Don't Split The Party! | The Legend of Vox Machina Ep 2x7 Reaction & Review | Critical Role

[@yiklongtay6029]

Percy's VA stated that he was purposely channeling the energy of that one guy who watches to much anime and goes to Japan fully expecting to be an expert on the country

[@PrinceIMC]

I love that Percy’s electro-shock glove in the game is called Diplomacy.

[@BryceLK]

Sometimes, diplomacy fails.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@BryceLK Percy is either a god of destruction or a nerd frantically fixing gadgets that died on him the moment he needed them. It’s one or the other, NO middle ground XD

[@davidbergfors6820]

1:12 So the Couple Matthew Mercer and Marisha Rey had a pet bird, Dagon, who looked a little like that. the animators wanted to add it in to honor the pet, and they for the go ahead from the pair. flash forward to the final touches of the episodes, and by then sadly the Bird had actually recently passed away. this shot mortified Matt, but they decided to keep it in. 9:02 "Makin' my way" is a inside joke amongst Critters, this is such an amazing easter egg! 15:30 Splitting the party at this point is a departure from the gameplay, a way for the show to streamline the story.

[@actuallyerik1623]

Episode 5 Kima said to Pike that they had to find out what happened to Syngorn because it disappeared when the dragons attacked. Syngorn was name dropped a couple of times in season 1 by the twins

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

there was a scene in the live campaign where they explain how Syngorn got to the Fey realm. those towers you see with the blue crystals, that's what pulled the city off it's plane, they're like giant forcefield generators. Garmelie wanted a piece of those, a piece of a _threshold stone_ as they're called, so that's why they go in... once Garmelie demands his pay, and he being a satyr and very trolly in matters contractual, Percy outsmarts him by having Keyleth carve an official De Rolo crest on a door's threshold, therefore making it an official _threshold stone,_ and breaks it giving Garmelie _a piece of a threshold stone_ as per contract. one of Percy's +20 Charisma moments.

[@AmazingChi]

"Makin' my way" was glorious, yes. But the "Keyleth needs to learn her spells" was a brutal deep cut, but it's great they are in such a good place they can lampoon that now.

[@RedFive03]

I laughed louder at that Keyleth line than anything else in the series so far. Had me rolling.

[@anairsta6507]

When I first watched this episode I didn't realize the song was called that and that is what it said in the song, I was to busy laughing. It's a great inside joke for the Makin My Way they do at the games now.

[@Thurrak]

In the actual campaign they never did split the party during these parts, but I think it works a lot better for the TV show to split them up to get more done at once and make the character interactions much more meaningful.

[@DreamFearless]

And then they split it again to give us coinciding character dev for Scanlan and Grog. Critical role is masterfully layering a ton of story beats.

[@Just_a-guy]

I think this is more to work with all of your cast. It is hard to make in one combat/story/place all of the 7 cast members do sth. So two teams separated is perfect. Both twins and their love interest are going to meet father of the twins. Other side is grog and scanlad learning sth about themself when pike is important in the story of grog

[@CrownofMischief]

Apparently it was also for the animators, according to the cast watch party, since having 7 people onscreen at all times is pretty rough

[@jscire__872]

The little floof birb in the beginning was actually apparently modeled after Matt and Marisha's precious lil' late pet Dagon 😂They sure have a wild sense of humor

[@dhamon45]

They forgot they green lit that cameo as well, so they got gut punched since between giving permission and the episode being finished is when the bird died.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@dhamon45 The Clip of them explaining that is labeled “Laughing through the pain.” XD

[@ForeverDegenerate]

I believe the actual chirps for the Floof were also Dagon.

[@ShavedTomato]

2:29 "How far away is that?" *Touch* Reminds me of Flapjack and K'nuckles "Not THAT'S what I call an Obstacle Illusion!"

[@ShadowyFox_86]

Bless Percy's heart. It seems like the Percy we see in this episode is closer to pre-trauma Percy. Funny thing is that Vax drawing the attention isn't just his mindset. They don't explain it, but the Matron of Ravens is most known for a particular realm called the Shadowfell. It's much darker and full of necrotic energy. Not real light or color. It's the exact opposite of the Fey Realm, and the two realms have a very antagonistic relationship. So he's just a neon sign of danger. If you look up "Makin' My Way" for Critical Role, you'll see how often they make this joke. 🤣😂🤣 And yep, that is Percy's newest creation: Diplomacy.

