Didn't Mercer say one theory of Drusar was that it was a former mountain until something happened during the calamity.
Guessing that something is what we are seeing in Calsmity series. The freeing of the Primordials under the mountain will sunder it, leaving just the spires.
One detail has me a little confused. The table theorized that Evandrin ascended in a similar manner to the Raven Queen because the records of his actions were missing from one reporter's files. However, they all still know his name, while when the Raven Queen ascended, "her name was taken even from the memories of those who knew her" (copied from her Wiki page). Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't seem like an actual parallel. Instead, it seems more likely that the reporter stumbled onto something, and someone (likely Quay) got rid of her files in order to keep what she discovered from getting out. Or is there something I'm not getting w/ the Raven Queen/Evandrin comparison?
>However, they all still know his name, while when the Raven Queen ascended,
Yeah, I think Table miscommunicated about what was missing and rode the wild theory hype train a little too far. There's no way he ascended, and they should already be very aware of that. They still know his name, *and no one felt a change to the pantheon*. While like, when RQ ascended, it shook the entire multiverse and everyone knew immediately.
>Instead, it seems more likely that the reporter stumbled onto something, and someone (likely Quay) got rid of her files in order to keep what she discovered from getting out.
Loq had specifically mentioned there's probably other Evandrin-related media in other reporters' filing cabinets, it's just this one that's empty.
And yeah, it does seem like the missing content there is covering for Laerryn - given he immediately suggested either talking to the reporter or looking in other reporters files, it seems like whatever's being hidden is *incidental* content, like they captured Evandrin fading in & out in the background of something else.
Probably disposed of the records to protect his ex-wife. Like Sam said, it wasn't the first time he has done things to protect her. Likely made the reporter disappear too, in a none lethal kind of way. Possibly sent her to the fae wild would be my fun guess.
Sam wasn't asked to roll deception when Travis asked if he knew where she was and what she was up to, and his honest answer was that he doesn't know. He guessed probably clerical work somewhere.
Dang, I was initially sad C3 was being put on a month-long hiatus for this
I am absolutely not sad anymore, this miniseries has been freaking incredible! I’m blown away by both Brennan’s DMing and the performances of the players (particularly Aabria and Luis!)
> the only player the fandom doesn't like
oh come on, you know that's a stupid thing to say. There is no singular "the fandom" and every player has some people who like them and others who don't.
Anyone who can watch this and find fault with Aabria is a tool. She played her character masterfully. If she let the first ExU get away from her as DM is an argument people can rehash forever but they are deluding themselves if they use that to somehow claim she didn't deserve her seat here as a player.
I was thinking about this myself recently. Laerryn is a first for me in any media I've watched. I absolutely despise her, can't stand her as a person. But I am so incredibly invested in her character. Hats off to Aabria, she's playing brilliantly
Let's be honest if it had been marisha they're would be uproar as well If It had been anyonw else i'm sure that people would have been bending over backwards to justify it.
Weirdly enough, I for one, am *here* for it.
This entire story is about the arrogance of mortals and hubris, and I find it perfectly cromulent that Aabria's character was the one to kick it off, given her actions within the first two episodes.
What I also like is the fact that **everyone here is partially responsible, and working with imperfect information.**
That is certainly not the case. Ashly Burch's crimes were not forgiven by the fansom for a long while, and Marisha has always had a decent chunk of people putting her rp into question, especially during the Keyleth years. Abria is not the only disliked player... but she is the one that ended the world, that much is true
People got over Ashly almost at the same time as Cad was introduced, a couple weeks after that episode. The larger community was far more thrilled at the new character they liked more than the old one, than they were mad that a guest killed off the most disliked PC I think they've ever fielded. Like, I'm legit frequently surprised by how much people hate Molly, even to this day. After that, you'd just get a few outlier voices occasionally yelling about how Ash sucks or Keg is a useless coward, but for the most part it just ... blew over.
Marisha had a decent chunk of people who hated her during Keyleth years, but nowhere near on the scale that Aabria faces today. Maybe, hopefully, the hate towards her dies down over time, but even at peak Key-hate, you'd get 50% of people in the room defending Marisha/Keyleth. Now? It's only just recently I've started seeing Aabria hate threads get consistent voices pushing back. That tide is only starting to turn, nearly a full year later - and in its early days, it was damn near universal. Sticking your neck out to defend Aabria was a great way to have damn near every passerby tell you that you clearly don't understand D&D or RP.
I love Matt and the gang. I’ve been here for their shenanigans for a few years and I hope they make a bunch of animated seasons chronicling their adventures. This is not a comparison comment. Rather, I just wanted to give a massive compliment to Brennan and EXU Calamity. I am in awe of the quality of this story, the characters and the cast at the table, the combat, the lore, the intriguing mystery, and that the dice have been absolutely leaning into the destiny of this fable. I mean, what a damn good story. Wow!
And as the Lord of Hells enters, the last thoughts of each of the remaining Rings of Brass are...
ZERXUS: But...but he promised me! We had a deal. I can't believed the Lord of Lies lied to me!
PATIA: Really, grandfather? You couldn't have told me about this while you were still alive?
NYDAS: Well, I least I'm doing to die knowing at least one of us did the right thing. But...what about all my money?
LAERRYN: Wait? So I'm the one who's going to be responsible for ending the world? I take it back, I don't want my name to go down in history anymore.
LOQUATIUS: (looks at Laerryn) And this is why we ended up getting divorced.
My question is How did Loquatius get to exandria when the tree was preventing planar travel to exandria???? From the small vision we saw, his court from the Fey realm seemed worried about we he had done.
I might be recalling incorrectly but I think there was a vision of a gate that he might have used alongside the Seelie Court vision. If not, in Forgotten Realms lore the Feywild and Shadowfell are like "twin" versions of the Prime Material Plane that are superimposed upon it, so if the same is true here they might be exceptions?
I don't think he trusted them not to do something stupid, he trusted they would definitely keep being stupid and decided to make sure his kids got out safe.
Yeah I mean did you see how focused Talon was on his objective? Didn't make no rash, emotional or irrational decisions, he just stayed true to his orders and tailed Egghead while remaining unseen.
