The Legend Of Vox Machina Ep 3x12 Reaction & Review | Critical Role | Souls In Darkness | S3 FINALE

[@djcowell91]

I loved this episode already, but then I learned that Sam sang that last song late at night the night before his surgery to have his cancer removed... A song all about family and connection and all that right before facing a surgery that big?? I love it SO much!! Thanks for covering this show!

[@djcowell91]

PS: Listening to the outro now: Yes, TRIGGERED!! 🙂 (Plus I loved Grog's line like "yay shopping" given Travis' hatred of shopping episodes!)

[@TrackMaster844]

@@djcowell91Plus I imagine a bit of PTSD regarding you-know-who

[@Heavensrun]

Correction, Vax could take the armor off in the campaign. There was specifically a scene where Doty drew him naked in bed with Keyleth. In season 2, he couldn't, but now that he's made his pact with the matron, it seems like he can.

[@alanjhargreaves]

Apparently (according to IMDB), the overlaid voice of undead Thordach is LeVar Burton.

[@Stincinati]

Their connection to Mica Burton is paying off 😂

[@curtisd5864]

I’m hoping that was a bit of foreshadowing for who is going to voice a different BBEG with a penchant for undeath in the future season(s)

[@sarabeth6897]

Also, LOVE that they kept the Raishan battle Keyleth focused. That Hail Mary spell in campaign was PEAK Keyleth & Marisha and love that it didn’t play out exactly the same, but still had that feeling!

[@tim-dnd]

yep, I thought she had used blight in the campaign but couldn't remember exactly as it was so long ago I saw it, but definitely gave me the same feelings as the campaign!

[@sarabeth6897]

@@tim-dnd feeble mind if I remember correctly. Marisha falling off her chair when it worked was so Keyleth 😂

[@Merhabess]

I feel like they did have that moment with Vex breaking down at the things she caused - at Percy's tomb - "My love is poison" etc. And then that led to her confrontation of her father - "You taught me to harden my heart, etc. and now it's too late".

[@sybariticcupboardrat3763]

Some of the changes I liked and others I found disappointing this season. I felt Ripley's death was lackluster compared to the campaign. Having Raishan actually complete her plan to become a dracolich was a good idea, as well as switching Keyleth's big move from Feeblemind to the curse transfer. I would have preferred Vex's monologue during Percy's resurrection to be a little closer to the original - to make it clearer that she was so touched by him giving her a title because he was inviting her to be part of his home, not because of the prestige. Laura's delivery was still perfect.

[@RonquixoteDIII]

16:24 He can take it off once he accepts the raven queen if I recall it correctly

[@ventusbruma1039]

The thing about Bards Lament is that, at the time, Sam said that a lot of the reason it happened was because Pike, the one he trusted and cared for most, wasn't there to basically defuse him and talk it out with. Well, in the series she IS there to do that. I think that’s why we got so many moment between them. To show that.

[@TheStoweaway]

i love that we get to explore the stories in this new light. i've always wondered how certain events would have happened if a character that wasn't there, was. Pike in VM, Yasha in general, and ESPECIALLY Yasha, Fjord, and Jester not being taken because that would have changed the entire campaign tbh.

[@emanuelrodriguez9044]

@@TheStoweaway It would. Them being there would probably have change his fate and that would change the ENTIRE campaign.

[@neintales1224]

Honestly my favorite Grog joke this season was him being excited about going shopping. Bard's lament barely made sense in the campaign in terms of the amount of vitriol, and Scanlan and the group is different enough in the show it would have made even less sense for him to explode like that. Pike's been around more, and been there for him more, and I believe Sam has even said that the Lament wouldn't have gone as it did if Pike had been around more in campaign.

[@davidbodor1762]

They could still do a version of it when they are getting the team back together in S4. Maybe Scanlan refuses at first and they get Taryon in that way.

[@ianarvidson3228]

I am triggered. "I was saving it...."

