Tear Jerker / Critical Role: Campaign Three

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Episode 2: Trial by Firelight

• In Episode 2, Laudna reveals the dead rat with a bird skull on her belt to be a kind of Imaginary Friend named Pâté. While her puppeteering the dead rat and putting on a fake voice for it is darkly hilarious, it takes a rather sad turn when "Pâté" reveals that Laudna made it because she spent a long time alone, and made Pâté just to have someone to talk to so she wouldn't lose her mind.

Episode 3: The Trail and the Toll

• In Episode 3, Danas and Bertrands' deaths at the hands of the mysterious dwarf. Bertrand's final words are especially heartbreaking.
  Bertrand: Lieve'tel...

Episode 4: On the Trail of a Killer

• In Episode 4, Orym drops F.C.G's coin down a long shaft to see how deep it is, coming out to about twelve hundred feet deep (which Orym just knows thanks to the coin's magic). When F.C.G. learns that the coin is gone, they're clearly upset about losing it, but are trying not to show it. Even so, Orym vows to find a suitable replacement for the coin.

Episode 12: Make It Fashion

• In Episode 12, Dorian is clearly excited at the idea of going to a masquerade ball and playing up the rich and fancy nature of the event. He's very insistent that the group buy fancy clothes they like, and that 'Whatever you're looking for, make sure that, even though it's lovely, it's still you.' However, the group's plan requires that he not only go under his real name, but go as a persona of a stern, hard-nosed Royal Brat. After picking out a new outfit, Dorian crumples up the one he wanted and tosses it aside in a closet, showing just how much he was looking forward to it, and how much it hurts him to have to abandon it.

Episode 14: In Too Deep

• Dorian knowing he has to leave the party so he and his brother would be safe outside of Marquet, but understands why this must happen. Fearne immediately gives a Rapid-Fire "No!" as she offers to cut Dorian's hair, change his name or get him a new outfit. Dorian simply smiles but shakes his head towards Fearne.
• At the end of the episode, Dorian's carriage pulls away and leaves, in its place, the toy ship Chetney carved for him, floating in place above the street with the Levitate spell. A child runs by, takes it, and disappears with it into the horizon, setting the whole cast crying - even normally stoic Travis.

Episode 17: Heart-to-Heartmoor

• Imogen sounds like she's on the verge of tears as she tells Laudna about her nightmare again. Laudna can only do so much to comfort Imogen, who can never get away from the red storm, even as Laudna wishes she could join Imogen in her dreams if that would make her feel safer.
• Several bits of backstory are shown, and most of them aren't pleasant.
  • Fearne reveals that the whole reason she left the Feywild in the first place was so she could find her parents. While her parents are confirmed to be alive, due to Fearne receiving letters from them every so often, it is nonetheless heartbreaking to learn that Fearne misses them.
  • Laudna reveals that she was one of the people brutally beaten and hung from the Sun Tree to serve as a warning for Vox Machina in Campaign 1. She sounds so flippant talking about how she died, but she says that it's in the past, and that all she can do is keep going with a smile on her face. Orym even looks more shaken than Laudna. Even so, it's confirmation of a very tragic part of the world's history, and how its ramifications are still being felt almost 30 years later in-game.
  • Orym's tattoo is a Tragic Keepsake of his husband Will, who died in an attack, the same attack he was sent to investigate. Will was a half-elf, and Orym is a halfling, so they're "big moon, little moon". Even the normally snarky Chetney tears up when he hears it.

Episode 18: A Hungry Jungle

• The plant creature begins to attack and Fearne wakes the rest of the party up. F.C.G. looks at the situation of his party being attacked and gives a quiet, "It's happening again". Everyone at the table immediately winces and express concern on F.C.G's behalf.

Episode 22: Promise and Potential

• The end of the episode sees Ashton agree to have Imogen and FCG delve into their memories of the night they were injured to answer questions about it. The experience is very clearly traumatic for them as they are uncomfortable, upset and the closest to outright scared they've been in the entire campaign thus far. We get flashes of the immediate aftermath of their injury and hear at least one of the people they had considered close friends up until that point insist to the group to leave them for dead. Immediately after FCG drops calm emotions Ashton has such a strong reaction to reliving all that they go to the nearest wall and beat it in until their knuckles bleed

Episode 23: To the Skies

• Imogen and Laudna discuss the crystal Imogen found a few episodes ago. As they do, Laudna feels an increasing surge of curiosity. This drives her to ask Imogen if she can check it out. Imogen agrees, and Laudna promises that she won't actually do anything to it without Imogen's consent. She takes the gem, and feels a powerful surge of heat. She also hears Delilah's voice telling her that the stone is much too powerful for her but that she will take care of it. Laudna tries to hand the stone back to Imogen but can't, and the stone shatters. Laudna tries to explain that it was Delilah who did it, but all Imogen says is, "You lied!"
• After Imogen leaves, Laudna runs to the front of the ship to scream at Delilah in anger and frustration.
  Laudna: What did you do?!

Episode 24: Hellcatch Valley

• Imogen continues to remain cold towards Laudna, despite her friend's best efforts to try and apologize. While they still interact when the situation calls for it, Imogen barely acknowledges Laudna's existence.
  • Played up even more once Dusk appears. Laudna and them start to hit it off with Dusk taking an interest in Laudna. While seeing all of this, Imogen can only look at Laudna sadly while pursing her lips.

