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Legend of Vox Machina Seasons 1 & 2
301 Plays6 days ago
The third season of Amazon and Critical Role's hit animated series The Legend of Vox Machina is just around the corner and it was the perfect excuse to bring on our friend and resident Critter, Jeff Randle for a deep dive into all things Vox Machina. We tackle just about everything and every character across the show's first two seasons, as we prepare for an epic third outing! Season 3 begins airing Oct 3 on Prime Video.
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Transcript
Overview of Legend of Vox Machina Seasons 1 & 2
00:00:02
jscotty4reel
On another exciting entry of animation deliberation, gather round for a tale that can be described as nothing short of legendary.
00:00:10
Jeff Randle
Legend and Ray.
00:00:10
jscotty4reel
That's right, at long last we're venturing to the realm of Tal Dori to discuss Amazon and critical roles, the legend of Vox Machina, the first two seasons anyway, in preparation for the third season which begins airing October 3rd.
00:00:23
jscotty4reel
And we'll do so right after this.
00:00:27
Jeff Randle
It's actually pronounced how-doh-ray.
00:00:30
jscotty4reel
Tal'Dorei, excuse me.
00:00:35
jscotty4reel
Singing the words if you sing along, if you know the words. One, two, three, it's time for animation, deliberation, a conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series. Yeah.
00:00:54
Jeff Randle
I don't know the words, but but I like it.
00:00:56
jscotty4reel
That's okay.
00:00:57
Jeff Randle
I like it nonetheless.
00:00:59
jscotty4reel
Well, thank you. I appreciate it. I was tempted to try and throw a little bit of a Scanlon flare on there, but I did not have the confidence to do that.
00:01:05
jscotty4reel
He's got quite the falsetto.
00:01:07
Jeff Randle
Oh, he does.
00:01:08
Jeff Randle
He does.
00:01:08
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:01:09
Jeff Randle
It's hard to compete with with Sam Riegel.
00:01:11
jscotty4reel
That's right, that's right.
Introduction of Jeff Randall and Vox Machina Cosplay
00:01:12
jscotty4reel
Well, speaking of notable and recognizable voices, I'm sure the listeners recognize that voice, but for posterity's sake, my name is Jay Scotty St.
00:01:23
jscotty4reel
Clair, your host of Animation Deliberation. I am excited to be joined by Jeff Randall. Welcome back to the show, Jeff.
00:01:30
Jeff Randle
Yeah, people know your voice. That's exciting. Sorry.
00:01:35
jscotty4reel
I was referring to you, but you're very kind.
00:01:37
Jeff Randle
i I figured you probably were, but I wanted to, I always try to like differ the spotlight, like, oh, look over there.
00:01:42
jscotty4reel
Yes.
00:01:44
Jeff Randle
And then I just, you know, go to the right.
00:01:46
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah. Well, definitely appreciate you being here. yourre I wanted to bring you in because you're kind of the resident Vox Machina expert, at least in my estimation. We recently attended DragonCon together and seeing all the cosplayers, one thing that really stuck out to me was your ability to just recognize character after character after character, specifically the Vox Machina as I remember your interaction with the guy that was dressed up as Scanlan specifically as being, you know, one of the highlights.
00:02:16
Jeff Randle
That was a good one. That was a good one.
00:02:17
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:02:17
Jeff Randle
He had a ah he had his little recorder and played the the theme, or the you know the the melody of the theme, I guess, from from The Legend of Vox Machina, which
00:02:26
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:02:29
Jeff Randle
was adorable to to watch. like that' The amount of love someone has for a property, for a series, for like for an IP, to dress as a character who would be able to play the song and then learn to play the song on a random instrument, it fills my heart with joy, much the same way that the series does.
00:02:38
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh. Sure. Yeah.
00:02:52
jscotty4reel
Absolutely.
00:02:54
Jeff Randle
so
00:02:55
jscotty4reel
Oh, for sure. For sure. And I imagine some of our listeners are filled with joy just at the fact that we're finally covering this thing. I know we've had a few listeners that have been clamoring for us to talk about Legend of Vox Machina since before it was even announced.
00:03:05
Jeff Randle
Oh.
00:03:07
jscotty4reel
And I want to call out specifically TJ Stafford. I know he's one of our big critters within the the Stranded Panda community. So this one's for you, TJ.
00:03:15
Jeff Randle
Yeah. and And the others, but mostly TJ.
00:03:18
jscotty4reel
The others as well. Yeah. The others as well. So, uh, you know, I, I did kind of introduce you as the resident expert here, but I have, you know, watched the first two seasons, enjoyed them very, very much so.
Jeff's Experience with D&D and Favorite Character, Grog
00:03:31
jscotty4reel
And I'm definitely looking forward to the third season, but I do want to hear from you. Uh, we've kind of talked about in passing, but what is your reception to the series? What is your kind of relationship to this series?
00:03:43
jscotty4reel
And, uh, yeah.
00:03:44
Jeff Randle
So I okay, I'm a ah ah long time D and&D player and like, at least 20 years now that I've been playing D and&D.
00:03:50
jscotty4reel
Okay. Wow.
00:03:57
Jeff Randle
You know, and and the One of the things that I always point to is like the the thing that like so makes my heart swell is my favorite character from this series is Grog, and you know as as it should be.
00:04:09
jscotty4reel
Okay. Sure.
00:04:11
Jeff Randle
But Grog is a Goliath barbarian at you know the the race and character class, and Goliath barbarian was my first character.
00:04:14
jscotty4reel
Uh huh.
00:04:22
Jeff Randle
combination. He was a nine foot Goliath barbarian, ended up like much the same way like there's a point in the like one of the flashbacks when they're talking around a campfire of how like Grog tore the tongue out of a bullet and there was a there was a situation where in that first campaign that I was playing in we actually also encountered a bullet and took the the armor from the head
00:04:23
jscotty4reel
okay.
00:04:37
jscotty4reel
Oh yes, yes.
00:04:49
Jeff Randle
and just kind of like put that on my character's back so he had a bullet head back shield so he basically just could not be attacked from behind he couldn't be flanked it was great
00:04:52
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:04:59
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay. So it was almost faded.
00:05:03
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:05:03
Jeff Randle
Yeah, it was it was almost faded. So long time player of D and&D, and then I came across Critical Role very late in their first campaign.
00:05:05
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:14
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:05:15
Jeff Randle
I just, I hadn't been, you know, I had not happened upon the, what is the term that I'm looking for? ah ah I kind of want to say dynamo, like this incredible, like, can yeah this incredible,
Origin of Critical Role and Its Growth
00:05:34
Jeff Randle
conglomeration of of fates happening in front of you as the the thing comes about.
00:05:34
jscotty4reel
Conglomerate. and Okay. Uh-huh.
00:05:41
Jeff Randle
And the just, I started, like I was kind of, I happened upon it on Twitch and watched some of it and was like, okay, I gotta start this from the beginning.
00:05:51
Jeff Randle
and like Went and found them on on YouTube.
00:05:51
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay.
00:05:55
Jeff Randle
And unfortunately have not gotten all the way through the first campaign. I'm actually about in the first campaign just a little bit ahead of where the show is as far as like events.
00:06:08
jscotty4reel
Interesting. Okay.
00:06:10
Jeff Randle
But i I caught like the end like I caught live the end of campaign one. I watched all of campaign two. And I'm like a year ago.
00:06:22
Jeff Randle
No, I'm actually a couple of years behind on campaign three.
00:06:26
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:06:27
Jeff Randle
But yeah I took part of their in their Kickstarter that they had that they had gotten you know together to to make this show happen.
00:06:33
jscotty4reel
Uh huh.
00:06:36
Jeff Randle
And you know the Critter community is such a huge and and crazy thing that like You know, when when you're when you're thinking like, OK, this thing started on Twitch and they put together a Kickstarter because they wanted to to to work together to build a series.
00:06:52
Jeff Randle
And it was it was just going to be like a few episodes, a few episodes, like one arc of an animated thing.
00:06:56
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh. Okay.
00:07:00
Jeff Randle
And it was gonna be like the the Briarwoods arc, which was arguably one of the best arcs in the in the show and the Critter community came out in such a ridiculously amazing way and They were they were basically just making up stretch goals as they went along because they had already blown away and their initial estimates of like what they thought they could do so they were like okay we're go this thing and this thing and let's make up something else and one more thing and then it eventually got to the point where it was like okay we're actually just gonna do a whole series now like
00:07:04
jscotty4reel
Sure. Sure. Sure.
00:07:35
jscotty4reel
That's awesome.
00:07:36
Jeff Randle
We're going to do the the vok or the the Briarwoods arc, but then like let's also do more of it and more of it and more of it. And then before the series even hit release, like before they were even you know they had identified that they were going to have a like a release date, Amazon had picked them up and said, do another season.
00:07:56
jscotty4reel
Wow.
Kickstarter Success and Amazon Series Pickup
00:07:57
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:07:57
Jeff Randle
gotten two seasons before the first one had even aired and like i think they ended up raising like over 11 million dollars on their kickstarter campaign and it was it's insane that such a kismet thing happened like the the dnd world is is so big now because of the amount of the amount of love that they have garnered for it i believe at least because
00:08:05
jscotty4reel
Wow.
00:08:26
Jeff Randle
Critical Role has been such a yeah such a has caused such a shift in like the the nerd community to show like it's not just number crunching.
00:08:39
jscotty4reel
Hmm.
00:08:39
Jeff Randle
It's like, let me build a character that can be min-maxed all the way. I've got 15 attacks in one turn, and I'm going to obliterate anything. It's all.
00:08:51
Jeff Randle
character growth and interaction.
00:08:52
jscotty4reel
Sure. Sure.
00:08:54
Jeff Randle
And like they've shown that you know when you care about role-playing, it can change the game. It can change you like as a person.
00:09:01
jscotty4reel
Hmm. Oh yeah.
00:09:04
Jeff Randle
And just so much has has come out of this. And like it's and it's it's caused basically an entirely new genre of internet streaming television.
00:09:14
jscotty4reel
Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
00:09:16
Jeff Randle
And it's it's remarkable to have watched all of this grow. And I hate to to say the story like, oh, you know, I had that idea. But like around the time that they were that they were starting, I was like, you know, guys, so like I was talking to my D and&D group i was like, you know, guys, it'd be really.
00:09:28
jscotty4reel
Oh yeah.
00:09:33
Jeff Randle
I think it would be funny. I think people would enjoy a camera at our table as we're playing the this this game. And then they did it and I was like, see, see, I told you. But now like now it's too late to be like, I had the idea. like you know it's It's way too late for that. I just i would i would love to grab onto the coattails and just ride that along.
00:09:59
jscotty4reel
Sure, sure. I would push back and say it's never too late. I would say the the D and&D streaming space has probably come a little bit more saturated since you had that idea originally.
00:10:08
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:10:09
jscotty4reel
But you know if if you're passionate about it, it's not too late.
00:10:09
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:10:12
jscotty4reel
It's never too late. But you you brought up a few things there that I want to kind of address. You provided a lot of context, context, with which I appreciate.
00:10:17
Jeff Randle
Yeah, I gushed for a while.
00:10:19
jscotty4reel
ah But the fact that you've been playing, no it's it's all good. I enjoyed it. But the fact that you bring up that you've been playing D and&D for 20 years, like that made me think I've actually never played a single game of D and&D.