[@DnD_Guru]

DracoLich anyone, I believe that is a Necrotic Breath Weapon

[@jasonmarbach]

We’re definitely still gonna get Taryon. CR isn’t gonna NOT use the character who’s the namesake of their publishing company 😄

[@nutelasaur9453]

i can only hope "it was the metric system" makes an appearance as a nonsensical bit

[@AmazingChi]

Travis already confirmed this if a S4 happened. It's why I was sure we'd get Bard's Lament, but it makes sense how that played out (Pike's presence and all that).

[@sandpiperr]

Travis has said they want to, but I'm still heartbroken that they axed The Bard's Lament! I get that they didn't know if the series would be renewed and so they wanted to do one of those open-ended finale's that could serve as a set up to a new season or serve well enough as a satisfying series finale if it came to that. Also that Sam was facing cancer treatment and, even though his case wasn't very advanced and he had a decent prognosis, you never know in that situation, so he didn't know if he'd be back. However, I have to be honest, I did not like the peaceful happy way they resolved Scanlan waking up better. I just wasn't as powerful.

[@Apollo9898LP]

I do think the choice to have Pike pseudo-abandon the Everlight is interesting, and I think they're doing that to add some extra depth to S4 and S5 arcs for her (spoilers for those who didn't watch the actual play) . . . . . I can definitely see Season 4 adapting Pike meeting her family, and I think her listlessness since she's sort of on the outs with the Everlight is probably gonna be played upon during that whole sequence. I also lowkey think if Tarryon is gonna happened that he's gonna meet Grog and Pike first before he meets the others, so idk maybe she'll also try to help Tarryon out of a desire to find meaning for herself. But I think the big resolution to the whole Everlight beef is gonna be in S5 when Pike has to request the divine spark from the Everlight so they can make the trammels. In the actual play it was a no-brainer, and the Everlight gave her the divine spark with basically no issue. In the show I think that moment will be a lot more dramatic specifically because Pike is having this shift in her relationship to the Everlight set up in this season.

[@sandpiperr]

An off-screen meeting with Tary, Pike, and Grog? NGL, that sounds awful. About as awful someone who suggested that instead of being in Vox Machina, Tary would be an NPC in the Mighty Nein series. And...ew! It makes no sense. The people that Tary was closest with were Percy and Keyleth. Grog and Pike don't make any sense in those roles instead!

[@JimSaul]

Imagine what the Jester underwater "first kiss" scene will play like animated... or some of the misty step rescues.

[@codydoxey2497]

That "ha ha ha you dingus" line from pike is so perfectly done and the animation matches so well with how its said. It lives in my brain at how dorky and perfect that is. I need that memed and as a clip.

[@mikrohamster]

It feels like they were leaving out Lament to round up the Chroma Conclave story without major drama at the end, because they didnt know if they get renewed for season 4 at this point. Yes, its a MAJOR campaign moment thats missing in the show. But at the same time, its easy to integrate in season 4 since Scanlan is able to connect with Kaylie between seasons, making the moment more impactful. Pike being able to cast magic (without the everlight?) may be an early hook thats been thrown towards/explained by the things currently going on in Campaign 3. One thing im not quite sold on is the way Vax's "situation" got rewritten. Allthough i liked the way they did the resurrection of Percy in the show, it took away from the initial hard impact this had on Vax's story-arc. And given where this will go (if they stay true to the campaign), that feels like a loss to me.

[@Zophiela]

The chroma conclave arch is over two seasons and Grog had his character development over season 2. So he did have his focus but it all happened in that one season.

[@Luzarioth]

They have to do the Search for *SPOILER* in some capacity... Otherwise, there want be any Bells Hells in C3 ^^

[@555smo]

Mama's geeky did a post season interview with Marisha, Travis, and Liam and they talk more in depth about why they went the say they did. It gives a better insight on the whole thing. Highly recommend it

[@AdamEspersona]

Not true, Vax COULD take the armor off in the campaign. In fact, the only times prior to a certain event where he felt safe enough to remove it was when he was with Keyleth.

