Still Blessed | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 23: Discussing Up To C3E93

[@Migolcow]

"...and then dad just went out for cigarrettes." Damn you Dorian, we could have had Dariax as a camp follower in all of his stonebrained glory. But instead he's abandoned on the road with no friends or anyone to look out for him.

[@cognitionignition]

Timelapse of Fry's dog now playing on repeat in my mind until we get back to Dariax's story.

[@DukeTrout]

Eh, he’s with the Air Ashari. He’ll learn to sky surf and up his bard levels in the drum circles…

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

@@cognitionignition The moment I read this comment, "I Will Wait For You" instantly started playing in my head. :(

[@ShesAaRebel]

Just when they need the healer power too.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

@@ShesAaRebel To be fair, Dorian is a bard and knows at least a few healing spells. And I have seen parties make a bard work as their primary healer, but it's tricky

[@MurzaOfficial]

“And when she pulled out the massive healing potion… I was ready to meet you in the parking lot” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MementoMortis21]

I was as well, but for Otohan's exalted form. Bad enough, but understandable, that it gives her further increased movement/flight, attack power, and AC on top of her already ridiculously high AC. But then to add on resistances to seemingly *all* forms of damage (for what few attacks were getting through at point), and also refreshing her two spent action surges tipped her from being appropriately challenging to straight up broken.

[@rumpelstilzchen4202]

@@MementoMortis21 To be fair, the group ran into her while having used a lot of resources and a few of their strongest spells. If they had engaged her at full strength, with allies and possibly an ambush set up, they would have killed her without casualties. Matt has confirmed, that this was what he expected them to do. A caviat I have to this, is that Otohan is exceptional in her Mobility. She was always dangerous for a tpk, because it is practically impossible to run from her. It's very impressive that fearne and fcg managed to escape her once, but a group of 7 has basically no shot at outrunning her.

[@dewtain1363]

That made me laugh so hard. My first thought was "you are right Liam!" 😂😂

[@bloodfoxtriberc]

@@MementoMortis21 how is she broken if 6 of 7 chars made it with her being under 40hp in the end anyway? literally showing that it was close af... thats like the exact opposite of broken. it was completely up to the dice as it should be. broken is when the dice dont matter and thats clearly not what was happening there...

[@DParkerNunya]

​@@bloodfoxtriberc Don't forget that she technically had 2 subclasses. If they hadn't gotten the bag off her when they did, they died. Just straight up died.

[@haleysmith1327]

Dariax leaving Denise because he got distracted by a butterfly is new head canon

[@katarinadreams6955]

Dariax and my bard Alek have a lot in common, I've noticed.

[@ikeekieeki]

he saw a caterpillar chasing a butterfly and strayed from the path

[@theauthorii1751]

​@@ikeekieeki we have to focus on this tragedy!

[@devilishlyseraphic]

butterfly: *exists* dariax: 🫴 "is this deni$e?"

[@DParkerNunya]

​@ikeekieeki Oh so this story is a tragedy

[@noone-ld7pt]

Aimee has absolutely crushed everything I've seen her in on CR. She started out with the delightful chaos of a relatively new player and has just grown into a sensational player in every aspect. One of my favourite guests, and I'm sure we're gonna see a lot more of her!

[@johannfunn6962]

Same, I love everything she’s brought to CR!

[@agent00puffball]

I hope they bring her in like they did with Robbie at some point. I'd love to see her dynamic with the whole cast.

[@mmseng2]

@@agent00puffball Yes, a surprise Opal encounter would make a perfect mini guest arc at some point down the line. I'm also interested to see what we might learn of Fy'ra's journey at that point as well.

[@deamon506]

Aimee and Robbie both fit in so seemlessly

[@athens202]

Yes! she's been such a fantastic addition to the stable of guests and I hope we get to see her again soon!

[@ESPHMacD]

“Tell Zerxus I said what’s up.” Well, I guess I’m off to rewatch Calamity clips again.

[@briza_md]

"... To reach a hand down to somebody, they need to be BENEATH YOU. And I'm beneath **nobody** ..."

[@sweebos]

Sam just said taint

[@isleofapples]

I must've missed this. Timestamp pls?

[@jerrymumay7421]

@@isleofapples its right at the start when aabria does the opening

[@lachiescott3985]

Otahan was the dark souls logic of oh crap the boss is human size

[@ericcontreras3966]

Yo thats a really good point lol.

[@johannfunn6962]

Oh my god you’re so right

[@DuskWolf224]

Otohan is scary in D&D for pretty much the same reasons that Malenia is scary in Elden Ring. It's a fantastic way of building a martial boss!

