Apparently Things CAN Get Worse : The Legend of Vox Machina s02ep3+4 BLIND Reaction

[@Mataw0]

"Episode 1 and 2 were really gut wrenching so hopefully I will get a little bit of a break", oh boy this is going to be a rollercoaster.

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

I laughed so hard! 😂

[@kristofferjohansson8663]

I was taking a sip of beer just as she said that. It was rather uncomfortable, yes.

[@ghurcbghurcb]

Funny you should ask if Percy knows about Grog's sword... In the live play, Percy looted Craven Edge off of Sylas, the sword talked to him, and Percy instantly went "Nope! Not going down this road again." And then he gave Craven Edge to Grog and told him NOTHING.

[@kyratries]

noooo omg that's so...percy you disaster

[@ghurcbghurcb]

@@kyratries Percy lives for DRAMA

[@ventusbruma1039]

It was hilarious because every time the situation was getting worse, Percy (Talisen) and Grogs (Travis) would look at each other like the troublemakers they are. Talisen would be in stitches laughing saying things like "I'm so happy" or "do it do it" then Travis would play along gleefully because he's a chaos gremlin most days. 😂​@kyratries

[@FrostyTheSnowPickle]

The amazing part about Vex’s death was that it was just as shocking and sudden in the campaign. They had won, they had defeated the monsters, and then they just got careless. Vex failed a saving throw, and the party were making jokes about it. Sam even joked “Vex dies.” And then Matt tells Laura how much damage she takes, she says she’s unconscious, and Matt clarifies, asking the question “Does that bring you below zero?” And then just his silence after Laura answers yes, as everybody suddenly realizes what that means…

[@TarisSinclair]

There's a YT video showing both scenes. They kept the writing very close to the original because it hit so hard.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnLYeZmOrLmMZ68

[@Geth-Who]

Vax's emotional performance in these episodes was VERY real. When this happened on tabletop, Liam - Vax's player/voice - was in the process of losing his mother. He poured the grief and despair of that into this performance, and made it absolutely fucking killer. That's how you roleplay/act real sorrow: you let yourself remember it.

[@christophercorbin9387]

Goddess of Death... and fate. The Raven Queen's threads of fate can be seen from the very opening of the show. :)

[@harveyh8297]

That full-chested “UUUUGH Anna Ripley!” At the end was *chefs kiss* Yeah that’s how we all felt when we found out she was still running around. I hate her even more than the briarwoods. The Briarwoods at least have love and concern for SOMEONE but Ripley is the epitome of “high academic intelligence and nonexistent emotional intelligence or empathy.” She’s a legit sociopath and she’s crazy smart and it makes her incredibly unlikable.

[@Spherrum]

Love the voice actress though.

[@zenmastermtl]

You should go check out the scene from the actual game. The simple tragedy of a failed save. Laura's (Vex) face when she realizes... Also Travis (Grog), Laura's husband, is just looking at Matt the whole time like "Please, buddy. Please don't kill my wife's character. Please. I'll be stuck consoling her the whole weekend. Please don't do this, man."

[@jdahl06]

“Do not go far from me.” Those words hurt every time I hear them.

[@likecat7886]

No matter which of the twins says it. 😢

[@billbishop6109]

Kash's flirting with Keyleth came about in game because Marisha (Keyleth) let it known that as a girl she had a crush on Will Friedle (Kash) when he was on Boy Meets World, so he decided he was going to flirt with Marisha because it would be funny.

[@zenmastermtl]

Ya Liam's "Somebody do something!" cuts DEEP. The panic, fear, desperation.

[@geak78]

When real life emotions come out in this "game". This entire arc happened when Liam lost his mom. D&D really is so good at helping people process things that are hard to process in real life.

[@CatherinesClaws]

if i didn't know better i'd almost think you'd seen the campaign before! you're one of the most perceptive reactors i've watched, great job catching all the red flags & noticing smaller details!!!

[@kyratries]

Thank you! I'm not quite sure what red flags I caught (unless it was something happened to the twins? flashbacks always make me nervous lol it almost always means something big happening) but I try!

