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That moment with Trent -- dismantling a half-hour of his twisted justifications with 10 seconds of honesty -- reveals even more anger when you think about it, because Cad's role is to honor the dead, to "make the ground remember them," and yet, he tells Trent to find SOMEONE to mourn him when he's gone... because Cad WON'T be mourning him. What a beautifully subtle "Screw you" to Trent that was.

To this day, every time I hear that line, “ I wish for you someone to mourn you when you are gone” it hits me with the force of “DAYUM!!!” 🤣

"Am I the only one that doesn't instantly assume that they're the bad guy?" Is definitely my favorite line from him, it's almost a shame that it comes after his hilarious "I don't mean to raise my voice" moment.

It's interesting that both Caduceus and Jester became the heart of the party and both came from a world of isolation. Caduceus only know the life of the grove and jester only knew the small area that was the tavern where her mother would preform. I doubt that this was either of their intentions but it's cool to think about of similar they are and how different they went through being the heart of the party.

One thing I think is extremely fascinating and many people I have talked to have overlooked that. Molly said to leave any place better than you found it. Caduceus actually did that.

Caduceus, the nicest kindest gentlest man when meeting Trent: Respectfully, nobody loves you and I hope you fix that by being a less awful person because everyone can change :)

Cad is interesting in that he has a near absolute view of the world that is pretty rigid at the start; That good, as he sees it, is the baseline and evil a corruption of it that can always be “fixed” in people. He’s almost a zealot in his view of whats good, whats evil and what actions one should take. Even near the end he’s not fully lost the notion which I think is why he never stopped casting Command: Empathize on a certain villain; Cad could not comprehend that there could exist any sapient being truly incapable of it. Its a noble mindset at its heart but the concept that we can and should “fix” others can lead to its own darker paths pretty easily if we are unwilling to engage with the worlds nuanced reality. As good natured and supremely empathetic as Cad was, he was also limited by having effectively lived in a semi isolated echo chamber of his own thoughts for a very long time. As a result, for as important as Cad was to the others development, the M9 were just as important to his by broadening his understanding of the world. It’s difficult to neatly tie a bow on the themes of a many hundred hour long story thats largely improv’d but for C2; I really like Beau’s comment about the world being so much more beautiful in color than it is in black and white. It plays out in some way in all their arcs, even his.

Taliesin is my favorite Crit Role player. Every character he plays I cannot stand at first. They make my skin crawl. Percy, I thought what a snobbish, douche bag know it all turd. Molly, I thought, gawd what a snarky, loud , fake gypsy rip off. Cad was a stoner hippy at first. But he does such a good job of making a character have their, "Thing" but expanding on it and giving a deeper meaning that isn't just a shallow good guy/bad guy. He does a great job of peeling back the layers with the viewers, and seems just as genuinely happy to discover things about them as we are. I know I am fan boy-ing of Taliesin. But other players get fawned over, I had to give my boy Tal a shout out as well. Master class character creator IMO. Looking forward to not hating his current character as well. Since it's on par with our history he and I.

"I mean, really? I mean, people aren't good. That's not how this works. I mean, things you do are good, or bad, but people are just people. And you guys keep doing good things, and all I've seen is you doing good things. I'm not sure what all the confusion is about."

Yeah!!! I loved the subtlety of Caduceus' character arc. You summed it up very well and I didn't even notice how angry he was most of the time! Amazing observations!

"Look at this tree, Shifu. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, nor make it bear fruit before its time." "But there are things we CAN control. I can control when the fruit will fall! I can control where to plant the seed! That is no illusion, Master!" "Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach." "But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung!" "Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it. To believe in it."

Am so glad you brought up the rage that Caduceus has within him! One of my favorite Caduceus moments is in the final episode when he threatened to murder Astrid and Eadwulf for destroying sacred ground of the wild mother.

1) it’s an interesting to note that Jester and Cad were each side of the “cleric” coin. 2) In a way, Cad was healing Taliesin as well, in response to losing Molly (and becoming at peace with it). This is all conjunction on my part, but would any other archetype/character journey Taliesin might have made/had, allowed him to take that step as a player in the end and be willing to directly intercede? Taliesin did not have to make that choice, and I don’t think he would have wanted that at the beginning. But Cad’s path fixed Taliesin as well.

