Further proof that Matt Mercer's poker face is solid stone.

the fact that the DM doesn't speak for 20 minute slots at a time while his party role plays in such a powerful way is fantastic

The saddest moment I think was when Grog realized that Scanlan didn't hear his contribution.

Party memeber: leaves/dies Next person they meet: "you know i am something of an adventurer myself"

"She looks Groggy" *Travis Smiles* *Nobody Notices* *Travis Frowns*

Grog's a true best friend, he doesn't criticize Scanlan about anything he just listened and apologized and asked an important question

Man...... Grog being the first one to ask about Scanlans mothers name and the first one to admit that they may have made a mistake, and also being the first one to apologize says so much about his character. For me Grog vs Scanlan interaction made this scene.... So much more emotional. Travis and Sam.... Fucking hats off to you both. Literal tears and I'm not ashamed of that. What a masterpiece of improv and acting.

"I heard Pike read a poem and music" "Was that it?" "Yes." Ouch. What a gut punch.

"Kaylie, can you give us a moment." Fucking chills, man

2 years and Grog's soft, "I was going to ask what was your mothers name?" ... "I'm sorry I didnt know" Still causes me to melt

I actually love Vax's panicked "I'm not emotionally intelligent enough to understand what just happened, but he said we don't share enough so here's every secret I know about everything and every emotion I'm having so please don't also leave me!!!"

1:11:44 Earthbreaker: "What have you learned? Grog: "Without the love of my friends, life has no meaning, and I would be nothing." Me, rewatching, knowing the incoming bards lament: "😭"

saddest moment: Grog / Travis' reaction to Scanlan not having knowledge about Grog's ritual contribution. THE BIG GUY SANG AN ORIGINAL VERSE AND EVERYTHING. Grog cares

Travis' face when Scanlan said he didn't hear his song broke my heart

"Show me on the character sheet where the bad dm touched you" forever my favorite line

I love how silent Taliesin was when Taryon first showed up, then suddenly pipes up to hit us with "The Daring Trials and Tribulations of Tary Darrington" what an absolute genius that man is

When Matt is describing Tary, Sam looks so unassuming. Even when the group stares at him, he looks kind of confused. Then he starts speaking with a massive grin on his face. Sam has the best poker face.

"That's just it, I'm a really good liar." That just... Jesus. That hit hard.

I really enjoy Travis and Liam's bits with Scanlan's breakdown. Travis immediately opening his notebook, Grog's "I'm sorry I didn't know that." Amazing. Vax's breakdown after realizing the person who convinced him to have a more positive outlook on the world had been faking it the whole time. I also enjoy that this was clearly the breakdown of a bunch of flawed human beings and how Percy's know-it-all tough love failed miserably.

Scanlan "i didn't do anything the last two fights" Scanlan literally the third fight ago: modified memory on an ifrit saving them from the ire of a city of over 100000 guards

He didn't see Grog shouting "Fix him." He didn't see Vax carrying him back in his arms or hear everything he said in the Raven Queen's temple. But he saw the pudding. It is so damn heartbreaking.

“ you, little elf girl “ Current mission: *survive*

When he named Percy's parents, he did double check his notes one time. At 2:21:29 or so. However, that's just Sam making sure he is playing Scanlan properly. He knew Scanlan would know, and he had taken those notes. He was ready, he wasn't just blowing smoke. Scanlan knew, and Sam did the legwork to find out. So he could make Scanlan the character be better. I'd double check it too, just to make sure I had it right, because it would have been trivial for him to memorize a couple of names each for every member of VM. Doesn't matter that Sam the voice actor had to double check and be sure. He does that for his own lists of spells he uses every week.

I can't help but smile every time Travis smiles when Percy says "it's nice having an older brother again". Just love the reaction.

The look in Grog's face when Scanlan said that he didn't hear Grog's limerick. Tears unlimited

I think the hardest part of this episode is not having Ashley there to hear what Pike would say.

No one ever talks about 2:36:00. Sam, knowing he just dropped a bomb on everyone and knowing they are role-playing their way through feelings because they don't know what to do, cracks a joke to ease tension and remind everyone to take a second to retether to the fact that it's a DnD game. Sam doesn't hate anyone, everyone can relax a bit. It's good. That joke has always sat with me. I don't know why.

You can see Beau being born in Marisha's eyes during the fight scene between Grog and the monk.

It was often asked "Where is Scanlan?" but never quite often enough "How is Scanlan?"

Man that face Travis makes when he realized Scanlan didn't hear a word he said for him but heard everyone else :(

3:15:17 Somewhere in Ank'harel, someone who can't believe their good fortune as they uncover a lost Javelin of Lightning in the desert sands is suddenly hit out of nowhere by an errant crossbow bolt.

