Caleb Widogast: How Liam Made Art From Tragedy

[@liamjensen9156]

When nott tells the rest of the nein about how she was the parent in their relationship and caleb was like her child, everything sort of clicked for me, because the reason caleb was always caring so much for nott and the rest of the party, is because he never learned how to take care of himself.

[@PlayYourRole]

SAME! I somewhat wanted to talk about that but decided it didn't fit into the video. Someday though...

[@SingingSealRiana]

also he has mad survivoirs guilt that drives him to priorities others at all costs

[@Rated314]

He's MY BOY... best clip ever

[@Hakasedess]

It was such a damn powerful moment, since it makes perfect sense watching it all back, but on the first blush, Nott very much comes across as being the unruly child, reigned in by the more pragmatic and stable Caleb.

[@JnEricsonx]

"I protect HIM." Sam asked me if I wanted him to sign that on a art piece I had of Nott, Caleb, and yes, Frumpkin! Of course I said YES PLEASE!

[@DParkerNunya]

The fact that Matt started sobbing during Caleb's epilogue speaks volumes

[@BennythePhant0m]

What episode does this happen?

[@DParkerNunya]

@@BennythePhant0m The final episode of Campaign 2, it's literally the last bit before he closes out the campaign

[@BennythePhant0m]

@@DParkerNunya Oh ok, thanks!

[@Skip6235]

I want Liam and Matt to co-write a novella about what would have happened had Caleb gone with his plan. It would be amazing (and I’m sure emotionally devastating)

[@chanyael]

Oh, a what if one shot where liam is the DM, and the others try to stop him with matt playing as essek

[@binder38us]

At the SDCC, Liam broke out in tears as he answered a question from a Critter who felt Caleb's character had helped her with her own trauma. It was touching...

[@chinoborrego4828]

is there a vídeo of this? I need ir in My Heart of hearts

[@theoracleofdelfi1098]

@@chinoborrego4828 I think it's the SDCC 2022 panel that's up in the Critical Role channel

[@kasiamleczarska9078]

Waiting for a link as well!

[@clairthebean]

Liam plays his characters so well, Caleb felt so subdued, but prominent at the same time, and it's so wild to see Liam go from Vax to Caleb!

[@PlayYourRole]

Rarely did he speak but when he did it was important

[@mac_sour]

I think Orym's my favorite of the three, it really just feels like Liam personified. I liked Vax and I loved Caleb, both awesomd characters. But I think there's a few cards up Orym's sleeve yet and I can't wait to see when he pulls them out

[@rivendriftwood]

@@mac_sour Oh Orym..

[@mac_sour]

@@rivendriftwood to be fair this was before i've seen the new episode, and my blood is boiling. i still didnt get to see it but i've already been spoiled so it's cool

[@greyscaleadaven]

@@mac_sour I agree with you. Thinking about narrative potential, Orym has plenty. (C3 spoilers below) Like y'know the whole completely not unpacked dad issues, or the complicated reasons for what happened on that fateful day and the narrative impact of being a widower. He's an actual emotional rock of the group and has deep connections to the Ashari. His knowledge base alone is kind of insane if you really think about it, because just being in direct proximity to the council gives him so much lore to divulge. Just because something is simple doesn't make it one-dimensional, I hope people keep that in mind going forward. Personally, it seems like he has the capacity to become overtly commanding and aggressive at a moment's notice. I want to see if that gets expanded upon, why is that something he's good at doing?

[@troikas3353]

I kinda see Caleb as something of a mirror of Percy. Caleb was an extremely good man, compassionate and giving by nature, who was coerced and manipulated through, essentially, nationalist indoctrination to do truly terrible things. When the scales finally fell from his eyes his inherently good nature made guilt at his actions consume him from within to the point he could barely function. Percy by contrast was not an inherently good man. The opposite in fact as his natural inclination toward coldly pragmatic solutions made him all too quick to accept or pursue unethical answers to problems. But Percy wanted to be good, he was self aware and intelligent enough to understand his dark inclinations and wanted to be better. When the scales fell from his eyes he sought desperately to push back against his darker nature. Caleb sought Personal redemption, Percy sought personal salvation. Neither arguably had fully healed last we see them but both found their path forward through a found family that believed they were worthy of getting there.

