A Bard's Lament (Critical Role Highlight)

[@zak725]

Honestly feels like Caduceus should have a moment like this too after E96 when half the party disrespected his whole family, shame the man is too nice

[@vaethe_w]

What happened again?

[@yooooo8600]

@@vaethe_w am also curious, completely forgot

[@TheQuiet94]

@@yooooo8600 M9 didn't "disrespect" the Clay family, this is insane hyperbole. When they freed them from petrification, the group found humor in the way the Firbolg's spoke, specifically Cad's father. Cad literally tells them it's fine more than once.

[@rileypeters5055]

@@TheQuiet94 I agree with TheQuiet. Caduceus's whole dynamic with his family is of deep love, intertwined with ungodly amounts of teasing each other. With how close he's gotten with the rest of TM9, he's entrusted them to that sort of level of "privilege" to do it too. Like TheQuiet said, he says multiple times that it's alright.

[@BeckettBaladas]

@@TheQuiet94 It really wasn't just about his direct family tho, half the party was super disrespectful towards the temple and stuff, there are entire scenes where they are trolling the petrified inhabitants there by doing random shit in their houses or the whole pinecone thing that Nott did, both despite Cad asking them to not do that - also the whole part where Cad is super concerned about gathering up all the broken pieces of all the shattered petriefied people and Beau just throws the petrified head of someone in the lake for shits and giggles or the part where Nott is like "are we sure we wanna waste that expensive super glue on reviving your aunt?". Honestly tho, the worst part was really that the other *players*, not just their characters in general were kinda frustrating in that episode and kinda kept pointlessly hogging the spotlight in an episode that should haven been 100% about Caduceus and his family - the few scenes we did get like him an his sister were just so great!

[@AndresHolmes-v8z]

I think the best part about this scene is right afterward, the exchange with Scan / Grog 'Grog - Can I ask you a question? Scan - No, I will not go whoring with you one more time Grog - No, I was going to ask what your mothers name was. Scan - It was juniper... thank you for asking Grog- Im sorry I didn't know that Travis and Sam were the undisputed goats of C1

[@sebitei]

to you maybe

[@FateNFollyPaint]

@@sebitei okay pal, pack it in

[@ynsan3]

@@sebitei he literally says i think.

[@sebitei]

@@ynsan3 "Travis and Sam were the undisputed goats of C1" yeah that sounds really subjective idiot

[@Verylengthyapple]

@@sebiteito us 😌

[@JustinWPruett]

“What’s my mother’s name?” Fucking. Chills. Sam Riegel, Emmy Award Winning Actor.

[@KrisDey-BestGPaccount]

My players: When will you start DMing like Matt Mercer? Me: When you start RPing like Sam Riegel.

[@scarlightemperor3410]

Fair. My old group was like that. Glad I'm not apart of them now.

[@ToonGrin]

It's a bummer when folks feel frightened to RP. When I come to the table, and I rarely do, novice here, I come with a personality because I want us to be enthralled.

[@scarlightemperor3410]

@Tifany Ragusano ....Go away. Troller

[@noitsbecky1278]

I'm doing my best

[@Skaroosh]

This is one of the most intense and memorable moments in all of Critical Role and the DM did not say a single word the entire time. You don't need a DM to tell a great story, you just need to care enough to do it.

[@TreeckoBro]

Hearing Scanlan asked "What's my mother's name!?" to test them, just to be met with silence. Man, that gets me...

[@VegetaLF7]

Grog silently asking what her name is afterwards breaks me.

[@dawudqadri7295]

I wish it had been Martha

[@Maliceinponderland]

​@@dawudqadri7295laughed louder than i should have

[@nickfidler6908]

The silence, and the microscopic changes in the others as the depths of what them not knowing means. A table full of brilliant actors.

[@dawidpotega882]

@@nickfidler6908 a coincidence by it just so happended that Sam explored what is very rarely explored among group of adventurer friends that play/adventure for years. They don't know shit about each other really unless the story involves their backgrounds. So Percy, Twins, Grog, Pike, Keyleth all had their families introduced, but no one ever asked Scanlan's story. And while Sam was making shit up on the spot he played this so well. I just wish he told Percy properly when he did this outburst about his parents, especially since Sam did see it coming or just remembered Percy's parents name. It would only add up to the scene if Percy ended up being angry at him for no reaosn(even at their reunion) because he did remember their name which shows that Scanlan did care about all the stories he lived with his friends, but no one ever cared to explore his. Truly a little tragic story, kind of wish it had some more tragic consequences when Scanlan was gone. But I Am also happy he got good ending with Pike and his daughter, even started criminal legacy of the meat man. I hope campagin 2 and 3 also bring such topics. I'm only 40eps into campagin 2 and Nott and Caleb seem to be going this dramatic route and i love it. I hope to see such outburst

[@ChrisjayH1]

When people say 'Beware the wrath of a gentle man', this is what they mean.

[@cyranojohnson8771]

What gets me about this is that watching prior episodes, Sam actually telegraphed Scanlan's isolation and insecurity for a really, really long time, but the party took it for a joke. Mercutio Syndrome. This was the simply masterful payoff of something that had been in the wind for a while, and really not something you could pull off with most groups while still hoping to have a group afterward.

[@FrostyTheSnowPickle]

More like “Beware the wrath of a genital man,” am I right?

[@MommyKhaos]

@@FrostyTheSnowPickle TBF this comment feels like something the party would say. Over the course of their adventures scanlan was throwing calls out for help and they all laughed along. Sadly this happens irl many times, as a lot of people will cover up insecurities, depression, anxiety, and trauma with humour.

[@determiknight2533]

One of the most shattering parts of this is Matt. He doesn’t say anything he lets it happen, but when Laura says they got the figurine and she looks to Matt for confirmation and he just shakes his head. In every session he has the final say, and he just confirmed to Laura the fear of not caring about Scanlan enough to do that simple thing for him and making sure Matt knew.