I remember when Percy died the first time and Scanlan was the one to trap Ripley and then 'Percy killing you now, not us' and then 'We're not going to let him sleep alone' and they were making blanket fort around Percy's body. But when Scanlan died, twice in a less than two days, Percy was the one to play a prank on him and was very proud of it. I really want them show all of this in cartoon.

"50k gold? Oh, that's nothing." Vex: * drops her pencil *

Sam should've said goodbye to the cast and gotten up and left, and then when Matt introduced Tary, he should've said, "If our guest could come out..." and then Sam waltzes in. Or is that too mean? Hahaha

I know we are all reacting about Sam and the parties amazing role playing skills… but can we also talk about Liam and Sam afterwards? The shared mid game hug was so pure. After an emotional scene and taking the step out of character to look at your friend and tell them you love them? Fucking warmed my dead heart

Oh lord, Sam deserves an Oscar. I am sobbing. Sobbing so hard. And Grog asking his mother's name... Oh man..

Grog's character arc is so interesting. I have to keep reminding myself that Grog didn't learn to be kind when he was a child. He didn't learn things that seem cliche to me, like friends being your strength. He's like the epitome of positive masculinity. He was mean and angry and now he loves his friends and they're his strength. Grog is so fascinating and Travis is such a great player.

Dude, Sam Riegel... What a legend.

the talk w/ scanlan and the others, Grog's was the perfect approach to this, he didn't talk about himself, respected scanlan's choice, asked a great question and said sorry,, he's a really really great friend

2:38:35 Liam acually thought Sam leaves the group and just had to give Sam a goodbye hug, then learns its just Scanlan who leaves and not Sam

I think Sam just dealt more damage to Vox Machina than Matt has in the past several sessions... X-D

In my country we have a famous painting, called the "Stanczyk" Its about a jester. He was a popular figure; besides his fame as a jester he has been described as an eloquent, witty, and intelligent man, using satire almost like a weapon. He was considered MUCH more than just an entertainer. In the famous painting we can see him alone, sitting in a empty room and sadly pondering what the future holds. Its amazingly well fitting.

Grog waiting for a break in the arguments to come back and ask about his mother and then apologizing was honestly the sweetest thing 😭

Seeing Sam stealthily pull up his new sheet from the bag, was a natural 20 on sleight of hand.

I'm one of those people playing catch up on campaign 1, and holy. Scanlan's exit is a) an amazing moment by Sam, and b) an example of how fucking good Travis is at RP-ing. Vex and Vax are busy yelling at Scanlan, while Grog sits back and listens, and after patiently waiting for everybody else to unload, finally speaks up and utters the very poignant question of "what was your mother's name?" Everybody else was reacting, and he was the only one listening. I was speechless. Bravo.

Travis Willingham. Yes, Sam brought it so hard this episode, but Travis played such a beautiful, thoughtful friend. "I'm sorry I didn't know that" and "he's alive, that's what matters." Jesus, I wish I had a friend like Grog Strongjaw.

God, Matt Mercer must have been so happy when Sam came to him with this idea. I mean, Sam is LITERALLY DOING MATT’S JOB FOR HIM. VM just saved the world, they’re a group of extremely powerful warriors and have only gotten stronger as they bonded. Sure Matt had a few mini quests lined up like hunting down Hotis, but that’s small potatoes compared the Thordak the Cinder King and his conclave of dragons. It would have been an absolute struggle to keep such well-roleplayed characters, not to mention the audience, involved without a major overarching threat, but in doing that, it cheapens the stakes of world-ending crises. Sam, by removing Scanlan from the group, has created a whole new internal conflict within the party that Vox Machina will need to adapt to. He created an overarching theme without it being a powerful enemy threatening the realm, and it gives reason as to why VM might struggle running smaller quests again as they readjust to their new party member. Sam is just an absolute genius: he created the tension that would have been lacking had Vox Machina just gone right along while also roleplaying his character to the T. I mean his arguments were SOOOO solid. Just… god damn incredible.

The best sequence of the episode: Liam: Who cares about the whisper! What's going on Sam? Marisha: BULLSHIT! Laura: How dare you? How dare you? Taliesin: Tell us about the Lootcrate Sam. Tell us abou the Lootcrate! Laura: *GASP* He has a new Character Sheet... I'm gonna cry, again.

