HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing: 1:45 Glitterbeard Matt and Omar announce stuff 3:40 Intro cinematic 5:15 Episode Starts 6:15 Recap Ends (baby bug) 13:30 Discussion of next steps ends 17:45 A classic misdirect 19:20 Meeting some dagger salesmen 22:50 Battle begins 23:50 Opal, focus up 25:45 Handaxe up the butt 29:50 Opal and Arthur are just hanging out 32:50 Everyone getting hit 33:50 Opal and Arthur are vibin 36:50 Love hugs 39:40 Arthur is introduced to a lot of new experiences 45:45 To escape or to murder 48:20 All Byroden girls are into rope, canon 50:40 All kinds of shelters 52:20 Making a quick pagoda 55:20 Can you smell vibranium? 58:05 Microdosing suude 59:20 Is it drugs yet? 1:02:00 Chaos Crew 1:05:25 Visions from the Crown 1:09:20 Vestige confirmed 1:10:20 Name drop 1:15:30 Bananas are chaotic good 1:17:55 Fearne’s backstory 1:24:40 Big floofers 1:26:00 Opal’s twin 1:27:45 Changing the channel 1:29:00 Fearne has to turn around a few times before she can sleep 1:33:25 Break Starts 1:35:40 Art Montage 1:48:30 Break Ends 1:51:35 Talking to Lorkathar 1:55:40 Murder abruptly ends all vibes 2:02:30 Talking to Jesho 2:15:40 The Oh No 2:19:05 What's in the box? 2:20:35 Evil eyes 2:21:20 Roll credits 2:25:05 Dariax is a climber bro 2:27:35 Sounding sexy 2:28:50 The Double D's 2:30:25 Whatever it is, we have to kill it 2:31:35 D&D 2:33:05 Too many names too similar 2:36:35 Windy Boy 2:38:15 Pants off Orym 2:39:50 Hand signing exists in Exandria, canon 2:42:15 Roll premonition 2:44:50 Mesa makers 2:47:35 Inward singing 2:48:20 Map out (cheeto elemental) 2:50:40 Matt draws the line at making Kansas canon 2:55:35 Aabria and Matt pronounce 'sigil' very different 2:58:30 Melee range 3:00:25 Skipping rocks 3:03:05 Maybe don't yell 3:04:00 Ted is not having this 3:06:00 Ashhole 3:07:20 Penetrating the ashhole 3:12:25 The party can make anything into a butthole 3:16:35 Battle begins 3:17:25 Apologize 3:19:35 Dariax always knew 3:24:20 Death to traitors 3:26:25 Snip the tip 3:30:10 Robbie with a big brain play 3:32:00 Dariax goes for the kill 3:36:10 An apology 3:38:20 Matt still looks evil 3:40:30 Darian and Orym 3:41:50 Dariax and Fearne 3:48:30 The scientific method 3:50:00 Opal doesn't do book learning 3:53:00 Name drop 3:53:15 Opal goes off 3:56:45 Post-credit scene 3:57:25 Episode Ends The in-game start date for this episode is some time in the year 848. For those of you who are out of the loop... so Long Essek is this drawing of a centipede-like Essek that was drawn during a Critter game of TKO. He is both disturbing and endearing. He runs Critical Role now. You can search for him on IG and Twitter, but the good news is he's already found you. Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet.

Orym: "We aren't in Kansas anymore." Opal: "Where's Kansas?" Orym: "Uh, western Tal'Dorei." Aabria: "Noted. I will add it to the map." Liam: "Canon" Matt, weakly: *no*

I love how Matt didn't want to metagame in his own world, so he played the biggest idiot in Exandria

Everyone else: Fighting for their lives Opal: Goes on a BDSM date.

Aabria: *mentions Gilmore* Matt: looks over, says nothing, doesn't visibly react Liam: No visible break in character Ashley: Biggest OH of excitement

Vox Machina: We need to save the world. Mighty Nein: We need to liberate the downtrodden Exandria Unlimited: Let's poke the scary thing with a stick.

The Team: Debate, debate, debate, debate, debate. Matt: I throw a rock at it. Blessings of Travis upon you sir.

