It's like the Mom and Dad when their kid gets home from school after a fight and the Mom is like "I'm so mad at you for fighting." while the Dad is just "Proud of you son!" :P

Travis and Sam are agents of chaos - stuff that is going to fuel story conflict, drama or even just a kickass character moment always gets them going. That moment when Marisha is processing and trying to bargain with the prospect of bringing him back from this, and he just says "Marisha..." - he knows this is it, and that they have to honour the choice.

😭

He’ll have all the pastries he wants in heaven 😢

Yes I was so happy he was able to!

He finally had a flesh tongue that was canon

😢

Grown up in the room.

I love it. Wasn't mean, wasn't rude, wasn't snappy. Just a "hey man, let it happen." Marisha is trying so hard to find a way to undo or reverse it and then just realizing FCG and Sam have their mind made up I'm sure is just a helpless feeling. It's such a massive moment. Otohan has been such a thorn in their side. This Boogeyman figure they've actively avoided. She's the only character that has made the stakes feel deadly so far. Defeating Otohan should have felt like relief and like a massive victory. The fact that everyone still feels so defeated speaks to how much they love Sam as a player and friend and FCG as a character. Travis is a real one for knowing and appreciating immediately what Sam was doing and what it means.

It's so good and somewhat relieving to see the rest of the cast not enabling Marisha's out-of-touchness. I like her but she seems so oblivious to narrative dynamics sometimes which annoys me a lot, specially during C2.

@@lololoEasy robocop, it's a human reaction

@@saikanji9570 For real, the let's attack Marisha trope is officially dead and stank in the ground and needs to be kept that way.

Yeah, Taliesin was the one that got me too. When he takes his glasses off, and then just buries his face on the desk. And Liam looks like he's experiencing every kind of grief at once. They both always feel very in-character during the game, so that's gotta be a rough combo, feeling your own emotions AND the character's. Watching the whole table fall apart, and Matt as well, it wrecks me as much as the death does. One of the most painful things to me is that Ashton never even saw FCG's blaze of glory, neither did Orym. They didn't see him smile. They got knocked down after giving everything they had in this fight, maybe not expecting to get back up again, maybe feeling like they failed, and when they wake up FCG is just gone. Those two in particular are always throwing themselves in harm's way, preferring to take the hurt themselves (they go about it in very different ways, but the same intent, it's easier to hurt than to see a friend hurt), they shared that trait with Letters, and I think they're both always going to wonder if there was *something * they could have done if they had been awake. (I don't think there was, but I don't know if either of them will be convinced of that.)

I was seriously seriously no expecting THIS reaction from him and it's also what broke me into tears. Beautiful.

Taliesin created FCG for Sam. It's personal for him.

Not just that, but all 8 of them had dice in this roll. Very rarely do you see a DM loan out their dice during a game, but Matt had to, because it’s him paying tribute. In a sense, each of those 20 d8s represented a life or a memory FCG saved: the other 6 players, FRIDA, Dorian, Deanna, Bertrand, Dancer, Imahara Joe, and countless others FCG touched.

I was watching his face specifically and when he realizes what Sam's doing it's so... heartbreaking.

I agree. I think it was the hardest for him, he had to hold his emotion and narrate the scenarios.

I think this may have been lost on some, but as a DM I was able to recognize this. But Matt's little speech at the end was a good indicator. Sam didn't just save his friends with his heroic sacrifice, he didn't just kill Otohan. He saved Matt's campaign. thousands and thousands of hours of work and world building. The party really had little hope of winning, a TPK was imminent, matt even joked about it. Realistically speaking FCG's sacrifice shouldn't have killed Otohan. Matt had him row just for sake of it. But you don't let a sacrifice like FCG's go unrewarded. The attack had to kill Otohan, rule of cool always trumps rules as written, especially in service to the story. And Matt being the absolute legend he is made sure Sam was 100% aware of the fact that there was no coming back from this. And he let Sam have the floor to make FCG's death have really meaning and emotional weight. Of course Sam being Sam had to twist the knife as much as possible. Two absolute legends, making an unforgettable moment.