[@HardCR0W]

Otohan was a terribly designed NPC.

[@Step43099]

@@HardCR0W I see…

[@caedodice]

Time Stamps: 2:25 - What’s Up With That 33:51 - Mass Suggestion 38:00 - Aimee & Aabria ship it 39:06 - Dariax & Dorian (Dariax on the Ace Spectrum) 55:59 - Evil Mirror Universe of C3 Characters 1:08:43 - The Deep Dive 1:36:24 - Dorian’s Return for Orym (Dorym is Canon) Comments and likes help other critters find these.

[@johannfunn6962]

Many thanks for this!

[@Gracyn1102]

Thank you!!

[@friendlyfiddler5727]

Great timestamps, thanks!

[@numbernine5894]

thank you!!

[@Lucajuca012]

thx for the timestamps

[@reneehoenicke4765]

The thought that Opal and Ted are two parts of the same soul and that it's hereditary is SUPER interesting. If Biroden is one of the places where that sect of people exists, it makes sense why so many twins are born there. Vex and Vax were souls that were incredibly intertwined before the deal wtih the Raven Queen, and now after the fact Vax is basically the shadow for all of Vox Machina, so the parallels are kinda crazy.

[@Euroclydoness]

Can you give me a time stamp when they talk about that?

[@WeShallLoveOn]

​​@@Euroclydoness around 1:18:00

[@violetembers330]

@@Euroclydoness 1:18:44 to be specific :)

[@maxsalmon4980]

It really did round off FCG's narrative, to have a former assassin robot, turned helpful friend, sacrifice himself...one last act of violence, but against himself instead of others. To save instead of to destroy. What an arc.

[@mac_sour]

the one thing that sucks is that FCG is gonna miss out on all the aeor shit since we found out ludinus has been farming shit from there. you know the bells hells is gonna have to go there eventually before the end. but that's alright, sometimes it's okay if not everything gets squared away, things can be open ended and still have a satisfying conclusion

[@noone-ld7pt]

cmon dude, I'm on the metro, why you gotta make me misty eyed here?

[@allmountaintv]

@@mac_sour yeah that's what's such a shame about it, I think that was the most interesting part about all of the characters for me, that we'd be able to hear or see more about the pre-historical events/locations. but I think it'll come out in one way or another, or one can hope

[@kainuscorevax3875]

Catching up to this Dive today after Sam's announcement. This all hits a bit different.

[@bofdm]

Every time Otohan appeared as this psionic sentinel of death in the campaign with this weird magi-tech box strapped to her it reminded me of the way normal people would see Darth Vader in the expanded universe.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

Yep! Everyone thinks Darth Vader is the coolest thing ever...until you realize you're not Darth Vader. You're the poor rebel soldiers in the hallway. At which point they're still cool, but you're like "Man, ef this person!" XD

[@paulchavez3039]

Just imagine otohan but with a mask, calm measured movements punctuated by moments of ferocity, all silent accept a few times when she, in a mechanical semi-human voice, alludes to things about your personal life that there's no natural way of her knowing... remorselessly strangling people with one hand while bisecting your best friend with another as she stares you down through lifeless dark eye holes. Ceaselessly marching forward from victim to victim. That's Darth Vader.

[@francisco_m7849]

13:50 Matt, I have to give you much props. The moment in the episode where Sam decides to go supernova and the camera is on your face along with everybody else, but in particular you and it hit you what Sam was about to do your heart sank as you realize you’re about to have to calculate what it’s gonna take for him to go super critical and you go out of your way to go. Are you sure you want to do this sir? I tell you this with a lot of love and a lot of respect you truly care about your players and your gameplay and it’s one of the reasons why all the critters love all of you for all these years. Keep up the good work.😊😊😊

[@Sootielove]

Otohan was legitimately one of the scariest NPCs Matt has made for the sheer terror she inspired in the players (and audience)

[@billdunn2675]

Well-tuned fighters can smash encounters in 5e. A good initiative and an action surge opening up a fight can be a very heavy blow. Otohan being able to refresh her action surges was a very steep upgrade.

[@kimhill3614]

They put a tracker on her, and it genuinely made me nervous every time they checked in. Now THAT'S good character building.

[@truefunghi9351]

I would love orym to have some reflection time and Liam eventually walking up to matt letting him know orym turning dark will try to replicate the terror otohan was able to inflict. Maybe some semi druid semi aeor tech version of the jetpack, taking her sword etc.

