The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 Episode 3 Reaction

Hope you enjoy our reaction to The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 Episode 3. Early ad-free access to reactions as well as full watch along reactions via / definitelynotdefinitive
To see all of our Legend of Vox Machina reactions including season 1 check out this playlist • Vox Machina Reaction -...
Hit us up on IG - / wearedefinitelynotdefi...
Merch -definitelynotd...
Gaming Channel - / definitelynotdefinitive
#criticalrole #voxmachina #thelegendofvoxmachina #reactionvideo

[@bouboulroz]

"I don't believe it." Fitting, since denial is the first stage of grief.

[@Drocksas]

I came scrolling through the comments for people sharing campaign info and coming together over the sadness and amazing acting. ...I was not expecting the roast of the season.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

😭

[@heroicryan6257]

@@Drocksas Roast? That surprises me. I loved this season although I liked S1 a teeny tiny bit better

[@Drocksas]

This episode hit right in the gut. Even for those of us that watched the campaign and knew what was coming. Part of why it hits so hard is because on top of Liam O'Brien (Vax's voice actor) putting on a STELLAR performance, but at this point in the tabletop campaign he was going through a LOT of rough stuff in his personal/family life. And it just kind of amplified his own pain and kind of became a way to work through it in a therapeutic sense in the safety of the fiction. Highly recommend looking into the details of it if you're interested!

[@Drocksas]

Also, fun fact about the episode: for the background music, there's actually nothing aside from the combat scenes and the scenes for Vex and Vax, like the flashbacks. It was a choice from the music director to really amplify that sense of foreboding, and *dang* if it didn't work.

[@davidbergfors6820]

This episode is masterfully crafted! between the weaving in with the twins back story and the eerieness of the score (as Drocksas said), this is so good! give Critical role and the animators all the awards!!

[@anonymousxaela761]

It's why Caleb is my favourite in Mighty Nein, Liam put his *soul* into that character and all that pain and guilt he feels is real.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Yeah Liam O’Brien was phenomenal in this. Just felt that pain so much 😢

[@pabloc8808]

What Matt did for Liam during the campaign was phenomenal, all of it. In fact, from time to time I do go back and watch the Victor clips because seeing how Matt manages to bring Liam, who was on the verge of tears, to laughing so hard he was in tears (in the good way) is therapeutic to me

[@DougCoughler]

Vax and Vex backstory that isn't in the cartoon: They are half-elf. Their human mother was killed by a red dragon (that's the scene you see in the opening credits). They live with their father for a time, but because of their half-human heritage, they were never enough for him, even though he was the one who fathered them in the first place.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Thanks for the quick run down 🙂

[@bandi138138]

A natural 1 on the dice for your dexterity saving throw would do that to ya

[@unicyclist97]

Not really. It's pass / fail for taking damage, not instant death for rolling a 1. Failing to recover from the fight before looting is the problem.

[@bandi138138]

@@unicyclist97 yes, I know the damage was enough to bring her to 0, and that Trinket survived after failing as well. It was joke, dude

[@ShadowyFox_86]

​@Joel Pearson More the failing to notice a death trap in time than failing to recover before looting.

[@PurpleCyanideTube]

@@bandi138138 it’s not really a good joke sorry. Makes it seem like you were making a statement which was wrong. Should expect a response for that.

[@toamszkozak8822]

15:08 Vex mentioned that in season 1 that their Mother was killed by some dragon, that's what you See in the intro the house of their mother burned by a dragon

[@stevencavanagh7990]

only good thing there Farther ever did was take them, it saved there lives

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Thanks for the reminder 🙂

[@AmericanAurochs]

4:17 For those who don’t know, the belt is a Belt of Dwarven Kind. It grants a bonus to your constitution score, you can speak and read Dwarvish, and (most importantly) the beard.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

Unless you're Grog who is, quite literally, too stupid to know how to read. 😜

[@Acatia2]

To give you game mechanic perspective, Keyleth was indeed down at the end of season 1. She wasn't dead though, she was in the process of dying, aka rolling Death Saving Throws which determine if you actually die or hold on. Vex however was hit by a trap protecting the goddess of death's greatest champion, she's dead dead.

[@nuru666]

More specifically she got hit with (I believe) a Finger of Death spell, which if it takes you to 0 HP you are *DEAD*. No saving throws, just stone dead.

[@FulcanMal]

@@nuru666 Not 'Finger of Death'. That actually doesn't kill you if you hit zero, but instead brings you back as a Zombie if you do die. Disintegrate, well, disintegrates you if you hit 0. Power Word Kill kills you if you have 100hp or less. This was it's own thing, as it effected an area (Percy and Trinket both had to make saves).