Episode 27: A Race for the Prize

• Imogen and Laudna reconcile but pretend to fight so FCG can help them "reconcile" in order to distract them from everything they just found out about Dancer still being alive. Imogen pulls them aside to talk, and FCG starts glitching, talking about how they have to get Cyrus out of the city (way back in episode 14). Later, they ask Imogen if she would contact Delilah for them. Not Dancer, Delilah. And when asked to describe Dancer, FCG is muddled and describes aspects of various members of Bells Hells instead of Dancer, like Dorian's blue skin and Orym's moon tattoo. They are taking this hard.
  • This is slightly played for laughs when Ashton walks in looking for FCG, and concernedly tells them that they look pale.

Episode 28: The Deathwish Race

• Fearne finally reunites with her mother Birdie, but it's been about 90 years for Fearne and 6 for Birdie since they last met. Fearne is shocked to the point of struggling with words.
• The party is bowled over as Dusk finally reveals their true colors. Liam (and possibly Orym) in particular looks spectacularly unhappy.

Episode 31: Breaking Point

• F.C.G and Imogen delve into Ollie's mind to check Ashton's suspicions that Fearne's parents had their memories altered. They confirm them, as F.C.G finds several "smeared" memories. What little they can reconstruct appears to show the Calloways getting their things and trying to leave, implying they may have either discovered Ira's true plans, tried to return to Fearne, or both, many times in the past, only for Ira to erase their memories to keep them under his thumb.
• Laudna walks outside to speak with Delilah privately, asking what they thought of the whole moon situation. Delilah, while interested, suggests to Laudna that her friends would all leave her one day, leading Laudna shaken. When she returns to the group, she immediately tries to compose herself and slaps on a smile.
  • As Imogen checks up on her after the fight with F.C.G., Laudna admits she's scared of the idea that her loved ones would leave her, or that the Hells will abandon her one day.
• After a failed Sending spell and an anxious night F.C.G finally gathers enough strength to reach out to Dancer. Except she's on the verge of tears upon answering.
  Dancer: No, no- I just barely got away-
  F.C.G: D-Dancer?
  Dancer: I don't EVER want to see you again... You know what you did!- (cuts to static)
• F.C.G. going rogue and attacking the group. Yelling at them, cursing at them and saying cruel things. It's clear how much the Hells are hurt, but still want to help F.C.G. get back to normal.
  F.C.G.: (to Laudna) You were never alive.
  F.C.G.: (to Fearne) Your parents don't like you. They never did. That's why they got rid of you. And you know what? They were fucking right!
• Laudna throughout all of this, is only looking at her hands in shock, realizing how she could've seriously hurt F.C.G. She quietly walks off to the corner of the room and sits there.
• This leads to Orym tearing into the rest of the Hells because they all have something that can endanger the others (Chetney's lycanthropy, F.C.G's split personality, Laudna's ties to Delilah, Fearne's kleptomania, Ashton's impulse control issues, and Imogen's ties to Ruidus). He makes the others promise to be there for each other to prevent that happening... and promises to do whatever it takes to keep the rest of the party safe.
  Orym: (If you're a threat to us) You're dead to me.
• Imogen sifts through F.C.G.'s thoughts, hearing something from each of the Hells. Chetney's thoughts are of his love for woodworking and how he felt he didn't need anyone. Ashton's thoughts have him talking about how loaded the word "friend" is to him, and how he'd rather keep them at arms length. Orym is him reminiscing over Will, and how despite the good times they had, he still misses him.

Episode 32: A Stage Set

• F.C.G. and Dancer meet face-to-face for the first time in a dog's age. As expected, Dancer is incredibly tense around F.C.G, as they confirm that F.C.G. was indeed the "one-eyed monster" who killed all of his friends and took off Dancer's arm. While F.C.G. gives as sincere of an apology as he can, Dancer doesn't accept it. Despite F.C.G. being unable to remember what he did, all he can do is offer meek words of encouragement, hoping that they can one day reconcile. Dancer clearly wants to entertain the thought, but they ultimately can't do it.
  Dancer: Look, F.C.G, there's a lot of time we spent together that I'm real appreciative of. There's a lot of conversations we've had, and a lot of... a lot of personal shit that you've helped me through. But you also took a lot from me. And I can't forget that. Our paths are diverged. They're gone. (beat) I just... I don't want you to do to anyone else what you did to me.
  • It hurts even more when you realize F.C.G's relationship with Dancer was similar to the group's pre-Episode 31. Unlike Hell's Bells, Dancer's trauma will probably never heal from this. The only comfort from this was Dancer did get some closure and parted on amicable terms.

