Critter Corner: Discussing Critical Role Episode 4
Hello! Nerditor Doug here to welcome you to the second installment of Gin’s musings and thoughts on the new campaign of Critical Role, Geek and Sundry’s mega-popular live stream gameplay starring Matt Mercer as Dungeon Master with a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing D&D. New episodes stream every Thursday at 10 p.m. eastern. Viewers can watch through Alpha Project, Twitch and recently YouTube live as well.
VOD of each episode is typically available within 24 hours through Alpha, 48 hours on Twitch and within a week on YouTube. The posting schedule underwent some changes with the new campaign and I’m not 100 percent certain on those details. Down below you’ll find a video from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel where Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share their thoughts on Critical Role too. The new campaign was the perfect jumping on point for them to join the Critter family. These videos will post on Wednesdays, with a two week window giving Critters time to watch if they missed the live game. But enough from me, let’s hear what Gin has to say…
*spoilers for Critical Role, Campaign 2 Episode 4 ahead
Let’s dive into Episode 4 of Critical Role
Critical Role’s Jester and Nott, by artist @CamiJuel who’s “just here making art and gushing about Critical Role” on Twitter.
Exposition! This week was a treasure trove of character development and backstory reveals. A few gems scattered throughout the episode 4 were Jester’s letter home to mum (presumably a wealthy parent who can afford to send bags of gold upon request), the reveal of Nott’s disdain for her clan (this puts the final nail in the coffin of an idea I had that Nott might have been halfling who got turned into a goblin), Nott and Caleb’s escape from a prison, and Caleb’s eidetic memory.
By the way, does anybody else see that as an engraved invitation for Matt to nerf Caleb at some point down the road? Were I a Dungeon Master, and Liam a player at my table, you can bet somewhere between levels 9-12 I’d find a way to temporarily rob him of that ability. I would smugly inform him this was his own fault for not adequately documenting his experiences and research, and then Sam would make a joke about how Caleb should have used BackBlaze.
Supreme-Nerdarchist-&-DM-4-Life Dave had a similar plot in our Scarlet Sisterhood game, and not only did it take a long time to finally resolve the problem, the affected player characters had to roleplay their characters differently for months until the memories were restored. So beware Liam, you’ve handed Matt a shiny shiv with which he can later shank you.
And yes, yes that absolutely was a shameless plug for the Nerdarchy game I play in that’s streamed on YouTube. You can catch episodes live on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. EST, or on demand thereafter.
I honestly do think, though, that Matt will find a way to turn Caleb’s ability into a major pain point; especially with Beau around. We learned in episode 4 Beau previously trained at a branch of the Cobalt Reserve, an establishment that is the end-all be-all of libraries, and where knowledge is meticulously acquired and preserved. Depending on how hard she leans into her archetype, Beau will likely spend time there documenting her travels, observations, and exploits for future monks to learn from.
If you aren’t already aware, the biggest piece of character history and development revealed in episode 4 was Beau’s ties to the Cobalt Reserve, and Marisha’s choice of Way of the Cobalt Soul for her 3rd level monastic tradition. BTdubs, I totally called this. It’s documented. You can see it if you go look at my post about pre-campaign character predictions.
Yes. Yes that was *another* shameless plug.
Getting back to the monk at hand, the introduction of Archivist Zenath and Expositor Dairon gave us a peek at Beau’s past, a glimpse at her future, and some additional info about the Cobalt Reserve in general. For those of you who don’t have eidetic memories, here are a few pieces of Dairon’s dialogue from episode 4:
“We are the hidden strength of the library… We wade in the filth of society. We weed out the corrupt. We purse the secrets and evils of the world, and expose them to the light. We twist the arm of the unjust until they spill their mysteries. We are the spies. We are the hunters. We are the watchmen to those who rule. We are not kind. We are forthright. We are truth.”
“Learn about injustice. Those you don’t trust, follow them. Bend them, make them tell the truth and admit their guilt. Find wherever corruption is, root it out, and let the system do its job. If the system isn’t doing its job, destroy the system.”
Mind-blowing Critical Role fan art of Beau by Indonesian Comic artist, 2D illustrator and character designer @MukhlisNur on Twitter.
Mollymauk brings style and panache to the party, brought to life here by @brnwen from Twitter.
Dairon’s words echo the details found in Matt’s Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting. The Cobalt Reserve is the public face of those who pledge themselves to the Knowing Mistress (Scanlan’s patron from the first campaign – the one who looks like a bookish, matronly lady, and who granted shelter to Darin De Paul’s character, Sprig). She’s a neutral deity of knowledge. Since being injured centuries ago during the Calamity, it hasn’t been safe for her followers to openly worship her as her weakened state prevents her from having the same level of influence the other Prime Deities enjoy. So instead of temples she has libraries. The “”secret society” Beau references in episode 4 are the monks who carry out her mission of discovering and preserving knowledge, and overcoming those who would hoard it or twist it to the detriment of others.
It’s kind of a lofty-sounding gig, especially for someone like Beau. For real, how many times has Mollymauk pointed out how awful she is? And now we know she has a criminal background to boot. But hey, as Expositor Dairon pointed out, “Sometimes you need someone to be an asshole to get shit done.” And in the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing how Beau evolves from a self-described reckless asshole to someone who uses “precision and intent… [to] take down the greatest mountain, by poking the weakest point.”
That being said, I found it a little chilling towards the end of their interaction when Beau said it seemed hypocritical to be part of system taking down other systems, and Dairon replied “Who knows – maybe one day you’ll find the corruption inside our own.”
What do you think, was Matt foreshadowing a character arc Beau will have to face in the future? Tweet me @IfThenAnderson if you have any thoughts.
Behind the Nerditor’s desk
If you want to see Gin doing her own awesome roleplaying, check her out in Nerdarchy’s weekly Scarlet Sisterhood of Steel and Sorcery live stream game.
If you haven’t checked out Critical Role yet, do what the rest of the Critter community does and head over to Project Alpha where new episodes live stream Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST. If you want to play D&D in the same setting, pick up Matt Mercer’s Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting and explore Exandria at your gaming table. And with D&D Beyond as an official sponsor of the show, you can find Critical Role content at DDB too.
Is it Thursday yet?
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