00:10:32
Jeff Randle
Oh.
00:10:32
jscotty4reel
I have always been on the periphery for about as long as you've been playing. I have been on the periphery of D and&D. I've always had friends that played it, that were super into it, had friends promise to bring me in on the next campaign and did just just for whatever reason, never worked out.
00:10:47
jscotty4reel
And you know some of that was my fault. When I was younger, it it felt like you were talking about the number crunching. When I realized how much math was involved, I was like, oh I just want to use my imagination. I didn't know I was going to have to math today.
00:10:59
Jeff Randle
was I was promised there would be no math.
00:11:02
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah. But I really did love the story about your your first character and the the connection to to Grog there. Because in preparation for this podcast and with my my interest in D and&D and always being on the periphery, I did i was curious. I was like, OK, if I were to make a character, what kind of character would I make? So I found this. this test online.
00:11:22
jscotty4reel
It was like 14 pages of various questions. I was actually surprised by some of the questions at some point. I was like, am I going to be put on a government list with some of these questions? It was like, would you kill the president of the United States for an exorbitant amount of money?
00:11:37
jscotty4reel
They really got out there, but I wanted to share my results because you said you were a Goliath giant.
00:11:39
Jeff Randle
Sure.
00:11:42
jscotty4reel
Is that correct?
00:11:42
Jeff Randle
Goliath Barbarian.
00:11:43
jscotty4reel
Barbarian excuse me. Okay, so I came in as neutral good level four My race would be a halfling and my first class as a paladin my secondary class as a sorcerer Yes, yeah Okay, okay, very cool
00:11:45
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:11:55
Jeff Randle
paladin sorcerer okay lots of charisma lots of charisma going into that I could see that I could see that because the sorcerer is a charisma based caster usually fairly squishy so there's a little there there's not as much crossover with the paladin because there's like a Like if you're multiclasing into paladin, you have to have a strength of at least 13, which, you know, you got to be a little buff to wear that plate armor, carry it around.
00:12:20
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay.
00:12:25
Jeff Randle
But a halfling paladin sorcerer is just like all about the charisma. Here's the real question. Which deity would you follow as the paladin?
00:12:33
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:12:37
jscotty4reel
Ooh, see that's where the, I'm i'm not indoctrinated. I'm uneducated.
00:12:41
Jeff Randle
Sure.
00:12:41
jscotty4reel
You have to educate me. What are my choices?
00:12:44
Jeff Randle
Oh, there's so many. Not only is there like are there so many within like the pantheon of like the forgotten realms, there are also other pantheons that you can go from.
00:12:51
jscotty4reel
okay gotcha gotcha gotcha uh i kind of well with my limited exposure i do i think i appreciate the aspects of ah pike's deity that she follows where it is a being of light that does offer some support but the strength and we'll we'll talk about it in more detail but the strength that she derives actually comes
00:12:56
Jeff Randle
So.
00:13:05
Jeff Randle
Mm hmm.
00:13:13
jscotty4reel
for within yourself. I like deities like that where it's not you're not 100% reliant on a higher power, but it's kind of using that faith and that higher power to maximize the strength that already with exists within myself.
00:13:25
jscotty4reel
So those lines.
00:13:26
Jeff Randle
yeah okay okay okay so that would be uh sarin ray because like it's it's a funny thing within the the show the legend of ox machina uh there they can't use the actual names of the the deities uh so like you've got the matron of ravens uh you've got
00:13:27
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:13:31
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:13:40
jscotty4reel
okay Sure.
00:13:46
Jeff Randle
the Everlight but they can't use the actual names because those are like copy written by Wizards of the Coast and they didn't have that those rights going into it so like eh whatever yeah oh god they if if Wizards gets a hold of or if they if they get wind that you're using their stuff they're gonna be like okay all right give us all the money like we need all of your money
00:13:48
jscotty4reel
Right, right. Sure, sure. Yeah, that Kickstarter will dry up real quickly if that they go that route.
00:14:10
jscotty4reel
Right, right.
00:14:15
jscotty4reel
Not just some of it, all of it.
00:14:17
Jeff Randle
All of it. The entire thing. You'll have nothing left for Tetmouse.
00:14:20
jscotty4reel
Yeah, right. All right. Well, now that we've discussed D and&D a little bit, I do want to provide a little bit more context to Critical Role. We mentioned Critical Role. We mentioned Critters. You talked about what they do. Just kind of break it down for people that may not be familiar. And correct me if I'm wrong here, but essentially, Critical Role is a collection of voice actors who are also friends.
00:14:44
jscotty4reel
that got together to start a D and&D campaign. I think they started before they started streaming and they were already like partway into the campaign.
00:14:50
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:14:52
jscotty4reel
And you mentioned campaign one, campaign two, campaign three. If I'm not mistaken, campaign one is the legend of makya and then subsequent campaigns. I think there's one called the mighty nine.
00:15:02
jscotty4reel
I think that one's actually being adapted as an animated series as well.
00:15:06
Jeff Randle
It is. it is yeah they They have just rocketed to stardom with this.
00:15:06
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay.
00:15:12
Jeff Randle
so critical role like the The campaign that became Critical Role in its infancy started in 2012.
00:15:12
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:15:17
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:15:22
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:15:22
Jeff Randle
and
00:15:23
Jeff Randle
one of one of my girlfriends sorry my girlfriend's friend one of her friends is a because it could have sounded like I said one of my girlfriends but no my girlfriend's friend who is a sound engineer over in noho He actually knows all of the Critical Role cast, like very familiar.
00:15:46
Jeff Randle
Like he records with them a lot.
00:15:47
jscotty4reel
Oh.
00:15:48
Jeff Randle
He works for one of the one of the places that they record a lot. And he was actually invited to play that game, that initial campaign with them when they were starting it.
00:15:52
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:15:59
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:16:00
Jeff Randle
And he was like, oh no, I don't play D and&D. I don't know how to, you know. And he just, he turned it down and I was like, what?
00:16:05
jscotty4reel
No, you fool.
00:16:07
Jeff Randle
What did you do?
00:16:11
Jeff Randle
And like when I learned that from him, I was like flipping tables and like, it's okay, it's fine. It's it's fine, it's fine.
00:16:19
jscotty4reel
That's funny.
00:16:20
Jeff Randle
But yeah, no, they they started playing in 2012 and they started at level three with their characters.
00:16:23
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:16:26
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:16:27
Jeff Randle
And then they started streaming as part of Geek and Sundry back in 2015, if I'm not mistaken, when they had reached level nine.
00:16:31
jscotty4reel
Right. Right.
00:16:37
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:16:38
Jeff Randle
And then they took those characters all the way up to, I think it was level 17, 18, 19, somewhere in that range.
00:16:44
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:16:45
Jeff Randle
Like crazy high level characters after they had done... Oh God, was it a hundred and... oh It was like 120, I think, episodes?
00:16:59
Jeff Randle
They were all like four to five hours long in that first campaign.
00:17:01
jscotty4reel
Wow. Okay. Okay. So when you say you're not quite through the first campaign, that makes that makes it a little more understandable.
00:17:08
Jeff Randle
Yeah, yeah, every every episode is four to five hours.
00:17:12
jscotty4reel
Wow.
00:17:14
Jeff Randle
And is like it's it's a ton of fun. it's It's a ton of fun to watch them because they are all just a bunch of voice actors, but they're all like seasoned, experienced voice actors, emphasis on the actor part, because like they know you know with their with there experience in the in the field of voice acting, they know a good story.
00:17:17
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:17:27
jscotty4reel
Right. Right.
00:17:38
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:17:38
Jeff Randle
And like they can kind of see those beats being formed and like work together to to make this story on the fly. And that's the great thing that that Critical Role does.
00:17:48
Jeff Randle
that like So many people are like, oh, it's all they're scripted, it and it's all fake. and like No, man, it's it's all just real. like It's dice on the table. The dice decide what
Exandria Unlimited and Its Connection to Critical Role
00:18:00
Jeff Randle
happens.
00:18:00
Jeff Randle
It's up to them to act out like what is going on with it and like how to react to it.
00:18:02
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:18:06
Jeff Randle
and Some things don't quite work out the way that you you know you necessarily want them to because the di the dice decide. But you know it's all live play, or not live play, but it's all actual play that has driven this story.
00:18:15
jscotty4reel
right right
00:18:21
Jeff Randle
And it took years to get through the the first one. And then they you know took a little bit of a break and then came up with new characters and made the the second campaign.
00:18:33
Jeff Randle
which was about the group called The Mighty Nein, who there is a another series being developed for The Legend of The Mighty Nein to go along with The Legend of Vox Machina.
00:18:35
jscotty4reel
Right, right. Right.
00:18:42
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:18:45
Jeff Randle
And The Mighty Nein was like 20 to 30 years after the events of Campaign 1 ended you know in that same world, but later in the timeline is when that was going on.
00:18:55
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm. OK.
00:18:59
Jeff Randle
And since then, they've they've branched out even more. they you know the the world that that critical role or the the world that the yeah The world that those campaigns are played in is called Exandria.
00:19:11
jscotty4reel
OK.
00:19:12
Jeff Randle
And there is a pair of or like a couple of miniseries called Exandria Unlimited that are a part of that that are either you know in between or uh prequel because there is uh there's an event in the big timeline known as the calamity and exandria a unlimited calamity was DMed by Brennan Lee Mulligan and uh was set like you know hundreds of years in the past uh and
00:19:30
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay.
00:19:44
Jeff Randle
was it was a ah campaign of a bunch of super powerful mage assholes basically and how they ended up ruining the world which and it was like it was a four part they knew that they had to get to the point of like destroying everything
00:19:56
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:20:01
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm.
00:20:02
Jeff Randle
and it was uh it was really like it was a solid uh solid little four-parter but it was still several hours long for each episode and then there was the the other one that was exandria unlimited uh they call it and exandria unlimited prime now but it was run by
00:20:11
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:20:20
Jeff Randle
Abrilla Iyengar. She did one that was kind of in between Campaign 2 and 3 that introduced some of the characters that are in Campaign 3, you know, that like some of the players were playing, you know, they carried those over from Exandria Unlimited into Campaign 3 that is about Bell's Hells, which is very, very likely also going to get an animated series.
00:20:46
jscotty4reel
Oh, yeah, im I'm sure with the reception that we yeah that we've had to these first two seasons.
00:20:51
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:20:51
jscotty4reel
But I want to hone in on ah ah on a couple of things you brought up.
00:20:52
Jeff Randle
sam meeting Oh yeah.
00:20:54
jscotty4reel
So you did stress and emphasize the fact that these are actors. And that's kind of what I want to emphasize. Like i I'll be honest, I don't recognize every single name is like a household name.
00:21:05
jscotty4reel
But some of these names are are huge, at least in the world of voice acting like Ashley Johnson. She did the the motion capture and the voice for Ellie. and The Last of Us, Lauren Bailey, or excuse me, Laura Bailey.
00:21:15
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:21:18
jscotty4reel
She's done so many of the the Funimation dubs. And then Matthew Mercer.
00:21:21
Jeff Randle
Kid drunks.
00:21:23
jscotty4reel
What's that?
