So before I go into the introduction proper, a quick peak behind the curtain. I was writing a big piece on Critical Role's Campaign 2 when they announced a special 2-part return to the Mighty Nein. Considering how much I had to say about the group as well as the overall campaign narrative, I decided to split the essay (which was getting very unwieldy) into two parts and release them alongside the specials as a sort of recap/explanation of Campaign 2 and why the special is so important to me personally. Aaaand for the shameless algorithm and SEO advantage, it is what it is . While there was some segments of those essays I'm happy with, they became less me speaking about the campaign and more me recounting it beat for beat and saying "its cool" at the end. I wasn't really ok with what I wrote as a whole and honestly, it was a bit boring to read over. I'll go back and edit it in hopes of salvaging something, considering I put the better part of a month into them, but for now I'm going to write this piece purely about the final arc of Campaign 2 since that's my favorite portion of the whole thing. Thanks for dealing with this lil explanation <3
Campaign 2 of Critical Role covers a lot of ground in its 141 episodes. Pirates trying to free an ancient leviathan trapped under the sea, cults worshiping a false idol created by an eldritch deity and that one time a halfing-turned-goblin killed a manticore baby. The cast themselves also went through a lot, be it children being born or the COVID-19 pandemic or an insanely successful crowd-funding campaign that smashed its 45 day goals in just over two days. Campaign 1 had its foundations laid in a one-shot Dungeons and Dragons game at a birthday party that, for some of the cast, was their first game of DnD, so when Critical Role exploded into the success story it is today and it came time to begin their second story, there was a sense of having something to prove. The story of Vox Machina stands on its own and began the process of expanding the world of Exandria but Campaign 2 was proof that they weren't a fluke. The cast had an extremely personal investment in Vox Machina and the fact they even begun to stream their games and gave the characters over to their audience is a lot but to then start again from scratch with a lot of eyes old and new on you is a pretty scary task. Not only do you have to show that you can create new and engaging characters, but there's also an aspect of proving they can stand apart from their predecessors. You don't wanna be three episodes in and have a character say "We're in over our heads, maybe we should go talk to Vox Machina". The Mighty Nein, for lack of a better term, hit a home run on all fronts.
If you want a really good article on the overall Campaign 1 to Campaign 2 growth, this article by Alex Meehan of Dicebreaker comes from someone whose been on the Critical Role train a lot longer then I have and manage to create a better piece then I could on the subject in way fewer words. That piece was published a few weeks after the finale back in June of 2021 and the final story arc leading up to Episode 141: 'Fond Farewells' is the subject I really wanna talk about for the next while. Titled 'Weird Magic', it follows the Nein chasing a familiar face across icy wastes, city ruins and astral sea as gears placed centuries before begin to turn. It's dramatic, emotional, funny as only Critical Role can be and most importantly, it gives the characters the closure they deserve.
An Extremely Brief Recap
I'm putting a limit on myself here because I can and will turn this entire piece into a "Here's what you missed on Campaign 2" recap if I don't. By this point in the story, the Mighty Nein have managed to evade the servants of Uk'otoa, defeated the Angel of Irons cult that held Yasha hostage, help end the War of Ash and Light thanks to their connections on both sides of the conflict and free Veth Brenatto from the curse placed upon her by Isharnii the Hag. After watching an attack successfully fended off by the Nein, a member of the extremely powerful and equally untrustworthy Cerberus Assembly, Vess DeRogna, offered the gang work in Eisselcross, far to the north. Caleb, who has a very sordid past with the Assembly, wanted to gather information on the group and the Nein agreed to take DeRogna up on her offer to do just that. However, when the groups investigator Beau learned of a potential connection between DeRogna and their fallen comrade Mollymauk, they took a detour to Molly's gravesite to speak to their ghost. The big twist of the tale is then revealed, as Molly's grave lies empty and as the group scry on the body's location, they see it upright, walking confidently through a blizzard. Molly's past was intentionally left unexplored as the person themselves never had an interest in it so for a body that woke up in a grave to do it again had the group fairly shook. They ventured to Eisselcross to meet Vess but when Jester scried on the tiefling again, she saw them in a room with Vess's body in her bed and a book stolen in the tieflings hand. They were somehow aware of the scry and after inviting Jester to follow, banished the scry all together. So, with a dead employer and a somehow alive fallen friend, the Mighty Nein head north to investigate what lies in the snow and how Molly could be connected.