Episode 33: Blood and Dust

• Otohan fights against the Bells Hells... and the party doesn't make it out in one piece.
  • Orym is the first to go. As he feels his consciousness slipping, he thinks about Will and his father. As Otohan stands over him with their sword, he recognizes them as the group who had killed Will and who tried to assassinate Keyleth. Otohan stabs Orym one final time, and the sending stone he held rolls out of his now limp hand.
  • Fearne tries to save Orym by having Mister teleport them. But he's dead, so it fails.
    Matt: [as gently as possible] He is not a creature right now. He is a body.
  • Fearne goes next. Given the chance to say her last words, Fearne simply says, "Boy. That was a hell of a run." before she gets stabbed. Mister, who is connected to Fearne, slowly starts to fade away with her, but not before trying to throw some of his flame seed at Otohan in a rage over Fearne's death. Ashley rolls a 1 on her last Death Save, and Fearne is now dead.
  • Laudna falls, but manages to get back up with a Nat 20. Imogen however, panics when she can no longer hear the Laudna's voices. Otohan later takes the opportunity to dash towards Laudna, and spears her with their sword. Imogen finally breaks, letting out a horrifying scream after Laudna's body is tossed aside.
• All throughout the fight, Imogen is trying to resist the energy inside of her, trying to get Otohan to back off. As the fight drags on, Imogen watches her friends fall, with Otohan taunting her to give in. Imogen starts to panic as she sees more of her friends go down, and starts begging Otohan to leave them alone. You can hear the tears in Imogen's voice as she yells that she surrenders to Otohan, desperate to keep her remaining friends alive.
• F.C.G. is somewhat panicking throughout the fight. He can't get too close to heal his friends, or else Otohan might take him out as well, and he can only revive one person. Each turn that goes by, Sam seems genuinely terrified over not being able to do anything to help his friends without compromising their only healer.
• Alone of Bell's Hells, Imogen could have escaped the battle. She successfully teleported clear early in the fighting, and FCG (and Sam) silently begged her through their bond not to return to the fray. She turned back entirely because she couldn't hear Laudna's mind. If Laudna dies, and dies specifically because Otohan used Imogen's love for her as the weak point to crack open her power...
• If Orym cannot be resurrected/revivified, Liam will lead the cast for the highest PC death toll. Vax died at the end of campaign 1. In his final moment, Orym thinks about seeing Will and Derrig again, implying that Derrig is also dead.

Episode 34: What Dreams May Come

• Sam's gas can has tissues on it and a message saying "everything's going to be okay!". As the episode continues, he starts plastering over it with other messages until the original is completely covered up.
• The Hells panic as they rush to save their fallen friends.
  • F.C.G. saves Fearne, begging her to not leave them, and she comes back.
  • Fearne cradling Orym's body and beginning to break down into tears. She then becomes indecisive about who to save, feeling guilty over having to choose.
  • Upon the visions ending, the group realize to their horror that Laudna's turn is next, and she's failed two death saves already. Marisha rolls a death save, and it's a natural 1. Laudna is dead. After Imogen finds out, she instantly starts to panic, digging through the rubble and pulling out Laudna as fast as she can. Despite Imogen's best efforts, Delilah can't do anything to save Laudna's life. In fact, Imogen even uses Sending as a last-ditch effort, communicating with Delilah to bring Laudna back, but Delilah says she's too weak at the moment to do so.
• Orym meeting Will in death, and quietly telling him how much he still misses him.
• As Orym finally comes to, the others tearfully tell him they couldn't save Laudna, and they chose him over her. Orym stumbles away from the group, brokenly calling for any kind of help.
• Ashton offers to drag Laudna over to the group so they have a chance to save her. Imogen angrily snaps at the suggestion.
  Imogen: Don't drag her! Pick her up!
  Ashton: I'm picking her up!
  • Then when they get ready to run, Ashton suggests they put Laudna in the hole.
  Imogen: No! Do not put her in the hole!
  Ashton: Where else are we gonna put her?
  Imogen: She's gonna be in their with Armand, and just rattlin' around?! No! You carry her! You carry her to Joe's!
• Fearne's post-revival position is horrifying; F.C.G just barely makes the DC to bring her back, and it's no sooner than when she revives that she's told Orym is dead, Laudna has just perished, she's the only person that's able to cast a healing spell due to F.C.G's lack of spell slots, and she's only got seconds to choose between the two of them.
  • Fearne eventually chooses to flip a coin: heads for Laudna and tails for Orym. She flips it, solemnly looks at it, walks over to Laudna... and then apologizes to her and promises they'll find a way to bring her back. Fearne then starts crying as she admits she doesn't like how this choice is making her feel.
    Fearne: We'll be back for you, I promise. [...] I'm sorry. This is... I don't know what to do!
• Imogen is devastated when Laudna perishes and for the longest time, all anybody in the party can hear in their heads is her sobbing that she's sorry.
• After Orym is revived, Marisha folds up her notepad and tablet, and mouths to Matt asking if she should leave the table, and everyone just cracks when she gets up with Laura and Ashley protesting the whole while. Her seat remains empty for the rest of the session.

Episode 35: Pyrrhic Return

• The fact that Keyleth tried to bring back both Will and Derrig, but failed, with Orym thinking it has to do with how they were killed.
• F.C.G. ends up inhabiting Ashton's form for a few minutes, and relishes in the feeling of having a living body, when Taliesin quietly tells him it does not feel good. No matter what he does, everything hurts. Ashton has been living with severe chronic pain ever since the fall.

