THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA S2E1 REACTION | 2x1 "Rise Of The Chroma Conclave" | Critical Role

[@elbruces]

The dragons weren't really making rolls, it just happened. The whole thing was Matt gleefully destroying the rich complicated setting he'd been building up for years, like a kid stomping down an exquisite sandcastle they made. You're horrified, you want to yell "stop!" but it's their sandcastle, so you can't really do anything about it.

[@hermitprime5410]

Thank you for that evocative imagery.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

He both loved and hated doing it. He was like "I spent SO LONG making this world, and in one night destroyed it."

[@MoteMayhaps]

Dragons, even "good" ones, rarely work together. They're fairly territorial, and even the friendliest ones need a lot of alone time. Established mates will meet to make eggs, catch up, then separate for years. Four of the oldest living dragons, of four different types, working together? It's both unheard of and terrifying. And DAMN, they animated it well.

[@jamesmorehouse9896]

A great reference for you, when grog breaks his ax, look up “19 misses”.

[@bandi138138]

That is absolutely a clip they should check out

[@misterkite]

Except he gives the name of the weapon he uses in that so it's slightly spoilerish.

[@30noir]

'19 misses?' you mean.

[@Ozai75]

One of the reasons why Thordak is the leader is because D&D Red Dragons are the pinnacle of the Chromatic Dragon species. They grow larger and more powerful than any other of their Chromatic counterparts. To give you an idea of how mind boggling the Chroma Conclave would be to the people of Taldorei... it's exceptionally rare for two dragons of the same species to work together, much less four (five w/Brimscythe) of different species.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

We also need to mention that Thordak is not the average size for an ancient red dragon. He's twice as big, if not larger.

[@chrisd7047]

Then toss in that the chromatics are typically various flavors of evil in alignment, and it's even LESS likely they'd be able to work together without one of them being able to dominate the others.

[@alto1MO]

I never knew that I needed a dragon with thermal venting until I watched this episode. All of the dragon designs are so cool!

[@30noir]

I mean the lightening in the throat was stolen from Smaug but yeah it's done well.

[@wolverineaquajock2]

Nah, it’s not Smaug. It’s Shin Godzilla. Absolute devastation

[@teepope3128]

Allura and Gilmore with the shields! I love magic! Can’t wait for the rest of the season.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

I adore that Gilmore's shield had runes on it.

[@phoenixdzk]

Grog's axe breaking is their version of Travis' freak out in the stream when he rolled a 19 and the dragonhide was too tough to penetrate. It's called the '19 misses' moment and every time they had a boss battle in future campaigns that almost killed them, Travis calls it a '19 misses moment' There's an entire Hamilton version of this campaign arc, released by the Cantana Pansophical, and it's terrific. The players were so happy that they surprised the group at a party they were hosting and gifted them with some gaming accessories

[@GreenShell212]

If you're interested in seeing how this episode looked at the table: Campaign 1 episode 39. Skip to roughly 3:24:00 to catch Uriel's speech and the Dragons' arrival. It's pretty brutal. Then just watch episode 40 to see the continuation of the Conclave's assault.

[@jamesmyers1647]

The guy who was eaten (all but his feet) was the guy who scanlan sung to at the palace (beads of love)

[@Graelcase]

Poor Reginald.

[@testfire3000]

RIP

[@RDehuvyne]

@@Graelcase He was a libertine and a cad, and we liked it 😔

[@jackfrost7543]

Brimscythe, the Iron Storm Raishan, the Diseased Deciever, Vorugal, the Frigid Doom, Umbrasyl, the Hope Devourer, and of course Thordak, the Cinder King. I'm so excited.

[@Heritage367]

You're right about the two dragon types, and we've seen all five colors of Chromatic dragons. Black = Acid, Blue = Lightning, Green = Poison, Red = Fire, and White = Cold. Metalic dragons always have two different breath weapons, one that does damage, and one that subdues painlessly, like sleep or paralysis, so they don't have to kill their foes if they don't want to. D&D dragons are so effing cool! 😍

[@N7AslansHobbit_Ry]

Each metallic type has 2 different breath weapons? That I did not know. Cool!