3:15:27 somewhere in the city, a guy has just left the hospital, recovering from a lighting javelin that flew in out of nowhere and pinned him to a cart. " finally, back on my feet!" * incoming whistling sound from above*

Man... To think that Sam was sitting on that the whole time before they woke his character up. So very devious. :P

Rewatching the campaign, I just realized how genius Sam's LootCrate ad was. He totally planted a seed with that, which sprouted when Scanlan left with Kaylie. Laura has said that she really thought Sam was leaving the show to spend more time with his kids. Hence the reaction to Tary. Even his "underprepared" ad that was "falling back on an old crutch" was actually part of a secret plan to troll his friends. He's such a devious little shit, I love him.

"You, little elf girl, what's your name." Piano - cuts off Singers - choke Barkeep - drops glass Every Individual Patron - quiets in disbelief

"I think the saddest people try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anybody else to feel that." -Scanlan, ever since he found his daughter

First time watcher here: I heard that this episode will be devastating, but damn Sam went HARD. I was doing stuff on the side and when he said "Whats my mothers name?" I instantly dropped everything. That was some beautiful acting

At 2:54:37, this is where Sam SECRETLY and CAREFULLY switches character sheets. You sly dog you!

Percy: "Whats half a dozen dead guards these days?" Jarett: "On behalf of the Guard's Union, I believe we need to renegotiate our contracts ... First, no more dragons ..."

The whole last thirty minutes was pure gold. "Little Elf Girl. What's your name?" Everybody is like 'oh no he didn't.'

Scanlan and Percy “worse we’re family” gave me goose bumps

Re-posting for my own benefit: 0:00:28 - Rhodey returns 0:01:31 - Foreshadowing pt 1: Sam 0:09:29 - Start 0:11:00 - Grog vs Groon 2 0:12:40 - Initiative 0:13:54 - Denise is slackin' 0:16:04 - Confusion 0:20:36 - Words of encouragement? 0:21:13 - Clarity 0:21:40 - Wrong Signals 0:28:23 - Power Bowels 0:33:28 - Travis is still confused 0:39:07 - Vax sympathizes / Quivering Palm 0:41:24 - Vex is no Scanlan 0:44:17 - He's human after all/First lesson 0:49:12 - It worked! 0:50:17 - Or did it? 0:52:47 - Grog's frustration grows 0:58:04 - Keyleth isn't much better than Vex 1:04:26 - Grog the Bozo Bop Bag 1:05:50 - He's Relentless 1:07:51 - Fore! / HDWTDT 1:09:54 - Level up/Lessons learned 1:14:25 - Cure Things 1:16:31 - Foreshadowing pt 2: Travis 1:17:54 - Table Top Day music video 1:19:11 - Darin's poetry slam 1:20:00 - Fan art 1:38:10 - BREAK END 1:42:06 - Sam's having a great time 1:42:53 - Favorite customers 1:46:56 - Old habits dying hard 1:51:18 - Date night? 1:55:20 - Marisha's modern dance 1:56:32 - IHOB marketing division 2:00:08 - Wake up call 2:00:21 - The most intense scene in Critical Role history begins 2:02:42 - When bards stop joking 2:07:12 - Asking Questions..... 2:12:20 - And getting answers 2:15:59 - Lies from a really good liar 2:18:31 - Percy's tough love 2:21:40 - One man band 2:23:36 - Parting gifts 2:25:23 - Aftermath 2:34:05 - Vax comes clean 2:37:43 - Grog's unique coping mechanism 2:38:40 - Foreshadowing pt 3: Matt 2:39:22 - The adventuring continues 2:47:40 - Data limits/Keyleth peeks/Grog's wisdom 2:51:53 - Grog and Vex's connection 2:52:06 - Grog's Intimate Trust 2:56:20 - New challenger approaches 2:57:18 - A new character's description 2:58:20 - Everyone's mind is blown 3:02:20 - Salt levels: HIGH 3:04:28 - Vox Machina fears Vex 3:07:00 - Grog is impressed 3:08:58 - Huddle 3:11:53 - Dragon summoning 3:12:52 - Troll level: MASTER 3:13:33 - Sam having too much fun messing with Laura 3:14:45 - Impressing Grog 3:16:15 - You're Tarrying This Family Apart!

Laura's mouth drop when Scanlan decides to leave is the reaction to every fan of this show lol.

"I HATE HIM!" "I HATE HIM!!" "I love him" "I miss scannnlann..."