Episode 36: A Desperate Call

• Percy and Vex see Laudna's body and recognize her immediately. Vex feels a degree of personal responsibility for Laudna. It's implied Percy does as well, but...
  • Percy has to be talked into helping resurrect Laudna. His reluctance turns to almost absolute refusal when he discovers that she is bound to Delilah, much to the Hells' dismay. He still bears the scars of what she did to him and his family.
  • When the Hells first meet him and try to convince him to help bring Laudna back, Percy quietly observes that sometimes the strings of fate cannot be altered, and he later tells Ashton that life is full of unsatisfactory ends. Not only is he thinking of his family, he's also almost definitely thinking of Vax.
  • It is evident that Vex is weighed down by the adventures of Vox Machina, as well as her experience as the Lady of Whitestone. Unlike Percy's frosty (albeit reasonable) conduct towards Laudna, Vex clearly feels horrible about accidentally causing Laudna's death and her entanglement with Delilah. She treats Laudna's body with respect and sadness, even touching the ear cuffs - a sign of Laudna's mutilation to resemble Vex. Additionally, if Laudna resembles Vex, then she must resemble Vax too, giving Vex even further cause for sorrow.
• Percy’s crow mask hangs along on an otherwise blank wall in his office. Even 30+ years later, he cannot let himself forget Orthax and his sins.
• The way Imogen sounds like she’s about to tear up when Percy refuses to aid them in reviving Laudna. She seems ready to yell at Percy at what had been done to Laudna, but manages to reel herself and say Laudna had been "chosen".
• Laudna always downplayed being a pariah of society and being chased out of villages when they suspected her of being dangerous. Here the Hells experience a memory of her sitting in her home made hut quietly sewing up what would be Pâté. Then there are chants of villagers calling for her to be burnt and killed. All because they believe she’s a witch. After the Hells defeat the shadowy creature, Laudna’s soul has vanished.
• Chetney rushes into the burning hut to rescue Pâté and anything else he can spot that looks like Laudna's personal effects. This is an astral-projected shadow plane; the real Pate is back in Whitestone, as are all of Laudna's actual belongings. Interfering with the memory accomplishes nothing—except showing the echo of Laudna's past self a fraction of the kindness she deserved.
  • Bell's Hells couldn't defend her back then. Who among us hasn't wished we could reach into the past and protect a friend from trauma they should never have had to endure?
• After the battle Imogen rushes into the hut, worriedly calling for Laudna and letting her know she was safe. But no one answers her.

Episode 37: From the Boughs

• The Hells come upon Laudna during different times of her life. Each one more heart-wrenching than the last.
  • The first one they come upon is a child Laudna talking with Andy. He tries to trick her into playing "Secret Treasures" with him, promising her a gift and calls her "Matilda". Remembering how Laudna said Andy was her first crush and threw dirt at her face, Imogen immediately tells her not to trust him. Each time Imogen tells Matilda not to trust Andy, she repeats:
  Child Matilda: But I like him...
  • The next memory, the Hells find Matilda in a barn, sewing crude dolls together and surrounded by childish scribbles. The Hells gently ask what the dolls were for.
  Child Matilda: I made a lady, and a bird... to take me far away from here.
  • The last memory is of Laudna before the dinner. Imogen has to be talked down by the others to not mess with the memory any further, no matter how much pain it'll put Laudna through. All Imogen can do is take Ashton's suggestion to tell Laudna how "it'll hurt" and promise Laudna they would save her.
• Delilah briefly summons Laudna onto the field, with her and Imogen looking at one another like they're about to cry. As Imogen calls for Laudna to fight against Delilah, she gives a defeated response.
  Laudna: I haven't been able to fight her off for some thirty-odd years.
  • Then Delilah encloses Laudna back into the Sun Tree, with Imogen desperately calling for her.
• During the fight F.C.G. and Orym get knocked out of the battle, leading the Hells without a cleric and one of their best fighters.

Episode 38: A Dark Balance

• Laudna remembers everything that she saw, but she doesn't know where they are. She is initially horrified to find that the Hells took her back to Whitestone.
• Imogen's contribution to the resurrection ritual was a tender, half-sobbing affirmation of raw selfless love in which she swore to accept and uphold Laudna's agency no matter what, in life or death. Thanks to Delilah's interference (a low roll), Laudna never got to hear it.
• When Pike, holy symbol in hand, takes a step forward and asks gently "Do you trust me?" Laudna's response is a low, terrified, "No."
• Imogen has another dream, and sees a large figure walking away into the storm. She doesn't see his face, but she has a sinking feeling as to who it is. Sure enough, she's right. Otohan has killed Lord Eshteross.
  • Orym caught a familiar scent. Otohan used the same poison on Eshteross as she used when she attacked Zephrah. Lord Eshteross can't be raised.
  • Eshteross’ death means that he can never bake the batch of cookies he intended to give Laudna after she is resurrected. However, he remembered Bells Hells enough to leave them monetary resources and his cookie recipe.
• All the way back in Campaign 1, when Vax was killed during the struggle against Vecna and later raised, Percy took it upon himself to be brutally, dispassionately suspicious until it was absolutely confirmed that what returned was truly Vax, and not an undead servant. His reasoning given was that if Vax's body was used to hurt or betray them in any way, Vex and Keyleth would never recover. With Laudna entangled so closely in Delilah's soul, Vex and Pike are stepping forward now to play the exact same "bad cop" role for someone else—and for, in part, the same reasons. Someone has to do the coldly practical thing—and they clearly don't think the Hells could bear it.
• Vex passing on the Ring of Protection from her own adventuring days to Laudna—a relatively minor magic item, for someone who also wields Fenthras, but still clearly a valued and emotionally resonant enough keepsake that she's worn it regularly for thirty years.