[@jetvulcan2020]

in one of the interviews Lyam shared how in the campaign and in this season the relationship start in different part then cross and trade places. this season they do it a couple of times. vax and keyleth kiss they have hope, vex and percy have all this drama between them then part way thru they switch and percy and vex they have the hope but vax and keyleth are on the outs. then percy dies before vexs confesses her feeling keyleth and vax get togeather. then we end with both couple together but while vex and percy are on smooth seas Vax is hiding the price the matron of ravens took from him.

[@eloisepasteur]

In terms of the writing, over these last three episodes they’ve done lots of clever things I really appreciated. When Kiki told Vex she loved him in the Earth vision, she used the same words he used to her by the Sun Tree. Start of 3x10 VM go their separate ways and nothing is in a good place. End of 3x12 the partners are a bit different, but VM split up again. And the effect is the same but the emotional place is completely different. Kiki disappearing into the Earth, in the Raishan fight and it not being clear if that was a necrotic breath weapon effect or a becoming an earth elemental was another great moment. I loved the little tricks like that. And although I love the AP (and I’m a Beacon Bit, up to date with c3) you just can’t plan that kind of thing into AP (although they have so much more time you get loads of brilliant other moments). Excited for s4 and M9

[@Wrzlprnft]

I am curious where this finale would have left off if they had a season 4 confirmed before the production of season 3.

[@moderncomet9810]

Larkin is the friends we met along the way.

[@buddhabatman]

I also struggled with Bard's Lament not being in the show because it was definitely one of if not the top critical role moment for me. I also loved Tary so I'm worried we won't be getting him. With that being said, it does make sense why it's not included with Pike being around, they didn't want to end season 3 on a downer with the possibility being the series finale, and it would really undercut Percy's resurrection. Also, I have faith in this show and the Critical Role cast we'll get some of these missing elements in the 4th season.

[@majormajormajortom]

20:40 I think of it this way: Pike's journey this season was as a Cleric becoming a Paladin. Pally's strength comes from charisma, not wisdom; it's an internal strength, a strength that comes from belief instead of strength gifted by the gods. And that doesn't necessarily mean it has to come from the Everlight either, she learned to believe in herself. Much like Kiki, and mucher like a certain fallen First Knight of Avalir...

[@CoL_Drake]

more like cleric life domain to cleric war domain

[@jasonmarbach]

Liam had Vax call Raishan “Larkin” when they were planning for the Thordak fight so that’s probably all of the Larkin thing we’re gonna get, I think. Bard’s Lament is still gonna happen though, I think the CR crew already said that

[@TheStoweaway]

My theory with Pike's blood thing will be something they explore for the timeskip in season 4. Whether its infernal blood or another (meta) theory I have that would be an explanation from later content that they added retroactively, we don't know. not yet anyway and if they DO explain it for that between time also for the Larkin thing, Vax did mention it during the war meeting pre-Thordak fight as a quick moment

[@TaivasHeart]

As far as I could find out, they had to figure out the finale of season 3 before they knew whether they would get another season. So they wanted to create a finale that could potentially work as an ending to the show. With this in mind, I understand some of the decisions they made. Unfortunately, I think this puts them in a more difficult spot to continue. Removing the lament also removes some important aftermath. Similarly, there were some other changes which, overall, create a situation where the entire fourth arc of the campaign could be skipped. That would be a significant omission. Alternatively, in order to capture the spirit of the campaign, they could work the core elements into a future season, but it would again require careful changes to the plot (and arguably more significant ones). I suspect that the fourth arc will not get a full season for itself. Too many of its elements are either missing or can be moved into the fifth arc. In fact, moving parts of the fourth arc into the fifth might also be of interest to get a more focused storyline. The fourth arc is pretty difficult to adapt into a show like this anyway. But this makes me worry even more about Taryon.

[@ColMcWillis]

"Who's making a wish?"? Exactly no one is making a wish...

[@vanessaaves3271]

Oof, such an emotional moment between two friends irl

[@sarabeth6897]

I think we may still get a bards lament type thing in season 4. It just may look more like staying away/being unable to find him when they need him. Or maybe not…who knows how they’ll take it. I won’t be mad either way.

