Awesome / The Legend of Vox Machina

Unmarked spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!

I... would like... to...
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!

For being a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, Vox Machina can certainly "fuck shit up" when it counts.

In General

• "Your Turn To Roll" being used as a leitmotif for particularly intense bouts of combat and making the fight even more awesome.
• Character beats, combat moments, and acquisition of new spells/powers/attacks are clearly identifiable as DnD spells and leveling-up, paying homage to the root of the series being an Actual Play of Dungeons & Dragons. All of them still make perfect sense narratively and don't seem forced.

Season One

Episode 1: The Terror of Tal'Dorei, Part 1

• Vox Machina, drinking in a tavern, get provoked into a fight by some other mercenaries. We have a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits who are in varying states of drunkenness, missing a member (due to Scanlan being off seducing the tavern owner's daughter), and considered by many to be a joke, versus a team of seemingly professional and relatively sober mercenaries who are all much larger than every one of the former group sans Grog. The winner? Vox Machina.
  • The way the fight starts with Vax responding to the provoking by tricking the orc leader into humiliating himself, then Grog stepping in:
    Agar: Look at your scrawny ass. Too weak to tickle your own pickle.
    Vax: Are you offering to help?
    Agar: Yeah! (Beat) Uh-no, I- fuck you!
    Vax: Aw, I'm only asking you to give me a hand. (slams Agar's hand on the table, moments before Grog slices it off)
  • As bumbling and out of sync Vox Machina can get, most of them still do pretty well in a fight while piss-drunk. Vax visibly stumbling but still managing to throw his knives accurately, for example.
  • Vex and Vax both aiming for the same merc and both hitting their target. They continue to work together with Vax snatching some of the hiding patron's coin pouches.
  • As the fight heats up, Vex whistles for Trinket, who breaks directly through the wall and drags one merc off.
  • Grog barely reacts to a chair being slammed over his head. He then turns around to the doberman merc and roars at his face, getting him to back down.
  • Keyleth is completely inebriated and stumbling around, until one of the mercs, a large wolflike person, roars in her face. She promptly throws up in his mouth, stunning him long enough for her to take him out with magic.
  • Percy initially not joining the combat and barely moves his head to avoid some thrown glasses and other items.
  • And the tavern keeper putting an end to the fight by slamming their hands on the bar and screaming at everyone to stop (along with shape-shifting into a minotaur). Both mercenary gangs go instantly passive.
• Scanlan's performance to introduce Vox Machina to the council. Through good music and incredible magic-fueled visuals, he ends up convincing Uriel (albeit barely) to hire them for the task. Considering the group stumbled into the room tired, beat-up, drunk, and interrupting an important meeting, that's impressive.
• Vox Machina versus a blue dragon. They don't win, but they land some decent hits and survive. Seeing as this dragon took out numerous other parties, one of which we see taking a matter of seconds, the fact they even survived is incredible, and attributed to Keyleth putting up a barrier in time to protect them from a rockslide.
• Vox Machina has decided the dragon isn't worth the reward and are prepared to leave, even deciding to leave Emon entirely so the council won't track them down for abandonment. As they leave, they come across the village they had stopped in previously... and find it utterly decimated by the dragon. There are no survivors, and a child Vax bonded with earlier dies in his arms as Pike can't summon the magic to heal them. As everyone stands around feeling sorry for themselves, the solemn strings of a lute catch their attention.
  Vax: What the hell are you doing, Scanlan?!
  Scanlan: Thinking of a rhyme for "dead dragon". [turns to the group] Cause I... I guess we're killin' one.
  • A bit of Fridge Brilliance: a bard's weapon is their instrument of choice to perform magic. In this moment, Scanlan tuning his lute is the equivalent of a warrior sharpening their sword to prepare for battle.

