let the characters who are having trouble bonding start to set roots, then threaten war but offer serious work. Just, his ability to time these transitions in flow of story.

Laura's acting during the letter-reading scene is impeccable, but if you want to see a heartbreaking bit of silent acting watch Liam's face in the background while she reads the letter.

"This is two times I've tried to bail out of this conversation" lol.. Caleb says out loud what every socially awkward person wishes they could just say out loud.

Matt just casually drops to Liam that he can go on for an hour and a half regarding the history of his world. I just wish Liam had said Bring it on.

Liam writing a child soldier with such realism just broke my heart, and to be followed by Nott's reaction? I wasn't ready for that. And what's amazing is that it's all just in a D&D campaign! It's so true, too, when you read about the psychological damage and manipulation that people have over child soldiers, even just soldiers in general, to where they are so long gone that they begin to revel and enjoy the acts they commit. It really is moving when you read about the stories of the few rescued child soldiers and what had to face coming back from that, slowly beginning to realize what it was they really did, dealing with the unbelievable guilt and horror, it's horrific. Damn, what a performance.

Read the comment section. They said that Caleb’s backstory was great. I was excited to here it. I was not prepared. We are not prepared. You are not prepared.

Rewatching Campaign 2 between Thursdays of Campaign 3, and there is an entire layer of subtlety that you pick up on after knowing all of these characters' backstories. Just the moment "Trent Ikithon" is said, and Liam up and freezes mid-action with wide eyes.

Yasha's utter disappointment when Jester tells her that the very fancy hotel won't cook the pet rat she won at a carnival game 2:37:03

"I am going to tell you the story of how I murdered my mother and father" marisha and sam: *poggers*

Mr. O'Brien has me O'cryin

Copying from someone else since it's so far down 1:30 Gunslinger features 4:15 Matt’s commitment to character (also, fanart?) 10:20 Episode Starts 13:40 Battle begins 51:20 HDYWTDT 52:50 Nott a champion 54:05 How old was he? 1:20:35 Yasha being casual 1:24:20 Everybody wonders why they sent Yasha to talk 1:27:25 Beau throws inter-office shade 1:31:05 TFW you see a cat at the party 1:36:15 Plausible Demiability 1:39:20 They are the pullout kings 1:44:40 Jester offers “stress reduction” 1:51:05 Break Starts 2:01:25 Art Montage 2:07:50 Break Ends 2:11:05 Beau segues hard 2:19:55 Nott tries to get info for the shippers 2:22:10 Scholastic fairs are canon, and the Critters will remember 2:24:10 The Ruby of the Sea sends the best May letter 2:28:20 Mail thieves are everywhere 2:30:20 Molly gets some stress reduction 2:35:05 Catchphrase practice 2:42:30 A truly private conversation 2:44:00 Caleb’s story starts here 3:03:10 Molly is a fruit god 3:42:15 The cool kids left Caleb’s nerd ass 3:46:30 Dirty Molly 4:05:05 This woman needs some throat coat

1:22:53 Caleb’s face when he hears the name now means so much more after hearing the backstory. The genuine fear in his face once he puts 2 and 2 together.