“Cursed Lizard! We’re going to give all your gold to the poor!” Is probably the best threat I’ve ever heard told to a dragon.

several years late on this, but can I just say that Vax asking the Raven Queen for wings and then Grog the Eagle saving him was just **chef's kiss**

"Intestines are my favorite terrain" is a hardcore underrated comment that still makes me giggle every time.

Early Mercer: I'm not here to kill your characters, I'm here to help you tell a story. Umbrassyl Mercer: I'm annoyed at you for trapping my dragon and I'm going to show you exactly *how* annoyed.

Things Matt never thought he'd have to deal with: Deciding AC for a Dragon's various internal organs

Something I really respect about this session is that Chris P is sitting there quietly while they discuss rules. One of the architects of 5e, and he isn't answering rule questions or questioning if Matt got it right or doing the player classic "well actually, rules as written..." stuff. He's doing what a good player does, deferring to the DMs rulings and understanding that the fun and adventure matter more than any particular rules.

Grog is finally correct: there are now six goliaths in the herd.

That look of horror on Matt's face during this and the previous episodes never seemed completely gone. It's almost like he's always expecting something awful from Sam but is never quite prepared fully for the depths of depravity in that man's mind.

The moment Grog becomes smarter by polymorphing into an eagle...

This is perhaps the first encounter Vox Machina has had with old ladies that ended well.

Just a friendly reminder that one of the few more terrifying titles than “dragonslayer” is “dragonfister”

I get it, now- Shale wasn’t _ready_ to die, she was just _expecting_ to- as she had heard the tales of Vox Machina & how they like to treat old ladies!

Alternate episode title: Vox Machina cruelly violates a dragon's holes for four hours while you watch.

Sam Riegel is a DM's dream of a player. He brings levity to the game during the moments of heavy drama, and always at the perfect moment when progression has stagnated . He knows the rules, and he is HONEST. Dispelled Stinking Cloud as a Concentration effect when he cast Bigby's and it would have been very easy for him to let Matt forget in the chaos of the moment.

Vax: “What’s up with the rocks?” Shale: “It’s old magic.” Vax: “... ok. Hey dirty bard, could you come up here please.” *Scanlan inspects the rocks* Vax: “What do you think is up with the rocks?” Scanlan: “Old magic.”

Everyone’s talking about Chris Perkins, but no ones talking about how he made an old woman with one arm and one eye a level 13 fighter

I love how charitable Chris was with his character creation. He didn't want to steal any of the regular players' glory. He set them up to feel perfectly fine if his character died. He left them with some awesome loot. Good guy Chris Perkins.

Laura freaking out over her dice in the beginning would have been the PERFECT opportunity for Liam to chime in and go "You know, THAT doesn't happen with a nice dice box from Wyrm Wood Gaming!"

Marisha just plummeting to the earth as an elemental saying it’s fine, that she can take 20 d6 damage is some really good unknown foreshadowing...

For reference, it takes a spot check of 40 to see an invisible creature. Vax got 45 on his stealth roll, so he's functionally more difficult to find than an invisible creature. :)

Just for those curious. When Percy went full No Mercy Percy at 3:29:39 he dealt a total of 172 points of damage to Umbrasyl.

Vox Machina: All right, we've got Chris Perkins as a ringer to help us in our climactic battle with a black dragon! He's a D&D master, he knows all the ins and outs of the game and probably has some awesome super-powerful multiclass with minmaxed stats and strategically-chosen feats and spells to give him godlike powers. So Chris, what character did you make? Chris Perkins: I'm an old lady with a stick. VM: PERRRRKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNS!

I love Chris Perkins subtly calling out the fact that guest characters are basically side quests for extra loot for VM.

Gotta love the audio issues at random points. "The dragon can fly 80 feet a round..." *MUSIC INTENSIFIES FOR 2 SECOUNDS*

"As you know, intestines are my favored domain" - Scanlan Shorthalt.

A meteor crashing into the ground and a woman climbing out of the crater is some Stardust shit right there :D I loved Keyleth going "If I'm a plummeting Earth Elemental I might as well have fun doing it."