[@TenebrousFilms]

Setting aside the fact that Craven Edge killed Grog - which I understand them skipping in this accelerated timeline - it's not that easy to destroy an enchanted item. They sent Cravy to a particular island floating in the astral plane, where it could take millennia for anyone to find it again, if ever. 'Svelte' Grog never happened, and I assume he'll pull a Hulk when he realises where his strength comes from. Of course they got Cheech for the trip scene. (I wonder if they'll bring him back if/when Vex gets that Talk to Animals spell.) Diplomacy was a steampunk Iron Man glove, I guess they had to tone down the look for legal reasons? Elves have Fey ancestry. The 'high' elves of Syngorn have a way to transport the city into the Feywild when threatened.

[@Jdn33315]

11:44 anyone else catch 9 eyes?

[@ProLarrikin]

"do you think any of Vox Machina will end up together" oh buddies - you have zero clue what you're in for.

[@operative2136]

I find it tremendously funny that emaciated weakened grog is just regular sized human. 😄

[@rendalconstantineau1680]

Poor Grog during that travel montage, but hey, last thing I expected was a country song in the middle of an episode of LoVM, but I am so HERE for it! LOL

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

"You think any of them end up together?" Ohhhh boy... here we go....

[@clownzzz4837]

When they are closing the rift, Alura (sp?) mentions how the elves left as soon as the dragons showed up. The look Vex gave at the time wasn't because she was offended by Alura talking bad about elves, but because she knew they were talking about her father. This is where the elves went, city and all.

[@AlmostOtaku7]

It was Kima, not Allura, but otherwise you got it right!

[@leonielson7138]

Garmelie sprinkles in some clues to who he really is, throughout his travels with Vox Machina.

[@MehrGills]

Nice, it seems you have as well. SPOILERS "sprinkles" nice

[@Jdn33315]

. . . . . . . . . And “Travels”

[@leonielson7138]

His fashion sense leans towards Dick's Sporting Goods

[@andrewbernal9957]

“Usually I hate the theater” - Garmelie, 812

[@Ironoclasty]

Where would that go on a resume'? "Precision Target Vomiting."

[@jasonfarley9025]

Still loving these! And, yes Nerdy, you married a D&D character. I did the same. It's the right thing to do.

[@brettchew3771]

... And THAT'S why you never destroy an artifact during "that time of the month"... 😈😈😈

[@moni130508]

Foreshadowing the relationships between the couples. Just wait for Vex and Percy 😂

[@davidbergfors6820]

Spoilers... 🤪

[@thehappyaipom]

So it's not well explained in the show for whatever reason, probably to make people search for lore, but they did mention Syngorn and how it had just vanished earlier in the season. Syngorn is a city of elves. Very prejudice yo half elves and see them as mutts of sorts. Syngorn has a defense in place that essentially transports the entire city to the fey realm when it's in danger. So it's originally from Tal'dorei. They basically yeeted in out of there when the dragons arrived

[@shawnloging]

I loved Billy Boyd as not Pippin. This episode was so much fun. Every member of Vox Machina got some great moments.

[@TriXJester]

No one pointed this out so I will: The bird at the start of the episode that got ripped apart was actually designed after Matt and Marisha's pet bird Dagon, who had passed before the show aired. Matt reportedly finds this memorialization of their pet to be very macabre and hilarious

[@cryofpaine]

So the song, "Making My Way" is a reference to one of their recurring in-jokes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnzCiXuPnZ2endk (There might be a minor spoiler in the 2nd clip, you can skip to 22 seconds.)

[@davidbodor1762]

I know you're both in the musical theatre sphere, so I'll just recommend looking up 'Cantata Pansophical' specifically the song for Grog's part of this episode is 'Say no to this' and it's bloody brilliant. It's all on youtube. They're a fan group that did a complete musical using Hamilton as a base, but all the lyrics rewritten and the songs changed someone so that its about this arc of Vox Machina, just beware some of the later songs have spoilers, I'd recommend not going deeper than track 24 just to be safe.

[@RennanDeMatos]

Beware of the traveller

[@FallenRingbearer]

No theatre!!!

[@MrReded69]

I just realized that Percy looks like a young Tim Gunn from Project Runway! Maybe as an Artificier he will eventually get his devices to function faster when he develops a magical Mantra: "MAKE IT WORK!" (Project Runway fans will get it.)

[@wwpdmedia]

"Are any of them going to end up together?"

[@LeeCarlson]

The juxtaposition of Nerdy's and Clarus' reactions to the bird being eaten by the flowers was priceless. Welcome to the Fae Realm.

[@Shugoshin9720]

Everything that happened, during the campaign, to Travis/Grog bc of craven edge was entirely his fault and earned. It was so stupid bc literally everybody knew how it was gonna end but Travis loved the berserk shit.

