YMMV / Critical Role: Campaign Two

• Abandon Shipping:
  • Following the reveal in episode 8 that Nott is in between 6 to 9 years old (which, for a goblin, is technically "child-bearing age" due to their shorter life spans^note Volo's Guide to Monsters lists goblins as reaching adulthood at age 8), many Critters were understandably squicked-out at the prospect of shipping someone that's essentially in their mid-to-late teens with fully grown adults. Episode 49's reveal causes Abandon Shipping for a different reason: Nott, in her past life as a halfling woman, is Happily Married and she is able to return to normal later and reunite with her family. Caleb being implied to have feelings for Astrid and later, Essek, sank any last remains.
  • Any ships involving Caduceus were largely abandoned after episode 115, where he was confirmed as aroace.
  • Caleb and Astrid were widely shipped together both in and out of universe after early reveals of their history together. The pairing became rarer once more details about the unhealthy and traumatic circumstances that led to the beginning of their intimacy came out, Astrid's unclear morality continued to the epilogue, and Caleb gained more Ship Tease with Essek.
• Adorkable:
  • Caleb quickly reveals himself to be this when it comes to books: upon buying two new tomes, he starts bouncing with excitement and refers to the books as his "new friends".
  • Jester is easily the most Adorkable so far, with a high-pitched voice, excitable demeanor, and an almost childlike enthusiasm for mischief.
  • Rather unconventionally for a goblin, Nott lands firmly in this territory on account of her squeaky, unsure voice and her just generally being a twitchy, anxious disaster of a person.
  • Once Essek warms up to the Nein, it becomes painfully obvious that they're his first real friends, and his attempts at jokes are endearingly awkward.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Nott's confession in Episode 11, notably the tone she uses when she says she "needs" Caleb to get stronger. Is she more pragmatic than she lets on and is mostly using Caleb so he'll one day transform her from goblin to something else? Or was it simply the charm spell affecting her tone? Some fans take a third option and suggest that while she's relying on Caleb to change her, she genuinely cares about him. Episode 13 dispels any concerns about Nott and Caleb's relationship: Nott sees herself as Caleb's mother and wants to protect him, hence why she wants him to get stronger, and Caleb, having already stated it before, sees her as a little sister.
  • Ulog entered this territory as of his suicide-bombing of the High Richter Episode 12. Is he a tragic figure driven to extremes by his wife's unjust imprisonment, or a terrorist no better than those he's fighting?
  • The Gentleman ended up getting a bit of this after he rejected Jester's claim of being his daughter. Some wondered if he simply doesn't care for Jester and her mother, if he's trying to distance himself from them for their safety, or if he legitimately is completely unaware of the possibility he might be her father. This does eventually get resolved, however: while at first he himself was unsure of the truth and acted nonchalant about the situation, he does, at Caduceus's insistance, reconcile with Jester, admitting that he didn't want to admit it because it wouldn't be right to call himself her father after a life of never being there for her.
  • In the Echoes of the Solstice one-shot, was Daniel Sloss really that terrible at the game (which can be excused given he's obviously a newbie), or was Aggy simply representing what would happen if an actual Violent Glaswegian was thrown into the D&D universe (which would be in line with Daniel's style of standup comedy)? A third option also is that Daniel purposely made his character literally Too Dumb to Live in order to easily get rid of him, given both that he immediately recognises a very specific rule on death (going over your maximum HP in the negative resulting in instant death) indicating he's not actually that unfamiliar with how D&D works, as well as the fact he's deliberately under-leveled next to everyone and was confirmed on Four Sided Dive that he was only intended to guest for a portion of the game, and figured a comically anticlimatic death via stupidity was the funniest way to do it.
• Anti-Climax Boss:
  • Avantika's power over the ocean ends up meaning nothing, as Caleb counterspells it immediately, and she's unceremoniously killed by the Plank King shortly afterwards due to some terrible rolls on her part and incredibly high rolls by the PCs.