[@rhokesh4391]

@@billdunn2675 It just so happens I have a rogue/fighter with endless attacks and a sword that lets her crit on a 19 in BG3, and she's evil in the first round. Add to that a rogue/ranger Astarion and well... ;) It also just so happens I dealt with Orin in BG3 right around the time BH dealt with Otohan, and booooy I can't tell you who I hated more, these B*****ES! 🤬

[@dealer501]

@@kimhill3614 especially because, in my head, she knew about it and did not even care. Makes her a 100% more intimidating

[@corbeau909]

I mean all knew that as soon as Sam knew FCG was a walking bomb, that he was gonna use that eventually, right? (Affectionately)

[@Taguren]

As Talesin said in Campaign 2“the Riegel shoe” it hits like a truck everytime and you never see it in the moment till it crushes

[@gigglesmcfun]

100 %

[@hhylobates4098]

He was also openly self-sacrificing from day one...and no one really did anything about it

[@Dickard667]

Laura literally asks him 5 minutes before he does it "Are you gonna blow up?" and then Sam's face changes as he considers it. L

[@pwners4u]

Sam couldn’t save Liam in campaign 1 so created Nott being a mother figure and in campaign 3 made FCG kill himself to save the gang from a character who killed Liam’s character’s family. I don’t know what else he can do to make up for that level 9 counter spell lol

[@rednova66gaming95]

I'm not a fan of nihilism, but "We're all just snowflakes on the ocean, now tell the water I sent you," goes so hard.

[@magped001]

when is this said?

[@rednova66gaming95]

@@magped001 Aabria says it at 59:50 about what a hypothetical dark version of Deanna would be like.

[@Somerandommomcommentor]

That whole part was so interesting. Aabria really has a way with words

[@kelpiekit4002]

Completely expecting Bell's Hells to one day encounter Dariax with his new friend he's following, Ludinus.

[@paulchavez3039]

Hey guys I met this dude the other day he's frikin hilarious, come over here and say hi why r u being weird? Lol

[@erikawthak]

Nooooo! Because this could happen 😭

[@GerardoLeonVE]

That is why you don’t let your himbos unsupervised

[@DowntownRB]

Aimee was so good in this, I feel like she really got into the true BTS stuff that the cast usually withholds.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

It probably helps that we're at the tail end of Opal's story. If nothing more is to be heard from the character than Aimee doesn't have to be cagey about anything which is great.

[@happybookbee]

@@MorinehtarTheBlue For sure! I don't want to hear Liam's deep dive into Orym because we could still find this in the campaign, but there is nothing stopping Aimee from sharing everything. It's great.

[@Cyriuxa]

She's great. I really wasnt sure the first couple of sessions, but she has just got better and better with every appearance.

[@manchld]

Leaving Dariax hanging definitely needs to lead to a one shot where he's assembled a crew to do their part. It would be interesting to have one where they do something to accomplish a goal that seems a bi out of left field, and then have a main campaign episode where things get dire and the Dariax crew mission turns out to suddenly become a bit of a deus ex machina super helpful thing to turn the tide in their favor. I love a big dumb lad working hard and doing one mastermind thing that was perfect (even if it was slightly accidental).

[@harpoonlobotomy]

I so desperately hope we get to see Dariax again. He's such a great character and he needs more to his story.

[@Oglokoog]

A bi out of left field, you say

[@thaddeuskent8185]

Orym is sort of the honor-bound samurai of the group.

[@3veraj]

It's interesting how Liam and Matt have LOVED being protectors, but haven't played a Cleric. I wanna see it.

[@Aetheria60]

Liam's played a cleric twice...granted one of them was the farthest from a protector you could get...

[@3veraj]

@@Aetheria60 wait what?! WHO? Where? When?

[@OccidentalAvian]

@@3veraj Both in one-shots, he played death cleric Jayne Merriweather in Bar Room Blitz (now de-listed because Brian Foster was in it) and grave cleric Liev'tel in The Search for Grog/Bob.

[@3veraj]

@@OccidentalAvian oh okay. I haven’t gotten to the one-shots yet.

[@emmabeckett6451]

Liam said in the making of Daggerheart stuff or an interview (I can't imagine which), that he'd always imagined playing a rogue, wizard, fighter, and healer (hence his choice in the Daggerheart one-shot), so that's my guess for C4!!!

[@MsPowellfamily]

Aimee researching ways to get Dorian to leave is great. She was also my favorite part of the last Candela.

[@rosesleeps]

Spoiler: The Dorym reveal was wild. Chat exploded. Tumblr went feral. Thursday is gonna be fun.

[@SomethingWellesian]

Wait, what? Did I miss this?