[@AdamEspersona]

Keyleth’s come a long way since Season 1. She found love that keeps her tethered. She found her own path to becoming a leader. She’s survived undeath, passed through fire, braved the fey realm, went to hell and back, and conquered her nemesis. And she did so by utilizing all she’s learned across three seasons to outlast and outwit her, baiting her into incinerating her own corpse, thus leaving the diseased ashes open to being “reclaimed” by the earth and free to be transferred back into her new body. In other words, she _deceived the Deceiver,_ beating Raishan at her own game and reducing her to being the DECEASED Deceiver.

[@Debrutsideno]

Nerdy, have you watched the first time Laura Bailey played Jester? Prior to campaign two, a few of the cast ran some people (YT-kinda funny) who were new to D&D on a one-shot. It’s silly but if you want to see the origin of Laura playing jester it’s a fun watch.

[@qa1327]

8:37 the visuals this season are so fantastic Another great season. Enjoyed your reaction to it.

[@darrenl3289]

They again knocked it out of the park in how they translated the fight against Raishan. Letting Keyleth basically solo Raishan by pouring the same disease back into her was much better visually transmitted than the epic Feeblemind spell from the original campaign. Marisha/Keyleth FTW!!! Great portrayal of the ritual for Percy. In the orginal, Taliesin was in the green room watching and hearing what happened then would text Matt with the result. Tal admitted that he felt Percy was a tragic story and would be okay ending it with Ripley dying. However, Laura picked the moment to have Vex confess her love, and Tal was like "yep, that will do it."

[@Zahman77]

Laura Bailey deserves a Emmy for this season

[@DocEonChannel]

Yeah, I don't know if Tarry will be here. I've commented this before somewhere (don't recall if it was to this channel), but of the stuff that happens in the campaign between defeating Raishan and the final arc kicking off, very very little actually needs to be on this show. It's maybe a single episode's worth of material.

[@wcookiv]

I wouldn't mind seeing the one-shots as OVAs, since Amazon has shown willingness to produce them, like with the Atom Eve special.

[@Belphegor82]

I've made my peace with the absence of Bard's Lament, but it's too bad that all the hints and little plot and character points they've been dropping since the start of the series just kind of fall flat as a result. It's just a victim of the format and the fact that the cast didn't know if they were getting a season 4 or not (of course Pike being there would've changed things, but putting it all on her seems a bit unfair). What I do miss from the series, though, is something that happens *before* the Bard's Lament -- . . . . . . . . -- the entire half of the episode after Raishan is dead, they can't revive Scanlan, and they have to get out of Raishan's lair. Of course LoVM is not DnD where characters can be revived, and two main character deaths would have been too much for the internal logic, but I wish we could've seen characters other than Pike and Grog even *react* to Scanlan being in a coma in LoVM (and then waking up)! Having something as emotionally heavy as the later half of "The Deceiver's Stand" be about the *comic relief* character, showing characters distraught that he died (maybe for good), is just... so important. It's rare in fiction. They grieved hard about their edgy gunslinger AND they grieved hard about their goofy bard. And it makes the later Lament so much more heartbreaking, because we KNOW they care about Scanlan (if only because we've just seen the impact his death had on the entire group), and watching both them and Scanlan be shit at communicating ("I'm worthless/useless and you don't care about me so I'm gonna burn ALL THE BRIDGES to make it easier to leave" vs. "you helped pull me out of depression"/"we do need your jokes"/"sometimes you ARE useful in a way no one else is") is... oof. Yeah. One of the most powerful RP scenes in all of Critical Role, for sure.

[@MehrGills]

Spoilers for end of campaign Spoiler read more break There is a just kinda random dracolich that shows up on entropis under vecna's control. A dracolich also has a phylactery that we don't see vox machina destroy, so what if raishan is the dracolich that j'mon battles (so we get both j'mon fighting raishan as happened in chroma conclave arc and the dracolich/helping against the assault on the earth titan). For reference, they killed raishan before she became a dracolich iirc in campaign, but here it seems she completed the ritual and went into the corpse of thordak (that's how dracoliches work, going into bodies of reptilians)

[@seeflatbesharp]

What a ride! Thanks for your insightful commentary. My favorite Pike theory is tied to Downfall. Hopefully you will have a stream that can deep dive into spoilery waters!