[@Becky31389]

​@@FulcanMal I believe Matt confirmed at some point it was more like Circle of Death and had a rule that if anybody hit with the spell goes under 0 hitpoints, it was instant death. That's why during the live stream he specifically asked her if it took her below 0.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@@Becky31389 Yes. One key distinction people seemed to have missed or misremembered is that Matt, when he was describing the trap that triggered, used "Death Energy" as his description, not "Necrotic Energy." He wanted the party to know, point blank, "You Done Fucked Up."

[@ellenhenningsgaard3039]

Death can happen at the drop of a hat in D&D. :( In the campaign, the trap let out a blast of necrotic (death) magic and dropped Vex to 0HP, which is insta-death.

[@Drocksas]

Well, that trap's mechanics were insta-death. Normally, Necrotic damage just damages like any other damage type; it's just a lot of stuff that has insta-death mechanics happen to use necrotic damage

[@DaDunge]

​@@Drocksasthough necrotic damage usually have other effects. Either insta death or lowering max hp or something like that.

[@schizomaru]

@@Drocksas I am pretty sure it is a home rule to make necrotic insta death if the HP goes below zero

[@bouboulroz]

​@@schizomaru it's not really a homerule. Even in Matt's campaign, necrotic damage doesn't automatically have extra effects. However, some spells and feature add that effect (such as a Beholder's death ray). This specific trap was just designed with that feature because it made sense to have a lethal trap to protect the Matron's most prized possession.

[@Halbam]

@@schizomaru The trap emulated the spell Finger of Death, which specifies that you die if it brings you to 0 HP.

[@МолчаливыйКлинок]

Fun fact. Most scenes in this episode don`t have any music. Which dedfinely helps with the feel of the impending death.

[@Charvale]

In the game, Vex did die in that scene. It was both emotional for the players and heartbreaking to watch. As for the fire scene in the intro, that was in relation to their mother. I'm only talking about this part because they only barely touch on it in the series, but is a major plot point nobody ever seems to really address. When Vex and Vax were teens, their father summoned them, and they were only there for a few years learning from the Elves because their father didn't seem to have any love for the pair, so they left -- only to find their mother's house burning, and the townsfolk talking about a dragon.

[@davidbergfors6820]

I do believe we will get more of this is the third season. at least I hope so.

[@Ozgarthefighter]

​@David Bergfors probably when we get closer to THAT specific dragon fight.

[@davidbergfors6820]

@@Ozgarthefighter exactly my thought.

[@JayJayM57]

One thing to remember this show is based on a D&D campaign and death can happen at any moment. there are several ways to get around death, in fact, the show has made several deaths into near deaths. this way only the more impactful deaths remained.

[@stevencavanagh7990]

Laura rolled a nat 1 on her Dex save and took 56 pts od damage bringing her below zero HP, killing Vex instantly. from here on everything changes in the campaign.

[@davidbergfors6820]

The Sun tree moment, the attack of the Chroma conclave and the death of Vex'ahlia, the three most profound moments in the campaign, and the animators have done them all justice! this is good television!

[@miafiolekova5817]

​@@davidbergfors6820 i am waiting for the 3 death knights moment. That was the the most evil thing Matt has done to his players. And i love it.

[@davidbergfors6820]

@@miafiolekova5817 oh dear! You are a sadist... 😜

[@ShadowyFox_86]

​@David Bergfors There are two moments that I hope they get enough seasons for that I think rank up just as high. Can't say for spoilers but people who've finished campaign likely know the two I'm thinking of.

[@miafiolekova5817]

@@davidbergfors6820 oh it was so fun how they celebrated their high rolls only to see the shock and horror on their faces when they realized. It was amazing muhaha 🤣🤣🤣

[@zenmastermtl]

The shocking tragedy of a failed save at the wrong time. This is the temple of The Raven Queen the goddess of death, so she was hit with pure death energy. Also she's the "Raven" Queen, hence the feathers.

[@Wuginess]

Vax was worried about Vex because Zara and the twins have bad blood , and because the finger of death that hit Kyleith last season was ment for Vex. But in general you will see that Vex worries about her brother's emotional state, but Vax worries about his sister physical health.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

That and they were going into a tomb. It's also a nod to Liam, the player, warning the rest of the table that there would be dangerous traps. Liam was one of the only ones to really understand the danger they were in.