00:21:24
Jeff Randle
Laura Bailey is kid drunks always.
00:21:26
jscotty4reel
Oh, nice. Okay.
00:21:27
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:21:27
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then, uh, Matthew Mercer, who, uh, I'm drawing a blank off of anything off the top of my head, but again, he's one of those like household names there. So, uh, I can't remember the names you mentioned that, uh, served as the dungeon masters, but I'm curious.
00:21:42
jscotty4reel
Are those like their friends that don't always participate in the campaign, other campaigns, because I don't, I don't see them on the cast list or recognize those names quite as much.
00:21:53
Jeff Randle
So those people, Brennan Lee Mulligan and Abriya Iyengar, are usually a part of Dimension 20, which is under the, I believe, the dropout brand.
00:21:57
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh. Okay.
00:22:05
jscotty4reel
Oh, College Humor.
00:22:06
jscotty4reel
Gotcha.
00:22:06
Jeff Randle
Yeah, College Humor.
00:22:07
Jeff Randle
There are shoots of College Humor and everything.
00:22:07
jscotty4reel
Okay. Yeah.
00:22:09
Jeff Randle
Brennan Lee Mulligan is probably one of the best DMs for like, shit just got crazy. you know like he he's like He's the guy that's just like, fine, yeah, it happened, I guess. like And then your arm tore off. like He gives you a choice. And like there was one part in Exandria Unlimited Calamity where he was like, do you think your arm is stronger at the shoulder or the elbow?
00:22:38
jscotty4reel
who
00:22:39
Jeff Randle
And she was like, probably the shoulder considering all the spell casting. He's like, okay, so your arm breaks away at the elbow.
00:22:46
jscotty4reel
Wow.
00:22:48
Jeff Randle
And like, he's visceral and so much fun, but he's he's one of those like eternal DM kind of guys.
00:22:53
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:22:56
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay.
00:22:57
Jeff Randle
And so having him come in, you know, gave the give it a little bit of a fresher feeling rather than Matt having to just always be the DM.
00:23:04
jscotty4reel
I see. I see. So it's kind of like always the bridesmaid, but never the bride, but you love this bridesmaid. This bridesmaid just bridesmaids the hell out of me.
00:23:12
Jeff Randle
Oh yeah, bridesmaids the hell out of being a bridesmaid.
00:23:14
jscotty4reel
Oh,
00:23:18
Jeff Randle
Yeah, and he's he's not necessarily a voice actor, but he's a hell of a DM.
00:23:21
jscotty4reel
oh okay. Cool.
00:23:24
jscotty4reel
Cool. All right.
00:23:24
Jeff Randle
Yeah, and ah ah the thing that like really, really sets Matt apart that Matt Matthew Mercer apart as a DM is that, you know, with his with with all of his experience as a voice actor, having done so many things, he's got such a resume.
00:23:30
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:23:38
jscotty4reel
Right. Right.
00:23:40
Jeff Randle
A lot of that ah ah like a lot of it also comes in that like he makes so many sounds and and like sound effect noises using just himself that like it brings you right into that scene and it is like oh there have been so many times where like ah ah somebody's at the table and they're like that sound you made is horrifying and i love it
00:23:50
jscotty4reel
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:10
jscotty4reel
Yeah, he's, he's right up there with a Fred Tatas cure because, uh, he, if I'm not mistaken, he does all of the noises for trinket, the bear, uh, Vax's or Vex's, uh, X.
00:24:13
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:24:19
Jeff Randle
Oh, yep, yep.
00:24:22
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:24:22
Jeff Randle
Vex.
00:24:23
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. Her bear there and that.
00:24:25
Jeff Randle
She's Vex.
00:24:26
jscotty4reel
Yeah. And it it does make me think of Fred Tatas cure cause a little off subject here, but just for, you know, anyone that has listened to. All of the shows we've covered here on Animation Deliberation, I just on a whim decided to start season two of Hit Monkey on Hulu and loved it.
00:24:42
jscotty4reel
I binged the whole thing in like a couple of days. So hopefully I can cover that on here too. But again, Fred Tatskyour doing the monkey grunts and everything like that.
00:24:46
Jeff Randle
Oh, wow.
00:24:50
jscotty4reel
It's just it's a talent. It's a talent.
00:24:52
Jeff Randle
It really is.
00:24:52
jscotty4reel
Not every voice actor has it. So.
00:24:54
Jeff Randle
It really, really is. And just, yeah, the the way that he does the sounds, the way that he describes the environment, and the way that he just drops right into the character is so fun to watch.
00:25:07
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah. And I actually wasn't aware of this, but just looking on the wiki, I guess with the built-in love around Matt Mercer and the fact that they are all friends, even though he doesn't always have a character to voice, I guess they made a point, one of the Easter eggs is there's always a character that is made to look like him somewhere in the episode.
00:25:26
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:25:27
jscotty4reel
So that's great.
00:25:28
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:25:29
Jeff Randle
It's either they look like him or they're voiced by him. some Matthew Mercer is there somewhere.
00:25:31
jscotty4reel
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:35
jscotty4reel
That's great. I love that.
00:25:36
Jeff Randle
Yep. Yep.
00:25:37
jscotty4reel
All right. Well, I feel like we've already you know talked about the show generally quite a bit already, but I do want to just you know have a kind of formal conversation.
Animation Quality, Voice Performances, and Character Development
00:25:48
jscotty4reel
This will be sort of the spoiler break off point. If you don't want specific spoilers, listen to maybe the next two or three minutes and then we're going to dive into specifics about characters as well as the seasons.
00:25:59
jscotty4reel
But I just wanted to provide the caveat again is not being as steeped in the material or as familiar as you I just have to say how much I love this show how much I immediately was taken with the show and it's it's everything about it it's the animation quality and style the quality of these voice performances we're talking about the character development to your point like I can think of few shows that have this many characters that all get the limelight, that all get the development, that I love every single one.
00:26:27
jscotty4reel
Usually when you have a a group like this, even smaller groups, like you've got you know your Guardians of the Galaxies and Avengers that have teams of six and four, there's always the ones that are my favorites and then the ones that I tolerate, but I'm never super passionate about.
00:26:40
jscotty4reel
I am passionate about every single one of these members.
00:26:40
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:26:42
jscotty4reel
I love them all. They're so great. they don't hold back anything.
00:26:47
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:26:47
jscotty4reel
that And that's what I gotta say as well. This show is not for kids. they Sexual jokes, cussing all the time, the violence to your point, talking about removing limbs at the shoulder or the elbow, you see a lot of gore in this thing.
00:27:00
jscotty4reel
and I think it all just comes together to create such a satisfying aesthetic that just draws you in and and keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you're not laughing, you're caring about the fate of your characters or you know your your heart's breaking for them.
00:27:14
jscotty4reel
It's it's just so well done.
00:27:15
Jeff Randle
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there are so many moments where I i feel the chills running you know up my spine and down my arms. And I'm like, why is this animated series about a bunch of a-holes affecting me in this way?
00:27:30
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:31
Jeff Randle
like Why am I letting this happen?
00:27:33
jscotty4reel
Yeah. I think about that opening seat, the very first sequence that we get exposed to them when they're in the bar drinking and Keyleth barfs by the end of like their, their interactions like, yeah, these are our legendary heroes.
00:27:44
Jeff Randle
yep yep ye and then in the fight she barbs in that guy's mouth
00:27:49
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:27:50
Jeff Randle
like as he's roaring at her but
00:27:51
jscotty4reel
That's what happened. Yeah. That's what it was. Yeah.
00:27:56
Jeff Randle
It's so gross.
00:27:56
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:27:57
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:27:58
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:27:59
Jeff Randle
But like the the opening sequence of the show itself, like not even the first scene that we see these characters in, the cold open is like it so much shows you exactly what this show is going to be and how not for kids it's going to be.
00:28:05
jscotty4reel
Oh, the cold open, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:28:13
jscotty4reel
Oh, sure.
00:28:16
Jeff Randle
Like all these you know epic heroes standing on a hilltop, one of them just gets immediately crushed and blood spatter everywhere. And then you hear, what the fuck?
00:28:27
jscotty4reel
Yeah. I felt like that opening party was meant to kind of mimic the Lord of the Rings pastiche. Like there's a guy that clearly looks like Gandalf and you're like, Oh, okay.
00:28:33
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:28:36
jscotty4reel
These are our heroes surely.
00:28:38
Jeff Randle
Surely that's got to be the heroes. Nope.
00:28:41
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:28:42
Jeff Randle
Gandalf gets his head ripped in two and then like thrown the top i half gets thrown onto Frodo's head like you you. so
00:28:53
jscotty4reel
yeah Yeah. So we've already talked started talking about season one a little bit and you kind of already answered this question. We talked a little bit off air. I asked you like, who is your favorite character and why is it Grog?
00:29:04
Jeff Randle
Yeah, absolutely. It's Grog because I have such a strong connection to Grog. And I mean, there's also like, Travis Willingham, who voices Grog, who played Grog in the in the first campaign.
00:29:18
jscotty4reel
Yes.
00:29:19
Jeff Randle
He is one of the most common voices of Thor in animation and video games so like Travis Willingham has like my voice actor heart basically he like he's my favorite he does all of the best characters you know and then Grog is just a really fun character to watch
00:29:26
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay.
00:29:31
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's he's an absolute blast. I and don't really have a setup that makes sense, but I'd like to hear if you have a good grog, cause like you talking about Travis Willingham being kind of like your, your spirit voice actor.
00:30:01
jscotty4reel
I feel like you've got a good grog.
00:30:02
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:30:03
jscotty4reel
Let's hear it.
00:30:03
Jeff Randle
Oh, well, I mean, I have an intelligence of six. I know what I'm doing here. Like that was that was definitely that was definitely one of the lines that he that he ran.
00:30:09
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:30:14
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:30:14
Jeff Randle
And whenever when when we were at Dragon Con, there was somebody who had a an intellect devourer just like crawling around on the floor, like brain with legs.
00:30:25
jscotty4reel
Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that. Yeah.
00:30:25
Jeff Randle
Imagine.
00:30:26
Jeff Randle
And I was like, I immediately switched on the grog. I was like, I got an intelligence of six. I got to get out of here. Is things going to devour my brain and take over my body?
00:30:37
Jeff Randle
I don't want that.
00:30:39
jscotty4reel
I recall that. Yeah.
00:30:41
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:30:41
jscotty4reel
Really well done, really well done. Well, for me, it's it's interesting, because when I started season one, I remember, like again, all of the characters were
Character Arcs of Percy and Vax
00:30:50
jscotty4reel
resonating with me. I liked them all.
00:30:51
jscotty4reel
They're all bad ass. But Percy, for whatever reason, kind of caught my eye. I was like, OK, Vax and Percy here.
00:30:56
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:31:00
jscotty4reel
Which one am I going to like more? And I just decided, I'm like, I'm going to go for Percy.
00:31:02
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:31:03
jscotty4reel
I'm going to go for Percy. So I was really delighted how that first season, like after the first two, three episodes, like After that, it's all about his backstory with the the briarwood Briarwoods and Whitestone.
00:31:12
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:31:16
jscotty4reel
And we'll talk about that specifically. But then right when I had like decided that Percy was my favorite, we get into season two, where all of the characters, you get more of their backstory.
