The Favor of The Bright Queen | Critical Role C2E56 Highlight
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มี.ค. 2019
- My anxiety levels are still at an all time high. This episode was crazy at the end. I hope everyone has a lovely week!
Music used: "Ambient Theme No. 1" by Steven O’Brien
/ rejected-ambient-orche... - บันเทิง
"Nah men, Im not going back to prison. Part 2" a Caleb Widogast story
Mission passed: respect+
@@TheHighborn You are allied with the Dominion.
NEW QUEST: Sleeping Dragon- Careful, Empire Spies are everywhere. If you ally to the Dominion further, it may insight their wrath.
@@stingerjohnny9951 stop right there criminal scum. You have violated the law.
Matt is right, that's a powerful freaking ally to make at level 8 - Half of the map just changed status from "Hostile" to "Friendly"
@@restfulori212 Only if they know what you did, and so far they don't
@@GodBear97 Won't take long... They introduced themselves as the Mighty Nein within the Royal Court. Word is going to spread. Some of that spreading will hit the ears of spies.
@@GodBear97 Word will get out. Also, you forget that DAIRON is spying for the Empire; wouldn't what the M9 did look like an act of treason (and with Beau an act of betrayal)
@@kei2kei Dairon isn't spying for the empire, she's spying for the Cobalt Soul's secret anarchist/anti-establishment group. Their main focus is justice, and they don't report to the empire. Beau is going to get a chance to explain herself, no doubt about it - They might not be mad about this. They probably won't be happy, but they won't see it as treason, and they won't tell the empire
and the empire doesnt even know. they have friends EVERYWHERE now
I think its safe to say Liam's character's actions just won him the election for president of DnD Beyond!
So Liam planned this all the time, he made that character choice for Sam just for this moment. Everybody knows a character like Scanlan would have easily won.
Does that mean that Liam/Kaleb is the villain?!
He also probably lost a lot as well
@@SeliasSonne i think he only gave the race and class, the backstory is all Sam
@@JasperForge It's not "only" the race and class. Sam is born to be a bard, he is born to play a super charismatic character, now he got like 5 charisma :D
Anyways Sam is still going to win. He is the mastermind of the group ^^
That it did. Short lived presidency as it was.
Travis (internally): Don't give them our free luck point!
Liam (internally, as Caleb): Ohhhh the mighty nein, the mighty nein is the mightiest nein that ever neined!
I think Travis was more worried that showing they had the beacon in the first place, without being upfront about it, would make things worse.
@@duranpredur1098 Fjord is clever, Caleb is smart. It's a fine distinction, but I believe this scenario showed that difference.
@@Klespyrian Thats a great description. Fjord is often seen as a Himbo (which he often is), but he’s also shown to be quick to adapt and able to get out of situations with his silver tongue.
I was flabbergasted at the initial chat response to every moment as I watched this. Caleb's was the only correct move to make. He colored the narrative. If he didn't do what he did, the dodecahedron would have been found while their things were being turned inside out in the dungeon. Instead of Heroes of the Dynasty they would have been imperial thieves and spies.
Chat also said, and I quote, "Hype for Campaign 3" before Liam did his thing.
Fullscreen >
Do as I do - hide chat when you open stream. People that spam messages instead of watching usually have little to add to experience.
If they knew it was in there - yes. Otherwise - no. Bags of Holding and Handy Haversacks have that whole "call an object forth" thing - you can't just turn it over and shake everything out. Once Nott decided to use it right there in front of everyone - yeah, they were pretty much screwed. i certainly hope Ashley and Tally are back for the next ep since this certainly could have gone TPK. Also Kudos to Matt who likely did not have this script in mind when planning things out, but rolled with it admirably.
@@Grey_Shard See Ronald Cooper's response. These Drow are experts in fields of magic that the Empire doesn't even fully understand. Pretty sure they can cast identify on a couple bags and figure out...oh... They aren't empty...and if we turn them inside out we can find out exactly what's inside.
This whole moment gave me a mild panic attack until Caleb did that.
"until" my panic increased when he started to do that before i realized what the dodecahedron means to them again XD
Going to jail is the bread and butter of an adventure party... giving powerful artifacts with unknown powers no so much.
