Vex is the BEST person to give that speech to Percy BECAUSE she talked about abandoning the group before. This is character growth.

Ziggurat's a building for communicating directly with gods. Keyleth mentioned it in ep 5.

21:20 But then both Vex and Vax agreed that they didn't ditch them because, begrudgingly, they both care about the group. She's not lying.

Vex did say that she and her brother could abandon the group but in that same scene if you remember Vax asked her "then why aren't we?" she did not answer meaning she really did not lie she just wont openly admit she likes the group. The other thing too is that shes the initiator in confronting Percy's issues at the start and the one asking percy whats the plan in regards to his home, she does want to help but wont admit that.

correction; vex observed the guards would not catch them. SHOULD they decide to leave. which they did not.

Vex never seriously considered leaving the group behind, she brought it up as a hypothetical option when talking to Vax because that's how they survived in the past. I know y'all are done with the season so hopefully y'alls views on Vex has softened somewhat, but she and Vax have lived through some seriously traumatic shit growing up and have been coping with it differently.

Me before episode 10: it's ok, they'll like Vex eventually. Me after episode 10: ... I still belive that, but damn... P.S: not hatin or anything, it's just funny to see character development being seen as lies.

when Delilah said they were spoiled for choice she was meaning that they were planning on sacrificing Cassandra from the beginning, but now they have Vax as well so they get to choose which

Re: Vex, character development is a thing. 🤷 Also, like others pointed out, while she seemed tempted to leave in ep4, she didn't actually decide to.

She was pointing out they could leave but they chose not to. I don't think vex was actually considering it

I genuinely don’t understand how y’all still hate vex.

lol y’all determined to hate of Vex 😂😂😂 she mentioned leaving back in ep 4 and vax was like ‘so why don’t we’ implying that it is her call and he would follow her lead, but they don’t leave because she didn’t really want to! Plus; y’all been so hype about keyleth showing growth, why not take what she said there as a sign of her own growth; willing to admit to the group and herself she will not abandon them!?!

Lemme just say, if I meet my sister after a decade of her being a prisoner and after I rescue her she acts like she's extremely thankful all the time rather than poking fun at me like her regular self I knew, I'd be genuinely scared. Nothing is worse than seeing your family member acting out of trauma and unable to be themselves. Or even worse, becoming somebody else entirely. It makes you feel powerless because you can't really help unless they can break through the first barriers themselves. *Percy was probably relieved she was starting to act more like the person he knew.*

Interestingly Stockholm Syndrome is so rare that there's debate over if it even exists. The incident that gave name to it is pretty much the only record we have of it, and it's been heavily speculated that the information distributed about the incident was incorrectly recorded

To give context to Percy's behavior, there's a mechanic within the game to simulate a corrupting influence on your character's behavior. All the characters were subject to that due to what's going on in Whitestone. Taliesin failed on his rolls to not be affected by this influence, so he is becoming more...evil and cruel in his actions, which allows what's in him to make matters worse. Vex is really not a bad person. Hopefully when you watch the show again (or digest fully this season), you'll see more of that. She's traumatized from her life experiences (losing her mother to a dragon, her father really not being a parent to her or Vax, them having to survive on their own because life among elves was too painful), and she's not really had a chance to heal. She has really only had her and Vax and Trinket to rely on, so the idea that Vax would fall in love and leave her all alone is a substantial fear. Laura (her player) admits that Vex has had to find reasons to actively dislike Keyleth because she otherwise likes her. You say you don't want to be an asshole, but you're absolutely being one when it comes to Vex at this point. And Ripley originally had 2 hands. She just was trying to replicate Percy's work and it blew up on her, leaving her without a hand. "Phantom limb" doesn't always affect people that way, though. We don't have any evidence that she feels the phantom limb.

I mean, both the Ziggurat AND residuum were mentioned several times in previous episodes. you even spoke over Scanlan explaining where they heard it before when Ripley first mentions it

Don't worry, Vex didn't lie. She's just starting to grow a bit. They decided not to leave and now she's in for the long haul.

The 'spoiled for choice' means that they have options now, instead of just one sacrifice.