Cad is my favorite character from Mighty Nein. I love him so deeply. And when you talked about his character arc, I literally had goose bumps. Thanks for the video!

I adored that firbolg, whenever Caduceus was talking Tal managed to convey so much warmth and comfort.

Caduceus is my favorite character from campaign 2, as much as seeing Molly develop would have been fun the Mighty Nein needed him, his wisdom and compassion changed everyone, not at first but over the course of events through the campaign. Plus come on that voice is amazing lol

Cad is a perfect cleric. He's religious, but not a "hey, let me tell you about my God" kind of religious. His actions show his faith. He's wise. Literally a mentor who, as OP pointed out, tries to weed out the bad in people. He brings them up to be the best they can be. Just look at Fjord, he became a paladin because of Cad. He supports and heals, rather than deal damage. But when undead, or crazy evil and unnatural things appear, we've seen him do crazy damage. Thematically, thats what clerics do. And his attitude reflects that as well. He's usually polite and soft, but when the need arises he can be stern. And most importantly, he does it all with purpose. He believes in the things he does, and it shows.

Whoa! That was the most amazing deep dive into Caduceus I have ever seen! All the points you brought up, him being a gardener, him being angry, him seeing the evil in people but knowing it didn't belong - I don't know if I could have found a better way to describe him. I'm not sure how much of Cad's development was accidental and how much is purposeful. I know Taliesin puts immense thought into his characters, he's very emotionally intelligent, but I'm sure at least some of Cad's evolution was pure serendipitous accident. But I love the quiet character arch, showing that amazing characters don't have to have huge explosive conflicts to have satisfactory conclusions. Well done on this. I don't think anyone could have done this better.

One part that isn't nearly discussed enough is in c2e120 when they're finding a way to avoid the corrupted forest in Aeor. Caduceus' anger pops through just a little bit when Beau talks to him about it. He even tells Jester to burn it down. Usually, he tries to seek the most peaceful way out, but this seemed to cross all of his lines.

I’ve made the joke several times that the thoughts Trent had after that Caduceus roast was, “I’m gonna burn this guys house down.”

Cad and Molly are my favorites. They are the perfect balance to one another in so many ways...and I love them fiercely for that. Tal played both masterfully and the story would have been so much different had we never met Mr. Clay. They got him precisely when they needed him. As much as I love Molly? They needed Clay.

Cad swimming out into the ocean was a subtle cry for help. While his friends fought and killed he instead sought out something pure and natural

Caduceus reminded me of a priest i knew growing, up cool guy tought us ti play basketball but always had a way to make us think about the stuff we did and why we did it , like no matter what our families or others wanted just what we wanted to be You know? some times You need those kinda folks arround

What a lovely video, Caduceus is one of my favorite characters out of all of the campaigns so far. I love that he's a quiet and controlled angry. I love that he's clueless about a lot of things, knows it, isn't bothered by it, and is always happy to learn something new. He looks at the world through a lense of wonder and passive curiosity. His genuine responses of "That's neat" always feel so warm and sweet. I just wanna hug the big tall cow man!!!

Caduceus is my favorite member of the Mighty Nein for sooo many reasons. His loneliness, from spending years alone as the guardian of the Blooming Grove, reminded me of the same feeling I got during quarantine. His kindness and love are character traits I wish I could have, and his anger is what makes his character so damn fascinating. Not to mention his character design is a 12/10. And I can't count how many times I cried listening to 'Seasons' by Lilli Furfaro.

This was a beautiful analysis. I will be returning to this video time and again to be reminded of and understand the lessons of Caduceus Clay.

Caduceus was the heart and soul of that party, they most definitely would have all died without him.

Think about it: Without Caduceus, without Molly’s Death, we wouldn’t get Regal Paladin Fjord or even perhaps Buff Beholder Lucien.

Hells yeah, Cad was one of my favorite characters in the show.