Aeor: Matt Mercer Is Fucking Great At Worldbuilding
What lies in the snow, it turns out, is the ruins of a highly-advanced flying city. Aeor is one of the many amazing locations in Exandria Matthew Mercer has created that really stands out. I'm personally a big fan of Jrussar, the starting city of Campaign 3 that's built around and on massive stone spires, with gondolas connecting them, all above a dense jungle. Aeor once soared across the skies of Exandria as one of the many mageocracies of the Age of Arcanum and one of the most powerful with rumors abound of its weapons capable of harming the very gods. So strong was it in fact, that during war in heaven known as the Calamity that sundered so much of Exandria, both benevolent Prime Deities and vindictive Betrayer Gods called a truce to bring the city crashing down. Unearthed a few years before the Nein's arrival, its treacherous laboratories and dark secrets claimed many an explorer, but the treasures within are some of the most sought after in all of Exandria. Now, with the dramatic part outta the way, let me gush about Matt Mercer for a lil bit.
Running a game of Dungeons and Dragons is hard. Never mind the careful planning and plotting that goes into creating the world and characters that inhabit it, but being able to convey all of that to your players through mostly words alone and doing it convincingly is a challenge. Now imagine doing that, with a whole universe worth of canon to maintain on a livestream viewed by thousands upon thousands of people watching, every week. Personally, and this is just me, I'd die of stress five minutes in. Matt has years of experience in the Dungeon Master seat and I can think of only a handful of others who can run a campaign in Exandria like he does (two of which have done just that, Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan deserve their own essays). Being one of the industries most experienced and well-regarded voice actors certainly helps with making sound effects or voicing NPCs but even with that, he's creates such interesting characters as is. Trent Ikithon is the slimy manipulative Assembly member who fucked up so much of Caleb's life and mind who keeps trying to worm his way back into his psyche and Matt nails the affectation and delivery every single time. Delilah Briarwood is arguably the most iconic villain in the Critical Role gallery given her appearances in both Campaign 1, the animated series and her connection to Laudna in Campaign 3. She's arrogant, Machiavellian and completely devoted to her god but most importantly, she's a survivor. In simple terms, she doesn't fucking die. Matt's portrayal of her through her various Campaign appearances have always solidified her as the biggest threat in the room at any given time and his facial expressions as she goes from composed and smug superiority to absolute desperation and rage when the rug is pulled from under her is pheromonal.
In terms of worldbuilding, a common image Matt uses is golden plot threads woven throughout the campaign, left for the players to follow. It's why I find it a bit hard to talk about his campaigns at length without a whole semesters worth of research as everything weaves into everything else. The amount of times 9 comes up, the Luxon beacons being vital to ending the War as well as Aeor, The Chained Oblivions subtle influence felt across the continent of Wildemount are just a few examples in Campaign 2 alone, excluding instances of cross-campaign work like Delilah Briarwood and Laudna or the Assembly's hand in Paragon's Call in Campaign 3. Matt has such a good mind for how his creations would work together or be opposed or simply wouldn't care and how all that impacts Exandria and, most importantly, his players. So when he introduces the Exandrian equivalent of Atlantis out in the snows of Eiselcross, you know it's going to be extremely impactful on the world at large.
As the Nein search the various dig sites where chunks of the city split off from the main body during its crash, there's a real sense of history and scale behind Aeor. Numerous labs and wings comprise the City and the creations within still stalk the halls. The Nein come across numerous bodies, the city did fucking CRASH, but some of the mages manage to freeze themselves in stasis bubbles and apparently survive. Some of the creations were stuck within containment tubes but the Nein do confront some of those who broke free. The Explorers Guide to Wildemount book revealed these things as Aeorian Hunters, the living weapons that Aeorians best and brightest created to combat the divine. Immortal beings immune to radiant and necrotic damage, the most common elements associated with Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods respectively, these walking abominations are the closest Matt has come to adding straight-up Fallout mutants to Exandria.. The Aeorian Hunters are a terrifying foe that wander the halls of Aeor but arguably one of the least dangerous aspects of the city.