I think you two got a case of “KZfaqr brains” on some of this stuff, because it was pretty well explained in the show. It happens on these reaction videos all the time. It can’t be easy to take everything in while reacting/talking/shipping AND irrationally hating Vex. LOL. The ziggurat was featured in Delilah's evil book, that Vax stole in Ep. 3. Scanlan referenced it in Ep. 4 when they were under house arrest, (just before Vax and Scanlan started shooting the bird at each other repeatedly.) When Scanlan and Keyleth were trying to read the book in Ep. 5, he talked about the ziggurat again, (mistranslating it as 'zippertwat" before Keyleth corrected him,) and they even showed a prominent drawing of it in the book. They introduced Residuum Glass, which is refined from Whitestone, in the flashback classroom scene with Percy and Cassandra. Episode 6. Prof. Anders showed Cassandra how Residuum Glass is a very powerful magical energy amplifier by shattering a crystal with it. His disagreement with Perry's father over a Residuum Glass refinery project that he proposed was the reason Prof. Anders betrayed the DeRollo family. Delilah talked about the Residuum Glass and the Ziggurat needing to be prepared on time with Dr. Anders, just before the “dinner guests” arrived in Ep. 5. Also, Delilah’s magical necklace beads (that glow whenever she casts a spell) are made of Residuum. And she was holding a big piece of it, and there were many other pieces of Residuum scattered around her magic ritual circle, when Delilah raised the huge horde of Zombies in Whitestone.

Fun fact: Matt Mercer, the DM for the actual Critical Role campaigns and the voice of Sylas, plays Jotaro in the ENG dub of JoJo

I know many have said it already, but just to clarify for the fun of it. A ziggurat is an actual building that was built in Mesopotamia. They're a pyramid-like structure with multiple levels, and it was believed they were often used for communicating with divine beings. They're very interesting structures and I recommend looking them up!

Man, get off Vex’s back. She’s just a bit clingy to her brother since it was just the two of them ever since they became orphans from that dragon attack. Now she’s worried her brother “striking out” on his own and doesn’t know what she’d do without him.

I find it funny how Vex is getting the hate, here, while in the actual show people LOATHED 'kiki'. when being a great actress bites you in the ass; people assumed SHE was 'scatterbrained', rather than her character. :P

While Vax never turns into a sheep, Liam's PC for the second campaign does.

Pretty sure Ripley lost her hand when trying to recreate Percy's gun and it blew up in her hand

In very rude terms, a ziggurat is a "proto pyramid" in the sense it has not the triangular appearance and is more segmented. But it's an old style of building. No problem of not knowing what it is. It's kinda underground knowledge.

Do they ever find out in the video that a ziggurat is a stepped pyramid? Time will tell. Modern conception the ancient structures tends to associate them with large public structures for use in offering sacrifices.

Laughing at the relatable depression moment, seriously, familiar. Percy is my favourite, and also, Percy is... SUPER not okay, at any point in this series. Taliesin Jaffe, Percy's DnD player/voice, has spoken about the complete garbage fire that is Percy's emotional health. He will be the first to tell you that our smartboy is ...not a great person. Vox Machina is the only reason he even HAS a moral compass. It's kind of hilarious to listen to Taliesin talk about Percy, because he so obviously LOVES the character, and there's so much depth there, and at the same time he's like, oh, no, you absolutely shouldn't root for this guy, he's terrible!

21:26 Ant she and Vax considered leaving but both had an unspoken agreement that they didn’t want to abandon the group because deep down they care. Clam down from the Vex hate.

Barbarian Rage gives you a lot of damage resistance…but it doesn’t resist acid.

Pike is almost the heart of the group, being a Cleric, more often than not they are confidants to people. Especially that lovely little gnome.