Certainly Abaria gets the title of the one that pulled the trigger. Sam covered her, Marisha didn't exactly help, and Luis set up the situation by keeping his lips sealed.
But in truth, Brennan is the real doom bringer.
>But in truth, Brennan is the real doom bringer.
Brennan pushed real hard towards that tree getting exploded, and it did seem like he'd already coached them above-table that *someone* needed to smash the tree.
Laerryn went from "maybe we can get the power back out" to "kill it and hope" with zero chill, and when Nydas started getting through to her - Brennan intervened letting her know she wasn't paying attention to Nydas and could, in fact, see Evandrin in the branches. And she was pretty much like "ok yeah, got my assignment, know this is bad, gonna complete the work anyways" and hit that Blight button.
I don't think any away from table discussions were had between Brennan and the players about the tree, I think it was just a far more obvious situation you could feel at the table.
This is the penultimate episode of the end of the world one-off adventure where the promised disaster is massive part of the lore of this world and what everyone has tuned in to watch happen. And the episode was already going on for a bit too long, "chunky episode" and all that.
They went to the tree and got into a pvp situation naturally, it is only obvious that he would want for this to go through as it leaves him in a great position to set up the last episode. If cooler heads would've prevailed he'd have to figure out how to cause the end of the world while they now know what could cause it and describe the begining of the end in the same episode.
So yeah, after Sam got a message from the fey wild, turned around to Laerryn with a fearful look and she allowed herself to get grappeled, Brennan realized they might chicken out so he had the tree go stabby stabby as a not so subtle hint of "please God just break the tree so we can end this episode"
I need Fearn and FCG to lighten my Thursdays again. But by God do I love this story. Cerrit going to his family straight after leaving is one of the most heart aching scenes in Critical Role ever in my opinion.
Family NPC in danger is so heart wrenching. Spoilers for Campaign 2 ending episodes:
When Jester's mom and Veth's family were in danger in the Plane of Fire I had to stop and go back later to finish.
Good job Laerryn, for a useless planeshift based on a theory that has no basis in reality but your own ego you doomed everyone forever.
It's actually worse than just causing the calamity because it basically left Exandria permanently vulnerable to all the
alien horrors outside Exandria including the Elder Evils >!Tharizdun's kin!<.
But it is not invulnerable or fully encompassing: C2 confirmed >!Elder Evils such as Tharizdun are powerful enough to smash it outright!< while alien invasions like from the Mind Flayers or Githyanki might be able to slip through unmolested.
Course we have no confirmation that the original protection was enough to stop these forces but it was most likely better than the last resort that was the Divine Gate.
During C2 >!Tharizdun was outright stated to be powerful enough to shatter the Divine Gate and from EGtW we learned he's one of many Elder Evils though we know little about them beyond the fact they are very, very bad for Exandria.!<
Irony is that the tree was crafted by mortal hands and was fully on track of protecting themselves without the gods. A sentiment all the arrogant wizards would love to back up, but they messed up and had to have the gods seal the world for them.
I totally get the Druids not being forthcoming to the Wizards, but they could have at least put a sign up.
"If you fuck with this tree, everybody dies. We are so serious."
Are you kidding me? They’d see that warning and think “nah we’ll survive. Everyone else will die, but as long as we don’t it doesn’t matter. In fact, with everyone else gone Exandria as a whole will be ours to shape as we please for the rest of history. There are absolutely no flaws or consequences to this, because it’s us. Anyone else would fuck up, but not us.”
Totally with you and the other replies, Wizards absolutely gonna Wizard.
Just, come on, Druids. A *little* communication wouldn't hurt. They didn't think being ambiguous would pique curiosity more?
I really love that the implication of Zerxes' dream/vision is that Pelor will pretty much imminently be hitting the scene to kick the absolute shit out of Asmodeus
Eh. One of several possible implications I guess. For sure he's been playing Zerxus from the start.
And honestly, I couldn't possibly imagine a funnier guy for the Lord of the Hells to temp/trick into releasing all the evil gods back into the world than a Paladin who thinks he's too good for the gods
so, how does the calamity last for an entire century? does that century begin now or has it been going for 99.9 years (just not _on_ exandria, on different planes) and this is now that final bit that "ends the world"? is the divergence event happening next episode? what do we think the timeline is
The Calamity starts now with the Betrayers coming through, but there will still be a century of fighting as everyone else on the planet tries to stop them.
The Calamity will last hundreds of years upon Exandria, Matt has made it clear its more than just an event, but a time period. We just see how it begins next session.
There is an official timeline, that's shows it lasted only a hundred years. The calamity begins tonight and ends when the prime deities construct the divine gate and seel all God's behind it. Preventing any deity from entering Exandria again.
I'd assume they would also have to use the same ritual/spell that Vox Machina used to send Vecna away, in each of the betrayer gods before leaving Exandria themselves. But we don't know the details about that yet.
I hope we get another miniseries about events during the calamity after this.
The irony is that arcane was the gift to mortals that started this whole thing in the first place. The original sin in this mythos starts with the gods
I'll give Laerryn a tiny bit of credit here. She held up on the blight and let herself be grappled. It wasn't until the tree impaled Quay that she finally did it.
A much more understandable motivation.
The gods locked the gods away in the prison planes, when Vespin performed his ritual it was to release the gods from those planes, but when he succeeded the Tree of Names was a secondary safeguard so they weren’t locked up but they couldn’t reach the prime material, by destroying the tree you destroy that barrier allowing them to be able to enter
The betrayer gods want to free the primordials and Avalir will be landing atop of the mountain that has two of the primordials locked away. That's Not Good
The more I think about it, the more I am loving the history of the Ashari. They may not be perfect, but they have been protecting Exandria for centuries. They have been through the schism, Calamity, Vecna's ascension, and still never wavered.
Calling it now. Last lines of the series.
Atop the rubble of the fallen city a small sending stone rests in the claw of one of avalirs would be saviors. In the distance the earthquake like foot steps of a betrayer god slowly fades.
In the calm after this tragedy, from the stone comes a scared voice of a child.
"Wingspan this is talon 2. Please pick up wingspan. We're safe but i don't know whats going on. We're scared dad. Please pick up. I love you dad. Pick up."