[@krisvickers5451]

Average DM will play a game, a good DM will tell a story, a great DM will let the story tell itself.

[@TallestKAT]

That silence Matt gave spoke VOLUMES. A great DM knows when to SHARE a story. Because that’s what D&D is. A story SHARED between a table of friends. He may create the world and the people in it, but it’s the players who create the tale. Their actions steer the adventure and have just as much control over what happens as the DM does. This video proves that.

[@Thematt11]

As a DM, giving your party space to roleplay is THE single most important thing. Knowing when to sit back in silence and watch it play out builds the best moments.

[@taleoftwowolves74]

Listing off everything they have done for all the other members of the party before ending it with "Whats my mothers name?" Fuck man This whole monologue is so powerful, they're all such amazing actors

[@andreacallegari7137]

The "Why the fuck would you do that?" is such a cold shower, every time

[@haley9976]

When Scanlan went dark all of a sudden, this show just went to a whole other level. Sam's character arc and character GROWTH skills are insane

[@BryonYoungblood]

It also is a big thing for Scanlan too since he felt he broke his promise when he died fighting Raishan and just how he felt he needed time away from his family of Vox Machina due to the frustration he felt as well as I’m sure some fear because of the fact he died.

[@lv.2073]

I still can’t believe this wasn’t scripted. Like, holy shit

[@yasminafarih3681]

Actually, I do. I've orbited many groups of friends, and a less serious version of this situation often happens People are bad communicators People change And people prefer to stick to doing what they're used to doing even when it's bad And this is the result

[@SocialistSadako]

@@yasminafarih3681 this felt emotionally real and grounded. That's why it was so memorable.

[@scarlightemperor3410]

@@SocialistSadako pro voice actors do that

[@hunacean]

Probably not scripted, but Sam must have tought about it for a while

[@SPACEHARICE]

Sam kinda had already the points he wanted to say pre game He did research to

[@ethanhorn6093]

I mean in fairness, they covered him in pudding as a lark and then showed him off to his daughter after he expressly told them how much his relationship with her meant to him... so this has always had a real strong feeling of party consequences to their fuckery.

[@tylerdurham6091]

It is, but Sam himself has said if it was someone else Scanlan would have been joining in the fuckery. It's important to remember that neither side was right here.

[@Birthday888]

@@tylerdurham6091 While this is true, it's hard to picture the party pulling that type of shit with any of the other members. So there would be no "fuckery" to join in the first place. Even if Scanlan tried to do this to another party member unprompted, I'm pretty sure the other characters would've called him out. The fact of the matter is that every party member death up to, and past this point was treated seriously, even Keyleth's infamous cliff death elicited a concerned and alarmed response from Vex in universe. This was the only instance where it's treated with any sort of levity.

[@tylerdurham6091]

@@Birthday888 That's ingoring a lot of context. Scanlan's death was given the same amount of gravity when he died and during the resurrection. They only made a joke of it afterwards. Scanlan took longer to wake up because Sam couldn't be there. I don't buy,them only doing this to Scanlan under those curcumstances. Grog and Vax, for example, could easily have used that opportinity to escalate their prank war.

[@joshuahughes-davies7124]

Honestly I agree! As it was being done I felt uncomfortable due to his drug abuse and having his daughter there but seeing his reaction here solidified how the characters did overlook Scanlan as a deeply troubled person. They reacted with contempt to his drug use and didnt check in on him after dying the first time. This is so well done by the cast because the consequences feel real, Sam brings Scanlans hidden pain alive in the way that real people have an outburst once the pain gets too strong.

[@bessieburnet9816]

@@tylerdurham6091 Yeah, because none of the other party memebers have a child who would have seen their parent killed and treated like that. It's real tone deaf when it's Scanlan and Kaylie.

[@francescogulisano2917]

Everybody: shocked and traumatized by the sudden outburst Taliesin: "damn this guy is good, I'll drink to that"

[@thomasnolastname8734]

Taliesin whenever somebody dies:SIIIIIIIIP

[@cllifjumperPT]

I hope that The Legend of Vox Machina continues to air until the entire campaign has been adapted, 'cause dammit, I wanna see this moment fully brought to life in animation.

[@Dragon_Lair]

If they do go through the whole campaign (they'll have to rework the Whispered One a lot because of how tied he is to D&D lore) I feel they are doing a pretty good job setting up the initial conflict between Scanlan and the rest of the party. Vex calling Scanlan "gnome" to his face when telling him to mind his own business (episode 1). Saying she won't die saving the life of that gnome in episode 5. No one taking Scanlan's suggestion to focus on Delilah's book seriously until the Wraith's invaded the keep and nearly killed them trying to get the book back, making sarcastic comments about his ideas and suggestions, like maybe Fince was trying to assassinate Krieg. In fact, so far in the animated series, only Pike and Grog have taken Scanlan seriously. Scanlan suggested that Fince was trying to assassinate Krieg and it was Pike who confronted him about it using Scanlan's logic. Grog has been openly honest with Scanlan about the things Vex told him about Scanlan "having dick for brains" and encouraging him when Scanlan was practicing his polymorph scroll/spell. He also didn't make fun of Scanlan's failed lightning spell (clearly his first attempt at it in combat) and just said it needed some work.

[@cllifjumperPT]

@@Dragon_Lair Man, you're totally right. I'm still so stunned at the fact that the show even exists, I didn't even connect those dots before I read your comment. It's so cool how much they're setting up right from the get-go, and it'll be so cool to see how non-critters react to some of these iconic moments. Everything about Critical Role feels to me like a ray of sunshine in what is otherwise the darkest timeline.