[@Wuginess]

@@ShadowyFox_86 exactly, it's the rogue's job to look for traps

[@toamszkozak8822]

Anyone can die in d&d even main characters, and it wasn't planned at all Laura (Vex Player) Just rolled poorly and she died, also Pike couldn't heal Vex because Vex was already dead, Pike can only heal people who are still alive, Vex was dead as soon as she hit the ground

[@RiderRyuuga]

pike could revive her, but they where in the tempel of the Goddess of death, with makes the spell Revivify extremly difficuld

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@Toamsz Kozak Pike wasn't there. Ashley was in New York filming Blindspot at the time. That's why they had Kashaw, who did, pretty much, what he did in this Animated Series.

[@Drakefance5]

So when you drop to 0 health in dnd, you go into a state known as unconscious, where you'll make death saving throws every 6 seconds, 3 failed rolls results in death, 3 successful rolls results in being stabilised. This was what had happened with Keyleth, she was revived during unconsciousness. Vex was hit by a necromantic trap, the particular spell contained within, was very strong but also contained a particular trait, if the victim drops below 0 hp, they die instantly, no death saving throws, no recovery, dead. The party was already wounded after some fights prior and they hadn't healed up. Which lead to this moment.

[@TenebrousFilms]

Their reaction to Purvan's name was exactly the same, except out of character. The Belt of Dwarvenkind is good for warrior types, has a *chance* of growing you a beard over time (regardless of gender), and allows you to read dwarven... but Grog can't read, so. One night, Vax got Grog very drunk, then shaved *half* the beard off as he slept. When Grog realised what had happened, he tried to smear charcoal across that side of his face to even it out. Taliesin rolled high enough to avoid the wave of death energy released by the sarcophagus, but Laura rolled a natural one, and the damage took Vex below 0hp. Instakill. She's dead.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

😨

[@kikphlip1080]

​@Definitely Not Definitive suuuper late here but Grog's player was so mad about the beard prank he ACTUALLY SNAPPED A MECHANICAL PENCIL IN HALF

[@ForeverDegenerate]

@@kikphlip1080 With one hand.

[@FLStyle]

Death god's tomb has traps that explode death energy, that figures.

[@TriXJester]

That's exactly how it happened in the stream. One of the biggest gut punches in Critical Role. That's the risk you take with D&D, one mistake or bad dice roll and your character gets the axe. Hell, I've had my share of character deaths, the very first time I played D&D my character got killed by a monster before my teammates could heal me and we were to low level to try and bring my character back to life. The thing with D&D is tho, is how these deaths can become a major theme for the campaign's future, as seen in the various campaigns of Critical Role or even your own home game with friends. In my case, because my character's backstory (she was part of a rebellion in her homeland and trying to rescue the leader of said rebellion from imprisonment) my teammates actually took up the cause in her stead. So even if your character dies, it doesnt mean that they werent important or that their stories are done. Some of the most important stories in D&D are the legacies these characters leave behind.

[@nuru666]

Like a certain character from C2!

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

That’s really cool that your backstory can influence the campaign like that 🥲😀

[@JaayCeez]

@@nuru666 That is going to be such a WILD! Ride when it happens in animated form. The tears that will be shed by reactors and first time watchers will overflow the earth lolol.

[@claired2452]

13:06 was about the same reaction everyone else had. Especially when they did the 3 episode release schedule, so originally having to wait a whole week to find out what happens next was torture. Love the reactions, can't wait to see the rest!

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

We had forgot they release these 3 episodes a week. So they really knew what they were doing with placement of it all. 😢😨

[@jessicajayes8326]

I recognized Will Friedle's character instantly (he joined the campaign as a guest star) and Vex's dad is voiced by Troy Baker (original Joel in The Last of Us)

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Troy Baker is in everything it seems 😀

[@JaayCeez]

@@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2 Troy Baker is super close with a lot of the Critical Role cast, like really close friends with Travis, Laura, and Ashley. I'm pretty sure he hasn't been a guest in the table due to his RIDICULOUS busy schedule lol. But was ecstatic to at least be apart of the animated show, especially since he plays the father of Vex/Laura. ☺

[@NightSterling]

Personally this hit harder than the in game death because i knew it was coming which might sound weird but during the game when it happened so many different emotions just popped up and it was just so sudden that I didn't know what to feel but here since I knew it was coming i just felt the sadness plus Liam's (Vax's VA) acting in the scene just breaks my heart even more.

[@cryptc]

Also since they knew what was coming when making the show they could foreshadow it and build up to it masterfully with the flashbacks

[@Drocksas]

To paraphrase a certain parody series I love, Liam knows just how to kick your heart in the dick with his performance. Dude knocked it out of the park in this episode.

[@ddienst]

There are high level spells that if they reduce you to zero kill you outright - no death saves or healing. That is what happened here. She rolled 1 to dodge but Percy made his roll to avoid it.

