The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 Episode 5: Pass Through Fire REACTION

[@elfbreath]

You might be the first people I’ve seen realize Percy’s “I’m very flammable!” comment was about the fact that he’s carrying around explosive gunpowder xD Percy really is just that “By the power of friendship! And this gun I found” meme

[@yiklongtay6029]

I look forward to his vestige. It's the kind of power that the writers can dial up and down to make Percy match the power-level of the others. Like Vax's vestige can make him as mobile as the writers want but his knife is not gonna get any more lethal. But Percy's vestige can really affect his damage.

[@bfalves780]

You really wrong, Percy is a Warrior and one of the best dmg dealer of Vox Machina, having the 1,2 and 3 place for the most dmg a enemy in 1 single turn of combat

[@yiklongtay6029]

@@bfalves780 Wait hold on. I have checked critrolestats and we are in agreement. I meant for this series. LOVM definitely canonized Retort bullets bouncing off dragon hide. So LOVM Percy is probably gonna lag behind for a while. Bad News might close the gap a bit I guess. The main point is that I am excited about Percy's vestige as they can scale it as much as they want

[@bfalves780]

@@yiklongtay6029 i agree, i wanna see all the vestiges and abilities of everyone in the animation, but Percy abilities, skills and dmg are because he is a Warrior and very little with the smoke demon, now in the animation It looks like more attunned with the smoke demon, im curious to see how they ll manage Percy "powers", since Warriors Power come from his combat training and skills and not from some external reason

[@greyscaleadaven]

@@bfalves780 True, but from the basic lore I know, his demon had something to do with taking the eldritch initiate feat or whatever it's called (I would assume variant human??) so there was SOME power that came from it, but not nearly as much as the fighter gunslinger class can give him. I don't know if he keeps the benefits from that feat or not because I'm not that familiar with C1 mechanically though. You are right though, fighters traditionally don't have much magic outside of maybe Eldritch Knight subclass but even than they use INT magic which basically means it's self-taught like Arcane Trickster is.

[@sandiesandholm1236]

Marisha Ray who plays Keyleth is a huge Avatar fan, so the influences you see is not a coincidence.

[@wolfox7776]

And who can blame her for being a huge Avatar fan?

[@AAAndrew]

At 10th level, Circle of the Moon druids like Keyleth can turn into elementals: fire, water, earth, wind. Keyleth wanted to earn each form from an Avatar-like quest. Here she learns to turn into a fire elemental.

[@forresttherunner4092]

Vax is not evil, just depressed. His connection with the Raven Queen makes him more aware of death and loss, that’s why he’s getting these visions now.

[@erikaiverson4122]

Yes! He’s tied to a fate he didn’t necessarily want now, out of love for his sister.

[@donalddepew5373]

The raven queen sees the threat the dragons poss.. she is about the balance of life, not the entire destruction of it. She made the choice to trade vax for vex & entrusted him w/a portion of her power through the vestig. To use against the dragons, once that job is finished she will reclame the balance. Thats why he is having visions of the dragons & all the death...

[@donalddepew5373]

Spoiler; The spooky evil dude from Delilahs' failed ritual.. is the next bbeg(vecna) right after the Croma conclave is defeated.. the party basically has to go to & ask the good gods to forge them "divine trammels" that will bind vecna to the realm of gods.. away from the mortal plain, before he can cast a ritual that will make him a true God walking the mortal realm while the rest of the gods are trapped in the godly plains.. the raven queen forges one of the weapons for the party

[@LighthouseGoblin]

Loved Mikel-Claire saying ‘Avatar Keyleth’ because Janet Varney (aka Avatar Korra) voices her mum! 😊 such a cute casting choice and wink at the audience

[@jeffcummins8639]

...and Marisha based Keyleth on Avatar.

[@Aidscapade71]

You know marisha was over the moon with that casting! Lol. She loves Korra and was ecstatic just to have the same animation company.