[@tyleredge5349]

This was an honestly beautiful analysis

[@MorganBondelid]

I love this. thank you for sharing this!

[@Sarcastic_Sophist]

Incredible analysis, Percy and Caleb are my two favorite characters of critical role. Both had storylines and temperaments that echoed parts of myself. As a result, watching them grow and develop was quite cathartic for me.

[@overdrive7349]

"Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. it is the rest of your story. Who you choose to be."

[@StealthMarmot_]

I often found parallels between Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein, and Caleb and Percy were one pairing I referred to as "The tormented genius". Both were characters of great intellect and insight, driven by tragedy, and haunted by it, only ever finding peace in letting go and seeking a new future instead.

[@bitter-bit]

"You were not born with venom in your veins" brings me to tears every time

[@Decadenttia]

Everytime Liam touched his arms when something related to the Volstruckers was said.. that was heartbreaking and awesome simultaneously.

[@EilonwyG]

The relationship between Caleb and Essek may have ended up being my favorite. I wanted Jester and Fjord, and I expected Beau and Yasha, but Caleb and Essek hadn't been on my radar, and as the campaign was hurdling towards the end, the rawness of their brokenness just hit me. The way they both had done terrible things, and to hear them talk about redemption and forgiveness and friendship, these two just understood each other. And yeah, Liam even stated he intended on Caleb to end up consumed by his tragedy and maybe even end up more a villain, but he let his friends' love for him change him for the better. He and Essek may still be broken, but I think the fact that they believe the other can be fixed is what will keep them moving forward. And that's kind of beautiful. Liam definitely kills me with how good a role player he is. They all are, but Liam is almost intimidatingly good.

[@herman1francis]

It's Almost scary. As a roleplaying enthusiast myself liam looks like the final boss

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@Play Your Role I find it interesting the parallels between Caleb and Essek. Essek was built to the the Kryn foil to Caleb. Problem was, Matt did his job TOO well. Liam actually said, in one of the last episodes of Talks Machina, that Caleb was always designed to turn evil; that he had planned for it. But at the time of that Talks, Caleb turning evil was an impossibility because of the time he spent with The Mighty Nein and how they had changed him. If you take a look at Essek, the exact same thing holds true. Matt, himself, stated during the Campaign Wrap-Up that Essek was created and designed to be irredeemable. Matt intended him to be an recurring antagonist to The Mighty Nein. Instead, though, The Mighty Nein befriended Essek and, exactly like Caleb, facilitated his redemption. And exactly like Liam, Matt stated that after the time he spent being an ally of The Mighty Nein and, eventually, being formally inducted into the group, there was no way Essek was going to be evil from that point forward. It's interesting that the both the Player Character that was designed to be irredeemable and the DM NPC that was designed to that character's foil, thus being equally redeemable, were both, ultimately, redeemed by the exact same group of people in the exact same way. And Matt Mercer, despite his unparalleled genius, never saw it coming.

[@carlotta4th]

The dice rolls help too. The mighty nein capturing Essek was almost *flawless* and Matt could have gotten away like 4 or 5 times during it. But the dice wouldn't let him. So he gave in.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Reading Caleb's Mighty Nein comic also sheds some insight into his relationship with Eadwulf and Astrid. Long story short, their relationship was a major trauma response. The contrast between what the three of them had and Caleb's found family with the Nein is very striking.

[@takeandbakejake3271]

Just finished the comic today. I think one of my favorite pages was Trent casting modify memory on them.

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

My first D&D character was actually inspired by characters like Caleb in a kinda weird way: She was a Half-Elf Wizard who lost half of her family in an accident that she caused, but she tried to greet everyone she met with a ray of hope because, in her mind "Why would I want someone else to feel the way that I felt, when it hurt so much?" C2 hadn't started yet when I played in my first campaign, but I knew I wanted to subvert the trope of losing people you loved making you a hardened person. Leila, my first character, was all about showing kindness to people, but not letting anybody walk over her. We played Lost Mine for our first campaign, and she actually talked to The Black Spider for a good few rounds and distracted him while the rest of the party got into position, because, if she could make friends with him, they wouldn't have to fight, but the second he said some evil shit that didn't sit right with her, Leila shot first. That is her motto: "Put your kindest foot forward, but strike first in a fight." She was meant to show how trauma doesn't have to break a person, but also that kindness does NOT have to mean naivety. Laudna from C3 has many of the same shades Leila did, but significantly more extreme than Leila, and much spookier in theme. Lol