[@AlasdairGR]

@@Dragon_Lair Why can’t the Whispered One be included? Would Wizards of the Coast try to sue them out of existence for copyright?

[@Dragon_Lair]

@@AlasdairGR Well, Vecna is very much a D&D lore thing and Legend of Vox Machina has gone out of its way to remove all things related to D&D, copyright wise, because it is not officially Dungeons and Dragons. The campaign initially started out as a Pathfinder game and the cast moved to D&D 5E for the stream so it mixes both. As a result, the actual cartoon has to not use the lore of either.

[@kyekimler]

​@@AlasdairGR It's the same reason why "Bigby's Hand" had to be changed into "Scanlan's Hand". Since just about all of the campaign is homebrew they can include most of it, but they can't outright name spells or most likely include huge figures in the lore like Vecna. There might be some wiggle room by exclusively using his title of the Whispered One, or they can make it Vekna idk, I don't know enough about this sorta stuff to really solve the issue.

[@giloguy101]

I love how when Sam asks "what's my mothers name", if you look at the faces across the table, you see genuine looks developing across the others faces as they try to remember if they know or even asked and all just go "oh...shit"

[@virginiamooney4105]

I'm pretty sure this scene violated the Geneva Conventions.

[@KumaoftheForest]

Their is no Geneva Convention capable of stopping Scanlan

[@T1J]

i love Taliesin's little smirk, you can tell he's like "this is good"

[@xWinterstarex7]

This legit made me cry...like the emotion is too real...and it's actually pretty spot on with the guy who wears the biggest smile also has the biggest demons...and is usually fighting them all on his own while the set of his friends set their shit on his shoulders thinking out of everyone he is the most put together..but in reality he's the one falling hardest apart...and they don't even know him...but to be fair Scanlan really is secretive, he doesn't share often and he doesn't show his true feelings often..he's always acting like the funny guy...

[@pedroinaciopaesnantes4248]

I feel atacked

[@anthonydavis5288]

@@pedroinaciopaesnantes4248 thank you. You're awesome. I like that comment.

[@hypergreedgaming9590]

The funny ones, the ones that are always cheerful, are the ones who are hurting the most sometimes

[@evion223]

Despite sam being the funny character,scanlan actually has a few points that are true. So when he chosen to do this it made sense to his character development, that's why it sticks, sam can also be a good actor so he's not as little skill as he thinks he is. But we know that

[@Greemlinn]

But if they really wanted to find out they could have. No one really though about him that much until this point. And even said he was "just a dude" which really seemed to upset him. I think he resented the fact that even though he cared about vox machina they didn't seem to care much about him or even bother to check on him in moments of crisis.

[@bigstitchydreams9065]

That little “f-ing hell” from Laura gets me every time. Because as someone who has been on both sides of conversations eerily similar to this that absolute blindsided feeling- gosh. That hits different

[@bye1551]

Agreed. As someone who forgot something I saw as tiny, I brushed it off as something that didn't matter and only realised after it was far too late that it meant the world to the other person, and then had it happen to me... It's soul crushing. Realising that this tiny action that costs the people you would move heaven and earth for *nothing* and they still didn't do it? Couldn't be bothered, didn't care, it wasn't important enough to them? When it was the only thing you'd asked if them in your entire relationship? It crushes you. Because you'd still move heaven for them, but your arms start to buckle when you're moving earth.

[@dgcfgvvgb6555]

​@@bye1551that's so sad and poetic damn

[@Mahathemime89]

the fact that none of them could really answer his questions... says more than anything... he always asked them but he was never asked

[@Gervaj79]

He could have told them but he didn't. That's his fault for not trusting them.

[@yasminafarih3681]

And they often asked if he's okay, and he'd lie

[@gangamel5979]

When exactly did he ask?

[@johanlassen6448]

@@Gervaj79 That's not how that works though. You ask about things if you are interested. People don't shove information into your face.

[@daweisguy454]

@@johanlassen6448 You have to give people reason to ask though. Scanlan played the happy funny guy to the others and they took him at face value, what more did he want? For them to ask about his tragic backstory apropos of nothing? It's a two way street, and it's wrong for Scanlan to blame others when he made no attempt himself to step on to the street. If he believed that none of the rest of the group cared about him at all, he should have broached the topic with them before it reached breaking point.

[@eknar8937]

The fact that Scanlan didn't hear Grog's words breaks my heart

[@jakemunoze7430]

Imagine how grog felt . . .

[@beanjuice4263]

I also didnt hear grogs words to be fair

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

​@@beanjuice4263it's in the episode where Scanlan dies

[@DevilWearsAdidas]

"Fix him" ​@@beanjuice4263

[@Zalied]

since comments here are from 1-4 years ago spread as of the time i am commenting. a slight explination for future old video and comment section scrollers. Grog rolled low on his ressurection attempt. Grog gave a very good speech and said a lot of things that would have maybe lessed all of this, but say has stated due to the failed roll he was playing it as if scanlan did not hear any of it. would that have changed much. maybe, maybe not. but because it happened it really leads to a lot extra to think about with how he acts here and how grog reacts to how he acts here

[@Oshawott315]

Easily my favorite moment from Season 1. It’s just so heartfelt, tense, and emotional. Sam is a legend

[@Gervaj79]

Vax returning to the Raven Queen was better imo.

[@jaderade4662]

@@Gervaj79 It felt like it was drawn on a bit too long.

[@peolo-499]

I think my favorite moment was the “wasted” wish spell from episode 114, but there are so many “favorite moments”, i can’t even count them.

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

my favorite wasn't a character moment but a player moment. When the conclave attacked, and Travis rolled a 21 to hit. He picked up his damage dice and Matt said that he missed. The wave of "Oh shit" washing over all of their faces was priceless.