[@CatherinesClaws]

@kyratries Yeah, the twin stuff as well as the champion stuff was a great catch! You've also caught onto some things that haven't happened yet but I won't spoil that hehe

[@blazingdutchmangaming3702]

Grog getting facial hair is indeed a MASSIVE deal. His race, A half-giant race named Goliath can’t grow facial hair, and barely any body hair. In the campaign Grog’s player Travis had to roll for a few in game days to get his beard to grow. So yeah, a magical miracle to have him grow facial beard, especially this gorgeous of a beard 😇

[@zachwillett5853]

Probably because the rest of the Belt of Dwarvenkind's effects are likely to be downplayed. Edit: If they're mentioned at all.

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

More than a few. He was rolling after every sleep for quite a while. And then there was when Vax played the prank on him and shaved half his beard. (Which is what the fish did is referencing.) Took several rolls to grow back. I think that was when Travis broke the mechanical pencil.

[@ConfuseTheMasses]

The pure dramatic irony of your intro is amazing

[@kyratries]

i was young and innocent once OTL

[@TheTecManiac]

You know, watching episodes 3 and 4 directly after each other worked out pretty well, imagine having to wait a whole week for episode 4 XD Also, concerning Percy and grogs new sword, I think Percy is just the kind of person to be like "Huh, might be useful in Grogs hands" and let´s him have it without thinking about the consequences, I mean he was also immediately ready to pick up his demon gun again, claiming "It can still be useful"

[@kyratries]

...very true. Demon gun, evil sword---both solid entries on my chalkboard count of 'Percy being a very intelligent idiot' moments.

[@TheTecManiac]

@@kyratries I feel like that is a perfect description of Percy XD

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

They released the first 3 episodes all in a batch. So most of us watched them back to back, and got left on THAT note for a whole week as the "welcome to season 2" impression

[@georgerobins4110]

Also, can I say, you’re pretty lucky to be watching this two episodes at a time lmao When the show released, they did it in batches of 3 episodes each. So us poor saps had to wait a WHOLE WEEK between episodes 3 and 4 😭😭😭

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

They like to torture us by putting the big cliffhangers every third episode.

[@connorblack99]

As a stream OG, this is a fully authentic critical role experience. Though this particular episode was only liable to run an extra 2.5 hours rather than making us wait to see if a ritual could happen, there were weeks at a time where Matt would just door slam the episode with a cliffhanger every time. I remember my first live episode was the episode the dragons attacked in, I thought “why not try it for once, it’s late but I have Friday off” and he ended with the dragon attack and I realized when they broke for Christmas that I had watched live all freaking year because it had basically been cliffhangers all year lol

[@Heavensrun]

Percy knows Grog has the sword, but nobody is aware that the sword is sentient.

[@mollymawkery]

Something that I always think is important to remember during these episodes is that Vax and Vex's mother was killed by a dragon (they mention it briefly in S1E1). So for both of the twins the Chroma Conclave destroying Emon is a massive trauma trigger. It helps explain why Vax was especially worried for Vex and why she was trying to be so reassuring. Also, it's vital that you know that during the campaign Vax constantly refers to Trinket as his nephew. He also spoils Trinket whenever Vex isn't looking. He loves his bear nephew so much!

[@hhylobates4098]

Yes I'm quite sad about one of the lines lost in that adaptation, the shaky "Do you think this is what mother saw before she died?" from a shellshocked Vex immediately after the conclave attack. And the was the original moment of Do not go far from me.

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

I've seen this so many times, and Vex's death, and Vax's reaction, never fail to make me cry. Liam's performance is absolutely heartbreaking.

[@MajorLacerations]

The whole thing happened because that trap just happened to take Vex below 0hp Which is normally just an unconscious thing but that particular trap was particularly nasty due to where they were

[@easterslice]

Yes, normally, she'd be unconscious and they'd just have to pour a potion into her mouth. But this was an extra deadly trap, because of course the Raven Queen's followers would set something extra to protect her champion's tomb.

[@crimsonhail8071]

Since Show cannon isn't the same as Campaign cannon. You know i could see Vex and Zahra being ex's

[@johnobrien7562]

it was a popular ship even in the campaign.