[@mentalrebllion1270]

Oh hey! Yeah that’s same as my character reacts. He is a kind and compassionate man (he even went to help look at a fallen body to check for a pulse when the rest of the party pretended not to be involved) but the second he was up against someone blatantly evil or a danger to his party, he was always the one to shoot to kill first. Of course, largely it’s his trauma response. He has a similar response (though not actually with a weapon) when confronted with people in positions of power being corrupt, especially if he notices a victim stuck between two of those corrupt factions. He actually used his own influence and that of his party recently to gain custody of a girl that was about to be scapegoated by one corrupt force because another corrupt force was using her. So he took her in as his newest student (he plays a mentor role for a good half of the party) and took responsibility for her, putting those who were corrupt in a difficult position since he just fixed their problem, quite frankly, a LOT of their problems they were having. So yeah, lots of trauma that either ends up in an arrow to the throat or fight words towards his enemies. The hilarious part is that his best friend is the wizard who is even more ruthless and brutal and can and will have his back if my character ends up in a fight. Poor paladin is trying so hard to redeem us lol. Between her and barbarian I’m sure we will eventually be redeemed. Maybe. We’ll see. Barbarian keeps poking at my guy’s trauma bruises though! Lol. Luckily that player and I are good friends, are in multiple campaigns with each other, and we talk out those tense moments after sessions often. So my character giving the cold shoulder isn’t actually badly taken by the player. Anyway! Apologies for the length of this. I just got super excited.

[@RogueLima]

The ending of Caleb's story is most likely my favorite moment from CR campaign 2. Keep up the good work!

[@PlayYourRole]

Thank you, I appreciate you watching!

[@Blobby90]

I think Caleb's story is one of the best told stories ever. We got the massive trauma dump early on but his story wasn't about his past, but about his future and how he deals with it.

[@Mary_Studios]

Caleb was my favorite character from campaign 2 and I don't think you're wrong that Caleb was meant to have this negative character ark or that he would if he didn't have the party trying to help him. Liam did an amazing job playing him.

[@PlayYourRole]

Truly Liam puts soooo much work into his characters

[@isbammoi3358]

All because they chose crime! No but really, I agree with you 100% here.

[@binder38us]

I miss the Mighty Nein. We need a one shot of the Nein taking care of Ukoota (Ukaaatoooaaaa)

[@emmathomas2832]

The rest of the party really did see Liam throwing Caleb into a negative character arc and body checked him into a positive one. And I think that is iconic behaviour

[@leonpetrich5864]

I am up to date on C3, I am on Ep53 of C1 so I haven´t watched another CR Campaign to the end besides C2 and yet, I feel somewhat confident that C2 will always be my favorite by far. The characters are just so deeply human and interesting there is so much tragedy and redemption, not just in Caleb and Essek. That Campaign moved me deeply and I would love to forget it to watch it again.

[@PlayYourRole]

So far, C2 has rung the most important to me

[@mac_sour]

I can't get through campaign 1 personally, I already spoiled myself with clips and I just don't vibe with any of the characters. The beginning of the streams are very rough, both quality wise and just the players themselves being inexperienced, you can see matt being a lot stricter and more tense on the players even after orion left. go back and watch the briarwood arc and you can see it compared to C2 and C3. just fucking sucks to wallow through

[@TheYoungMoriarty1]

I think campaign 1 has the highest peaks (only my opinion) and the lowest troughs. I think that there are some moments in the campaign that the other campaigns have occasionally come close to, but never quite surpassed. C2 is for sure a better-produced, more consistently good production though.