Episode 2: The Terror of Tal'Dorei, Part 2

• The dragon's massacre of the army in the beginning is a retroactive one for Vox Machina. Remember that they survived fighting this dragon, but the entire army couldn't even make it flinch, with not a single survivor.
• Vax picking a locked door with a toothpick.
  Vax: All it takes is a little finesse. Amateurs.
• Krieg's reveal of being the dragon, complete with a terrifying transformation.
• Vox Machina versus Brimscythe the Iron Storm, Round 2. Everything seems to be going just as bad as last time, until Vax has a realization that they need to attack the dragon's throat, remembering a vague line from a book Gilmore showed him that was dismissed as nonsense. In order to do that, they need to bring it to the ground. And thus begins the plan:
  • Scanlan distracts the dragon with an illusion of the gang, gathered in one spot and starting to argue. When the dragon blasts the illusion, Keyleth grabs one of its wings with her vines, pulling it to the ground. At the same time, Percy shoots a stalactite so it falls and pins Brimscythe's other wing.
    • The level of smug aura Scanlan gives the giant blue lizard when he sees that the attack was only on an illusion, with him snapping his fingers.
      Scanlan: Ahem. [smirks as he dismisses the spell fully] Gotcha.
  • Vax goes running for the dragon, dodging falling debris, until one large rock is about to fall directly on him. Cue Scanlan using his magical purple hand to blast the rock apart, then grab Vax and throw him toward his target, where he proceeds to parkour off the rocks as he heads full-tilt toward the dragon.
    • As an added visual bonus, the rock Scanlan shatters looks just like a 20-sided die.
  • Vax gets a perfect strike on the dragon's throat, then calls for Vex. Aided by Pike's magic, she launches an arrow at the opened wound, getting a perfect shot that brings him down.
  • And finally, Grog going into a rage. All the Critical Role fans were waiting for this moment, and it does not disappoint:
    Grog: I... would like... to... RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE! [charges at the dragon and brings his axe down on its head, shredding it to bits in one blow]
• The reveal of the Briarwoods. A group of bandits halt their carriage to try to rob them and Sylas proceeds to slaughter them all, killing the first bandit by putting his clawed hand right through his chest. Delilah sits calmly in their carriage drinking tea as blood splatters across their window.

Episode 3: The Feast of Realms

• Allura not even flinching as the door (that Vox Machina was collectively struggling to open) goes flying past her and shatters into smithereens on Greyskull Keep's wall.
• Sylas casually taking control of Sovereign Uriel by convincing him that Whitestone doesn't need guards to investigate them and it should retain its independence. In fact, they could use more protection, which Uriel slowly agrees with. Only Keyleth manages to notice that something was off in the conversation.
  • Delilah even gets a few jabs at Percy, pretending not to know him and also spreading the lie that the de Rolos abdicated Whitestone and their children stole from the treasury. This leads to Percy angrily calling her a liar, only serving to make Delilah look reasonable while the other council members can only shake their heads towards Percy in disapproval.
• Scanlan's crack about using similar beads to Lady Briarwood's as anal beads may be his best low key diss ever.
• The Briarwoods' Jump Scare of Vax and the audience. After getting distracted by an unnatural gust of wind dimming the fire, Vax turns back to find the Briarwoods boxing him in and No Selling his attempts at distraction, flirting, and eventually fleeing through a window.
• A villainous example, but the Briarwoods quickly prove themselves to be formidable combatants when confronted by Vox Machina: Sylas is able to go toe-to-toe with Grog and ultimately come out on top (with help from Craven Edge), while Delilah is able to effortlessly turn Keyleth's spells back on her, shield herself from Vex's arrows, and uses a powerful spell to overpower Pike and prevent her from empowering Grog's weapon.
• Delilah getting one last line in at Percy as she and her husband make their escape. You can tell Grey DeLisle is having the time of her life voicing Delilah.
  Delilah: Come visit us some time, Percival. You're always welcomed back home.
• As terrifying as the scene was, many fans couldn't help but cheer hearing Percy say one of his iconic lines as he puts on his crow mask.
  Percy: You fool. Now, your soul is forfeit.