[@troikas3353]

Travis just likes it when things go wrong. It doesn't matter what it is, if there's a chance of horrible results should it fail he will try it just because.

[@BlunderMunchkin]

Travis, and everyone else, loved the role-play. Travis knew damn well what Craven Edge was. The entire cast was behind his RP choices.

[@Shugoshin9720]

@@BlunderMunchkin oh no I get it. They are there for the RP. When I watched C1 as soon as Taliesan knew what it was he hawked it off to Travis’ chaotic ass I thought “that’s gonna end with a revivify spell later on”

[@Shugoshin9720]

@@troikas3353 yeah he’s a willing participant of chaos. It’s hilarious, wonderful, but when it came to craven edge the end result felt telegraphed. All dramatic tension went out the door for me when taliesan handed it over to Travis (and Sam and co. let it play out). If you recall they changed how grog came by craven edge in S1. My theory is that upon reviewing their campaign story they came to a conclusion that it was bad regressive character actions for the entire party enabling Travis/grog’s worst habits till he harmed others and getting himself killed. All this immediately after dealing with Percy’s possessed weapon too. I appreciate them not drawing out the craven edge subplot any longer than they had to.

[@cschwally]

You two are adorable in a slightly uncomfortable, terribly delightful way. And now I'm having a hard time not seeing you as a Domme Druid. (Poison Ivy has that same vibe.)

[@warmmilk9480]

Vax and Keyleth couple cosplay when?

[@TBoring]

2 Hobbits down. Place your bets on who Elijah Wood and Sean Astin will be voicing.

[@actuallyerik1623]

Sean Astin for Yeza in the Mighty Nein campaign and ill die happy

[@rekkwaffle7668]

@@actuallyerik1623 OMG you are a freaking casting god. i didn't know how badly I wanted that.

[@actuallyerik1623]

@@rekkwaffle7668 right?! i dont have a good one for Elijah yet but the person that sells Fjord the ring of fire resistance would be pretty meta... chirp

[@rey4191]

Elijah for Kinan, Sean for Sword of Kas assuming C1. If we have to wait for C2. Elijah for Gustov , Sean for Lorenzo. I'd love for him to be a bad guy

[@cryofpaine]

@@actuallyerik1623 Yeza is absolute perfection for Sean. For Elijah, who's that guard they meet in early campaign 2? The one in the second town they visit. Maybe them (they were NB if I remember correctly).

[@d.k.t.3380]

What's the better cosplay idea for Clarus: Skinny Grog, or Sketchbook Keyleth?

[@ticozayas6430]

Garmili is the second hobbit the Critical Role crew has gotten to be in the show, voiced by Billy Boyd... two more to go

[@Luzarioth]

Lady Kima already told us "We have to check out what happend to Singorn, the whole City just vanished when the Dragons showed up". In your defence, very easy to miss if you don't know what she is talking about.

[@leonielson7138]

Never Split the Party by Emerald Rose We were skulking through this dungeon, a mighty sorry lot Old Gilliard the fighter had been actin' like a sot Our cleric had colitis; our torches all were wet But we had to find some treasure soon to get us out of debt So Gilliard and Sonja were itchin' for a fight They both took the left fork, while we went to the right And that's when we heard it: the sound of rollin' dice We wondered why we had ignored these words of sage advice Don't you know you never split the party? Clerics in the back keep those fighters hale and hearty The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light And you never let that damn thief out of sight. So then we heard this bellow from back around the bend We turned around to see if there was aid that we could lend And suddenly the corridor was covered up with orcs We fell back in a panic, feeling like a bunch of dorks The thief had pissed his leathers; our monk was turning blue Our wizard got all flustered and the covered us with goo The cleric swung his holy club, some orcish skulls to break We tried to dodge his backswing as we pondered our mistakes Don't you know you never split the party? Clerics in the back keep those fighters hale and hearty The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light And you never let that damn thief out of sight. We finally found our fighters; they were hacking at a troll They chopped off knees and elbows, but it kept on growing whole Our wizard flung his fireball, his dice they did not fail He torched that troll and left our fighters roasting in their mail The cleric had his hands full; apologies were said We swore an oath we'd stick together just like we were wed But then we found that sneaky thief had vanished in the gloom We caught him stuffing pockets in the secret room Don't you know you never split the party? Clerics in the back keep those fighters hale and hearty The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light And you never let that damn thief out of sight.

[@brianspeaksnerd]

the voice of trinket was cheech in case anyone was wondering

[@AAAndrew]

Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong, for the young folk.

[@hawkname1234]

That. Is. Amazing.