[@Ailieorz]

@@mac_sour Yeah but the other side of that, at least for me, is that C1 was a heck of a lot more fun. I've dropped out of C2 and C3 now at about episode 30 because they're just a slog to watch. C1 was really strong in it's story and impact but the players and characters were still having a good time. C2 they seemed to be trying to out emo each other, and C3 nothing really happened. The only player who really had emotional impact was Dorian (again, my opinion)

[@cynthiarosse7852]

@@Ailieorz I really agree. And I'll get a lot of hate for this but I couldn't get through C2 at all. I got to the 80ish episode I think? And then I just saw the ending. It did not click for me. C1 had more of a good story for me. C2 didn't feel cohesive, and with the exception of Caleb's I did not like the ending. It did not feel like the end of an epic campaign to me. I do like C3 so far tho, (Laudna is so much better than Beau) but I do agree that story-wise not much has happened and we are on the episode 30 so I was hoping for more of a story, but it's still better than C2 in my opinion. These of course are just my opinions, nothing more :)

[@mayordong4655]

Caleb is my favorite PC from any of the campaigns. His real time growth from selfish and only caring about himself to a loyal part of the group was just hauntingly beautiful

[@isbammoi3358]

Caleb also, in helping Essek, gets to really feel the perspective of his other friends in regards to himself. Everything about Caleb makes me so emotional. I love TM9, and Caleb's story is so powerful and helps so many people. I was so excited for this video, and as always, it's another banger. Love your content. (I know he's an NPC but oh my gosh, I'd love an Essek video. Though perhaps it's redundant haha)

[@KuroCyou]

Caleb's story is one of my favorite things to come out of C2... and as usual I cry when thinking about how much he grew. But I think I have a slightly different interpretation. Caleb was afraid to forgive Essek because he was afraid of being betrayed again, but he couldn't help it when he saw how far Essek had come. And by forgiving Essek himself, he realized he could find a way to forgive himself.

[@AthrunTalan]

My wife and I started listening to Campaign 2 podcasts during COVID, and Liam and Marisha's scene at 4:05 is what got us to stop listening and start watching the broadcasts. It was so emotional and struck us so much that we had to see the emotions crossing their faces.

[@lidular]

I think we can all agree that Liam is just really good at this. Even Orym who is a fairly simple character is played so well

[@Skip6235]

It’s kind of incredible how at least two of the M9 members really had plans to go over to the dark side. VM’s story is about coming together to overcome external forces. The M9’s story is about coming together to overcome internal forces. Critical Role’s stories are always about friendship and family. I love it.

[@Xandyer]

I like to think that if Caleb had gone through with his plan, Trent would have noticed (I think Matt was playing him as if he knew Caleb time traveled) . Caleb would see that he was noticed. And he would see that Trent was/is proud. It would have undone so much of his personal progress, to know that he had always been playing right into Trent's plans.

[@Deinareia]

Matt said in the wrap-up that it would partially be up to the dice and partially up to how good the actual plan was. But that there indeed was a chance of it succeeding. However slight, there was indeed a chance.

[@Drekromancer]

@@Deinareia I honestly hold onto the tragedy by believing it _would have worked._ Just think about it that way for a moment: If Caleb's plan and expertise were good enough, he would have been able to do it. That means his decision wasn't a conservative bet - it was giving up on a sure thing because of principle. And that hits me so hard. He truly had the chance to save them - and he learned to let them go.

[@christopherrodriguez6304]

Never been so early Caleb one of my favorites

[@PlayYourRole]

It took me a bit to get to him but I hope you enjoy!

[@kelpiekit4002]

I have encountered a number of players who approach tragedy (and flawed) characters a different way that doesn't work well. They'll have ideas like their character is distant or angry or something like that but they are going to encounter this life lesson and change to be redeemed into the fun character to play with. I think you need to play with the goal that is self-destructively heading towards that broken character without seeing redemption. Their redemption is dependent on other players, including NPCs, seeing another path for them and caring about them enough to intervene. Redemption is not in the tragic player's control but being a redeemable character is. The definition of a tragic character is not their tragedy but their dwindling hope.

[@DParkerNunya]

I always forget that only Veth, Beau, and Yasha (lol) knew that he murdered his family

[@neliinsecte9274]

He also told Fjord before the peace negotiation I think!

[@Doomroach]

I honestly love these videos of yours, I'm not even gonna wait to comment until I watched it. I loved loved loved Caleb! None of the characters touched me like Liam did with his sad boi. So stoked to watch this now!