@@yotuel9064 they would have found it anyways. The Habersatch isn't tamper proof, all you have to do it flip it inside out and everything comes out. This was the only play at that moment .
Also I think we're gonna learn that the Dynasty isn't the aggressor and possibly the Empire as well. I love been thinking for awhile that the Covus Conclave is the big bad playing both sides in a attempt to gain power.
And hey if I'm wrong and both sides are asshole then the Mighty Nine should burn the whole thing down by taking a little trip to a certain jungle temple.
@@yotuel9064 which is why that bread is so stale and uninspired. We've all seen it thousand times, some of us even tried to write a bunch of these prison breaks and it always comes out contrived. As an author/dm in this situation, you have to not just provide opportunities for escape, but actively pull punches, invent conviniences and dumb down jailers to the point of absolute incompetence. Historically all succesfull escapes required either outside help or a lot of time for planning and execution. In this situation they wouldn't have the former and the latter doesn't really go well with the format of the show.
You might say "this is dnd, not real life". But consider this: they already had a situation with captured party members. For various rl reasons, Fjord, Jester and Yasha would not be able to escape Iron Shepherds if not for the rest of the party saving them. And, compared to Kryn Dynasty, Lorenzo and the gang were total jobbers. How would it look like, if the mighty Drow Empire couldn't even take the same security precautions as some bounty hunters?
@@yotuel9064
And that's literally the basis to the new D&D movie...😂
"WE USED IT IN FRONT OF HER!!!" I died laughing.
Travis: *pulls out map of the Empire* "This map... this map right here covers the areas that we just *declared war* with!"
*_gestures to the entire fucking map_*
"And we're somewhere over here" *_points to Xorhas which is on the very edge of the map_*
@@deffdefying4803 *rides finger up and down over the death planes behind the death mountains*
"This is us. Fuck. This. Whole thing."
The Empire doesn't know what happened. M9 can now spy for the Dynasty when they travel back.
Skeptical Caveman The Empire doesn’t know _yet_
This was honestly PERFECT for Caleb's arc. A man essentially betrayed and left for dead by the Empire, escapes the mental asylum, becomes a ghost, forgotten to time. But then returns, with possibly a NUKE, to give to the enemy. The man forgotten, the ghost of Bren Aldric Ermendrud has returned.
This will forever be one of Campaign 2's most pivotal story moments imo.
Had Caleb not done what he did, the direction of the campaign's story would have most likely taken an ENTIRELY different direction!
The repercussions of that one singular decision and the effects it will have on the continent of Wildemount as a whole are going to be felt for years and years to come...
It could potentially be as world-changing for Wildemount as the Chroma Conclave was for Tal'Dorei. Though that might be overexaggerating.
Stellermeerkat In an alternate universe.
Trent Ikithon, make a perception check.
> 33
As you look to the skies, four shapes catch your eye outlined against the darkening sunlight.
They’re growing & rapidly approaching.
...
Four colossal war tortoises slam down into the city, one of them landing right on top of the King’s balcony, another in the noble district, another lands on your tower & another right before you & your men.
What do you do?
> I say, “How the fuck did they airlift four war tortoises to Rexxentrum? Who is writing this story!?”
So...my thing with this is that Caleb actually made the only smart play. Is everyone thinking they'd be locked up and their things not confiscated? The Bright Queen would have the relic no matter what, but now they are "heroes" instead of spies/theives
only other incident that is even close to as big so far is their fight with Lorenzo and both Matt's error in not letting him fly away combo'd with Beau's pivotal stunning strike. Turned that villain from a potential recurring nightmare to a one shot bitch.
@@redfinale While that was a big moment for the session and the rest of the arc, that wouldn't be the first big pivotal moment of the campaign.
That honor still goes to Mollymauk's death.
Last month
Mercer: and now we will have the naval battle I planned for so long....
Talison: Hold my tidal wave....
This month:
Mercer: I have set up this beautiful set from Dwarven Forge for a big fight or jail break scenario....
Liam: Hold my bier.....
Tune in next month where Sam trades away D&D Beyond to U'kotoah
Liam: Hold my dodecahedron
Mercer: I have this amazing battle set up against a powerful and ancient Hag...