The heart has two halves, so to can an adventuring party have two halves to be whole in the heart

My first character’s full name was Samir. It meant “Friend for Evening Talks.” And that’s what he did. Every Long Rest, he would strike up conversation with whoever he was on watch with, and ask them either about their powers, or about them. This did two or three things. First, it helped everybody establish their characters. Roleplay came easier as people understood their outlooks and viewpoints better. Second, it helped decide my secondary subclass. While I always wanted Horizon Walker Ranger, Rogue was a mystery. But I became fast friends with the Sorcerer Warforged, and learned to apologize to the Druid Tiefling. Together, they taught me another form of magic, and I summoned a Familiar (tabby Tressym kitten) via Arcane Trickster. Third, it helped Samir learn to trust again. When the Warforged opened his heart (figuratively), Samir responded in kind. He revealed his full backstory secret, which the rest of the party wouldn’t learn for 2 or 3 more sessions when it was forced out.

Caduceus also helped me mend my broken ace heart

Cad felt like this calm red string through the campaign that get them back on the core when everything went chaotic or lost in Details. He was neutral and helped his teammates grow on their own, not pushing them into the right direction. And yes, he was upset with a lot of things, but he mostly knew that exploding in anger will not do anything good for him. Instead he searched the core of this anger, realised the reason why and made a sharp needle directly into the mind or heart to hit it to the person or situation who caused his anger. Still my fav.

You know what it is, I want to say I loved season 2 the most between three campaigns. Now first campaign definitely made me want to play D&D, with both grog strongjaw and scanlon being my favorite characters and technically the first two classes I've ever played (Bard and barbarian). And I loved Vecna as the final boss as well. Something about the second campaign felt so good to watch and experience, every character was so unique with their own tragic stories. And it's funny because the more I think about how much I love season 2, the sadder I get that I'm not picking up with season 3 that much. I'll actually get back to it, but I don't feel that spark like I did before. I don't know if that's because I'm just taking a break and the feeling is fading, but that's besides the point. I overall love Caduceus character and campaign 2 as a hole.

i am 1:32 into the video and just gotta say that ad was great. Not only will i be checking out the product but the way you introduced that seemed so genuine that I allowed myself to watch it. Thats how you get people to stick through the ads. I cant wait to finish the video, keep up the great work man!

Hearts do have a left and right chamber to them. Cad is probably my favourite character in C2 and that's really saying something for me.

That bit about Caduceus letting people grow into themselves reminded me of a quote from the book, King Warrior Magician Lover. It explored Jungian psychology, with an emphasis on masculinity. Basically, the 'magician' archtype is the part of our personality that stewards creation and (spiritual) change. The quote is, "Magicians do not try to force social change, because they recognize that people need to take their journeys in order to live in a human and peaceful world." People can be guided, given tools, opportunities or advice, but in the end the other person has to make the choice and not have the choice forced upon them, and Caduceus performed this perfectly with Fjord after he quit his patron by never telling him to embrace the Wildmother faith, but was always available to answer questions with insight and humility.

This is semi-related, and also mostly opinion, but both character deaths followed by the introduction of a new character, in both C1 and C2, brought something much needed to each game. In C2 it really brought the characters together, when they were still stealing from each other, and threatening to leave the team. It's been a lot longer since I saw C1, but I felt like it brought consequences back into the game, since they were so high level at that point and it seemed like death was meaningless. C1 also felt like it was getting a little samey and that even though they'd won the day, the character interactions were going in circles, so the introduction of a new character really shook things up and brought something new to the table.

Oooh I liked this a lot! I have a character who was similar to Jester in that she was very sheltered and saw the best in people and was the group’s sunshine character. But she was cursed and had amnesia so when the curse broke last session and she got her memories back I have been trying to find her new outlook. I knew she was angry but still a loving person and everything you said about Cad really resonated with how she feels. With all her memories restored she sees clearly how evil the world is and all the grime its left in people that needs to be cleaned up. This has really helped me articulate that about her.

The way I see him, Jester may have been the heart of the MN, but Caduceus was their anchor to the good. Grounded thanks to his upbringing, patient when the others were being their own selves. He knew what people needed to hear, no matter how blunt.

