Disaster strikes Tal'Dorei as the Chroma Conclave, a collective of four chromatic dragons, strike at the heart of Emon! Against foes of such strength as to defy imagination, Vox Machina is left with no choice but to escape, regroup, and find something — anything! — to retake their home.
Contains the following tropes:
- Achilles' Heel: Subverted. Despite being aware of the dragon's shared weakness from their prior skirmish against Brimscythe, when Grog tries to use the same tactic against Raishan with his axe, the elder dragon's scales prove to be significantly tougher than Brimscthe's, resulting in Grog's axe shattering from hitting something it cannot even scratch.
- Avenging the Villain: Discussed and averted. Keyleth briefly wonders if the Chroma Conclave coming for Emon is revenge for Vox Machina's slaying of Brimscythe in season 1. However, when Raishan recognised her in the city, it came with amusement rather than anger against those who slew her kin. Percy then points out that Tal'Dorei's army was already greatly weakened due to Brimscythe infiltrating the council as General Krieg, meaning the invasion was in motion long before Brimscythe's death.
- Breath Weapon: Like Brimscythe, each member of the conclave has a different version of this seemingly indicated by the colour of their scales and magical abilities:
- Thordak has the standard fire-breathing ability normally associated with dragons. Unlike the others however, he showcases the ability to unleash a second level of attack through his, turning the heat up on his fire so much it turns blue and becomes a Wave-Motion Gun that can drill straight through the mountain Castle Emon is perched atop on and cause it to collapse into a pile of rubble.
- Vorugal breathes Ice that can form barriers and obstacles that hem in his targets even if he misses, splitting up Vox Machina briefly at the castle courtyard. The poor bastards he does hit directly get encased in ice with their blood exploding out of them, making it clear that dying this way is neither instantaneous or painless.
- Umbrasyl breathes acid that can melt buildings or flesh into slurry in seconds. Disturbingly, him breathing it like this is actually the least dangerous method he has of tossing his element around. He is capable of secreting it from his skin like sweat or protective armour which, combined with his flapping wings, allowing him to literally make it rain acid wherever he goes in a random scattershot effect. Though not apparently as concentrated when he breathes it, this makes it much easier for him to hit his targets, even by accident.
- Raishan breathes poison gas that, whilst not as immediately destructive as the others, is capable of inflicting Blood from Every Orifice in those who get a dose of it, and lingers around afterwards, creating an omnipresent hazard to those in her immediate area, even those she isn't directly targeting.
- Chekhov's Gun: Subverted. When preparing to face Brimscythe before, one of the items that Vax pursued in Gilmore's shop was the fabled lance of dragon slaying, but it was out of the party's price range at the time. This time around, due to the circumstances, Gilmore forgoes his usual Intrepid Merchant characterisation and just tells to party to take whatever magical items they need from the wreaked shop. Percy eyes up the lance, but debris from the ceiling swiftly fall and break it before he can grab it.Percy: (facepalming) Of course.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: To call the Conclave's siege of Emon a battle would be generous. No one is even able to make a dent in their scales. While Allura manages to restrain one of the dragons for a few seconds, that's the closest anyone comes to harming them and even then the dragon in question is at most inconvenienced for a moment before shaking the spell off with ease.
- Early-Bird Cameo: When suffering a Shell-Shock Silence after Umbrasyl knocks the castle walls down on the party, almost crushing him, Vax sees a mysterious black-clad woman with flowing hair looking around the carnage whilst the sound of birds caw, only for her to vanish when he blinks. Followers of the campaign know this is the Raven Queen, also called the Matron of Ravens, and her appearance will have significant impact on Vax throughout the Campaign's story.
- Foreshadowing:
- When Vax sees the Matron of Ravens in the courtyard after Umbrasyl collapses a section of the castle wall onto the civilians and assorted heroes below, causing several casualties, she appears to be reaching her hand out to somebody unseen before noticing him. It's later revealed that as the goddess of death, she guides the souls of the departed, and her gently reaching out to the recently-departed souls hints that despite this, she's ultimately a benevolent being.
- After successfully escaping to Whitestone, Grog commends one of the surviving child refugees for their stoic composure in the face of the traumatic circumstances, only for them to silently stare at him with their piercing green eyes for a minute before running away, much to his confusion. Her absence during Thordak, Umbrasyl and Vorugal's meeting at episode's end and The Reveal at the end of the season implies that this was a disguised Raishan, having discreetly infiltrated the refugees and giving weight to her later statement that if she wanted to, she could have easily destroyed Whitestone and Vox Machina at any point.
- It Only Works Once: Going along with Scanlan's assertion that their earlier victory against Brimscythe was mainly down to luck, the tactics the party used against him are subjected to this by the older, stronger and more powerful members of the Conclave:
- Grog tries his 'rage' move that cleaved Brimsctyhe's head in two against Raishan, additionally aiming right for her Achilles' Heel with his axe, when Vax sliced open and exposed Brimscythe's with just a knife. The Axe shatters instead, showcasing that the elder dragons are much better armoured than their adolescent member.
