****This will contain spoilers for Critical Role through Episode 100****
Hello Internet!
I hope all of you are doing well and staying healthy. We have made it through the first half of 2020 and I’m hoping that the later half is a bit easier. Here in the US we are still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and I’m seriously not sure when we will see the end. But I try to stay positive and hopeful. At least I have this outlet for writing and creativity which keeps me a bit sane as I spend most of my time inside. Plus there’s something else big that has boosted my attitude which might also be the subject of this week’s Weekly Blog. Anyway, before we talk about that, let’s quickly talk about all the stuff I published last week.
Last Sunday, I published a Weekly Blog which talked about a lot of serious subjects including what is going on in the United States and The Black Lives Matter movement. I highly recommend reading it to read my thoughts on what is going on. The too long, didn’t read version is that I support Black Lives Matter and that I’m trying to use my small platform to show my support. I will not tolerate things like racism or homophobia on this platform and I do not want support from racists. This past Wednesday, I published a Poem titled “Exhausted By The News.” This one is pretty self-explanatory, but if you are like me, you try to stay informed with the news even if it can be exhausting. It’s a balance of staying informed and staying sane. Finally, on Friday I published my most recent chapter of my Dungeons and Dragons inspired series, “The Titan’s League Trial.” The group has met with Ms. Zaffre at The Wicked Scepter and have now designed a plan to get access to Krumb’s lair to find information on Riffen. Sigthyme and Tak believe that it easier to do so if they joined The Titan’s League and gained some credibility within the city so they go to The Titan’s League to take on the trial there. Go ahead and check those out if you haven’t read them already. I’d really appreciate the support!
Enough talking about me, I want to talk about Critical Role! I know I’m a little behind on this Weekly Blog. Last Sunday’s Weekly Blog was my first one back and I wanted to cover all the important stuff that’s been going on. This week I wanted to talk about something more positive! It is no secret that I’m a fan of Dungeons and Dragons and I’m a bigger fan of Critical Role. I’ve talked about Critical Role before in a couple of different Weekly Blogs including one where I talked about The Mighty Nein after episode 50 of Critical Role. Now it’s been another 50 (technically 51 when this published) and I just want to talk broadly about The Mighty Nein and how much I love Critical Role. This pandemic had delayed Critical Role’s episode 100 for a couple months, but Critical Role returned in a safe, socially distant manner and I could not be happier. I missed Critical Role so much but I’m happy that they waited until it was safe for the cast and crew. The wait added to the excitement around episode 100.
So where are The Mighty Nein now compared to episode 50? Well we’ve seen some big character moments with all members of The Mighty Nein. The biggest I’d say is that Nott The Brave (played by Sam Reigel) and her quest to change back into her original body. Caleb (played by Liam O’Brien) was able to figure out a spell to transform her back to her normal self, Veth Brenatto, but that was not enough. The first time Caleb tried the spell, it failed, and this sent The Mighty Nein to go track down the hag which put the curse on Veth in the first place. During that time we got some major backstory with Beauregard (played by Marisha Ray) and met her horrible family. However, Beau, has personally excelled with The Mighty Nein and has gained the rank of expositor within The Cobalt Soul. Using the information from Beau’s family, The Mighty Nein, made their way to take on the hag and there Jester (played by Laura Bailey) truly made history. The group met with the hag and many talked to her, but Jester was the one who managed to trick the hag into eating a magic-laced cupcake. While under the cupcake’s influence, Jester convinced the hag to drop the curse on Veth and they escaped in a hurry. After that Caleb was able to use the spell and his magic turned Nott back into Veth.
Another character that has had a big transformation has been Fjord (played by Travis Willingham). During the first 50 episodes, there was a lot of focus on Fjord as he struggled with his patron Uk’otoa (Uk’otoa) wanted to escape its shackles to wreak havoc on the ocean. Fjord was tasked to set Uk’otoa (Uk’otoa) free, but instead he has relied on Caduceus (played by Taliesin Jaffe) and has embraced becoming a Paladin of The Wildmother. He is on a path that skirts the line of being this Paladin and having his Warlock powers. Caduceus has had a pretty great arc too. Through The Mighty Nein’s travels, Caduceus was reunited with his family and they discovered a possible cure to the blight that is affecting his homeland. Now, we don’t know for sure if it has worked or not, but last we checked in with the family, they were on their way back to the Blooming Grove graveyard with that possible cure. It’s possible that the cure will happen while Caduceus is away or there might be more that has to be done. For now, Caduceus seems to be focused on helping Fjord strengthen his connection to The Wildmother.