Laura: Hold my cupcake...
Travis was salty lol. My first thought was, there's no way they aren't going to search everything they're carrying. Better to give it as a gift than for it to be found on enemies
I was thinking the same thing watching this the first time, and Liam probably thought the same thing too
Caleb just gave the enemy a powerful artifact. That’s all Fjord was thinking. At least now they don’t get decapitated though.
@@Ether165They aren't the enemy though. The M9 don't have any allegiance to the empire, so they don't really care what happens as long they get to live.
@@Ether165 But that's the thing, are the Krynn actually the enemy?
@@GodBear97 I've seen this discussion in multiple places(having looked for it myself). People either believe the Krynn are your typical evil Drow, others saying they are misunderstood, or lastly they believe that Krynn are just as grey as the Empire is. I'm in the last group if anyone cares to know. We don't know all that much about them. Slavery is a thing there, but at the same time a bunch of other races are seen living together with what appears to be no major problems. The missing persons thing hasn't been confirmed, or denied. The reasons for the attacks haven't been revealed. There is still a lot we don't know about either side to be perfectly honest.
Hell all I know about the empire is that some of the assembly are up to some shady shit, and that goblins are generally not welcome.
I don’t get why people are upset about the party losing the dodecahedron. They rarely even used it for re-rolls. They forgot about it most of the time.
it's like that one uber powerful weapon you get in games that you save for bosses but end up forgetting that you have.
@@AnInsaneOstrich
Having queen in you debt is far more powerful
@@SPACEHARICE agreed.
FOMO
Story ramifications.
Consider: We didn’t know the Kryn, except for what the Empire thought of them. For all we knew they WERE the bad guys. Here we have Caleb giving them a VERY powerful artifact that we, and the party, didn’t understand. This was *potentially* like going to the BBEG and going “hey wanna slaughter all the good guys and take over the world?”
They are going to build statues of Caleb to honour this event
"I encourage betrayal"
But will he still have his bondage gear on?
@@emmyfarout2538 It will become the new high fashion for the dynasty, everyone and their mother will be wearing the "saviours bonds" . Jester giggles every time she sees it
I really wish Ashley and Talisian were here to see their reactions. I cant' wait to see their reactions when they come back. :D
I just really hope Ashley is back for an extended period of time, really let her get into her character. Also I bet Travis will be super happy to just play 1 character lol
Ashley: wait what happened? You took the thing, then you trafficked it, and then you-
*Taliesan Slams table*
Tal: What have you done?!
Caleb for the clutch win! Liam does such a great job playing his character.
It's the Avantika fight all over. Caleb does something awesome and they're off for two weeks haha.
Fun Fact: Matthew Mercer learned the art of the cliffhanger from the spirit of Scheherazade herself.
1000 nights of D&D is still a long way to go.
I love the M9 and their fly by the seat of their pants, but man...they have got to get over their allergy to the truth. "Hey Bright Queen, you guys have my husband." "Mighty Bright Queen, we sort of stumbled into something we don't understand." Caleb saved us with a sort of half-truth, but dang near every time the Mighty Nein have survived, it's because of some snippet of truth.
They aren't a morally sensitive or just group, and they've never given any indicator that that may be trying to become a morally just group. They aren't Vox Machina. They don't care about doing good or being honest, they care about survival, and do whatever they believe is necessary to achieve survival. If they are able to do some good along the way then they try to, but they don't prioritize it. The truth would've likely gotten them killed or imprisoned anyways.
@@nastybird3397 That's very true. I hope my comment doesn't come across as displeasure, because I think the moral ambiguity of this campaign has been so great. I'd like them to speak truthfully, but they play these characters so well, that I'm just happy to be on the ride.
@@nastybird3397 Lies get you killed when you lie to drow. They were given one piece of advice. Be honest. They didn't listen. It's classic Mighty Nein - but hopefully they learn from it. There are some people you don't lie to.