[@christophercobler9774]

Gotta say, ive watched many people react to TLOVM, you are definly one of my favorites that is watching it. I was one that helped this happen by backing it on Kickstarter. Even before it was anounced as a Kickstarter, some of us critters where chatting in comments of an old VM video and I said that I bet if they did a Kickstarter to fund a season of animation, they could probably fund it in a a week,...but instead it was funded in a day 😅 and thensome which helped them get pucked up by Amazon who gave them more so they could do more than what they planned with the KS

[@timidwolf]

Canonically, Vax is the older sibling, that's why he calls Vex stubby.

[@MoteMayhaps]

He's slightly taller, so she's 'stubby' in comparison. Siblings love to one-up each other.

[@geak78]

I love that you're as invested in the characters as we are. Not too many people can care this much with the shorter animation. But having hundreds of hours invested in the campaign and then to see it animated, we have shed so many tears.

[@jennynorton9218]

I watched the D&D game and have watched these episodes a few times myself already and I STILL start crying when Percy opens that tomb! They get so into it in the game and that emotion 100% translates into their voice acting for the show!

[@TitoMcFadden]

They also got a Pokeball for Trinket... that's another good thing, right? Don't worry about the dragon apocalypse, the possible Faustian Bargain that Vax made with the goddess of death, the evil sentient sword that is talking to Grog, or Anna "Uberbitch" Ripley. Focus on the good things. They're all alive, Vax got a new fit, Grog has a beard, AND Trinket is a Pokemon now. Things are looking good. Yeah. PS: Percy got killer rizz...

[@kyratries]

I'm in public trying not to scream at that last one oh god percy you disaster beard for grog. beard for grog. beard for grog FOCUS ON THE BEARD

[@Ironoclasty]

That was, honestly, one of the best reactions to these episodes I've seen. And I've been watching a lot of people react to this series. You watch with your whole heart! I love it. And as to the noise, don't worry about it. You do what you can with what you've got. Just think of all those bumps and stomps as the sound of impending doom, it'll be fine.

[@wildbronco038]

This is just a master class in acting/voice acting from Liam

[@WexMajor82]

"A bird? How does that helps?" Well, spoken Keyleth, you're basically a god, after all.

[@shannonsavino2068]

7:13 I love when Percy gets the anime-glasses shine that all of last season was about revenge while Vex is having her sass-off with Zahra, and then the very next thing he does is to sass Zahra back (in a way that actually gets under her skin). Yes boy, stand up for your girl! One of my favorite touches is that for the entirety of Episode 3 there is no soundtrack (other than during the flashbacks, and the diegetic moment of Scanlan playing his surfing song). It gives such an eerie and ominous feeling to the entire thing, but it's also hard to pick up on what's missing. Vex and Zahra are so absolutely acting like exes this entire time. "Percival Fredrickstein von Humperdink Alexander the Third von Mussel Klossowski William VIII de Rolo, You flirt with a woman ONE TIME and you kill her" - ah, the Percival de Rolo life. This made me laugh so much. 47:54 That shot of Vax leaping with the visage of the Matron of Ravens behind him - actual chills. It's SUCH a good visual. Also, I love how much you love Vex. She's one of my favorite characters of all time and is so good. There are a lot of reactors who misunderstand her because her her prickliness to Keyleth in Season 1, but she really is so soft on the inside.

[@hhylobates4098]

Also the way Percy is fidgeting with this hole-y hand, maybe hes thinking about the inventions seen in episode 7&8, his own and the gift to Vex

[@bryanmacklem2654]

@Funnylilgalreacts also had the same problem with Vex where she didn't care for her at all because of how she treated Keyleth, but she changed her tune after this episode and now can say she LOVES every one of them. I can't wait for both Funnylilgal and Kyra to get into the whole story of Vox Machina and then the Mighty Nein (when that show debuts).😉

[@deptusmechanikus7362]

There’s a really cool song about the Raven Queen moment on KZbin. Far From Me by Chase Noseworthy. I think it was written back before the show was mode, when Vox Machina was only a podcast. But it still fits super well. I added it most of my fantasy playlists lol

[@wildbronco038]

1:19- Famous last words

[@johnwoodworth9127]

Little spoiler free tidbit. Kash was played and voiced by Will Friedle, who back in the 90s was on Boy Meets World. He wasn't the star but was still very much a heart throb of the time. Marisha who played Keyleth in the show and at the table, had a poster of Will on her bedroom wall when she was a kid.