[@leadingblind1629]

No Barbarian Duck No "C-A-T! Cat!" Probably No "Tarry's on a floor SOBBING somewhere."

[@AmazingChi]

One thing you can categorically say is that is not Vecna™...

[@aleixandrerei3165]

Well, maybe the Pike situation wil go somewhere next season if they're gonna deal with Gods stuff

[@mndrew1]

"We are fascination; we seek divination...." vibes.

[@Heavensrun]

I think S4 comes after a time skip: Vex and Percy have rebuilt Whitestone, Pike has opened the Slayer's Cake, Kaylee and Scanlan are doing the Meat Man thing, Keyleth is getting ready for her final trial, and Grog, I suspect, is travelling around with the Vox Machina second stringers, including Tary, Bertrand, and the one-off guest members from all the one shots.

[@buddhabatman]

That would be a great way to get Tary into the story.

[@abhisheke4683]

Please do the reaction of Kalki 2898 AD movie, which is featured in Comic-con international, its a Indian's highest budget film and also a Mythological Sci-fi Action Drama genre

[@testfire3000]

Great season! I really like all the changes they made.

[@daimonclarke]

I want search for Grog so bad. Lieve'tel!

[@passenthrualaska3293]

So here are a couple of my spoilery thoughts. . . . . . . . As far as Scanlan and the Bards Lament goes, yes that moment at the table was stunning, but in the animation Scanlan has not dealt with a lot of the stuff that led to that moment. Also, given that Sam is one of the cast members who works with the writers a lot... he is credited as a writer on at least a couple episodes, I just feel that he had most of the say in how it was adapted. If Sam felt it didn't fit, or had not been earned yet for Scanlan, I personally will let his call stand as the right and final word. Who knows, maybe a reincarnation of that emotional moment is yet to come. And as for Pike... I don't think it's infernal blood, it was described as pure. I'm thinking Divine... possibly even a descendent of someone we met in a recent in-campaign, campaign. One of those characters, a very particular one, had kids. But that's just a personal theory.

[@damned0wl]

I see a lot af people throwing around that last theory, but... those kids would've been half-furbolgs, it just doesn't really make sense. And when creating that character, Ashley for sure already knew what the deal with Pike's blood is in the show. So it COULD've made sense, if there was a connection.

[@passenthrualaska3293]

@@damned0wl Valid point but given the time frame it is possible for those half furbolgs descendants to now include many races. For example, if one of them partnered with a human and had at least one child that took after the human parent greatly then that human looking person could have fallen for a halfling, or it could have been spread out over several generations. Also given the fact that the animation and the live play do not adhere to the exact same cannon, it could be a parallel but altered version. Whatever the case it seems as if Pikes blood is valuable for the Ascencion in some way. Granted it can still go a hundred plus other ways, but it isn't out of the question either.

[@dorianrisse4079]

I think the bards lament will happen later, in season 4 or later, they alluded to it on tweeter. And i will say no more 😊

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

They cut a lot of things because they weren't sure that it was going to be renewed. They cut Bard's Lament because they didn't want to end on a down note if this was going to be the last season. This was a series finale. Once they got the green light for season 4, then they added the closing scene with the cult (and maybe the scenes of Vax's arm).

[@troikas3353]

It's pretty astounding how much better this show has gotten as its gone. It barely feels like the same series as the first rather rough half of S1.

[@jimjimcherie]

I understand why they did not put in a Bard's Lament but I felt robbed. That moment destroyed me, but overall this change was more positive for Scanland. Also, third day of me asking for JJK:0

[@sandpiperr]

Same! A lot of fans seem to whine about the Bard's Lament but I liked it and I'm heartbroken they didn't do it! I get why, but still...what they did instead wasn't better.