Episode 48: An Exit Most Fraught

• Imogen returns to her hometown, and upon recognition, townsfolk immediately steer clear of her. Laudna informs the Hells how Imogen caused a large amount damage before they left in order to protect Laudna from the townsfolk.
• After finally talking with her father after so long, Imogen receives a locket from him that they could maybe use to help her mother. The last parting words between the two are heart-wrenching. It's clear Imogen's father does still love her, but is unable to truly express it.
  Imogen: I never want you to be afraid of me, daddy.
  Relvin: (beat) Yeah, me neither.

Episode 49: The Aurora Grows

• Ashton and Laudna bond over how they both were brought back to life in some way. While Laudna was glad she had friends when she came back, Ashton says he had no one when he did.
• You can't help but feel bad for Imogen as she desperately tries to defend her mother's decision to join the Ruby Vanguard. You can tell she desperately trying to grasp at straws as she doesn't want to believe that her mother is evil.
  • Not to mention her exchange with Orym:
    Imogen: What if it's not bad? I mean, what if what we're doing is fighting change, what if-
    Orym: Well Imogen... I wish my family didn't have to die for her brighter tomorrow.
    Imogen: (breaking down) You're right, I'm sorry.
• Imogen and Laudna speak with each other late in the night. Imogen admits to Laudna she was purposefully distancing herself from Laudna since her resurrection. She was happy to have Laudna back, but can't bring herself to think about how she had watched her die and was unable to do anything.

Episode 51: The Apogee Solstice

• Beau and Caleb are quickly captured with Beau being Charmed by Liliana and Matt giving a somewhat lengthy description on just how thoroughly she is chained up, with Beau just walking over and allowing them to restrain her. All the while, Marisha looks close to tears.
  • If that wasn't bad enough for Marisha, Keyleth shows up in Earth Elemental form and is subdued as soon as the fight begins, with Ludinis using Power Word: Stun and Otahan hacking her up until she transforms back.
  • After that happens, Vax suddenly shows up and saves Keyleth from death, only for him to not long after be compressed into a sphere and used as a lens for the telescope, enabling Ludinus to complete his plan. Turns out Ludinus was playing the long game with the Voice of the Tempest; she was only the bait for Vax.
• The attack on Keyleth also gives some context to the one which happened in Orym's backstory, which makes it even more sad. It was just a test to see if Vax would show up to protect Keyleth when the time came. In short, Orym's husband died and his world was turned upside-down, because somebody wanted to send a message to Keyleth, and to test Vax.
• Another similar recontextualizing moment is Ludinus revealing a Luxon Beacon as part of the plan, using it to advance time to the arrival of the solstice. In Campaign 2, we know Ludinus conspired with Trent Ikithon and Essek to steal and study the Luxon Beacons, which resulted in the Dwendalian Empire going to war with Xhorhas. It's highly possible this entire war was simply a means to an end for Ludinus to unlock the potential of the Beacons for this one moment.
• Imogen tries reasoning with Liliana and Laura rolls high enough to make Liliana torn enough to hold her action for a turn. Unfortunately, Laura rolls a Nat 1 on her second Persuasion roll and Liliana makes up her mind, deciding everything happening is for the best as a single tear floats from her face.
• After the carnage and the villains succeeding in their goals, the party finds themselves transported thousands of miles from each other, all while the red beam to the moon remains and everyone else — including Beau, Caleb, and Keyleth — are missing with their fates and whereabouts unknown.

Episode 53: Ripples

• Imogen reveals part of the reason why she's so concerned with the magic in Exandria starting to fade is what that would mean for Laudna. After all, Laudna is a Hollow One, and only still moving by magic, because she's undead. So if magic goes away, that would mean Laudna would probably be Killed Off for Real. Fearne, seeing Imogen starting to panic, pulls her into a Cooldown Hug. The acting on display really helps paint Imogen's mindset, and the fear that comes with not knowing if Laudna's okay.

Episode 57: The Sorrow of Molaesmyr

• While perusing the scattered notes at Ludinus' old tower, the Hells come across a list of names to reach out to for research, all of them unfamiliar to the group. One of the names is Laerryn—almost certainly meaning Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, whose strongest desire was to be remembered. The contrast of that desire with her name being buried in a ruin, unrecognized by those who came across it, is sobering.

Episode 58: Escape from the Past

• Seeing FRIDA down, Deanna tries to go over and hug them, but FRIDA rejects the gesture. Christian tells the table that this was the first time FRIDA has ever turned down a hug from Deanna. Dejected, Deanna quietly starts to weep, with Imogen walking over and hugging her for comfort.
• Deanna talks to Chetney about feeling a rift growing between her and FRIDA. She then wonders if she should just return to her old home, now that FRIDA has someone else they really care for who can look after them.
• As they converse with the Changebringer, FCG asks if they will know FRIDA for a long time. There's an overly long pause from the Changebringer, before they answer they cannot tell a future that has not been written yet.
• The Dawn Father calls upon Deanna and orders her to help stop the end of the Gods. When she comes to, she quietly tells the group what the Dawn Father said and even bitterly remarks how he even implicitly threatened to take back her life if she refused to go along.