[@Lucajuca012]

what is the Dorym reveal? (i dont care for spoilers)

[@kaniamia]

Reveal? I genuinely assumed it had been accepted canon for a very long time. Liam’s not been subtle about it.

[@SoralaxPlays]

Liam admitted that Orym has feelings for Dorian.

[@rosesleeps]

@@kaniamia Excellent point! "Confirmation" is probably a better word for what we saw.

[@willow8783]

I just want to know how Orym feels to have no one in the group ever ask where he got his new fey-touched abilities from. Dorian will definitely be the one to immediately ask about the hex flowers/vines and his misty stepping across the battle field. I just hope the rest of the cast remembers that their characters don't know about the deal and have them react with shock when he answers.

[@Tesby1006]

True but wasn’t the deal of him serving her contingent on everyone returning alive? FCG dying pretty much voided the contract between them 🤔 or would that not count because FCG sacrificed himself?

[@Zaros2400]

​@@Tesby1006Could reason it that they made it back with that portal to that random dead town...

[@willow8783]

@@Tesby1006 - I would think that the deal for him to serve her is definitely void now, but I'm more saddened that none of his friends, who have definitely seen him using hex and misty step around the battlefield, have ever taken a moment to ask him where he learned those things- especially the witches. It feels like the cast forgot that their characters don't know about either of Nana Morrie's deals so I want them to realize that when Dorian notices and asks right away.

[@Tesby1006]

@@Zaros2400 true but I think the understanding was there that it meant coming home as in completing the mission. I can’t remember the exact verbiage that it’s used but idk in this particular instance with it being Ferne’s friends and how Nana Mori seemed to take a liking to FCG. I feel like she would consider this contract unfulfilled. I suppose only time will tell 🤔

[@DParkerNunya]

I'll defend the cast not asking as he's done these things in incredibly high stress situations while they've been fleeing for their lives.

[@zacharyrichard8228]

Aimee was on the same page as all of us with wanting Deni$e to pop in and reunite with Dariax at the very end. Also all of her Spellcasting that last episode was amazing.

[@HailHydra27]

Fy'ra should have done the deed so it could happen

[@marissameeks6645]

I think Dani’s involvement is more balanced now. Her role is necessary as Lore Keeper and true host, but leaving room for the actors to share behind the scene insight. I’ve enjoyed her recaps and expertise, and I know the cast depends on her to get the facts straight during 4-Sided, so thank you for doing your job well.

[@galaxyblade111]

I really love Aimee. She came on the show a newbi but hit the ground running and now after exu, candela and everything she still feels new to this, I can relate. But she does such a good job and seems to have sooo much fun.

[@manossteele1335]

I still think that just like how Sam kept the knowledge of his explosive core in his back pocket for later, he also kept the knowledge of Orym's deal with Grandma Mori in the back of his mind and saw the opportunity to sacrifice himself to free Orym from his deal. Yes, I know that FCG didn't know about the deal, but Sam did, and he wanted to save his friend. He always wants to save his friend.

[@paulchavez3039]

Well they did make it back(to exandria) safe after their trip (once) when they found the secret portal. 🤷‍♂️ so maybe loophole for mori?

[@Umbra_Canine]

@@paulchavez3039 i once saw a theory that mori gave Orym the power more or less for free in the knowledge that this power will help keep Fearne saver. And that mori was aware that Laudna isn’t really living

[@TakeWalker]

oh boy, that would be great if true though :O

[@manossteele1335]

@@paulchavez3039 Oh man! I didn't think of this. That's just the sort of loophole that a hag would use. If Nana Mori uses that, I wonder if that could cause a confrontation between Fearne and her?

[@devtective]

It’s very comforting to know Matt prepares the campaign bit by bit as it goes more than over preparing for the future and railroading it more, love how free this prep method feels

[@PancakeMonster359]

1:37:50 Liam confirms Orym's feelings for Dorian. Orym sees Dorian as a beacon of hope that reminds him of the good old time, but Dorian now also has some trauma

[@kaylinhendrich4673]

But now they can trauma bond and help each other to heal!

[@WiggyB]

Speaking as a Scot who grew up in Edinburgh, I loved Abria's description of our strange old city. It's always fascinating to see your home through someone else's eyes.

[@BoredBizcit]

The real question that nobody asked is whether or not Orem is emotionally strong enough to use the backpack can he wield the weapon that killed his loved ones in order to save the rest of them

[@lahhhhhren]

I forgot that I'd been wondering about that when they picked it up 😳

[@paulchavez3039]

I hope so. I think Matt and Liam should try to give orym a shove in that direction to see what comes out the other end of the flow chart so to speak. I think orym is way more likely to use the dunemis pack than her sword(s). If I were playing someone like orym, they wouldn't touch that fucking blade. I'd want it thrown into a volcano lol every time I touch it I would just think of how that blade felt sliding through the chest of my late husband. Fuck that.

