The Real Bor'Dor | Critical Role Campaign 3 Episode 63

[@queenidragon4489]

It's funny to think about how while Laudna is sapping the life out of Bor'dor Chetney was having a threesome

[@binder38us]

Remember: the safe word is "parmesan"

[@rotsenmerecido5334]

what's more funny if they put this on a side by side split screen 😂

[@patrickhaggerty8465]

Someone was sucking the life out of chet at this time lol

[@notyouraveragelemon6128]

cant wait to see that if/when bells hells gets an animated series

[@ScreamsGeo]

While Chet was having the little death, Bor'Dor was having the big death.

[@Odisher7]

"Wow, what a plot twist! Has he been acting as if he didn't play D&D?" *Asks Marisha for help in killing her* "Nope he is entirely clueless to D&D"

[@francescogulisano2917]

To fool your enemy you nedd to fool yourself first -Sun Tzu, probably

[@kingskelett6265]

I am very certain that Utkarsh has played an rpg before because bloody hell was he good in his appearance.

[@Tensen01]

He's been playing for years.

[@patrickmcisaac3142]

@@francescogulisano2917 Don't believe everything you hear on the internet - Abe Lincoln, probably

[@baloobrand]

Utkarsh was in Force Grey. Act like you been somewhere.

[@tkurz3071]

The one thing that occurs to me is in their first time spent together, the Hells pull out and basically make a mockery of the bodies of his Ruby Vanguard crew.

[@internettevarolanadam]

~I dont like it~

[@N3kr0n15]

Oh SNAP! I forgot about that!

[@Dunybrook]

I still don't understand that. It was like something villains in a horror movie would do but they acted like it was a joke. Very strange.

[@Matthew_Calmert]

Yeah they might be the bad guys

[@internettevarolanadam]

Aston is a desensitized experienced criminal punk who probably believes good and evil is social construct and laudna is literally the monster from a horror movie. Most normal dude is orym and he is scared for life with the memory of his husband getting assassinated. Throwing around a dead body is not a big deal.

[@sarahcarr1414]

This scene honestly reminded me why I love marisha and Emily so much as players. They commit to their characters even though they know their actions will have major consequences. They know their characters so well and are so willing to make hard decisions for the story.

[@Hypersaiyanike]

What an odd way to simultaneously remind me of "we're gods" and "Hilda Hilda" at the same time.

[@wanderingwind6602]

​@@Hypersaiyanike😂 They are kindred spirits in a weird way.

[@itsnochi9447]

@@wanderingwind6602 I mean emily did say once that keyfish "made sense" and that she might have done something similar in her position... XD

[@grantsvoiceongames1992]

5:04 “YOU WANT ME TO HELP YOU AS YOU ASSASSINATE ME?!” Will never not be funny 🤣🤣

[@161patox]

Matt's face when Marisha said "and do Hunger of the Shadow" tells a story

[@yeetthatmolotov]

I think it might be feeding delilah

[@161patox]

@@yeetthatmolotov Yeah, almost certainly, with that name and Matt bringing back the heart sound on the back of Laudna's head.

[@tycol322]

So does Talesin's

[@SkyMcSparkle]

The moment Matt goes, "Oh Shit"

[@marylaprea4945]

For me it's the face he made when Laudna did hunger of the shadow

[@jilaxwest9770]

@@marylaprea4945 even ashtons face was like 😳

[@cryofpaine]

​@@marylaprea4945there's something more to that spell. That heartbeat sound, that's the same sound he made when Delilah was convincing her to take the gnarlrock from Imogen, and then later when she drained it.

[@Low196]

Man, that nod Orym gave Laudna to finish Bor’ Dor was cold blooded. It’s an interesting path Orym is going down.

[@Maple-Gaming-z7x]

Timestamp? Edit: 17:24

[@tkurz3071]

Well, Orym's whole world was basically destroyed thanks to the Ruby Vanguard, his husband, and possibly Keyleth...this is just a small fraction of vengeance.