00:31:25
jscotty4reel
And I become even more conflicted. And then Vax becomes even more of a cooler character to where I'm like, I'm right back to where I started.
00:31:31
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:31:33
jscotty4reel
I don't know which one I like better. They're both so cool.
00:31:36
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:31:36
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:31:37
Jeff Randle
And like Vax's arc and growth into the Champion of the Raven Queen is something like
00:31:44
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:31:50
Jeff Randle
something amazing to to watch, like even even when they were doing it on stream, like when that character was was going through that, he eventually, like he started as just, you know, half elf rogue, like standard rogue half elf character, like the most basic of D and&D characters that you can put together.
00:32:02
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:32:09
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:32:09
Jeff Randle
But then like the the character choices and that arc brought him into also being a paladin and a paladin of the matron of ravens and like really drove an interesting character arc into this like really complex person that was that was shown on screen.
00:32:18
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:32:30
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:32:33
jscotty4reel
yeah Yeah, I like what you bring up there ah specifically specifically about the mother of Ravens, because as I'm talking about Percy and Vax here, what I noted about them, I was like, oh, both of these guys are kind of like haunted by this like otherworldly spirit that's giving them powers to achieve the means to their ends. But I think the real difference there is that Vax does his not for revenge, but like self sacrifice to bring his sister back.
00:32:59
jscotty4reel
And then as we learn more about the matron of Raven, she's like, Hey, I'm not a evil God.
00:32:59
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:33:04
jscotty4reel
I'm just the God of death and death is a natural part of life. Yeah. Yeah. It's she's, she's skirting that line for sure.
00:33:09
Jeff Randle
I mean. no Well, no, she's not necessarily evil.
00:33:14
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:33:14
Jeff Randle
She's not evil, right? like like but She she cares about maintaining that line between life and death because that line between life and death and crossing over, that death gives life meaning from what she says.
00:33:16
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:33:24
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:33:30
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:33:31
Jeff Randle
and she very much hates undeath because that is uh you know necromancy and undeath in that way uh and and bringing about you know zombies whatever like that very much goes against the the sanctity that violates the sanctity of that line between life and death but very specifically in the campaign at least she is
00:33:48
jscotty4reel
sure
00:33:55
Jeff Randle
she's not the goddess of de specifically she's she's the goddess that rules over that moment between life and death that crossing over point uh that transition and uh in a really uh deep or an interesting deep lore thing she actually was not the original goddess
00:34:03
jscotty4reel
Okay. Mmm, okay.
00:34:17
Jeff Randle
of that moment. She actually was a sorcerer wizard that like, you know, way back before the calamity had actually elevated herself and like ascended.
00:34:32
Jeff Randle
That's the word she had ascended
00:34:33
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:34:34
Jeff Randle
from from just being a human into that role had and like ended up having to erase the original God's name from everyone's mind and every record ever everywhere, like expunge their existence in order to take over that role as the mother of ravens, as that that goddess of the brink.
00:34:53
jscotty4reel
Wow.
00:34:59
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:35:00
Jeff Randle
And so like she's got a history too that I would love to see, you know, brought to light and and in animation.
Transition from Season 1 to Season 2
00:35:07
jscotty4reel
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. and And that's the thing about this series while we don't get all that context, like the world building is is just there. And i I noticed a progression from season one to season two, while I loved how focused and kind of singular and smaller season one was really like, you know, focusing in on that backstory with the Briarwoods and Whitestone focusing on Percy as the the story just gets bigger and more epic with season two. Not only are we learning little bits about the backstories of all of our characters now, but the threat just looms that much larger.
00:35:43
jscotty4reel
not We're not just dealing with a single community now. It is entire
00:35:47
jscotty4reel
is Its existence is threatened by the emergence of these dragons, ah the Chroma Conclave. and yeah everything that goes along with that. So ah getting exposed to the herd, you know, Grog's backstory there and seeing where he came from and how he came to to meet Pike and how she really helped him become the the character that he is. Yeah, really, really good stuff.
00:36:00
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:36:10
Jeff Randle
Yeah, that's one of the the things that I absolutely love about the animated series is that not only do you get that backstory, you know, shown not told, but you get the other part, like kind of the the other side of the coin that you don't get during the campaign as you're watching it play it out, you know, on YouTube, Twitch, whatever.
00:36:19
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:36:28
jscotty4reel
Hmm.
00:36:32
Jeff Randle
You don't get the the parts that are like what the the bad guy is doing what machinations They're putting in place how you know the chroma conclave interacts within You know within that council like with each other you don't see know what dr.
00:36:40
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:36:46
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm.
00:36:50
Jeff Randle
Anna Ripley is is doing you know when she's off wherever she's off at you know like you don't see
00:36:56
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:36:58
Jeff Randle
in the campaign what they're doing to to make things harder for the heroes but you get to see that in in the animated show and it just gives so much greater depth to it and and like like you said builds that world out
00:37:03
jscotty4reel
right right
00:37:15
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah. And I'm curious, you know, with the stellar voice cast that we have here in the collection of such lovable characters, we do have some notable guests that come in to to voice some actors. And I have to imagine, you know, they factor whether or not they're voiced by those characters in the original campaign.
00:37:34
jscotty4reel
Uh, I have to imagine that they factor in and I am curious about, you know, maybe some of the liberties that were taken or some of the changes, but in season one, we had David Tennant in the first couple of episodes.
00:37:45
jscotty4reel
They're voicing, uh, brim scythe doing putting on his Scottish brogue and in the best way.
00:37:51
Jeff Randle
General Creek, yeah.
00:37:52
jscotty4reel
Yes.
00:37:52
Jeff Randle
That part of the of the story was actually all pre-stream.
00:37:53
jscotty4reel
Yes.
00:37:58
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:37:59
Jeff Randle
And like if you want to... oh oh my big Sorry.
00:38:05
jscotty4reel
Oh, good.
00:38:05
Jeff Randle
If you want to to get that story you know in its original context, your best bet is to to get the comic books that Vox Machina has.
00:38:15
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay.
00:38:18
Jeff Randle
And like you know there are like Vox Machina origins comic books that tell more of the story of the twins and the various other stuff.
00:38:22
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh. Okay.
00:38:27
Jeff Randle
But like the comics, you know the pre-stream comics are the the only real way that you can get that like more of that story.
00:38:34
jscotty4reel
Hmm. Okay. Okay. Good to know. Uh, another one that comes to mind is I know Dominic Monaghan voiced like Percy's old buddy that he kind of used to run around the castle with, uh, I can't remember the character's name, but he's kind of the leader, the pseudo leader of the revolution in, uh, in Whitestone.
00:38:51
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. of these, all of the characters originally voiced by Matthew Mercer and you know he they they they can't have Matthew Mercer do everyone.
00:38:58
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay. Nice.
00:39:04
Jeff Randle
and So they're just like, let's find people. But there there are a couple that Matthew Mercer does himself, you know like Lord Briarwood.
00:39:09
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:39:16
Jeff Randle
you know Silas Briarwood is voiced by Matthew Mercer.
00:39:17
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:39:20
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:39:20
Jeff Randle
He does the voice of Umbrasil in the second season.
00:39:22
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay.
00:39:25
Jeff Randle
like it's he He picks some like really big, important characters to to be.
00:39:31
jscotty4reel
Mmhmm.
00:39:33
Jeff Randle
and like the the the smoothness, the suave, the like, that cool malice that he exudes as Silas Briarwood is one of the best things that I can think of that he's done, you know?
00:39:53
jscotty4reel
Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. He definitely laid on that. There's a certain warmth to his delivery with Silas, but the danger and the venom behind it is never lost.
00:40:03
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:40:06
jscotty4reel
So yeah, yeah, he's he's incredible.
00:40:06
Jeff Randle
Absolutely. Yeah.
00:40:09
jscotty4reel
He's incredible. All right. Well, at this point, I feel like we've kind of ah ah collectively talked about, you know, largely what takes place between season one and season two. But real quickly, I figured it'd be worth kind of running down each of the characters and and just kind of like talking about where they started, they went through and where they're going just so nobody gets left off the table here because there are a lot of characters that would be an easy thing to do.
00:40:31
jscotty4reel
So I'll just we'll we'll start with with Vex. So yes, yes, I think she's one of the
00:40:34
Jeff Randle
Vex'ahlia. Yeah.
00:40:39
jscotty4reel
She feels like a leader in in the group even though at this point.
00:40:41
Jeff Randle
yeah
00:40:43
jscotty4reel
She's not necessarily been given like a Story arc of her own. We certainly have seen more of her past I and I guess one of those story elements We haven't really talked about is in the second season the
Vex's Role and Relationships within Vox Machina
00:40:55
jscotty4reel
emergence of these vestiges which I have to imagine is going to play into into and into the third season here as well because it seems like they're collecting them and But she got the bow and arrow, Ventris, correct, yes.
00:41:05
Jeff Randle
Fenthras. Yep.
00:41:07
jscotty4reel
And then apart from you know being twin brothers or twin siblings with Vax there and you know the falling out that she had with her father, I did find when she was introduced to her younger half sister,
00:41:21
jscotty4reel
the initial cold and distance that was there, how she was able to kind of see beyond herself and actually offer that warmth to that sibling. That was one of the standout moments for me in season two. But ah apart from that, I would say it's never been super the the the focus, but there's definitely the hint of a romance between she and Percy.
00:41:43
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah, you see in that.
00:41:45
jscotty4reel
I'm seeing that. I know it's a, I know I'm like a sleuth over here.
00:41:46
Jeff Randle
All right.
00:41:51
Jeff Randle
Yeah, you're you're picking that up.
00:41:55
jscotty4reel
ah mean, they call each other darling and and stuff like that.
00:41:57
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah. I mean, she calls everybody darling at one point, right?
00:42:00
jscotty4reel
For sure. For sure.
00:42:01
Jeff Randle
She like, in the in the campaign, it was so funny, like, Laura was always the one that was just like, all right, so we're going to bargain, we're going to, you and I are going to do a bit of haggling.
00:42:14
Jeff Randle
So she was always the one to, to like, Bring like completely break Matthew Mercer under the weight of her like miserly ways Like not pay never pay full price There was an arc in in the campaign.
00:42:26
jscotty4reel
Okay, I love that. I love that.
00:42:32
Jeff Randle
That was so funny that Scanlon when they went to on corral and ah ah They had gone to Ankarel to talk to Jamansa Ord, who was...
00:42:48
Jeff Randle
I don't want to spoil it necessarily, but he's the the leader of that town, that city.
00:42:55
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:42:57
Jeff Randle
And one of the people that they know from back in Iman was like, hey, if you...
00:43:02
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm.
00:43:05
Jeff Randle
you're going to you're going to Ankarelle if you could pick up some spice that would be great like just you know like a cooking spice basically is what he he meant he's like i would love to have some spice from back home they don't have that here and Scanlan just assumed that he meant drugs like like obviously it's drugs so like he's going around to like the shadiest people i mean like
00:43:10
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:43:16
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:43:29
Jeff Randle
You got any spice? Hey, man, I'm looking for some spice, you know what I mean?
00:43:34
jscotty4reel
Yeah, it can be the dune spice.
00:43:34
Jeff Randle
And like he ended up.