The Whole Time Travel Thing
Continuing my reign as chairman of the Matt Mercer Appreciation Society, another thing I adore about his storytelling is how much trust he's given by the cast to come in and add to the characters backstory. There's multiple videos on the Critical Role channel that offer a window into the inner workings of Matt's thought process (the Exandrian DM Roundtable is a phenomenal watch) but one line that's always stuck with me is Travis saying that the cast don't usually fill in every single bit of history and intentionally leave some blank spots for Matt to come in and use as hooks for the players to chomp on. When a group of players walk into a tavern and look around at the clientele, they're more likely to go talk to the uncle of a party member that was only mentioned in passing than just some wizard with a quest marker over their head. Likewise, you can put whatever insane artifact or mechanism in Aeor that you want and the cast will probably like it, but when that mechanism allows someone to travel back in time and you've a character whose really into the idea of fixing his past sins... that's how you hook the cast and the audience.
Caleb Widogast, without delving into his entire arc, was a very broken man before he joined the Mighty Nein. Brainwashed into murdering his family left him insane in an asylum for years and while his purpose in life was originally to find a way back to that moment and save them, it changed as he began allowing people into his life again. First came Nott, who helped him escape prison and whom he promised to grow strong enough to change back to a halfling. Then came Beau, a fellow Dwendalian Empire kid who he trusted with his secret past and whose shoulder he leans on in both research and combat. The rest of the Nein followed, including his eventual partner Essek who taught him dunamancy. By the time the group is venturing to Eisselcross, Caleb has not healed but grown. He's sat across from the man who ruined his life and the two lovers that are still under his thumb and confronted his trauma head on. So when he and Essek walked into the T-Dock project in Aeor and discovered its purpose, it's leaves incredibly important crossroad for Caleb to walk down.
The T-Dock Project was one of Aeor's many creations found in the largest ruin of the city. Comprised of a room with lead-lined walls and an experimental arcane platform with runic patterns of both dunamancy and transmutation school focused on temporal alteration, the notes the group find depict that the usage of a Luxon beacon (an artifact Essek and Caleb are very familiar with) could allow this machine to send the user back in their own timeline. They don't stay too long on their first visit as there's the slight problem of stopping the end of the world to deal with but during the epilogue at the end of the finale, Liam describes what Caleb does when he returns to the T-Dock room with Essek.
(the one constant throughout every Mighty Nein essay has been this video, its such a great summary of Caleb's arc)
Cognoza, the Somnovem and the Chained Oblivion
So what is that ancient evil threat at the hart of Aeor? The danger that scared a being such as Vokodo so bad it fled to Rumblecusp? That called to Lucien through dreams and changed his entire being? That would be the Somnovem. Whats the Somnovem, you ask? Why, its the combined minds of nine mage philosophers and a city of citizens floating in the Astral Sea of course. Oh, and the city is alive. Because we really needed to add Bloodborne to our Dungeons and Dragons game.
Lucien is tightly tied to Cognoza so this section is gonna be a bit shorter as I wanna give hot tiefling cult leader his own section but to give the barebones rundown, the Cognoza Ward was a ward(duh) of Aeor that separated itself from Aeor proper as the city went down and teleported into the Astral Plane. The Somnovem were the mages in charge of that portion of the city, studying dreams and the unconscious, manifesting matter from nothing. When Cognoza made it to the Astral Sea, they were hit by a 'psychic storm' that racked the minds of all its inhabitants and sundered them until the remnants fused into the city itself. The Somnovem fused together as the Eyes of Nine and the whole hodgepodge became the Cognoza the Nein find in the Astral Sea. A floating nightmare of flesh, stone and teeth that yearns to return to Exandria and unite all in its nexus of minds. By, well, consuming them.
Consuming, you say? Gosh, there's a term that's come up a lot throughout the campaign. Uk'otoa makes Fjord consume the crystals needed to free them, the cursed Svlarwood is consuming the greenery around it as it spreads, various monsters the Nein come across are savage and starving... it's odd, right? Like, they did deal with Tharizdun the Chained Oblivion, Betrayer God of Death and Trickery whose influence is identified by bouts of uncontrollable hunger-OH SHIT.
