The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 Episode 5 Reaction

[@xaetaminvaela9830]

Percy's "I am very flammable" line gets even funnier when you start to consider just how much black powder he must be carrying around for his guns.

[@milagrosborges4913]

That went over My head when I watch it xD

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

If the fire got him it would be gone in a flash...i'll get my coat

[@ShadowyFox_86]

The only person more flammable would be Victor. 😂

[@AmericanAurochs]

Oh my gosh it does! I totally missed that the first time!

[@havenomouth]

@@joshthomas-moore2656 Lol, it's funny because he voices The Flash.

[@Lanternman2814]

Just as a note about Vax, the vestige/Raven Queen aren't controlling or changing him. He's just still going through his trauma response to seeing Vex die and is confused/scared about what his deal with the goddess of death means. It's anxiety/depression/emotional strain, not magic mind control.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Ah okay. Didn’t get that for some reason as the change coincided with the vestige so just assumed it was affecting him like the ring affects Frodo 🤗

[@Lanternman2814]

@@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2 Completely understandable. Just wanted to help clarify.

[@rogue7723]

That's cool, I always thought the visions were sent by the Raven Queen to test if Vax would be brave enough to honor his end of the bargain with her.

[@USful]

Fun Fact: The voice actor for Keyleth's mom is Korra from The Legend of Korra

[@SequaciousgaMes]

Even funner whenever you watch Marisha [Keyleth's actor] talking about how much Avatar was the basis for the character. Really cool casting

[@Gallacant]

​@SequaciousgaMes yeah, basically. I first thought it was an FF1 reference though

[@jetvulcan2020]

also the little girl keyleth saves when she arrives is the voice actress for She Ra

[@madhavmandava]

Dang.....now I really can relate the voice

[@malcolmshanks8212]

Damn so much nerdy fan service In this show

[@randyatkinson4499]

She became a fire elemental. That is an ability that Druids (Her Class) has as they level up. It is an evolution of her ability to turn into animals. Story wise they are trying her gaining her new forms to her travel to the other tribes.

[@AdamEspersona]

Specifically, it’s her SUBCLASS: Circle of the Moon.

[@jefferyoneill1]

​@@AdamEspersona And Moon Druids get ridiculous at high levels

[@acephas3]

And I still say that the Moon Druid should’ve been the base class.

[@richardhealy]

One D&D has eliminated the elemental forms in the Moon Druid Playtest in favour of becoming a elk with lightning antlers or a fire wolf or something.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

😎👍🙂

[@Stefan-xt5sk]

Keyleth has the most epic moments in this series. Swelling music, stunning visuals... After all of her self-doubt it's so satisfying to see the emotional payoff. I love it.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

😊

[@neintales1224]

A specific druid circle lets druids wild shape into elementals as well as beasts at certain levels, and Keyleth's gem and outfit change are not vestiges, just signs she glowed up a bit. And of course Percy is highly flammable, his coat is full of black powder packets:)

[@TriXJester]

"You have the heart of a gardener, and because of this you think of consequence, and your current path pains you. I am not wise, and I do not give advice, but I have come to know a few things. Sometimes breaking is making. Even iron can start again, and there are many things that move through fire and find themselves much better for it afterward." - Kerrek, played by Patrick Rothfuss, in a letter addressed to Keyleth (The origins of the Pass Through Fire quote from the game)

[@zippomage]

huh, I wonder if they had that in mind. It's a nice thought.

[@jordanpeterson5140]

He wrote a great letter. Too bad he can't write a damn book.

[@Charvale]

This was a big step for Keyleth on her Arimente by giving herself over, and mastering fire. Officially the order (from Marisha) is the reverse of how the Avatars are born since she didn't want to completely follow the show. If you were to follow the original game, this part was actually before their time in Whitestone, because Vox Machina had gone to Craghammer (a Dwarven city) in the first episodes, and needed to bring an artifact to Vasselheim. Their visit to Pyrra was quite a bit more involved, with all of Vox Machina entering the fire plane, and Keyleth learning how to transform herself into a Fire Elemental (which is what she did in the show). Upon her being told that she passed her Fire Arimente, the group started to leave, only for Thordak to fly overhead, and saw the group on their way to the exit. In a sense, they were the ones to lead to Thordak's return. While they did that, Matt was setting up the Whitestone scenario, so we're actually seeing things quite a bit out of order, but I love how they've reorganized the story this way instead.

