Critter Corner: Moments From Critical Role Episode 6 and a Theory About Taliesin

Hello! Nerditor Doug here to welcome you to the next 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 YouTube live as well.

VOD of each episode is typically available within 24 hours through Alpha, and 48 hours on Twitch. 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 5 ahead

Let’s dive into Episode 6 of Critical Role

So like, can we just take this opportunity to talk about how awesome Taliesin Jaffe is? Seriously, I think he’s utterly delightful. Were I able to peek inside his mind, I have a strong suspicion I’d discover a schema so alien my own brain could only interpret it as an empire of brilliant, vampiric cats of varying degrees of beauty and floofiness. This is of course meant as a compliment of the highest sort.

That being said, I like to delude myself with the idea that I’ve managed to identify a chink in his otherwise impenetrable mystique. Taliesin may be able to masterfully misdirect both opponents and cohorts when he’s directly engaged with them, but I think he gives himself away when he reacts to situations where he’s not the primary focus. This idea is a fairly recent one, but there’s precedent for it that dates back to the first campaign. Exempli gratia:

The cast of Critical Role, during campaign 1, episode 99.

In campaign 1 episode 99, Scanlan’s just returned to Whitestone, and consequently, has to face the emotional fallout of abandoning the group more than a year prior. Vex and Vax are off talking on their own in this moment, and Vex has just told Vax that she can empathize with Scanlan keeping secrets from the rest of their group. The secret that Laura is currently keeping (just look at her adorably guilty face!), is that Vex and Percy eloped without telling anyone during the year break between episodes.

At the time this episode was played, nobody other than Taliesin or Matt had the tiniest clue as to what she could be talking about. So Percy isn’t there in the story, but do regard the bug-eyed expression Taliesin is shooting in Laura’s direction. She caught him off guard, but lucky for him no one noticed. This moment stood out to at me at the time, but it wasn’t till much later in episode 105 that the exact truth came out and everything made sense.

(Btdubs, if you’re ever having a crappy day go back and watch these episodes. Between the humor and the drama they are uber cathartic, and you’ll get a lot of your feels out.)

Taliesin and secrets

Coming back to the present campaign, I want to focus on the contrast between Mollymauk’s bogus past and a small, seemingly insignificant moment he had with Nott.

With regards to the first, consider what Taliesin revealed on Talks Machina when it was just him and Brian on the show, talking about episode 6. He said that not only was the personal history Molly had shared thus far a bunch of baloney, but he had a ton of additional red herrings prepared to dole out at his leisure. He also made a really fascinating comment about Molly’s aesthetic style, which he compared to his own personal experience as a goth teenager. He said the interesting thing about going out into the world with a really ostentatious appearance is that:

“Immediately when people meet you they’re usually polite enough to tell you exactly who they are by their reaction and the way they treat you. There’s no attempt at being subtle, there’s just ‘I’m laying out on the table all of my issues, all of my problems, everything I am as a person, and you can do whatever you like with it.’ ”

By Taliesin’s own admission, Mollymauk is all the time testing and assessing the people around him. His modus operandi is to perform minute social experiments in all of his interactions.  So when Taliesin is roleplaying in a scene where Molly is a prominent figure, we can expect his behavior to be more manipulative than genuine – at least until Molly’s at the point where he’s more comfortable and trusting of his companions.

But circling back to the idea that Taliesin lets things slip in more relaxed moments, I suggest you go back and take a good look at the scene from episode 6 where the party is shopping at the Broad Barn. Specifically, pay attention to him when Nott demonstrates she has a understanding of chemistry and manufacturing poisons/acids. There is buck-naked interest all over his face, and I’d bet twenty bucks that it has to do with Molly and the ritual he underwent to become a Blood Hunter.

According to the description on D&D Beyond, newbie members of the blood hunter class have to imbibe Hunter’s Bane, “a poisonous alchemical concoction that alters [the character’s] life’s blood, forever binding [them] to the darkness and honing [their] senses against it. ” This stuff leaves “internal toxic scars” on the individual, which later become part of a class feature at 11th level. Now, Taliesin said on Talks Machina that he wants to really push a ghoulish take on the character, so I’m thinking the scars visible across Molly’s body are leftover from the Hunter’s Bane.

So far no new scars have appeared from Molly using blood magic to activate his swords, so the existing ones must be from something else. Taliesin has also said that Molly is “not a tortured soul,” so that leads me to believe the scars aren’t from some kind of abuse or prisoner scenario. Instead, I think this moment with Nott indicates Molly is hoping that at some point down the road she might be able to provide insight on Hunter’s Bane, and its lingering effects on him.

TFW you get zoomed on your character backstory?

Oh oh oh! And let’s not forget that delightful moment from episode 2 where Matt, via Toya, revealed to Jester and Nott that Molly didn’t speak when he first joined the circus two years prior. Taliesin totally blew his cover and muttered a very discernible F-bomb. See this face? This is the face of man whose plans to prevaricate about his character’s past have just been torpedoed.

Am I being paranoid or grasping at straws?

Absolutely, in the absence of facts I feel compelled to come up with my own explanations. Patience is not a virtue I possess or care to cultivate – so simply waiting for everything to be revealed is out of the question. Does that mean I’m wrong? Not necessarily!

Tweet me @IfThenAnderson and let me know what you think. I know at least one of you uses Twitter, because someone tweeted me about when this post was going to be available. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s a fake account for Nerditor Doug, and he was prodding me to submit this indirectly rather than messaging me in our normal way. That could just be my aforementioned paranoia talking, though. Or maybe not… [NERDITOR’S NOTE: It wasn’t me! Face it, Gin, you’ve got fans now!]

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