[@SocialistSadako]

Same. This had so much emotional nuance/realism AND drama to it. It was unexpected and did not play into any fantasy tropes at all. Definitely the most iconic in-character moment of the campaign (we all know what OOC moment was the most iconic).

[@chiaraiannelli8392]

when liam takes off his glasses you know it's over

[@KumaoftheForest]

Liam takes off his glasses, Vaxildan molts his feathers

[@eponymouselias]

I love it when “comic relief” characters get to get loud and mad at being relegated to “comic relief” it’s got to be one of my favorite tropes/trope subversions of all time and this is one of my favorite examples of it

[@SPACEHARICE]

Sam knew someone would challenge is "what's my mother's name" So I assume he remembered every single one of theirs

[@Dragon_Lair]

He posted a picture of himself and how he prepared for that confrontation for that night. He had printed up Percy's family's names and had the list in front of him because it would make sense that Scanlan would know them, because as Percy said, their names are on the walls.

[@ixarofthebargains493]

they joke about it after the game in that episode but yeah Sam pretty much prepped just in case Percy [let's be real, the only one who might have] would be a shithead asking "but do you know my mother's name?"

[@SPACEHARICE]

@@ixarofthebargains493 he set the bait for all and Taliesin bit. This is also probably the reason Sam knew keyleths moms name in C2

[@usmcpanda]

This scene was so fucking good I forgot Matt was the DM.

[@TreeckoBro]

I think even he forgot for a second.

[@wowanimejoshua5149]

Matt suddenly remembering "oh right I'm the puppet master of this shit show"

[@ultrabigfella]

4:42 Honestly maybe the most underrated part of this scene. Scanlan's inner monologue is probably "Really? Good fucking job you've asked me my age once? Do you remember the answer though?"

[@ixarofthebargains493]

To be fair to Vax Scanlan's charisma is so high that realistically if he doesn't want to answer a question there's no way Vax *can* get it out of him. The fact only one even bothered to ask is probably the thing that hurt most tbh.

[@baddiemcbadbad9231]

Poor grog... Delivers the most heartfelt speech he's ever given and Scanlan doesn't even remember it. 2:00

[@therealrunesead]

I think Travis might be happy "scanlan" didn't hear the Washington FB team song. :-D

[@h0bb1t322]

yeah unfortunately grog didn't role high enough for his speech top work so it had no impact on the ritual

[@jakemunoze7430]

Yea you can see Travis get physically knocked back with emotion

[@KumaoftheForest]

When this gets animated, it’s gonna hurt

[@sack7348]

AAAAAAAAAAAA 😭

[@henryknippling2408]

It will, but I worry it will not hit as hard because we weren’t with them from the start of campaign one. We join them at about what episode 45 of the first campaign? It really hurts because they been through so much but for us… it’ll still hurt but like, we never heard him talk about his mother in the show (I don’t think)

[@addict9897]

Welp we're close

[@MeisterWork]

The bath scene was 81 We are only 4 episodes in to the 3rd season now we close bro 😭

[@MeisterWork]

​@henryknippling2408 either they are gonna swap it for something else or skip this but I Really doubt they will skip such an important part of his character

[@euey7441]

4:35 me when I wake up and my dog isn’t on my bed

[@matthewreid4434]

LOOOL

[@mkbryce2151]

Nice

[@liamandrew2481]

soooo dumb

[@euey7441]

Liam Andrew thank you

[@liamandrew2481]

@@euey7441 Should've tacked on a :P or something. It's stupid but honestly made me laugh out loud

[@necojimenez2456]

4:11 you wondering why Marisha is taking notes like a mad man in campaign 2?......... when scanlan asked the question "whats my mothers name" i bet she also didn't remember his mother's name. and idk if she was in the scene or not.... but being that close to such a scene.... and the look on her face of wanting to know the answer but being mad at herself for either not knowing or not being there in character probably gave a little push to why she takes so many notes in campaign two. and i could be wrong, maybe her character in campaign 2 just likes to take notes and remembers thing more easily. or maybe marisha likes to take notes.... but i bet this is ones of those things that kinda pushed her over the edge to take more detailed notes.

[@persephonehades7547]

I think in general she always took a lot of notes as a player when they streamed, because I feel like it was referenced in campaign one at some point, but she could've really went in deeper with notetaking over time. When they all started out in D&D/Pathfinder she probably never thought about taking notes int he beginning, hence why she doesn't speak up or seem to remember Juniper. That said, I'm like 75% sure she wasn't in this scene. It sounds familiar like Keyleth walked off to either buy more stuff or talk to one of Whitestone's officials about how things were going on post-Chroma Conclave.

[@Mediados]

That "No we didn't" from Travis was so defeated, wow. Knowing Sam Riegel as the funnyman, this hits even harder. Beware of the moment when the jester doesn't feel like joking.

[@Greemlinn]

The truth is they never really thought about scanlan that much up until this moment, they never tried to talk to him about his past or see how he was doing.

[@ZombHarris]

Also, it feels like the players were just mad at Sam for leaving on some level, and that meant that none of the characters except for pike and grog exploring life w/o scanlan

[@Greemlinn]

@@ZombHarris I think so to

[@SocialistSadako]

@Danny Dolan Scanlan was in a really dark place at this point, yeah :c

[@robertthompson5701]

@@ZombHarris Sam never left

[@ZombHarris]

@@robertthompson5701 I meant scanlan leaving

[@thepriorstone4064]

Scalan going down the list of things theve done for each other but not for him hits hard

[@dragonettiification]

Me watching with knowing they are all friends outside the game makes this rp so much more intense

[@andrewt3045]

"Is that all you heard? :C" grog realizing that his low persuasion role when they were reviving meant it didn't go through... And marisha fucking laughing at him lol

[@rossherndon4548]

I think she was laughing at Laura and Taliesin, they were having their own side moment

[@ixarofthebargains493]

I wonder if anyone wrote a reaction fic at the time where Grog's internal monologue goes "oh man I knew this was a bad idea curse my low persuasion roll"

[@SocialistSadako]

I love Sam so much. You know what's fucked up though? This wasn't ever really properly resolved in the campaign. He came back and they went right back into the final arc without really talking anything out. Realistic, perhaps, but narratively there was still a lot to be explored here. Oh well.