[@tlaragihai5953]

3:27 the exact reaction on his name, taken right from the stream :3 This episode... yeah. It was incredibly sad and emotional moment in the campaign, all were scared and worried beyond words, Percy`s player was striken, because this is clearly not what he wanted... But here, they knew that they were doing , how to make this more heartbreaking, how to make everybody suffer.

[@xkelbix93]

This is the 3rd time I've seen this episode and I still teared up. Your faces. I just wanted to give yous a hug x

[@xarkos]

One thing that really sets this apart from literally every other show ever made until now, what would make for an interesting narrative cooked up in the writers room isn't the driving force. What happened at the table while they were rolling unfeeling, uncaring random number generators drives what happens, the writers simply reinterpret that for this medium in an interesting way. That adaptation means things are significantly different than how they happened at the table, but, the fact that it is adapting what happened at the table means sometimes something might happen, like a character death, that was unexpected and tragic and not something the writers can work around or ignore no matter what typical narrative expectations would dictate.

[@theanyktos]

Keyleth didn't die last season. She was just unconscious (which, I realise, is kind of hard to distinguish in a show like this). Vex has actually _died_ . As in: stopped breathing. No simple healing magic can bring you back from _that_ .

[@manahakume9870]

the difference between Keylith and Vex is the characters reactions when percy wrote Keke off vexs says 'shes still breathing' Vex is very clearly no longer breathing as her eyes lost their light and they played the sound of her last breath(this is the difference between unconscious in saving throws and DEAD), it is REALLY funny to watch that lost look in the eyes of new critters who only know VM through the show. that look of 'no, our plot armor, where is it? this isnt real' welcome to Dnd folks where death is ALWAYS on the table! no one is safe, ever, no matter if we're in the middle of their story or not. but dnd also has options, death doesn't have to be the end, revival spells exist if you have the materials and the favor of the gods. or we get a new character who sounds suspiciously like Vex :D and to answer about their father, yes they are half elves, thus why he calls them Diluted, hes saying they are lesser then him because they are half human, its straight up a slur, imagine either parent talking to a half race kid like that its fucking disgusting behavior; and since i don't know if they go any farther into it in the series the scene from the opening of them and trinket is of them returning to their mothers(human parent) village and it had been destroyed by the red dragon that had attacked the lands before they actually hit on this in the 1st 2 episodes of season one, that their mother was killed by a dragon and that Alura has experience fighting dragons to which she responds 'that was a red dragon years ago' its very subtle to people not looking for it but those two quotes are quite important :3

[@gregoriancatmonk6904]

In DND you can't use a heal on dead people, they still need to be alive for them to regain HP.

[@Luzarioth]

I knew what would going to happen... but damn you Liam O'Brien ! That sobbing really hurt...

[@lenjordan8075]

Great Reaction!! Loved it. So Vex and Vax are indeed half elves. Can't wait for more reactions they are always fun and the secondhand dopamine I get from watching these is immaculate.

[@winter3492]

It is always worth remembering that a lot of this is based off the players actions in the game that was played which kind of means a bad roll could end with someones untimely death, thus why in the show they can seem a little out of place, however all the choices made Vax exploring another area and Percy going to grab the vestige are all things that occured in the game which lead to this situation. Also fun tidbit, one of the biggest changes I've noticed them do between the show and the game, is that in the game when fighting the Briarwoods it was Vex that nearly died, where as the show made it Keyleth

[@mikebreaddelancey4755]

In the original campaign, Vex was the one hit by the finger of death instead of Kiki during the fight against Delilah. They made the editorial change because it makes a better story to move it to another character when you know this episode is on the horizon. Its more impactful if this is the first time Vex dies.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Yeah that was a good change on their part 🙂

[@Mordring]

Bad news: in D&D your characters' survival chances are closer to Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings (unless you're Sean Bean, then you're screwed either way). Good news: resurrection spells do exist in D&D. Critical news: Matt's homebrewed that they can still fail if the requirements aren't met.

[@louisemckn]

I can’t wait for you to meet Laura’s next character, talk about a ball of chaos!💙💙

[@clownzzz4837]

A non-typical cleric, for sure. My favorite character in all three campaigns.

[@nuru666]

@@clownzzz4837 Hello, Bees!!