[@geak78]

And Marisha fangirled when Will was on the campaign causing the Keyleth/Kash flirting in the show.

[@kenle2]

THIS is how you make dramatic death/revival work. Theres's genuine emotional and plot consequences.

[@michaelbryant3640]

54:13 "I now pronounce you, my pokemon!"

[@kaniamia]

They consistently referred to it as “the pokeball” in the actual campaign. And later in this season there’s definitely a visual reference that’s only missing Vex shouting “I choose you!”

[@emilymary5831]

Excellent reaction! I felt so bad for you, you care so much for these characters. Liam's voice acting made me emotional watching this so many times as well.

[@davidbodor1762]

So, fun fact about Grog's belt - It's a belt of Dwarvenkind. Yes it gives a beard, but also some stats and it lets the wearer read Dwarven writing, except Grog doesn't know how to read any writing, so it doesn't work for him XD

[@WexMajor82]

Makes him resistant to poison and gives a +2 in CON

[@djcowell91]

I warned you to have your emotional support Ox ready for this one. I couldn't specify the "Somebody do something" line without a spoiler, but I'm glad you survived it anyway! At least you had the two back-to-back. They release 3 at a time so that was a hell of a week between episodes 3 and 4!

[@connorblack99]

I haven’t yet gotten past your intro. I am sincerely sorry for what is about to happen to you. As someone who watched it as a live stream 8 years ago and ended up accidentally watching a ritual at 2:30 am on a Friday before class, it has been translated with painstaking care. The number of sleep deprived Friday mornings Vox Machina gave me, both good and ill, is scarcely worth considering. A fair few anxious weeks of waiting for Thursday too. Only a few unbearable ones though.

[@marcsfat]

Just gotta say... lowkey I thought it was so funny when you were saying people thought you were on drugs because you were emotional last video, knowing what was gonna happen THIS video. You did great btw. Glad you were able to watch them back to back. Episode 4 is one of my favorites of the season. But it gets even better from here.

[@ryanratchford2530]

Oh boy Ep3 ending made me cry.

[@NothingKingKN]

I love the small narrative touch that they introduced a resurrection magic - which in any show would trivialise death as a whole - only for it to just... Fail. And actually show that it's indeed not foolproof and not a literal Deus Ex Machina.

[@georgerobins4110]

Also establishing that it’s hard to pull off and has to be done ON THE SPOT (while the body is still warm)

[@NothingKingKN]

@@georgerobins4110 I love how they specified that btw. Like, it contextualises magic in a very good way. In DnD magic is very arbitrary and stuff like resurrection spells have requirements from the bodies themselves, such as being in one piece and the death being under a minute in case of Revivify. In this case "While the body is warm" is a perfect way to describe it.

[@Tachilen]

You Handeld this far better than I expected - and my favorite sentence was 'has he to watch her...?'

[@georgerobins4110]

Lmao when you posted the last part and I saw the title I was like: well… about that… 😂😂😂😂

[@Becky31389]

Kyra you should definitely be glad you're binging everything because when these episodes originally aired, they dropped in batches of 3 so Vex's death in episode 3 was the last episode for a week and everyone else had to wait to find out what happened (except for those of us who have seen the campaign of course) 😬

[@ryanbagley3293]

Ah yes the episodes we were all waiting for

[@magp1001]

There's another episode coming up that we're waiting for.

[@CatherinesClaws]

"episode 1 and 2 were really gut wrenching so hopefully i get a little bit of a break" oh honey, you've got a big storm coming 😭

[@kenle2]

In the game sessions, Travis is very perceptive and often picks up on what Matt is doing with plot points at least in general. But Grog is ... Grog, a barbarian who mostly ignored his intelligence statistic. So Travis often has Grog say or do something that you could intepret as profoundly dumb or missing the point, but is ACTUALLY a good point or a good choice, if you look at it the "wrong way".