Each series of Critical Role, be it main campaign or Exandria Unlimited, features a Betrayer God in a major role. Be it Vox Machina and Vecna or the Ring of Brass and Asmodeus, there's at least one evil deity messing the players in some form. Betrayer Gods are a whole paragraphs worth of explanation so in short, they're a pantheon of evil deities who are mostly sealed away by time of Campaign 2 and can only act on Exandria through agents and worshipers. However, whereas in those campaigns the God is essentially the big bad of the campaign and like the legacy of the Nein themselves, its a lot more subtle in Campaign 2. Tharizdun's sphere of influence is trickery and death and its only goal is the end of everything. It's a creature of rolling, hungry ink and darkness. It's unknowable, untouchable and as close to Lovecraftian as you can get in Exandria. As depicted by Kingsly's dream in the epiloge of the campaign, Tharizdun had detected the city in the Astral Sea and subtly guided the form it would take to the point that if the city had made it back to Exandria proper, its main goal would be to consume. Matt does give the caveat that he doesn't consider the Chained Oblivion the big bad of the whole campaign but more of a background threat whose messing with shit behind the scenes but still, it's a great way to use something as powerful and malevolent as a Betrayer God without making them the final foe the party face while simultaneously not copying Vecna's whole puppetmaster thing from Campaign 1.
Lucien: Long May He Reign
Now its time for the big bad. The tiefling threat. The Nonogon Nemesis. The hot boy. Lucien Tavelle, the blood hunter formally known as Mollymauk Tealeaf and currently known as Kingsly Tealeaf. Yeah, this is gonna be weird.
Lucien was the leader of a group of hemomancers called the Tombtakers who came across a journal in their travels. When Lucien looked into it, the Somnovem looked back and named him the Nonogon, their chosen one. As he dreamed in the nights proceeding this, each member of the Somnovem visited him and bequeathed him a tattoo of a red eye until all nine had been gifted and then... well, he got superpowers, for lack of a better term. The Tombtakers also received eyes as faithful servants of the Nonogon and the group contacted a past client called Vess DeRogna to oversee a ritual from the journal that would connect Lucien to the Somnovem. DeRogna said that the success or failure of the ritual wouldn't be immediately apparent and used this to sabotage the ritual, scattering Lucien's mind and soul. Lucien was buried by the Tombtakers and they scattered, while the small part of Lucien's soul that remained woke up in and joined a circus as Mollymauk Tealeaf, with no knowledge of what the fuck was up with those eyes on his body. The Nein met one of the Tombtakers, Cree, during their travels both pre and post-Mollymauk death and when she learned where he was buried, she rushed to the grave. The Somnovem had been busy piecing Lucien back together and, as the tiefling themselves put it, gave him a peak behind the curtain. Cree revived Lucien
and they immediately set about reuniting the Tombtakers to head for Eisselcross and Aeor.
Lucien is a really unique case in Critical Role history. While player characters had died before in Vox Machina (Molly started as a back-up character for Taliesin when Percy had a very close brush with perma-death) but they usually managed to be revived or died at the very end of the story so the long-term effects on the party weren't explored in following episodes. The big one that comes to mind is Vax'ildan, who gives his soul to the Matron of Ravens, goddess of death and fate, for her aid in the fight with Vecna. A fucking MAJOR death in every sense of the word, mind, but only explored outside of the epilogue by a brief appearance in a one-shot set after the campaign. Molly dies in episode 26 of Campaign 2 and his death is a huge deal for the teams growth going forward. That's an essay unto itself but the important note is there's a lot that goes down between Molly's death and the Nein learning of his resurrection., its also the first time Matt has played a character once played by another member of the cast and his portrayal of a Mollymauk without the mantra of leaving places better then they found it, replaced with Machiavellian monologues and a bit of a cult leader vibe is phenomenal, undoubtedly helped by Matt and Taliesin's long friendship and understanding of each other's creative process. His monologue before the final boss fight and the cackle that follows lives rent free in my mind. A brief aside to say that Lucien probably has the title of most batshit insane boss design in Critical Role. I'll probably share more art at the very end like I did in the Calamity essay but goddamn. Dude goes fucking insane with the fallen angel aesthetic. The fact he has an Irish accent is also just the cherry on top but what truly sells Luciane and by extension the entire final arc to me is that outside the Nein and a few of their allies, no one knows who the fuck he is.