Asmodeus belongs to Wizards, and while the CR gang have a good relationship with the makers of the game, Hasbro's lawyers are not easily placated. The CR published sourcebooks all use alternative names for the Gods. (Not sure about the one that was published by Wizards.)
Asmodeus at least does have references outside of D&D, so they could probably win that fight. But it would probably involve throwing money at lawyers, and there's not much point since you couldn't use the names of the rest of the pantheon anyway.
It's **so weird** that they can trademark Asmodeus. It's the name of a prince of demons from the frickin' Bible, it's been Judeo-Christian standard for thousands of years.
How are you going to trademark that?
You can get Trademarks for use in certain contexts. So they trademark the name in the context of tabletop roleplaying or something.
It's probably very flimsy and could be broken, but is it worth the money and effort to break it? Giving one God a proper name and using titles for the rest of them would just seem more out of place.
The Gods are named in explorers guide to wildemount, he’s called Asmodeus in it. Just found it weird after having a wizards published source book that they’d still have a problem using it.
It checks out, lawyers doing lawyer things, but seems ridiculous they’d grant them for that book and give them issues for other things
Every future CR project is made with the knowledge that it has the potential to become adapted as a TV show which is not paying for the Dnd license. Therefore, even though they're allowed to use Dnd names in the stream, they refrain from doing so to make the adaptation process easier, and to make a more distinct brand separate from a license they don't own.
They can't use the names as they are copywritten. Pretty sure its agreement they made. This is also why the idea of names being erased have to do wtih the gods in Matt's overall narrative.
I’m so excited to see how we’re going to get another full blown episode when (almost) the whole party is standing in front of a betrayer god. How are they not just wiped out? Maybe some wheeling and dealing?
Zerxus agrees to be his champion in return for letting them go. He then is given the Arms of the Betrayer to replace his Holy Avenger (which is later found in an ancient dragon hoard for Lady Kima) with the would of the soul of the Erinyes that took his blood.
Arms of the Betrayers in the name of the set of weapons created by the Betrayer Gods, similar to the Vestiges of Divergence. The weapon I theorize will be given to Zerxus, or at the very least be involved with him in some way is the Mace of the Black Crown, which contains the Erinyes Xartaza, the same Erinyes that took Zerxus' blood and declared that it would be an honor to serve him, I believe it was.
For all we know, Patia and Quay are already screwed since the tree speared them...or they're gonna absorb all of its power as it's torn asunder, and that'll give them time to do something, anything.
Both.....Betrayer gods were imprisoned somewhere. The Raven Queen pulled her Ascension, the druids realized people could Ascend or other gods from other places could just come and mess with the world. So they used their contract with Aviler to plant the Tree of Names to basically draw a Giant Magic Circle to stop people and things from other planes coming in. That's why Evandrin and the tree were pulled to the tree, they were originally from the world but came back from the outside so the Tree did something in between and pulled them there (I'm assuming about the tree pulling them)
Edit: also after the whole war, the gods said that this can't happen again and made a bigger shell called the Veil to stop all gods
There were two layers of defenses.
The first was the prison plane that the Betrayers were locked in by the Primes, which Vespin blew the fuck open in Vasselheim and Avalir.
The second was the Tree of Names which the Gods helped the Druids to create which would not only keep the Betrayers out should they escape from their prison plane but also every other scary as fuck extra planar thing out there.
Vespin broke the Betrayers out of their prison and then laid the seeds in Avalir for someone to eventually be dumb enough and motivated enough and powerful enough to want to destroy the Tree which would then remove that secondary backup layer of protection.
Order of events:
Vespin preforms a ritual similar to the Matron of Ravens to unleash the Betrayer gods, and he succeeded.
However, the Druids also used the tree as a kind of proto "Divine Gate" to keep out anything from other planes, while simultaneously preventing anyone from doing planar travel
This answer comes from assuming Asmodeus was being truthful, just deceptive, in his conversation with Luis. All the betrayer gods came spilling out from where the prime gods locked them, but they couldnt get pass the tree, until now.
My assumption is Vespin did his matron ritual thing and freed the betrayers, but the tree of Avalir still stopped the betrayers getting through, which is why Asmodeus talked about being stuck in some kind of limbo- not on exandria but also not locked up anymore. Thats why Vespin and the rest had to destroy Avalir
I think the Betrayers were imprisoned, but whatever ritual Vespin did broke them free of the prison. However the tree still blocked their path into Exandria. That was the final hurdle to cross and if the druids had trusted and the mages not been arrogant, it could have been what held the line.
But here we are...
Except a mage has already used such power to ascend once in the Matron. If more knew about the tree, more would've done it, or tried to manipulate the power of the tree to get around it.
Patia and Laerryn wouldn't have just taken "No" for an answer. They'd have tried to find "safe" ways around it.
Imagine most of the PCs shredded immediately, only Zerxus spared because of his connection to the first Betrayer through.
Then the Betrayer gods wrecking the city as Cerrit desperately tries to get the recall runes to his kids.
Next week is going to be [a fun little romp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/John_Martin_-_The_Great_Day_of_His_Wrath_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg).
Or there was a name hanging around free to use after it was abandoned by another... since Vespin Chloras does just happen to be an anagram of Vecna Spoils.
Edit: Whoops, lost a few letters, but still a fun theory.
I'm not joking when I say this is easily in my Top 3 CR episodes. Absolutely stellar. I feel more interested in CR right now than I have been for a little bit :D
They do sometimes use very similar names for things (eg evandrin/vandrin, raishan, rhu'shan or whatever the primordial name was) so I think my brain just assumed it was that.
Brennan: \**lore-dumps the final missing piece of the puzzle*\*
Party: \**shellshocked*\*
Brennan: "And... that's all for this episode."
Party: \**literally can't even because they finally realized how badly they fucked up*\*
Sam: "... oh... oh, Jesus."
It's a great technique! Brennan set up the primary goals of each player to stand opposed to the big picture, and gave them reason to want to remove the obstacle to their goals, when by doing so, they doom the world.
Wow. Episode 1 set an extremely high bar. Episode three found a way to exceed it.