[@bloodwolfgaming9269]

Fun Fact with the belt Gorg got. It was known as the Belt of Dwarven Kind. It allowed the wearer to understand dwarvish language/writing as well as allowed the wearer to grow a beard. Grog's race isn't known for having any hair so the actor that played him, Travis, was super stoked for his character to have a chance to give him a beard. Though, during the campaign, he had to make multiple rolls across multiple play sessions before he was able to have grown a substantial beard. And then just to fuck with him, Liam, the actor who plays Vax, performed a stealth roll while Grog was sleeping one night to shave off half his beard. It pissed off Travis soo much that he broke a mechanical pencil in two with one hand. The situation was much different between Key'leth's "death" and Vex's death and it comes down to how the players actually play the game. In Critical Role's campaigns, when a player hits 0 HP, they fall unconscious. From there they have to roll 'Death Saves" at the start of their turn. If they succeed 3 death saves, they stabilize, but if they fail 3 saves, they die. Though, some spells or certain effects can make it so a player doesn't just "go unconscious" at 0 HP and outright die. When Key'leth went down, she didn't actually die...she was just unconscious and was able to make enough saving rolls to not die until the party was able to revive her. Here with Vex, she was hit by a specific spell/trap that was set to outright kill her. As for why Pike's healing didn't seem to work, typical healing spells can work on those that are unconscious in that death saving state but do not work on someone who is actually dead. For that, you need a specific very powerful spell to try and bring them back from the dead...and even then, it is something that players have to typically roll for so it still may not work. As for the Twins backstory...since I don't think they actually cover it much in the animated series...they are half-elves. Their mother was human and their father was full elven. When the Twins were very young, there home was attacked by a dragon that left their mother dead. This is why Vex can seemingly sense when dragons are close by (her character's favorite enemies are dragons due to her upbringing). After their mother died, they ended up having to go live with their father.

[@oldwolflogan4224]

Definitely recommend you watch the live play version of Vex's death scene.

[@suntiger745]

After episode 4 if the animation. :)

[@toonman5099]

Fun facts: - In the scene where it shows the temple of the Wildmother in the previous episode, there is a character with pink hair who strongly resembles a Campaign 2 character, Caduceus Clay. - At the start, you can notice one of the citizen's is dressed like Winnie the Pooh, the guy with the pot. Not entirely sure on who he's based on or if he's JUST a Winnie the Pooh reference. - The party's response to Purvan is pretty much word for word what happened in the campaign. - Don't know if it'll be brought up in season 3, but Grog's belt WOULD also let him understand Dwarvish, but sadly he can't read with an Intelligence of 6, but he knows what he's doing. Also, in game it was an EXTREME effort for Grog to grow a bear because normally in-game Goliaths/Half-Giants can't grow any hair due to their relation to Stone Giants. Typically only females have hair and it tends to be red. So Grog is, I BELIEVE, the only male pure Goliath to ever have naturally grown hair in any way. Although there is a history of Goliaths being able to grow hair due to having common ancestry with orcs and other non-giant races. It just tended to be Orcs most of the time due to it used to be normal for nomadic Goliaths to intermingle with Orcs on a regular basis, both to fight and/or to f#@%. - Just kind of silly, when you hear Pike screaming as she goes by the camera, Travis mentions all he can imagine is that it sounds like an elephant. XD - The "Cause ya f#@%in' should be" was Kash's player/VA Will Friedle (played Terry in Batman Beyond) just improving. XD

[@OriginalMokthol]

Loved this episode... even if I knew what was going to happen though, it still hits hard. It's hard to believe it sometimes, but stuff like this does happen in D&D. I'll never get tired of Grog. Can hardly wait until you see the rest of the season! How you do one episode a week is impressive, my partner and I binged them all over the course of 3 evenings.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

That would suck to die in the campaign and then just chill there for the rest of the campaign until it ends 😢

[@Kai-fb1ol]

@@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2 That wouldn't happen. The player would be asked to create a new character and the DM would introduce them into the game somehow.

[@Mythlorrr]

The reason Pike couldn't heal Vex is because Vex fully died there. Regular healing can't fix that. You'll just have to wait for the next episode to see what happens. Though I'm guessing you'll have already seen it by this point.

[@mikebreaddelancey4755]

Vex was killed by death magic from the Goddess of Death and Fate in her temple. Pike couldn't help because one god (the Everlight) has no power over another god's (Raven Queen) domain, especially in her temple devoted to their champion. The goddess of fate decided in this temple who pays the price to get the vestment of death incarnate.

[@CatherinesClaws]

the best part about grog getting a beard is that goliaths can't grow facial hair, so he's extra stoked about having one.

[@purplelikefire]

I have been waiting for you to get to this once since the first season when you both said how much you loved Vex. They really did the weight of the moment justice from the stream!

[@jeremiahfour]

Makes me cry every time

[@derekmarshman6154]

"This will have a cost"... Oh, Bethany. You have no idea.