  • After being built up as The Dreaded for an entire arc, Vokodo was dealt with decisively in one fight without posing much of a threat (Beau did more damage to herself punching his super-heated hide than he did to the Nein), and the information on his history from Caduceus' lucky Divine Intervention gave the Nein enough ammunition to make him cower in fear.
• Arc Fatigue:
  • A number of Critters have been worn thin by the Vokodo/Rumblecusp Arc, seeing the party’s extensive pre-fight preparations and desperate search for allies as nothing more than pointless procrastination. The risk of staying on the island too long, slowly chipping away at the characters’ memories and valuable spell components, doesn’t help things either.
  • Taken to an even greater extent with the subsequent and much longer Aeor arc, which some say suffers from similarly perceived procrastination and lack of focus, as well as uneven pacing and Mood Whiplash.
• Archive Panic: Campaign 2 clocked in at 141 episodes, most of which are 3-4 hours long. Unlike with Campaign 1, the panic effect on new viewers is mitigated by the short "Critical Recap" videos (up to episode 88) and blog posts (episode 89 onward) that provide general plot information for each episode. There are also podcast versions of each episode available (with the announcements and break edited out), so if you can bear missing out on the visual acting, hugs and other non-audible cast reactions, it may be more manageable to listen to this version while you're doing household chores or commuting.
• Awesome Music: Episode 44 and onwards, "Your Turn To Roll" is showcased in the second opening intro video here.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Beauregard. On one hand you have people who think she's a fun, interesting character whose attitude and world view make for a stark contrast with Keyleth and the rest of the party. It doesn't hurt that she's proven to be no slouch in combat either. On the other hand, some feel her Jerkass tendencies and lack of social skills make her too grating and unsympathetic of a character to really root for, and hope that she goes through a character arc that has her become more likable. While she has undergone Character Development, and her past being explored greatly helped win people over, she remains very polarizing because of her actions earlier in the series, and moments where she does or says something that causes a stir.
  • Mollymauk. Some people enjoy the character for his charm, his general aesthetic and his genuine concern for those he cares about (the entire carnival, and Toya in particular, following the death of Kylre). However, others see Molly more as smarmy than charming, feeling he doesn't pull off the mysterious stranger persona anywhere near as well as Fjord or Shakäste; in particular, his tendency to not really give anything away about himself makes it harder for the rest of the party to really forge meaningful relationships with him. However, with Episode 14 and 15 delving into his backstory and why he is the way that he is, a lot of his detractors seem to have come around on Molly. Molly's death in Episode 26 partly did away with this issue, with many Critters looking back on Molly's character fondly. On the other hand, while not overtly celebrating Molly's death, other viewers express gratefulness for the resulting introduction of Caduceus in his stead.
  • Caleb. While some fans like the character for his endearing humility, social awkwardness and friendship/sibling-like relationship with Nott, others find him too similar to Vax (as both are quite broody characters). They also take issue with his unwillingness to share some of the information he finds out about the party's magical items, which leaves distribution up to him, rather than the party as a whole. His detractors believe this paints him as too distrusting of the rest of the group, though his supporters argue that is the point of his character, and creates more potential for Character Development. Much like Molly, the reveal of his backstory has significantly lessened the divide, but his overall personality remains divisive.
  • Nott. On one hand she's the Team Mom who treats the Nein (especially Caleb) like surrogate children and wants to help them succeed whilst struggling with her own issues. She's also genuinely fun to watch, and while she makes mistakes, she tends to do so not out of mean reasons, but out of impulsive and nervous reasons that most of the characters can understand. On the other she has a habit of sticking her nose into other people's affairs where it doesn't belong, refuses to listen to the party and repeatedly violates their boundaries and has impulse issues and rarely thinks things through which cost Caduceus his life when she hit an enemy with an explosive arrow with his unconscious body in the proximity. Fortunately Jester was there to revive him. She nearly killed Caduceus a second time during a later fight the exact same way. Her backstory does at least help the issue, but she remains very polarizing.