[@phffffbt]

Yeah he came back and they acted like he was in the wrong. I think they even made him apologize to THEM.

[@ramadansteve1715]

@@phffffbt He DID need to apologize to them. There was blame on both sides here and Scanlan realizes that by the time he returns

[@vishaansingh1019]

@@phffffbt He was though? The whole "I've asked your age" thing sums it up pretty well, Sam played Scanlan as a joke and stopped him from getting close to the other members and shot them down whenever they asked if he was okay, they eventually stopped prodding him because they figured Sam was playing him as a joke (which he was). This whole thin was Sam's way of saying "I'm gonna play more serious from now on", none of Scanlan's points are valid here and that's kinda the point.

[@Errrrrrrick]

@@vishaansingh1019 i don't think you guys know what real depression is like. Sam Always played seriously.

[@vishaansingh1019]

@@Errrrrrrick You seem like one of those people who started with C2 and are used to "Serious but funny" Sam. C1 Sam was NOT taking Scanlan seriously at all and would blow off other member's attempts to get him involved in the RP, he liked dicking around and having fun with it. I can tell you without a shred of doubt that Sam did not always play seriously, he started playing seriously after this episode. Also, are you saying Sam himself was depressed, or that he was always secretly playing Scanlan as depressed? Cause both are bullshit lol and Sam would be the first to call you out on it.

[@targetedandfiring4336]

Watched campaign 1 all over again not too long ago. All I could remember leading up to this episode was the disrespect from the other party members (cough cough vex cough) towards scanlan and then scanlans self destructive behavior (trying to smoke the spice and almost dieing, etc. etc.). Like the dude was obviously in a dark place and the rest of the party just kind of laughed about it?!?! No one to one sit downs and trying to figure out what was wrong just "Haha funny man being funny and almost died, don't do that again!" It really brings into light everything that leads to Scanlan finally snapping. While it was sad to not have him around, I think it was the shift the rest of Vox Machina needed to experience.

[@Dragon_Lair]

Absolutely. In many ways, I feel Scanlan's blow up and departure is exactly the kick in the pants that Vox Machina needed to stop thinking about themselves first and foremost. They (the characters) never took Scanlan seriously, save for Pike and Grog, and no one really took the time to try and get to know him even as they saw he was in a downward spiral. Vex even saying he was just some dude right after praising everyone else in the group. They definitely needed Scanlan in the hells and he wasn't around to help them any more probably helped them stop taking his presence for granted. Then Tarion Darrington enters the scene, a living personification of all of Vox Machina's worst traits, shoved right in their faces. It put them in a position where no matter how skilled or famous they were they were being treated and talked to like they were the side show to the leading man, Tarrion himself. Sure, they quickly put him in his place in the pecking order but Tary never stopped treating them like side characters in his story and didn't even bother learning their names before Pike forced him to, except Percy. After the year-long break for Vox Machina and Scanlan's return, I feel all the characters went through some much needed character development.

[@BryonYoungblood]

@@Dragon_Lair And I’m sure Scanlan needed to do a lot of soul searching while he was away, which is also why he likely felt he needed to apologize to the party for how he walked out on them due to his frustration at how he felt he broke his promise to Kaylie when he died.

[@Birthday888]

@@BryonYoungblood Yeah. While VM didn't treat Scanlan right in many instances, it's not fair to them to throw it back in their faces and accuse them of not caring about him when he never brought any of his issues up to the party.

[@flameknightdragon]

@@Birthday888 the thing is it 100% is. Everything was their for them telling them something was wrong and they didnothing or ignored them.

[@Birthday888]

@@flameknightdragon Yes, but that's because we have hindsight. Scanlan was actively trying to tell them everything was fine until things went to far and he reached his limit. He never told them how he felt until he felt as if he had to leave. If someone does something that you aren't cool with, and your only response is to not tell them and keep saying that you're okay, then part of the responsibility of them not realizing that you're hurting lies with yourself.

[@nspinicelli]

If I'm ever a casting director, I'm looking at Sam Riegal first.

[@aaronholden988]

And asking him to ask matt and Liam and Laura to come along too

[@scarlightemperor3410]

@@aaronholden988 whole cast is best

[@kkTeaz]

Just get all of critical role while you're at it

[@KumaoftheForest]

Just don’t put him in charge of costume design

[@joshhaworth2155]

All this, and he whips out Tarry of all people.

[@zangor3005]

You mean Tarrion Darrington, the man who sacrificed his only real friend in a fight that had nothing to do with him and started an adventuring company who took on charity work to help the less fortunate in order to right the wrongs of his father? That Tarry?

[@joshhaworth2155]

@@zangor3005 I'm more referring to how Liam reacted at the end of the episode. Tarry turned into a pretty solid character, but he was much less so when first introduced.

[@zangor3005]

@@joshhaworth2155 I know, I was mostly just messing with you. He was a total d bag when he first showed up

[@joshhaworth2155]

@@zangor3005 Hard to know the trolls from the serious ones these days. All good sir/madam/whatever else.

[@CarlosAlvarado-xt3mf]

@@joshhaworth2155 Pyramid, but that one is mostly for taliesin

[@bo_chloer]

i hated how proud percy seemed at the prank ‘that was me’ while smirking

[@Mystik3eb]

I think it's less of a smirk and more of a wince, TBH

[@garethrobertson5502]

Had to come here after the recent vox episode, I get the changes but, i so wish we could have had this scene. Its just one of the greatest scenes ever

[@Zsolt.Hajdu.]