[@neintales1224]

Between watching the show on my own and watching reactions, on top of also watching the original scene in play more than once, I have seen Vex die probably about 50 times at this point, and I *always* tear up, especially when Liam puts everything into the grieving and reaction.

[@ryanbagley3293]

An alternative reality where Percy got hit by the death blast trap and vax sees the matron of ravens come and claim his soul but cuz it’s not his sister he doesn’t call out and just goes ‘well, that was weird… anyways’

[@apathicmiko6546]

lmao, that would be hilariously sad. I read somewhere that Percy was meant to become the Raven Queen's champion originaly, like, with his deep inner darkess, tragic past, his weird affilation with birds (his plague Doctor mask, Orthax and the raven skull Keyleth gave him), but I may be wrong and it was just a comment from a fan, but it has become my headcanon anyway lol

[@easterslice]

@@apathicmiko6546 I've heard that as well. But I haven't seen a primary source for that. It's interesting to think how Talieson would have played that storyline.

[@operative2136]

There is an interview with Matt and Taliesin from one of the various conventions they've attended where Matt touched upon the fact that originally he had designed the Deathwalker's Ward for Percy. At the time though, Liam's (Vax's player) mother had passed away and he was dealing with his grief when the trap downed Vex. Given the circumstances, and how it worked at the time Matt made the spontaneous decision to give Liam a chance to earn the Deathwalker's Ward.

[@geak78]

"Point that thing at me again and I'll kill you!" :Points it at all of them again: *Watches him ushered to the afterlife*

[@maddaya]

@@operative2136 yes, I saw that interview. Liam actually said the lines "Take me instead you raven b*tch." Which was so profound in that moment Matt knew the implications of what Vax was saying and offering, thus awarding him the ward. I think either would have been a gripping story, especially those who know what the future holds in the campaign. But this is one of my favorite moments. There is a video of the cast reacting to this episode, and in it Matt actually tears up just living in that moment again and how it came to life. Specifically Vax sobbing for his sister.

[@CLKagmi23]

OH CRAP. I just realized this was the last reaction you had released and now I'M cliffhangered!

[@magp1001]

You might as well get the ox for the rest of the season. Really enjoying your reactions!

[@apathicmiko6546]

yep, THAT episode, the Sunken Tomb incident hurt me as deep as it hurt all the players of the original campaing, some of them were even tearing up the whole scene, specially Taliesin 😢 I stop watching the series for a whole week before going back because I knew things between Percy and Vax would be very tense and sad, and I love these two boys too much to see their relationship break apart like this 😭

[@kevonlordoftheslimes9084]

You can tell when Kyra is in pain cause she immediately clicked to the next episode in hopes of saving herself from it.

[@VampireHunter5790]

yep. in the episode Percy rolled A Natural 20 (I think or at least very high) to dodge the trap, vex and trinket both failed but Trinket still had hit points left. Vex only died because her hit points hit 0.

[@Becky31389]

It wasn't a nat 20, just a good enough roll to avoid the damage (it was like a 21 or something). Laura, however, rolled a natural 1 on her save and the 46 points of damage she took, brought her to below 0 HP specifically. Meaning she didn't just go unconscious, she just flat out died. The mechanics for this particular trap was that if the damage dealt brought the player to below 0, not just to 0, it would be instant death (I mean, this is the tomb of the goddess of death after all). Because the beholder fight took place prior to the moment with the sarcophagus in the campaign, Vex had already taken damage and no one had done any healing yet and unfortunately she suffered the consequences. They just switched things around a little bit and it was the fight with the adaro before instead.

[@kitttheabsurd]

I was so excited for the episode 3 reaction specifically

[@bendon82]

In the stream, Vex's death was so sudden that all I could feel was shock. But the way that they've adapted it, I cannot watch that scene without crying.

[@andresfelipemanjarres7061]

i get people saying that Vex shouldnt care about their asshole dad, but at the same time a lot of children look for their father's approval even if it isnt logica, belive me i grew up in a latino house where one of the parents was comple trash and two of my siblings act similiar as Vax and Vex in how one absolutly hated that person and the other alway has excuses and give them second chances even if they didnt deserve it. im not saying is healthy, is something that sibling need it improve, but what im saying is i understand where Vex is coming from by lashing out to some one that didnt deserve it

[@Heavensrun]

"What is that?" Well it's certainly NOT a Beholder, as those are TM copyright Wizards of the Coast!