Episode 4: Shadows at the Gates

• Equal parts terrifying, but the wraiths sent to besiege the keep and retrieve Lady Briarwoods' book demonstrate a lot of brutal cunning. Dousing out light sources is a natural choice, but their constant ruthless use of their phasing ability lets them launch numerous gruesome surprise attacks. They aren't just deranged monsters, but intelligent abominations that are aware of their own abilities and how to use them.
• When Pike is unable to use her clerical powers, it falls to Keyleth to cast a Sunlight spell to fend off the wraiths attacking them. She is able to do it after Percy encourages her. The light not only hurts the wraiths, but makes them vulnerable to Vox Machina and Captain Howarth's counterattack.
  • The rendition of the Sunlight spell in this episode deserves special mention: Keyleth doesn't just create sunlight, she creates a miniature sun!
  • During the counterattack, Grog grabs part of a chandelier, yanks it apart, and beats a wraith's face in with the metal ring. Then, just for good measure, Grog yanks its head off, leaving its jaw attached but the top of its head missing.
  • Percy proves he's no slouch just because he's without his gun. He holds his own by ripping one of the wraiths off the wall, hurling it into a closet, then finishing it off by stomping its face in.

Episode 5: Fate's Journey

• How do the twins plan to break into Gilmore's Glorious Goods? It appears like Vex is using her ranger skills to enlist a local squirrel who can slip through a barred window. It's actually a shape-changed Keyleth. For someone who supposedly "doesn't have her shit together", she quickly succeeds. She had the twins inside the shop before guards who were actively pursuing them could catch up.
• The party fights the zombie wolves as they chase down the one that kidnapped Scanlan. When one of them bites down on Vax's arm, Keyleth snaps. She punches it away, her eyes glow green and her teeth sharpen into fangs and roars at it, making it whimper; its eyes flash green when it whimpers as well, suggesting that maybe Keyleth's druid abilities got through to whatever wolf was left within. It also foreshadows Keyleth's other powerful tools of combat.
• Vox Machina recall their strangest kills:
  • After besting him in combat, Vax casually throws a dagger into the skull of Hotis the Rakshasa as he was promising revenge.
  • Keyleth used a spell to push away an ambushing duergar, accidentally sending him into a pool of lava. Distraught over his cries of agony, she pushes him in deeper just to make him quiet.
  • Grog pried a bulette's jaws open and ripped its tongue out with his teeth.
  • Scanlan...bedded a woman. A woman that transformed into a hideous two-headed ettin mid-coitus.
    Grog: AW, WHAT THE FUCK?!
    Scanlan: What? I still finished!

Episode 6: Spark of Rebellion

• Keyleth transforms into a hulking, white-and red-striped, saber-tooth tiger (or affectionately coined by Critters and the cast as Minxie) and pounces towards Stonefell after he mercilessly kills a fellow rebel woman. If he wasn't lucky enough to be blocked by some guards, Keyleth would have stolen a kill from Percy.
• Despite being beaten nearly to death and getting his ear torn off, Archie still has no problem keeping up with the party and kicking ass along the way.
• Scanlan uses an illusion of himself to trick the guards into releasing him.
• Kerrion Stonefell proves so relentlessly disgusting in just a few episodes of screen time that, even for how horrific it is, watching an Orthax-empowered Percy reduce him to stuttering terror and turn him into a smear on the floor is wildly satisfying.
  Percy: I am vengeance for the de Rolos.
  • Percy's putdown of Stonefell as being "the one [he] was least looking forward to" is also awesome in that he implies Stonefell is beneath notice and not even worth the satisfaction of vengeance.

Episode 7: Scanbo

• The episode is pretty much one for Scanlan - Vox Machina needs a distraction so they can raid Anders' manor to rescue Cassandra. Scanlan volunteers to create a distraction: setting Duke Vedmire's manor on fire. He succeeds through a combination of determination, cunning, magical supplies, and luck. He uses a potion of Blink to escape the guards, a potion of Reduce Person to evade Vedmire, a potion of Fire Breathing to start the fire and burn Vedmire's face, and a scroll of Polymorph to turn himself into a triceratops. It culminates in a one-on-one fight with Vedmire, which he wins thanks to figuring out how to properly cast Lightning Bolt: through his penis.
  • And as the cherry on top of this ass-kicking sundae, Scanlan departs from the burning mansion with a cocky grin to the Duke, riding atop Scanlan's Hand as it flips a bird twice as big as Scanlan is tall.
• Grog takes several arrows to the torso... and then decimates the archers that shot him, almost as if he doesn't have several arrows in his torso.
  Keyleth: You good, buddy?
  Vax: [laughing] Oh man, they are fucked now.