When Fearne goes “The feywild is where the feywild is” and Matt goes “Gotcha” and then mouths “WHAT?” at everyone is a truly unappreciated moment, had me cracking up.

"I curse you for your names" - Liam O'brien, formerly of Vex and Vax of Vox Machina

Opal refusing to apologize to her sister while knowing it's the only way to get her magic back is peak sibling behavior

Aabira in EXU trailer: "I'm nervous that anything I do becomes canon" Aabira in the game: "Kansas Tal'dorei is canon."

"Congratulations, Orrym, we've volunteered for five minutes and the sky is on fire" slayed me.

Fire Ashari: All our friends died Dariax: That’s rough buddy

"Jokes on you, I love hugs." Robbie is now my favorite player.

"And it is said, to this day, there is a thief, part of the group The Nameless Ones, called Arthur who stands by the west gate, holding a silk rope, looking lovelorn, just stares out into the west. Maybe, one day, this love shall return."

In a group of chaotic Neutral characters, somehow, Liam creates a good boi and still end up the edge lord.

Gotta say, blowing a kiss for an eldritch blast is dope as hell.

i LOVE that matt has seized hold of this opportunity to just turn his brain off. "i'm legitimately not following any of this" absolutely buddy you deserve it

“Where does the spider queen live?” “Probably somewhere dark” “Oh that makes sense” They’re all so STUPID I love them 😍

Aabria: I thought you were part mountain goat. Ashley: No i'm part fainting goat.

Also, it's VERY amusing to me that the first run without Sam, Matt takes over his role of hating on the party's pet, haha.

Matt's visceral "No..." at Kansas being added to the Tal'dorei map was amazing.

Opal just really went with the other definiton of 'take the guy out'

The saying "Time is a weird soup" actually makes a lot of sense considering Fearne is from the Feywild and time has a different flow over there. As seen in CR1, VM was only in the Feywild for a couple days but in Exandria weeks had passed.

Opal (but really Aimee): "So you mean to tell me there's an actual Spider Queen?" Everyone who lives and breathes D&D: "Um... Yeah."

"How's that feel Vax'ildan?!" Man, Matt's been hanging onto that one for a while.

Dorian literally pulled a Skeletor "Joke's on you I'm into that shit" meme, Robbie is a gift and a treasure

I love Ashley's gentle voice as Fearne so much

Lol Ashley sounding like a disney princess while being a little chaos goblin 🤣🤣🤣

This party has a total of six braincells. And Orym has at least three of them.

I love that Liam got a taste of the 'Vex & Vax" issue with Dorian and Dariax. It was fate.

"Can you stick a fist in the ash hole?" "start with a couple fingers." I'm dying

This campaign goes to show why I love brand new players, they try shit experienced players don't do. Experienced players don't try to change the channel on the vision they're having from their Warlock patron! XD

Matthew Mercer himself asking where the Feywild is just the *WILDEST THING.*

Aabria: "you're all breathing heavy because of the ash" Matt: "why because it's magic??" Aabria: "no...it's...just ash"

Opal: "You took my magic!?" Ted: "I am your magic bitch!" I love them 😂👍

Robbie yelling out *_"OPAL, GET HIM!!!"_* sends me into hysterics every time I watch this. So good.

Underrated moment of this episode is Robbie screaming "OPAL GET HIM! GET HIM OPAL!" as he's desperately grappling one Nameless One while Opal is trying to convince Arthur to go get drinks with her.

Vox Machina: The inspiring classic film to start a franchise. Mighty Nein: The mainstream successful blockbuster sequel. Exandria Unlimited: The loosely related Saturday morning TV cartoon spin-off.

Everyone keeps talking about how Matt made a silly dumb character, but no one is talking about how he specifically chose cleric spells to be the healer of the group while avoiding wisdom being his spell casting stat, and also avoiding having to have any sort of deity attachment or commitment. He's playing a one-shot joke character in a full campaign.