[@Maple-Gaming-z7x]

@@tkurz3071 He just had enough of being peaceful, and understands the weight on the shoulders of bells hells (specifically launda at the moment).

[@rhaenatargaryen8061]

love it when the PCs actually get nasty and complicated. like orym cannot even cross the line of sympathizing w bor'dor because of the attack on zephra, even though logically he knows that was otohan and had nothing to do with some random guy the ruby vanguard recruited. but he signs off on his death anyway. he said ENOUGH of being the well adjusted one im embracing my problems

[@AlyxGlide]

"WizKids sends their regards"

[@coyoteclockworkstudios3140]

"I would have stabbed each and every one of you" is such fantastic mood whiplash. XD

[@inevra4053]

I'm kind of proud at how far Aimee has come since her first exposure to DnD in ExU. She was really good there, and even better here as a roleplayer. Can't wait to see more of her in the DnD scene! Utkarsh too, so effortlessly hilarious. I definitely have my eye on him on future ttrpg stuff

[@TheChilorian1234]

I really love how newish players are just a bit more creative in terms of roleplay just because they are unfamiliar with rules, makes for some interesting choices

[@Superdummy803]

I didn't really care for her character during EXU. I just didn't like the vibe for some reason. This time it was much better. Either she is getting better or (more likely) I'm getting used to her style.

[@Drraagh]

@@TheChilorian1234 Exactly. Its a lot of 'I want to do this, what do I need to roll' not 'The rules say if I roll X I can do Y'.

[@itsnochi9447]

fuck emilys reaction when she found out that a melee attack on an unconscious person is 2 death saves was so funny and a lil tragic at the same time. Thats how u know our girl is a spell caster loyalist XD

[@Dunybrook]

He could have just been a cute dog man but no, they had to rip our hearts out and stomp on them for good measure.

[@tycol322]

I feel like Talesin was about to say exactly what I was thinking. "The real damage was the friends we made along the way"

[@adeadphish7931]

Deni$e has him dead to rights from the get go and it feels almost poetic that she was the one to break him in the end. Then there was Orym and Laudna in the final moment. Combine that with the breadcrumb trail through the arc and this is easily one of the best executed bits of PvP on CR to fate. Fantastically played by everyone at the table

[@impofstpete727]

I finally finished this episode today and was shocked but then not surprised. There was always this thought in the back of my mind that he was holding back. Then there was the moment that Laudna snapped. She knows what the Vanguard can do. To be confronted like they were the villains by someone they had trusted was too much on a character who was already teetering. On a happier note, Matt's reference about not scrying the night before was hilarious. You might have seen more than you wanted to, wow.

[@OptionZero]

Absolutely brilliant role playing from Utkarsh - he sold the lie but left some breadcrumbs for us to grasp at, and then went out with a bang. One of the better guest performances, and the second NPC this season that’s crossed the cast. I wish he were more sound mechanically. As a divine soul sorcerer, he would have been able to pull some tricks to escape and/or make the fight more interesting. (Subtle spell meta magic to avoid counter spell, polymorph into something that could fly away)

[@NoreIIo]

I blame it on Utkarsh not entirely knowing the mechanics, but also he DID try to polymorph but got Counterspelled by Laudna

[@OptionZero]

@@NoreIIo’m saying he could have negated Laudna’s counterspell by using Subtle spell meta magic, a sorcerer feature

[@TheKillaShow]

@@OptionZero to be fair, even a veteran could forget they could do that when tensions are at their highest. He seemed to already give up on the idea of surviving from the get go. So he was ready to die anyway lol

[@OptionZero]

Subtle spell to avoid counterspell in the middle of other casters, when he’s seen counterspell in the earlier battle? Nah, it’s not that complicated. He didn’t know his class features. It’s pretty evident he’s played DND before and picked up the role playing aspect, but hasn’t sat down to really get the mechanics. As I said, he killed the character work, but we were robbed of an interesting fight, it is what it is.

[@RichardStrong86]

@@OptionZero They do test games so he'll be loosely familiar but not at the level of the others.