• Broken Base: Aside from the obvious divide of those who like this campaigns greater focus on characters and more sure footing in the web show format vs those who preferred the first campaigns better group dynamics and arcs, there is debate over the story of this campaign, or rather, the lack thereof. As is mentioned elsewhere on this page, most of the story arcs have been about half the length of Campaign One’s arcs. Avantika and Lorenzo’s deaths seemed to come about halfway through their respective arcs, cutting them short. The Nein have also seemed to actively avoid plot hooks, such as continuing the Knights of Requital storyline or the war with Xhorhas. The debate there is whether it works because it is fittingly in character, or whether it just makes them feel aimless. These issues became exacerbated when, on May 22, it was announced that Campaign 2 would be wrapping up soon, and that any continuation of the characters arcs would be done in one-shots like Campaign 1; it was later confirmed that Episode 141 would be the last of Campaign 2. While many are understanding and happy that the Campaign is going out on it's terms without being dragged out^note The majority of the (overly strong as shown in It's Easy, So It Sucks!) Nein's personal storylines being wrapped up with the exception of Fjord and Caleb, with both still having plot threads that could stretch on considerably when Veth and Caduceus in particular have little reason to keep adventuring., many believe that it already has and that there are so many loose ends dangling that choosing to end the campaign now will feel less like an ending and more like an arbitrary stopping point.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • The death of monstrous, baby-eating, hero-killing oni Lorenzo at the hands of Caleb. After the literally campaign-altering tragedy he inflicted upon the Nein by way of killing Mollymauk, witnessing Caleb - who was among the party members closest to Molly before his death - inflict arguably the most viscerally horrific death in the entire campaign upon Lorenzo was satisfying on a truly primal level.
  • Obann's final death, after spending months ahead of the Nein and using Yasha as a puppet for so long. Watching as Yasha personally guts the demon is immensely satisfying.
  • Were you worried that Trent Ikithon was going to become a Karma Houdini at the end of the series? Well fret not, because the party finally gets the opportunity to beat the shit out of him and bring him to justice in Campaign 2's final episode, culminating in him being tried by the Cobalt Soul and subjected to a Fate Worse than Death, thus robbing him of the pleasure of seeing Caleb finish him off. To say that he had it coming is an understatement.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • In Episode 9, Frumpkin is taken out by just one kick from a crownsguard, causing him to once more disappear until Caleb resummons him. The funny part comes in when Travis does a hilarious impression of how the guard would relate this story to his colleagues:
    Travis: "You guys, I kicked this cat today, and it fucking evaporated."
  • In the sponsor plug for Episode 12, Sam's Surfer Dude persona "Brody Slater" is revealed to be into FATAL, which sends the entire group into cringe-laughter.
  • Jester and Nott's attempt at robbing Avantika is full of this. The two repeatedly get people horribly injured with their tricks while trying to sneak out, which ordinarily wouldn’t be funny, but their panicked reactions to the sheer damage their, what they intended to be, minor distractions cause definitely is.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Considering how easy it is for him to become distracted and/or fall behind in conversation, many fans would argue that Caduceus is ADHD.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Shakäste, the campaign's first Guest-Star Party Member and consummate badass, became an instant fan favorite on equal account of his amazing voice and his being played by Khary Payton.
  • Critters instantly fell in love with Enchanter Pumat Sol, he of the four magical clones and vaguely inexplicable Canadian accent. Despite being the complete inverse of Victor the Black Powder Merchant, it already seems as though good old Pumat is falling into a similar beloved niche. Love for Pumat is not limited to the viewers alone; The cast seem to constantly find reasons to frequent his shop in-universe as well.
  • Kiri, the little kenku girl that the Mighty Nein saved from gators upon arriving in the Labenda Swamp. Matt contrasts her innocent coos and hilarious voice mimicry with a heart-wrenching story about dead family members to great effect. Just like with Pumat, the players are just as invested in the character as the fanbase.
    Ashley: We all love that bird. I will protect that bird with my life.