00:43:35
jscotty4reel
It can be the star Wars spice. It's all good.
00:43:37
Jeff Randle
Yeah, exactly like and he ended up paying like 10 times the actual amount because like or like 10 times the value of it because he just got raked over the coals and like never told Vex anything about it until the end.
00:43:52
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:43:52
Jeff Randle
And he's just like, it was such a bad time it was so awful and she's like did you learn anything he's like yeah i guess that's she's like okay never do that stupid shit again let's go and she's she's basically the mother of the idiots you know
00:44:01
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:44:11
jscotty4reel
Oh, for sure. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:15
Jeff Randle
She's always trying to make sure that nobody pays full price, nobody gets screwed over in any way, everybody's taken care of. And then that motherly instinct does come out, like you said, with the the the younger half-sister, and that relationship only grows.
00:44:22
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:44:33
jscotty4reel
Oh, okay.
00:44:34
Jeff Randle
i will I'm trying not to spoil it, because it does become important.
00:44:36
jscotty4reel
Okay. Good to know. Good to know. Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you brought the motherly presence up because when I said leader, I think that's kind of what I'm i'm honing in on there. It does feel like a motherly kind of protective presence there, but I am reminded like earlier on.
00:44:54
jscotty4reel
More so in season one, but she has conversations with with Vax. It's kind of like, hey, we've got each other's backs. Everybody else can kind of get fucked at the end of the day.
00:45:03
Jeff Randle
Right.
00:45:04
jscotty4reel
Like, if we need to cut and run, we're going to cut and run. But slowly but surely, you see that kind of go by the wayside. And with her frugality that you're mentioning there, it does bring to mind after they go see Gilroy, I believe the vendor's name is, the one that's crushing on on on Vax.
00:45:10
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:45:20
Jeff Randle
Gilmore.
00:45:21
jscotty4reel
Gilmour, not Gilroy, Gilmour.
00:45:22
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:45:23
Jeff Randle
shan gilmore yeah
00:45:24
jscotty4reel
When she, she says something along the lines of like, surely you can, you know, you offer a good price for your friends. And when they get back and they're going to take an inventory, she's like, I'd hate to see what he what what he charges people that aren't his friends or his enemies.
00:45:35
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:45:35
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:45:38
Jeff Randle
Yep. Yep. Yep. That that that interaction is so much fun. oh I love I love Gilmore as a character because like he always seems like he's just a you know a shop owner who like deals in in silly prestidigitation, but then it turns out, like no, he's a really powerful mage.
00:46:04
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:46:05
Jeff Randle
He's a big deal.
00:46:07
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:46:07
Jeff Randle
he actually he was you know when they were When they were protecting Whitestone and kind of like shrouding Whitestone to to keep it off the radar of all of the dragons,
00:46:16
jscotty4reel
Uh huh.
00:46:22
Jeff Randle
Gilmore was one of the ones that was putting a lot of the magic into that shroud to maintain it.
00:46:26
jscotty4reel
That's right. Good call.
00:46:28
jscotty4reel
That's a good call. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. That's sad. That's a great call out. He, he has that era of mystery around him where he's like, yeah, it's, it kind of reminds me of the genie a little bit where it's like, yeah, I'm gonna, we're going to be laughing and joking and stuff like that.
00:46:28
Jeff Randle
Like he's he's a bit of a big deal.
00:46:39
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:46:42
jscotty4reel
But I actually am am host to power or that is beyond your comprehension.
00:46:46
Jeff Randle
Yeah, like, well'll we'll screw around, but like, do not screw around with me.
00:46:52
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:46:54
Jeff Randle
Yup.
00:46:55
jscotty4reel
Well, know, I think it makes logical sense to pivot to Vex's, yeah, her her brother, which I think we have covered him a fair amount here.
00:46:59
Jeff Randle
Vax'ilden.
Vax's Journey and Romance with Keyleth
00:47:04
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:47:05
jscotty4reel
But
00:47:05
Jeff Randle
The champion of the matron of ravens.
00:47:09
jscotty4reel
That's right, that's right. Well, we talked a little bit about like the potential romances, but I would say that his crush, reciprocated crush with Keyleth is is definitely one of the the focuses across the two seasons without getting too much know time.
00:47:23
Jeff Randle
Mm hmm.
00:47:30
jscotty4reel
it's It's definitely there.
00:47:32
Jeff Randle
Yeah, that that was such a like when the campaign was airing, there was such a surprise to to see that happen.
00:47:36
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:47:41
Jeff Randle
But like, I have to give credit to Liam O'Brien for that, like, because as he was detailing what was happening, it was when
00:47:45
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:47:51
Jeff Randle
oh it was when Silas Briarwood had bitten him and he was like passing out from that like basically just you know fading into into death he was like as he was going unconscious uh he sees you know Keyleth beautiful Keyleth and like specifically said like beautiful Keyleth and everybody was kind of like huh
00:47:56
jscotty4reel
Uh huh. Right. Right.
00:48:15
Jeff Randle
And then it turns out like, no, that's they like he was going for the the romance you know track, so to speak, um and just kind feels like at least, he opened the door to all of that happening.
00:48:29
Jeff Randle
He opened the door for Vex and Percy ah to have a ah relationship like that. Scanlon had always been you know like,
00:48:35
jscotty4reel
Okay
00:48:42
jscotty4reel
He's a cab. Oh, okay. yeah Right.
00:48:42
Jeff Randle
flirting with Pike like Scanlan had always been flirting with Pike but like she never really reciprocated but like the door was open to like okay we can now explore like romances with these characters um and then at the end of the campaign when things happen
00:49:05
Jeff Randle
I won't, again, not spoiling. When things happen, it's like your heart is bursting from from what they're having to go through with these characters.
00:49:14
jscotty4reel
all Oh, no.
00:49:18
Jeff Randle
And like every the entire last episode of the first campaign, everybody's just weeping the whole time, right?
00:49:24
jscotty4reel
no
00:49:25
Jeff Randle
Like it's it's so emotional.
00:49:27
jscotty4reel
Oh, no.
00:49:29
Jeff Randle
Oh Oh no.
00:49:31
jscotty4reel
ah I'm going to say Scanlan doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would lay down on the wire, but as I saying i' get that's the sense I'm getting just based on the little breadcrumbs you're you're you're planning there.
00:49:37
Jeff Randle
He turns out to be.
00:49:46
jscotty4reel
Well, I guess on that note, we can, uh, we can pivot to, to Scanlon, our boy Scanlon's short land.
00:49:50
Jeff Randle
Scanlan.
00:49:51
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:49:52
Jeff Randle
Scanlan Shorthalt.
Scanlan's Growth and Heroic Development
00:49:54
Jeff Randle
Oh man, when i was when I was like rewatching the series to to kind of get ready for this conversation, just kind of refresh myself.
00:49:55
jscotty4reel
yeah
00:50:02
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:50:03
Jeff Randle
One of the things that stood out was when they were fighting on Brazil, he's like, we gotta get inside the dragon.
00:50:10
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:50:12
Jeff Randle
And Vax is responsible, like through a mouthful of acid? No. And he's like, no, no, the other way.
00:50:19
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:50:22
Jeff Randle
and Oh, it was like that didn't happen in the campaign. and They just dimension door it in into the the guts.
00:50:27
jscotty4reel
OK.
00:50:29
Jeff Randle
But like, that was a lot funnier.
00:50:32
jscotty4reel
Oh, yeah, yeah, totally worth it. Yeah, he he really is one of the primary sources of like comedic relief, especially early on. But he he does have some of the best growth and character development as we see him kind of slowly but surely
00:50:42
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:50:49
jscotty4reel
make the transition from this kind of womanizing cad to slowly but surely getting these heroic moments and and realizing that he does you know have this bravery within him.
00:50:59
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:51:00
jscotty4reel
and the And he's a super caring guy. He loves his friends. He would do anything for his friends. And while he may be the first one to suggest fleeing, when push comes to shove, he he has some of the like most epic moments across the two seasons.
00:51:14
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
00:51:14
jscotty4reel
one of those which you may not be expecting but I'm thinking back in season one where the The barbarian that's on the Briarwood side.
00:51:17
Jeff Randle
The Briarwoods.
00:51:22
Jeff Randle
Mm hmm.
00:51:23
jscotty4reel
Yes, they're on the rooftop and his he can't use either hand But he realizes that he can have Scanlon's hand effectively come out of his dick So
00:51:33
Jeff Randle
Yep, yep.
00:51:36
jscotty4reel
good
00:51:38
Jeff Randle
That harkens back to one of the first things that happens in in the the stream campaign.
00:51:46
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:51:47
Jeff Randle
So one of the things that Matthew Mercer does when they're playing and they get to the point of When they get to the point of killing the final thing, right the the bad guy, in in any encounter, whoever is like finishing the thing off, like rolling that last damage, Matthew Mercer always says, how do you want to do this?
00:51:55
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:52:08
jscotty4reel
hu
00:52:11
Jeff Randle
Because he wants to give the the player that that chance to have something epic happen.
00:52:16
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:52:17
Jeff Randle
And so whatever creature it was that was that was in, like, I think the first episode, whatever creature it was that they were facing, Scanlan got the final the the final hit with a lightning bolt spell that he had cast.
00:52:29
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:52:30
Jeff Randle
And Matthew Mercer was like, how do you want to do this? And everybody cheered. And they were like, oh my god, this is Scanlan's first one. This is his first, how do you want to do this? And he's like, OK, OK.
00:52:39
jscotty4reel
Nice.
00:52:41
Jeff Randle
So I cast the lightning bolt, but it doesn't come from my hands. It comes from his dick.
00:52:47
jscotty4reel
Nice.
00:52:48
Jeff Randle
And then as it's burning through the character, or as it's burning through him, it emblazones an S on his chest for Scanlan.
00:52:56
jscotty4reel
Nice. Love it.
00:52:58
Jeff Randle
So like, that is a ah ah constant thing that Sam Riegel has done for Scanlan that is so in-character and so great.
00:53:09
Jeff Randle
and But yeah, that that moment, like even though he's being super silly and and you know casting a spell from his cack, cocking a spell, if you will, he's still being so heroic and so bold.
00:53:09
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:53:17
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:53:23
jscotty4reel
Oh, yeah.
00:53:25
Jeff Randle
like To take on that entire thing on his own was marvelous, marvelously done.
00:53:28
jscotty4reel
Right.
00:53:32
jscotty4reel
Oh yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Uh, and if I'm not mistaken in season two, he is the one that lands the killing blow to Umbrasyl. Is he not?
00:53:41
Jeff Randle
Yep.
00:53:41
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
00:53:42
Jeff Randle
Yeah. He uses myth carver to stab him in the eye.
00:53:42
jscotty4reel
Yeah. There we go. Yeah.
00:53:46
Jeff Randle
And then it, it resonates with his voice as he's, you know, scream singing. And then just does that all that extra just crazy burst of energy damage.
00:53:56
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah. Very cool. And then I think we talked a little bit about his fledgling romance with Pike that she slowly seems to be warming up to.
00:54:07
jscotty4reel
But beyond that, we get the revelation that he has a daughter, that he tries to romance initially.
00:54:10
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
00:54:13
Jeff Randle
Yeah, yeah, that that happened.