Unsung Heroes
The biggest difference between Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein I'll always point to as the defining trait of Campaign 2 is that Vox Machina, whether they wanted to or not, became heroes of legend and renown with their feats known all over Exandria. The Nein never sought fame and actively shunned it when they could and thus, faded into the annals of history, their accomplishments known only to those they affected. Vox Machina saved a continent from a concord of chromatic dragons, freed a city from vampires and defeated a newly born god, all of which were done with witnesses and allies in tow. The Nein always kept somewhat of a low profile in their travels due to how many of their enemies were in high places (Trent Ikathon comes to mind immediately) but also because they all came from pasts were authority failed them in some way. Fjord's mentor made a deal with the devil, Jester was kept locked way from the world for her own 'safety', Nott spent her early days in service to the goblin tribe that killed her and hiding from the guards who would kill her for being a goblin afterwards, Beau was sold into the Cobalt Soul by a father who didn't want her, Molly had to hide his worship as the Empire didn't approve of his god, Yasha's entire existence was defined by authority trying to control her life and Caleb, well we've spoken about Caleb. The last thing any of them want is fame and glory. So as they fight Avantika at sea, the Angel of Irons cult, help begin peace talks that end the War of Ash and Light and finally pursue Lucien to Aeor and beyond, they always try and keep to a background role and, this is the big takeway I want people to remember, all these fights are personal to the Nein. Avantika is the ex-lover of Fjord mentor and a servant to his patron. The trail that leads to the Angel of Irons cult nod by extension Yasha's abuser began when the Nein were attempting to free Nott's husband from captivity. The War of Ash and Light's inciting incident happened within line of sight of the Nein and one of their closet friends was an instigator of it, never mind the families of the Nein who're in the firing line. Sure, the Briarwoods is as personal of a story as you can get and the Chroma Conclave hit Vox first but Vecna? He's not tied to the backstory of any of Vox, neither are the Conclave. Every major antagonist the Nein face are ghosts from their pasts, abusers and monsters that keep them up at night and looking over their shoulder wherever they go. So when the group finally defeat Lucien as the Neo-Somnovem, a being fueled by the minds and souls of an entire city, not just with might but with the memories of a fallen friend, they do so without any fanfare or fireworks. They stand around the corpse of Molly and try as they might, they can't bring him back... Until Taliesin is like "what if I divine intervention right now" and it fuckin works. So Lucien is no more, Kingsley Tealeaf awakes in the ruins of Aeor with no idea what's happening or who he is. This is one of the times I find myself having to repeatedly urge you to watch clips from the show yourself as words can only do so much justice but after all that and a final clash with Trent Ikathon, the Nein all go their separate ways. Fjord and Jester go exploring at sea, Beau strives to fix the corruption of the Empire as Yasha finally gets to just rest after fighting for so long, Caleb becomes a teacher and Veth starts an adventuring camp and they all live happily ever after.... until this reunion special inevitably kills one of them and I die inside.
I'm a bit of a sucker for tragedy. I've got an extremely well-read copy of The Great Gatsby in my bedroom (argue whether or not its a tragedy in your own time), and the amount of times I've rewatched the Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet is probably way higher then it should be. I would add Cyberpunk: Edgerunners here as well given Matt's involvement there but I've actually not finished it. I know what happens but still, that would be a bit disingenuous. There's just something beyond appealing to me about characters who aren't really protagonists. They don't fix the world or change the system they're beholden to. They try and fail and world moves on. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with that statement but the point remains. As much as I love the stories of a hero or heroes who beat the evil Empire or stop the great apocalypse and everything turns out for the better for that sweet sweet escapism, when I wanna come away from a movie or show feeling a bit existential and emotional, it's always gonna be a good tragedy. I've already wrote at length about EXU: Calamity, the Critical Role series all about defying the stars as best as you can during the end times but with all those examples in mind, you're probably thinking "that doesn't really apply to the Nein though. Like, Romeo and Juliet and Gatsby and the Brass Ring die. The Nein manage to get away". True, they do. But it's not really a victorious escape, in my mind. It doesn't feel like the end of Lord of the Rings where there's fanfare and trumpets and everyone bows to the hobbits. They do win but there's a sense of uncertainty in my mind about it all. Not in a "post-credit scene reveal that there's an even BIGGER bad guy" or anything, but it still feels bittersweet. I honestly don't have a solid answer for it as I'm trying to figure it out as I write this but I think it goes something like this.