[@Aidscapade71]

@@jeffcummins8639 not exactly. The 4 elements thing is a thing from pathfinder. Druids choose an element and she asked if she could get them all.

[@jeffcummins8639]

@@Aidscapade71 I didn't know that. I know they started as a Pathfinder campaign. Good to know.

[@graemeblakely6688]

@@Aidscapade71 no, Marisha has said continually that she specifically based Keyleth on Aang

[@noellej.m.7094]

Marisha (Keyleth) and Matt (the creator of the world these characters inhabit) are married. Travis (Grog) and Laura (Vex) are married and have a son. Liam (Vax) and Sam (Scanlan) are best friends and constantly joke about being married.

[@justinc5967]

When her mother said "flame can not live without air" it had an even deeper meaning. All of the FIRE Ashari would have died if the AIR had not shown up. That fire elemental form, girl on fire up in here.

[@rogue7723]

Oh my God, that’s _brilliant_ I _so_ didn’t pick up on that. 🤯😃

[@sybariticcupboardrat3763]

'Winds watch you," is a change from the game version. The greeting they used was kaitiake (kai tee Ah kay). I'm fairly sure it's taken from the maori word kaitiaki. The meanings are related to guardianship and the elements.

[@jessdickensvo]

Keyleth’s father, Korin, is voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who has been in a ton of projects but is likely most know for playing the Hulk in a ton of cartoon iterations. He’s super cool and there are some other really neat guest voices in this episode. Janet Varney (Avatar Kora)was Keyleth’s mom. Robbie Damon (Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a ton of cartoons and by video game since 2014) played Cerkonos, the head of the Fire Ashari. Aimee Carrero (Adora/She-Ra) was the girl Keyleth saved. And Sam (Scanlan’s) daughter played baby Keyleth 😊it was a cool episode for the vo world.

[@KaraOni13]

Korrin* and Korra*

[@jessdickensvo]

@@KaraOni13 eh no one said I was smart lol :)

[@CameoAmalthea]

The Raven lady is like Death in Sandman. She’s not evil, she’s nice, but it’s her job to take the newlywed that drowned and the infant that suddenly died.

[@TroubleSturm]

The Matron of Ravens seems evil, because death is scary, but remember that her enemies are the undead. Healers are not her enemies. It's when someone tries to pervert death into something else. Vampires and Liches and Zombies and Necromancers, etc. When Matt designed the Mantle of Ravens, he intended it for Percie, since he was already dedicated to taking down the Briarwood, and their plans to bring the Whispered One back to reality, but Vex's death caused Vax to make a demand to the Matron of Ravens in her own temple, and it changed everything.

[@idleoz21]

Don't know if that's accurate, he stated in the campaign wrap up that Death Walker's Ward wasn't designed with any particular player in mind.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

@Idle Oz It's been stated other places that Percy was the original, although there were other possibilities. Matt never expected the Vex/Vax situation, but he did keep a rough idea for Vex, Vax, or Percy being able to utilize it if things came to that.

[@idleoz21]

@@ShadowyFox_86 I just rewatched the C1 wrap up Talks and Matt stated that the DWW wasn't created with any particular character in mind, as 5 members of VM utilize Leather/leather studded armor (scanlan, keyleth, Vax, vex, and Percy). That is from the DMs mouth. I don't know what sources you're citing, but this is the one I am citing.

[@Dianwhy]

Grog and Pike are family. They're Vox Machina's second set of siblings. (Also The Raven Queen is her DND name, but for copyright reasons they have to use Matron of Ravens here. In DND Pike's patron is Sarenrae, which they had to change to the Everlight. Theres a few other names that were changed too.)