[@PlayYourRole]

Thank you so much for the support!!!

[@rhokesh4391]

For me, the moment Caleb finally started to accept and move on was when he let Frumpkin go- in the very last episode. And you better believe it had me in tears^^°

[@Neutral_Tired]

You know, something I think is a massive missed opportunity because the players didn't realise it, we never get to see Caleb's views on Essek's use of Modify Memory, given his own trauma. There is a prisoner who claims he stole the beacons and sold them to the empire but doesn't know why, and we know Essek was the first to interrogate him. Then, later, we find out Essek was the one who sold the beacon to the empire. It's pretty clear he modified that prisoner's memory but the party didn't pick up on that so we don't get to see how that affects Caleb.

[@shawhaw7993]

Liam/Caleb is one of the best actors/characters I have ever seen.

[@CRFIDJ9K]

So, I think the reason you dislike tragedy so much is because the majority of tragedy stories aren't tragedy stories, they're just tragic. Tragedy stories are suppose to be cathartic - they're suppose to give a sense of a renewal, restoration, and if done well, hope to the viewer. It's why tragedies like Romeo and Juliet(don't care how overdone it is) specifically ends with the families coming together over their death. It's a hope for the future. While Caleb's story is more of redemption, the tragedy of the character still holds a catharsis, allowing it to still hold true to the actual genre.

[@brandonshepard5303]

I wish for Liam to see this so badly. I feel like he would love this

[@tysondennis1016]

Caleb wanted an education. The state made Caleb into a weapon.

[@JnEricsonx]

Im in the mid 50s. While I didn't ask for spoilers, I did comment to Sam and Liam at a con last year that Im kind of praying Trent gets FUCKED UP. I mean, when Caleb is telling his story, I'm imagining Kill Bill sirens going off in Nott's head while she tries to figure out how good she has to be to kill the bastard.

[@joeleek9976]

I am fond of saying "I can't change what I did. Only what I am going to do."

[@leadingblind1629]

Came back to say that I am doing a campaign right now as a Death cleric. And she is HIGHLY inspired by Caleb and his journey. But in sort of reverse. She also has started out wanting to resurrect an aspect of her life. But she's going down Caleb's original projected dark arc. It's early in a presumably short campaign so we'll see. But yeah, I still love Caleb. And if he'd gone all dark side, I'd have been there for it.

[@armphidiic2609]

Wanting to see Caleb's story, though I've already been spoiled, is one of the things that makes me want to try and watch C2 and any Critical Role, really. If I had more time.

[@juliangines6764]

I forgot that Caleb told the story to JUST Jester and Nott, that everyone else had left the table.

[@carlotta4th]

Beau. Not Jester.

[@Daylenify]

Liam was and will be allways my favorite Cast Member. He is such a wholesome man.

[@phonycapybara7730]

whats in credible also is that the mighty nien (or what the proper spelling is) was a group of nine. caleb, fjord, jester, yasha, beauregard, nott/veth, caduceus, mollymauk, essek.

[@piploo]

Caleb was my favourite in my very recent first watch of C2, I loved him and his journey so much and I think Liam did such an amazing job.

[@heromedley]

caleb in some way not only the brains of the group but the de facto leader with ford as his mouthpiece

[@ronanh.9261]

I absolutely love this!

[@tyleredge5349]

I can confidently say that Caleb is my favorite character in fiction

[@Aroe-dw5ug]

This was the video that I've been waiting for

[@PlayYourRole]

Glad I could deliver!

[@Tavviferret]

The cadence and delivery of your breakdowns, especially character based, has me entranced. I'm so happy you use this charisma for things like this.

[@skittfrogg]

I absolutely love these introspections and the deep dives into character development and depth. Very moving and well done, my dude.