After seeing a lot of stories, I've gotten used to the format of a character feeling down, and needing to be told they are wrong by their friends. Sometimes even in an aggressive, "snap out of it" way. What I love about this episode is that that is not at all what Scanlan needed, but Vox Machina reacts that way, as they always have, and they pay the price. He needed validation in the abandonment he had felt--even if it wasn't intentional by the party. And he needed an apology. It is just, INSANE how perfect this storytelling is, with Grog of all people being the only one with the empathy and clarity of mind to understand this. I can't believe I'm 85 episodes into this thing, and the storytelling and acting is still flooring me like this. Just hats off to Sam Riegel for playing his character as true as true can be.

scanlan's break feels so much like a depressed person that hides their own demons beneath humor and deflection finally breaking. as someone who does exactly that, it legitimately feels like no one cares about you when really so many people do. and i would have *killed* for a friend like grog when i was going through my lowest lows.

Geez Sam, that's what you call a MAJOR plot twist. Going down the road of your character and dealing with the consequences of his/her psychological evolution, that's true commitment. Bravo.

"...Frederick and Johanna De Rolo..." I'm so late, but this quip was so fucking amazing.

Sam coming up with a new character and then getting the entire cast and crew to turn against him is honestly impressive. The only part of this that sucked was that Ashley couldn't be here for it.

I love how the rest of the cast seem oblivious to the fact that Sam was going to do this. Everyone else seemed to be going through the stages of grief at breakneck speed, with the conclusion that if Scanlan was leaving, it must mean that Sam was done with the campaign and that they were now just wrapping it up. When Sam spoke up as his new character and everyone's reactions and realisations as to what was actually happening was priceless. Sam and Matt keeping it secret in the way it did made it such a raw scene. Sam tore them down with Scanlan's seriousness and directness and then breaks them into laughter by being himself with Taryon. A masterful play!

Sam: Dead 75% of the episode Also Sam: Still the best part of the show.

Percy: "I take it back. I like him." This is awesome role play by Taliesin. Percy sees that Tary is about to get himself killed by insulting Vex and is highly entertained by someone so brazen.

The moment Tary said "you, little elf girl" I felt the casts oh shit moment of fear while Liam and Travis scoot away from Laura. And you know if her HUSBAND says "imma move over here" it's definitely bout to go down lmao

Someone needs to make a compilation of every time Liam laughs so hard he vanishes under the table.

"We're friends, right?" "Worse. Family." God damn, Taliesin, what a great line. ❤️

"The pillow lays on the ground. Smattered with... vanilla pudding..." That detail about the pudding there, that was Matt's own way of punishing them.

The scene where Scanlan lashes out at VM now in my first re-watch I can see how he feels and why he feels the way he feels but also how the party feels and how both sides are right on some things and wrong on others. They're just people who have problems and are inconsistent cause we all are. I really love all of it, not because "poor Scanlan he was so wronged by the party" but because all of them are really complex and difficult.

I managed not to cry all the way through the big argument and all of the emotions coming out until Sam/Scanlan dropped Percy's parent's names proving he does in fact listen and know more about them then they do about him. That plus the empathy shown by Travis/Grog asking Scanlan for his mother's name had me bawling my eyes out.

"What's my mother name" That hit me too, in 85 episodes i knew Scalan's backstory and yet never thought about it, nor did the group'

rewatching this again, grog/travis was the only one I noticed to actually take down the name of scanlan's parents.

They fucking killed it, all of them. Seriously. Especially Sam. This is one for the books. "Doty, write that down!"

I wish on Percy's 'I died too' Scanlan said something like 'Oh, and what flavour of pudding they used on you?' Hopefully if we ever see this scene animated they think about something like that to be said.

you know what i noticed...sam actually acts more like he might stay and calms down when they start asking him about his family and fufilling his needs. that man is a legendary actor

"Scanlan talking like he's the weakest partymember, but scanlan signlehandedly carried multiple fights, like the killbox" xD

"Its good to have a big brother again." A lot of AMAZING roleplay here, but I don't see anyone mentioning the Grog Percy talk at all

2:06:30 "You like me because I make jokes and I play songs.." hits hard, that self-doubt we all so easily fall into

I love the fact that when Taryon Darrington gives his name, two players just about piss themselves laughing: Travis and Taliesin... creators of Tarvis, Stonejaw Strongjaw, and Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III.