00:54:19
Jeff Randle
Oh, goodness. But, I mean, I think that moment for him, you know, when he's tied to the bed, when he's going through the names and, you know, is held in place by a sword that won't move.
00:54:31
jscotty4reel
Oh,
00:54:35
Jeff Randle
Like that moment really helps to mature that character and and bring him to like, oh, my actions do have consequences.
00:54:40
jscotty4reel
ah for sure. Right.
00:54:47
Jeff Randle
Like lasting consequences.
00:54:50
jscotty4reel
Yep. Yep. Definitely starting to see some maturity there.
00:54:56
Jeff Randle
Maybe, maybe.
00:54:56
jscotty4reel
All right. Uh, yeah, a little bit, a little bit. Well, let's talk about the other gnome of the party, Pike Trickfoot.
00:55:04
Jeff Randle
piy
00:55:06
jscotty4reel
Pikey. Yeah, that's right.
00:55:07
Jeff Randle
hiking
00:55:09
jscotty4reel
I felt like compared to some of the other characters, she doesn't get exactly as much screen time, but in season one, she's given you know a pretty palpable arc and effectively kind of becomes like the deus ex machina for us at the at the final conflict there.
Pike's Impact and Absence Due to Blindspot Filming
00:55:26
Jeff Randle
Yeah, and that that actually that came straight from the campaign because Ashley Johnson, while they were working through the first and second campaigns, like while they were playing,
00:55:33
jscotty4reel
Oh, nice. Okay.
00:55:42
Jeff Randle
she was often gone like for for months at a time and unable to play because she was working on the show Blindspot and so she had to be away filming and there were so many times where like critters would be like hashtag cancel blindspot you know just to just to try to bring her back
00:55:45
jscotty4reel
Hmm. Right. oh Okay.
00:56:04
Jeff Randle
And eventually, you know, when the show did end, when when Blindspot did end, she came back and and was a more, she played a more full role, but that was during campaign two when that happened.
00:56:14
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:56:16
Jeff Randle
So Pike was often gone, either rebuilding the Temple in Vasselheim or
00:56:19
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:56:22
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:56:24
Jeff Randle
you know, just gone in some way because Ashley couldn't be there.
00:56:27
jscotty4reel
Sure.
00:56:29
Jeff Randle
But then when she could show up, like when it's like, OK, I'm back for a couple of weeks.
00:56:32
jscotty4reel
Uh
00:56:35
Jeff Randle
We're we're done filming for now.
00:56:35
jscotty4reel
-huh.
00:56:37
Jeff Randle
She would show up and everybody was so excited to see her. And Matt had to figure out a way to like bring her in.
00:56:44
jscotty4reel
That's great.
00:56:45
Jeff Randle
And the the way that he did it there was just like, OK, she's an avatar, right?
00:56:48
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:56:49
Jeff Randle
She's an avatar. that's just delivered by Sarenrae and because Sarenrae hates undead because she's a good deity like all of these undead are turned because Pyke is a cleric and turn undead is so freaking powerful especially at that level yep
00:57:01
jscotty4reel
Mm-hmm. Okay. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:57:10
jscotty4reel
absolutely absolutely uh ever since you said blind spot it hasn't left my brain now that was the series that starred lady sif actress jamie alexander right where she was covered in tattoos okay i didn't even know i never watched an episode of it so i didn't know ashley johnson was on it but that is hilarious to know there was a campaign trying to cancel that show for for the critical role campaign uh
00:57:24
Jeff Randle
Yeah, I didn't either.
00:57:30
Jeff Randle
Yup, yup. They wanted Ashley Johnson back and it was it was so funny. I was like, but but like that's her career, guys.
00:57:40
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:41
Jeff Randle
But like, I mean, critical role at this point makes more money than God. So like, I think they're doing okay.
00:57:45
jscotty4reel
Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. I have so many revenue sources coming in between, you know, the show. I'm sure they still have an active Patreon, their kickstarters, whatever monetization they're getting from YouTube, Twitch.
00:57:58
jscotty4reel
Yeah. They're making out like bandits there.
00:57:59
Jeff Randle
Oh, their shop, the Critical Role shop of like, merch stays sold out, basically.
00:57:59
jscotty4reel
They're doing okay.
00:58:03
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Uh-huh. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure.
00:58:07
Jeff Randle
They're like, okay, this is available and it's gone.
00:58:10
jscotty4reel
Yeah. All right. Well, I think from Pike, it makes the most sense to talk about Grog, who we have talked about a fair amount, but I guess in the context of their relationship, one thing to kind of highlight there is while they are super, super close, I felt like,
Grog's Battle with Inner Demons and True Strength
00:58:26
jscotty4reel
you know,
00:58:27
jscotty4reel
one of the strongest moments for Grog and Pike was with with season two, him effectively inheriting, what was it, Craven Edge, I believe it was the name of the sword from from Silas.
00:58:38
Jeff Randle
Yeah, Craven Edge.
00:58:39
jscotty4reel
Yeah. So slowly, it's it's kind of similar to what we saw with Percy, where he was corrupted by his gun and the demon that inhabited that. This ah ah sword thirst for blood and gets more powerful with every you know victim it it has.
00:58:54
jscotty4reel
and It eventually culminates with Grog running Pike through with the sword, which was just a devastating, devastating moment.
00:58:59
Jeff Randle
Yup.
00:59:03
Jeff Randle
yeah oh man in the in the campaign it was even better uh because he had been sent through a portal into the elemental plane of air i believe it was and like was falling basically like falling for forever and he had a what what it was called a chain of returning uh that
00:59:15
jscotty4reel
Ooh, okay. Huh.
00:59:27
Jeff Randle
Basically, he would tie the chain to the weapon and then throw the weapon and then the chain would bring the weapon back. It was basically just a rope.
00:59:37
jscotty4reel
It's, he already looks so much like Kratos.
00:59:37
Jeff Randle
and sir
00:59:40
jscotty4reel
It just makes me want to see the Grog Kratos cosplay even more now.
00:59:42
Jeff Randle
Absolutely, right? Right? So he has the chain of returning on Craven Edge and he throws it through the portal to try to just hit something to like, to to lodge it into a wall or something to try to like pull himself back in.
00:59:49
jscotty4reel
Uh-huh.
00:59:56
jscotty4reel
Okay.
00:59:56
Jeff Randle
And he ends up actually hitting Pike through that portal and didn't know.
00:59:59
jscotty4reel
Oh.
01:00:02
Jeff Randle
And she she basically anchored herself, anchored that that connection so that he could pull himself back through the portal.
01:00:02
jscotty4reel
Ooh.
01:00:11
jscotty4reel
Wow.
01:00:12
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:00:12
jscotty4reel
That would have been cool to see.
01:00:14
Jeff Randle
It was, oh God, it was wrenching.
01:00:16
jscotty4reel
Wow.
01:00:16
Jeff Randle
It was wrenching to watch that happen.
01:00:17
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's wild. Oh, yeah. It was a great moment. and the The version that we got was great, but I'm really glad that you were able to provide that context from the campaign because wow.
01:00:31
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:00:31
jscotty4reel
Yeah. That that sounds incredible.
01:00:33
Jeff Randle
Yeah, it was it was a hell of a campaign.
01:00:36
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:00:36
Jeff Randle
They went all over the place.
01:00:37
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:00:38
Jeff Randle
And that's that's one thing that I can say about the show is that they were because they had so much content from, you know, four or five hours a week for ever for the for the show.
01:00:45
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
01:00:50
Jeff Randle
Excuse me for you know with them having so much content. They were able to to take the the good The best parts really like they can take the cream of the crop and and make you know form it into this series and then Even with all of the the great things that happened, you know ripping the tongue out of the bullet You know
01:01:01
jscotty4reel
Sure. Mm hmm.
01:01:15
Jeff Randle
like and sorry ah Pike having her pendant crack because she did a very awful thing to to an enemy.
01:01:26
jscotty4reel
Right.
01:01:27
Jeff Randle
you know All of these like other stories, you know they get told around the campfire, and and they still get to to bring those in in that way, which is a lot of fun.
01:01:31
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:01:37
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:01:37
Jeff Randle
And you know they don't
01:01:40
Jeff Randle
They don't really have the time to go through some of the the arcs, like you know going into the Underdark through Kraghammer, things like that.
01:01:44
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:01:47
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:01:48
Jeff Randle
But like they still get to tell those stories, and they're fun.
01:01:50
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think the other big element of of Grog's arc here is while he kind of, you know, forewent what he knew to be true about himself, he was getting the power from Craven Edge.
01:02:04
jscotty4reel
When he finally does get rid of it, it effectively takes all his strength from him. And it brings to mind that interaction he had with the the ripped dude in Vasselheim, where he says, where where does your strength come from? And he's my muscles.
01:02:15
Jeff Randle
Yeah. My muscles.
01:02:18
jscotty4reel
And he is effectively you know rendered without his muscles. So that's a great part of his his character arc, finding out where his his strength actually does come from. And getting to see him stand up to his uncle and and the herd while he's in that weakened state is just, it's it's kind of like that Captain America moment.
01:02:26
Jeff Randle
His true strength.
01:02:33
jscotty4reel
You you love to see the guy that you know even when the odds are are against him, he won't back down and won't give up.
01:02:34
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:02:40
Jeff Randle
That was and such such a credit again to these guys as as actors.
01:02:46
jscotty4reel
Mm-hmm.
01:02:47
Jeff Randle
you know when When they're playing the campaign and and they and Pike finally breaks that curse and breaks Craven Edge's hold on Grog, Matt turns to to Travis and is just like, Grog, you realize that fucking sword was using you.
01:02:57
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm.
01:03:07
Jeff Randle
And you can see it on his face just like, don't, son of a bitch.
01:03:14
Jeff Randle
And like the, the ability for them to just turn that on, on a dime is just so good. So, so great.
01:03:21
jscotty4reel
Hmm.
01:03:24
Jeff Randle
like credit to these guys for for building a story that is so wonderfully done and then being able to refine it into the show.
01:03:33
jscotty4reel
No. Yeah,
01:03:35
Jeff Randle
And Grogg's arc especially, like
01:03:35
jscotty4reel
yeah
01:03:39
Jeff Randle
he's always there for his friends. And you know, but at the beginning, they were like, Gronk just basically wants to kill everything. And he's like, Yeah, pretty much.
01:03:46
jscotty4reel
yeah.
01:03:48
Jeff Randle
And like, yeah, that tracks like turning from that into like, no, I'm just I'm a champion for
01:03:48
jscotty4reel
That tracks.
01:03:56
Jeff Randle
the people who couldn't otherwise defend themselves.
01:04:00
jscotty4reel
Right.
01:04:00
Jeff Randle
And also, I gotta to kill these dragons. like Because the dragons are keeping people down who couldn't otherwise defend themselves.
01:04:04
jscotty4reel
Mm-hmm.
01:04:10
Jeff Randle
he's He's a hero without knowing the definition of the word hero or how to spell it.
01:04:10
jscotty4reel
Absolutely. Right. I may not know how to spell it, but I use what I am.
01:04:22
Jeff Randle
that's what me That's what me is.
01:04:26
jscotty4reel
Very good, very good.