[@DaDunge]

But hasn't she already done the earth trial before Craghammer arc?

[@Charvale]

@@DaDunge Not sure. The group had done years of roleplay before they ever put it on youtube, so it's very possible.

[@acrefray]

@@DaDunge I believe you're correct, that Terrah is completed pre-stream, and then Pyrah, and Vesrah at the end, before returning to Zephrah - home - to complete the journey. However, if she hasn't completed her Earth trials, I'm excited to see what it looks like on the small screen!

[@DaDunge]

@@acrefray Well she did describe them I beleive, she was given a vision when she did the earth trial where she forsaw he death. Funny eough the opposite of the vison ended up happening

[@AdamEspersona]

So… this episode pretty much addresses the core of Keyleth’s insecurities: the fear of failure and the fear of success. She’s afraid to fail because her mother never returned. So in her mind, what chance did she have? She’s afraid to succeed because it means she will eventually outlive everyone she’s known and will know. Due to that fear, she never actively progressed in her trials… until this episode where she fought her fear and passed through fire. And now only two trials remain for her before she can go home and become the leader of her particular tribe. And yeah, everything that Vax has been going through ever since the tomb has really impacted him. He’s not thinking straight. But thankfully, seeing Keyleth risk her own life to seal the rift to the Fire Plane helped snap him out of it. Just the moment where he’s running for her, only to fall short and fear the worst, and then she comes back, reforged in fire, leading to that beautiful callback to Season 1, Episode 1 with the staff. And best of all, Dad approves!

[@Moricant]

Keyleth at full power? Arguably, she’s basically a god…

[@NightSterling]

In this show that has a different meaning 😂

[@miafiolekova5817]

Oh dont worry about Percy, his story is not finished, there is still Ripley on the loose. And About the Aramente. Its a trial that every leader of each Ashari tribe needs to do, before taking up the leading role. The point is to visit the other tribes, pass the trial and get to know a bit about what they do and get to know them as they are basicaly distant cousins. Also there is no order they need to do it its up to them. Also there is no time limit on finishing the Aramente, but if takes too long like 10-15 years and there is no contact with the person who is supposed to do it another is chosen for the Aramente. That is why there is such a time diference between when Keyleths mom and Keyleth went on their trials. And when they finish the trials each leader gets a nice title and leads their people.

[@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2]

Thanks for explaining the aramente 🙂

[@theinspiredgamer1949]

I'm still waiting for them to release the soundtrack for this season because the vocals when Keyleth transforms are just AWESOME.

[@richardhealy]

Same.

[@AdamEspersona]

Also, the fact that she had to “listen” to her power, to “hear” it… that more or less makes sense as druids are Wisdom-based casters. And Wisdom is tied to Insight and Perception. So the moment where she says “I can hear it” as she is taken by the flames… that’s when she unlocked those new powers. And her outfit change more or less reflects the changing of seasons, from spring/summer to autumn.

[@I.Lostalim]

Can you tell Marisha Ray (Keyleth) is an Avatar The Last Air Bender fan .... To expand the context, the Aramente is a right of passage that the future leader of each tribe under goes - both to maintain diplomatic connections between them, but also the leaders of each tribe then also have some mastery of each tribe's powers. In the tabletop game, she had visited Pyrrah before the Briarwood section and completed her trial under controlled conditions (with a cheeky Matt foreshadowing Thordak without anybody knowing) Then this assault at Pyrrah still happened about this time. I love that for the animation they had her mastery of fire occur under the duress of this battle - her internal need to always save everyone pushing her beyond her own insecurity.

[@TidalShadow]

The Aramente is a pilgrimage that the leaders of each Ashari tribe go through to both prove themselves and maintain relations with the other Ashari. Cerkonos (the guy who supplied the soul anchor) is the leader of the Fire Ashari and completed an Aramente at some point in the past. The order is pretty unimportant, as Keyleth actually completed her Earth trial before the stream in the live-play. I suspect we will see the Earth Ashari during the back half of season 3 (Vox Machina did visit there during the Chroma Conclave arc), but it could be earlier depending on how they choose to order events.