90% of the time, this is the best narrative role to stick a Cleric into. It's one of the reasons that evil clerics are worse than other evil characters, as a clerics actions and personality will often reverberate a lot more narratively due to the narrative surrounding what a Cleric is, even without the direct intervention of gods, or gods at all in the cases of worlds where Clerics gain powers from their faith, or abstract concepts. A Cleric engages with idea's and concepts and makes those idea's manifest in the world. So if you pop an evil cleric into a story where the rest of the party are heroes they will literally undo all of the work the other heroes do, by leaving a little sliver of poison everywhere they go.

I think the more I see of Campaign 3, I realize just how strong Campaign 2 was. Each character in campaign 2 had me by episode 3 while I'm still struggling with some of the characters on episode 27 of campaign 3.

Just found your videos today. Making a Playlist for my long ride home. Thanks for the content!

Okay I just recently found your channel and you keep breaking my brain. Keep it up. Im hooked

Love someone acknowledging how brutal and angry Cad could get, people sweep it under the chill attitude but he's a total savage

Love this video! Going to binge the rest soon! Cad was such a great character!

I started to fully watch CR around C2 E110s. So I was used to use the idea that Caduceus was a kind and caring man. So I was taken aback a bit when I went back to watch the episodes with Sumalee Montano guested in. In one instant Caduceus finished off one of the enemies by punching him in the face or he did that with his staff and then drag the body out to cast decompose. Yes, Caduceus is kind but in the nature sort of way.

I love your powerful and insightful videos. Thanks for this dude

I really appreciate your breakdowns very well done

Another element that I like about Caduceus is that he takes what life gives. Very Jedi/ Zen approach of “What is to be will be. I cannot control what happens to me, I am not responsible for bad things that happen to me. I am only responsible for how I respond.”

Angry cad was always my favorite.

SUPER off topic but I have that same frog painting in my room right now!!

Caduceus was actually the character who inspired me to design my latest character I have made for a campaign. And probably for the same reason Taliesan created Caduceus, because they needed that social aspect in the group to ground it. When I joined the group I did, and heard what the other players had going on with their characters and how the story was already going, I realized the party needed something that was stable. We had a heart type, cut from a similar cloth as Jester though not identical, however the group needed…something my grounded. So I chose, one, a character whose race gives them enough age to have a certain perspective that isn’t easily achieved, and two I decided to go with a type of character arc that would be background. Oh it certainly will have more conflict than Caduceus’s, but the main part? Yeah that will be background mostly. As for what I chose, I went with a parentified eldest child. The arc this character would have would be letting go of the habits and thoughts that trapped them in the stressful mentality of being that parentified eldest child by eventually having them realize they don’t need to do this for their friends, that their friends are adult, not children, and while it’s ok to help them, they aren’t dependent on my character to get by. So there will be the grounding aspect of my character from being so family oriented and having that almost mentor and listening cap on, and will have enough authority to their tone that it can provide direction when the group needs it, but it isn’t taking over, it’s meant to be background. It’s meant to be a stable place for the group to lean on. In many respects I think of this character as of a similar vibe to like your favorite local cafe/tea shop. It’s a place you go to for relaxing and decompressing and then leave with more positive feelings and hope. Their vibe is to be a temporary place of rest. Who knows, maybe that will be my character’s retirement plan. I’m considering it, depending on how the campaign unfolds further. It would be nice to have them open a cafe that their party drops by occasionally in their travels after all is done. But yeah, that’s their personality. Oh, much like Caduceus they do get angry, but mostly I have them being tired and worn out. The character was built with burnout in mind. In fact, other than Caduceus, my other inspiration was that Encanto song “Surface Pressure.” So that is sort of why this arc will have more conflict planned than Caduceus’s. My character will need to face their family and the toxic habits between them to gain closure there. But that is a ways off. Not yet something needed. Anyway, thanks for the analysis!

Thank you for such a well done video, it's message was something I genuinely needed to hear today. Hope you have a blessed day.