[@KaraOni13]

Keyleth is half elven just like both her parents, but Vax And Vex were born from a human mother and elven father

[@transientanus]

So the "I have passed through fire" thing in the Campaign was a teeny bit more impactful for Marisha(keyleth's player)on like a personal level for her and had a bigger build-up. I'm not mad at how they handled it here at all because this was AMAZING. There was a guest character who was sort of a mentor for Keyleth and someone who believed in her when she didn't believe in herself. WAAAAY after that guest had been on the show, they returned to where they met him to find a letter. The guest had hand written a letter and recorded himself reading it out loud which they played on the show. TL;DR version, he was a blacksmith who was thrust into a leadership role and spoke about how metal has to pass through fire in order to become what it was meant to be. And how all of her experiences, even the painful ones, have shaped her into the person she is. Included in the letter was a ring for Marisha(the person playing Keyleth). Engraved on the ring was, "I Have Passed Through Fire". It was a really touching moment that brought marisha(and all of us watching) to tears.

[@elbruces]

Keyleth - when you haven't read the book or done your homework but you still somehow ace the test.

[@devildham]

Allura and Kima have been together for years. Allura was not the queen. The sister with the kids was the queen.

[@Syntell]

Ahhh, got it 👍🏾

[@minminorange]

Are you basing this off of the game? From my understanding, it was during the game that they went from friends to more. I haven't got that far on my C1 rewatch, so I haven't seen it in a while.

[@biancaarcand4316]

@@minminorange They had a thing yearssss past, then life kinda separated them with Kima in Vasselheim and Allura in Emon but after VM saves Kim and brings her back to Emon the two of them rebuilt their relationship and became more 'official'

[@minminorange]

@Bianca Arcand Yeah that makes sense. I just remembered how Allura sort of had a thing for Tibs until he buzzsawed the granny, so she wasn't with Kima until after.

[@LuckPuddle]

@@minminorange Nope, Tibs just kept hitting on her and the player kept trying to make it happen and not getting the hint.

[@uselessmitten7836]

I feel like it was significant that the chosen champion of the goddess of fate was able to wield Keyleth's staff to pull her back to Exandria. They've never shown Vax to have any innate magical power before. (Everything magical that he does previously comes from magical items) As a critter who knows Keyleth's fate, a divine intervention of the Matron of Ravens to keep her on that path is very much in line with lore, and underlines Vox Machina's do-or-die dedication to saving Tal'Dorei.

[@jessdickensvo]

“We can certainly try” is a call back to the Campaign. When something is really difficult but there is a chance they could roll high enough to make it happen Matt tells them “You can certainly try”

[@HypnoticPanda]

You guys love Avatar so I thought you might like to know, Keyleth's mom is voiced by Janet Varney who plays Avatar Korra. :)

[@JTierney119]

So a bit of clarification not all the vestiges are armor. They’re just all remnants from the calamity which was a battle of the gods

[@MoteMayhaps]

And the group isn't finding ALL of them- they're being directed to the most easily accessible and what will fit their group best.

[@sarahjo9975]

25:58 Just by going off the animated series, I can understand that perspective. It's sad that so many character scenes have to be cut due to time restraints. A lot of Vax's funny and sweet moments were written out, so it's hard to get a good sense of who he is, especially considering what issues he's struggling with. 💔

[@smmazz9]

I love you guys talking about the line of fate (in the intro)! It was there and I think Matt talked about it when they did their first watch party and how fate and destiny is a theme that they really enjoy exploring at the table. The golden line is another nice touch and detail to visualize that for this type of media. Love your reactions :)

[@jesterstyr4584]

The Threads of Fate all weaving together to make this story is such a wonderful analogy for the series.

[@Syntell]

Thank you for checking us out. I can't believe we missed the golden line in the shows intro. Now I can never unsee it.

[@Saint...]

Marisha (Keyleth's creator and Voice actor) is a big fan of Avatar the Last Airbender and took inspiration from the show for how her character learns her new abilities. The creature she turned into is called a fire elemental in D&D.