Croecho This is literally the dumbest arguement ever. Lying to any world power/creature/entity/person can get you killed. So can telling the truth. They were 100% screwed if they had told the truth. In any and all events. If they were taken to jail they would’ve been searched and dodecahedron would’ve been found.(They likely know what a bag of holding is and how it works) Of they tried to flee after telling the truth they’d have died. Lying was literally the only way to get out of that situation.
@@nastybird3397Saying they were 100% screwed if they told the truth is absolutely false.
The ONLY element that screws them is the drow that called them out. If you take him out of the equation. All it takes is to say "We are outsiders and free-lancers. With no affiliation to either the Empire or your Dynasty." Then... "You have someone in your custody we would like to see....and we beg you to release him into our custody." If pressed for more. "-insert name-" if pressed for more. "He is important to us. (He is my husband) He was caught in the middle of something between you and the Empire. He was manipulated by the Empire, threatened through his son." if suspicions are aimed. "We came here...knowing we were risking our lives because of where we come from. We are willing to do anything the Queen demands to prove that we are not loyal to the Empire."
Now I am not saying it would have been 100% success. But it would not have been 100% failure. The TRUTH is right there. Any leader willing to listen (and these drow are atypical enough to actually listen to outsiders).
The only reason it fails is because of the drow witness they didn't account for...which would have been mitigated if they stepped off on the right foot of "We are outsiders and freelancers without affiliation." Lying is the wrong move here. Even with their most charismatic characters. It would be like casting disguise self in the presence of a Devil. Think of a Drow Queen (one probably old enough to remember serving Lolth) as having truesight for lies.
Me: D&D is a collaborative creative narrative. No one person is the protagonist, no one story arc is more important than anyone else’s, no one player carries the game more than the other players.
Also me: Caleb is the protagonist of the M9 arc change my mind
It's between him and Fjord, but Caleb has definitely come in clutch more times than one.
There was a third...
I would definitely say while comparing campaign one and two from a story standpoint there are certainly more important/ main character like characters. In campaign one I would argue it is between Keyleth and maybe even Scanlan, and in this campaign it is definitely Caleb, but I wouldn’t say he’s the leader, Fjord is.
i think that's mostly thanks to Nott in a lot of ways, Nott always brings the attention on Caleb...
Although Caleb also brings the attention on Caleb a lot...
@@zander6962 vax is the best "main character" for campaign 1 if you were to assign that role to a character. his major relationship with keyleth beginning in kraghammer, then coming out into the open in whitestone. his and vex's personal vendetta against thordak for destroying byroden. the whole deal he made with the raven queen for Vex's life being the main story hook for the entire vecna arc. and then once vax dies, the group of vox machina, as well as the story of campaign 1, comes to a close. it all ties around vax and its poetic that the story ends when he is no longer around
Liam just has the perfect feel for when to go all out
Also Travis was just so pissed
6:39 Classic Laura Bailey. Even in as tense of a moment as this... she just can't help herself.
I loved how Travis was noping the entire time. Caleb's was the only good play in that situation, but Fjord had NO plans of turning over that dodecahedron.
I honestly think Travis and Sam thought showing it was a TPK Kill On Sight situation.
He figured theyd all die if it was revealed. Even so, it was literally their only play.
Me: I promise not to get political
*three drinks later*
Me: I am of the empire, but I am no friend of the empire
This is what I wish The Elder Scrolls games would be.
Here's hoping TESVI will be like this
@@NwahSwit I genuinely hope so but I doubt Bethesda has the competency to make a good game right now.
When you throw your DM through such a big loop the session has to end a whole hour early.
Liam's RP was REAL and ON POINT this game !!!!!!
Whew that was close. I was wondering if the Dodecahedron would come in handy in Xhorhas and it apparently did. Too bad they had to give it up, but that's better than rotting in a cell forever.
Naw, they fund that any other way its instant executuion. Also I dont think the Dynasty is actually bad, this games whole pov has been from the Empire side. This is going to be very interesting.
I was wondering if the Kryn could sense the Dodecahedron if used. I wonder if not only the Kryn can feel it’s use but have others can as well?