This was eye opening for me. I’m currently playing a character who I wouldn’t consider to be anything like Caduceus but after your synopsis I realized that they do share that same outlook. Very much the most “moral” person without imposing themselves as the moral compass. In the back of my mind I thought it would be cool to be the person who while they don’t tell others to be good they can at least push them away from their self destructive tendencies but didn’t know how. After watching this I think I have a better idea of how my character would do this in their own ways. Way late to the party but thank you for this character breakdown

I do think Molly would have been a fun character to experience through C2 but honestly Cad ended up being the core of M9 and felt like he needed to be there with the Nine

"Seeing everyone like a project" to be fair...some character flaws cannot be changed unless they are calldd outright. Plus i like that the calm, kind hearted furbolg, is an absolute toxic, "i can fix it itll take work but i can. And i will"

I also love to comment something else Cad is an amazing foil and voice of reason with M9 in the romantic sence as well The M9 where a MESS with their love affairs, reminder at one point three different people had a crush on Jester, all from the party And Cad? He is just the little AroAce that everyone keeps asking advice to even if he has very little clue of what he was doing, just drinking tea and giving the best advice he could give and lend an ear As Asexual myself I could relate to Caduceus way before Tal confirmed he was AroAce, cause he acted in a very similar way I did when allo friends come to me with their romantic or sexual issues. He really is the calmer side of the heart of the party in every single sence.

Molly was the the over the top charm and magnetism that helped glue the group together upon meeting Caduceus was the shepherd who helped the nein along and continue the rest of their journeys after Molly’s passing

Love your passion bro.

An insightful analysis 👏

My husband is watching CR campaign 2 for the first time. He just got introduced to caduceus and hates him. I keep telling him to be patient because Cad is in my opinion one of the best characters but he's still too upset at Molly's death.

Much of what was said here are the values I strive to live by and express

"I wish for you in the future, to find someone who will morn for you when you are gone" is such a raw line

If the Mighty Nein team is like Firefly, Jester is like Kaylee while Caduceus is like Shepherd Book. They even both had a Special Hell line.

Ah, Ca'd nuclear mic drop. That left several of us speechless.

"Absence is not the opposite of love."

Honestly, that moment when he said "Am I the only one here that doesn't automatically assume they're the bad guy?" was so so important. I loved it. Caduceus was great

That Cad and Trent interaction has got to be my favorite interaction from Cad. The most polite "fuck you"

And now I want to rewatch campaign 2...

thats not a name i had heard but im glad you talked about it

Caduceus was easily talisins best character. A lot of his characters just seem like some version of angsty punk, which dont mistake me, i love, im a metal head, that shit is where i live lol but it sometimes starts to feel one note. Caduceus was such a huge departure from that, and such and interesting complex character, his take on a religious or spiritual person was genuinely so interesting and refreshing. Caduceus was amazing.

Heart of the party and heart of the story.

Yes, I have a tiefling monk way of mercy at lvl 7 with max WIS. I am something like a teacher to the party. Make them think about the wise things he would say. Insight every player’s issues and as a doctor, help them. But at the same time, suffers from his own issues where he enjoys killing and always feels guilty when feeling pleasure from breaking peoples’ bones and making them bleed. From his cruel past that made him cruel. Helping others’ issues although not the same, he understands when someone experienced the cruelty of the world. As a doctor, my character seeks to heal it and possibly find the medicine to find to heal his own issues. Will helping others help my character find his help? Perhaps, but he is forever learning and guides the party to learn with him. For he has learned to love the world and not curse it.

“I think I was made for this… it’s basically the world’s largest corpse. Let’s fucking put [it] in the ground.” -Cad

Always thought cadeuces was an awesome character but now I have a whole new appreciation for him. And now have a great urge to rewatch mighty nein

great video

I like that picture u have behind u

Taliesin’s “I don’t mean to raise my voice…” is so damn hilarious.

The Dungeons & Dragons movie trailer looks surprisingly good! Are you gonna make a video on your opinion about it?

Thanks.

I respect those who loved Mollymauk. I personally found him/them confusing, I felt like Taliesan was still formulating who they were so I didn't attach to them yet. I hope to learn to love him in the animation when it comes out. But OH boy I SO look forward to meeting Caduceus again when Mighty Nein show comes out!!!

Caduceus saved the game so many times in battles, lol

Despite my misgivings with Campaign 2, Cad was easily one of my favorite characters up there with Beau(pardon the spelling).

Man, I got some Fitz flashbacks at the beginning

a caduceus FCG meeting needs to happen...theyll heal the world

Caduceus and Jester were my favorites as well with Duces being a little bit more my favorite out of the 2. Great video my dude really enjoyed it.