[@laurahart1337]

Ah, that intro. Not going to lie, a couple of my critter friends and myself all freaked out when we saw the intro with the Raven and the line.

[@Syntell]

Right there in plain sight 😂

[@queenannsrevenge100]

Just like the Chroma-Carpet from Season 1 - the whole series is riddled with Easter eggs on a rewatch.

[@Reveri247]

Funny you mention Dune because Liam, the actor who plays Vax, apparently took inspiration from the stillsuits in Dune to help design Vax's new look 😉

[@princeFjord]

6:44 Because of Mikel-Claire. I keep going about my week and randomly saying, "WhoooWeee"... I have had some looks, I will tell you that. It's like a ear worm, hard to get that sound out of my mind. ❤❤

[@ShadowyFox_86]

I do believe this is the same exact intro from Season 1, so all the things we're getting as far as nods to the story were already there. Vax isn't evil, just like the Matron isn't evil. He is being shown death, and that is a disturbing thing because people aren't used to that. Evil isn't part of his experiences with the Matron. This episode does say it briefly, but someone pretending to be a fire Ashari released Thordak from the Plane of Fire. The question as to who and why remains. Most elemental creatures (being magic by nature) don't have actual blood. They are filled with that element. So these fire creatures literally have magma or fire for blood. And good catch! Those are goliaths giving treasure to Umbrasyl.

[@KrixSolith]

12:11 I feel like that was Scanlan sending Keyleth the inspiration for her next roll to close the portal.

[@SpySkater1]

Getting Janet Varney, Avatar Korra herself, to play Keyleth’s mom is a stroke of genius! I’m gonna imagine that that’s how Korra sounds in the future with her own kids. Keyleth’s officially my second favorite Avatar now, after Korra. LOL

[@ButtonsandBookends]

I finally caught up on all of your Legend of Vox Machina reacts! You two are a joy. You've mentioned a few times that you're interested in watching parts of the Critical Role actual play show, but the fact that it's hundreds of hours is daunting. If you want a more digestible taster, there's a 4 episode Critical Role series called "Calamity EXU". Without spoiling what happens, it explores the beginning of the era that Vax has been seeing through his connection to the Raven Queen. Also, the actors who play Scanlan, Grog, and Keyleth are party members! If you're interested, the sessions are available on KZbin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZ2snJ6bjNKJrKM

[@cassidyogg4901]

Glad someone suggested this. The dm of this game (Brennan Lee Mulligan) is my all time favorite.

[@blazingstar97]

oh man, i feel like it would be really hard to edit down but damn do i want someone to do a reaction of EXU Calamity 😍

[@kel_armen]

@@blazingstar97 Bobby Chill and I think Viewmaster Reactions have both done reactions of Calamity!

[@Dianwhy]

Just FYI the tone is very different. The story is much more of a tragedy than a hero journey. Its absolutely fantastic, just very different.

[@johnlandon8741]

Keyleth is a moon druid who has the ability to transform at later levels into elementals like the fire one you saw this ep. and yes to confirm at the end of the episode, you are seeing some of grogs kin's men from his original tribe, along with a cousin of grog, in the nearly last shot. I don't want to spoil too much but for the most part, I will at least confirm a little bit for you.

[@andreasofiavargas2533]

Like, if you consider Death, it always feels like this big, evil concept, but in reality, Death is something that happens to us all. Its not evil or good. It just is. It does feel foreboding and terrifying, but at the end of the day, once you understand it, death is just part of the journey. Maybe thats why theyre showing the death visions as something eeeviiiiil, but maybe later on they discuss it more. I dont remember if they do in Campaign (watched it live years ago), but I hope they do in the show. The Matron of Ravens is just my favorite of Citical Role's pantheon of gods, so yeah.

[@richardsuplee8137]

Marisha Ray is also a huge fan of avatar and Legend of korra so when making a character for this campaign she took inspiration from that.

