"Where do I mark off my loss of pride?" Matt: * small voice * That would be in the additional notes...

Pike leaves for ONE DAY and Grog is already in shambles.

I'm really glad Travis got that extended 1v1 fight. He's always super respectful to the rest of the players and doesn't shove himself in situations Grog wouldn't, so I'm goad he got his time to shine on his own and everyone paid that respect back

“I wipe the tear from my eye and the poo from my bottom” is one of the best lines I’ve heard so far

In a perfect world, instead of Philip, Grog would have recited Percy's full name perfectly as his "fancy name" and, after a moment of stunned silence, Percy would have added "You can just call him Percy".

Vax "Grog if it's any consolation" Grog "What's that mean?" Percy "It's a grouping of stars in the sky." My favorite Taliesin remark yet.

Game starts at 13:27. Break at 1:25:22; game resumes at 1:40:47 and runs until 3:29:58. [I've been doing this for every episode. If you find them useful, or think others might, please leave a comment so they stay near the top where they can be found. Thank you.]

"HE HAD ONE LEFT??!!" I felt that in my soul

"We haven't had an awkward parental confrontation in what feels like months." Percy, I love you and your quick humour.

Travis: *voice cracking* HE HAD ONE LEFT?!?

I would love to see the world where Vax was given the OK to fight Grog in the pit, and only after signing up realised he was getting tossed in with no weapons, no armour and no magic. I can just hear Vex laughing the whole way to the bank with that one.

"You find yourself sloppily disappointing a woman until you pass out in your own sorrow." Dear God, Matt! He already lost the fight, do you really need to beat him down again?! 🤣

Seriously, Taliesin just drops pearls every damn time he opens his mouth and no one else even notices.

I have never seen Mercer look more Done than he did during the Scanlan+Magical poop scene

For anyone that’s trying to watch all of campaign 1, consider this the first checkpoint, the thumbnail colors changed to green

Percy's face when Laura wastes his fancy explosive arrow kills me.

That moment Matt says that grog dissapoints a woman sloppily and Laura just collapses from laughing. If you know that these two are married makes it even more hilarious.

>Visits a church >Says goodbye to a close friend >Immediately starts pile driving people in an arena

It's 5 years later and I'm sad at work after an imaginary pit fight in a DND game that I wasn't even playing in. Great show.

Since no one else I can find pointed this out: Taliesin's "Seems a shame to have a family and not take advantage of it" hit really hard knowing the next arc.

This episode is a prime example of how Failure sometimes is a more meaningful story. If Grog had won it would have been just another win, but this experience lets us see Travis' really awesome Roleplay and Grog is WAY MORE AWESOME.

"That's not even chicken, that's just a piece of wood." Couldn't stop laughing to save my life.

The way Matt looks at Travis when Grog says "...I like your beard." to the bartender is just. So cute. He's so endeared to his player's characters.

1:22:40 Grog: Where do I mark off my loss of pride? Matt: That would be under additional notes.

I have to say, I've noticed a lot in the recent episodes, but Travis Willingham is definitely a majorly undervalued actor. He's played his character flawlessly in my opinion for far too long now to not be noticed. He always knows just when ti chip in hilariously, and times his moments well for the maximum effect! Cheers to Grog! Much love, my friend.

oh, this is the first episode of the Iconic Taliesin Hair

Sometimes I forget Travis and Laura are married since they don't act like it in game... then you hear the way Laura corrects his math

Scantlan: I'm Grog's manager. Also Scantlan: I'm betting against Grog.

TFW the rogue is more diplomatic than the bard and the ranger is greedier than the rogue

Grog's fight was more intense than the K'varn fight. I'm not even joking.

The hardest thing about watching this is knowing that if Travis had been aware of his Goliath damage reduction ability, he would have won

I really appreciate Taliesin looking up to the heavens and demanding of the Dice Gods “What have I done?!”

I love this show so much. One moment I am laughing my ass of and in the next I am crying like a baby. "It seems a shame to have a family and not take advantage of it." went completely missed, yet to me it was a very powerful statement by Percy - who has no family.

When Laura is rolling Trinket's second saving throw and Travis reassures her by saying "Just roll it, you're good. You're okay." warms my heart a little

30:34 The fact that he's able to incorporate the object that falls offscreen into the conversation is why I love Matt Mercer.

Liam is just the perfect rogue. His "I'll fight him" made me so giddy lol.

"Baby, it's eleven. That one was a five." *You doubt me???* "Five... Six... Oh, eleven." - Future CEO of Critical Role.

2:20:15 Taliesin : (laughs at Travis for pointing the laser pointer towards himself) 2:30:47 Taliesin: (does the same thing)

2:00:49 Travis : « I can only come if Tiberius lets me. » …awkward silence… Sam : « …Oh, to fly. »

It’s funny that during the break they said Travis is definitely not a challenge for over lord status but now he is the CEO of Critical Role

"My wife is the Head Master" Laura and Travis bust out laughing. I die.