The fact that Laura is not voice acting in this scene just shows how immersed they are in the emotional scene.

[@wakipaki7381]

Sam Riegel is a hell of an actor

[@nicholasandrade3573]

Thank you so much for saving this scene, I've been looking for it everywhere!

[@alexnewman4496]

The best part of this how it's really used to set up Taryon Darington being introduced later in the episode :D

[@Dragon_Lair]

It’s also great because Tarion is a reflection of Vox Machina’s worst traits. Terry takes the wind out of their sails very quickly when he doesn’t recognize them, puts himself before them, and treats them as additions to HIS adventures, and he is remarkably self-absorbed, exactly how Scanlan felt Vox Machina were behaving.

[@BryonYoungblood]

@@Dragon_Lair And we see though too how Tary came to find himself right at home with Vox Machina, even if it took some time for him to feel it.

[@5YenGyro]

Im really upset that this was taken away from the animated show 😢 One of my favorite moments in the campaign

[@yeapeeplz]

3:12 your people did this

[@honeysuckel1351]

All of this makes percys "What's kaylie's mothers name?" And scanlan NOT KNOWING when it's actually been said before. PERFECT

[@lvplvp]

I thought that was really dumb and showed that Percy learned nothing. The point was never about learning Scanlan's age or name

[@Megidramon]

To be fair, it could be taken as proof that Percy did learn, as the person blaming others wasn't looking at himself. He was calling attention to the fact that Scanlan was being a hypocrite. Scanlan expects other people to know details about him, yet he doesn't know details about the one person he supposedly cares for the most. It could also be taken as Percy's way of connecting with Scanlan in the same way Grog wanted to when Grog asked what Scanlan's mother's name was after this scene.

[@robertsnyder533]

The silence after "Whats my mothers name" speaks loads. Absolutely brilliant.

[@chrisradek11]

The moment for me when Scanlan went from being a memelord character to an actual person.

[@twistedmind2680]

Who else is here after the s3 finale? I get it but am crushed that we will never see this moment live. Especially because it really felt like they’ve been building to it throughout the season

[@frenchtantan]

Hard disagree about the build-up. Pike cared about Scanlan too much for this, and even the rest of the team didn't lash out about him being absent when Percy died, and they definitely could've. On the contrary, I feel like they built AWAY from it. As a non-campaign viewer, seeing some variation of the lament at the end of S3 as it is, I would've been "Wow, Scanlan is an asshole and a hypocrite, screw him". Not a great idea. And Sam agrees it seems as it was the idea, here's an interview for Paste Magazine from October 24, 2024. He says the following regarding the lament: “Making a TV show is tricky because you want to put it all in there, and definitely we wanted to honor that moment, but the season has to end. We don’t know if we’re ever going to make another season of this show or another episode of this show, and the way that it worked out, the last scene of the [The Legend of Vox Machina] could’ve been Scanlan saying ‘Fuck you’ to everybody and leaving, which didn’t seem like a really great way to end the show. So we adapted it into something that I think is still bittersweet and holds the intention of that moment, but if we ever do get further, future seasons, we have plans to honor that moment in a different way.”

[@the_enderslayer]

they've even been building to it in seasons 1 and 2 as well, Scanlan has never been treated seriously until season 3, but unfortunately they felt the need to change the back half of the season to fit this new version of the ending, like everyone suddenly being kind to him after dismissing him all show and saying nobody cares about his problems in the first half of the season, it feels like the Whitestone fight must've been the turning point where they started editing his arc, because that absolutely felt like it was going to be setup for at least Vex to be even more pissed at him (since she especially has been the most demeaning to him all show and especially this season), but then she ended up not even really commenting on it I could honestly feel the differences in the second half, a lot of the choices, even beside Scanlan's stuff, were made in the interest of accelerating toward an early series finale, since they didn't have confirmation of season 4 being greenlit yet

[@frenchtantan]

For anyone coming here after the Seasonn 3 finale, here's part of an interview for Paste Magazine following the end of Season 3: “Making a TV show is tricky because you want to put it all in there, and definitely we wanted to honor that moment, but the season has to end,” Riegel explains. “We don’t know if we’re ever going to make another season of this show or another episode of this show, and the way that it worked out, the last scene of the [The Legend of Vox Machina] could’ve been Scanlan saying ‘Fuck you’ to everybody and leaving, which didn’t seem like a really great way to end the show. So we adapted it into something that I think is still bittersweet and holds the intention of that moment, but if we ever do get further, future seasons, we have plans to honor that moment in a different way.” So there you have it. The reason why this wasn't in the finale, and also hope that we might still see a version of it in the future.

[@Axel_Kasai]

In a different article, he said it just wouldn't make sense for scanlan to be pissed off anyway.

[@YelMalanta]

okay so we still might get an emotional outburst at least, i hope they can continue it.

[@transientanus]

​@@Axel_KasaiExcept it makes perfect sense. Scanlan was upset about his daughter and Vex literally screams "Who tf cares?!" He's been the butt of every joke since season one. They wasted an entire episode+ on keyleth doing a simple scry spell when they showed Ripley actively using the scrying eye. They wasted animation time on shoehorning in zerxus for no reason. They could have easily done A bards lament. They just chose not to even knowing how much fans were looking forward to it. Its a defining moment in the campaign. Without going through that, the characters aren't even the same people. It makes no sense NOT to do it.