My favorite characters in this campaign are Caduceus, Caleb, and Frumpkin. :)

a few years ago I was in a dnd group that streamed. The first few sessions I was playing a lawful good cowboy character and as part of the game we had to back up our rogue who had stolen something they shouldnt and was wanted by the guild we were in. We found them and were working something out when we realized we were followed by other guild members that wanted the bounty. We fought them and won, but when half of them surrendered I was ready to just send them to jail for attacking us. The rest of the party wasn't. The bloodhunter kept trying to make one pick up his weapon to "die fighting like a man." The barbarian started disecting the dead ones to make bone totems of them in the middle of the tavern. The goliath bard kept trying to rip the head off of one that surrendered and the rogue walked up with a dagger and put it to his testacles saying "do you need these?" and then slit his artery. The town guard started to sound as we had fought and killed in broad daylight and they were rushing me to come with them. I just said "yall are monsters" and stayed behind to turn myself in for being a part of that display. Hindsight would say there were a few different ways I could have done that. Gone with them because its just a game and morality is subjective, played helping the guards as I helped them chase them down, or some other option. What I did instead was become what the party needed. I became a celestial warlock tiefling. He was a talk first and try to fight never kind of character. Not quite a pacifist as he fought for what was right, but he was more a healer than a killer. He worshipped Pelor and prayed every evening and morning, he had a guardian angel, and a cute little fairy familiar. There was no way he should have fit in with the group he was in but he was perfect. A missing puzzle piece to their chaos. He talked with the bard and helped her find a path as a paladin and would be there to speak with her when she had crisis of faith. He helped the rogue see that she was worth more than what she thought of herself even after he watched her kill people that surrendered and helped her come to terms with killing not always being the answer. The barbarian ended up leaving the game, but he helped him to reflect on his actions even if he didn't always come to the right conclusion, making him think why am I doing this rather than just doing something. The greatest work was done with the blood hunter. They were often polar opposites, the man was a fallen asimar soldier, and my character was a tiefling priest. They would have long discussions on morality, choices theyve made, things both had done they werent proud of in life, and by the end became good friends before the blood hunter eventually aligned with a dark cthulu god and betrayed the party against his will, resulting in the blood hunter's death and the ending of the campaign shortly after. He was a light that most of the party had never had in their life and was difficult to play at times as it was a world where NPCs would spit in his face simply for being good. He spared pirates, assassins sent to kill him specifically, demons, dark gods, and at one point healed a man after he had been nearly killed by him. I don't think I could ever play a character as I did him and luckily haven't had to.

Caduceus at the end and very end had TERRIFYING potential. I hope he comes back for a future oneshot. Maduceus at dinner with Trent, and dumping all his spell slots trying to get him to empathize - it's creepy, shows a trickle of the evil possibilities there. I want him to go off the rails a little bit.

Might i ask for more concrete examples on how Caduceus acted after his arc was fullfilled and the distinctions between him before it was fullfilled and after? To me there were just some parts that were vague as I hadn't reached that part of Campaign 2 yet.

is what inspired fcg? maybe, or influnced at least

I love Cad even more than Molly.

Algorithmic punch

I did enjoy your take on Caduceus, but I think you are mistaken. Jester was definitely the heart. However, Caduceus was the Moral Compas it Mighty Nine was missing. Respectfully.

Nature is beautiful but weeds, though having a place in nature, prey upon it's surrounding in an unhealthy way - they're not meant to cause the other fauna to go extinct and while still natural - has to be managed. Caduceus did that with people and saw their "evil" as the weeds that if we want a beautiful garden needs to be kept under check. It's a different thing to dictate what is weed vs holding what is unhealthy to the garden as an opponent to change/maintain or get rid of.

*Everyone* needs a bro that cancels crits

Great video, But I just wanted to point out that it looks like you may have been a little out of focus from the camera starting at 9:13. Just a piece of constructive criticism, not trying to be a jerk. Also possible that my eyes may have been playing tricks on me as well, though I don't believe that's the case.

You are wrong about something on a fundamental level. Jester is the heart of the party, that's true. Caduceus is not the heart of the party, he is the soul of it. He acted as a moral center and as a centering force. That's not a heart.