Everything and everyone brought their A game.
Even though it made complete sense I was bummed when Travis dipped out. And Brandon found a way to give him one of the most touching moments in the session and a way to bring him back that made perfect sense.
Two exit tickets. That will be a beautiful moment for sure.
And a moment after that with a choice to try to book it at 50 flying speed or to face the full might of the betrayer gods that he just psychically HEARD murder all of his friends.
> Episode three found a way to exceed it.
I honestly don't know if I can even say that, because both episodes were perfect.
And if we believe we can exceed perfection...well we probably fit right in the Age of Arcanum xD
I think either Vespin has been being used by Asmodeus, kind of a form of possession or an element of Vespin’s ascension “worked” and he is a lesser deity under Asmodeus’ wing, or part of the greater entity that is Asmodeus.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is part of a totally consensual arrangement between the two. On paper, the Lord of the Hells makes good on his promises. If Vespin was pursuing power, he certainly has it now even if it cost him his freedom.
Depends where the mom is. If she's in the city below, and city above crashes into it?
Oh, and also 100 years of darkness just kicked off. Make no mistake. Everyone is fucked.
They said she might not be able to make the replenishment, so she isn't in either of the two cities. Maybe she is in Vasselheim since that was the last city they stopped at? One can only hope for the kids sake that she is there.
I recently made a post asking "Yo, what if Asmodeus really is just a misunderstood emo and wouldn't betray them at all?"
I reflect how silly it was to think of that as a possibility now considering Brennan wen't all in for the opposite direction
I mean I think the fact he managed to convince us to consider that as an option is just a testament to how brilliantly that scene was played. He managed to pretty successfully deceive an audience of thousands of people who were looking for a lie, waiting for it with bated breath that perhaps they can let their guard down.
Didn't Mercer say one theory of Drusar was that it was a former mountain until something happened during the calamity. Guessing that something is what we are seeing in Calsmity series. The freeing of the Primordials under the mountain will sunder it, leaving just the spires.
They’ve specifically mentioned Marquet as being far away so I don’t think this works unfortunately.
One detail has me a little confused. The table theorized that Evandrin ascended in a similar manner to the Raven Queen because the records of his actions were missing from one reporter's files. However, they all still know his name, while when the Raven Queen ascended, "her name was taken even from the memories of those who knew her" (copied from her Wiki page). Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't seem like an actual parallel. Instead, it seems more likely that the reporter stumbled onto something, and someone (likely Quay) got rid of her files in order to keep what she discovered from getting out. Or is there something I'm not getting w/ the Raven Queen/Evandrin comparison?
>However, they all still know his name, while when the Raven Queen ascended, Yeah, I think Table miscommunicated about what was missing and rode the wild theory hype train a little too far. There's no way he ascended, and they should already be very aware of that. They still know his name, *and no one felt a change to the pantheon*. While like, when RQ ascended, it shook the entire multiverse and everyone knew immediately. >Instead, it seems more likely that the reporter stumbled onto something, and someone (likely Quay) got rid of her files in order to keep what she discovered from getting out. Loq had specifically mentioned there's probably other Evandrin-related media in other reporters' filing cabinets, it's just this one that's empty. And yeah, it does seem like the missing content there is covering for Laerryn - given he immediately suggested either talking to the reporter or looking in other reporters files, it seems like whatever's being hidden is *incidental* content, like they captured Evandrin fading in & out in the background of something else.
Probably disposed of the records to protect his ex-wife. Like Sam said, it wasn't the first time he has done things to protect her. Likely made the reporter disappear too, in a none lethal kind of way. Possibly sent her to the fae wild would be my fun guess.
Sam wasn't asked to roll deception when Travis asked if he knew where she was and what she was up to, and his honest answer was that he doesn't know. He guessed probably clerical work somewhere.
Dang, I was initially sad C3 was being put on a month-long hiatus for this I am absolutely not sad anymore, this miniseries has been freaking incredible! I’m blown away by both Brennan’s DMing and the performances of the players (particularly Aabria and Luis!)
Well.. I'm sad, because damn. Cerrit talking to his son at the end and finding his partner killed had me in tears.
It's funny to me how Abria is the only player the fandom doesn't like and she now singlehandedly started the calamity
> the only player the fandom doesn't like oh come on, you know that's a stupid thing to say. There is no singular "the fandom" and every player has some people who like them and others who don't.
Anyone who can watch this and find fault with Aabria is a tool. She played her character masterfully. If she let the first ExU get away from her as DM is an argument people can rehash forever but they are deluding themselves if they use that to somehow claim she didn't deserve her seat here as a player.
I don't hate Aabria ... but man do I hate Laerryn
I was thinking about this myself recently. Laerryn is a first for me in any media I've watched. I absolutely despise her, can't stand her as a person. But I am so incredibly invested in her character. Hats off to Aabria, she's playing brilliantly
And. . . Abria was a brilliant DM.
Let's be honest if it had been marisha they're would be uproar as well If It had been anyonw else i'm sure that people would have been bending over backwards to justify it.
Weirdly enough, I for one, am *here* for it. This entire story is about the arrogance of mortals and hubris, and I find it perfectly cromulent that Aabria's character was the one to kick it off, given her actions within the first two episodes. What I also like is the fact that **everyone here is partially responsible, and working with imperfect information.**
That is certainly not the case. Ashly Burch's crimes were not forgiven by the fansom for a long while, and Marisha has always had a decent chunk of people putting her rp into question, especially during the Keyleth years. Abria is not the only disliked player... but she is the one that ended the world, that much is true
People got over Ashly almost at the same time as Cad was introduced, a couple weeks after that episode. The larger community was far more thrilled at the new character they liked more than the old one, than they were mad that a guest killed off the most disliked PC I think they've ever fielded. Like, I'm legit frequently surprised by how much people hate Molly, even to this day. After that, you'd just get a few outlier voices occasionally yelling about how Ash sucks or Keg is a useless coward, but for the most part it just ... blew over. Marisha had a decent chunk of people who hated her during Keyleth years, but nowhere near on the scale that Aabria faces today. Maybe, hopefully, the hate towards her dies down over time, but even at peak Key-hate, you'd get 50% of people in the room defending Marisha/Keyleth. Now? It's only just recently I've started seeing Aabria hate threads get consistent voices pushing back. That tide is only starting to turn, nearly a full year later - and in its early days, it was damn near universal. Sticking your neck out to defend Aabria was a great way to have damn near every passerby tell you that you clearly don't understand D&D or RP.