[@Jdn33315]

Super spoilers. For end of C1 . . . . . . . . 1:58 LMAO we’ll see

[@AnxietyRat]

It's interesting that they had Garmelie draw Vax and Keyleth in a domme/sub situation...when the fandom has pretty much unanimously decided that Vex and Percy's relationship is a domme/sub one due to the interactions they have had on stream. Guess they didn't want to pick the low hanging fruit? Idk. Kinda funny tho.

[@hawkthorn33]

Taste the rainbow... Also we get Cheech, what a great time to be a nerd!

[@emberise6613]

"High perception roll" Laura took the Observant feat, with Vex's high wisdom and a level of Rogue to get expertise, her passive perception was god level.

[@devoncelis9613]

Oh it's definitely that kind of show. Just wait for next episode of this season.

[@troikas3353]

Or, more recently, the.. interesting.. plans Bell's Hells come up with when trapped in a basement in campaign 3..

[@scene-formusic9091]

react to The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade | Egypt | Short Clip | Catch the event in 14 minutes

[@timidwolf]

IIRC the party didn't split at this point in the original stream, the whole group went to the Fey Realm and to where team Gnomliath are heading, there was so much in this part of their campaign that I think they had to find a way to tell different parts at the same time so split them for the series!

[@aaronbourque5494]

No, the only time the party split was when they first encountered the Slayer's Take (the first time, before going to Whitestone). I mean, they would split during downtime, but not on adventures, otherwise.

[@Babawze]

Billy Boyd was such a good choice for Garmelie

[@paulchavez3039]

Lol MAKIN' MAH WAY

[@neintales1224]

They are splitting the party for the show in ways that didn't happen at the table- this is new ground for old CR fans in some ways now, we think we know story beats but they're doing stuff very differently- Grog's situation is NOT what happened at the table, at all, really. And I had to laugh when Grog destroyed Craven Edge, because I had answered some other people's questions elsewhere about how hard it is to break or ditch cursed items but now in this next ep after me saying 'it is hard to unenchant or destroy an item' Grog just bashes it to bits xD

[@timidwolf]

TBF it was still at a cost to Grog!

[@cryofpaine]

It's *usually* hard to unenchant or destroy a magical item. But not always. Just ask Taliesin.

[@cobaltsable1800]

@@cryofpaine I burst out laughing because his reaction just popped into my head

[@OhyeahMrKrabz]

Grog is skinny and a dangerous forest DAMN also there are 2 celebrity voice talents in this episode

[@MsMorri]

Oh good, why can’t this be next episode!! Sorry, my favorite couple has some moments and I felt taunted by the Nerdy Nightly. Can’t say anything though… I did like that Percy started taking a more leadership role, but was glad Garmelie was there to keep his head in check.

[@eloisepasteur]

But did you catch “Garmelie is merely The Traveller”? I nearly spit my tea everywhere

[@MsMorri]

@@eloisepasteur I think I did but I’d forgotten that, so thank you for reminding me 😊

[@andrewrawlings5220]

They didn't 'split the party' in the actual game but it looks like they have decided to do the parts of this arc linked to 'The Twins backstory' and the parts linked to 'Grog's backstory' at the same time.

[@LuckDragonLair]

The algorithm goddess is sketch-vax's cartoon bosom :)

[@NerdyNightly]

And what a bosom it was! 👀

[@amuppet8855]

Two Hobbits have been in Vox Machina now, Do you think we'll get Sam and Frodo in the next seasons? 🤔

[@nyghtmoon]

Oh I hope so!!

[@mndrew1]

So death-star dragon is gathering tons of loot... Got it! He's going to summon Gold-arr and kill those dratted Power Rangers!!!

[@dhrt5577]

I do love David Harbour and Anya Taylor Joy reacting to some Critical Role stuff

[@madhavshastri4450]

36 days to....

[@marca5883]

I'm yet to catch up on VM s2 so I'll have to save this one...💚🇬🇧🌱

[@shamanicmerf]

Sorry. Clarus is going to film a movie?

[@crystalfire5564]

Algorithm

[@sofa1155]

Did I miss something abt there being no book club today?

[@laurahart1337]

All the cool guest voice actors in this episode!!!! (Not that any of them haven't been cool but...)

[@louiswebtser]

Hi Nerd and Clarus Can you react to the Hulu series *Reservation Dogs* by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi ? It is the first series to feature all indigenous writers and directors along with the cast being mostly Indigenous actors and actresses

[@Phi1618033]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea the he is married to her. I mean, is he a rich or something?

[@mayaenglish5424]

Here's a thought, maybe don't be a dick?