[@kimhill3614]

I think he's going on a bit of a dark path. Yes, he's ready. Consider how much pressure he's put on Imogen to stay in touch with her Ruidus roots. And he's already leveraged his own future to The Fate Stitcher. He's given 1000% to this mission.

[@truefunghi9351]

I would hope he dabbles in the terror and hopelessness this would come with. But I would also prefer to see him try to find his own way to imitate her ways, rather than taking her stuff and slotting in as a copy on the other side. Would love him to pick up some aeor tech and infuse it with fancy druid creativity to build a similar thing to the jetpack. Would love him to take otohans sword but do something to it and not just use it. He doesn't strike me as the kind of character who would be pragmatic enough to just pick up stuff and use it. He's so attached to his home and the gear from home. Liam has flavoured all the fighter dynamics with orym flavour. Nonetheless, I would love to see orym picking up the idea of "I can in theory be an absolute piece of horror, just by myself."

[@tiffanysimpson3336]

@@paulchavez3039 I feel like Orym is going to find out that Dorian gave away his main weapon and say,. "Here, you should have this." Because giving it to him will, in a way, cleanse the taint of what it was used for. This thing that took away the first love of his life, can now protect this person who could be the next love. I mean, Dorian is a swords bard who gave away his sword. He needs a strong weapon to fit back into this team, at this point in the game.

[@robirb_]

1:38:21 "what if we kissed 😳 under the evil moon... and we were both traumatised?? ah ah just kidding... unless?"

[@NinjaDeathSlap]

Man the bit about real-life locations for fantasy setting inspiration... as someone who has been to Iceland and fell deeply in love with it, it truly is Earth's Feywild. Everyone who is into D&D should go there at least once.

[@harridahobbit]

It's nice hearing outsiders describe places like Rotorua too. I'm a local and it's not got the greatest rep here so hearing other people do is great

[@janenoel8261]

agreed!

[@annebelleg2276]

what a strange experience to have them answer your question! i'm absolutely stunned

[@Wyrmshield]

"Hey Otohan, when you get to the Hells, tell Zerxus I said 'sup." Okay but now I want a defeated villains in hell 1-shot

[@declankonesky38]

My NUMBER 1 take away is that Aimee really does have big DM energy. I love seeing a real one get bitten by the bug

[@kheilahv706]

honestly I really think she could do it, she would be such a fun DM

[@inevra4053]

@@kheilahv706 same! Just like Ashley Burch, I absolutely loved her energy dm-ing the Tiny Tina's wonderland onechot. I'm pretty confident Aimee could bring that same energy on the dm chair too

[@wizrad2099]

I think Dorian is in a particularly interesting position to really wreck Bell's Hells in a way that the rest of the group almost certainly wouldn't. Between the characters and their loose love of the gods, or their fear of what happens if the gods all die, and then the players really not knowing what happens to the game without gods, it was unlikely that any of them would side with Predathos. Dorian on the other hand has no love for the gods, and now most of his friends are suffering because of gods, the good and evil ones. I could see Dorian playing nice with the group, but then betraying them to unleash Predathos and take revenge against the Spider Queen for his brother.

[@harpoonlobotomy]

I'm glad Matt shares my heartbreak at Dariax being abandoned.

[@Lucajuca012]

timestamp?

[@harpoonlobotomy]

@@Lucajuca012 I'd have to go through it to find it, if I remember I'll try to scrub through tomorrow.

[@devin3864]

31:20

[@harpoonlobotomy]

@@devin3864 Thank you kind stranger.

[@Kazuzi3]

As an ace person, I would just like to say that I love the fact that there are multiple cannon ace characters in the Critical Role universe and not just side characters either. Thank you for the representation!

[@kaniamia]

Especially the somewhat acknowledgement that being asexual 1) comes in many different shades and 2) does not always mean no romantic relationships ever.

[@kaylinhendrich4673]

Caduceus is one of my favorite characters for this exact reason! Love how Talesin played him!

[@liesbethverlaeckt8083]

@@kaniamia Exaclty!! I audibly cheered both times upon finding out!

[@claudiacat4249]

I know its so wonderful!

[@jakebit9467]

Same here; Caduceus and Dariax are peak ace representation. Clueless and quietly happy ✨

[@HailHydra27]

Otohan is Orym the second Dorian goes down.