1:53:38 made me giggle Grog: How could you have a staff and not give it a name? Shale: Only men name their things.

"That's because he's a liar and a bringer of death, and he's smiling at you while he does it." Best line from the episode.

Rogue-Paladin... Y'know, that's not a multiclass I expected to make any kind of sense. But given the circumstances, it totally does.

"Oh shut up you flying suitcase" We need Chris back for the next campaign

Liam: "is the Dragon sword plus anything...?" Me: Liam we just went over this an hour ago Taliesin: "yeah its, uh, +1?" Me: ah yeah this was 2 weeks later for them...

2:18:00. I just realized that Vex has dragons as her favourite enemy and she is the most greedy membre of a team

"He is a liar and a bringer of death and he is smiling at you as he talks"

I'm waiting for the Thordack fight when everyone else is dead and Thordack is at 2 Hp and all that stands between doom and salvation is trinket.

Keyleth - (deadpan) "I heard lots of heavy breathing" Sam and Taliesin thinking what we're all thinking. Keyleth - Not impassioned breathing, Scanlan. Sam (as Scanlan) - Okay, so we goin' in the big hole or the small hole? Travis - {turning red, struggling to breathe] Tiny Vax: I'm gonna check out that hole. Me: It's comforting to know some things don't change.

Five years after the fact. Watching it on a tiny arse phone. Half a world way. But I couldn't help but shout in glee when Mercer said those magical words, "How do you want to do this?"

3:57:13 Missed a song opportunity; "Shot through the heart with lightning bolt, You pissed off a Shorthalt"

(I love that Vax was a tiny pint-sized guy for the entire dragon encounter.)

Percy's like a anime protagonist, always bring out their optimal power when it counts the most.

I love how Shale is officially wielding a quarterstaff and "her wits"

'Have you ever had sex?' 'Yes, I have a daughter' Considering what happened when he first said that... poor choice of words me thinks!

"Your ad here" killed me. I love the Scanlan tankard gags.

I love Matt’s smugness this episode, it’s the perfect GM attitude. He’s not smug because he’s thwarting the heroes’ every move but because he knows how close they are to winning, so when they fail on a turn or Umbrasyl succeeds he knows it’ll be all the more gratifying and earned when they do win.

The look of horror on Matt's face when Sam says he wants to fist the wound gets me everytime

My favorite thing was seeing Chris Perkins on the other side of the table as a player for once. Seeing him silently nod approval at Matt's decisions in combat every so often, sometimes visibly/silently weighing in on questions from other party members in his head, but never interrupting anything with his knowledge and ultimately respecting Matt's authority as a DM. Its a definite sign that he's not just one of the game designers but definitely a natural DM at heart no matter where you put him. Even still he really seemed to have fun at the player's table.

Sam: "I would like to...fist...the wound." Mercer looks on in horror and disgust, shaking his head as the rest of the group dissolves in laughter. Sam: "Just jam it and...find a finger...and kinda like uuuuuungh!" (Makes obscene finger movements, which are presumably mimicked by his Bigby's Fisting Hand) "How ya like that!" Matt: "Alright...OK...So..." Sam "This wound will never heal." Travis: "Nope." Matt (sounding a bit sick): "Wow... That's...I...I uh...Yeah..." Only 39 minutes into the episode and Sam has once again taken the MVP slot. Fucking Gnomish *ROCKSTAR.*

To add to the Chris Perkins complements: he never overshadowed the team. He played a very simplistic character and did not take away from the main group's victory. Great humility.

3:29:40 The Dragon, in his head: Why?! How is he so ANGRY?! Percival: STOP. FUCKING. BREAKING. MY. GUNS. DAMMIT.

"This will never heal." I still don't know if he's talking about Umbrasyl's wound or the mental scars of everyone else.

How you know Laura and Travis are married -- her continued, gentle reminder of "Plus necrotic"

Can't believe Matt managed to describe two identical rocks without laughing.

Sam is such a great player. He is always making sure to play straight, even when the DM doesn't catch something, and he is constantly supporting his other teammates.