Episode 8: A Silver Tongue

• Keyleth is able to successfully save Cassandra's life after she was nearly killed by Anders. Despite the fact that she isn't a cleric, her druidic magic is able to save the life of Percy's only living family member.
• Percy killing Anders is vicious, but incredibly satisfying. Anders betrayed the de Rolos, blaming them for holding back his scientific achievements, and slits Cassandra's throat before gleefully mocking Percy about his dead family. He uses suits of armor and mind-controls Grog and then the rest of Vox Machina into attacking Percy, wanting Percy to see his own friends turn on him before he dies. Percy distracts Anders with a speech, before managing to shoot his tongue out of his mouth—the thing he was using to magically compel others to his will—taking off Anders' jaw in the process. Percy follows it up with a furious recounting of every horrific thing Anders did to his family, including a line every Vox Machina campaign fan was waiting for:
  Percy: We trusted you. You were our teacher. We would have done anything you asked. And you betrayed us when we needed you most. You're the face I saw when murder entered my heart.
  • He then shoots Anders through the skull, sending him flying out the window and turning him into a gory smear on the courtyard below.

Episode 9: The Tide of Bone

• Percy introduces Bad News, and it does not disappoint, blowing an undead giant's arm off in a single shot.
• Archie is dead; the resistance is losing hope; and Cassandra knows she won't really be trusted. It's down to Percy to lead, but he doesn't believe he deserves to, still feeling guilty for having run away all those years ago. But he sees his people and his friends in need...and he faces it, in a Rousing Speech where he admits to his own mistakes and still rallies everyone to ensure that no one died in vain. The cherry on top? This is how he begins it:
  Percy: I am Lord Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III!
  • In the original stream, Percy introducing himself with his Overly Long Name is a Running Gag, showing immediately how pompous he is. In the show, this is the first time we hear him use it, and it's incredibly effective, turning a running joke into a powerful character moment.
  • A special mention goes to Grog's response:
    Grog: LET'S KILL FUCKING EVERYTHING!
• Keyleth gets to show off a really big moment as they are running away from the zombies: Keyleth, in a desperate effort to try and stop a horde from chasing them, unleashes a giant burst of ice magic that freezes a whole street's worth of zombies in one blast. Vax is in awe at that power, but Vex gets him and the others to snap out of it so they can run.
• Vox Machina and the Whitestone resistance are cornered, backs against the Sun Tree, battling wave after wave of undead. All hope seems lost... but then the sky lights up gold, and who should appear but Pike Trickfoot, astral-projecting from the Everlight's temple! Not only does she single-handedly obliterate a wave of zombies by herself, but she also blesses everyone's weapons with divine power, so even the townspeople's pitchforks and simple swords can cut through the undead like ribbons.
  Pike: (echoing) May your weapons strike with the divine virtue of the Everlight. NOW GO CRUSH SOME FUCKING HEADS!
• Scanlan, with his arm healed thanks to Pike's clerical magic, gives a Badass Boast as he pulls a Fastball Special with Grog via his magic hand similar to earlier in the season with Vax with Brymscythe.
• Vedmire tries to run only for Percy to shoot him in the leg. Percy tells Vedmire he's not on the list so he won't kill him... instead he's going to let the people of Whitestone handle him. "And let them show you all the mercy you've shown them." Cue the vengeful residents slicing Vedmire to pieces and hanging his corpse from the Sun Tree.

Episode 10: Depths of Deceit

• Keeper Yennen leads the people of Whitestone against the Pale Guard that are guarding Whitestone Castle.
  Yennen: The Dawnfather shall stand as a flame in the darkness. Whitestone is our home, and today, we take it back!
• As the room fills with acid, Vox Machina suggests that Scanlan use his magic hand to get them airborne. Scanlan protests that they're all too heavy... and then he realizes that the music he needs should be heavy, and he somehow starts playing a heavy metal electric guitar solo on his lute. Not only that, he maintains it throughout the rest of the scene!
• Grog diving head-first, naked, into a literal lake of acid to save Vox Machina. Even while his skin is burning, chunks of flesh are peeling away, and his blood is staining the acid, Grog keeps going. Pike's healing did the trick to get Grog all the way to the third lever needed to drain the acid from the room, but it remains a very ballsy move on Grog's part.
  • Props to Pike, too, for maintaining her healing magic on him throughout the ordeal; with the Everlight's blessing, she's come a long way from when she was tapped out after healing one of Grog's heavy wounds after their first battle with Brimscythe.
• Ripley gets a pretty good moment, too; she's bound at the wrists and missing a hand, but she still manages to jump and hang onto the control panel and pull one of the three levers needed to shut off the trap.
• While it backfired spectacularly, Keyleth's druidic magic shows a lot of promise yet again as she summons a series of vines in dead soil to try and block the acid spray.