[@Chetty3001]

Thank you Liam for addressing Vax being a ball!! I have been wondering for so long if everyone just forgot 😢

[@JohnSmithAlias]

What time was this?

[@imjumokay]

1:07:47 THE BURREN MENTION THE BURREN MENTION I spent a month in The Burren and fell in love. So much art and history is held within those rocks.

[@hannahrich5728]

Absolutely wild that the whole campaign has only lasted 4 months in-game.

[@Olive-765]

"Matron Has A Type" love that

[@Maxx.3104]

Personal Timestamps 18:50 - 24:38 Handoff to Crownkeepers + Sad Boi Orym 37:56 Dorian and Orym 👀 1:07:00 Candela Talk a little 1:36:15 The Question of the Night 1:51:02 Fun Anecdote

[@jessy5241]

I can totally relate to Liam’s joy of playing a highly perceptive character. Playing a rogue in Curse of Strahd with a crazy high passive perception, it’s been very fun to lean into the paranoia of the landscape. Because my DM also takes that into account when introducing threats. The rest of party may not see or hear what’s coming, but my rogue usually does, whether it’s a flicker of shadow or a sound that makes his ears twitch.

[@keithwinget6521]

This episode made me realize we need Daruidis Sandstorm.

[@AllieKitaguchi]

Aimee and Aabria are SO REAL for being the biggest dorym shippers on the planet lmao

[@ladyhella7560]

I didn't know it was a ship. Now that I know I must consume everything about it

[@AllieKitaguchi]

@@ladyhella7560 welcome aboard the dorym train!

[@levindeed]

​@@ladyhella7560 ANYTHING is a ship it you squint hard enough

[@Doommaster677]

Dorym is honestly just as perfect as Imodna (and MAYBE we'll get Ashearne/Feashton)

[@samuraiko]

@@Doommaster677 Or as a lot of us call it, "Callowmoore." :D

[@LtColBy]

What do you think about this? A one shot where: 1. Dariax is being exploited by a small gang played by old guests (maybe Joe Manganiello, Will Wheaton, Felicia Day, Will Friedle) 2. Desi$e, F.R.I.D.A., Prism and Deanna find him 3. PvP Battle for Dariax ensues

[@harpoonlobotomy]

I'm here for it.

[@notsobigsofty]

Easily one of the most informative 4-sided dives. Great episode.

[@LockupIII]

F.C.G. was Johnny 5, and he was alive!

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Reassemble?

[@alphtheor.879]

My crackpot theory is that FCG is a model type, so they could run into another Faithful Care Giver with the same voice but slighty different personality, it might not be good storytelling but i could see Sam pulling that.

[@SLorraineE]

Didn't they find out that there were multiple assassin bots? So there canonically were others of the same model?

[@yanluoanthony6868]

Spoilers!* with opal situation of being a split soul from the Luxon it would also make sense with why the spider queen wants her so much, because many drow left her to follow the Luxon.

[@Sirisgrl]

SPOILERS: Sam had been itching to blow his character up from the beginning. When they were planning on hitting the camp with the ship. And he was asking to die the whole fight. He had this in his head. He wanted FCG to die by sacrifice. I think Sam was happy with this choice.

[@natschked]

Is this a return of the Dani Cam? I liked her little evidence board.

[@Picklescape]

Me too!

[@Awkward_Ramble]

Opal going full champion made me realize: Wouldn’t it be so interesting to get a second Calamity short run, but this time the PCs are champions confronting Aeor, or staving off betrayer factions to establish the divine gate? (Dreamily day dreams)

[@jorenthar9186]

Once I heard Fcg had an aeorian core I knew he'd sacrifice himself at some point, so once it happened I'd already mentally prepared myself as I didn't cry.

[@zizou00_]

Same except for that last bit. You give a player of Sam's narrative ability, who has been talking about self-sacrifice and protecting others the perfect goodbye, no doubt he was gonna deploy it at the peak of its potential emotional impact. As that fight dragged on, as the potion came out, as people kept getting downed, it started to feel more and more like a "will FCG be alive long enough to pull it off". I still cried though.

[@J0K3R_the_Nerd]

I wonder if Orym has realized that his deal with Nana has been voided ?