I think best line of this whole episode is "Oh Shut up you flying suitcase"

“It’s hide is too thick to be pierced from the outside! I must cut through it from the inside.”

"When I die, I'm coming back as a character named Vix." "And you can find another dungeon master." 2:53:40

Sam asking Chris Perkins if he knows how to play the game when he first arrived was such an unappreciated and hilarious thing to say

Percy, in all his might, dealt 172 damage in 6 seconds. That sword may not have many times to shine, but GODDAMN does it shine when it does.

Sam with the "Your ad here" on the bottom of his oversized mug. This, ladies and gents is a win.

Just so everyone knows, without Shale's one attack of 11 grog wouldn't have killed the dragon

"And I walk away" needs to be on the back of a tee-shirt

I love how Vax often says "my family" instead of "everyone else" or something simular.

Old magic...not the kind you'd learn in those hoity toity towers.

5:00 - Travis vs Sam: Plug Off 10:54 - Recap Begins 13:29 - Game Begins 24:12 - Scanlan's Snake 33:00 - Grog, Mother of Dragons 35:50 - Liam's Choice of Words 36:45 - Vax's Awkward Birth 38:20 - Bigby's FORCEFUL Hand (38:40 - Fisting The Wound) 43:45 - Annoyed Percy 48:40 - Continued Fisting 55:35 - Vax, Paladin Of The Raven Queen 1:01:00 - Scanlan Saves Grog 1:02:00 - Sam's Plan 1:05:10 - Leap of Faith 1:07:30 - Not As Intended 1:11:15 - The Stranger 1:28:30 - Travis's Real Opinion of Matt 1:44:48 - Break Ends 1:51:30 - No Clanging Today 1:52:50 - Druid Battle Makeup 2:02:44 - Shale Lead? 2:11:50 - Old Magic 2:25:20 - Umbrasyl, Hope Devourer 2:41:35 - Scanlan's Cutting Words 2:45:00 - Shale Strides Forth 2:45:50 - Matt should know better by now! ;) 2:46:15 - Shale Taunts The Dragon 2:53:30 - Vax, Vex, Vix 2:55:22 - Scanlan Inspires Shale 2:57:17 - Percy's Bald Spot 2:57:40 - DM Grudge 3:05:48 - Monstah! 3:09:50 - The Old Lady Attacks! 3:11:30 - The Dice Gods Say NOPE 3:12:23 - Pike's Guiding Bolt (3:13:45 - Matt Describes It) 3:20:00 - The Dice Gods Say YES 3:25:40 - Bigby's Return 3:26:40 - Bigby's Rage Fingering 3:28:15 - Scanlan Inspires Shale? 3:29:40 - NO MERCY PERCY 3:53:00 - Scanlan Inspires Grog 4:05:40 - Thank God For Level 14 4:06:40 - How Do You Want To Do This? 4:06:55 - Vox Machina Reacts 4:07:25 - How he wants to do this 4:09:09 - Trinket? 4:10:30 - Shale's Thoughts 4:11:00 - Sam's Suggested Method Of Coping 4:13:34 - Awkward 4:23:10 - Shale's Fate

"Which episode are you on?" "The one where Sam Riegel was late" "Not helpful"

Matt’s look of horror when Sam said he was going to fist the wound was amazing XD

Grog seems determined to ride all the main bosses like Macy's day parade balloons

I like to imagine after that when Grog has to take life decisions he asks Scanlan to polymorph him into an eagle again for the extra brain muscles

Percy's reaction to Vex marking him with soot was some intense repressed flirting. 1:53:16

Chris Perkins enters just like "all hail your God and creator, but also your very good friend"

God, with all the times they've fallen off an eagle/dragon/flying carpet and gone plunging to their imminent deaths, how have they not invested in Feather Fall magic yet?

3:29:40 - 3:32:21 … 172 damage in a single turn. Ladies and gentlemen: No Mercy Percy.

Grog beating Earthbreaker, killing his Uncle and then the Black Dragon. What an epic arch Grog gets at the beginning of the Chroma Conclave when people really consider this to be Vax and Vex’s arch.