Episode 11: Whispers at the Ziggurat

• The showdown between Vox Machina and the Briarwoods is gorgeously animated, with every single combatant giving everything they've got. The entire production team at Titmouse—storyboarders, animators, compositors, post-production—showed off all their chops and then some.
• Pike takes on Sylas Briarwood, a super-strong vampire three times her size, directly. He overpowers her, but the little gnome gives him a run for his money.
  • On the flip-side of that coin, Sylas being undead means that going up against Pike is the match-up that puts him at the greatest disadvantage, but he hardly seems concerned as he launches himself into battle.
• When all seems lost, Keyleth manages to connect to the last living remnants of the Sun Tree: the roots deep underground in the ziggurat. She promptly begins to unleash its power, lighting up the whole room with a golden glow, unleashing an aura that dispels Sylas' bewitchment over Vax and Cassandra and empowering Pike's holy light. What follows is absolutely heart-pounding:
  • Pike's shield breaks under pressure from Delilah's spell, but the spell merely dissipates, and Pike retaliates with a massive beam of holy energy that Delilah struggles to withstand.
    Pike: My turn.
    • Pike squaring off against Delilah directly is also incredibly cathartic, given what Delilah did to her back at the feast. "This little one is entirely too much trouble", indeed.
  • Grog is able to hold off Sylas, and even resist his mind-control powers, long enough to incapacitate him and hold him immobile. This was after Grog had already been charmed by Anders and seen Vax fall under it too; for all that he's portrayed as the Dumb Muscle, Grog has incredible willpower and understated cleverness.
    • He even does a pretty clever maneuver:
      Grog: If I can't see where I'm swinging, then neither will you! [sticks his axe into Sylas' gut, all while fighting blind] It worked! [grins as he grabs the injured Sylas and grapples him] Real men hug!
  • Delilah, in a panic, tries to attack Keyleth and Grog, only to be silenced by Scanlan, whom she had silenced earlier in the battle. He even shushes her!
  • Keyleth cries out that she doesn't want to hurt Grog with her attack, but Grog declares that he can take it, and tells her to give it everything she's got. She promptly fires a blast of sunlight^note "More sunlight than summer in Marquet", as Gilmore put it, slowly incinerating Sylas as he screams in agony!
    • In a sense, this is kind of a indirect revenge for the Sun Tree itself; the ancient tree was dying because of the Briarwood's plans, so it uses whatever power it has left to give Keyleth exactly the power she needed to finish off the vampire.
  • Upon seeing Sylas' death, Delilah lets out a Skyward Scream so loud it breaks the silence spell Scanlan put on her.
• When Delilah attempts to summon the Whispered One in a last-ditch effort to revive Sylas again, Vex manages to shoot her through the spinning orb of black-veined energy that deflected all of Percy's bullets to plant an arrow right In the Back. Delilah aims a horrible spell at Vex, much like the Finger of Death she used on the original stream, but here, Keyleth jumps in front of it and takes it instead.