[@Drocksas]

A little fun/heartwarming fact about the "pass through fire" motif: In the original campaign, Marisha (Keyleth's player) got a lot of criticism - mostly unwarranted - for not understanding her spells/abilities well and misusing spells on occasion, in-character or not. As far as I can remember, it actually got pretty bad around this animated season's time in the campaign itself. Later on, they had a guest player who's character was a retired paladin turned blacksmith. He ended up being a bit of a mentor figure to Keyleth in that time, someone who saw what she was dealing with and gave her support. He also left a (both irl and in-game) letter to Keyleth, talking about how metal must be passed through the fire of the forge - the trial and hardship of the metal in a sense - to be shaped into what its meant to be. And that she, too, had passed through fire. It ended up being such an impactful moment for both Keyleth and her character that they really wanted to keep the motif. So it looks like they decided it fit really well with Keyleth's Avatar themes and the volatile nature of actual fire. Thus, this beautiful episode! It's a powerful moment for our girl in both circumstances!

[@geak78]

That letter was so amazing and exactly what Keyleth and Marisha needed.

[@Hawk_of_Battle]

Deviations from the source; Originally, Keyleth had already visited the earth Ashari before the streams, and the groups visit to the fire Ashari came during their first visit to Vasselheim, which was pre-Whitestone. For story purposes, things got shuffled around some. I believe it's implied here that Keyleth has yet to visit the other two tribes. Normally, druids of Keyleths sub-class and level gain access to all the various elemental forms at the same time, it's just a thing they can do. For story purposes here, it makes better sense to have her "level up" and gain each elemental form as she completes her trials. In the game, Keyleth was well versed in elementals by this point, and usually favored her earth elemental form, as it deals good damage, has the highest hp, can move through earth and has extra senses through vibrations. Also, the spell she does after closing the rift marks her first time using the Plane Shift spell, which does exactly what you imagine. So now she can teleport through trees AND teleport to other dimensions. I told you she was the groups designated driver!

[@nuru666]

"In the game, Keyleth was well versed in elementals by this point, and usually favored her earth elemental form, as it deals good damage, has the highest hp, can move through earth and has extra senses through vibrations." You seem to have forgotten Keyteor.

[@suntiger745]

Percy is deliberately keeping a fairly low profile for the moment. He seeks to redeem himself after nearly getting taken over by Orthax and trying to kill the group, and then comes causing Vex'ahlia's death on top of that. We will see more of him before the season is over though, don't worry. :) The Aramenté (noble odyssey) is a trial and a pilgrimage the prospective leader of each ashari tribe goes through before they are formally recognized as leaders. Partially to prove their mastery over the elements, partially to maintain cultural bonds to connect the ashari tribes since they are geographically quite far apart from each other. Each tribe makes there home around or nearby one of the rifts to the elemental planes, keeping it stable and making sure nothing bad goes in or out. There is no set order you have to do the Aramenté in, or any real rules how you go about it aside from completing the trials. You can do it alone, or with a group as Keyleth is doing. What the trials consist of is decided by the leader of the tribe they visit, or possibly a respected elder, but for each ashari there will be a moment in their trials where it's just them and the element they seek to master. A failed trial isn't necessarily lethal. The denizens of the elemental planes, animalistic and sentient alike, can be dangerous but the ashari do not send their prospective leaders to certain death by any means. Should they fail to complete a trial, they can not become leader for their people but are still allowed to live in the tribe, no hard feelings. Some do, others are too ashamed of their failure and strike out on their own. Most of the time the trials are not as intense as the situation at Pyrah was. The trials are dangerous, yes, but they are normally taken at a stable rift that do not have elementals pouring through and wreaking havoc. Oh, and the situation with Grog and Craven Edge is fine. Cursed weapons never caused any harm to their wielder or those around them before. :D

[@Geth-Who]

Keyleth turned into a Fire Elemental - becoming elementals is something druids of her type start to learn when they begin to really hit their stride. Druids start slow in their power arc, but the uptick comes around level 10-11 - and so basically this is the point where Keyleth's raw power starts to Really Take Off.

[@I.Lostalim]

They've obviously stripped the game mechanics out of the show and I appreciate they're using the Aramente to give Keyleth her Elemental Form. I assume they will do it for the other forms in other seasons

[@Geth-Who]

@@I.Lostalim Yeah, same way they worked Vax's Boots of Haste into the Deathwalker's Ward. But to stay consistent with the increasing power that was pouring out of Kiki after this, the show's gonna be doing the same. Can't wait.