[@wasitum]

"Do not go far from me", oof, right in the feels ...

[@TheDonmayo]

Fact about Grogs Beard: The reason Grog was so excited about the beard is because Goliaths like him do not grow facial hair, some don't grow hair at all. The belt is, if I rememer correctly, the belt of Dwarvenkind. Alot of people say that Grog ripped off the look of Kratos from God of War, but fact is that Grog got the beard before Kratos his. Both Zahra and Keshaw have been played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Will Friedel, who appeared as guest players at the table of Critical Role.

[@billybossier2888]

Pike was using healing spells. In DnD if you go to zero hp with a Necromantic spell you are dead and can't be healed up you have to use different magic to be pulled. There is a little more to it that is spoilery but that explains a lot of it.

[@houseofsledge6891]

Just discovered you channel today from your Vox Machina videos. Binged them all. Loved getting to ride along with y'all as you explore this show. I look forward to more Vox Machina videos. Liked and shared.

[@atinygoose6199]

It's the thing with a show based on DND rather than a written script. You can't know who will die and when, a writer "wouldnt" do this, but the dice could. What makes it so good to watch, you never know what will happen or when a death will stick.

[@RomnilWater]

To give the mechanical difference in terms of D&D here: in season 1 Keyleth was down to 0 hit points, making her unconscience, but with the rules you would roll a 20 sided dice and if you roll 10 or higher three times you stabilize. Basically you are knocked out but no longer bleeding out. Conversely if you roll 3 times 9 or less you die. In this case with Vex there was a specific trap on the circophicus where of it brought your hit points down it 0 you instantly die. No rolling death saves. To bring people back from death (as opposed to unconscious) takes very different higher level magic to do. In the original game I believe Pike wasn't present due to Ashley being in New York filming a show. So she wouldn't have been there to do any type of healing. In LoVM they are presenting the characters as a bit weaker then they were in the stream. Having Pike not have access to the Revive spell was probably the best way to have Pike present in the show when she wasn't originally while preserving this extremely important moment. And what a moment it is. Honestly the ending scene was one of the major moments I was most looking forward to seeing animated when Season 2 was announced. I'm a bit of a massacrest in regards to sad emotional scenes. It's arguably one of the biggest and most memorable scenes in the campaign (at the very least it has long lasting consequences).

[@johnwoodworth9127]

The "Wow you guys suck" was said by Matt at the table, because all those jokes were said by the players at the table... Another thing that is fun about this episode was that Marisha/Keyleth had a crush on Will Ferdell/Kashaw when she was a kid, had a poster of him in her bedroom and everything. For Vex... if you have time kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnLYeZmOrLmMZ68 it compares to stream to the cartoon.

[@theanyktos]

That's the thing about DnD. Bad shit happens. If you're not careful, if the dice don't roll in your favour... characters can die. And there's not necessarily some grand narrative reason for it. This happened almost exactly like that in the campaign. They were still wounded from a fight. Vax was off in a hole. Percy was careless and didn't check for traps, or wait for someone else to do it. And since Vex had run over to see the loot, her and Trinket were close enough to get caught in the radius of necrotic energy that he triggered. Percy rolled well enough to dodge out of the way. Trinket didn't, but still had enough health left to survive it. Vex rolled a natural 1 (meaning a 1 on the die, the worst thing you can roll and usually an automatic failure, no matter what bonuses you have otherwise) and had less HP left than the amount of damage that trap caused. Now, usually, that wouldn't be that bad. Usually when you go to 0 HP, you fall unconscious, after which you have to make death saving throws (basically a way of determining how long it takes you to die from your injuries). So there is time for someone to heal you, before you're actually dead. There were, like, 4 people in that tomb who could've healed her and the players didn't think it was that bad in the moment, they were talking and joking about how she just "died". Except. This was a trap guarding the final resting place of the champion, the _chosen_ of the goddess of fate and death. Of course that's not gonna be your run-of-the-mill, Indiana Jones type trap. That trap had an effect where, if the damage it causes takes someone below 0 HP, they just die instantly. No falling unconscious, no death saves. No healing. The players didn't know that of course. But when Matt (the dungeon master) hesitated and asked Laura (Vex) to confirm that she was below 0 HP they knew something was wrong. Laura got it immediately. The mood at that table changed _very_ quickly. I knew this was coming, I was bracing for it the entire episode, and my heart still broke, _again_ , seeing this episode the first time. I still tear up every time I see it. The music coming in in full force after being pretty much absent the whole episode. The flashbacks. Liam O'Brien's (Vax) fucking stellar performance. The cutting back and forth between _Crying Baby Vax_ and _Crying Grownup Vax_ both crying because their other half left them. Just... ugh. I didn't think they'd manage to make this scene more emotional than it was in the campaign, but... damn. They did it.