I feel bad for Matt, actually. This clutch move is so game-changing, i worried he has to rework everything for the entire break period, no rest
I was thinking the same thing! So many things changed in the blink of the eye. I have so many fucking questions. 2 weeeeeeeekssssss
And it's not the first time this happens either. The spur of the moment decision to become pirates and Caleb's Wall of Fire were both really clutch moves that destroyed a lot of Matt's plans
At this point Matt should write a book of all the important plot points that had to be abandoned. Title it "What Could Have Been."
Nah, don't feel bad. Any DM worth their salt knows that 90% of their preparation goes out the fucking window the nanosecond the party begins to interact with the world, and if they're any good at being a DM, that will be the kind of play they live for. Matt has gone on record stating that he loves it when the party does something he didn't expect.
@@MilesTailsProwerfan9 more like an anthology of novella. For both campaigns.
First she kills Caduceus and now she uses her fragment in FRONT of the lady looking for it? Nott is not having a good week 😂
If anyone can help Caleb kill those mages... they can.
you never let the -3 charisma rogue try to bullshit one of the strongest entities of wildemount, wtf were they expecting..
He is so used to playing the charismatic bard scanlan.
I’m getting a tattoo based from this scene. The “I am of the empire but I am no friend of the empire” is one of my favorite quotes from anything.
What did we learn? Even a character's flaws can bring the party luck! Caleb's self-destructive desire for vengeance against those who wronged him, although not considering the possible consequences for his reckless actions, have led to something we all never expected...
I had so many flashbacks to the Plank King's Trial scene when watching this. Amazing how just a few rolls can make or break a scenario.
But holy hecc when Caleb inferred to the dodecahedron I was gripping my chair so hard, and then when he actually showed it I practically pulled a Marisha and fell off my chair in shock lol
This was an absolute masterstroke by Caleb. The standout character of this campaign by miles.
I had a heart attack watching this live
I was hyperventilating
This is one of the best Caleb moments. Straight after the legendary Wall of Fire and Counterspell.
Is this that Raven Queen Deal moment of this campaign?
I'm such a baby, for some reason rewatching this made me tear up... maybe because the emotions are just overwhelming in such a tense moment. When this happened I looked a lot like Laura, except both hands were covering my mouth.
The thing is, I thought this episode would be epic in a totally different way... I thought maybe almost dying would cause some serious conversations to happen. Yet, what happened was just as important...
I am, and I cannot stress this enough, SO F*CKING EXCITED to see this animated 😭😭😭😭
So fucking epic!!!! It's like the second or third time that Caleb "breaks" de momentum of the scene and completely changes the "possibilities" of the situation... Maybe he finally attuned with the beacon and now is like Dr. Strange with the Eye of Agamotto!!! I am from the Empire, but I am no friend to the Empire... If you are no friend of the Empire, today you've become Heroes of the Dinasty!!! sooooooo epic!!!!!
All things considered, this was perhaps the best outcome for them. Caleb has a personal vendetta against the Cerberus Assembly, so this comes as no surprise. Frankly, the alternative would have been outright messy.
2:12 - "Oh my God, I just TPK'D everyone on an international stream..."
Why did the party let the worst liars do the talking?
DwarvenForge unfortunately underplayed because of this lit Caleb move
I was so scared that fjord wasn’t talking, Nott and Jester should not handle these conversations however enjoyable they are😂
They're the group's investigators. Plus, it was Nott's husband in custody, it would make some sense for her to be the one to speak up about it. And while Jester was perhaps more conversational than one should be when addressing royalty, she can be sincere when she wants to and she was being totally sincere here
@@deffdefying4803 yes ok but nott should not be the one trying to deceive a drow queen , considering her -3 deception "bonus"
@@deffdefying4803 She wasn't being sincere, she and Nott both spun a false story to explain why they wanted the Queen's favor. Also, as mentioned Notts charisma is -3 and she has no deception skill. Nott taking the lead in an conversation is basically equivalent to Grog trying to take the lead in a strategy meeting, in terms of capability.
@@mattmac6069 "We simply seek your aid" seemed pretty sincere to me
@@deffdefying4803 That was sincere, but they lied about wanting the chemist because his experiments had harmed people and that they were hired to find him and bring him back was definitely not true.
2 weeks? 2 WEEKS!?!?! HOW DO THEY EXPECT THIS OF US!!!