- Scanlan tries to distract Vorgual during his assault on the keep whilst they're evacuating civilians with illusions, which Vox Machina used as an opening move to launch a counter-attack on Brimscythe. Vorugal just reveals that Dragons can activate a special membrane over their eyes that allows them to see through magic, additionally demonstrating that despite being The Brute of the Conclave, he's far from stupid, and won't be as easily tricked as Brimscythe was.
- Jerkass Has a Point: It's not very heroic of him, but Scanlan does have a point when he suggests just cutting their losses and heading to another continent rather than fight the Conclave. Vox Machina's prior showing against Brimscythe came down to a massive dose of luck on their end and Brimscythe being an adolescent dragon, thus lacking several defenses and abilities the elder dragons do, resulting in the same tactics that worked on him being ineffective. Vox Machina looking to marshal an army or forces elsewhere to lend aid against the Conclave will only drag uninvolved parties into a fight they have no stakes in, against a foe that seemingly cannot be presently beat, resulting in needless deaths on their conscience.
- Logical Weakness: Raishan's Deadly Gas is highly dangerous, but also the least outwardly destructive element utilised by the conclave, and easily influenced by sufficient wind pressure. Allura protects several people around her, including the royal family, with an airtight shield against the gusts. Keyleth is able to block her direct attack on the split party by using her magic to airbend a gust of wind to disperse the poisonous fumes. Scanlan also briefly stops her breathing again by blocking her mouth with Scanlan's foot, as her element doesn't freeze, burn or melt through the solid construct.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Ex-Sovereign Uriel pauses momentarily when fleeing to help a soldier who fell down to his feet. This only results in him and the soldier both getting hit by Raishan's Deadly Gas and suffering a painful demise, whereas his family were able to reach Allura and be protected from the fumes in time.
- No-Sell: Umbrasyl seems to use a Legendary Save to break free of Allura's Earthbind spell. Furthermore, Kima's Guiding Bolt, despite scoring a direct hit, does nothing but piss him off.
- Oh, Crap!: Scanlan's reaction when Raishan casually dispels the magic foot he lodged in her jaws.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As dragons normally don't get along, the Chroma Conclave's existence is extremely worrying.
- Running Gagged: Somewhat. Whilst making their way through the streets of the devastated Emon, Vex's group is nearly incinerated by one of Thordak's fire blasts rushing up the street towards them, before Grog rips a nearby massive steel door off a building and uses it to shield them from the flames. Vex notes afterwards that it's the first door that actually helped Vox Machina.
- Run or Die: Subverted. The conclave's utter thrashing of Emon and sheer power level, combined with their indestructibility, makes it clear this is the only option for everyone, Vox Machina included. However, Thordak makes an announcement that any survivors of their initial assault remain alive only out of their 'mercy', and that said mercy will be retracted if anybody attempts to flee the doomed kingdom. This is showcased brutally with Vorugal blasting down an airship trying to flee, and later on annihilating the refugees heading towards Vox Machina's keep group by group. Even when the party manages to escape by the skin of their teeth, the Conclave's conversation at the episode's end makes it clear that they will follow the escapees no matter where they go, both to prevent them marshaling aid against the Conclave, as well as to make it clear that their demands, and the punishment for not abiding by them, is absolute.
- Touch of Death: Two variants, based around the dragon's elemental properties. Umbrasyl secretes acid from his scales, making close contact with him (or just being in his general area when he moves) a deadly hazard. Thordak meanwhile, can apparently grow so hot that being in his vicinity will boil anybody alive, as he melts two streetlamps his claw lands beside into slag without touching them.
- Uncertain Doom: By the episode's end, the fates of Allura, Lady Kima, Captain Jarrett, the surviving Councilors, and the royal family are unknown. Despite them being seemingly crushed to death when Umbrasyl used his acid breath to collapse a building on top of them, their deaths are never actually confirmed. It's later revealed in Episode 2x05 that they are all, in fact, still alive, Allura having teleported the group away at the last moment.
- The Worf Effect:
- The Conclave bulldoze Emon utterly, with the best attempts of Vox Machina and the soldiers coming down to little more than minor distractions at best. Thordak even alters the landscape of the city itself by collapsing castle Emon with his Wave-Motion Gun of a Breath Weapon to demonstrate how absurdly powerful he and the Conclave are.
- Vox Machina's tactics against Brimscythe are subjected to this, to showcase the difference between an adolescent and an elder dragon. Vorugal shows the ability to see through Scanlan's illusions when he tries to distract him, and when Grog aims for Raishan's Achilles' Heel with his axe, which Vax sliced open with a knife on Brimscythe, the Axe shatters instead.
- Would Hurt a Child: To showcase just how callous and brutal the Conclave are, Raishan and Vorugal are shown directly targeting a mother and her child and two fleeing orphaned refugee children respectively.
- Wrecked Weapon: Grog's attempts to cut open Raishan's Achilles' Heel with his axe just results in the axe breaking against a force it cannot cut. He swiftly replaces it with Silas' Black Sword once back at the keep.