[@MoteMayhaps]

It's an Onlooker, as officially named by the artists! XD

[@Becky31389]

It's 'not a beholder for legal reasons' lol

[@kenle2]

Now I'm picturing a transmuter wizard whose job it is to wander Evandria and make changes to all the creatures that could bring down lawsuits from the gods if they aren't rendered "Multiverse-Legal". "At least I've got job security as long as the Great Potato-Head God exists."

[@InkyPetrel]

I just noticed your sign with the Scanlan quote. I can *hear* it. 🤣 LOL "it shouldn't have been in a box that was easy to pick" Ah yes, standard rpg looting rules "Is it nailed down? No? Ihen it's mine. If it can be pried loose it wasn't nailed down properly." I love that reactors I've seen, almost without exception, answer Vax's "raise a damned bear" question with an adamant "yes!" or "obviously!" almost on reflex. It's adorable 😊 The footsteps are fine, we know you can't control them :) I feel bad for you having to live with them though. 47:54: Pretty sure this shot became thousands of critters' wallpaper immediately when it dropped. *Slaps Percy's shoulder * This guy can hold SO much guilt! :D Good catch on Ripley, a lot of reactors don't recognize her out of her disheveled dungeon chic look. 🙂 Well done for surviving these two episodes, they're a lot.

[@loganhemin4818]

In the actual campaign Percy did have a one night stand with Zahra’s Cousin.

[@loganhemin4818]

Percy was never tortured with Silas’ blade.

[@georgerobins4110]

I definitely do not remember that lol

[@georgerobins4110]

@@loganhemin4818in the show, I believe there’s a flashback while Percy and Cass are fighting where Silas cuts Percy with that blade

[@fahrenheitmusic5688]

Lol. That was never confirmed.

[@easterslice]

@@georgerobins4110 Yes. There is a quick flash of Silas slashing at Percy with the sword. But, I think that might have not registered fully for Percy, since it was just one moment of many -- and probably most of those moments came from Dr. Ripley.

[@legendre007]

It's no longer just Dungeons & Dragons but Dungeons & Dragons & Reactions. 😊

[@warriorwitchwillow]

Grog’s beard is also a big deal because Goliaths can’t grow facial hair naturally.

[@cschwally]

That's what a nat 1 on a saving throw looks like.

[@manahakume9870]

✨✨Emotional Damage✨✨

[@ManuelAngelMartin-om4xy]

You are good catching red flags!

[@trollnystan]

Campaign 1 spoilers about Sylas's sword incoming!! (Not about anything that's going to or might happen in the future though) . . . . If I recall correctly, in the original campaign Percy picked up Sylas' sword first and realised that it was sentient through a secret whisper from Matt and, because campaign-Percy was much more of a shit-stirrer and not-terribly-nice dude than LoVM-Percy is-for example, campaign-Percy never did forgive Scanlan for throwing his gun in the acid, demon or not-he thought it would be funny to give it to Grog to see what happened. So he did just that and m̶u̶r̶d̶e̶r̶ hijinks ensued! Otherwise, in both original campaign and LoVM, I don't think Percy had much experience with the sword as Ripley seems to have done most of the torturing.

[@geak78]

*Taliesin* still hasn't forgiven *Sam* for throwing the gun in the acid. You know it meant a lot when it brings out of character feelings.

[@vgexpert20001]

I knew the Sunken Tomb was going to break you. Lmao

[@TheSimOne360]

Lets be fair, Kash DID help. Without him they'd never have had the ritual in the first place.

[@The_Chaotic_Blade]

Episodes 3 and 4, hopefully not as devastating. THE BELLY LAUGH I DID! oh man..