Intestines: Scanlan's Favoured Terrain :D

You know it's a good show when you get the Executive creator of D&D on it.

After finding out he lost Hex, Taliesin went full Bilbao Baggins when he saw the Ring around Frodo's neck.

Taelisin looks IRL posessed after his 6 attack flurry lmao

By the way, I love how Taliesin still calls his individual attacks "shots" even when doing melee strikes. He does the same thing in Campaign 2 for a little while as well despite being an only melee character then. xD

It took me over 3 hours before I realized the base of Sam’s tankard had gone from a clusterfuck of stickers to a blank piece of paper with “Your Ad Here” 😂😂😂

grog and pike's relationship is absolute goals, get urself a best friend that's that supportive

Perkins has a special kind of smile when Matt checked the book to see if trinket lived or died. That man is a treasure.

Percy did 175 damage when he action surged.

1:06:00 The way Matt spun the events around Vax’s leap of faith and connected it to how he grabs onto eagle-Grog was so well done, god damn.

i love that they made one plan with a “go” word and ever since then jenga has been the universal attack term

sam: “next campaign i’m gonna make a character named vix” i mean. veth isn’t too far off from vex and vax

I know people get irritated with Trinket.... but Matt's Trinket acting is one of my favorite things lol.

Umbrasyl was the dragon that we know the least about. It's such a shame because he must have done something incredible to gain the title of The Hope Devourer.

VM is starting to develop a signature move. Grog: I hold my attack. Literally anyone else: F U L L S E N D

After all the talk about Vax’s sneak attack damage Grog simply said “hold my ale…”

Shale hitting Umbrasyl with her stick reminds me of Yoda hitting R2-D2 with his walking stick in Empire Strikes Back. It is like this comical swinging motion that really does not do anything.

All I could think was "Percy with advantage... this is gonna hurt"

watching the part where grog gets hit by the acid and his skin comes off like oatmeal and it gets interrupted by “GLOW UP WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL NEW TANNING BEDS...” what a perfectly timed ad

38:35 I feel so bad for Umbrasyl, he's suffering some morbid body horror right now

I love how at 2:22:50 little Vax runs back to Vex, tugs at her sleeve, and whispers "Jenga" before heading into the cave for the dragon. Such a bittersweet callback.

I know we all watched this but allow me to explain Vox Machina's fight against Umbrasyl: They have a very elaborate and actually plausible tactic for engaging him. They spring the trap and effectively start pummeling the shit out of him. Scanlan takes Vax and teleports inside his stomache while the dragon is still grounded.... The dragon takes off with two members inside him... Scanlan activates an immovable rod inside the belly of the ancient dragon... Grog attaches himself in an enlarged state to the dragon via wrist-wrapped chain... The dragon runs off with three members attached to it.. Vax reverse c-sections himself out... Scanlan fingers himself out of the stomache of the dragon... Grog gets flung off.. Scanlan actually catches Grog with Bigby.. He drops Bigby and turns Grog into a fucking eagle, gaining intelligence somehow in the process... They snag Vax out of the air in the most disorganized dive and catch ever! I love this fucking show and I love these guys.

'I also have a dragon-tooth necklace. It is a dragon tooth.' would have been a great place to end that sentence XD

Matt: "I'm blushing, man." Taliesin: *RED*

That was hilarious at the end Marisha just wanted Keyleth to have a moment and then everybody reminded her Vax was child-sized lol

All these years later & I still loved that Chris Perkins, said it 1/2 in-character & 1/2 in jest, that it was Grog's destiny to slay the dragon. Turns out, it *was* Grog's destiny that he would be the one that slays the dragon.

3:30:23 I love matthew's face while Talison just smacks his dragon with a dragon killing sword Also cuz I was bored I did some math, in that flury of 6 attacks he did 172 points of dmg to the dragon... that's pretty good for a Primairly ranched attacker

4:26:45 Matt: "It's amazing! You can't imagine why Scanlan hasn't mentioned it before, but he does, indeed, have a hot spring in his magical mansion." Travis: "It's amazing!" Matt: "No, it's magnificent!"