[@CarleeRae13]

I'm excited for yall to see grog and pikes upbringing

[@vicnaa]

Thank you so much for the video. I really enjoy all your theories around the characters, world and story. Happy to subscribed and find out where it goes!

[@ZeketheUnclaimed]

The Ashari was based on Avatar. Marisha and Matt has talked about it a lot. The way they are showing it here is a lot more Avatary then the campaign.

[@gissellemorales2677]

love your guys reacts to this season. looking forward to the next one

[@archeorogue8773]

I really love watching your reactions you have really good insight on all the characters, especially scanlan I hope that people won't spoil stuff for you from the campaign because I'm really looking forward to seeing your reactions to some future events

[@uselessmitten7836]

@Syntell it's great to see someone really "get" Scanlan. He is sometimes mis-labeled as a narcissist, but I think Georgia Dow's video on Scanlan (based on season 1) does a great job of explaining why it looks like that and why he's not. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKKnhoSDbt2VfK8

[@yiklongtay6029]

I find it interesting how the Aramente differed in the show from the campaign. The campaign framed the Aramente trials as a way of gaining respect from the other tribes. The show seems to reframe it as being more about mastering the elements. Interesting choice to make it more similar to the original inspiration, Avatar. I would assume they would instead try to distance themselves from it a bit more.

[@DidntExpect]

I think it might be a case of, every ashari is capable of manipulating each element but the trial requires the character represented by and use of the specific element. But I only feel that based on knowledge from upcoming trials and campaign 2. I do quite like the change as it means more character growth and focus

[@suntiger745]

The Aramenté is two-fold. The tribe the prospective leader visits set them a trial for their "home" element, which requires a certain level of mastery over that element to complete. The second part is to maintain/renew the bonds between the different ashari tribes since they live so far apart from each other. By having the prospective leader visit all three of the other tribes, they learn more about both the elements and the people of the other tribes. And assuming they pass the Aramenté, each tribe has seen the other leaders visit them (before they became famous :P ).

[@joejoeington6899]

That conversation with craven edge is like 80% the same of the game

[@terrydaigle3184]

and Matt doing the voice of cravenedge was creepy as hell.

[@cobaltsable1800]

Spoilers "I want to know more about Scanlan. What's his back story?" Oh look, someone who actually cares.

[@axisjack7]

I am so excited for more of Scanlan's personal story to come out. Critter here, so I know what the future holds for our beloved gnome bard.❤

[@DisneyLover258]

they don't even know his mother's name. but, neither does the rest of VM, so...

[@rhokesh4391]

Funny you should mention Stranger Things... You know what The Whispered One's original name is? Vecna ;) Keyleth's dad's (Korrin) VA is Fred Tatasciore, also known as Soldier:76... so, yeah, he does sound authoritative XD

[@bobloerakker7010]

"Firethong" is the word you were looking for.

[@uselessmitten7836]

Just to throw out a little chaos, EASTER-EGG SEMI-SPOILER there have been two vestiges on screen already that have not been mentioned as such.

[@WD_Gaster66]

Which ones?

[@ccloudleaf]

Thanks Prime Video, and moreso THANKS CRITICAL ROLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@seankennedy4548]

The line was there in Season 1 😀

[@cheezbiscuit4140]

So the avatar references ain't far off since the inspiration from that show was so clear that Korra's voice actress played Key-key's mom. But her new getup after succeeding her impromptu fire trial makes me think of the fire tunic from legend of zelda, cuz it's y'know a color swap of the original outfit. God this show is made by fucking nerds.

[@niamhfox9559]

This series is so heavily influenced by Avatar and a lot of old anime too. Percy's player dubbed a lot of anime into english when he was very young and Vax's suit reminds me so much of the old show Gatchaman/Battle Of The Planets/G-Force.

[@alexrife2799]

the intro has not changed at all between seasons as far as I can tell. The line was there in the first season.

[@Ironoclasty]

Scanlan with a man-pelt!