I can't believe when Liam complained about the names Dorian and Dariax that Matt didn't throw 5 years of 'Vex and Vax' back in his face. XD

Matt: “Just call us the Double D’s 😁” Aabria: “NO! 🙅🏾‍♀️”

Aabria - “My cool sigil is actually a butthole?” Party - “Always has been.”

Robbie: "Put your hand in the ash hole" Ashley: "I was gonna see if I could put my fist in it" Matt: "Be gentle. Start with a few fingers." Aimee: "Wait, *SPIT ON IT FIRST*" I'M FREAKING DEAD

15:15 Matt: Thaumaturgy can create a brief sound, not words Also Matt: I use Thaumaturgy to throw a full sentence.

It's so funny cause it's like Abria is like the fun aunt and everyone is like . . . "Idk . . . Matt doesn't normally let us get away with this . . ."

“Do you think they can smell…the vibranium?” I fuckin lost it.

"And that Glitterbeard looks amazing" "God Damnit!" lol! I was wondering why he had a glitterbeard!! That was such a good move!!

Matt: Aint that right lil buddy? Omar: Release me from my chains father, I must lay waste to this mortal plane.

Liam's character: "Let's start hoofing it." ...me looking at the faun for a reaction...

Yes, finally a party I can relate to, chaotic stupid.

"I have moved on spiritually from this moment" - my new life motto

Seeing the contrast between Matt's pokerface and Ashley's absolute ANTI-pokerface at the new contact reveal at the end of the episode is so good. :D

I feel like Matt made the perfect character to play in his own world. Low intelligence AND wisdom. He needs to know NOTHING. You can also see him picking up on character traits and quirks he loved from his players. Pranks/pranks between party members? Grog, Vax, and Jester. Hating the animal companion? Scanlan. Makin suboptimal choices for fun? That's Sam every PC. It's so fun to see. (let me know if there are other traits I missed)

I love how Omar cant sit still and then hes flipped n becomes incapacitated

Opal: "Could you stick a fist in the ash-hole?" Dariax: "We don't know how dangerous that could be... so maybe just take it gently." Fearne: "I could see if I could just get a fist in." Dariax: "Easy! Start with a couple fingers." Opal: "Wait! Spit on your hand first." ------ Aimee: I'm really banking on the fact that my parents will NOT be watching this episode. ------- Ashley: "I fingered the ash hole and nothing happened."

Aimee’s voice for Opal is consistent Drunk Adora and I am here for it

I love how comfy Robbie is already with just taking narrative control during combat at points

Aabria mouthing SHADE when Dariax tells Dorian that he has a more “subtle” magic is pure gold. A totally underrated moment

"It's okay. It's okay. Dirty 1." MATT THAT IS NOT OKAY

I wanna see a spinoff with Opal and Jester. The Jewels of Exandria.

"We solve our own problems we make" - perfect description of this group

I love that all of Ashley’s recent characters have a habit of making dire pronouncements, followed by an “I’m just kidding”.

Don't get me wrong C1 with it's Good vs. Evil was brilliant. C2 with all the morality questions was beautifully relatable. But damn do I love watching chaotic morons who make decisions based on the motto "for the LOLZ"

Matt trying to kill Mister was a such a power move.

Patrons have to be one of the best reasons to pick a Warlock. Their relationships can be so unique like Fjord and Uk'otoa having this eldritch being sleeping and manipulating his desires and makes him believe he is powerless, and then we have opal and ted which are the embodiment of the "this is why mom doesn't fucking love you" vine.

Matt: turns Omar upside down, put unrefined residuum on his teeth, his eyes turn black, broke his spear..all in one episode..utter chaos..loved it

"We're a very chaotic group." What was your first hint matt!? The rooftop spear pissing contest?! Was it the mid-combat voyeuristic shibari?! The tasting of rocks?! The plant eating fire monkey!?

I LOVE how Aimee just nails the Spider Queen thing unknowingly. such a great moment! Of course that is kind of a logical thing to guess based on what the vision was, but still cool.