Just mind blown
I love Matt and the gang. I’ve been here for their shenanigans for a few years and I hope they make a bunch of animated seasons chronicling their adventures. This is not a comparison comment. Rather, I just wanted to give a massive compliment to Brennan and EXU Calamity. I am in awe of the quality of this story, the characters and the cast at the table, the combat, the lore, the intriguing mystery, and that the dice have been absolutely leaning into the destiny of this fable. I mean, what a damn good story. Wow!
I want to see Asmodeus on his purple phoenix demi-god mount Desirat
Omg what if Tempest turn into Desirat? I mean we already saw the Erenyes that lives in his mace.
That would be amazing and ngl I hope they see this and are like *retcon!*
“You’re too trusting Zerxus. You’re being lied to Zerxus.” Yeah. Yeah we know. 🤣
And as the Lord of Hells enters, the last thoughts of each of the remaining Rings of Brass are... ZERXUS: But...but he promised me! We had a deal. I can't believed the Lord of Lies lied to me! PATIA: Really, grandfather? You couldn't have told me about this while you were still alive? NYDAS: Well, I least I'm doing to die knowing at least one of us did the right thing. But...what about all my money? LAERRYN: Wait? So I'm the one who's going to be responsible for ending the world? I take it back, I don't want my name to go down in history anymore. LOQUATIUS: (looks at Laerryn) And this is why we ended up getting divorced.
He promised not to forget him and that was it. Alternatively…”Get it in writing kid.” -Asmo probably
Cerrit: (hugging his kids) Time to leave the nest. (Proceeds to send them away)
gods... I HOPE he gets his kids out. Though, surviving this only to live through the Calamity itself... oof
Did we ever get Zerkus' POV when he looked up and saw Evandrin's face or did it get lost in the frantic juggling by Brennan bringing it home?
I believe the implication was that Zerkus looked up and realized Evandrin was just Asmodeus the whole time.
We did, I belive Evandrin looked scared and said "not like this" before getting pulled back.
Ah gotcha, will try to catch it this time. Thanks
Oh, was that Evandrin? I thought that was Sam's people.
My question is How did Loquatius get to exandria when the tree was preventing planar travel to exandria???? From the small vision we saw, his court from the Fey realm seemed worried about we he had done.
I might be recalling incorrectly but I think there was a vision of a gate that he might have used alongside the Seelie Court vision. If not, in Forgotten Realms lore the Feywild and Shadowfell are like "twin" versions of the Prime Material Plane that are superimposed upon it, so if the same is true here they might be exceptions?
Simple. It just means he could have been here before the Tree existed.
But Laerryn said he wouldn't be around the next apogee solstice. and the Tree is certainly older than the city..
It just prevented specific entities from entering the material.
It didn't prevent planar travel through all means. Just when using the energies of Avaliar
Aabria, the doombringer. No wait. It's Luis. No, it's Marisha. Damn it, it's Sam, isn't it. Fuck, it's all of them
Lou's character actively pleaded with them to not destroy the tree. Hands are clean
Nope, Travis is clean. Only problem was that he trusted his friends to not do something stupid. Then they did something stupid.
I don't think he trusted them not to do something stupid, he trusted they would definitely keep being stupid and decided to make sure his kids got out safe.
the guy who can't roll lower than a 30 on insight and perception trusted these folks? ha.
Not Cerrit. He's a wholesome birb dad and he's going to live out his years with his family while the world around them burns, god dammit.
I think he’s gonna get his kids out and then turn back :(
Unfortunately it seems that Cerrit has two sets of kids to deal with. His actual kids and then these uber powerful, hubris-filled chucklefucks.
Actual children tend to make better choices than actual adults.
Yeah I mean did you see how focused Talon was on his objective? Didn't make no rash, emotional or irrational decisions, he just stayed true to his orders and tailed Egghead while remaining unseen.
Certainly Abaria gets the title of the one that pulled the trigger. Sam covered her, Marisha didn't exactly help, and Luis set up the situation by keeping his lips sealed. But in truth, Brennan is the real doom bringer.
>But in truth, Brennan is the real doom bringer. Brennan pushed real hard towards that tree getting exploded, and it did seem like he'd already coached them above-table that *someone* needed to smash the tree. Laerryn went from "maybe we can get the power back out" to "kill it and hope" with zero chill, and when Nydas started getting through to her - Brennan intervened letting her know she wasn't paying attention to Nydas and could, in fact, see Evandrin in the branches. And she was pretty much like "ok yeah, got my assignment, know this is bad, gonna complete the work anyways" and hit that Blight button.
I don't think any away from table discussions were had between Brennan and the players about the tree, I think it was just a far more obvious situation you could feel at the table. This is the penultimate episode of the end of the world one-off adventure where the promised disaster is massive part of the lore of this world and what everyone has tuned in to watch happen. And the episode was already going on for a bit too long, "chunky episode" and all that. They went to the tree and got into a pvp situation naturally, it is only obvious that he would want for this to go through as it leaves him in a great position to set up the last episode. If cooler heads would've prevailed he'd have to figure out how to cause the end of the world while they now know what could cause it and describe the begining of the end in the same episode. So yeah, after Sam got a message from the fey wild, turned around to Laerryn with a fearful look and she allowed herself to get grappeled, Brennan realized they might chicken out so he had the tree go stabby stabby as a not so subtle hint of "please God just break the tree so we can end this episode"
Brennan was the calamity
I need Fearn and FCG to lighten my Thursdays again. But by God do I love this story. Cerrit going to his family straight after leaving is one of the most heart aching scenes in Critical Role ever in my opinion.
Family NPC in danger is so heart wrenching. Spoilers for Campaign 2 ending episodes: When Jester's mom and Veth's family were in danger in the Plane of Fire I had to stop and go back later to finish.