They always end on a cliffhanger when the next episode comes after two weeks!!
@@playyourdrums6762 I know, and every time is just as painful as the last.
@@playyourdrums6762 dam it liam that's 2 right before a break u cant keep doing this to us
Every time I rewatch this part of the episode I get fucking goosebumps!
This move REALLY made the whole campaign more interesting. I really really really can’t wait for the next episode...this is the most excited I’ve been since this campaign 😁. I’m glad Matt is going to have TWO WEEKS to prepare for what’s to come, and I know he’s not going to let us down.
CALEB FOR LEADER!
Caleb has Laura’s full support “we have to do it!” As soon has he started talking she knew..
I'm very interested to see Beaus reaction next thursday. she has a really strong connection to the empire, I don't think she'll be super ok with this.
Travis didn't look particularly pleased, either... for the sake of his character I'm assuming.
@@NickaLah i dunno lol. I think that one may have just been travis both mourning the loss of their toy and thinking it was a waste. he made a good argument afterwards that getting sent to prison would have been good for them anyways cuz then they could break out notts husband easier.
@@TheJollyRamRancher well, technically, now they can just ask for her husband and they'll more than likely easily gain access to him. They might even be able to just walk out with him - maybe. Or maybe they'll still have to break him out. We'll see :3
@@Neko141212 oh yeah sure getting the husband will be easy, but they spent a very very expensive resource for it. that's a trump card spent right there. also if this gets back to the empire that they've returned the dodeca that's a powerful enemy they made.
to be clear I love this and am super excited :) I don't believe in wrong decisions in D&D and this will be very interesting and I'm certain matts excited cuz he has to suddenly reimagine what he was gonna do in the story lol
@@Neko141212 I'm kinda hoping that all of them and Yezza included will kinda work together and help the Kryn out a little bit. Yezza can explain the experiments they were doing and tell them whatever it is they know....THEN be on their way... I wouldn't be surprised it the Kryn try to use them as spies or at least some form of intelligence too.
thank you for posting some of the best clips of this wonderful show
Now that the campaign has finished, I still consider this one of the greatest moments I had the pleasure of watching live. This moment was spectacular.
Well, now we know Caleb's definitely the leader of The Mighty Nein.
Only two minutes into the video and I'm already having stressful flashbacks. God this episode was so traumatizing!
I fancy the way Matt describes the expression on the faces of the NPCs, it's so important for the pasive acting part of the players to debate against the adversities that the DM proposes
Travis was so salty.
I was /not/ ready for this whole sequence, but I'm so glad that Liam managed to pull it out as well as he did.
I have been waiting for this breakdown since the episode ended! Great editing as always
I was pacing around my room like a madman when this was unfolding
I always get so annoyed when Jester and Nott talk to anyone because they always screw over the party by antagonizing and lying to every npc they meet. But it led to this moment, the best scene of the campaign.
I so hope they fully throw themselves behind allying with the Dynasty because I think that would make for a very interesting campaign moving forward, not to mention the implications for Beauregard's backstory.
Caleb finna get together with the bright queen
This scenario is everything I have been fearing/anticipating since they allowed the Kreen Warrior to flee and ended up with the Dodecahedron.
I never understood why they gave Nott and Jester to even speak and negotiate on this quest....
Simple Answer: They are the Investigators and they took initiative.
Complicated Answer: Fjord has historically played the patience-and-let-them-speak-first card, in order to sweep up after them if it goes wrong. I think he has some confidence/committal issues when it comes to taking the lead (hence the continued argument as to who is the leader) even when it's just about talking. In their entire planning stage, he never once said "Let me do the talking." And he even nodded to Nott and Jester and gave them the ole "This-is-your-rodeo" gesture.
@@Croecho Tnx for this reply. :)
@@eureka211288 Also, they muzzled the two people who COULD have had a better chance at negotiation for the very stupid purpose of making them slaves... despite humanoid slavery actually being ILLEGAL in Xhorhas. If only they had asked the two Empire Kids, the ones they muzzled, for clarification... but nope!