[@Heritage367]

@@N7AslansHobbit_Ry metalic dragons are very cool, but because they're 'good guys' I don't think PCs encounter them as much. They're a big part of my homebrew world, and lots of fun to design and play.

[@jeronimoregalado6811]

@@Heritage367 metalic dragons are good? it would have been great that they help our heroes fight the cromatic dragons, like cromatic vs metalic and Vox machina.

[@Heritage367]

@@jeronimoregalado6811 I haven't seen every episode of every season of Critical Role, but I don't *think* they've been a big part of the setting, but I could be wrong. Good dragons are very powerful, so they could theoretically overshadow the player characters. I think most DMs use them as mentors or quest givers.

[@lewycraft]

@@Heritage367 Yup, our first DnD campaign, was basicly full party of Dragonborns, so Chromatic-Metalic dragons conflict was very in the center of the story. Classical Bahamut vs Tiamat war, where we met at least 4 different Metalic dragons and killed 3 seperate Chromatic dragons.

[@carlotacosta9193]

Thordak's power design looks SO COOL

[@tlaragihai5953]

Uriel`s death is so heartbreaking and symbolic, and was so saddenly lampshaded by Salda`s (his wife) reaction :( Capital of a kingdom is no more, and its king is dead. So awful. >That spinning orb of death! Still spinning! I laughed too loud :DD Your explanation about chromatic and metallic dragons is correct :3 I wonder if they ever explain this is the show.

[@tristanmilner9511]

Fun Fact: Sam "the ad reader" Riegel, voice of Scanlan. Those kids spying on him at 14:14? Both are played by Sam's real life kids. Little bit of wholesomeness after such a devastating attack.

[@aeronalto1065]

Vox Machina aside, I would just like to say that I SCREAMED when I saw the Monstress comic in the background here. Love you supporting smaller, less-well-known comics

[@FandomZone]

We try to support as many smaller publications as our finances will allow ☺️ It’s such a great series. Currently loving Briar as well

[@allmyhomieshatefreud5501]

Some Easter Eggs: In addition to being a callback to the first season, The Lance of Dragon Slaying might also be a subtle nod to Percy’s Dragon Slayer Longsword, but he rarely uses it in the campaign since he mainly sticks to using his guns. Edit: Also this might be a reference to Dragonlance, the fantasy universe that both Matt and Liam were big fans of. The reason why the illusion doesn’t work is because ancient dragons have Truesight, which lets them see through invisibility and illusions. Brimscythe was barely an adult dragon so it worked on him, but it couldn’t fool Vorugal (the ancient white dragon).

[@testfire3000]

In season one, the lance was totally a Easter Egg for the Dragonlance series. Since not everyone would catch that reference but had seen it mentioned in S1 E2, they had to address it here. Simple solution? It breaks.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@all my homies hate freud I think they're still going to give Percy The Dragon Slayer. They went out of their way to show that Percy trained in Swordplay with Cassandra in Season 1. Why would they do that when, up until then Percy had only used Guns? My answer? To establish that Percy CAN use a Sword effectively so when they eventually give him The Dragon Slayer, it doesn't come out of left field.

[@Just_a-guy]

​@@ForeverDegenerate But can he throw a spear? :>

[@Just_a-guy]

@allmyhomieshatefreud5501 Ancient dragons dont have truesight. Greatwyrm has but they were made after camping one if i remeber correctly. So he probably just cast spell or were given this ability to show that they are bigger deal

[@chrisd7047]

Everyone should know the story of Raistlin.

[@abaddonarts1129]

I have to say Lance Reddick as the Cinder King is a perfect choice. I love how all the dragons sound, all of them fit with the designs and Thordak's voice is smooth as butter. As someone who knows what is going to happen later in the show, I can say they have *beautifully* established major twists and surprises that you can only spot with foreknowledge. Really looking forward to a few of them!

[@adela76]

I had never seen Allura use her powers. She's definitely my new second fave side character now, after Gilmore obviously. She gives Crystal Maiden vibes 🤩❄️

[@Heritage367]

I have a feeling she used her powers to get everyone she's with to safety; no way that boulder crushed them all!