It’s because in the past, Matt had the direct responsibility of killing the PC. This is the first time he’s watched a true sacrificial PC death where he couldn’t stop it. In a sense, Matt felt the same helpless feelings as a player watching their PC get taken out.

@@darkguardian50 I saw someone in another thread do out all the math for the hits she took and even with the healing pot she took, the blast would have dropped her to 0. Not by much, but it did. I think when Matt decided how much damage Sam should roll, he let it be enough.

I get this reference, I applaud you

Nar, assassin bot assassinated as programmed. Change-bringer was out of touch and out of time. Truly tragic.

Oh you are so cute, You really think Gods care?

@@LednacekZSome do. The Wildmother has been there for several PCs, both through narrative moments and dice rolls. So has the Matron of Ravens, and the Storm Lord.

No joke. Not even when it was his own character. This one was just bad all around.

I imagine that this is the first time in a long time, maybe even the first time period, Ashton had felt that much grief about someone he’s lost. He was more angry than sad when Laudna died but FCG and him were very close. I don’t think he realized how much he’d grow to like FCG or how protective he’d feel of the little robot

​@@FireWolf583Not only did Ashton realize it, he's outright said it several times, especially early on in the campaign. Ashton may be in constant physical pain at all times, but this seems like the second time he's ever been truly hurt.

I've seen him angry and sad and happy and playful and giddy and calm but I've never seen him truly devastated like this. I'm worried for Ashton after this. Laudna too. They've both been walking a tightrope and I think this might be enough to push them over the edge.

He even wasn't so break when Molly died. 😭

Even then, Vax came back as the Chanpion of Ravens and Molly came back as Lucian then Kingsley.

@@Lrbearclawin a sense this might be the first true permadeath of a character

​@@Lrbearclaw the only thing if they do it is rebuilding him but maybe it wont be the same or it will be just an empty automaton

I don’t think Matt planned to make Otohan defeatable. The dice rolls were totally random and not planned but it still seems like Otohan wasn’t gonna die easily. I think maybe the goal was to kill one or even two of the party and flee again. FCG and Sam himself realized this and put an end to it

@@FireWolf583 yeah, I'd be curious to hear matt's thoughts on that fight. He started looking pretty concerned towards the end so I wonder if it went worse than he expected. Hopefully he'll be on the next 4 sided dive.

@@FireWolf583I think it was less of making otohan not defeatable but just they weren’t strong enough and Matt was hinting during the fight that this would be a TPK and it could make for an interesting story lol

​@@minorglitch01 I agree. After fully killing Chet in the first round and then only knocking people unconscious for the rest of the fight I'm curious as to what Matt's goal was with this encounter. Especially with how frequently laudna has been checking the scry ball and they still couldn't manage to outrun otahan. No shade intended here, but it didn’t seem like Matt expexted Otahan to actually die here so I wonder kind of outcome he intended. Either way what we got was incredibly powerful and utterly unforgettable. RIP FCG ❤

I think they got unlucky to lose one of their main DPS from the first fight, Chetney, right away. And then left him too low to use any blood magic. Imagine using that ability that punishes multiattacks on her! Also them constantly avoiding her ment she had the attack while they weren't prepared. Instead of them being able to surprise attack her or sth

Art reflects life.

Timestamp? I must have missed it

@@nissanfreak22 1:45

I was thinking the same thing.

For the birds.

I love that I understand this reference now after watching Dragon Ball for the first time this year... RIP Toriyama 🧡

Yea that would track. A total breakdown followed by some major destruction

We talking the actual DBZ version or TFS? Either way, I’m excited

He’s a jokester but first and foremost he’s a storyteller even more than Matt in some ways. Have a smiley day

For him and so many Otohan has murdered.

I understood that reference.

😭😭😭😭

You didn't!!! 😭

My 16 year old said this exact quote while he was bawling.