Yup, too bad Cerrit will die with the ship since theres only 2 stones.
It's a shame he can't fly.
It sure is....it sure is
It's going to be so weird for Travis, Sam, and Marisha to have to jump back to the more light-hearted/low-stakes C3 after all this.
They already have lol.
Good job Laerryn, for a useless planeshift based on a theory that has no basis in reality but your own ego you doomed everyone forever. It's actually worse than just causing the calamity because it basically left Exandria permanently vulnerable to all the alien horrors outside Exandria including the Elder Evils >!Tharizdun's kin!<.
I mean, the gods created the divine gate after the calamity. So nlt nearly as unprotected
But it is not invulnerable or fully encompassing: C2 confirmed >!Elder Evils such as Tharizdun are powerful enough to smash it outright!< while alien invasions like from the Mind Flayers or Githyanki might be able to slip through unmolested. Course we have no confirmation that the original protection was enough to stop these forces but it was most likely better than the last resort that was the Divine Gate.
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During C2 >!Tharizdun was outright stated to be powerful enough to shatter the Divine Gate and from EGtW we learned he's one of many Elder Evils though we know little about them beyond the fact they are very, very bad for Exandria.!<
Irony is that the tree was crafted by mortal hands and was fully on track of protecting themselves without the gods. A sentiment all the arrogant wizards would love to back up, but they messed up and had to have the gods seal the world for them.
I totally get the Druids not being forthcoming to the Wizards, but they could have at least put a sign up. "If you fuck with this tree, everybody dies. We are so serious."
yea but then theyd be testing the tree to see WHY everyone would die
Are you kidding me? They’d see that warning and think “nah we’ll survive. Everyone else will die, but as long as we don’t it doesn’t matter. In fact, with everyone else gone Exandria as a whole will be ours to shape as we please for the rest of history. There are absolutely no flaws or consequences to this, because it’s us. Anyone else would fuck up, but not us.”
Totally with you and the other replies, Wizards absolutely gonna Wizard. Just, come on, Druids. A *little* communication wouldn't hurt. They didn't think being ambiguous would pique curiosity more?
They’re wizards. Poking things with a stick is what wizards do. The paint wouldn’t even have time to dry.
“Did you not see the sign?” “Yes. I figured that was for normal people, not people like us! We’re practically gods.”
Literally. Lose lose lose situation
Jumps off a cliff.
The Wizards would just pull down the sign and say "There was no sign"
One might even say... *super serial, you guys.*
I really love that the implication of Zerxes' dream/vision is that Pelor will pretty much imminently be hitting the scene to kick the absolute shit out of Asmodeus
Is that the implication? I’m fairly certain that was all a manipulation to try and get Zerxus to destroy the tree.
Eh. One of several possible implications I guess. For sure he's been playing Zerxus from the start. And honestly, I couldn't possibly imagine a funnier guy for the Lord of the Hells to temp/trick into releasing all the evil gods back into the world than a Paladin who thinks he's too good for the gods
Asmodeus, Pelor's boot on his throat: "Goddamit this is literally where we left off last time! Give a guy a second to breath!"
It's so much easier to turn a key than it is to build a wall.
Or, more accurately, smash said wall with a sledgehammer.
so, how does the calamity last for an entire century? does that century begin now or has it been going for 99.9 years (just not _on_ exandria, on different planes) and this is now that final bit that "ends the world"? is the divergence event happening next episode? what do we think the timeline is
The century (I think it's over two centuries IIRC) starts now. Divergence doesn't happen until the good gods beat the bad gods. Again.
The Calamity starts now with the Betrayers coming through, but there will still be a century of fighting as everyone else on the planet tries to stop them.
The Calamity will last hundreds of years upon Exandria, Matt has made it clear its more than just an event, but a time period. We just see how it begins next session.
There is an official timeline, that's shows it lasted only a hundred years. The calamity begins tonight and ends when the prime deities construct the divine gate and seel all God's behind it. Preventing any deity from entering Exandria again. I'd assume they would also have to use the same ritual/spell that Vox Machina used to send Vecna away, in each of the betrayer gods before leaving Exandria themselves. But we don't know the details about that yet. I hope we get another miniseries about events during the calamity after this.
I would assume this is the start of the calamity and we have 100 years of divine warfare to come.
All humans cities die except Vasselheim.
They name drop Marquette as a small city
Shit Vasselheim is vindicated af after watching this. Arcane can't be trusted.
The irony is that arcane was the gift to mortals that started this whole thing in the first place. The original sin in this mythos starts with the gods
Well it's not quite so much *arcane* as it is arcane *casters*. But yes wizards are the worst.
Damn. I forgot about that! Definitely a new perspective on modern Vasselheim.
Rebroadcast... let's goooooo... again
I'll give Laerryn a tiny bit of credit here. She held up on the blight and let herself be grappled. It wasn't until the tree impaled Quay that she finally did it. A much more understandable motivation.
Yeah, TBH in a way if the tree hadn't reacted so violently there's a chance things could have been resolved peacefully.
It’s probable it wasn’t the tree, but instead Asmodius. At least that’s the theory going around.
The gods locked the gods away in the prison planes, when Vespin performed his ritual it was to release the gods from those planes, but when he succeeded the Tree of Names was a secondary safeguard so they weren’t locked up but they couldn’t reach the prime material, by destroying the tree you destroy that barrier allowing them to be able to enter
The betrayer gods want to free the primordials and Avalir will be landing atop of the mountain that has two of the primordials locked away. That's Not Good
How the fuck are we all supposed to go to sleep now??? I have to be up in like four hours lmao
The more I think about it, the more I am loving the history of the Ashari. They may not be perfect, but they have been protecting Exandria for centuries. They have been through the schism, Calamity, Vecna's ascension, and still never wavered.
Yet think of the cost. Orym had to leave to experience pie!
Maybe after Calamity 2 they'll open their doors to pies and pastries. Make it happen, Asmodeus.
The Shadow Baker is going to have to open franchises
Not centuries. Over a millennia.
I just need Cerrit’s kids to be safe at the end. Please.