  • Nila, the Firbolg Druid guest character from Episode 27 and 28, had tons of fanart after only one appearance, due to her being both a hilarious Fish out of Water Cloudcuckoolander and a genuinely kind Team Mom (something that, Liam points out at the end of the next episode, the Mighty Nein desperately needed after the darkness of the last few episodes).
  • Dani Carr, host of Critical Recap gets this for being The Cutie, and her infectious excitement in narrating the events of the previous episode.
  • Ashly Burch's character Keg became a fan favorite pretty quickly due to her role in the Iron Shepherds arc, especially after Beau managed to bed her and after the letters she left for the team following her leave. A number of fans want her to return and become a permanent member of the main cast, much like Kashaw and Zahra before her.
  • After initial concerns about Jester's mom in relation to Jester's upbringing, once the Mighty Nein finally met Marion she became well-loved for her sweet, genial demeanor and for her sincere love of Jester. The fact Marion's line of work isn't shamed is often appreciated was very welcome too, and she remains one of the most beloved characters since her introduction.
  • Chris Perkins's guest character Spurt is both one of the funniest characters in the entire show, and by far the shortest-lived, not even counting his proclaimed lifespan of eleven days.
  • Judging by the amount of people on Twitter and Youtube asking for her to be a permanent cast member, both due to Reani's chemistry with the group and being played by Mica Burton, Reani's become this among the fans.
  • Essek became one for being a friendly face in the Dynasty and memetic reasons ^note "HOT BOI" but his popularity shot up as the Mighty Nein began to make a conscious effort to get to know him. Him showing an Adorkable side and showing how much he respects the Nein helps.
  • The Syphilis Bandits, partly because of the Running Gag of their repeated run-ins with the Nein and partly because they cross into Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains. The fact Molly tried to help them, even after the group tried robbing them a second time, is also endearing.
  • A patch of crabgrass near Molly’s grave who Jester speaks to using her Speak With Plants amulet and names Henry. His adorable voice and strong feelings on consent probably contributed to this.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • Lawrence from The Song of the Lorelei One-shot being Tary's former teacher and lover from campaign 1. This was Jossed in the Adventures of the Darrington Brigade oneshot, where Taryon's husband Lawrence makes a physical appearance, and his description is nothing like the Lorelei sibling.
  • One theory relatively tossed around is that the woman who brought Lucien/Molly back from the dead is Astrid. The fact Veth/Nott was also brought back from the dead by a woman who was a powerful mage has drawn speculation it could also be the same woman, if not Astrid. The reveal that a mysterious woman helped guide Beau's father to the land he used to start his wine business also has people theorizing that she might be the same woman too, and in Episode 92, it turns out that the woman in Beau and Nott's backstories actually is the same (though she isn't Astrid)!. However, this was Jossed when the woman in question was revealed to be Vess Derogna of the Cerberus Assembly in episode 114.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Fjord, the Hexblade Warlock with a strong southern drawl has quickly been dubbed "The Texblade." After dropping the accent and multiclassing into Paladin, new nicknames like "Pjaladin" emerged.
  • A Twitter fanartist coined the name "Dirtbag Korra" for Beauregard, a dark-skinned WLW Monk who dresses in blue. She is also sometimes called "The Disaster Lesbian," a title Marisha calls "accurate."
  • Nott's gained the moniker "Mama/Momma Nott" after Nott reveals she views herself as the parent in her relationship with Caleb.
  • Because of the sheer Wham Episode of episode 26, Lorenzo is sometimes called Negan, due to the similarities of what happened at the end of the episode, and the events of Negan's entry in Season 6.
  • The unexpected mansion provided by Shadowhand Essek quickly garnered the nickname "Xhorhouse" (or "Xhorhaus" for the "Zemnian" variant). Became an Ascended Meme once the cast decided to roll with it.
  • Essek himself is nicknamed in the Twitch chats as "Hotboi" or "HOTBOY" (in a similar manner to this Vine originally created by the McElroy Brothers), likely due to his memetic Pretty Boy status (which in part was likely influenced by Sam's flask from Episode 63).