[@adela76]

@@Heritage367 I 100% agree. She raised her hands as the rocks were falling towards them, meaning she was about to cast a spell to protect everyone.

[@jonathaneverson3673]

She's an Abjuration Wizard. Very good at protecting.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

let's put it this way: what disabled Allura for a battle, won Vox Machina the campaign for good. imagine the power level of Allura, if THIS right here is the campaign, and it's won by something that _disabled_ Allura for a few hours.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@@adela76 More than likely, Allura teleported everyone out like Gilmore did.

[@MsMorri]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR GUYS REACTION TO SEASON TWO FOR MONTHS!!! So glad to see you back here.

[@FandomZone]

Good to be back!

[@HowManyTimes234]

"How do you beat an acid dragon?!" You have to... "get to the bottom of things"

[@jonathanschaefer9848]

What a season so far. Cant wait to see your reactions. With this and last of us we live in a good time for adaptations. Also re: sacking of Emon. Vox machina bamfed out pretty quickly so we didn’t get to see the full extent of the destruction until they returned.

[@TriXJester]

Red Dragons might be the biggest and baddest of all Chromatic Dragons, but Thordak the Cinder King is the biggest and baddest of all Red Dragons.

[@lewycraft]

But neither Chrmatic nor Metalic dragons, trully have anything on complete insanity, that are prismatic dragons...

[@DietPropharah]

​@@lewycraftThere's a third tier???

[@howlingnerdwolf6971]

"19 MISSES??!" is definitely a go-to recommendation for relevant C1 clips you should check out! The palpable tension at the table during the attack of the Chroma Conclave is incredible, Matt really flipped the script on them there (so to speak), and it's to this day my go-to example of a masterclass in how to open a mid-to-high-level big arc in a D&D game. I definitely recommend you check out the corresponding episode to see the original version. Also, the way they find Gilmore is heavily modified. While I adore the changes they made for the series, there's something a lot more raw about it in the stream. It's actually after the attack itself has ended, that VM go there. They encounter a bunch of looters that are ransacking the place. Vax threatens them, almost out of his mind with worry for Gilmore, which he's right to have! Gilmore's hiding in the cellar with his employee(s) and a handful of other people, but he's been injured trying to save people and is barely conscious. If you like him, I highly recommend looking up those scenes, too, it's very emotional. On the other hand, I'm so glad that we actually get to see Gilmore in action during the attack in the series - that did not happen in the stream since they split and we obviously do not see what beloved NPCs are up to when away from the group. Also, there is a certain irony in Trent immensely enjoying the Mighty Nein campaign (welcome to the club, Trent, it's my personal favourite! :D idk how far along you are, but boy are you in for a ride!)

[@TonyFlowNMMM]

Lance reddick voicing thordak is everything I’ve ever wanted lol

[@wyattwalker7589]

Last season you met Brimscythe the Iron Storm, this season we are pleased to introduce to you Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, Raishan the Diseased Deceiver, Vorugal the Frigid Doom, and Thordak the Cinder King. The Chroma Conclave didn't come to play!

[@doug3691]

0 to 100 very quickly indeed! Did you notice, in the credits, that Scanlan --- the gnome that changes his mind about the impossible mission after seeing a couple of innocent kids -- is played by Sam Reigel, and his actual kids did the voices for THOSE kids. Such a great episode! Loved your reactions, take care.

[@TheKrstff]

This show is not a one to one translation of the show. It's like if someone took a Wikipedia summary of their campaign and used it as inspiration. So while the major plot beats are there, how it happens is a complete surprise to even the fans.

[@testfire3000]

Love your reaction! Can't wait for ep2.

[@offcenterideas]

Don't worry (or do). That Spinning Orb of Death will not be forgotten. Muahahahahahaha!

[@s.grey.k]

Can't wait for this season's reactions! It's gonna be a fun ride

[@gabthegreat01]

Guys, Travis quoted you during the commentary for this episode! He watches your reactions!! When Allura makes the barrier: “I saw a reaction video, she was like ‘Don’t touch it,” You’re the only reactors I’ve found who say that during this part

[@FandomZone]

That’s super awesome. Gotta see that clip

[@steviehills4256]

The Chroma Conclave is definitely my favourite arc from Campaign 1!