Oh yeah the acid trap, in the actual campaign episode that they got trapped in the acid room they almost got TPK’d due to not knowing what to do but they did get out after all

Dr. Anna Ripley is the Dolores Umbridge of Critical Role. She might not be the big bad, but everyone agrees *she's the worst*. It's a blink and you miss it kind of thing but Ripley is missing her hand and there is a ruined copy of Percy's gun nearby. The game goes into a little more detail with this. Ripley was attempting to replicate Percy's work with his gun, recognizing the power such a weapon has in their world. Remember, Percy invented them but only after he escaped the Briarwoods' grasp. Ripley has been listening out for any sign of Percy out in the world and has heard tales of him and his new weapon. She tried to copy the design based off descriptions of the gun and her copy literally blew up in her hand, taking the hand with it. It wouldn't be until Sylas saw it in action at Emon and relayed that info back to Ripley that she'd finally figure out how the gun actually works and can build it herself...except now she got herself thrown into the dungeons by the Briarwoods for attempting to escape with that information. Side note, in game Ripley has the *exact* same stats as Percy does, same intelligence score, same wisdom, everything. She's literally intended to be a dark reflection of Percy had he gone down a different path. Yeah, turns out No Mercy Percy might have some dark influences. When creating the character, Taliesin only came up with the "had a dream filled with smoke, in the morning had the inspiration to design the first gun" part of that backstory, he left it up to Matt to determine if it was just a dream or something else. Taliesin himself never described smoke coming off his body during his vengeance kills, it was always Matt chiming in to the others "you start to see black smoke pouring out of Percy's clothing" and Taliesin just ran with it. Ant: "Too much time in the VR" Alicia: *death glare* One of my favorite Percy lines there as they agree to take Ripley along. "Right now you're the luckiest person in Whitestone. Because you're at the *bottom of my list."* Percy is a cold motherfucker with his one liners. A ziggurat is a stepped tower usually with a temple of some kind at the top. Think about the design of the Aztec pyramids. Those are ziggurats. Literally just a pyramid with large blocky steps up the sides instead of a smooth slope and with a temple at the top. Scanlan mentioning leaving to go to court, remember that technically Vox Machina is still on the run, wanted for escaping their keep while under house arrest for the crime of assaulting the Briarwoods during the banquet. This whole mission is partly to gather evidence of the Briarwoods being a bunch of evil bastards up to no good in order to clear their name. They technically have the evidence now: Cassandra with them and the citizens of Whitestone to back up the horrific deeds the Briarwoods have been up to for years. They can clear their name, they just need to survive long enough to do so. Vax is a speedy boy. He's already naturally fast and has magic boots that effectively can double his speed when he activates them. The man can zip around the battlefield and disappear into the shadows. His stealth is so high that he is occasionally joked to vanish from existence entirely. Yeah, you guys called Cassandra turning on them. Great catch with the eye flicker hinting at it too. She's got a combination of both Stockholm Syndrome and brainwashing via being charmed, so yeah Cassandra has some issues. It's funny that you mention Vax turning into a literal lamb. The character Vax's player Liam plays in the 2nd campaign has a moment where the party was in a place where magic can sometimes go wild and have unpredictable reactions and his character, a wizard, cast a spell to teleport across the room during a fight...and turned into a sheep on the other side because of the wild magic. This is an actual thing that happened to him in game. The acid scene is the perfect example of Grog being Grog. Dumb enough to jump into a pool of acid. Loyal enough to do it for his friends. Tough enough to survive it.

C'mon you two, y'all can not like Vex, but at least let it be based on facts lol let the girl cook and develop.

Finally! Someone who heard Ripley’s likes to Percy and was like: “Why the hell do you sound so flirty with the kid you tortured the fuck out five years ago!”

Fun fact about the scene where they fight Percy's ancestors. In DnD Bards have a spell called Vicious Mockery. The idea is they can use magic to turn their insults into damage. Scanlan used that spell to finish off one of the zombies, and Percy reacted "Did you just mock my ancestor to death?" Taliesin is just a font of one liners.

You guys should react to Travis Willingham's Spooktacular! The guy who plays Grog had to go through a Halloween... thing. Because kickstarter. It's funny.

Interesting lil thing I noticed rewatching episode 7, when Anders has Cassandra at knife point, it almost looks like she moves his arm towards her own throat.

A ziggurat is just a pyramid with anti-aliasing disabled.

You guys didn’t notice the eyes also you guys have a lot of hate for vex for no reason lmao

Ziggurats are real structures

17:42 - _"Be a lamb, would you?"_ - *“What if he literally turned into a lamb? Wouldn't that have been funny?”* That doesn't happen until campaign 2, when Liam's new character turns from Caleb into Calamb (others keep calling it "sheepleb", but "Calamb" was _right there!)_

The Ziggurat was the friends we made along the way.