Episode 59: Somewhere Out There

• We jump back to the other half of the Hells, and they are a mess. The two sending stones have the same problem as the Sending spell, so they cannot contact Dorian or Caleb.
  • They can't contact the rest of the Hells, and the others haven't contacted them either, and this hits them hard. Laudna disassociates in order to keep it together, Orym starts withdrawing into himself, and Ashton bursts into laughter before finding something to hit.
• Laudna coming to and brokenly asking where Imogen was. The last thing she saw was Imogen glowing red and floating up like those "moon zombies".
• Bor'Dor is desperate to get back home, because his brother is very sick (strongly implied to be dying).
• Ashton tries to comfort Laudna who he notices is barely holding it together. While the viewers know both parties are fine, the character's certainly don't and it's just breaking them not knowing how their loved ones are. You can almost see Laudna ready to break down into tears not knowing if Imogen is even alive.
• While Deni$e does admit she's a "hopeless romantic" and wants to somewhat reconcile with Dariax, she's still hurt over him abandoning her to fend for herself.
• As Orym and Deni$e take watch together, Orym momentarily lets his mask slip as he admits he's never felt so small in his life. Liam describes Orym seeing flickers of Keyleth, Will and the other horrors he witnessed. He wants so badly for everything to turn out alright, but right now, he has no fucking idea or hope of where to go next.

Episode 63: A Haunted Past

• So, it turns out that Bor'Dor was Ruby Vanguard the entire time. He attacked them, and was predictably killed for it.
  • Prism was dropped in his surprise attack, and she punched Bor'Dor after he was unconscious because his betrayal hurt her deeply. She has little strength, but it was an auto-crit because he was unconscious. It took off two death saves. She has a talk with Deni$e after, and later yells at Bor'Dor's grave.
  • Laudna was the one to finish him off, because she was sick of being betrayed. In so doing, she restored Delilah's influence on her. (Marisha did not want to do it, and was in tears afterwards but followed through because it was what Laudna would do).
  • Laudna looked to Orym before she finished Bor'Dor off, and he gave her a slight nod. After Bor'Dor died, he took off that locket he took off from the dead Ruby Vanguard soldier and threw it on the body, saying that they are at war.

Episode 64: Reunited

• Deanna was able to scry on Keyleth. She's alive and back in Zephrah, but she is still suffering from the wounds she took at the battle. She is still trying to do what she can to help everyone, and she touches a single black feather she has with her.

Episode 65: A Path of Vengeance

• The episode's opening was rough. With their new friends on their way, Team Issylra (mostly Laudna, but with support from Ashton and to a lesser extent Orym) makes it clear that they aren't happy that Team Wildemount had an easier time of it. They aren't mad at their friends, but even so it will probably take some time for them to decompress.
• Crosses over with Nightmare Fuel: After they escape the bounty hunter, Chetney, Fearne, and Orym go to a temple of the Duskmaven, where they have a vision of the excavation site. Everything is horrible, and all they can hear is screaming. It's Vax.

Episode 69: Nice

• For those thinking Ashton took last episode's revelations rather well: Ashton splits off from the group, but barely makes it halfway to the clothing store before he hides in an alcove to have a panic attack. Adding insult to injury is him looking down mid-panic attack to see bits of stone and shale rattling around on the ground in time with his heartbeat, which only serves to remind them of the exact reason they're having a panic attack in the first place.
• Crossed with Heartwarming, Orym reminisces about Derrig and Will and dearly misses the two men dearly. Going towards their graves with FCG and Fearne, you want a tissue the entire scene.

Episode 71: Mist and Whimsy

• The Hells meet with Jirana who, among other things, is a very experienced grief counselor. Some of the Hells come to discover that her presence is exactly what they needed. Doubles as Heartwarming.
  • F.C.G. tries to relate to her, explaining that they're a therapist themself, before starting to vent that they don't seem to be able to help anyone. They chalk it up to lack of life experience, but Jirana gently cups their head and explains that she can see that they carry some deep grief as well.
    Jirana: I do not think you are incapable of helping others, but you also have to let others help you too. Perhaps... your friend is not the only one seeking this tree.
    F.C.G.: (quietly) Oh. Oh, I need... I need the help too?
  • Ashton hangs back as the others leave to ask Jirana a very personal question, suggesting that, on top of never having been able to resolve the trauma of the Hishari ritual, he was never able to properly process the loss of his parents.
    Ashton: How do you grieve if you don't know what was taken from you?

Episode 77: The Promise and the Price

• The witches explore Castle Whitestone, and come across Delilah's old lab. Delilah is able to manifest there, and talk to all of them. She reveals that she is Laudna's tether to life, just as Laudna is hers. Imogen is pissed. Later, Laudna has this to say.
  Laudna: Promise me something, Imogen. With Fearne as our witness. Promise me... that if something happens to me, that you'll move on. Live, Imogen.
• Despite the warnings, Ashton decided to absorb the shard of Rau'shan. It very nearly killed them. In fact, it did. The only reason they survived was because of clutch moves from FCG and Fearne, and the Ring of Temporal Salvation that Deanna gave to the party.
  • Before this, Ashton took advantage of Fearne's reluctance to absorb the shard to make her promise to help him do it, because the others would stop him. She was visibly upset the second the process turned rough.
  • Some viewers were especially distressed by this whole sequence, viewing it as an assisted suicide. It's very likely that the same idea was going through Fearne's mind (and Ashley's).
  • The cast had a very rough time of it as well. Taliesin started out somewhat confident, but had that confidence removed as all of his plans to survive crumbled. The others were increasingly upset, which got worse as their efforts to shut the process down utterly failed, and Matt's face was stony the entire time. Liam and Matt put it best.
  Liam: Taliesin, do not Molly yourself again.
  Matt: just before the episode ends Oh, I'm gonna have a drink and sleep tonight!