That's what you see? The somewhat smile, almost relaxation, though not quite, and realization, to me, is him realizing Sam is SAVING his campaign by doing this. This was a Party wipe if Sam doesn't do what he did. Matt is completely on Edge and nervous during the last half of the fight or so as he just flat out doesn't roll bad once the entire fight. He knew this campaign was as good as done for because it was a fight they couldn't win. Even with the contraption off Otohan she is still slaughtering through them all. He even starts only knocking people unconscious instead of full killing like he did with Travis in the beginning of the fight. it was like he was trying to find an out but didn't know how to get out of it. And in comes Sam with another one of his brilliant ideas, that not only saves his friends, but the entire campaign.

Next airship is named after him

"Pussy Riot"

Bell's Fresh Hell?

@@crzycras8895 Fresh Prince of Bell's Hells

@@grandpa6065Noooow this is the story!

That's gonna be another hard episode.

"Ain't that a bitch?"

And ain’t that a bitch…

too soon

In the same week….I’ll never recover

It’s so cosmically fucked up how both of these self sacrifices happened back to back last week.

Nooo don't remind me DX That was so unexpected...

Bruh still too soon 😂

This was an epic moment all its own, but part of me did wonder if Sam happened to catch X-Men this week before playing haha.

@@JLD22591 Critical Role isn’t live anymore, so this would have been recorded a week or two ago. Sam made the heroic sacrifice all on his own

She was shouting that at Ashley. Just before they talked about the fire shard form having some sort of detonation ability.

@@Drakoni23 at the time? it was FCG's turn and Otohan was all up in his business - I'm fairly sure it was him she was shouting at

@@grandpa6065 But i don't think anyone saw this coming

Yeah, I love it too. He's the only one all giddy that someone finally slammed the big red button in 9 years of this god forsaken game.

Me too. He always gets hyped at the coolness aspect of what's going on, even if it's tragic. But he also goes into super Friend Management Mode and Hang in Matt's Every Word Mode.

He's a great hype man at the table. He spent pretty much all of this fight dead, but was still having the time of his life and keeping everything cheery while others were getting stressed out.

Dangit I needed that

Oh FCG? Yea I feel like Sam was planning to have his character die like this at some point

i hope this isn't a spoiler but i can't remember if it was before they closed this episode or within the first 5 minutes of the next, but.... ashton taking FCG's changebringer coin is making me think and hope that ashton will become the changebringer's champion somehow. i mean a being of chaos and possibility, desperately trying to see what their fallen friend saw in this god they never believed in and now have to save, finding comfort? resolution? in this god... that's something talisen would do

And this is the first permadeath in CR. Now you know why they named their new game as it is, because the Blaze of Glory should feel like a Dagger to the Heart.

This is actually really good 😆

Fateful Bell’s Hells is another contender

I know. That energy of 'we all know what's happening , so don't torture yourself trying to change the inevitable'

@@johnymey4034 More like "let Sam have his moment, you are not in the spotlight for once"

@@neruba2173 no, not at all

​@@neruba2173 Nah he was just telling her that it aint happening, sam made his mind.

Certainly on par. Who says that, btw? 🙂

​@@billberndtsonthousands of people just look at the avg viewer count. This campaign has been lackluster af compared to 1 and 2

@@KBBQEnjoyer Oh, it's you who's saying that lol. Asked and answered. I'd disagree with you but I feel it will just empower you to complain a lot, and who wants that?

​@@billberndtsonsorry the straight up facts confuse you. CR pulls 1/5th of the numbers campaign 2 did.

@@KBBQEnjoyer Oh, shhh... It's past you nap time.

All depends on how Nana wants to treat their brief return to Exandria.

Mine was: "does this mean FEARNE is going to be the healer now?!?"

Only thing that goes through my head knowing this happened was "They could have just not gone back to Ruidus". 😖

@YouAnd_OnlyYou Yes, exactly...since FCG didn't come back from Ruidus "okay," I think this means the terms of the deal have not been met, and Orym is free from having to serve her. I don't think any of them realized this in the moment, and with Matt allowing this to happen (by essentially making it unavoidable with how powerful Otahan was), he can't really negotiate around how much this means the deal is off.