[@Lanternman2814]

Keyleth was on Death's Door and dying at the end of last season, but still alive. Vex is actually Dead. Full stop. They went into a temple of the Goddess of Death. It was bound to be extremely dangerous. That's why Vax was so focused on avoiding the traps. Vex dying was a sudden gut punch in the campaign. And it's a turning point for the party.

[@undertonetm7692]

In the streamed game, Vex, Trinket, and Percy needed to make Dexterity Saving Throws. Vex rolled a Nat 1, Trinket rolled low as well, and I think Percy rolled a 21 [plus modifiers]. This is the transcription. ========== Matt Mercer [DM]: [To Percy] As you reach out and grab for the armor, as your fingers touch it, there's this vibrations and it seems like the shadows, the nearby shadows in the corners, seem to reach up towards your hands. You pull back in time, [To Vex and Trinket] but you and Trinket notice a little too late as there's a burst of death. A burst of death energy bursts out for a ten-foot radius around the entire sarcophagus. [To Percy] You avoid it. [To Vex and Trinket] Both you and Trinket suffer 58 points of Necrotic Damage. Laura Baily [Vex'ahlia]: I'm unconcious. Trinket-- Matt Mercer [DM]: [To Vex] Does that bring you below zero? Laura Baily [Vex'ahlia]: ...Yeah Matt Mercer [DM]:Vex's body falls and hits the stonework, and you look over as you see her eyes stare up, the last bit of air escaping from her lungs as the life drips out of her form. ========== This is what happened at the table during their streams and I just wrote it down and for you people to read and ponder. I'm not much versed with the rules of DnD, but I think, if I remember correctly, Damaging you to zero makes you unconsious and unable to function, a player has then to make 3 Death Saves. 3 success' means your back in the fight, and 3 loss' means that you die permanently. Additional hits while unconsious contribute to a loss of Death Saves. If the damage is a really big damage that would equal your health in the negatives, [ex. 50HP but you recieve 100 pts. of damage, that means there's 50 damage left over to attack your max health] it would effectively result in an instant kill. I think. If I got it correctly I do not have full context, so I do not know if she was low after the fight with the fish people, but the damage was high enough to warrant a 3 consecutive loss on the Death Saving throw. That, or what Matt Mercer just said, Death Magic Energy thingy-mabob.

[@hqueso]

It's the particular spell effect that was triggered by the trap. It states that if you take enough damage to go to 0hp, you go straight to dead, skipping the death saves. A rare effect that is an exception to the normal damage rules.

[@suntiger745]

The Slayer's Take are rough and tumble and a bit shady, but they do take their service to Osysa and the Knowing Mistress seriously. However, Zahra let her intense rivalry with Vex'ahlia override her normal trust in Osysa's judgement and so she and Kashaw followed Vox Machina to sunken tomb. Both to make sure something as powerful as a vestige doesn't fall into the wrong hands, and to show Vex'ahlia that she and her group aren't as good as Zahra, Kashaw and the Slayer's Take. ;) And the way Grog sets off traps, it initially appears their suspicions about Vox Machina being unsuitable for a Vestige seems to be well founded. :P And we get some twins backstory. There's that snippet in the opening where they stand at the burning ruins of their mother's house. Here we get to see the other part, where they lived with their elven father in Syngorn for a time. Not all elves are snooty bastards with sticks up their behinds, but unfortunately, Ambassador Syldor Vessar is one of them. When he couldn't turn his half-elven children into perfect little dolls/agents for his house, he wasted no time in constantly reminding them of how much lesser and inadequate they were for not being full-blooded elves. There's a reason the twins never use their surname Vessar, even in situations where mentioning that name would carry weight. And then there is the tomb and the events with Purvan Suul's sarcophagus... Normally when you hit 0HP in DnD you start rolling death saves. However, there are some spells and abilities that will kill the character instantly if they take you to 0HP or below. The trap put on the sarcophagus of the Matron of Raven's champion? Not a normal trap. I believe mechanically it was a homebrew Matt did, but the relevant effect is that if it took a player below 0HP, there would be no saving throws. And now Vex'ahlia is dead. For some more DnD nerdery: Some of the instant death spells and abilities are from the necromancy school, like *Finger of Death* , which kills the target and instantly raise them as a zombie in service the person that killed them. Another is *Disintegrate* from the transmutation school, or *Power Word Kill* from the enchantment school. A Mindflayer's *Extract Brain* is also an insta-kill if it takes you below 0HP, as is a Will o' Wisp's *Consume Life* ability.