  • The Inevitable Friend for the Caedogeist in Episode 87, where she helps defeat Obann the Punished.
  • Due to his status as the critter’s collective subject of ire, Trent Ikithon has been saddled with an number of insulting or demeaning names, such as Dickithon or Ickythong (the latter was even used by Jester to refer to him in episode 88).
  • Popular character groupings/friendships have somewhat gained these:
    • "Circus Kids" for Molly and Yasha, for both of them having met and worked in the same circus.
    • "Empire Kids", "Disaster Siblings", or "Team Human" for Beau and Caleb, since they both grew up inside the Dwendalian Empire and are the only humans of the group. "Empire Trio" includes Nott as well.
    • "Nott the Best Detective Agency" or "Fluffernutter" for Nott and Jester; named for some of their signature crazy ideas.
    • "Chaos Crew" for Beau, Jester, and Nott; originating from the chaos that got them kicked out of the Uthodurn Library in episode 74 and confirmed in episode 84 with all 3 of them getting magical tattoos from Orly together.
    • "Green Team" for Fjord and Nott, as they're the only ones with green skin color in the group. Also "Team Drowning Victims", as they've both had intense experiences with drowning in their past.
    • "Brjeaus" (pronounced "bros") for Fjord and Beau, as they developed a sibling-like friendship over time (especially at sea when Fjord was captain and Beau was his official first mate).
    • "Team Clerics" for Jester and Caduceus, because they're the clerics of the team.
    • "God Squad" for Jester, Caduceus, and Yasha, as they're all worshippers and followers of individual deities in the group. Later Fjord becomes added to this group.
    • Episode 76 marks the moment Fjord and Caduceus became known as "Wildbrothers" after Fjord became a Paladin of the Wildmother.
    • "Awkward Allies" or "Introvert Club" for Caleb and Yasha, since they're both frequently awkward at social gatherings together. Also "Orphanmakers", referring to Yasha's moniker given to her by her tribe and Caleb's Self-Made Orphan status.
    • "Blumenthal Drei", "Blumenkrew" or "Soltryce Kids" for Bren/Caleb, Astrid, and Eodwulf, since they all came from the town of Blumenthal and went to Soltryce Academy.
    • Caleb and Yeza Brenatto form the "Nott/Veth Brenatto Fan Club" due to their enthusiastic support of her magical talents.
• Foe Yay Shipping: Early on, some took to shipping Beauregard and Mollymauk when Taliesin and Marisha revealed in Q&As that the two of them instantly hated each-other, seeing the potential for Belligerent Sexual Tension. This mostly died down once Beau confirmed her Incompatible Orientation to Molly as a lesbian, although their rivalry still continued up until Molly's death.
  • History repeated with Taliesin's character, as Yasha's first impression of Caduceus was less than positive, but Caduceus was as unfazed as ever. This also lost steam as both characters grew to understand each other, and after episode 46 confirmed that Yasha's still grieving over the death of her wife Zuala.
  • An interest in Nott/Fjord has somewhat risen due to their mutual insults and jabs ranging from Vitriolic Best Buds to With Friends Like These...; while also punctuated with moments like Nott eyeing Fjord's muscles during a Shirtless Scene in episode 76.
• Genius Bonus: Molly's name. "Molly" is an old slang term^note  or slur - it's a feminizing term similar to the modern "sissy" and that meaning can still be found in phrases like "don't mollycoddle the boy". Originally, "molly" was a slang word for "prostitute" (see the erotic book Moll Flanders from that same period, or the 1920s term "ganster moll"); just like "gay" originally comes from "gay woman" as a euphemism for a prostitute, i.e. a woman who has more fun than she should have according to the moral guardians of the time. for queer men and male-bodied genderqueer people, and a "molly house" was a (very illegal) club / brothel for queer male patrons in 18th and 19th century Britain - often with the hosts / sex workers dressing up in drag (due to heteronormative ideas of what relationships should look like), but these meeting places would also provide a safe space for genderqueer patrons to dress up and behave like they want but can't in their everyday lives. Also, apparently there were a lot of gender-crossing rituals (like marriage ceremonies and "mock-births") performed in this subculture. Given Taliesin's gothness^note  (Molly houses often feature in modern media with a gothic or "demimonde" type Victorian setting, e.g. Dracula and Jack the Ripper adaptations, Penny Dreadful, Ripper Street, as well as the earlier-set series Harlots.) and the level of research he put into the setting of the Call of Cthulhu one-shot, it's a pretty safe bet that he knew this when he created the character with a name that would naturally be abbreviated to "Molly".