01:04:27
jscotty4reel
Well, I think to round things out here, we can talk a little bit more about Percy, but I feel like he's gotten fair amount of discussion thus far, especially with season one focusing so heavily on him.
01:04:34
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:04:37
jscotty4reel
But leaves us with Keyleth, the Air Ashari.
Keyleth's Challenges and Journey
01:04:41
Jeff Randle
The Eresh rekeeleth.
01:04:43
jscotty4reel
Yes, voiced by Marisha Ray.
01:04:44
Jeff Randle
She Yep. Marisha Ray, the the wife of Matthew Mercer.
01:04:50
jscotty4reel
Oh, i did not know.
01:04:51
Jeff Randle
Yep. Yeah, they they over the course of campaign one, I think was when they like they got engaged and then eventually got married.
01:05:04
jscotty4reel
Okay. Nice. Yeah, sure. Right. Right. Right.
01:05:04
Jeff Randle
Like IRL, not just you know, campaign wise.
01:05:09
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:05:09
Jeff Randle
And then, I mean, God, in and it's a testament to how long the these guys have been doing this and how you know how much time this takes out of out of lives.
01:05:09
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:05:20
Jeff Randle
like In campaign two, like toward the beginning, Travis and Laura were gone.
01:05:20
jscotty4reel
Hmm.
01:05:28
Jeff Randle
and like they They had to to leave the campaign for a little bit because Laura had a baby.
01:05:33
jscotty4reel
Sure. Sure.
01:05:34
Jeff Randle
And you know they were they were being parents. you know
01:05:37
jscotty4reel
Oh, so that Travis and Laura are together. see That's another, I didn't know that either.
01:05:40
Jeff Randle
Yeah, yeah, they're married.
01:05:41
jscotty4reel
Okay. Wow.
01:05:43
Jeff Randle
Yeah. Yeah, they.
01:05:45
jscotty4reel
And I wonder it's so tight knit.
01:05:47
Jeff Randle
Yep, yep. Yeah, they ah had a baby Ronin was born during campaign two and Ronin
01:05:53
jscotty4reel
Okay. Say Ronan. That's funny that you bring that up because I was scrolling social media before he got on this cast and I saw that Francis Bean,
01:06:07
jscotty4reel
who is Kurt Cobain's daughter, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter. She is apparently either married or life partners with Tony Hawk's son.
01:06:16
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:06:17
jscotty4reel
and they had their first child together everyone was just like it's the 90s messiah is is born like the coolest white kid that ever could be born has been born and his name is they named him Ronan I can't remember the rest but yeah but to to bring it back to Keyleth I would kind of liken her a little bit to
01:06:26
Jeff Randle
Right. That's funny. That's funny. Yeah, I know.
01:06:40
jscotty4reel
to Vex, where I don't feel like she's ever given like her own character arc, but especially in like season two, we get to get so much of her backstory and what some of her hang ups are and how she really is lacking in this confidence and the fact that she, what is it, her spiritual journey is the Aromante, Aromante?
01:06:59
Jeff Randle
Aramente, yeah.
01:07:00
jscotty4reel
Aromante, okay. And how so she's effectively been putting this thing off just to hang out with Fox Machina.
01:07:05
Jeff Randle
Yeah, well, I mean, she she left the Ereshari to go on the Aramente and to basically ah learn more about the world so that she can become a better leader and and actually become the leader.
01:07:11
jscotty4reel
Right. Right.
01:07:22
Jeff Randle
And her mom had not or had gone on her Aramente and never came back.
01:07:28
jscotty4reel
That's right. That's right.
01:07:29
Jeff Randle
Yeah, and you actually meet her mom in campaign two in that, and you find out what actually happened to her.
01:07:29
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:07:33
jscotty4reel
Ooh.
01:07:38
jscotty4reel
Interesting. Okay.
01:07:40
Jeff Randle
So, you know, maybe some spoilers for Legend of the Mighty Nine, but but yeah, no, like the the Aramente is supposed to, you know, like, bring about that maturation of that character, of that leader, and
01:07:44
jscotty4reel
That's
01:07:58
Jeff Randle
you know she She's been putting it off, quote unquote. It's mostly, I think at least, that she she's been like, these guys will help me to to finish this Aramente.
01:08:10
Jeff Randle
And you know if if at some point we just happened across the other Ashari tribes, you know the Fire Ashari, the Earth Ashari, the Water Ashari, whatever, if we just happened across them during our travels, like hey you know, I'll do the thing and I'll just take that one off the off the list.
01:08:17
jscotty4reel
Mm hmm.
01:08:23
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:08:28
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:08:29
Jeff Randle
But, you know, you could you could call it putting it off to to hang out and and, you know, basically just have fun.
01:08:37
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:08:37
Jeff Randle
Kind of like the, oh, God, what is it? The the thing that the the Amish kids do.
01:08:42
jscotty4reel
Rum Springer. no The rum. Yeah.
01:08:46
jscotty4reel
Oh, sorry. That's the rum Springer. Yeah.
01:08:46
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:08:48
Jeff Randle
the rum spring of Amish kids, and like sometimes they come back.
01:08:55
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very true.
01:08:58
Jeff Randle
Yeah, that's what I would i would liken that to. we in knowing Knowing what happened in in Campaign 1 in you know the events upcoming, I'll say,
01:09:01
jscotty4reel
Yeah. I think that's a fair comparison.
01:09:13
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:09:15
Jeff Randle
We're going to see more of Pike and Keyleth. you know they They grow more as as characters.
01:09:26
jscotty4reel
Okay.
01:09:27
Jeff Randle
So there's going to be a bit more development there. Yeah.
01:09:32
jscotty4reel
Okay. Well, that's kind of the perfect transition because as we bring things to a close here, we've been talking about season one and season two in preparation for season three, which begins airing on October 3rd.
Anticipation for Season 3 Character Development
01:09:43
jscotty4reel
I think they're going to follow the same strategy release strategy that they have in the past, where I think they dropped three episodes at a time, which I don't know if any other show does that, but I kind of like that. That's a, that's a cool way of doing it.
01:09:53
jscotty4reel
It's not a full on binge, but you get, you know,
01:09:53
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:09:55
jscotty4reel
three episodes here and there to kind of digest. So I think my hopes are kind of in line with exactly what you were talking about. I'm i'm hopeful that some of these characters that I've kind of noted didn't get their full on own story or like Keyleth, like Vex. Like Pike's had some moments here and there, but ah from what you're saying, it sounds like it's time for her to get her due. And then even like Scanlan, like, yeah, Scanlan has had a handful of like really great moments, but for him to be kind of the one that's like driving, hey,
01:10:21
jscotty4reel
This is where we're going and this is why I would love to see that that gear from him.
01:10:26
Jeff Randle
Yeah, he has a big part to play in, I don't know if they're going to go exactly that route again, um but he does have a big part to play in in when they go to the Elemental Plane of Fire in preparation for slaying Thordak.
01:10:31
jscotty4reel
Uh
01:10:39
jscotty4reel
Ooh. Okay.
01:10:43
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:10:43
jscotty4reel
Well, you keep setting me up. You keep setting me up with these great segues because that's the other element here.
Chroma Conclave and Dragon Threats
01:10:49
jscotty4reel
We've, we've talked about the dragons and the threat that they present, but that's, I guess that's my other hope for season three.
01:10:54
jscotty4reel
So, uh, that's two of five dragons of the chroma conclave that have been defeated at this point. We had brim scythe season white and then umbrasil here.
01:11:02
Jeff Randle
Brimscythe and Umbrasil.
01:11:04
jscotty4reel
Okay. Yeah.
01:11:05
Jeff Randle
Yep.
01:11:05
jscotty4reel
So Thor dak is the, uh, the big bad as it were, right?
01:11:09
Jeff Randle
Yeah, Thordak is the the leader of the Chroma Conclave.
01:11:11
jscotty4reel
Yes. Okay.
01:11:13
Jeff Randle
If they follow the the same sequence that they did in in the campaign, they they go to...
01:11:27
Jeff Randle
Oh god, what was the place called? where the dragonborn where the dragonborn live uh hang on edit this out right fix it in post thank you
01:11:30
jscotty4reel
The Faye. It's all right. Yeah, yeah. I'll make it sound like you knew exactly what you were talking about right off the top of your head.
01:11:50
Jeff Randle
god i was like it's it's the same it's the same as the people
01:11:50
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:11:53
jscotty4reel
yeah
01:11:55
Jeff Randle
if they're If they're following the same sequence of events that they did in in campaign one you know during the stream, the next goal is to go to Draconia to face Vorugal, the frigid doom.
01:12:08
jscotty4reel
Oh.
01:12:10
Jeff Randle
And there's a ah ah big, big, big fight there.
01:12:12
jscotty4reel
Well.
01:12:15
Jeff Randle
I don't know how they're going to make Okay, so there's there's a character that that they were playing with played by Orion Akaba for the first 27 episodes, I think.
01:12:24
jscotty4reel
OK.
01:12:30
Jeff Randle
Before he had to leave the show, there was a ah hole falling out there.
01:12:34
jscotty4reel
Oh.
01:12:35
Jeff Randle
But that character
01:12:40
Jeff Randle
wasn't part of the campaign or I'm sorry wasn't he was no longer a part of the campaign after that but then he he wasn't a part of the show at all so far so when you find that that character had died
01:12:49
jscotty4reel
Right.
01:12:56
Jeff Randle
in Draconia trying to defend against Vorugal. It was really hard-hitting emotionally. I don't know how they're going to like you know tie the characters that strongly to Draconia and and defending against Vorugal this time around.
01:13:12
jscotty4reel
Okay. Interesting. I, I kind of wonder because not having the full context to this falling out that you're alluding to, but I'm wondering if it's an opportunity to kind of like, depending on how they feel about that falling out, maybe they're just like, Hey, this is one of those chances where we do get to take some of these liberties.
01:13:27
jscotty4reel
And maybe instead of bestowing this character with a bunch of honor, we treat it as a joke. It's like, Oh yeah, this guy died before we even met him or something like that. Something like that. I don't know. We'll, we'll see.
01:13:36
Jeff Randle
something like that yeah no i i don't know i don't know i do know that uh the the fight with vorgal the frigid doom as he as his name is uh is intense and epic and amazing it was a hell of an arc yeah and i kind of wonder if like are they going to
01:13:52
jscotty4reel
and Okay, as it should be. Yeah.
01:14:04
Jeff Randle
you know Based on the trailer that we saw for Season 3, it looks like they are going to go to the the Elemental Plane of Fire.
01:14:09
jscotty4reel
Uh huh.
01:14:12
Jeff Randle
So I wonder if they're just going to knock out both both of those dragons and like take care of the coma crun the Chroma Conclave like you know real quick so that they can get on to the the the really scary stuff.
01:14:28
jscotty4reel
Oh, ah you tease, you tease, but that's okay.
01:14:38
Jeff Randle
there's There's a character played by Joe Manginello that comes in during that arc, which is like the last arc of the campaign.
01:14:42
jscotty4reel
Okay.
01:14:46
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yeah.
01:14:47
jscotty4reel
Yeah. I know he's a huge D and D guy.
01:14:49
Jeff Randle
Oh, he's a huge D and&D guy.
01:14:51
Jeff Randle
And he's a huge D and&D guy.