[@brandonandreski1709]

Honestly caleb story is probably the most interesting out of all of the second season of course coupled with nots story. It was a compelling and tragic and swelling and amazing

[@lenoratalekeeper]

At the end of everything, the thing that kills me about Caleb is the very end, when he goes to his parents' graves, and you realize that after all these years of self hate, and self punishment... he has never mourned his parents because a part of him always thought he could pull it off. He had a plan, and he knew how focused and determined he could be, how smart, he knew he could make it, he could bring his parents back, undoing his wrongs. So deep down he always had hope that he'll have his parents back. And to be honest, he did succeed, he found the way to do it, he was right about himself in that venue. The thing he never saw coming was healing along the way, reaching a point in his life in which saving his parents didn't balance out the risk that it would bring to the present. He never thought that he would meet people he wasn't willing to risk to reach his objective. It is at the moment in which he chooses to protect the present, the lives he knows and learned to love, that Caleb finally understands that he has changed, because finally he isn't willing to risk others for his mission, he isn't Bren anymore. That is the moment he starts mourning his parents for real, because he now knows he'll never see them again, that's why he finally goes to their graves and leaves his diary there, the moment he starts to actually grieve. This character kills me!

[@Picklescape]

The end of this video, joined with the music got me a bit choked! Love your videos, thank you.

[@rodrigocampos1302]

I can't not think about Liam's acting on the College of Tragedy Bard spot and laught at the tittle of the video

[@edwardwestmoreland-caunter6128]

I know this is an old video, so this probably won't be seen. But in Caleb's plan to stop himself killing his parents, I honestly always felt like he would have probably killed his younger self to avoid living with the pain of what he'd done. Just erased himself from existence rather than keep suffering

[@fey751]

I just felt in Caleb's story that he was more of the victim than perpetrator because at the end of the day he had no free will but he was trapped in a psychological manipulative thing by Trent so he believed he was fully guilty when in reality he was brainwashed and I believe Trent used the form of illusion magic to make them believe they had gone home so the whole thing was fake which adds another layer of evil to Trent makes me hate Trent more and like Caleb more I don't know I just always assumed that's how it was

[@charlotte0i539]

this video made me cry.. i love caleb and i love campaign 2 soo much, watching everyone grow and develop was an amazing experience.. i miss everyone

[@VirtuesOfSin]

Caleb, the Pheonix of Mighty Nien

[@Vinzaf]

Nietzche argued that one of the highest forms of artistic expression is tragedy, as if you are able to embrace it and enjoy it, you are experiencing the breadth of the human condition.

[@surge123456789]

A thought I have had for years may be applicable to this, everyone wants to go back in time to fix that one thing that has changed their life but no one seems to realize the power of a positive choice made in the present, our present will become our past and have a greater impact on the future then we can see in the moment.

[@Neutral_Tired]

I have a character concept which I think would tell a similar story. It's an Eberron game, set at the tail-end of the war, the plan was always that the first arc would end with the Mourning. So, my character was an aasimar sorcerer, born to a minor noble house in Cyre, who was basically raised as a child soldier by his celestial guide and did seriously f*cked up stuff, killed a lot of people, all in an attempt to prevent the Mourning. And then, at the end of the first arc, he would fail. He was a good man turned into a monster by an even bigger monster and was basically only sustaining himself with the belief that it was worth it, that he was going to save so many more lives than he was taking. When he failed, it would've destroyed him, now he's just a monster, no noble goal, no heroic sacrifices for the greater good, just a mass murdering fool. My intention was that he would be absolutely destroyed, brought to his absolute lowest point, and be forced to build himself back up again. He could confront his celestial guide, learn what kind of person he is beneath all the trauma and brainwashing, and become a real hero. Or he might wallow in his tragedy and self loathing and just become even more monstrous. Sadly, the game was put on indefinite hiatus shortly before our first session, so I may never get to use him, but that concept is going to be sat on my shelf just in case.

[@Rated314]

Liam is one of my favorites because of his ability to take what the other plays give him, and weave a marvelous story. The "stinky wizard" was just Laura fucking with Liam...but he took that, and yeah they kept the bit going, but he took it and wove it into his narrative as a defense mechanism. A make shift wall of filth, to keep people at a distance.

[@tem930]

also the deed of letting Frupkin go was just so powerful.

[@jamiebrown5295]

Just rewatching Liam revealing Caleb’s backstory just reminds me how much I want to rewatch the Nein 😢❤

[@TheCAL-dx4tr]

ah yes, hobo wizard.