[@the_enderslayer]

except there wasn't really any better point in the story to put it, they wrote themselves into a corner here, Scanlan is already working through his shit, he already "died",, he already left, and the entire crew is now split up so who would even be there for him to get mad at? Better yet, what would that mean for Tary? We just not getting Tary? They can't make another death scene for Scanlan in season 4 with a good amount of buildup and payoff and still have time to do the rest of the actual season 4 story but that's the saddest part, this corner they're in is one they can easily walk out of by simply deciding not to adapt the scene at all, problem solved all because they wanted to play it safe

[@frenchtantan]

​@@transientanus Did you even read what Sam said? A version of it is going to happen in season 4, chill out... It just didn't make sense to have it at the end of season 3 in case it was to be the actual finale, and that's a perfectly valid reason. Also, remember that the people who played the characters are literally in the writer's room. If there is a moment that they feel wouldn't fit in the story they want to tell, it's their choice, not ours, and we have to trust them that at the very least, they are content with what they come up with.

[@jasonp7423]

This episode was nuts when I watched it. So tense and so emotion filled.

[@Foxxology]

just wanted to say thanks for uploading this, I saw this clip right as the campaign was finishing and this exact clip is what got me into critrole and my life wouldn't be the same without it

[@mattwing05]

sooo much passion

[@maxchen9185]

holy shxt. not only is this top class role-play/acting, it invokes me to check back my own relationships with my friends. we all have that one jokester in the squad, and damn, that just hits. I just feel bad.

[@robertthompson5701]

Its disturbing how much this hits home for me.

[@98spideyzuko]

First time hearing this I was on his side so much. Like I was talking to the screen saying "if you all did care, why couldn't anyone else bring him back? Why did you need his daughter? No one else could have made an offering???"

[@orindark]

Anyone else feel like scanlan in this moment...well minus the being dead part?

[@yasminafarih3681]

I find myself in his situation sometimes, because I am queit often. And i usually crack weird lines that some generous people would interprate as jokes

[@robertthompson5701]

Every day

[@TheMastermind729]

@@robertthompson5701 every damn day

[@p00tis]

1:19 Ah Vex, trivializing promises.

[@Phiro00]

Pootis Spencer of course she does. Her father was a lying shitbag while her mother was actually there for her. Of course she values actions over promises which to her are just words

[@Gervaj79]

Promises are meant to be broken.

[@charliea.5546]

@@Gervaj79 that's just...not true though

[@milanivkovic1680]

@@Phiro00 That doesnt change the fact it was innsensitive....

[@Phiro00]

@@milanivkovic1680 it makes sense for her to do it tho.

[@matthewberg5835]

I love this cause it’s basically scanland is basically all of us who are alone and think we have people who care about us but probably truly don’t . He shows all that emotion and says everything that we have always wanted to say

[@JeffreyGardner89]

me clicking "play" on this for the 47th time, tears already streaming down my face: just fuck me up sam riegel

[@josephvickrey5396]

Me: "Haha Sam is hilarious...." Scanlan: "What's my mother's name" Me: 😭

[@micktrinus]

Before I watched any shows or played any games knowing these guys were in them, this scene taught me the caliber of actor they are. Especially Sam.

[@manjakit]

I plan to watch the first campaign after I catch up with the second one (at at 98) but just from this clip a lot of the jokes that Sam makes as Nott fall in to place. I didn't understand why the whole table laughed when they asked Nott what her mothers name was.

[@ScarletPendragon97]

*I Love the Part where Scanlan points out on every adventures with his team for their self-ego vendetta & family issues or retrieving a magical equipment to defeat a dragon. (**3:44**)*

[@ambitiouscabbage]

The best critical role scene of all time, you can't change my mind

[@pippin.jay99]

if this part of the campaign ends up getting animated i don't know if i'll be able to cope. when i was watching c1 for the first time i went into this episode knowing scanlan leaves but having no other indications or spoilers about what was coming. i cried harder during this scene than any other time in campaign 1, second only to vax's farewell and the end of dalen's closet

[@derdox6720]

my absolute favorite moment of the first campaign and they actually cut it out of the animated show

[@dorianrisse4079]

They didn't cut it out, now that they are confirmed to have more seasons they'll work it in later. They were making this season to be sort of final because they didn't know if they were going to get renewed.

[@derdox6720]

@@dorianrisse4079 i don't think so, but i hope you are right

[@aaronmilano239]

@@dorianrisse4079I mean even if that is true, this ALL happened before their time skip where everyone left for a year and it made sense also as they had tarrington in the campaign go to hell for pikes plate and the party HATED him, we aren’t going to get that at all now. Also, that moment finally allowed Scanlan too dump his trauma onto the group about how they were just using them… except Grog and Pike 😢😢 Ossysa in the SHOW tells him his biggest fault is no one cared about him and they just walked over the biggest arc of scanlans character,just horrible planning. Even if you do have to end your series you stick to your roots or do some planning so that’s not the last ep, their was a lot of dumb fluff in this third season that was unnecessary. Just super disappointing and it’s not like I think it’s going to get better. This is truly scaring me for the mighty nein as they have showed they want to stick to cannon “somewhat”

[@WhisperingWinds0]

and to think this is "just" acting...the commitment... the sentiment... Damn

[@IceMetalPunk]

No such thing as "just" acting. Whenever you act or roleplay, you're letting someone else inhabit you for awhile; and I think this clip shows that every person, even fictional ones, deserve to matter, even if only for a moment.

[@WannSky]

While he probably played it as a joke the drug stuff kinda makes sense when you think about it. Scanlan has a lot on his shoulders and no one to really speak to. When he held onto the 8th or 7th spell just to convince Jaret to get drugs and the story he used to convince him was probably a truer story he never told.

[@philbattiste9649]

In the group's defense, the actual characters never knew he saved that slot. And only Vax and Keyleth were beginning to realize he was smoking weird shit. Scanlan doesn't quite have the right to be pissed that nobody knows him when he guards himself off the others. Could Vox Machina have treated Scanlan better? Yes, and they should have. But they literally did not know Scanlan had issues with them.