I love the Earthbreaker Groon moments, I mean when you really think about it among all the NPCs and Vox Machina he's the only one that demanded intelligence and growth from Grog. Everyone else handles him like an unwieldy toddler

back to top: 0:00:28 - Rhodey returns 0:01:31 - Foreshadowing pt 1: Sam 0:09:29 - Start 0:11:00 - Grog vs Groon 2 0:12:40 - Initiative 0:13:54 - Denise is slackin' 0:16:04 - Confusion 0:20:36 - Words of encouragement? 0:21:13 - Clarity 0:21:40 - Wrong Signals 0:28:23 - Power Bowels 0:33:28 - Travis is still confused 0:39:07 - Vax sympathizes / Quivering Palm 0:41:24 - Vex is no Scanlan 0:44:17 - He's human after all/First lesson 0:49:12 - It worked! 0:50:17 - Or did it? 0:52:47 - Grog's frustration grows 0:58:04 - Keyleth isn't much better than Vex 1:04:26 - Grog the Bozo Bop Bag 1:05:50 - He's Relentless 1:07:51 - Fore! / HDWTDT 1:09:54 - Level up/Lessons learned 1:14:25 - Cure Things 1:16:31 - Foreshadowing pt 2: Travis 1:17:54 - Table Top Day music video 1:19:11 - Darin's poetry slam 1:20:00 - Fan art 1:38:10 - BREAK END 1:42:06 - Sam's having a great time 1:42:53 - Favorite customers 1:46:56 - Old habits dying hard 1:51:18 - Date night? 1:55:20 - Marisha's modern dance 1:56:32 - IHOB marketing division 2:00:08 - Wake up call 2:00:21 - The most intense scene in Critical Role history begins 2:02:42 - When bards stop joking 2:07:12 - Asking Questions..... 2:12:20 - And getting answers 2:15:59 - Lies from a really good liar 2:18:31 - Percy's tough love 2:21:40 - One man band 2:23:36 - Parting gifts 2:25:23 - Aftermath 2:34:05 - Vax comes clean 2:37:43 - Grog's unique coping mechanism 2:38:40 - Foreshadowing pt 3: Matt 2:39:22 - The adventuring continues 2:47:40 - Data limits/Keyleth peeks/Grog's wisdom 2:51:53 - Grog and Vex's connection 2:52:06 - Grog's Intimate Trust 2:56:20 - New challenger approaches 2:57:18 - A new character's description 2:58:20 - Everyone's mind is blown 3:02:20 - Salt levels: HIGH 3:04:28 - Vox Machina fears Vex 3:07:00 - Grog is impressed 3:08:58 - Huddle 3:11:53 - Dragon summoning 3:12:52 - Troll level: MASTER 3:13:33 - Sam having too much fun messing with Laura 3:14:45 - Impressing Grog 3:16:15 - You're Tarrying This Family Apart!

Travis's little smile after Percy says "It's nice having an older brother again" I'm 😭😭😭

it kind of broke my heart when Scanlan said he heard everyone during the resurrection except for Grog. Grog's contribution was the most moving in my opinion.

"And in turn, I will try to leave the world better than I found it" -Grog Pretty sure this was the birth of both Beau and Molly 😭

I'm a straight man but if Travis looked at me the way he stared at Laura trying to haggle on potions I'd fold in seconds

"He's like the worst of alter-ego versions of Percy! He's a rich kid, whi just buys all of his cool toys!" .... "No offense, Percy." That last line was fucking beautifull in it's delivery.

Ya know this whole thing has been a long time comeing... you can see the cracks starting form in Scanlan as far back as the fall of Emon.

can we appreciate the fact that Travis and Matt just played a 1v1 match against each other for almost an hour and the whole rest of the party were invested, eating popcorn and cheering their friend on? Man I love this group

After all the things Percy said about Kaylie I'm surprised she didn't punch him when he tried to hug her.

Sometimes I forget these nerds are fantastic actors.

Sam and Travis bounce off of each other so well. they need to become like an improv duo or something like that

On another full rewatch and this scene is still just so real and raw. I know some ppl had issues with some characters reactions but I loved that it wasn't just everyone 'saying the right thing the right way', cos having been in that place, sometimes it rly doesn't make a difference if someone is saying all the right things or not, sadly. But also LOL the emotional whiplash of going from that hugely intense scene to Tary's intro... One of the great moments in C1! You just can't beat 'You there, little elf girl.' xD

I'm in the process of "catching up" so I rarely comment, but I really gotta give EVERYONE massive respect for this episode. Aside for a fun fight of Grog vs Groon, the scene with Scanlan was AMAZING! Sure Sam was the driving force there, but everyone else played the part perfectly and Grog's moment with Scanlan mother's name was incredible. Gut-wrenching scene sure, but this is gonna stick with me; quite possibly my favorite moment to date. I only wish Ashley Johnson was here in person to play Pike for all of that. That would make this episode perfect. Vox Machina: I applaud you all and THIS is why I watch the show. Mr Riegel: you stole it once again.

When grog asked what Scanlan's mother's name was..... 😭😭😭

Grog: “He’s alive, that’s what really matters.” Vax, mishearing him: “Yes, but he’s our liar grog.” That was really hard hitting and I don’t know precisely why. God I love grog