0:01:31 - Opening credits end 0:06:14 - Critical Role neon sign made by Marisha and Felicia 0:12:07 - Orion (Tiberius) leaves the room to get a drink just as Matt was about to start the recap 0:12:36 - Sam arrives (like a trailing fart according to Marisha lol)! 0:13:27 - Game starts, Part 1 begins 0:14:43 - The groups misses Pike 0:18:35 - Scanlan sings a song about missing Pike, after having taking a dump in the temple 0:19:16 - Matt facepalms and then at 19:30 looks at the camera is if to say look at what I have to deal with lol 0:38:05 - Grogg doesn't have a middle name 0:40:19 - In hindsight, this was a very good idea 0:42:33 - Grogg's fancy name is "Philip" 0:59:27 - Scanlan tries to stop the match by causing a riot but that fails 1:01:30 - Wife calls her husband "baby" and helps him out 1:05:58 - Grogg invokes the name of Macho Man Randy Savage 1:09:50 - Vax tries to enrage Grogg 1:16:06 - Grogg loses but earns the respect of his opponent. I honestly didn't expect Grogg to lose, I love that the game can do this sort of thing! 1:18:05 - Scanlan being a bro 1:24:05 - Scanlan lol 1:25:08 - First Matt's NPC defeats Grogg, now Matt as DM says Grogg is disappointing the woman who's paid to sleep with him 1:25:20 - Part 1 ends 1:28:27 - Break begins 1:40:32 - Break ends 1:40:48 - Part 2 begins 1:44:04 - Grogg was named after a bear? 1:51:18 - Grogg just can not catch a break! 1:59:37 - Scanlan and Vex have the same thought 2:10:50 - Scanlan sings a song of inspiration for Vex (Taylor Swift - Shake It Off) 2:12:30 - Scanlan covers the group with... 2:30:25 - Subscriber count in bottom left corner goes from 4,996 to 5,001 which is the goal they needed to reach in order to get an 8ft Trinket 2:42:35 - Scanlan sings his Bigsby's Hand song (Michael Jackson - Bad) 2:43:45 - Scanlan sings to inspire Grog (Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen) 2:59:29 - Matt "How do you want to do this?" 3:06:12 - Sean Connery 3:17:02 - The patriarchy 3:17:51 - The matriarchy 3:29:48 - Husbands and wives 3:29:54 - End of part 2, game ends 3:37:36 - Matt voices Gilmore in response to a donation

I really felt the age of this clip when Matt said "making my way" and none of them responded. I waited for it.

Having seen EXU and Sam coming out with a shirt that can be read as Ash Hole, it is even more cathartic when Matt says jokingly "I'm sure that's somewhere in Emon" AND NOW IT IS

inside or outside of character, Taliesin has amazing lines: "to be fair, the meteor didn't dodge the earth" - seriously, where does he store those lines? And they seem to slip right by most everyone!

I really hope there's a count of how many times a Npc said "I dont like you" to the party

*Matt describing the giant 8-foot bear that will be made if they hit 5000 subs* Me, watching for the first time five years later: oh shit, I wanna see that. I need to sub!

So this is why Travis picked a half-orc for Season 2 XD

"I know, I used it in the fight that you didn't wanna fight in," Scanlan remembers. Scanlan never forgets.

Gotta love that as soon as Pike is gone, Grog throws himself into a fighting pit w/ a mountain.

that pit fight was the moment Travis decided to play a half orc in campaign 2

Matt: Arcane Magic is very taboo in this place. Tiberius: PRESITIDIGATION FOR FIREWORKS! I cast INVISIBILITY! Mage Hand! WoOoOO!

1:23:10 Liam: "Grog, It it's any consolation-" Travis: "What's that mean?" Taliesin: "It's a group of stars in the sky" XD I'M DEAD

Sam still throwing shade over Orion bitching out of that fight with the Beholder.

15:37 "The beauty of this game is that I have no idea what the shit we're going to do right now." - Liam O'Brien, a basic summary of DnD.

This is my first watch of critical Role and it's really noticeable that Mercer has stopped trusting Orion's roles and actions. Looking up basically everything he does and rolling a bunch of damage dies himself. I was wondering if I was just seeing something that wasn't there in earlier episodes and it doesn't appear that was the case. That is such a horrible feeling when you're DM. :(

I feel like Taliesin was more mad about the exploding arrow failing than Laura was.

"My body is a temple!" Whatever you say there, "Holy Man".

1:43:36 Orion ruining the moment by smacking the ale out of grogs hands made everyone (and me) roll their eyes, but it doesnt even faze Travis. He stays in character and plays it for laughs. When he sips the water and says, "its pretty smooth" my respect for Travis quadrupled. Meanwhile Orion tried to force meaningless change on a character while everyone else was supportive.

In a campaign of epic highs, Grog's fight with the Orc barbarian in the pit stands out as one of the best of the best, not so much for the plot line, but for the collective storytelling. Laura's (and others) many looks of horror are just priceless.

1:24:03 Since no one decided this amazing moment was worth a clip, I have timestamped the point where Grog starts to eat the bar stool.

I know this is the 17th episode. I know they are voice actors. But still the array of sounds that Matt can produce are astonishing

That 1v1 was way more interesting than it should have been. Both Matt and Travis were fantastic!