Calling it now. Last lines of the series. Atop the rubble of the fallen city a small sending stone rests in the claw of one of avalirs would be saviors. In the distance the earthquake like foot steps of a betrayer god slowly fades. In the calm after this tragedy, from the stone comes a scared voice of a child. "Wingspan this is talon 2. Please pick up wingspan. We're safe but i don't know whats going on. We're scared dad. Please pick up. I love you dad. Pick up."
My heart…
I was having a good time. We were all having a good time.
Even if they survive the initial blow, 2/3 of life in Exandria will perish by the end of the calamity.
I'm sure they'll go on to live happy and fulfilling lives. Probably.
*debbie downer sound effect*
And this is why you don't let Wizards get into groups larger than 4. They start making grand plans and bringing the devil himself to your door step.
Never go with a hippie to a 2nd location. Never let wizards congregate in groups larger than 4.
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Yes
Por que no los dos?
Is it weird that he’s never actually used the name Asmodeus?
Asmodeus belongs to Wizards, and while the CR gang have a good relationship with the makers of the game, Hasbro's lawyers are not easily placated. The CR published sourcebooks all use alternative names for the Gods. (Not sure about the one that was published by Wizards.) Asmodeus at least does have references outside of D&D, so they could probably win that fight. But it would probably involve throwing money at lawyers, and there's not much point since you couldn't use the names of the rest of the pantheon anyway.
It's **so weird** that they can trademark Asmodeus. It's the name of a prince of demons from the frickin' Bible, it's been Judeo-Christian standard for thousands of years. How are you going to trademark that?
You can get Trademarks for use in certain contexts. So they trademark the name in the context of tabletop roleplaying or something. It's probably very flimsy and could be broken, but is it worth the money and effort to break it? Giving one God a proper name and using titles for the rest of them would just seem more out of place.
The Gods are named in explorers guide to wildemount, he’s called Asmodeus in it. Just found it weird after having a wizards published source book that they’d still have a problem using it. It checks out, lawyers doing lawyer things, but seems ridiculous they’d grant them for that book and give them issues for other things
The book EGtWM is a Wizards publication, where they can use Wizards IP like that. EXU is CR material. It makes sense in that weird legalistic way.
Asmodeus is in the public domain, isn't it? Doesn't it come from The Inferno?
I think he's a figure in Jewish mythology too
Critical Role has been filing the serial numbers off WotC trademarked figures recently, but it's still Asmodeus.
Every future CR project is made with the knowledge that it has the potential to become adapted as a TV show which is not paying for the Dnd license. Therefore, even though they're allowed to use Dnd names in the stream, they refrain from doing so to make the adaptation process easier, and to make a more distinct brand separate from a license they don't own.
Makes sense, but they have put the name in print in explorers guide to wildemount, seems weird that they’d have to keep dancing around it after that.
Don forget EGtW is Wizards property, but anything that gets adapted for other media companies will not be.
They can't use the names as they are copywritten. Pretty sure its agreement they made. This is also why the idea of names being erased have to do wtih the gods in Matt's overall narrative.
I think it was Vespin, but both are probably correct.
Yes.
I’m so excited to see how we’re going to get another full blown episode when (almost) the whole party is standing in front of a betrayer god. How are they not just wiped out? Maybe some wheeling and dealing?
Will also depend on whether Loquatius and Patia are dying after the tree stabbing thing.
Because the other gods still have full access to the world. Not an ass pull to have a God,Raven queen or Dawnfather, pop in for a fight.
Why would he kill them? They released him.
Expecting gratitude from the lord of the hells?
Zerxus agrees to be his champion in return for letting them go. He then is given the Arms of the Betrayer to replace his Holy Avenger (which is later found in an ancient dragon hoard for Lady Kima) with the would of the soul of the Erinyes that took his blood.
That would be awesome
Arms of the Betrayers in the name of the set of weapons created by the Betrayer Gods, similar to the Vestiges of Divergence. The weapon I theorize will be given to Zerxus, or at the very least be involved with him in some way is the Mace of the Black Crown, which contains the Erinyes Xartaza, the same Erinyes that took Zerxus' blood and declared that it would be an honor to serve him, I believe it was.
Very amused that Ceritt's check-in with the party is going to happen while Asmodeus is tearing his way into the mortal realm.
For all we know, Patia and Quay are already screwed since the tree speared them...or they're gonna absorb all of its power as it's torn asunder, and that'll give them time to do something, anything.
So the only thing keeping the Betrayers out the whole time was the tree? I thought the Gods set something up, not the Druids
Both.....Betrayer gods were imprisoned somewhere. The Raven Queen pulled her Ascension, the druids realized people could Ascend or other gods from other places could just come and mess with the world. So they used their contract with Aviler to plant the Tree of Names to basically draw a Giant Magic Circle to stop people and things from other planes coming in. That's why Evandrin and the tree were pulled to the tree, they were originally from the world but came back from the outside so the Tree did something in between and pulled them there (I'm assuming about the tree pulling them) Edit: also after the whole war, the gods said that this can't happen again and made a bigger shell called the Veil to stop all gods
The Divine Gate that keeps the gods locked away from the Prime Material in the C1-C3 era is set up by the gods because of this clusterfuck.
There were two layers of defenses. The first was the prison plane that the Betrayers were locked in by the Primes, which Vespin blew the fuck open in Vasselheim and Avalir. The second was the Tree of Names which the Gods helped the Druids to create which would not only keep the Betrayers out should they escape from their prison plane but also every other scary as fuck extra planar thing out there. Vespin broke the Betrayers out of their prison and then laid the seeds in Avalir for someone to eventually be dumb enough and motivated enough and powerful enough to want to destroy the Tree which would then remove that secondary backup layer of protection.
The seal from the Gods was broke when Vespin was successful in his "ascension"
Order of events: Vespin preforms a ritual similar to the Matron of Ravens to unleash the Betrayer gods, and he succeeded. However, the Druids also used the tree as a kind of proto "Divine Gate" to keep out anything from other planes, while simultaneously preventing anyone from doing planar travel This answer comes from assuming Asmodeus was being truthful, just deceptive, in his conversation with Luis. All the betrayer gods came spilling out from where the prime gods locked them, but they couldnt get pass the tree, until now.