Episode 12: The Darkness Within

• Keyleth is on death's door from Delilah's spell, and they've used up their healing potions...but they haven't used up the ingredients Keyleth used to revive Cassandra. Vax manages to pull himself together enough and, with Scanlan's help, uses the same method to revive Keyleth.
• One of the most iconic moments from the Briarwood arc was Vex quietly asking Percy to remove his mask when it looked like his vengeance was overriding him. It makes it into the show...but under a completely different context, where Vex puts herself between Percy's gun and Delilah and says she knows he's trying to fight Orthax's control.
  Vex: Darling... take off the mask.
• Another CMOA for the animators. The sequences in the mindscape where Orthax fully reveals his true nature to Percy are stunning, with the fiery orange glow of the forge where Percy created his gun being visually paralleled with Orthax's hellfire.
• Percy also deserves recognition for Fighting from the Inside as long and as hard as he did. On the stream, he rolled a natural 20 to expel Orthax and turn him into an Enemy Without by sheer force of will; here, he shoots his own hand to shock Orthax out of him.
• Percy chooses to spare Delilah, even disregarding her taunting (something he was previously unable to do). Cassandra, on the other hand, was not so forgiving, and stabs Delilah through the throat with her rapier, cutting off her spiteful taunting and last-ditch effort to cast a dark magic attack in one, looking her straight in the eyes the whole time.
  Cassandra: I'm glad you forgave her, brother. But I... could not.
• Scanlan also gets one for having the foresight to toss Percy's gun into acid, despite Percy's protests. He reveals to Keyleth at the end of the scene that it was a lucky guess, but he was immediately vindicated when the dissolving gun showed that Orthax had still been tethered to it.

Season Two

Episode 1: Rise of the Chroma Conclave

• As terrifying as it is, Thordak's first scene is definitely awesome in a villainous way. Dwarfing the other members of the Conclave and causing the street to melt just by existing, shows the sheer might that the Party is going to need to deal with this season.
  Thordak: People of Emon! Thordak demands capitulation! SUBMIT TO THE CINDER KING! [Roars with enough force and fire to obliterate at least three city blocks]
• Thordak's Breath Weapon makes canon-accurate Ancient Red Dragons' fire look like humble flamethrowers by comparison: First, pillars of fire erupt from his throat and under his wings like he's about to enter a Super Mode, then after roasting not just Emon's guards but a hundred-foot solid-stone statue with a massive gout of fire, he turns it into a searing beam of straight-up plasma that not only cores straight through the mountain under Emon and keeps going, but basically nukes whatever the beam ended at.
• Who can forget when Grog grabbed a f***ing door and used it as a shield to protect his entire party from an errant burst of Thordak's flames? And this was no run of the mill door either, it looked like Grog had taken the sort of thing you see on bank vaults, ripped it clean off of whatever building it was attached to, and hauled it out to use as a shield to protect him and his friends. As Vex aptly remarks, first door that's actually been useful to the party.

Episode 2: The Trials of Vasselheim

• Earthbreaker Groon hands Grog his ass on a platter. He even catches Craven Edge with one hand and doesn't flinch at it drinking up his blood before wrenching it away and continuing Grog's beatdown.
• Pike doesn't let Osysa's words discourage her or her friends.
  Pike: Fuck dignity. I'm not leaving, not giving up, until someone listens.
  Osysa: And if I don't? Would you sacrifice your life just to prove a point?
  Pike: I don't care if I die. None of us do. But we're not leaving. We won't be ignored.
• A moment Critters have all been waiting for: Viktor the black powder merchant finally appears!

Episode 3: The Sunken Tomb

• Keyleth and Zara combine their magic to successfully push open a path through a frozen lake to the eponymous tomb. Kudos to Keyleth who admits she's not very good at water magic and uses wind instead.

Episode 4: Those Who Walk Away

• Vax proving worthy of the Deathwalker's Ward, and then tearing apart the aberration that had been moments from wiping out the whole party with his enhanced agility. Particularly the final blow, which is him nailing the monster right in the pupil with a thrown dagger, with the Matron's mask floating behind him, and then driving it in with a kick that splits its eye.
  Grog: Well, damn.

Episode 5: Pass Through Fire

• Like how the entirety of "Scanbo" was one long Moment Of Awesome for Scanlan, "Pass Through Fire" is one for Keyleth.
• Keyleth embracing the flames in the Plane of Fire and transforming into a Fire Elemental, then closing the rift herself after several mages had spent all fight struggling with it.
  Keyleth: I am Keyleth, an Air Ashari, like my mother before me. I was made to pass through fire.