Episode 78: Fractures

• Fearne was deeply hurt by Ashton's decision. She hit him in the head with his hammer, and tried to break it.
• Laudna was also deeply hurt, feeling betrayed just as Delilah said she would be. She knows it's irrational, but she wants Ashton dead.
• Ashton confesses to Imogen and FCG. He had a vision of what might have happened if he hadn't been separated from his family. They saw themselves adult and alive and with them, similar but different. Cruel. Ashton blames himself for everything, and Imogen and FCG agree.
  Ashton: It was my fault. And if it wasn't, I didn't do anything to stop it.
• FCG gets into it with Ashton, leading to this exchange:
  FCG: Do you care about anybody?
  Ashton: You. I care about you.
  FCG: Do you? 'Cause you didn't do that for me!
  • Ashton gets to the core of why they feel so close to FCG.
    Ashton: You remind me of me, and it breaks my heart.
• Fearne and Chetney have a heart-to-heart, and a few things come out. She tells him that she blames herself for Ashton's near death. And then...
  Fearne: I've seen some messed up versions of myself, and I don't want that to happen.

Episode 79: To Hurt Is to Heal

• A lot of sad secrets come out during the "Honesty" section of Bell's Hell's team retreat in the Feywild. Some standouts include:
  • Imogen is genuinely scared to meet her mother again.
  • Orym is always lonely at night, even when he's around other people.
  • Ashton admitted that they're the reason the Jiana Hexum robbery went wrong, as well as the reason they got thrown out a window. Laudna asks if that's why he thinks he deserves to have been abandoned at that time, which they confirm.
  • Every time FCG kills or hurts something, they feel themself relax and become less stressed. Crosses over into Nightmare Fuel.
  • Imogen feels like the gods have never listened to her because she's "tainted," and isn't sure if she wants to save gods that don't seem to love her.
  • Orym really misses Dorian, and feels conflicted on whether or not that's okay.
  • When Fearne's flying mushroom ride is about to crash, Ashton admits to the following to help her:
  Ashton: I feel fucking worse that I just fucked up Fearne's life way more than mine, and I should've died instead of that happening.
  • And lastly, Chetney revealing that his family abandoned him when he was young to escape Errevon the Rimelord, leaving only toys behind. His anger prevented him from looking for them, and now he thinks it's too late as they're all likely dead at this point.

Episode 81: The Eve of the Red Moon

• In the middle of the night, Orym sneaks out of bed to make a deal with Nana Morri, and promises that if she ensures that Bell's Hells returns safely from Ruidus, he'll serve her for the rest of his life. Which, in the proximity of a creature like Morrigan, could be a very long time. Orym values his own life so little that he's willing to put himself in a horrible double bind — if he loses, he and his friends will die, and if he wins, he'll never be able to go home again.
  • It gets worse when you realize that Orym essentially did exactly what Ashton did only 4 episodes prior, going behind the party's back to obtain power at a tremendous personal cost. The only difference is that the consequences are not immediately apparent yet, but it's only a matter of time before that powder keg blows as well.
  • It gets even worse when one considers his first death to Otohan Thull way back in Episode 33. The followup to that was him seeing Will in the afterlife, before he gets pulled back, and per Liam on 4-Sided Dive, Orym in that moment believed he had failed. Then there is Keyleth almost dying to Otohan in Episode 51, and that he couldn't protect her there. The final straw was being given the title of 'Savior Blade' for bringing an antidote to her. He couldn't protect her, only fix things afterwards. In his mindset, he couldn't beat Thull or stop her causing so much death. He puts all that on his shoulders. He couldn't protect Fearne or himself. He couldn't protect Derrig or Will. He watched as Keyleth was brought to the brink in an instant, only for divine intervention to save her. In his eyes, he is powerless. This deal is not about sacrificing himself—it's about him getting strong enough to protect people where he believes he has failed.

Episode 86: Doorways to Darker Depths

• After the shock of Sending working again wears off, Orym and Imogen realize that he can try using the Sending stone keyed to Dorian. He gets off a message, but there is no response. He felt the pull of the creature in the lake right after he finished, so he doesn't know if Dorian was asleep, if the creature's magic prevented him from hearing the response, or if Dorian is dead. Imogen reassures him that it was probably the former, but he's not convinced.