[@jimjimcherie]

@@sandpiperr Right? I imagine that because as the audience we can see the flaws in Scanlan's logic, but from the character's perspective it makes perfect sense for Scanlan to feel that way, so I always LOVED that moment. I understand why they didn't use it but a tthe same time I still feel robbed. I don't think it was better either, more positive yes, but not better, just different.

[@sandpiperr]

@@jimjimcherie Right? The fact that Scanlan isn't being totally fair and is not totally justified in accusing his friends of not caring for or ever doing anything for him makes him a BETTER character! Because that's what real people do. People aren't always logical in how they react. They don't always see the objective truth outside of their own perspective and hurt feelings. Especially not in a very emotional moment.

[@jimjimcherie]

@@sandpiperr yes!!! Exactly! It's the fact it isn't a 100% justified, but that's how Scanlan feels. That's his perception of the situation and it is flawed. It's such a god tier moment.

[@spencerd6126]

It can’t be vecna. That would be compyright infringement, and Vox Machina would never do that

[@andyenglish4303]

We are we are...the blood of Veeecna!

[@jasonmarbach]

Me, Nerdy. You triggered me. 😰

[@Tomahock84]

Sam is on the record that had Pike been there Bard's Lament would've happened differently. A lot of the changes are because Pike is in the whole of LOVM and wasn't in the campaign.

[@CoL_Drake]

ah the undying king ... i rly dont wanna be your eyes or body mate go away plz xD

[@RonquixoteDIII]

Cant wait for the lament stream

[@meanyvizzini8347]

We are… Penn State

[@easterslice]

I admire your ability to let go of campaign expectations on the fly. For me, I had to watch the last three episodes twice in order to do that. Once I did, I really enjoyed them. But I will say, that watching the reactions furthers my enjoyment, as you (and other reactors) catch nuances that can go right over my head. It's really great how the show has presented Keyleth. The campaign is less driving in the main story, there are many detours along the way that serve only to further one character's storyline. Keyleth's Aramenté always felt to me the most peripheral to the main stories, only servicing them in that Keyleth was more and more kick-ass in combat. But the show is giving us her story in its full glory, taking her from an insecure reluctant chosen one to a mature leader of the Ashari. You were wondering whether or not we'll get Taryon next season. I'm hoping we might see Lionel.

[@jasonmarbach]

Another absolute banger of a season. Is it season 4 yet?

[@Zahman77]

Grog did have some development he came up with the idea for the army and during the fight with thordack

[@Zakiel97]

I really enjoyed this season, they keep getting better at weaving the key elements in a satisfying manner while also making the show it's own! Sidenote and weird point to end on but I just realized that every season had one moment that keyleth barfed, right at the start in the tavern brawl, then in the feywild after that spore trip and now with raishan's poison lmao. Make your bets for season 4 I guess, what will make her throw up next?

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

She already had her one this season in Dis XD but double or nothing!

[@erictighe1683]

They already broke the cannon of not taking the armor off, in the hut tub scene Vax was totally naked, and the morning after with Keyleth.

[@xseedingme]

In my view, if Laura Bailey is not at LEAST nominated for an Emmy, these awards mean nothing!

[@alexie5201]

I feel like these last three episodes were a bit rushed. I think episode 9 could've been a better finale, with a few changes. Overall, I'm a little disappointed with this season, but I still enjoyed it. Can't wait for season 4.

[@bludfyre]

I think they rushed the ending because they didn't know if they would be renewed for Season 4, and wanted to tie everything up. If Amazon has said "yes, you have Season 4" before production, they might have slowed things down a bit, let more of the big events from 7, 8, and 9 get more space to affect the cast, and saved Raishan for the beginning of Season 4.

[@alexie5201]

@@bludfyre You're probably right.

[@IdriveKITTnyc]

I understand the Lament change. Because it takes account to pike being there more than she was available in the table. I do have issues with the rest of the stuff. But i think what they did do was executed great. I just am not loving it. DOTY: Terry?

[@lovelavender9738]

Did you notice that Pike was holding a different symbol in her scene talking about believing in herself instead of the Gods????