Episode 6: Into Rimecleft

• Kamaljiori is pretty much made of awesome the whole episode. The ancient sphinx hands pretty much the entirety of Vox Machina their butts on a plate, then gives Umbrasyl one hell of a fight when the acid dragon attacks, ultimately going down in a Heroic Sacrifice to save his new friend Scanlan.
• Scanlan winning the challenge by creating a massive musical number about the love between Osysa and Kamaljiori, causing the sphinx to feel pain for the first time.
• On the villainous side, Umbrasyl demonstrates how deadly a single member of the Conclave is by themselves. None of Vox Machina were able to so much as touch Kamaljiori, but Umbrasyl is strong enough to break through his defenses and ultimately ends up killing him. And while Grog is eventually able to cut through Umbrasyl's scales with Craven Edge, he doesn't cause any serious injuries and Umbrasyl maintains the advantage, with the fight only succeeding in buying Keyleth enough time to set up a plane-shift spell.
  • Still, the heroes deserve credit, however, as between them they effectively deal more damage to the Ancient Black Dragon than anyone else in the series has managed to combined.
  • Special mention goes to Grog and Craven Edge especially during the end as the two are essentially holding back the Ancient Black dragon by themselves. There's even a short scene at the end that shows Umbrasyl struggling to get up after Grog has stabbed him multiple times in the jugular. Grog was losing his shit and the sword was taking him over, but he was WINNING.

Episode 7: The Fey Realm

• After Pike heals herself from the wound she suffered in the previous episode, she and Scanlan try to talk Grog into giving up Craven Edge while the cursed sword gets into his head and tempts him with the strength he receives while wielding it. When it seems like Grog is going to attack his friends to feed Craven Edge, his refusal to hurt Pike again gives him the Heroic Willpower to smash the blade against nearby stones instead, eventually jamming it deep into a boulder and using his tremendous strength to shatter it.
• Diplomacy. Just… Diplomacy.

Episode 8: Echo Tree

• “Lady Vex’ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt.” Granted, unlike in the campaign, it doesn’t quite work as intended, but it’s enough to motivate Vex into cursing out Syldor to his face and read him for all the filth he gave them growing up and it establishes that Vex'ahlia is done trying to be appease, downplay and excuse Syldor's abuse and is no longer going to let Syldor have this cruel hold over her. It almost seems like Syldor realizes this and his retort of saying not to bother him again until they show him the Fenthras Bow and he'll give them "the welcome they think they deserve" could very well be Syldor's attempt to save face.
• Vex is completely under Saundor’s charm, wanting acceptance and approval. But when the archfey says that all she needs to give is her heart, the spell is broken and she retorts, “My heart is someone else’s.”
• The entire fight within the tree counts.
  • Keyleth grabbing a hold of Vax’s dagger and cutting herself free before passing it off to its owner. She even twirls it around for a brief moment like Vax does.
  • Keyleth again, having Vax and Percy stall the treants long enough to not only transform into a fire elemental, but also casting Tree Stride to travel inside one and exit out the other, roasting both at once.
    Keyleth: And that is how you fight a tree.
  • Vex fighting Saundor one-on-one in an archery duel, with arrows flying and a demonstration of Fenthras’ abilities. Ultimately, Vex’s bow is destroyed and she is at Saundor’s mercy... if not for one last trick up the ranger’s sleeve: the arrowhead gifted to her by Percy, which she uses to stab Saundor in the heart that she exposed with her last arrow. And with his death, Fenthras is hers to claim!
    Vex: I realize... your words are as empty as your corrupted heart.

Episode 9: A Test of Pride

• Though he's understandably terrified of Kevdak, Grog does not go down gently. During the fight with him that gets him exiled, he gets one hell of a good hit on him by cleaving his face and blinding him in his right eye.
• At the end of the episode, Grog goes to confront Kevdak despite being barely strong enough to walk.
  Grog: KEVDAK! Remember me?