[@FreshPenguin918]

I can’t tell if he was that good at giving subtle hints or just kept accidentally “messing up” the innocent act, but it was great. “We need to get BACK to market (or however u spell it” was great.

[@qlipothian]

This is going to sound extremely harsh...but I have no sympathy for Bor'Dor. Firstly he was upset that Melora the Wildmother didn't pull a Saul Goodman for crimes he commited. Then considering how he has been lying about how proficient with spells he is his very first action was to attack Deni$e with a high level lightning spell, effectively he tried to murder a random person for no reason. Then he manipulated the group to not pursue a non violent way to handle the temple of Pelor. And finally when confronted about his past he responded by attacking Prism with acid almost killing her, Prism who had zero connection to the Bells Hells and probably would have defended him. A lot of his character was to do something violent and then not face responsibility for his actions. Sure he cried but so did the Briarwoods. Great roleplaying though.

[@SkyMcSparkle]

I have zero sympathy as well

[@VerusKrutch]

What I found interesting about this mini arc is how it varied from the other group. This group was much more affected by what's going on around them and tended towards a darker leaning in their decisions while the other group tried more positive choices such as calming the beast etc... I am really interested to see how a full reunion of bells hells is going to be. There may have been a path to turn Bor'Dor from his path but I think this makes the most sense.

[@chainclaw07]

my perspective on this is - 1. he got RANDOMLY slung to this party in the woods, it wasn't in a concious effort to kill them. 2. he was radicalised by a cult after having lost EVERYTHING. 3. he actively chose not to harm the party in battle when they were at their lowest (where it would be the most effective) - in fact he healed them at that moment instead. 4. he didn't aim for Prism, they were all hurt BUT it was Denise that pushed him on his past and recognising that he couldn't continue with the party when it was revealed he kind of acted in self defense by firing off that V. sphere. coaxing out that they were on opposite sides forced his hand where he had genuinely found companionship - remember the most heroic thing he felt he had ever done was fire off a firebolt in the presence of these guys. handling the situation at Pelor temple I don't see as a characer defining trait, trying to incite battle against the gods "at any cost" - I just see it as a player wanting to play the game. kill some bad guys, you know. I don't understand the point where he would be upset at the wildmother? saul goodman... it's not like he thought he had done a bad thing / murdered someone, and he wanted the gods to bail him out. He grew up with the perspective that the Gods looked out for him and his family - but when they were persecuted for being sorcerers/basically. the gods didn't step in to enforce justice - you know, not having people be killed for being born a certain way... I feel like you read all of his story in the most uncharitable way possible. which if the purpose was that the character was a villain, sure that's fine. but when judging a person? that's kind of harsh, don't you think? it reminds me of Paladins who have no flexibility in their morals - and don't we all hate those kinds of characters/people?

[@cryofpaine]

​@@VerusKrutchI don't know if Matt planned the group dynamic this way, but it was so great. Orym has lost his entire family, and now his leader to these people. Laudna lost her life to them. They're the two who have been hurt the worst. Having them both on a team with a member of the Ruby Vanguard was a powder keg. I don't know who if anyone could or would talk them down. Probably just Imogen, if it was at all a possibility.

[@qlipothian]

@@chainclaw07 made a few assumptions about me there I really dislike that weird Paladin comparison especially as I usually really love morally gray characters (I'm even currently playing a con artist celestial warlock on a redemption arc), and my campaign has an order of paladin crusaders as the villains. I also notice that you didn't address what he did to Prism. We are all entitled to different opinions if not the world would be pretty boring.

[@Sirius10117]

"I do believe you" as she waves the "WTF IS UP WITH HIM?!" Fan.

[@manonvanderhaeghe6664]

please he's so charismatic as a player, i love him

[@binder38us]

I was listening to this and went DAMNNNNN! Beautiful play...

[@stingerjohnny9951]

After this, then the team reunites, Imogen should probably be careful what she says around Orym and Laudna. They ain’t gonna take any sympathy or rationalizing for the Ruby Vanguard at this point.