[@johnobrien7562]

echoing the comment that you're fortunate to be watching these in batches of 2 - at least this time - since people watching without knowing the campaign did have a week to see the outcome of Vex's death. in the campaign, the resurrection ritual happened that very same episode, and Liam's impassioned "Take me instead you raven bitch!" was just as powerful - and again, nothing would ever be the same. the story of how Vex got Trinket was adapted from a short story that Laura wrote. Vax has been added to set up the end where young Vex convinces him to "surrender" to death and fate. I'm sorry, but Percy's "know it all" arrogance, his goading of Vex ("Your brother certainly wouldn't approve"), and then "I don't know what I would've done differently"? He initiated the process against Vax's explicit instruction when Vax was the actual expert, he emotionally manipulated Vex by referencing her brother's over-protectiveness, and then had the absolute gall to indicate that he didn't learn from the experience? He's lucky Vax used his fists and not his daggers.

[@easterslice]

Yeah, pretty much. There's no getting around the fact that Percy was being really irresponsible in that moment. A rare moment for him. And, clearly, he's being over-protective of Vex now. (Nice catch, by the way!). Interestingly, Vex seems to be the least affected by all this. Or the least angsty about it. Vax is obviously, the most affected. He not only saw his sister die, he's made an agreement with a god, and he has no idea what that agreement actually means.

[@kyratries]

Thanks for the extra info! I love that Laura wrote short stories that could be drawn from! I'd agree more with your last point but for the idea Vex can be emotionally manipulated by someone so stunted in emotional connection. These were two very clever people being told to wait around (Vex had already expressed how she thought Vax was being overprotective earlier in that episode) and they happened to find something that could be *their* discovery because Percy happened to slide a tile into place. Clever people tend to like to find out where their cleverness leads. It's a downfall, but it's a trait Vex and Percy share. And it takes two to tango, even if one asked the other to dance, and with Vex having Vax worrying so much about her and Vax and Percy having a...not great relationship, the idea they would be the two to think they're able to check for traps as well as Vax can is something I saw as very natural for the both of them, no 'manipulation' necessary. I would actually say it was admirable of Percy to admit he doesn't know what he would have done differently. That is taking a very honest look at himself and his flaws and realizing that while he has regrets, they have not reshaped him fundamentally as a person. He's a know-it-all who is going to get himself in trouble due to being clever and arrogant about the fact he's clever (I'm sure I'll see this happen again) and going to Vax with false claims that he's a changed person would be completely disingenuous and truly galling if he does not think he has truly changed. And if arrogance and pride played a role in what happened, it would just be silly for this one event to wipe away those traits. And honestly all this to say that if you think Percy is an emotional manipulator, you probably won't like my videos going forward because he is one of my favorite characters and I think that's pretty obvious, so my reactions might be quite annoying, I'm afraid! You seem to not like him quite a bit. But thank you for your perspective!

[@hhylobates4098]

@@kyratries Your'e right, Vex is a grown adult who is smart enough to have known better and probably smart enough to have not been manipulated by 5 words if she really didnt want to do something; theres a reason you dont see Vex at all blaming Percy, she knows it was at least equally her own fault. (Edit sorry, I cut all the campaign info. Genuinely wouldn't want to muddle any potential analysis you want to do with not-so-relevent material) All this comparison in context of the show is to say that from the kind of little changes made, it seems the intent was to simplify and centre this event on what happens to Vax. Frankly the adaptation seems to lessen the weight of his _own choice_ to instead make him look more of a victim to the choices of others, meaning there needed to be someone to blame. So even though Percys words might come across as some flavour of manipulation, I think he both learned his lesson and served the narratives purpose in the moment, we hopefully won't be seeing that trait worsen.

[@andrewroberts7788]

Percy was not aware of the sentience of Craven Edge (the sword)

[@starlepus9437]

btw the reason Grog was so happy with growing a beard is because Goliaths are physically incapable of growing hair on their heads or chins

[@AlephSharp]

In campaign, zahra and vex were implied to be a minor, Thing, i think here they're more toxic exes, zahra liked Vox Machina more in the camapign and kash liked them less

[@japercefull]

NO TOUCHIE!

[@gregolsem4438]

The Matron of Raven is the Goddess of Death but also of Fate. So when Vax closes his eyes he is accepting his Fate and thus became her champion

[@ReverseUnicorn]

In the Streaming game, Percy first picked up Silas's sword and his player kinda giggled when he realised it was an Evil Sword, so he had Percy give it to Grog as a kinda of Metagamed it would be more amusing that way. Not sure it was used to torture him though.