[@Jdn33315]

I definitely love the Chroma Conclave, but my favorite arc is the last one! I’m expecting 5 season of LOVM so season 5 is what I’m holding out for!

[@tycol322]

I know it's not that impressive given it's their job but I still can't get over the range of voice actors. I mean Matt mercer going from Sylas to Umbrasyl (acid dragon) to a stream favorite in the next episode. And Liam! Going from our handsome half elf Vax to the frigid doom, Vorugal himself! I can't help but be impressed.

[@theanyktos]

21:29 that is certainly an interesting theory. Can't wait to see you find out if you're right.

[@vanessaaves3271]

Hey! To comment on something in your background, I was just gifted "Monstress" from some friends. I haven't started it yet though. But episode wise, they really set the tone for what I imagine a crazy season will be!

[@vanessaaves3271]

Oh, and I wanted to say, I LOVE c2. It's my favorite (gimme that sad sad wizard ANY day of the week)

[@FandomZone]

Monstress is a beautiful epic. Each volume gets bigger and better with stunning art

[@vanessaaves3271]

@@FandomZone awesome, I look forward to reading it!

[@acwolf92]

The kid with the angry green eyes, what color were delilah's eyes?

[@laurahart1337]

We’re back! And yeah, those dragons are no joke. While what happened in the campaign with the dragons went a bit different, the overarching feeling of hopelessness was there. They are good hearted assholes❤. Buckle in for this season, and be ready for anything. Technically, there are 3 types of dragons: chromatic, metallic, and gem. They’re typically chromatic is evil, metallic is ‘good,’ and gem is neutral.

[@cloudstone123]

Here is the moment of the cast's reaction from the livestream itself. It is timestamped to be at the moment it was starting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3a3oHScadObetk

[@KayDeeKeySull]

Clarification, the person with flowing black hair and white mask and the intense child are not the same person. The masked person wasn't actually there, the child definitely was

[@ShadowyFox_86]

I think we could safely say they were both there. The masked person just wasn't there for long.

[@KayDeeKeySull]

@@ShadowyFox_86 i saw it as a vision, but yeah we could see vax was *lucky* enough to see that being👌

[@AnxietyRat]

@@ShadowyFox_86 no. The masked person physically cannot be on this material plane. So no, she wasn't actually there. It's strictly foreshadowing. That's it.

[@sarabeth6897]

Grog’s miss on the green dragon… when you KNOW you’re in trouble. Also, peak Laura (Vex’s) face on the left… kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpKznH59rZhsp80

[@carsonedmiston6441]

so, clips from the Conclave attack are gonna be long, from the attack to getting to Whitestone is like, 3 full episodes. I recommend the episode "Omens" it's one of my favorite episodes of the whole of Critical Role

[@rachelstallings5460]

One of my favorite smaller moments of these scenes has to do with Trinket - on episode 40 it starts at about 37:55 and resolves around the 45:00 mark. I just remember thinking that Travis must really love his wife and know how important Trinket is to Laura because this battle clearly has some big dangerous stuff going on. Anyone else remember this?

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Were they married at that time? I thought that was later.

[@rachelstallings5460]

@@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself they've been married the whole time. Just had a kid during season 2.

[@AnxietyRat]

@@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself It was Marisha and Matt who got married in the time they have been streaming. Laura and Travis have been married for a WHILE. They were already married from the beginning of the streams.

[@wolfinstedd]

Keep your eyes on green eye child and ghosts figure is going be super important later on down road.

[@jamesmorehouse9896]

Hopefully FIRST. LOVED your reaction and wide eyed thumbnail!

[@corporealghoul]

Late to the party but you are right. There are 2 main types of dragons. Chromatic and Metallic. The Chromatic dragons are basic colors. Red, green, blue, white, black. Chromatic dragons are innately evil and will fight anything alive. Even each other. Metallic dragons are bronze, silver, gold, copper, and brass. They tend to be neutral. Each color also has their own specifics. Certain colors of chromatic dragons are more elusive while others are more prone to go on killing sprees. Bronze tend to be very devote and dont like unjustice on any living creatures. Copper tend to be weaker but are fun loving creatures. All dragons are considered highly intelligent and all have base magic.