[@ticozayas6430]

That transformation only happens for moon druids (Keyleth's subclass). All druids gain access to 2 wild shapes (turning into animals) per rest period. A mood druid that reaches level 10 can sacrifice both wild shapes to turn into a badass elemental form like we see in this episode. Mechanically she has access to the 4 elemental forms already air, fire, water, and earth... but the way the animation is structured we will probably not see them until Keyleth finishes the according trails...

[@TenebrousFilms]

The conversation with Craven Edge happened almost exactly like this, except Grog was squeezed into a human-sized outhouse in Whitestone. Blackpowder *does* make Percy more flammable than most. Keyleth became a fire elemental, learning the form of the element is part of each trial. As VM had been to Vassalheim before, so too had they visited Pyrah. The whole group went into the fire plane with Keyleth to back her up during her trial... and at one point, hid from a massive red dragon flying far overhead, having no idea who it was or what would happen later. Ripley's scrying orb was originally Keyleth's; after the conclave attacked Emon, she used it to scry on Pyrah and witnessed the aftermath of Thordak's release. It's the original reason why they went to Vassalheim first, after the attack. Ripley *was* spying on VM though, through an enchanted crystal embedded in her pistol, which Percy is now using. She never approached Umbrasyl in the stream, but this keeps her relevant until her big showdown in season 3.

[@dehro]

In DnD terms, there are many ways to measure power...it is generally accepted that Druids, and Moon druids in particular, are one of the most powerful class you can have at low levels, then it falls a bit behind halfway through, and at the higher levels, when Elemental forms such as this fire elemental become available, they go back to being powerhouse options. it is however debatable.. Pike is a war cleric, and clerics in general are very powerful as well, much like Grog being a barbarian is an awesome tank and damage dealer and so on... each of them has their own strengths and we are slowly moving up to levels at the highest tier of play, where each character has a wealth of options and resources in terms of what strategy to play and how to obtain what they want to obtain. in general, full casters (wizards, sorcerers, druids, clerics) tend to be the most powerful options purely on the strength of the options they have... a high level wizard can literally cast the spell Wish... a high level cleric can resurrect another character and both can do a whole host of other things, ranging from travel options to support, healing, buffing, debuffing, pure damage output..

[@AutumnWoodham]

Funfacts: What Keyleth turned into was a fire elemental, and in the livestream game she had access to water and earth elemental forms as well. Additionally in the campaign, a major reason Keyleth was scared to finish her aramente was because before they started streaming, she partially accidentally caused the death of a child and it really stuck with her. Vax is still himself, he's just seeing some shit and it's starting to mentally fuck with him. Percy's running away "I'm very flammable" is warranted when you carrying around gunpowder and in a volcano right next to a portal to the fire plain surrounded by fire creatures.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

in the live stream, when this episode happens, the group came from another battle guest starring Patrick Rothfuss as Kerrek, a smith from Westruun. Kerrek then remained in Whitestone to help the people. from there, Kerrek writes a letter to Keyleth, that Matt delivers to Marisha after the mid-game break, narrated off-screen via a recording of Pat, that was played live. as Matt and Marisha were dating at the time, everyone thought that Pat was winging Matt into proposing to Marisha, live, in front of 20.000 people. It was a major _OMGWTF?_ moment.

[@leonielson7138]

While Marisha Rey did base Keyleth on Aang from 'Avatar: The Last Airbender', there's no particular order the Aramente is supposed to be done in: at the start of the live stream, she'd already visited the Earth Ashari.

[@melissanotthewebsbusiness7272]

Oh, wow, you are the first reacter I have seen to progress the line of logic for Keyleth's mom! It's so fun, having all these unfulfilled storylines!

[@toonman5099]

Fun facts: - If the Avatar parallels weren't enough, Keyleth's mom Vilya is voiced by none other than Korra herself, Janet Varney. While Keyleth's dad Korrin is voiced by The Hulk himself, Fred Tatasciore. - In the Watch Party for this episode, Liam jokingly mentions a reason why Kiki's dad likes Vax is because they have the same hair. lol - A change they decided to do for the show was to add in Anna Ripley in scenes and locations she wasn't originally there for, that's why she showed up now.