[@PlayYourRole]

STINKY hobo wizard

[@SuperGoose42]

Stop it, you're making me feel things But yeah, this hits home pretty hard

[@PlayYourRole]

Making you feel things is my goal 😟

[@PlayYourRole]

Don't forget to check out masterscreen! masterscreen.app/

[@MasterScreenApp]

Hi :)

[@OneWingedAngelsBand]

Thank you for this video dude. I needed to hear this and to be reminded of Caleb's story. 🙂

[@trunkthedruid]

Caleb is literally my favorite character from campaign 2 to I've listened to campaign 2 to fully once and because I do driving for work I'm literally listening to the campaign 2 completely a second time because it's just that good and to be honest every time I hear Caleb backstory I get so emotional like Liam made such a good character that it literally makes me want to play out wizard at my next IRL game

[@wolvencreator8585]

The way you tell this analysis made me tear up and catch my breath multiple times - this was amazing ❤️

[@offdeez21]

YES A CALEB VIDEO LESSGOOO

[@PlayYourRole]

I hope you enjoy!

[@leadingblind1629]

Yaaaaas. Don't even care what you say about this lol. Caleb is my favorite anything ever!!!

[@PlayYourRole]

He started out as my least favorite and grew on me in a crazy way!

[@leadingblind1629]

@@PlayYourRole It's Liam. He's magic.

[@spaceman9599]

This is Liam's superpower. Beautiful fragile generous man, all heart.

[@Hollowbarista]

Lol! My mind jumped to... 'And he succeeded in revising the past, his parents live and he is not their murderer, yet...' wellcome to new timeline and campaing where caleb is the main antagonist of campaing, evil ruler of the empire who plots world domination! And Liam gets to play as one of his parent on a quest to overthrow Caleb!

[@feitocomfruta]

WEEEEEEELP, guess I’m binging C2 while doing C3. Caleb’s story hits me in the heart as being relatable af. It’s uncomfortable the parallels between Caleb and I.

[@gamercore5216]

Caleb is my favorite Critical role character

[@Lrbearclaw]

The timing of this after last night...

[@andrewjustice210]

“Much like any *_GOOD_* theatre actor would”

[@Icipherx]

For all the tears Liam caused me to shed, he sure owes me a drink or ten.

[@Ailieorz]

Liam is the only one, in my opinion, that makes fully realised characters. He fully understands the human condition. Everything is so nuanced, and he feels every single moment of his character's journey so innately. And, he doesn't need to make the most powerful character at the table, or the loudest, to have the biggest impact on the game. My favourite part of all, he never plays his Caleb as the victim. There's never a moment of "Oh woe is me, I'm so hard done by, please pity me!", we genuinely feel that sympathy from his story. The rest of the cast is ok, but they can't hold a candle to Liam.

[@JacopoSkydweller]

Gonna watch this later, just dropped by because I saw Liam and animated Nicholas Cage (basically) on the thumbnail and thought it was hilarious. I don't know if I'll watch campaign 2, I'm more curious about it now after episode 51 of campaign 3.

[@janteo1]

i feel like De rolo is the main protagonist in the first one, Caleb in the second and Imogen in the third

[@mtdowns]

"Eef yuh had da chance ta change yer fate would ya"

[@PlayYourRole]

Oh my god its already spreading to other videos

[@mattcanters]

I don't like relating to Caleb's self-loathing. But I wish real life provided parallels as clear as Essek.

[@dudeist_priest]

Good time to explore the subject...

[@BlindZubat]

Did he get the name Caleb from East of Eden by John Steinbeck?

[@reneemurat782]

Awesome and intriguing thoughts on gameplay

[@grantydr1]

His arc reminds me of dalinars in stormlight archive so much

[@anooserat3862]

Hi

[@Bowossum]

Hello

[@PlayYourRole]

Oh hello

[@SFBSpartan]

A lot of my friends ask me why I've say through over at least 300 hours of a random group of friends playing DnD. Shit like this is why. They're masterclasses in storytelling, and nothing hits quite the same of some of these big slow burn reveals

[@BlueTressym]

Dammit, what's this water all over my keyboard?