@@phillipbernhardt-house6907 The deal is they have to come back to Exandria all alive. They did that. Waiting to see if Matt will stand on that fey loophole.

I suspect Matt knew because it looks like they're exchanging texts for a few minutes before that, but it hadn't really hit because he was concentrating on answering and also keeping the game running.

@@jobear41 nah it legit surprised him, you can see the second the realization kicks in

@@jobear41 possibly. They were obviously exchanging texts but I assumed they were discussing mechanics. Like about how the rage thing worked because we haven't seen it since much earlier in the campaign. 50-ish episodes ago. I don't think Matt fully grasped what Sam was doing until he did it.

The rule of cool....it supercedes cheesing to save the party

He said ottahan had around 40 smth hp so after a 38 she would have been one round from death. For like 11 hp at most this was the right call from matt imo.

How do I not want to do this? lol

He gave Sam every chance to back away from the edge

@@jimmy_the_squid9456 He gave Sam the same number of warnings Spotify gives me when I'm trying to cancel my Premium subscription

What? We’re blaming this on Ashley Burch too? Oh wait…. Never mind

That would be so good,here's hoping

That qould really downplay the story wouldnt it? Plus I doubt Sam would want to retread ground with body switching

@@teenybopper2352 i mean laudna did the same its all up to the player if they want to continue the charachter or not

Yes!!!!

Yeah, no s**t. I never see anything live due to the time difference (still asleep). But decided to log in after waking before work. Yeah some mild spoilers I thought but hey. Nice at breakfast... could not be that much... would be only be 20 minutes anyway. 3 guesses which 20 minutes... man. One way I spoiled myself for when I can see the whole thing tomorrow, but on the other end it is the most impactful one live bit I could have seen and it kind of feels good to have been there for this.

@@frogfairy1163 IKR! I'm not usually able to view the episode live on YT because of my sleeping schedule too, but for some reason I caught it just after Sam's ads and I wasn't able to turn my phone off for the rest of the day. I kept watching for hours while I did something else. But I'm glad I did. Credits to Matt for allowing it to happen, though I suspect Otohan still has a few HP left, not to mention the ability to take half damage. The fact that Sam manages to pull off impactful moments like this is astonishing to me even after all the years they've been playing DND as a group. They're all topnotch players, but Sam pulling on our heartstrings is really something else. Can't wait to see the VOD in a couple of hours. Cheers!

@@awkwardaquamarine19 Yeah Otohan for sure had some HP left. But kudos for letting FCG have the win for the blaze of glory. Felt fair, logical. Intent, sacrifice and story trump de technical numbers game in this case I think and it's not like Otohan hadn't suffered a fair bit of damage by that point. It was a hard won victory no matter how you slice it even with a few waved hitpoints. Would have felt wrong for me if Matt hadn't. The perfect, if sad, end to FCG's story. The character was one of my favorites, but it all fits so nicely like this and Sam gave a beautiful fitting end speech. To go back on any of this would cheapen the moment. Will miss FCG though.

@@frogfairy1163 Same. I'll miss FCG as well. It gave me a mini heart attack when Chetney was killed earlier (spoilers). I could tell that Travis made peace with the fact that he could be killed in game (as I suspect all of them are with their characters), but I'm glad they brought him back. Travis and Sam have a knack for creating really entertaining characters. Meanwhile, Taliesen and Liam seemed most affected by FCG's heroic sacrifice.

Wow

Campaign 2 when he revealed Nott's backstory

It wouldn't have, the damage would have been damned but mechanics be damned my boy can tell a story

It also makes the Otohan kill much more legit. You can't crawl your way into beating her, unlike against everybody else. Otohan has so much more speed, she always can get away. They could have rolled better and they could have had the upperhand, but then Matt has to make the decision to let her die, or have her run away. If she runs, the table would have been devastated, if she dies, that speed is a mechanical herring that many DnD viewers will pick up on. The FCG sacrifice made this so much better. As Matt described, Otohan didn't see it coming.