[@Bigsteelguy4]

I lost my sister 3 years ago in January 2021, she took her own life. It was a rough year for me. But i know very well how it feels to lose someone you love. I lost my cat in 2018 and my mother is still alive but she has dementia and is in a special nursing care facility. She is being well taken care of. So i know what Vax is going through, although my sister was not a twin, she was my older sister by a couple of years.

[@kyratries]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[@nilskarlsson8911]

Liam's performance is superb during ep3 and 4

[@VampireHunter5790]

I think the point of the vision by the lake is that the many is suffering, he is very sick and though his family will miss him, death is not something he should fear.

[@TomElliottJackson]

The nice thing about the Matron of Ravens is shes not like an evil goddess of death going from place to place killing people. She's the goddess of death and fate, so think of her more as the boatman I guess, she appears when you die and takes you where you need to, to go on.

[@hhylobates4098]

Well, I was just about to say "Good job everyone for not spoiling anything about the Matron" after reading all the comments. The show is keeping her motivations a mystery for a reason, if Vax dosent know then the audience isnt supposed to know, just let the story be told.

[@jetvulcan2020]

not a spoiler but more information from the campaign the twins dad is a dick he is elven nobility who had a one nightstand with a human commoner and left. years later he found out about the twins and for the look of it insisted they come live with him for a time. there are a couple of things for his views on them their half elves so there is his racism and their born to a commoner. the twins ran away but by the time they get back to their mother she was killed by a dragon as stated first season.

[@AJMC82]

If you're going in blind other than the comics, how did you know the goddess of death was the "Raven Queen"? The show never calls her that... That name is only ever used in the original stream... Soooooo? Edit: 24:00 mark

[@hhylobates4098]

Are you really accusing her of lying? Ravens and crows are commonly associated with death, its not that big a leap in logic for someone to just figure it out. Nevermind at 6:12 Kashaw says it in plain english

[@AJMC82]

@@hhylobates4098 No... The original name is "The Raven Queen." It is illegal for them to use that name in the show, and they instead use "The Matron of Ravens." That's the name Kashaw says. Crows have nothing to do with it. Is *IS* a big leap. She says, "so, the Goddess of Death is the Raven Queen." She doesn't say the Goddess of Death is the Matron of Ravens, which, all I'm saying, is a little suspicious. She would have had to have learned the name from somewhere, and she definitely didn't learn it from the show. I had been really enjoying this reaction series up to the point, and watched it from the beginning, but it's kind of hard to ignore when someone overtly makes reference to the campaign that they shouldn't have. It's like if she suddenly called Pike's goddess Sarenrae instead of the Everlight. There's not really a logical explanation for her to know the name, but I wasn't accusing her of lying. I was asking her how she knew, because I do *want* her to be giving honest blind reactions, but like I said, it's a little hard to ignore.

[@hhylobates4098]

@@AJMC82 Hm, you're right I somehow got that mixed around as "How does she know the raven queen is a death goddess." Despite the clear timestamp I just didn't register that what she and the show said didn't match. I went to check the comments of the previous episodes, wouldnt put it past someone to plainly spoil "The mysterious figure is the Raven Queen!!!" Instead I found she also used that title immediately after the Osysa plainly said Matron of Ravens so...maybe Raven Queen was used in the comics shes read? Idk she just seems too genuine in her detailed analysis of the show-only perspective to be feigning ignorance on the campaign

[@elbruces]

Golden threads of fate + ravens? Go re-watch the intro some time.

[@allocat586]

21:00 excellent question!

[@harveyh8297]

That full-chested “UUUUGH Anna Ripley!” At the end was *chefs kiss* Yeah that’s how we all felt when we found out she was still running around. I hate her even more than the briarwoods. The Briarwoods at least have love and concern for SOMEONE but Ripley is the epitome of “high academic intelligence and nonexistent emotional intelligence or empathy.” She’s a legit sociopath and she’s crazy smart and it makes her incredibly unlikable.