The Mighty Nein first formed out of sheer happenstance. A pair of convicts down on their luck in an empire that hated them overhear a trio talk about a recent job they accomplished before two members of the local circus arrive to invite them all to a show. The rest is history but it's also the best thing to ever happen to all involved. From breaking free of traumatic pasts to discovering truths about themselves, none of what the Nein accomplished would be achievable without each other. Most actual play series usually become found family narratives as that's just the nature of the genre but it feels especially important for the Nein. All but three come from pretty shit family backgrounds and finding a group that loves and accepts them as is, no strings attached is the most important and impactful thing that could've happened to them. Add to that how much good the group accomplish together when all of them feel like pretty shitty people given their various sordid pasts and it's possibly one of the best found family stories I've ever read. So when the end of the campaign comes and the group decides to part ways for their separate lives, it hits that little bit harder. They've all grown so much and become so close so for the group to part ways at all sucks. Marisha has a really good view of Beau's mindset as she dedicates herself to the Cobalt Soul proper to help root out corruption in the Empire where Beau stops viewing it as a thing she's good at and starts viewing it as a career and a lifepath. That's really what the Mighty Nein are about in my head. Overcoming the mistakes and traumas of your past and finding your spot in a world that will do its best to fuck you over. There is one big meta aspect we have to address before we wrap up though...
COVID-19 or Oh God Oh Fuck Oh God Oh Fuck
Yeah, you might wanna get used to this if you're in anyway interested in the video essay sphere of YouTube because I have a feeling that final act twist a lot of them do will end up being "Surprise, that two year long lockdown affects this!". On the 17th of March, Critical Role went on hiatus due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the US. The obvious "we don't want any of the cast and crew to die" reasoning is fair but they also avoided using Zoom and Skype as they wanted to preserve the experience of the show as best achieved by sitting at the table in person. The last live broadcast was episode 99 on the 12th of March, the fifth anniversary of the show. Over the next few months, the gang did use Zoom and so on to record some less-DnD, more general fun series' like Narrative Telephone and continued others like All Work, No Play until the 2nd of July 2020 when they returned with a prerecorded, biweekly format for Episode 100 and the remainder of Campaign 2. Instead of all being sat around a table, each cast member had desks to themselves, all the required distance apart and all ran with a skeleton crew following the correct procedures. This is the format that was used during the entirety of Family Ties.
Now, if the comments on that update video are anything to go by, Critical Role was a really important part of people's lives during the early, dark days of the pandemic. I only got into the fandom long after a return to the usual set-up (my COVID brain was saved by Destiny 2 and alcohol, like a normal person) but looking back at this era of the show, it gives me some interesting ideas as to why Weird Magic hit just that bit harder. As stated already, the final chunk of the campaign takes place in the far northern reaches of Eisselcross for the most part (a few detours back to Wildemount to get their allies to safety when Trent comes knocking and wrapping up stuff on Rumblecusp aside), isolated from the rest of the world. All the Nein have are each other and the Tombtakers for company and the ending of their story is uncertain. They have no idea how long their journey will be. Is this a bit of a reach to try compare an expedition into a fallen city and the Astral Sea that's home to a living chunk of said city to a global pandemic that shut down the world for two years? Yeah, it is, I admit that. But considering how the cast has always stood by those four hours a week as being sacred to them and how that could've only become more important during COVID, I don't think it's a stretch to say that the shows focus on family and community through dark times and unknowable odds resonated that bit more during those dark lockdown days.
Fond Farewells: Trying to Write A Conclusion is Hard.
So what's even the point of this overly long, extremely scattered thought process that I somehow managed to put into words on a website? Like, what's the takeaway? Well, besides the obvious "go watch Critical Role", I really just wanted an excuse to vent about a series that's been keeping me sane the past few months. Without oversharing, it has been a rough year and getting up on a Friday morning or having a rough Thursday night and getting to watch a bunch of talented friends tell a great story together is a privilege I try not to take for granted. I am going to write something about Campaign 3 at some stage, as that's what I've been watching week-to-week, but for now I'll close with this. As part of my dive into the rabbit hole that is Critical Role, I watched a series called Between the Sheets, a series of interviews with the cast and some of the guests that have been on the show. It's a really cool insight into how some of these big name voice actors got into the business, some of the wild roads that lead them there as well as an insight into the people behind the characters that mean so much to so many. One of the things mentioned recently in an interview Matt Mercer did with Alanah Pearce that's apparent in those Between the Sheets interviews is that even after almost 8 years, the cast is still just as passionate as ever. They've got two more seasons of the animated Vox Machina show on Amazon Prime on the way, a multitude of comics and books and do I really need to talk more about EXU: Calamity? It's really nice to see a bunch of creative people just living their best life and creating some phenomenal stories every week. That's the takeaway, I think.
The Gallery: All the Cool Artwork I Found that I Didn't Use
(shout-out to Anna Grineko in paticular, they have some Destiny 2 art that is beyond incredible in their portfolio and that is a guaranteed way into my heart)
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