01:14:52
jscotty4reel
Yeah, that's right.
01:14:56
Jeff Randle
And like the the Oathbreaker Paladin of Tiamat that he plays
01:15:04
jscotty4reel
Hmm.
01:15:05
Jeff Randle
is nuts. Like, it's a crazy character.
01:15:07
jscotty4reel
Okay.
01:15:09
Jeff Randle
So like, seeing like finding a way to bring that in would be really exciting. That would be one of the things that I would be looking forward to a lot.
01:15:19
jscotty4reel
No, you got me excited. You got me hopeful for that possibility.
01:15:21
Jeff Randle
Oh, yeah.
01:15:25
Jeff Randle
I love the teeth.
01:15:25
jscotty4reel
All right. Well, I think we will bring things to a close unless there's anything else you want to say about Vox Machina, about critical role, about Grog, about any of our characters or voice actors here.
01:15:38
Jeff Randle
Mmm, I think I think I'm good there. I have gushed on ad nauseam Yeah
01:15:51
jscotty4reel
i like what One last little thing I wanted to say, I meant to to bring it up when we were talking more about the the dragons and know you bringing up the possibility of how epic that showdown with the the the frigid, terrible dragon there's going to be.
01:16:06
jscotty4reel
could not remember the name, obviously.
01:16:07
Jeff Randle
Vorugal the Frigid Doom.
01:16:08
jscotty4reel
Morigold. The frigid doom there it is one thing that this show does that I like that I don't always like is when you introduce 3d elements with 2d animation It doesn't always work for me, but I like it in this instance.
01:16:20
Jeff Randle
yeah
01:16:21
jscotty4reel
I think it does a great job of selling the scale and Terror and power of the dragons and just makes for some really cool and epic showdowns with them
01:16:30
Jeff Randle
Yeah, and one of the things that that this you know this crew that that created this entire thing really did write, I think, is they gave the studio time.
Animation Quality and Production Time
01:16:46
Jeff Randle
The thing that always undercuts you know any kind of animation, be it VFX animation or drawn animation, whatever, like anything
01:16:55
jscotty4reel
Yeah. Yes. Yes.
01:16:59
Jeff Randle
anything that you rush to get to production, to get to release, is is going to be done a disservice from that.
01:17:03
jscotty4reel
yeah
01:17:07
jscotty4reel
yes
01:17:08
Jeff Randle
And these guys know that, and they wanted to make sure that absolutely everything about it was done perfectly.
01:17:08
jscotty4reel
yes
01:17:11
jscotty4reel
Yes.
01:17:16
Jeff Randle
And they gave the studio time, like time to to do everything right, and it shows. It really it really shows.
01:17:23
jscotty4reel
It does. It does. It's a great point. I'm glad you bring it up because it does bring to mind. I'm going to compare the show to another Amazon animation show that I love, Invincible.
01:17:34
Jeff Randle
Invincible.
01:17:35
jscotty4reel
It's had two seasons and it's it's similar. and I'm going to compare these animation styles to where it I felt like American animation, it was what it was in the 90s.
01:17:45
jscotty4reel
Like you had your Batman, the animated series. the Justice League Batman that kind of established style there but then with the popularity of anime we started to see western cartoonists take influence from that and we got things like Avatar the Last Airbender and I feel like now we exist in kind of this happy medium it's like we take the influence from an anime but we still want it to have a distinctly western kind of feel but
01:17:57
Jeff Randle
Avatar, the last airbender.
01:18:08
jscotty4reel
this does exactly what your Amazon, uh, invincible does what the series does. And it does cut corners. It does do little shortcuts here and there. And it shows cause like, as much as I love Amazon, uh, keep saying Amazon instead of invincible, as much as I love, and as much as I love invincible, as we've talked about it on this podcast.
01:18:22
Jeff Randle
Damn you, Bezos!
01:18:31
jscotty4reel
It is super noticeable when they cut those corners like there's some background shots where like the background characters are kind of like amorphous blobs with no details and then in season two it became kind of obvious it was like okay if we can have a character delivering dialogue we will have everything be as static as possible except for the parts of their face that need to like emote everything else is going to be static and it's just
01:18:45
Jeff Randle
Yep.
01:18:51
Jeff Randle
ye
01:18:53
jscotty4reel
you You can tell when that's that level of quality and perfection that you're talking about, when it's not there, it becomes that much more noticeable. So you do have to appreciate it when a show is firing on all so all cylinders like this one is.
01:19:00
Jeff Randle
Yeah.
01:19:05
Jeff Randle
Yeah, they yeah that reminds me of the the flex the is it the waggle the head waggle? Have you heard about that? The like the Disney flex?
01:19:13
jscotty4reel
And what was, what is that in context too? I heard about that very recently. It was like, Oh, they didn't have to do the head waggle, but they did. Why did, what was that?
01:19:21
Jeff Randle
Yeah, it's it's a
01:19:22
jscotty4reel
Was that corridor? Were they talking about it?
01:19:24
Jeff Randle
it maybe probably it could be corridor talks about so many things but now the the head waggle is this thing that that disney animators did that was just like flexing all over everybody where as a character is speaking
01:19:25
jscotty4reel
Okay. Uh-huh.
01:19:29
jscotty4reel
Yeah, for sure.
01:19:37
jscotty4reel
Yes.
01:19:42
Jeff Randle
you know there In animation, there's such a you know a drive to like get the thing done. but And like you said, where it's like, if if a character is delivering dialogue, everything is static, unless it's just their mouth you know that moves.
01:19:48
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:19:54
jscotty4reel
Right.
01:19:57
jscotty4reel
Right. Right.
01:19:58
Jeff Randle
But something that Disney is, like if you have to go back and watch like back and watch like the Robin Hood and like aris the Aristocats and like you know some of the older animation, you'll see it.
01:20:03
jscotty4reel
Uh huh.
01:20:10
Jeff Randle
when a character is speaking, their head is moving kind of like side to side and and just kind of they they move like a person moves when they're speaking, when they're animated, you know, when it's an animated person rather than like an animated person.
01:20:14
jscotty4reel
Okay.
01:20:20
jscotty4reel
Sure.
01:20:22
jscotty4reel
Right.
01:20:26
jscotty4reel
I have dialogue to deliver now. No other part of my body will move except for my lips.
01:20:28
Jeff Randle
yeah yeah Yeah, you can't be static like that. like Nobody stands so still like that and delivers lines.
01:20:36
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:20:36
Jeff Randle
And so like that was one of the things that that Disney animators did was like they had characters that were speaking and like waggling their head back and forth.
01:20:43
jscotty4reel
a
01:20:45
Jeff Randle
and And that apparently is just known as the swaggle, or the swaggle, if you will, as some people call it.
01:20:48
jscotty4reel
and Okay.
01:20:53
Jeff Randle
But yeah, no, that's that's the the thing that like, when you take the time to do it right, you get the chance to do that head waggle, that swaggle and flex on them real hard.
01:20:53
jscotty4reel
Yeah.
01:21:02
jscotty4reel
Oh yeah. That's right.
01:21:05
jscotty4reel
That's right.
01:21:05
Jeff Randle
And I feel like the legend of Vox Machina is flexing on everybody with the way that they're animating.
01:21:09
jscotty4reel
Oh yeah.
01:21:11
Jeff Randle
It's beautiful.
01:21:12
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah. Other animation studios and houses out there, take note. We're looking for the waggle.
01:21:19
Jeff Randle
We're looking for that swaggle.
01:21:24
jscotty4reel
All right.
01:21:24
Jeff Randle
Yeah,
01:21:25
jscotty4reel
Well, uh, I definitely appreciate you having, uh, definitely appreciate you coming on to, uh, you know, offer
MCU Cast's 'Agatha All Along' Coverage
01:21:32
Jeff Randle
yeah thanks for coming out.
01:21:32
jscotty4reel
your, uh, yeah, no, it was really great to have you here to, uh, you know, offer your expertise and, and provide some context, especially with, you know, being so familiar with critical role and those original campaigns.
01:21:44
jscotty4reel
So, on that notes, do you have anything you want to let the people know about while we've got you here?
01:21:50
Jeff Randle
now this is the only thing that anybody needs to know about this right here and you know we're covering agatha all along uh right now as the series is releasing that is a very fun yeah kind of spooky series and and gives us
01:21:52
jscotty4reel
Okay. Okay. Well. Yep. A little bit, a little bit.
01:22:07
Jeff Randle
gives us back that WandaVision vibe of of red string theories in between as as the the series goes on.
01:22:13
jscotty4reel
Oh yeah.
01:22:16
Jeff Randle
And it's so much fun getting back to that where we're like every week is like more theories, more theories, put it on the board. like it's It's exciting to get back to that excitement.
01:22:23
jscotty4reel
Yeah, yeah.
01:22:28
Jeff Randle
It's nice to get back to that excitement for the MCU as it's delivering a great series like that again.
01:22:30
jscotty4reel
yeah
01:22:35
jscotty4reel
Yeah, I concur. It feels like January of 2021 all over again, where it's like, I have this Disney plus Marvel show that I'm so excited to check in to every week and have the the thread and the mystery continue. And then to to watch it and then immediately get to hop on YouTube or wherever you guys are streaming and then have you all, you know, break it down. It's, it's good times, good times. So if you're not watching Agatha all along or listening to the MCU cast, highly, highly recommend it. So.
01:23:00
jscotty4reel
Uh, and on that note, we haven't really talked about how we're going to cover season three, but Jeff, if you're interested in available, would love to have you come back.
01:23:07
Jeff Randle
Absolutely. Yes.
01:23:09
jscotty4reel
Like I said, they're going to release them in batches of three. I think that's probably a pretty good way of tackling them, but, uh, we'll, we'll discuss that, uh, off hair. So, uh, other than that, I do want to
01:23:18
Jeff Randle
Yes. We've discussed it right now. Yes.
01:23:22
jscotty4reel
Okay, it's done.
01:23:23
Jeff Randle
Done.
01:23:24
jscotty4reel
We got it. I do have a few things to plug, so I'll try to fly through them really quickly on Always Watching. We're covering The Penguin. Came out of the gate with an incredibly strong first episode, so we're going to keep ah ah discussing that one with whoever's available.
01:23:35
jscotty4reel
I think between me, Zuhair, Jay Sisson, and Matthew Carroll will make that happen. And then I do want to plug the Stranded Panda YouTube channel, youtube dot.com slash StrandedPanda. My interview with Star Wars Explained from DragonCon is live now, and I would definitely appreciate it if you can just help me out by giving that whatever engagement you can. Give it some likes, give it some comments. Basically, if that performs well enough, it's just going to make it bigger and better for us next DragonCon. So that is my call to action for you all. Help me extend that gratitude for that incredible opportunity there.
01:24:08
Jeff Randle
I feel like there's opportunity for us to make a song of Last Dragon Con.
01:24:16
jscotty4reel
Yes. Yes. I'm, I'm down for it. We'll have to workshop it a little bit. I don't have a a lyric off the top of my head, but we'll, we'll make it happen.
01:24:27
jscotty4reel
All right. On that note, thanks everybody for checking us out and tuning in. That's T double low.
01:24:34
Jeff Randle
Until next time, true believers, to tune believers.
01:24:35
jscotty4reel
You stay well. Ooh.