I kinda feel like Aabria’s challenges to Comfy Matt are gonna be filling in for Sam’s shenanigans

Liam: I hate that your names are Dorian and Dariax. It's so confusing Mercer thinking: revenge Vax, revenge

Matt: *maintains a master pokerface as much as possible when his characters make decisions so as not to give away what the consequences will be* Aabria: It’s going to go SO badly if he falls in there, PLEASE do something! I love them both. 😂

Matt using his inspiration to persuade a fire monkey to like him after rolling 2s and 3s all night is priceless.

"Probably someplace dark... that's all I got" says Matthew Mercer who has the entire lore of Exandria imprinted onto his brain.

Ashlee: "When you don't know how something works, you just throw a bunch of stuff at it and see what sticks." Mercer: "The scientific method" As a researcher, yes, that is exactly how it is done...

watching aimee carrero be new to d&d and do her best and be great at what she's doing gives me comfort in starting my first actual campaign one day

Matt's "That's rough buddy" went completely unnoticed.

"Joke's on you, I love hugs!" and "Are they gentrifying you too?!" are my two favorite comments from this ep. :D

When Aabria accidentally revealed the monster's identity, I felt that. As a DM I felt that.

Orym DOES have magic powers. He's a Good Halfling Fighter. It's called Likeability. Kept Samwise Gamgee alive.

36:32 "Praise Taliesin..." Well, now you've made him even more powerful.

"You think you could.... put your hands in the ash hole?" *everyone fuckin loses it*

Aabria: *provides an awful set of options between staying near the city where people are trying to murder them or walking through the dead of night* Also Aabria: *grinning*

"The thieves in Emon are into public-bondage-group-sex" is not a sentence i expected to think about while watching a D&D game xD

Ashley trying to contain her excitement when Keyleth and Vox Machina come up is the cutest thing ever.

I'm so happy to see Matt playing. He so clearly just loves the game. Reminding himself and his fellows that they have disadvantage on initiative and rolling with his 4. THAT is how you play D&D.

Okay, so when Robbie goes "You want to return to the scene of a *triple* murder..." I said to myself "quadruple" and then not *two seconds later* Aabria says the same thing 😂 I love that

Love how Dariax personifies " No thoughts just vibes."

I'm definitely adding "I've moved on spirituality from this moment" into my vocabulary.

3:22:06 Can we appreciate Liam's growl here, I had to replay it several times

'Time is a weird soup' - it's so charming that Ashley remembered that

Matthew Mercer once said... "Is Shibari an action?"

Still waiting for the Sam Riegel Shirts on Matt

Fearne about the Anhkeg: "It's just a baby. How would you like it if you were in a cage as a baby?" 30 seconds later: "We can just let it loose." So, Fearne's solution to finding a baby in a cage is to just let it loose into the city. .... This tracks.

This is definently the most Terry Pratchett of critical role series. The comedic humor feels very discworld to me and I love it.

Dariax is channeling Scanlan's spirit by trying to murder the party pet at every opportune moment

“Well, how would you feel if you were a baby left in prison? It’d be awful.” - Fearne “Jokes on you! I love hugs!” - Dorian “It’s really fun to just take a little bit every day.” - Fearne about Suude “I’m going to change the channel chapter.” - Opal - Opal: “We killed their vibes.” Dorian: “By killing them.” Dariax: “Vibe ends pretty abruptly by that point.” - “Orym, I don’t doubt that they’re good people, but we have a guild of murderers, assassins, and thieves after us, we’re in possession of an incredibly powerful, dangerous item that I don’t just want to give away, we found illegal drug precursors. And now, what, we’re going to fix their crater problem too?” - Dorian “That’s rough, buddy.” - Dariax channeling his inner Zuko “Congratulations, Orym, we volunteered five minutes and the sky’s on fire.” - Dorian

Some of Dorian's gems (minor spoilers): 26:31 I'm going to look at my group and say "I'm sorry" with my eyes. 35:56 "Jokes on you. I love hugs." ❤ [Chef's kiss]

Aabira: I'm sorry did I fucking stutter? Me: having to pause the video because I can't hear the video through my own laughter

“Oh No Plateau…” *You get inspiration!* “The Double D’s…” *No! [Says it herself] NOOoooo!* “Ash Hole…” *You get Inspiration!* “But Matt said it first.” *You both get Inspiration!*