[@MaxxCoyote]

I have this horrible feeling that Imogen's mother is going to be spared despite the bullshit she's pulled. It's the character type, and resolution, that truly pisses me off.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@MaxxCoyote I hope Matt subverts that and she gets minced

[@MaxxCoyote]

@@stingerjohnny9951 Ditto. Her and Otohan. Matt rarely gets my goat. But Otohan casually crunching the Bells, and then Keyleth, and then what happened with Vax actually broke my disbelief.

[@bookmarkyourthoughtsblog]

@@MaxxCoyote I truly hope Vax gets saved somehow from the orb cage thing. His story has already broken my heart so many times ... poor guy needs rest. I wonder if Vex and the other members of Vox Machina know? It would kinda break my heart if they didn't, as he's their family.

[@averyfossett]

I hate that marisha got so upset but absolutely love that she put aside her personal feelings for her character and the story Also my jaw dropped at the heartbeat. I knew she wasn’t gone but damn it I had hope

[@TheChilorian1234]

Yeah I get, you really don't want to kill a guest PC, but it made sense to do so, so she did

[@kevinpettie7653]

Note for Sky from now on - if anyone reads from MS Note - RUN! LOL!!!!!

[@rainea91]

So much happens in this episode so many lines drawn in the sand and convictions confirmed. How is everyone doing after it all and who is stoked for the reuniting of our Bells Hells in the next episode it’s been a long time coming!

[@Superdummy803]

Marisha needs to win some kind of award or something. She is absolutely killing with Launda. I can't remember the last time I've been so fascinated by a character. Launda is rapidly becoming my favorite CR character of all time! And that's saying something.

[@ariannaravenmcclare]

Lets all be real they all fully committed to the role play. And you all know that is why we all watch/listen.

[@tonyelliott5045]

great RP by everyone. i really like Emily as a player, i'd like to see her back soon. not to mention I'd love to see Aimee's old EXU character come back; there is some unfinished business there.... And I'd love to get a gif of Laudna doing the creepy finger wag, and have it as my active phone wallpaper.

[@spooked_glitch]

Do we know who/what Laudna's warlock patron is? Because if it's not Delilah it has to be the corrupted Sun Tree, I swear

[@Jeezes718]

Its Delilah. She had demonic powers from serving vecna that she could grant others.

[@firedragonbri547]

@@Jeezes718i think they mean after they GOT RID of Delilah. Ya know, how they went on the mission to get Laudna back and get rid of Delilah. So I think its how she still has warlock powers despite no patron anymore

[@Jeezes718]

@firedragonbri547 2 things. First, a warlock doesn't lose their abilities when they stop following their patron in Dnd. They simply can't level up warlock anymore. Laudna has been leveling sorcerer since then. And two, Pike confirmed that laudna is still connected to Delilah, but their connection was simply 'diminished'. So, given that some form of a connection still exists, she likely is still acting as her patron. And will likely continue to do so until the connection is fully severed.

[@SapphireArcana]

​@@Jeezes718its entirely up to the dm how a patron and players relationship works mechanically. Literally the entire campaign as an arc where the warlock has no powers after ditching his patron

[@mikebecker2626]

Is this critical role's first ever pc vs pc HDYWTDT?

[@ronin1837]

yeah, i maybe spend too much time in my own D&D world, and all of it's convoluted bullcr@ap, but i didn't trusted Bor'Dor for a hot second... icannot explain, why, but ... yeah... i kinda expected this to happen, or something like this...

[@Meisaims]

He would have turned into a RUBY throated hummingbird.

[@tigerfanfrv]

if Delila is back because of that little shit Bor'Dor i'm going to be really mad

[@shazibrahim7208]

thats what makes it good

[@DigitalJesuit]

Don't mess with the Rabbit!