[@justsomejoe8072]

Three DMs and an Aimee

[@lordpepper6932]

2 dms, a rambler and an Aimee

[@suntiger745]

@@lordpepper6932 Haha, being a rambler is an asset as a DM because of the number of times the party does something unexpected and you have to pull something out of thin air. Activate ramble mode while you make some frantic notes and bullet points to set up a new location and its people/creatures. XD

[@lordpepper6932]

@suntiger745 hard to do something unexpected when your railroaded 24/7

[@stevedoredandyfunk3032]

@@lordpepper6932 She was kind of railroaded as a DM. All of her EXU run was a tangent of a main campaign and had to work within narrow parameters. A lot of short campaigns are railroaded to some extent anyway because it is more about the story than the characters. There are different ways to play the game, and being a snob about it doesn't project the message you think it does.

[@Nishanth_mementomori]

​​​@@lordpepper6932she was unfortunately supposed to run a really short campaign and still stick to the story and set up the future, she HAD to railroad it... there was no other choice

[@Lunawolf44]

I think this was one of the best episodes yet, so many great questions and reveals!! Absolutely loving canon aspec Dariax and confirmation of Orym’s feelings for Dorian :D

[@LittleBananaJoe]

Imagine next time they go to Nana Morri's house and in the garden stands a little yellow robit. Just the same as they remember. Just something’s off. His memory banks are wiped and he’s just… eerily friendly

[@terriblej6107]

It’s funny that Matt and them talked about sulfur and fart smells since I just started to work with “liver of sulfur”. It’s used for adding color to silver jewelry

[@loka7783]

No one asked Liam what Sam's next character is going to be? Shenanigans I tell you!

[@Randomperson-ht2ey]

I always imagine Orym as super ADHD, where he's not always constantly shifting and looking for threats, but the second he spots something from the corner of his eye, he is 100% focused on it suddenly

[@cady.moriarty]

I'm convinced Sam just wants twice as much merch as everyone else, but I also love and respect his character decisions

[@kaniamia]

Lol, yeah, come to think of it, he’s three for three on doubling his character merch! 😆 (Scanlan/Taryon, Knot/Veth, FCG/???)

[@cady.moriarty]

@@kaniamia Exactly! I knew I wasn't the only one that noticed lol

[@dclqworm]

honestly, I would do this. fun seeing your characters come to life in all the different merch forms!

[@hayley2862]

Yeah... This situation turned out to be different...

[@cady.moriarty]

@@hayley2862 I'm happy he's healthy

[@michaelstead6697]

big ups New Zealand really happy some of our beautiful landscape is making it into the world i have loved for about 7-8 years now ps love the shows u guys r putting out

[@Willow-is1wy]

I never saw FCG not sacrifying themselves, the character was for so long about that 'your existences matters more than mine', got more angry than exited about having a soul. Tal said it in a previous episode as well, the moment was perfect, the scene amazing they couldn't end fcg in any other way.

[@Angela-hn6mb]

Agreed. As soon as Matt mentioned the explosive core, I figured that was going to be how FCG went.

[@Willow-is1wy]

@@Angela-hn6mb Exactly, Sam is a drama queen, that was always the purpose. And FCG was the most egocentric of bell's hells, that couldn't not happened.

[@timfriday9106]

Denise with a dollar sign fucking CRACKED me up! I instantly full in love with Denise and by proxy Aimee in that fucking moment. like...straight up. LOL

[@lidular]

Bells Hells have really felt like a series of darkest hours

[@spacecowboyeddie6803]

1:10:00 I’m obsessed with Liam just randomly asking Aabria to slap him off camera??? Like ok, the masochistic king is still going strong.

[@aaaaaaaaam]

the discussion of being a creator who feels most rooted in American culture is so profound

[@SpiffenZ]

Hi everyone! Smiley day to yall!

[@tede.b.martin4727]

OMG I love Danny's desk

[@zaraevee]

This 4 Sided dive was amazing! Having Matt, Aabria, Liam & Aimee here together made for a wonderfully philosophical conversation in some places, really deep discussion and interesting behind the scenes stuff we don’t usually get to hear explored and discussed! Thank you guys for coming on the show!!

[@HailHydra27]

oh god i don't think i've ever seen Aimee stand up. shes so smol

[@BEEDRILL303]

You can tell how long it's been since the ep was made by her hair dye lol

[@MariuskiRuski]

For sure, Aabria's line during the episode of "what is a god when mortality is back on the table?"... i was like right. It hadn't sunk in until that moment

[@fraserking4747]

4:27 That shared GM look of “Fuckin got their asses good, huh?”

[@TroySpartan247]

For the RL geography in Exandria, does anyone get Poland vibes from Wildmount? Because I remember getting a Witcher 3 feeling at the start of that campaign. The "Welcome to Wildmount" song REALLY feels like a Witcher 3 track

[@suntiger745]

The Dwendalian Empire was heavily (though not only) inspired by eastern europe, so that would check out. :)

[@DieDieNacho]

Otahan was the Darth Vader to Ludinus Palpatine.