[@hypersectomy]

i love that you guys are in deep

[@ZaberFangAT]

Pike only has healing magic, I believe. I don't think she's high enough level to have actual resurrection magic. In the game itself, she would also have needed to have it prepared. I don't think they would have expected any of their party to outright die to have it prepped, just get knocked unconscious, which basic healing can deal with.

[@laurahart1337]

There is unfortunately no plot armor in DND.

[@gilessaint-loup2426]

Grog getting a beard is a major thing, his race do not grow facial hair. The only reason he has that beard is because of the belt.

[@Lucieen]

This is the clip of that moment in the campaign if you're interested in how it happened in the campaign. No spoilers for episode 4 of TLOVM in this clip. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6HCnWOYaZJsbZY

[@arkadiuszsiedlarz8023]

My teory is ; predafos is a vestage (god kiling wapon ) folowers of him are the exalted like vestages

[@Ironoclasty]

Okay, fair point, last season when they were losing Keyleth, that was a fake out. Technically she didn't die, she was dying (in the game you make death saves and if you miss three before you succeed at three, THEN you die). But this was not a fake out. This . . . and pay attention here . . . this is where they go from great to epic. Continue to see what Vex's death costs them.

[@kiedragerl8119]

I can't wait until the next episode from ya'll. It's only getting weirder from here.

[@kingmakaii]

People really don’t listen I TOLD YOU STOP TOUCHING STUFF 😭

[@deltashard7980]

Remember, this is based on a dnd campaign, where your character can just die permanently from a bad dice roll. Vex rolled a 1, which is a critical failure, as a saving throw.

[@AutumnWoodham]

"They can't just kill Vex" Here's the thing about D&D... They really just can. In any game, a player character could die at any moment, be it from not being careful in a dungeon full of traps, fighting something way out of their capability, or just some really bad dice rolls., D&D is not a story about immortal protagonist who always overcome everything. Sometimes they can be saved or resurrected, but sometimes, a characters' story just ends without any grandure. And Vex did die here in the campaign.

[@canadian__ninja]

So Pike wasn't able to heal because you can't heal death with the cure wounds spell. And that's D&D. Things can be going great and then suddenly someone is dead. Especially when you get careless with deadly tier traps, which they did. Also, I say this every time I see this episode, but fuck Liam O'Brien and his ability to make me cry

[@necromancerwu]

Really like your videos and really like this series, also checked out your warhammer reactions. I wonder if you guys would ever consider reacting to music videos that have significant stories? I would love to see you guys react to some Sabaton (a Swedish band) songs that sing about interesting historical events. Highest recommendation on their "Christmas Truce", "Bismarck", and any of their animated stories.

[@protection1391]

Melodysheep made a new video *The Sights Of Space: A Voyage To Spectacular Alien Worlds*

[@CB-eo6xo]

Yeah..... this was a tragedy that even in the original critical role game left a lot of people devastated.

[@mishiara5499]

You cant heal death - you can heal someone up that is damaged, but not heal someone from death to life. That is different magic, resurrection and is a whole other thing (necromancy), not divine

[@CaptainCFalcon]

I know it's unrelated, but I really do recommend you watch the complete miniseries of the 2003 Clone Wars before you get too deep into the 2008 Dave Filoni Clone Wars. They're both great in & of themselves, but the 2008 is so much more character-driven that if you guys watch it *_AFTER_* finishing all of the Clone Wars (in several months from now) I can already see you guys asking about why the Clones are so quiet, or asking about characters that didn't exist at the time & wondering where Ashoka or Rex are. Also, you absolutely need to see what Grievous was MEANT to be. 2008 Clone Wars so severely butchered his character by making him behave like Revenge of the Sith Grievous throughout the entirety of the Clone Wars. Because 2003 Grievous is an *_entirely_* different beast.

[@sse2479]

You guys have to realize this is all based on the DND campaign and in DND characters die.

[@taserface780]

I need to know when you’re going to watch the next one

[@Certerrus]

YEAHHHHHH

[@madhavmandava]

ah shit.....you guys were crying......yeah that is unexpected.....killing a main like that

[@DaDunge]

That's powerword death i believe.

[@unicyclist97]

Nah, it did damage, which power word kill doesn't do.

[@madhavmandava]

if Ken got a beard....would u be happy or shave it clean off?

[@madhavmandava]

that demon race llady was using some kinda blood or dark magic.....did you guys like that kinda magic?

[@elbruces]

Actually, her magic comes from the twin moons of Exandria.

[@SylverQrow]

People die alot in dnd, this was a death in the campaign. Come back or not.