Vex isn't a liar, she just underwent Character Development.

And this is how the bard and the barbarian did a duo rock concert

Mad respect to Ant, that VR comment was funny as hell.

How yall remember Vex and Vax's convo about leaving (which BOTH of them were considering) but not remember the Zipper-twat convo??? the hate-boner for Vex is STRONG

Season 2 in two days let's fucking GOOOOOOOOOOO

A ziggurat is bassically a pyramid and a prayer alter in one.

"Ziggurat" is Sumerian for "pyramid," basically.

It’s a stepped pyramid

a ziggurat is a pyramid, but steppy XD

Grog is best boi, but gotta give Scanlan the props as well. If not for him they woulda been ded for sure lol.

I sorta hope Ant hasn't seen the Game of Thrones Southpark episode where butters spends the entire episode talking about the dongs that show up. I'd love to see a reaction with him to that episode

I just wanna say I 100% agree with Ant They need to man the fuck up and add song DONG to tv shows or whatever kind of entertainment!

Perhaps the Ziggurat was the friends we made along the way?

I wonder when you guys questioning about what Ziggurat is, is it about in the show or real life. Because it's a real thing. 🤣

the idea of one of liam characters turning in to a lamb seems like spoilers at this point

4:27 Actually, phantom limb sensation is an occasional sense of pain wherever the missing limb is. What you suggested here wouldn’t work because the sensation comes from the brain itself not processing that a limb is gone, not the actual nerves in the limb P.S. - Although, you could use a mirror on the other hand during the torture to trick the brain into feeling double the pain of the wounds

There are a few episode of The Boondocks where they show the full meat package on screen, in case ANT wants to know

25:40 Oh, so thaaat's a Ziggeraut!

Two days till season 2

I know this is a hear old, but as someone who has multiple siblings we make fun of each all the time, especially when we haven't seen each other in a bit.

12:40 -- That was a Macho Man Elbow, not The Peoples' Elbow. It's off the top turnbuckle, not off the ropes. 21:22 -- I'm with the rest of these comments. She's not lying. 23:37 -- I'm told there's a frame earlier in the episode where you can see it.

4:56 love that stare

Wait, is that... KELLY HU!! LET'S GO!!

Boi got dem Demons lol

one got away. Delilah and her pet would want to mess with him when he inevitably returned. so, they kept the sister on hand. As for 'stockholm syndrome'...think that requires the captors to be human. neither of the pair answer that label no more.

I'm in the middle of watching the backlog, and jeez i hope the unnecessary vex hate dies down in season 2. ya'll really reaching this episode

Just not looking at Vex’s character development I see

Percy got more that just that dog in him 😝

you keep referring to 'stockholm syndrome', but refuse to acknowledge the impact life under vampires and warlocks would have on a young mind growing up around them. strong emotion was probably deemed....unwise. nevermind that things are under a certain time pressure, here. things can be discussed at length when the right blood(or, y'know, any blood :P) rules again. Also, not too sure 'stockholm syndrome' would be very valid, here. the pair is not normal human beings by any measure. her life would likely have been one of 'staying quiet' when not hauled out for some purpose or other. like as not she was just kept alive to manipulate the populace if and when needed. always handy to have the 'right blood' in your back pocket.

🧡

oh shit it's my time again? Ok here I go again First x2

Funny thing, I don't remember Vex being so useless or demeaning to everyone in the actual campaign.

I know series is like 9 months old but bro, mega L takes on Vex all around, its like a circle jerk of two people who conviniently forget the good parts of the characters so they can keep stroking the negative bias they have, even when it ignores logic lol

This is early! Ty)

😲😲😲😲😲

nice

The heavy metal pun is a little cheesy, but I'll take it.

you guys really can't remember any of the plotline can you?

21:33 no, it's not. back then, it was a commentary of what they COULD be doing, and WHY they DIDN'T. you need to stop misreading people.

Love how everyone is yelling about a plot point in a campaign that is never explicitly brought up into this show, I really believe with the information that's given to Alicia, she has every right to kinda hate Vex BUT it's also the show's fault for not elaborating to the general audience who do not have time to watch 2-3hr episodes of people playing DnD that what each of these characters backstories are, so all they can really do is just take what vex says and does at face value