[@Roshi_Goth]

Bidet, Critters! Smiley day to yall as well! ^___^

[@EstherZuidgeest]

Getting these whiffs of story insight and character perspectives is so fun! "What if Denise met Dariax at that bar?" What would happen? Might be cool for 4-sided dive to give room for these kind of super short character moments we have to miss out of on the main campaign.

[@BriceMelendez]

I wanna see a otohan vs Thordak one-shot

[@DParkerNunya]

I'll be honest, I think she could solo Thordak.

[@Peter_Cordes]

​@@DParkerNunya - Even assuming Thordak can't fly to stay out of range, he's going to make his Str saves against being knocked prone so some of her extra damage won't apply most of the time. She does do excellent single-target damage as a lvl20 fighter with blades that add extra force damage to each hit, and a total of four action surges per fight. And resistance to all(?) damage that kicks in somewhere around half HP, plus a big healing potion, does make her last for a long time. But Thordak had a huge amount of HP and a big +hit bonus so could probably still reliably hit her and last a long time. Part of what makes a dragon dangerous is the breath weapon doing huge amounts of damage over multiple targets, so having one very strong combatant negates some of that. So yeah it might be possible, would have to look up HP totals and average damage against each other's AC to see how it would shake out. Especially with with Otohan's backpack still active for echo knight powers.

[@jade.magnolia]

I really really love these chats that include both Aabria and Aimee - their honesty about the behind the scenes info. I especial love how then encourage everyone else to be more candid; but also sometimes needs to reigned in (i.e. I'm almost certain Matt stopped her from revealing a big point about Ludinus while talking about where Laerryn is in the afterlife) and I am here for it.

[@meggyrichard]

okay all this is fire but I have to say Aimee is SOOOOO gorgeous!!!! THAT TOP!!!! I have loved every style choice she has made. Okay back to role playing!!! Go team Opal!!

[@declankonesky38]

Idk who else is gushing for the Axford shout out 🎉🎉🎉🎉 but here ya go

[@princessjello]

2:07 the duality of aabria iyengar

[@sarahjaneblenkhorn8821]

In this discussion of dreams, I'm thinking of 'The Marrow Thieves' by Cherie Dimaline, set in a not-so-distant future where only the Indigenous folks can still dream and others have found ways to drain their dreams from them to use like recreational drugs. A great YA read!

[@Maverick_Merc]

1:56:49 Mentioning where souls of the devout go after they die made me consider something. If the gods die, what happens to their realms? What happens to the souls of their followers? Their afterlives? Even more reason to keep 'em around

[@JmsEllis14]

I'm curious about how far in advance did Matt/Aabria have the Crown Keepers interlude planned.

[@jonhalestorm]

What if Fy'ra Rai is a descendant of the family of Dust. And the other champions of the Wild Mother from the Clay and Stone families will appear on the battlefield in due time. ... I hope

[@spacecowboyeddie6803]

Aimee: “No-one does sad boy like Orym.” Aimee, have you met Caleb Widogast or nah….?

[@dclqworm]

should've just been no-one does sad boy like Liam O'Brien ❤

[@DParkerNunya]

Caleb and Vax are depressed and don't have much left to pull them back, Orym is sad and broken, but he's still got things to lose. It's not an incorrect way to describe the two of them, but Orym very much has sad energy compared to their tragic energies.

[@TheTruePacmanMG]

"somehow there were teeth involved...." sounds like better than a 7 to me, but we are all different lol.

[@JRDickens20]

“Had to be me … someone else might have gotten it wrong.” - Mordin Solus …. And now FCG

[@TheWearyAlkamyst]

Liam saying Orym was Ok is like when the creators said they didn't know how mega depressing Neir got

[@NWolfsson]

56:40 "I'm just imagining hot, sad Orym" huh, that reminds me... "Tall..." Now you're just making Vax.

[@jvenstar]

Shout out to all the love for Edinburgh and Rotorua (Aotearoa). Two of my most beloved places on Earth

[@agent00puffball]

Edinburgh is probably my favourite city that I've ever visited. It is such a wonderful place.

[@jonorawarlee2455]

My boi Dorian is back l!!! Let's go babeeeee!

[@waffleboy159]

This has to be my favorite episode yet. Aabria just kept the questions going and it did *so much* for my hyperfixated brain.

[@saotiago]

She's such a natural as a host!

[@ravenclawfairy3648]

Thank you for mentioning Dariax is more on the asexual scale, Matt :3 It made my whole day 💜🩶🖤🤍