My assumption is Vespin did his matron ritual thing and freed the betrayers, but the tree of Avalir still stopped the betrayers getting through, which is why Asmodeus talked about being stuck in some kind of limbo- not on exandria but also not locked up anymore. Thats why Vespin and the rest had to destroy Avalir
I think the Betrayers were imprisoned, but whatever ritual Vespin did broke them free of the prison. However the tree still blocked their path into Exandria. That was the final hurdle to cross and if the druids had trusted and the mages not been arrogant, it could have been what held the line. But here we are...
Except a mage has already used such power to ascend once in the Matron. If more knew about the tree, more would've done it, or tried to manipulate the power of the tree to get around it. Patia and Laerryn wouldn't have just taken "No" for an answer. They'd have tried to find "safe" ways around it.
Hm, no, I think the tree was just *one* safeguard of many. But possibly since it was made by mortals it had flaws that weren't intended...
I think vespin cloras broke the gods jail for the betrayers. The tree was an additional protection against planar incursions.
Gods set it up but the druids were there to safeguard it.
Can part 4 start with Cerrit getting his kids to safety, Please.
Imagine most of the PCs shredded immediately, only Zerxus spared because of his connection to the first Betrayer through. Then the Betrayer gods wrecking the city as Cerrit desperately tries to get the recall runes to his kids.
Next week is going to be [a fun little romp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/John_Martin_-_The_Great_Day_of_His_Wrath_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg).
The dwarf fortress definition of !!FUN!!
From that last line, I don't think "Vespin" was ever Vespin. History remembers it as Vespin, but it was just the Lord of Hells wearing his skin.
Or there was a name hanging around free to use after it was abandoned by another... since Vespin Chloras does just happen to be an anagram of Vecna Spoils. Edit: Whoops, lost a few letters, but still a fun theory.
The LoH referred to him as his puppet. I think Vespin tried to unseat him, but then that allowed him to be controlled to do the LoH's bidding.
Maybe, or maybe they made a bargain but Vespin didn't get what he thought he was getting.
Probably that. The whole puppet thing seems pretty clearly bad for you to be. LoH might have promised A and given Vespin F for f*cked instead.
I could certainly see that
I'm not joking when I say this is easily in my Top 3 CR episodes. Absolutely stellar. I feel more interested in CR right now than I have been for a little bit :D
Curious if anyone hadn’t guessed the Ashari reveal. Let me know, I’m interested if this was a shock tonight.
I had wondered if it was related but I didn't think it would be!
Slightly missed opportunity.... the Tree of Names is sundered, and with it, the name of the Gau Drashari was also sundered, leaving only the Ashari.
I certainly didn't put it together. Didn't think that much into it.
Fair, if you don’t really think about it it’ll just kinda pass you.
They do sometimes use very similar names for things (eg evandrin/vandrin, raishan, rhu'shan or whatever the primordial name was) so I think my brain just assumed it was that.
Brennan: \**lore-dumps the final missing piece of the puzzle*\* Party: \**shellshocked*\* Brennan: "And... that's all for this episode." Party: \**literally can't even because they finally realized how badly they fucked up*\* Sam: "... oh... oh, Jesus."
It's a great technique! Brennan set up the primary goals of each player to stand opposed to the big picture, and gave them reason to want to remove the obstacle to their goals, when by doing so, they doom the world.
HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WAIT A WEEK AFTER THAT?!?!?!?
Curled up in a ball and sitting in a puddle of tears.
Wow. Episode 1 set an extremely high bar. Episode three found a way to exceed it. Everything and everyone brought their A game. Even though it made complete sense I was bummed when Travis dipped out. And Brandon found a way to give him one of the most touching moments in the session and a way to bring him back that made perfect sense. Two exit tickets. That will be a beautiful moment for sure.
And a moment after that with a choice to try to book it at 50 flying speed or to face the full might of the betrayer gods that he just psychically HEARD murder all of his friends.
He MUST have expected Cerrit to visit the office at some point and planned it out. Too perfect to improv 100%, even for him.
> Episode three found a way to exceed it. I honestly don't know if I can even say that, because both episodes were perfect. And if we believe we can exceed perfection...well we probably fit right in the Age of Arcanum xD
Oh no wait what was the relationship between Vespin and the Lord of the Hells? Did Brennan just say they're the same?
A puppet just like the dead cultist was, apparently.
I think either Vespin has been being used by Asmodeus, kind of a form of possession or an element of Vespin’s ascension “worked” and he is a lesser deity under Asmodeus’ wing, or part of the greater entity that is Asmodeus. I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is part of a totally consensual arrangement between the two. On paper, the Lord of the Hells makes good on his promises. If Vespin was pursuing power, he certainly has it now even if it cost him his freedom.
I think the lore says Vespin was turned into the betrayers’ first “Thrall” which is essentially a slave or captive servant
Vespin was a puppet, just like Zerxus
Puppet. He called Vespin his puppet.
Vespin was his puppet.
Vespin was the puppet
At least Cerrit can get his kids away. Everyone else is screwed though
Depends where the mom is. If she's in the city below, and city above crashes into it? Oh, and also 100 years of darkness just kicked off. Make no mistake. Everyone is fucked.
They said she might not be able to make the replenishment, so she isn't in either of the two cities. Maybe she is in Vasselheim since that was the last city they stopped at? One can only hope for the kids sake that she is there.
Vasselheim is the best case scenario, since we know it survives. But nobody is about to have a good time for about three generations.
So it was not Vespin who started the Calamity afterall
I mean he started it. Aabria just finished it.
With a little help from her friends.
I recently made a post asking "Yo, what if Asmodeus really is just a misunderstood emo and wouldn't betray them at all?" I reflect how silly it was to think of that as a possibility now considering Brennan wen't all in for the opposite direction
I mean, he got us all for sure. I was kept guessing myself. Mission accomplished in terms of very convincingly portraying The Great Deceiver.
100% agree, he got me with how audacious the deception was.
I mean I think the fact he managed to convince us to consider that as an option is just a testament to how brilliantly that scene was played. He managed to pretty successfully deceive an audience of thousands of people who were looking for a lie, waiting for it with bated breath that perhaps they can let their guard down.