Episode 91: True Heroism

• Imogen tries one more time to get through to Liliana; handing her the locket, taking her hands for the first time since she was a baby, and begging her mother to come with her... with a Persuasion check of 31. Even with that, Liliana is still too afraid to leave, and runs away to consider her options.
• Fresh Cut Grass pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to defeat Otohan Thull. With half the party unconscious and the rest cripplingly low on resources, a berserk FCG uses a 4th-level Guiding Bolt on themself, causing their core to explode. While this finally kills Otohan and saves Bell's Hells, F.C.G. is blown to pieces, broken beyond repair.
  • In death, Letters live up to his name. The smell of freshly cut grass is pleasant and may be associated with good memories in nature, but it's caused by blades of grass being damaged. The robot's sacrifice proved him to be a faithful care-giver, one loyal enough to his friends to give his life for them - the people who made him alive.
  • The emotion that fueled FCG's final charge into Otohan was rage; fitting for a barbarian's best friend.
  • The music playing during FCG's sacrifice is "The Champion's Goodbye", calling back to Vax's own sacrifice and Scanlan's failure to save him. Furthermore, with the Aeormaton's death, Orym's bargain cannot be fulfilled. In every campaign and universe, Sam looks after Liam. The thumbnail compounds this reference by having a raven behind Sam.
  • Letters started the campaign having accidentally killed all his friends in an explosion (of emotions) that he couldn't control. He died saving (almost) all of his friends (he thinks of Bertrand, Dorian, and FRIDA during his last moments) in a deliberate sacrifice of an explosion.
  • Crossover with heartwarming: While their characters couldn't be there, Aabria Iyengar (Deanna) and Christian Navarro (FRIDA) watched the stream live and were with FCG in spirit.
  • Bell's Hells are absolutely crushed. Nobody speaks as they sift through the rubble to pick up F.C.G.'s remains, picking up random bits of metal in a feeble attempt at gathering the body. Fearne finds his head with the smile still on his face, and Ashton finds his coin, still shining, embedded into the rock directly over the exit.
    • Out of character, F.C.G.'s sacrifice makes the entire cast cry, including Matt, and including Sam himself. Liam can barely speak through his tears as he describes Orym picking up the chassis plate with the blades of grass carved into it.
• During the fight, when things start looking extremely bad, Imogen throws out a Hail Mary: she casts Sending to her mother to beg her for help. Liliana starts looking for them immediately, aided by Imogen taking off her circlet... but arrives when the fight is already over, and the looks on everyone's faces tells her that she was too late to save one of their friends. All she can do is take Imogen's hands and tell her she's sorry.
• At the end of the episode, as everyone's character sheets are flashing up on screen, Fresh Cut Grass's sheet is in black and white.
• It's only been thirteen days or so in-universe since FRIDA and FCG said goodbye, unknowingly for the last time. FCG wouldn't be able to fulfil his promise to see FRIDA again - but they're the last being he thinks about before his death.
• Before this, during Chetney's temporary death at Otohan's hands, when Orym (who has begun to seriously suspect Chetney is actually his biological father) sees this, he lets out a small "Pops?" at the sight of Chetney's body, showing once again that his view of Chetney as his father is genuine. Made even more heartbreaking when you remember Otohan killed his father-in-law (who Orym regularly just refers to as 'dad'), so this is the second father of his she's killed.

Episode 92: Broken Roads

• After the Hells get back home and start to make their way to the encampment, the group starts to discuss the nuances of the situation, and Orym finally has enough, taking out one of Otohan's swords and slamming it into the ground. After all the horrors the Vanguard has committed on innocents, Orym is refusing to give them any more chances.
  Orym: That is the sword that killed my father. And my husband. She is not right.
  • He later takes out the sending stone to Dorian and outright asks him to come before breaking down, voice cracking with tears. Orym is the team's protector, but he desperately needs someone to lean on.
    Orym: I'm...struggling. Sorry. Can you get here? ...Fuck, I miss you.
• Meanwhile, we're brought back to the Crown Keepers, and shown what they've been up to since Kymall. With it, we see how much Lolth's influence on Opal has had as the group are all concerned for her well-being, and the previously happy-go-lucky Genki Girl is a lot more mellow and withdrawn, with her mental health having clearly taken a hit over the time. But with Predathos's oncoming release, the Spider Queen is in desperate need of a proper Champion to fight the oncoming threat, and she's deemed the Crown Keepers are holding Opal back. Que Demonic Possession as Lolth tries to make Opal kill her friends, who are now desperately trying to free her.
  • An added part of this is that Opal had genuinely tried to develop a bond with the Spider Queen, and was of the belief that Lolth was actually Not Evil, Just Misunderstood, hoping to be her champion in a positive manner to redeem the Spider Queen's image. When she tries to invoke this to get her to stop, Lolth coldly tells her she doesn't care about her image and is happy being an evil, feared goddess. This visibly hurts Opal to hear.
  • Morrighan first assures Opal they're going to get her free of this, then attacks her in the hopes to take her down so they can sort this out after. Unfortunately, Ted emerges, distraught that the Crown Keepers would resort to violence, and despite the situation, she'd rather kill the Crown Keepers to keep Opal safe than let them potentially kill her to stop Lolth.
    • Later, Morrighan experiences a flashback to a tender, heartwarming memory of herself and Opal, where they expressed mutual appreciation for one-another and a bond of friendship, with Morrighan taking Opal's encouragement to embrace her respeccing into Paladin. After the flashback is over, Morrighan is left to feel intense guilt over the What the Hell, Hero? callout she got from Ted and question why her first instinct was to attack Opal in this state.
  • The others all similarly experience flashbacks to tender memories of bonding with Opal, as part of their attempts to free her from Lolth. However, due to a failed roll, Dariax's flashback is corrupted and overwritten with a false ending, warping their memory of the moment to make it sad instead of heartwarming. What makes this worse is that Dariax was by far the closest with Opal, so there's an added hurt to this.
• In general, the episode demonstrates how Opal had very much became The Heart of the Crown Keepers, which makes her corruption by Lolth and the current events even more traumatic for them.