[@madhavmandava]

I did a fire walk once....the idea is listen to your inner voice and can endure or not get hurt......listen to ego and you get blister and injured pride

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

you can't mind-bend physics. you put your flesh over heat for too long, you're getting burned. now, you can covertly coat your feet with dirt or sand BEFORE going through it, *_so that_* you won't *_put your flesh over heat_* directly, and _not_ get burned. if you wanna call that "listen to your inner voice", whether it's a superior power or your own protection instinct telling you "don't be stupid, cover your feet so you don't look like an idiot!".... go right ahead.

[@zachwillett5853]

Your comments on Percy match comments about his player in the early days of the streamed campaign. They were very much a part of the background, just another person in the group. And then we all heard the names "Sylas and Delilah" for the first time...and the rest was legendary. But the point is, the player knows they're not the most important part of the story, just another part of the story. But No Mercy Percy *will* return....

[@theobsessor11294]

You guys should totally react to the original Teen Titans series. I still get shivers over how amazing the writing was for that show

[@theanyktos]

I don't think there's a particular order to the Aramente. You just have to hit all three sister tribes to your own. A lot of the Ashari people (though not all) are druids like Keyleth. And for druids that achieve a certain level of power (like would be expexted/necessary for a leader) their aging slows down to 1/10th of what it would usually be. So a headmaster could be the leader of a tribe for a very. Long. Time. The Aramente is a way to ensure that that person is a capable and worthy enough and as a way for a potential new headmaster/mistress to establish relationships with the headmasters/mistresses of the other tribes. Keyleth's mom was a potential headmistress, that's why she left for her Aramente. But she didn't return. So she was presumed dead and since Keyleth also showed a lot of potential at an early age she was trained to eventually also attempt the Aramente. (Sidenote: it's not necessarily a lineage thing, the next headmaster doesn't have to be related to the previous one)

[@RomnilWater]

Oh have no fear, we'll still be seeing more of Percy in the future. It's just at this moment the other characters have bigger issues to deal with, particularly Vax. The great thing about this episode in particular is that it's really the first time we really see Keyleth beginning to believe in herself. There a subtle but noticeable change in her overall demeanor going forward that's fun to watch.

[@zippomage]

can't wait for the rest of the series. These eps are so good!

[@323starlight]

In case you're still wondering, Keyleth turned into a fire elemental

[@ShadowyFox_86]

To reiterate, Vax's vestige isn't taking control of him. He's trying to process major trauma, and his behavior is pretty normal for all he's been through.

[@Dannydarko27]

Man Keyleths arc is amazing but the show just makes her character even more impactful, i love it

[@DaDunge]

I don't think it has an order in the campaign because there she has already done the earth one before the campaign. In the show there seems to be asuggesiton it's the inverse order from avatar. Air Fire Earth Water.

[@madhavmandava]

So good news is kiki can now go fire form giant mode which looks hot(drumbeat).....and vax & kik have better chance of Bieng closer thanks to the father's sorta blessings

[@clay4816]

If you would like to know who the strongest is, you can watch the last battle royale from Critical Role‘s first campaign, but be warned there are spoilers for the story so I wouldn’t recommend watching unless you’re OK with that

[@jordanpeterson5140]

Pyrrah in RWBY. Keyleth in LoVM. I'm starting to think you two like redheads. Also when are you two gonna play D&D with us?

[@stevencavanagh7990]

your not 100% wrong about Keyleths mom she did pass her Fire trial and vanished near the Water Ashari. can't say more Because of Spoilers. but there is no oder to doing the trials

[@zethock]

when helluva :(

[@KxngPlayz]

New place?

[@oldwolflogan4224]

Expanding on an earlier fun fact re: Kiki's mom: Keyleth's mom, Vilya, is played by the VA that did Avatar Korra, who also happens to be Marisha Ray's favorite Avatar, while Little Kiki is played by Scanlan's VA's daughter.

[@ShadyDemoness]

Sorry did a spoiler.

[@Knightlight-kw9sh]

That's a big spoiler for the series, please delete that comment

[@ShadyDemoness]

@@Knightlight-kw9sh yeah you're right sorry

[@Knightlight-kw9sh]

@@ShadyDemoness np