[@emeraldshady5738]

" I hate this. Marisha hates this." Has a giant smile on her face the entire time and is avidly describing murdering someone whos just healed the entire party and established a personal bond with another party member. He was forced onto his knees, bound, threatened and beaten within an inch of his life. Somehow I don't believe Marisha on this one lol. She wanted to kill a PC with this ability so bad and we all know it

[@emeraldshady5738]

" I finally have control " Proceeds to feed the evil beast within

[@geomeopeoleo1740]

It’s the separation, I assume the general feeling was I don’t want to kill a player, but I can kill him pretty cool. DND it’s a game of emotions and cool moments even if they are dark as hell.

[@FigurativeCritter]

It read to me as more of a nervous, sad smile. Like she was accepting that this was what made sense in the moment for Laudna, as well as still processing all of this new information and waves of emotion. But I understand where you're coming from

[@bloodfoxtriberc]

people also smile to avoid breaking into tears... there are nuances to things and this isnt even a complicated one... marisha does that all the time when she is emotional... you are projecting, no offense...

[@mutantcreationxg-5217]

I have to ask the guy in the middle isn't he from Free Guys

[@maxkogan3785]

*checks backstory* Mmmm mmmmmm. Oh yes! I believe that I am going to clean house now.

[@nikp3572]

Laudna is like oh shit not again

[@raymondharnack4160]

Did Bordor not have counter spell?

[@conflictdiamonds]

One of the best guests ever!

[@clarkmichaels822]

Watching 4-Sided Dice with these people afterwards it seems that Marisha is aware of how messed up it is that the people Laudna trusts the most were fine with her letting Delilah come back, and straight-up murdering this guy. Like they said, it's like a drug addict being encouraged by the people she looks to for guidance to take another hit. And they do it for their own best interest. I do have good hopes that this will have big consequences in the campaign going forward since she basically gets betrayed by her friends when she needs them most. It's just not in an overt way like Bor'Dor did, it's in a much more passive, emotionally manipulative way. Awesome drama.

[@dragondarkly9503]

I almost feel like Prism finished him off to protect the fact that she's also with Ludie!!! She knows very well that an unconscious player or NPC is an automatic 2 failed death saves on an attack!! Just my theory 😆.

[@taylorwalker7417]

Truuuue! I was like, there's no way she doesn't know you crit on unconscious people lol

[@mac_sour]

obviously she's a great d&d player and roleplayer, but even vets can forget the basics in high intensity situations. im getting real tired of scrolling through all of these comments of "bor'dor could have had a more interesting fight if utkarsh understood the mechanics a little better" or "emily obviously knows this game inside and out, obviously she's a spy too" stop blaming the players. stop. everyone just stop and enjoy the story, theorycrafting is one thing but calling out players on their game sense in a TTRPG is entirely different. go back and rewatch it, you can see emily's genuine reaction of an "oh shit i forgot that attacking someone unconcious regardless of my strength modifier is 2 failed saves". and even if she was a spy, why would she help bell's hells kill a member of the ruby vanguard? that makes no sense, if anything she'd turncoat and help bor'dor as well.

[@ashleyjohnson9651]

​@@taylorwalker7417does brennan use those rules? he may, i just cant remember off the top of my head. because emily is used to playing with different DMs than matt

[@itsaduck]

This is great. He seems like though he doesn't 100% know what he's doing, he just rolls with it. He made it look so fun for a new player.

[@alexiesjohnedra6300]

bor dor-i turn ito a hummingbird Laudna-counterspell bor dor-mother now what do we do - looking to matt hahaha got me everytime

[@raymondharnack4160]

Vitriolic sphere is just ok’ish, the save for it can cost a ton of extra damage for it. The damage type is nice I guess.

[@AlyxGlide]

finally dog man is roadkill

[@midianet2]

I find hard to understand why Bor'Dor had such an impact on Laudna and Orym. Aside from metagaming that its a guest character for them this is a random ass dude they found in the woods that was very suss from the start and was with them for like 1 week in game time? For comparison Dawn also betrayed them in really a more important way and they kicked her ass without a second thought.