All of these personal stories have been intertwined with the ongoing war between The Dwendallian Empire and The Kryn Dynasty. There have been a lot of different developments of the war, but I’ll just talk about some of the bigger points. For one, the Dwendallian Empire was in possession of two beacons which is a very important religious symbol to the Kryn Dynasty and the reason the war has broken out. The Empire has also sent highly trained warriors named Scourgers which is what Caleb was training to be before he was a part of The Mighty Nein. The Dynasty has counterattacked in force and The Mighy Nein have met with top people on both sides in order to strike a peace deal. Eventually a ceasefire was reached and plans were made for an official peace talk to be held on boats off the coast of The Menagerie Coast in neutral waters. The Mighty Nein also learned that one of the Kryn they had befriended, Essek (one of the many NPCs played by Dungeon Master Mathew Mercer) was one of the people who handed over the beacon to the Empire and helped kick off the war between the two empires. Eventually the two sides did meet and peace talks began. The Empire agreed to hand over the stolen beacon (still keeping one which the Kryn Dynasty doesn’t know about) and their was an exchange of war prisoners. Peace was achieved but there is still some tension between the two empires and The Mighty Nein remain divided on what to do about their friend Essek.
Now that the war is over, the next big thing on the horizon is “TravelerCon” or the formal meeting of Jester’s Patron The Traveler and the many followers of The Traveler. Recently we learned that The Traveler is not actually a god, but the Archfey Artagan (Spoilers for Critical Role Season One). Now Artagan was the powerful Archfey Vox Machina met in The Feywild and they actually set up a gate between their world and The Feywild which allowed Artagan to escape. We aren’t super familiar with the actions of Artagan immediately following his escape into The Material Plane, but eventually Jester met him and started to worship him as a god. This allowed Jester to gain Cleric powers. However Artagan does not want to be a god and sees the whole worship thing taxing. He doesn’t want to be a hands-on god and wants his worshipers to leave him alone. The Traveler and Jester have come up with a plan to throw “TravelerCon” and have all the followers meet up so they can establish a new relations between the followers and their “god.” Now as I write this, The Mighty Nein have made their way to the island location of TravelerCon had have started preparations for the big meet up. TravelerCon is on the horizon and following that, I’m not sure what is going to be the next big thing for The Mighty Nein.
Through all of this one character has not been able to explore much of her backstory and that would be Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson). Part of this is because Ashley had missed many episodes of Critical Role due to her commitments of living in New York and playing a character on Blindspot. Now that show is done and Ashley has returned to living in Los Angeles. Going forward Ashley should be there all the time which allow Yasha to be a bigger presence in The Mighty Nein. I’m very excited to learn more about the woman she was once married to and her connection to The Storm Lord. The other things that The Mighty Nein can focus on is Fjord and the fact that Uk’otoa (Uk’otoa) continues to pursue Fjord in order to force him to free Uk’otoa (Uk’otoa). Another big thing is that the people behind Caleb’s torture is still out there and it’s possible Caleb would want revenge against them. The people in question are very powerful mages so it would be quiet a task, but it’s still possible. Another big bad which could be in The Mighty Nein’s future is The Chained Oblivion, a unending huger which could possibly threaten the entire world. The Mighty Nein has fought with some of The Chained Oblivion’s worshipers who believed they were worshiping a deity named The Angel of Irons. They managed to kill the worshipers, but the threat of The Chained Oblivion is still out there. One last thing I want to mention is that there are some potential threads connected to Mollymauk (formerly played by Taliesin Jaffe) and his backstory. These may be major or minor or non-existant, but I hope we do learn more about Mollymauk.
Who knows exactly what The Migthy Nein will focus on after “TravelerCon,” but the next few episodes will definitely lead to a new chapter of The Mighty Nein’s journey. No matter what happens, I’m excited that I have Critical Role back in my life and that Thursdays will once again be filled with Nerdy-Ass Voice Actors playing Dungeons and Dragons together.
Thank you so much for reading that Weekly Blog and celebrating Critical Role with me. If you read through this Weekly Blog and haven’t watched Critical Role, I highly recommend it. This Weekly Blog was full of spoilers, but I’d still say it’s worth watching. There is so much content and moments I was not able to touch on here that it would definitely be worth watching. Also I’m not sponsored or anything, I just really love Critical Role. If you liked this Weekly Blog, it would mean a lot to me if you gave it a like and/or leave a comment down below sharing your favorite Critical Role memory. You should also spend a moment checking out the rest of my website. I have published over 500 different pieces consisting of Weekly Blogs, Poems, Writing Prompt Pieces, Fanfiction, and other Creative Writing. There are plenty of great pieces here and it would mean a lot if you checked them out. You can also Follow me here on WordPress to join my positive and creative space here on the internet. Any support is really appreciated no matter if you are a new reader or have been reading my stuff for awhile now.
Anyway, I think that’s enough for now. I hope you all have a wonderful week and stay safe and healthy!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to JQuarze on Twitter
https://twitter.com/JQuarze/status/1277392160967389185/photo/1
Allen The Writer 