[@a.w.r3311]

At the risk of being that guy, I feel the need to mention that dragons do NOT have truesight. Not sure why people are spreading that tbh. They have blindsight and no it isn't tied to their age. They all have it. Easiest way to explain away Brimscythe's blunder is that the illusion was too far away for it to factor in. Either that or he really was just dumb but that seems unlikely lol.

[@MoteMayhaps]

Their blindsight is only 60 feet, iirc. Brimscythe was too far away to tell, Vorugal was close enough to know.

[@BiggySn1p3r]

Here's the episode at the start of Uriel's speech. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3a3oHScadObetk

[@mikebreaddelancey4755]

Start at 3:26:00. Matt had planned this moment for almost 3 years. Brimscythe happened before they started streaming and Matt set that up for this. He's said repeatedly this was his most bittersweet moment as its both his favorite and he destroyed most of everything he created in this world by having them attack. He was just waiting for VM to level up enough to probably survive. He's said a total party kill was on the table if they did anything stupid.

[@foulrot]

@@mikebreaddelancey4755 "He's said a total party kill was on the table if they did anything stupid." Which with VM, it's rare for them to NOT do something stupid.

[@JirkaKunst]

The green eyed kid IS weird. And explaining it would be a spoiler for stuff that will probably happen in early season 3. But we should start to form the Larkin Watch.

[@bonkiatsu470]

🔥❤️🔥

[@sandpiperr]

I'm glad you didn't watch campaign 1. Reactions are much better that way! And if you're going through campaign 3, stop before episode 33 because after that there are spoilers for parts of campaign 1 that haven't been shown in the animated series yet.

[@whatthe8898]

I think the kid with green eyes is a dragon, and my guess would be Silver :)

[@adela76]

Silver is like the white dragon's counterpart right? But that would mean it is more likely to aid Vox Machina instead of spying on them to further the Chroma Conclave's plans of dominion, as I had initially presumed.

[@hannahawesome85]

Possible *spoiler* as I don't remember this fully in the campaign but I think that's Raishan, the Diseased Deceiver. 🐉 She wasn't with the other dragons. Hmm... green eyes... 👀 I can be wrong but I'm thinking Raishan.

[@whatthe8898]

@@hannahawesome85 Thanks for replying, I have only watched or seen a few of Critical Roles stuff on youtube. Was thinking maybe a Silver since they tend to interact with folks a bit more often or so if I remember correctly. Time to watch episode 2.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

I'm gonna go and spoil part of it, because I might be wrong on this, but that green-eyed girl is probably Raishan in disguise. yes, that giant acid-breathing dragon that taunted Keyleth? that's her, she can shapeshift. even though she's part of the conclave, she has her own agenda, so, from now on, don't trust any NPCs that show up, except when they're name-dropped by VM in advance. that's how you turn a spoiler around.... you create UNCERTAINTY!

[@MusicUnderMyBreath]

Even if you're unsure or wrong if you should type ' potential spoiler' at the top then hit Enter Enter Enter Enter Enter Enter Enter So they have to click read more to read your comment. This is basic common courtesy man. Not everyone has seen the show or played a game of D&D. Let new Critters enjoy something without having to worry about spoilers every time they want to engage in the community.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

@@MusicUnderMyBreath it doesn't take a Sherlock deduction to figure out who that girl is, tho. I'm pretty sure anyone watching this series has at least a little bit of knowledge about the tropes of storytelling.... plus, it's not a live watch, it's been several days since it's initial release.

[@rhysfrechette7739]

Green eyes, the little girl had green eyes... Like Raishan.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

Spoilers!

[@gabthegreat01]

Dude, spoilers! C’mon!

[@rhysfrechette7739]

What do you mean, "Spoilers!" Did I guess right? Is that little girl Raishan?

[@MoteMayhaps]

We don't talk about Larkin...