[@Anon-qp3kt]

@@philbattiste9649 least they could do was not disrespecting his corpse in front of the daughter but you know, that’s Scanlan’s fault apparently

[@tatersalad76]

That's a big yiiiiikes: when the bard gets angry, ya done fucked up

[@coconutowll6792]

Knowing this isn't in the show crushes me 😔 I would have loved to see this be animated.

[@peolo-499]

Best moment of campaign 1 other than the last two episodes.

[@TeddieSage1987]

"What's my mother's name?" OUCH... That line hurt.

[@elvistran4595]

So this is why Marisha started taking notes of everything

[@nemanjajovanov]

'What's my mother's name?' 'Uhhh...Is it Martha?'

[@larrychilders6599]

Juniper, her name was Juniper

[@BallisticAero]

Scanlan snapping was the slowest buildling eruption I've seen as far as character development. To the untrained eye he is exactly what he says the rest of VM sees him as, a funny little man that plays music. To those more aware, he is probably the most nuanced character in the campaign, and he hides until the right moments. This was a cork firing out of a bottle and ricocheting off the walls for almost 7 minutes that not many saw coming. The delivery was immaculate as he rants off about everything the crew has done for each other - all the crazy feats the team went through for everyone but when it came to Scanlan they took his corpse, desecrated it with pudding and a dress then tied his hands above his head and brought his daughter to see him in that state. That's one of the biggest moments of "hahaha this is funny - oh wait we really just fucked up so bad"

[@AflacMan13]

And to think... Scanlan was a spur of the moment diner napkin character. :-P

[@Ragsna]

Almost 50 episodes in campaign 3 and I still come back to this one moment...

[@Keith-zo6fq]

This is now a separate universe. A What If Pike Wasn't Always Around

[@transientanus]

And "what if pike was literally anything completely different character resembling nothing like her original self".

[@SloweBro99]

Closest thing to party infighting we've ever seen on critrole.

[@Vean-fn9fn]

I like that Scanlan didn't decided to dig down his heel further and trade insults for insults half way through the scene because he realize he still love them and not want their (potentially) last memory of him to be an argument

[@ChloBear_]

it was all serious for me until he just shouted 'Where's my fucking dog!?' and then i lost it xD

[@crowfather3838]

Dude, I always wondered what this "what was my mother's name" thing was about (besides a possible jab at BvS) but this is gold. I can completely understand Scanlan because unfortunately I've been that guy in the group. (Minus the awesome lymrics and magic)

[@Klespyrian]

I will never forget the moment I pulled over to watch this instead of listen. One of the best moments in Critical Role, as far as I am concerned. What a group of actors we have to enjoy..

[@brandontucker6958]

Man I'm gonna cry when this scene happens in the show

[@mctheplaywright]

I’m a D20 guy myself, but this scene with Sam is the best RP I’ve seen come from DnD

[@zach1972]

A shame we wont get to see this animated

[@frenchtantan]

Interview for Paste Magazine, October 24, 2024. Sam says the following regarding the lament: “Making a TV show is tricky because you want to put it all in there, and definitely we wanted to honor that moment, but the season has to end. We don’t know if we’re ever going to make another season of this show or another episode of this show, and the way that it worked out, the last scene of the [The Legend of Vox Machina] could’ve been Scanlan saying ‘Fuck you’ to everybody and leaving, which didn’t seem like a really great way to end the show. So we adapted it into something that I think is still bittersweet and holds the intention of that moment, but if we ever do get further, future seasons, we have plans to honor that moment in a different way.”

[@oscarm7689]

Such a powerful moment. Wonderfully executed. Keep notes people, that will help in making something that is at least 1/10 as impactful as this.

[@ericdavies1879]

Who else thought mat camera signal dropped and froze until he responded to the dog question

[@dVector13]

even when listening to this whole thing the first time around, i thought it was in such bad taste to dress a dead body up in a nightgown and smear stuff on it.

[@philbattiste9649]

Oh 100%. If there was a royal fuck up that VM had no defense for, it was that. The other shit was stuff Scanlan kind of hid and kept at his own discretion. But this was just punching down.

[@ivando2]

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Thank you Sam Riegel.

[@SorchaSublime]

I love the tone shift as the rest of the party goes from indignation to realising "oh shit no he's kinda right"

[@coolio3267]

I honestly cannot wait to see this moment in the animated show!!!

[@Dasacht095]

When I was younger I never understood this moment, I never understood why he was hurt. But after years, gods, gods alive, I truly understand this now

[@akhilm9851]

There's so many layers in the opening dialogue alone...

[@thatbubblegumwitch]

I feel this....so much. My character is going through this. And it sucks. It’s so rough to watch your character go through this. Heart breaking.

[@awesomeman8385]

Mine is sort of going through this right now. I've played a careless warlock. I tend to come off as a "look out for myself" type of character. Last session someone said I only care about myself. The whole group laid into me. I had to remind them how often I've done things for them. Sliding from a hidden door on a hill and put myself between a demon and our hurt cleric. The time I switched places with the rogue as a violet of Aries came at her. The time I talked down a dragon (massive persuasion role) and a few others I listed. I didn't do that for the mission, I did that for my friends. The only people I thought cared about me. I don't have parents or family in just the one I've built. It felt really good finally making them realize I'm part of the family to

[@DxReaper120]

As soon as he said "why the fuck would you do that" and eveyrones face change told you everything lol

[@I-VisiBomb-I]

this goes to show you that even when you're with friends and in good company, you can still feel alone, and thats valid.

[@philbattiste9649]

It also shows that even though you know (or think you know) what a person is like and care about them in earnesty, you can still miss so many simple yet crucial things about them.