Needless to say, Beau was PISSED when she brings it up later, saying that it was not super cool that her voice was silenced for a stupid ruse. That, and that they really should've left it to those actually *trained* in deception and espionage instead of "asking questions to the people [they] were trying to deceive, things that [they] should have already known.
"
That, and it was in bad taste anyway, especially since it was Fjord and Jester (who already went through that shit before) that vouched for the ruse.
I have to say in the moment when Lither opened his mouth and talked against them I thought "HOLY SHIT! No how are they gunna talk out of this!".
But Travis and his effin magnificent mind snapped back pretty quick. Travis is such a smart dude :) tis why I like him so much lol.
By far one of the ballsiest moves I've seen in a D&D game
2 weeks till next episode :(
Ah! Still my most favorite moment of the campaign- so awesome!
Matts gonna need those two weeks now that Liam pulled something like that.
Honestly, I didn't find the Beacons particularly interesting when watching these live, but they've grown on me over time. I would love nothing more than to pick Matt's brain about what they are, and exactly how much he's decided about them, because that would provide an actual basis for a fully developed thesis. As a DM and storyteller I'm fully aware that narrative points like this are best left fluid and undecided, so they can be whatever they need to become at a later date, but the perspective of them as an in world, defined and unchangeable constant is a fascinating subject to think about. These objects have a very real, substantial connection to not only space and time, which is already enough to speculate endlessly on what they might be, but they also either naturally hold sway over, and can be used to establish a hold over, the very destiny of souls themselves and can disrupt the natural flow of life, rebirth and eternity. That puts them beyond the scope and domain of any deity in the vast majority of DnD settings, and taken together this has completely changed how I look at them. At first I took them at face value, as they were presented, either a remnant artifact of the Age of Arcanum, or a divine artifact or a nearly forgotten deity that has had their link to mortals weakened to the point of needing this as a means of funneling souls into their plane, a hypothetical Lord of Light. But neither one really fits. The Aeorians didn't understand it much better than we do now, and a god with a domain covering both space and time would be such a primal force that worship, faith and souls are no longer a necessity, much the same as Asmodeus, Ao, or the other primal arch-deities in the shadows of the pantheons. I haven't really taken the time to sit and write and organize my thoughts, hence the rambling, but the only thing that makes sense to me at the moment is that they're fragments of creation itself. Specifically, my theory is that they're some kind of anchor, binding Exandria in the cosmic firmament, suspending it in the center of cosmological wheel in the Astral Sea, and as part of that function contain a portion of the essence of the Astral Plane, sort of like threshold crests, but on a planar level. That would account for both their age, older than the memory of the greatest minds in the most magical age, and their powers. The Astral Plane is the only location in DnD that is connected to all of the Beacons domains, it is a timeless place of thought and emptiness. It exists outside the bounds of both time and space, yet paradoxically contains an infinite amount of both. Entropy, progress, digression, distance, matter, and consequently gravity, do not exist their, yet that place provides the perfect perspective from which to better understand these concepts, the only environment in one can create a controlled experiment on them. And importantly, it's also the place that all souls are drawn in the natural cycle. Assuming they're not trapped, absorbed or destroyed, all souls travel there frequently in life in dreams, and it's the road all souls walk to their final destination in the outer planes. Unless consequted souls were being drawn into an Astral pocket plane, separated from the whole, they should not be so easily kept from cycle of eternity, nor so easily find their way back to the prime material. Now, all that being said, it's impossible for me to even speculate on who created them. If my theory holds any water, then it's impossible to know who, how or why. Creation in DnD is nebulous at best, and we don't really know who the primal beings were in Exandria, if there were any. They may have been forged by primordial titans, long dead or departed. They may have been made by unknowable creatures from the Far Plane, who created them to shift the Prime Material out of that place to escape the endless madness. They may have been the first creations of a prime deity from which all other godhood springs as conflicting aspects. Or maybe they, and the world, existed long before the birth of Titans, Aboleths, or Gods coalesced from the shifting aether, and will exist long after all else devolves back into endless, indeterminate possibility to one day form and begin anew. Who can say for certain?