This is a city where arcane magic is outlawed. Tiberius: "I would like to cast all the spells."

Ah yes. The fabled "Sir Macho of the Savage Lands" technique I've heard so much about. I hear he once used that on Umber Hulk Hogan.

I can only imagine the shock, after weeks of waiting for this show to come back on... That the first thing to happen is Scanlan taking a magic blue poo in the temple of Sarenrae.

Mere minutes into the show and we're getting a deep dive into the mechanics of scrying poop. Matt has big disappointed dad energy. I love this show!

The four of them eating popcorn on the bottom screen just warms my heart what a great group of people

Seventeen episodes, numerous boss fights and Group-on-Group action, and fucking EVERYTHING pales in comparison to a half-orc and a Goliath in a ditch located at the ass-end of Nowhere. DnD

So, from that Hydra’s perspective, a bunch of stone walls appeared around him after taking a drink, then a bunch of green people ran at him to kill him. Not the weirdest thing it’s seen, but that has to be up there.

It's my headcanon that when Scanlan sings his songs, not only does a full band play out of nowhere, but the whole party stops what they're doing briefly to assist in the end of the song.

That look of utter joy on Travis's face during the fight is why I love playing barbarian

"...I want to mark off my loss in pride..." "That would be under 'Additional Notes'" Bravo, Mercer. That was brilliant and quick-witted.

I'm paralyzed from the waist down and even *I* felt that attack to the kneecap lmao

Taliesin: "We haven't had an awkward parental confrontation in what feels like months." Laura at the same time: "LETS GO (FIND/FIGHT?) YOUR FAMILY." Tricket: "GRRRR" I love the vibes bwuahaha

i''ve never seen liam laugh as hard as he did after the "sloppily disappointing a woman" comment

1:46:49 gotta say, love Liam being consistent with the “I don’t know what that is!” as soon as anyone mentions modern real life inventions

Matt looked like he was having so much fun during the match with Grog

Sam singing along quietly to the background music starting at 2:23:03 is magical. I love his singing voice so much!

Here we see the start of Taliesin’s Mohawk

"This place doesn't like magic" Vox Machina :shape shifts and uses like 12 spells RIGHT INFRONT OF PEOPLE

Nobody has a genuin laugh like Taliesin. It‘s just beautiful x-D

hot take: the issue here was not orion's fireball, as he did clearly mean to ask whether the hydra was 20 ft across and genuinely didn't think it would hurt his friends - the issue was his response. instead of clarifying what he meant and apologising, he got mad and then sat in silence for the entire rest of the stream, refusing to engage, messing with his things to make it clear he wasn't interested, and refusing to so much as crack a smile at any jokes. he created such an uncomfortable atmosphere all because of one mistake that he could have easily laughed off.

"Sloppily disappointing a woman" IM DEAD

HUBRIS, Aka the episode where Grog forgets about litterally all his abilities except Intimidating presence.

My favourite thing about dnd pitched melees like Grogs is just the party trying to cheat. It always happens, in every game I’ve ever been in or watched. It’s a beautiful thing.

Grog "where do I mark of my loss of pride?" Matt "That would be under additional notes" I died. Sam "That's not even chicken, it's just a piece of wood" Matt " and yet that doesn't stop him as he makes his way, bite by bite, through a piece of driftwood he found by the bar" I died again.

1:23:00 "HE HAD ONE LEFT?!?!" Oh, what an epic cry of anguish for the ages

Vex: “I would like to range”

"I'll get inside the teddy bear and act out Trinket during the game. Perfect! That's not gonna happen. It might happen..." - Matt Mercer, Dungeon Master and one of the best people on the internet.

1:25:09 "you find yourself sloppily disappointing a woman until you pass out in your own sorrow" never heard such a wounding sentence in my life

God how is Grog the most adorable member of the party when you have Pike, Keyleth, and Fucken Trinket there?

"I feel uncomfortable, it must be the emotion." Big ass mood, thanks Sam, .

I have never been interested in boxing, martial arts tournament, mma or UFC, but that Crucible fight... I was so invested. Also, this episode made me imagine Vex saying "I would like to range" as a parody to her husband.

I love how sometimes Matt has a look on his face of, "I'm surrounded by fifth graders.". 😂😂😂

I really wanted Scanlan to use vicious mockery at the end of fight while the half orc was reviving.. Would have finished him off and blended in perfectly with the crowd all shouting as well.

1:24:04 "That's not even chicken it's just a piece of wood" Literally killed me 😂😂😂😂

The more I think about it, the more I realize how impressive it was that Grog almost beat the half-orc. Matt even said that he wasn't supposed to get that close, and he only lost because of a cheat-death racial ability. That's pretty impressive.

2:39:20 This kind of symmetry of Travis and Liam looking away to both sides and Laura dropping her head... this moment of disappointment had such beauty to it XD

Scanlan: "So I leave and rejoin my fellow, wiping the tear from my eye and the poo from my bottom" Matt: *regrets every decision he's ever made that led him to that point* And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the exact moment Matt Mercer died inside.