[@clintonbehrends4659]

well one it's D&D is an improvised thing so sometimes their is going to be narrative issues and wierd scenario even when the players are skilled at improv two this is the second time they have been betrayed and this time it wasn't by a mystical fey person but by someone who lost everything and genuinely seemed scared and in need three to laudna this is the third time this happened and they are quite sick of it and for orym he just reconciles with the fact that they going to be killing not so evil people

[@kingskelett6265]

One important thing to consider is that Bor'Dor happens when they are both separated from the people they have grown attached to, right after a very hard hitting event where they quite possibly failed to stop a maniac from doing something potentially really bad. Laudna did not only, as clinton already mentioned, get betrayed yet again, she is also split off from Imogen who she plays very great value in, has been together with for quite some time and who also rescued her twice now. Orym has to deal with the fact that his boss whom he cares about might be dead, that his family got killed because the Ruby Vanguard wanted their divine lense through Vax (I think Liam talked about that in 4SD) and that they have to fight people with genuine grievances who seem like they don't have any other options. And saying "very suss from the start" is not exactly correct simply because everyone perceives things differently. Bor'Dor might have been immediately strange to you and others but other people might feel and think differently. I thought at the beginning that he just was a random dude suddenly empowered because the gods were getting desperate. Then as things went on he seemed to be rather extreme or direct which didn't quite line up, but that stuff is always subjective. And after all that happened they might also, if subconsciously, want to be able to trust them and not see everything and everyone as suspicious (also, realistically, the chances of finding a stranded member of the ruby vanguard was very low. Not impossible as we have seen but very low). In times of distress it is not too unrealistic to want to trust someone so you can feel safe.

[@SkyMcSparkle]

^ this. The character poses an obstacle to being reunited with their loved ones after all they’ve been through. There are also times where we have let people go and they come back bigger and badder later. Plus he didn’t have to attack them.

[@Hexen_Wulf]

It's a bit like the cave on Dagobah. It affected them so much because he was sort of a reflection of them, of what loss can do to someone.

[@Tickhound117]

Well if you think about it, if Laudna had immediately killed him after his lightning bolt the party might not have had so much pain. That would play a part too I'd think for Laudna.

[@brettchew3771]

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd that Bor'dor had a rod, bro? Also, 💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💚🖤...?!?

[@fidellerosa]

no gods

[@kalipassion04]

I feel really bad but I nvr cared about this character. His player was very nice but I'm going to keep it 100 I skipped this arc. So ty for making this so I can get the gist of it.

[@arlidans]

Did she stop reacting to the Critical Role episodes?

[@SkyMcSparkle]

No I just have catching up to do and those will be out soon :) it is 💯 time I build a new computer as the amount of blue screen I’m getting is angering

[@adlerofrowe9224]

Critters have so many unwanted opinions on a game for friends that have nothing to do with them

[@Dunybrook]

Nothing to do do with them? If nobody watched none of this would be possible.

[@ashleyjohnson9651]

​@@Dunybrookbut also matt has said that he doesnt make narrative choices for any fans, he makes them for his players

[@N_3_Z]

pointing out the obvious in a negative fashion is a sign of low self esteem

[@adlerofrowe9224]

@@N_3_Z you memorize quotes to feel better about yourself because you know you're stupid but you wanna make everyone else think you're smart. What were you saying about low self esteem?

[@MrLocoSuave]

Oh damn... why all Liams characters turn to the gloomy side

[@GZilla311]

The College of Tragedy bard is just Liam.

[@dahktur1505]

Had to make it about herself, as usual

[@bennieboi20]

Dude wtf is this take? Making it about herself? She was just betrayed for the third time. It was her turn in combat, how does that make it about herself?

[@aussiegamer9668]

brain dead take

[@ashleyjohnson9651]

​@@bennieboi20typical misogynist marisha hater

[@bloodfoxtriberc]

the hills people like you want to die on are usually on the bottom of an outhouse...

[@Nishanth_mementomori]

L take... it's 2023 you're still hating on Marisha ?