To anyone who bothers to read all of this, you're a f-ing champion. I just started typing and couldn't stop. Hopefully it makes some kind of sense, I can't tell, but if you like it and it provokes some interesting thoughts, I've done my good deed for the day. Feel free to share your ideas, I find this concept fascinating and will probably work some form of it into my next campaign world. And please tell me if there's something dumb and obvious that I missed that just sends this whole thing crumbling, I would find that f-ing hilarious.
@@skynyrdjesus Would be nice to separate it into paragraphs, but good God you are on point
Have rewatched this clip at least twenty times now. Send halp.
The Mighty Nines new quest is to kill everyone they ever showed the beacon too lol...Twiggy, The one that gave Beau the red feather, the Mage in the changing tower, etc etc they all must die.
such an epic scene!
This was one of the craziest moments of the campaign for me. I was losing my mind when all of this went down.
Just get arrested is such a terrible idea 😂 Travis was not thinking at the time
I swear they just changed so many things in the narrative this can either be amazing for the end game or a huge disadvantage oh jeeeeez. Good they brought it back but I'm anxious to see what the consequences might beeeeeeee
As soon as he went for the bag I knew what was happening, but it’s still one of the most badass things Caleb has done.
God damn I don’t know how I’m going to wait an extra week before the next episode
this was fucking crazy watching live, and we have to wait an extra week for the next episode. aaaaaaaa
One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. I legit didn’t even know how to react
They were stupid and terribly put together... Caleb saved them so hard
Honestly my favorite moment of campaign 2. (Not the blubbering beginning though with all the shit lies)
I have to come back and watch this every few days. Caleb/Liam to me is the MVP of this campaign
Potential spoilers
First decoding Avantika's book
Returning the beacon
Escaping trent well the party was split trying to stop the tomb takers
Basically being the only way to successfully navigate eiselcross without accidently going the wrong way.
And more
Of course everyone plays a huge roll and is the MVP in their own way but so many of Caleb's are campaign changing moments if done differently.
Reminder that Caleb is the best Decision maker in the Nein!
Cant wait for dodeca-gate to unravel, beau is gonna have words.
Also we get to learn what the dodecahedron is actually called!
matt keeps referring to it as "The Beacon" like it's straight outta skyrim. so i believe that's its official title.
Yeahhhh not looking forward to Beau policing the M9 for taking authority when she herself is taking authority over them when she dose her calling out BS. Super annoying
Skillz I bet you were in the #thankskeyleth camp.
You gotta have conflict to have conflict resolution my dude.
@@missingunknown6277 Except her calling them out was justified in that they robbed her of her voice when she is actually better trained at deception compared to Jester and Nott. You don't ask questions you should already know the answers to of the people you're trying to deceive.
That, and humanoid slavery is actually illegal in Xhorhas, thus the confusion of those present.
This was so intense I couldnt believe it but it was time to give the beacon back they had no choice but man what an interaction!
I died during this. I thought they were going to go down.
I absolutely geeked when thos happened it is my favorite moment in all of campaign 2
Caleb with the big save
Probably the most tense moment in critical roles history
Its not just me but isnt the tripod just a normal tripod used to hold the thing, its like the chair....
from one act, everything changed
It’s a new form of magic which only the Dynasty really understands to some level. Controlling time and space against the empire could be like shooting fish in a barrel, with no way of countering their spells a full scale war would surely be suicidal. We must also think of the decades if not century’s of animosity towards the empire. Will the Dynasty show restraint, or will they stop at nothing less than genocide. We have yet to see but I fear that more civilians will be killed than the Cerberus assembly....
Biggest moment of the whole campaign
I can't stop thinking about the force theme from star wars anytime someone says hope, for some reason.
That's probably because the force theme was designed to make you feel hopeful, and that you probably know as much.
Marisha “fuck”
*mounts chair*
Desperation breeds innovation
If they don't get Yeza back in return I'm gonna scream
I hope Caleb is allowed to learn that new time magic (i know it starts with a 'd' but i cant remember its name)from them after all of this.
dunemancy?
I love picturing this moment from Esseks perspective like FUCK I hate this guy but like 90 episodes later he’s head over heels for Caleb 😭😭
I like, died when I watched this. Because thought that they were gonna die.
I watched this live and I was fucking flipping my shit in every direction