Episode 10: The Killbox

• Grog finally finds the true answer to where his strength comes from: the will to protect, and more importantly, the ability to rely on his friends. After that, Kevdak never stood a chance. Topped off by by Grog uttering one of his most iconic lines from the campaign.
  Grog: Vox Machina. Fuck! Shit! UUUUUUUPPPPPPP!
• Grog's challenge to Kevdak when he makes his big entrance deserves a mention. Doubles as a Calling the Old Man Out moment.
  Kevdak: Never pick a fight you can't win. History won't remember a blood-smear on anyone's axe.
  Grog: You think history will remember you? I'm told the dragon made the mighty Kevdak, wielder of the Titanstone Knuckles, bend the knee. So tell me, uncle, do you still have your shriveled nutsack, or did you give that to the dragon, too?
• After Grog regains his strength, he flat out outfights Kevdak and leaves his Evil Uncle unable to land a meaningful hit. While Kevdak regains control of the fight using the Titanstone Knuckles, the fact Kevdak had to use them just to regain control implies if he hadn't had them, Grog could've beaten Kevdak outright.
• Vox Machina vs the Herd of Storms. With the twins empowered by vestiges and the missing members getting the drop on the Herd, they solidly brawl it out with an army of goliaths, all set to another epic Scanlan metal number that approaches Rules of Nature levels of awesome.
  Release a hell upon you
  A beast without a cage
  Realise the demons are coming
  When we all RAGE!
• Credit where it’s due. When Grog nearly cuts off Kevdak’s arm and renders it little more than dead weight, the old man decides to rip it the rest of the way off and use it as a weapon. Even Grog can’t help but be impressed.
  Grog: That. Is. Badass.
• Zanror, despite being chained and beaten, gets between Kevdak and Grog when his father threatens to get the upper hand on Grog again, wrestling the severed arm away from him and giving Grog and Vex enough time to get in position. Reckless badassery runs in the family.
• Vex flies in on her broom before using her magic locket that she carried Trinket in to get Grog out of a dogpile and then send him right above Kevdak, allowing him to strike the killing blow on his uncle and save Zanror. The attack is so powerful it not only bisects Kevdak like in the original campaign, but craters the ground right underneath them!
  Vex: Show him who you are!
  Grog: FOR STRONGJAW!!!
  • To add to the awesome of the scene, it’s ripped straight from the web series, moment by moment, and was animated magnificently.

Episode 11: Belly of the Beast

• The Reveal of Kaylie's connection to Scanlan is gut-wrenching, but it's kind of commendable how Kaylie calls out Scanlan for his Handsome Lech antics that have caused her and her mother so much pain. She decides to let him live.
• Absolutely revolting (and hilarious) though it may be, Scanlan's plan of getting him and Vax inside of Umbrasyl through a magical-hand-enhanced Ass Shove actually works. And once there, Scanlan then positions the levitating sword Kaylie left him over a part of the dragon's anatomy connected to his wings, so every time Umbrasyl spreads them, the muscles expand and drive right into the blade, quite painfully at that.
  • Umbrasyl deserves credit for powering through the pain and letting the sword cut right through him so he can fly again.

Episode 12: The Hope Devourer

• Vax gains the wings of his vestige. After Umbrasyl sends him and an unconscious Scanlan plummeting from the sky, Vax surrenders himself fully to the Matron of Ravens, not just accepting his fate but trusting her. The Deathwalker's Ward goes from "awakened" to "exalted", which allows Vax to catch Scanlan at the very last minute. We are treated to the sight of Vax with the strings of fate wrapped around him, not tying him down, but holding him up.
  Vax: Your champion needs you… and I am no longer afraid!”
• Props to Percy and his credentials as a gunsmith: A shot from Bad News stops Umbrasyl from chomping down on Vex, which arguably puts the rifle close to, if not on par, with the Vestiges.
• Even exhausted and heavily injured (with a completely snapped leg barely held together with a makeshift splint), Grog still holds his own against Umbrasyl for longer than any other member of the party.
• Scanlan killing Umbrasyl. After spending the entire episode wanting nothing more than to turn tail and run, Scanlan finally shows his worth by sneaking up on the Dragon as he's ready to kill the rest of Vox Machina and steals Mythcarver back. He drives it into Umbrasyl's eye and, singing in tune with Mythcarver's rising pitch, blasts half of his head clean off by the magical backlash. In the end, not only does Scanlan prove himself to be far more than the flighty, sex-addicted Cowardly Lion he confesses to be to his daughter, he dispatches Vox Machina's deadliest foe yet in a way only Scanlan Shorthalt could ever pull off: death by Power Metal.

Miscellaneous

• At the end of their New York Comic Con panel to promote the release of season 2 they announce they have already been renewed for a season 3!

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