[@nemonomen3340]

Wait… was Caleb always supposed to look like Nicholas Cages? Because he _looks like Nicholas Cage._

[@zendikarisparkmage2938]

It's unfortunate that I sometimes forget to remind you, but it would be tragic if you forgot to EAT YOUR BEANS.

[@meleeboy82690]

Was this re-uploaded ?

[@bitter-bit]

He was also manipulated into it the poor guy

[@ardet7383]

If you dont mind me asking, are you religious? You used the phrase nothing under the sun, which originates in Ecclesiastes. Just curious

[@PlayYourRole]

Ex-religious. Grew up in a very harmful church atmosphere, have since expanded my world views but still hold many morals from there. Specifically the statements of loving ones neighbors more than oneself

[@Neutral_Tired]

to me, the ending of Caleb's story was very disappointing. I'll admit, I was a fan of Widojest and still think it would've worked better, but that's only really a small part of it. Their defeat of Trent felt very rushed, the characters didn't really have to work for it, he did all the work for them. He made a stupid mistake, tracked them down and tried to challenge them somewhere where he had all of the disadvantages. It felt like Matt had forgotten that that particular storyline needed a conclusion and just threw it together last minute. And then, after that, we got Caleb's epilogue and it felt, to me, like he regressed after splitting from the Nein. He dated Essek for a while but left him because Essek was an eld who would outlive him. After all that time learning to let people in and let them love him, he surrenders to his depression at the first opportunity and pushes the people who love him away because he believes they'll be happier, regardless of what they actually want. It wasn't just that he wasn't fully healed, god knows depression isn't something that ever fully heals, but it felt like such a massive step backwards for him. In short, it felt like Caleb was the only member of the Nein who didn't get the happy ending he deserved, or even a slightly less depressing ending, it felt like splitting from the Nein basically just sent him back several steps and made him worse off than he was in that final session. Even Vax's tragic ending felt like a better ending. Vax's sacrifice felt like the culmination of his story, the end of his arc, Caleb felt like he got half way, stumbled and fell most of the way back down. I recognise it's not my story to tell, which is why I haven't gone and complained to the cast about this, it's their game and their story. But, as a piece of media, I can look at it and give my opinions all the same, and my personal opinion is that Caleb deserved better. Here's hoping that Liam finally gets a happy ending in C3, eh?

[@svalbirdd]

Nah, Caleb had a happy ending, he's begun to accept what happened to him and his parents and has taken that first step into recovering and forgiving himself, he doesnt shut himself away like you and some others say (I haven't the foggiest where that interpetation came from), he's the one who organises the monthly reunion with the Nein, he's in constant contact with Beau as they work to take down the Assembly, he works at a professor at the academy and does his best to inspire the young wizards to consider the ethics of magic and has his own classroom at home to teach those rejected by the academy, if he feels lonely or is having a rough day he can easily teleport to any of the Nein's homes to hang out with them, he has a partner who understands the weight of guilt as intimately as he does and they can support eachother as they both heal (I don't think they break up as Matt seems to have suggested they stay together for the rest of Caleb's life, Caleb still calls Essek his friend despite being in a relationship with him so I dont think the 'lifelong friends' is them breaking up, even if they do end their romantic relationship, there's no way Essek is going to just leave and never return, that drow goes to the heart of the Empire while on the run just to visit his bf whenever he can, hes going to stay at his side no matter what), and hes growing green beans!! A symbol of Caleb's growth and healing!! He smiles so openly now!! It makes me so happy to see how far hes come!! 🥺

[@deranged_dragon9471]

​​@@svalbirddNever did I think the word 'Green beans' would make me so happy. 😂

[@jakubgodlewski9104]

Yeah Essek definitely did not deserve redemption. He caused the deaths of thousands, then teleported the party a couple times and was forgiven by 6-7 people unaffected by his actions, bc he is a hot boy. Loved campaign 2, but this aspect still disgusts me.

[@jakubgodlewski9104]

Mind you, Caleb is perfectly fine. He was brainwashed and mind-controlled on top of it and he tried to fix his deeds by doing basically only good things, perhaps for wrong reasons. Essek consciously did much worse, never did anything to fix it, and was forgiven by people who should have no say in the matter.

[@drvolvega]

you use prepositions poorly here

[@spencerpommier806]

I still hate that Essik got away with it