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Beau gets arrested by the Crownsguard in Episode 2, "A Show of Scrutiny", and it's treated much the same as any other time a character played by Marisha was taken to jail, with Marisha herself saying that jails are not Beau's favored terrain. Flash forward to 63 episodes later, however, and she reveals to Yasha that the reason why is anything but humorous: Beau's first love Tori who "showed her the ropes" was left to rot in prison while she herself was released. And she never saw her again. OUCH.
    Beauregard: She kind of showed me the ropes. She was great. She was my literal partner in crime for a little bit. And also who I got busted with. So we were both arrested together and the next morning my dad was there and busted me out of jail, paid bail, and I think made some sort of arrangements with the guards. I don't know. Who knows what happened to her. I don't think she's dead. She was one tough bitch, so. But I'm sure she hates me for forever, wherever she is.
  • In episode 8, Caleb gets shot with several crossbow bolts, pulls them out of his chest, then faints. Five minutes later, he shoots upright while screaming "TAKE THEM OUT!" In episode 48, we learn that Trent Ikithon experimented on his students by implanting residuum crystals into their skin, a process that Caleb still bears the scars from. Liam confirmed during Talks Machina that Caleb had a flashback to those events in that moment.
  • After the group meets the Knights of Requital, an anti-Empire resistance group, Nott suggests turning them over to the authorities for a bounty. After the reveal of Caleb's backstory in Episode 18, we know this discussion must have made Caleb very uncomfortable, as he used to be part of a group that exposed and executed rebels.
  • In Episode 18, when Jester explains the unlocked ability of the dodecahedron to increase one's luck, she humorously relates the anecdote in which Caleb, while entranced by the object, told his parents he loved them and asked if he made them proud, while crying. Just earlier in the same episode, Caleb revealed his history privately to Nott and Beau, in which he murdered his own parents due to false implanted memories of them being traitors to the Empire.
  • Nott trying to take the letter of recommendation to the Soltrice Academy Jester got for Fjord becomes this due to Episode 18 when it turns out what happened in Caleb's past.
  • Beau and Caleb's brief "argument" about the bowl at first glance paints her as judgmental and confrontational just for the sake of drama. But what she was arguing about wasn't the bowl itself or that she didn't really care about potential fallout from those involved, but the idea of Calianna's agency being taken from her. Something that Beau knows all too well considering her entire history, as it paints her argument in a much sadder light.
  • In episode 16, the party splits up and Caleb jokes that "...the Mighty Drei also sounds very cool." considering that as of the end of episode 26, with 3 of their party are captured, and Mollymauk killed, they are down to three party members + Keg.
  • Jester pranking the temple of the Platinum Dragon in Episode 31? Hilarious. But on the following Talks Machina, Matt explained something that makes it a lot less so. She painted the statue of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, in bright primary colors. Chromatic colors. AKA the colors of Tiamat, one of the Betrayer Gods and Bahamut's sworn enemy. If Jester had been caught, her punishment might have been severe, as she could have been seen as an anti-religious cultist.
  • Episode 34 sees Yasha's return, as Ashley's back for one episode! However, her last time piloting Yasha was Episode 25, and Episode 30 had Matt show her utterly devastated at Mollymauk's death. Now she returns, and her closeness with Mollymauk is replaced with not particularly liking Caduceus, a severe change in relationship dynamic. She's still seated next to Taliesin, so their at-the-table in-character interactions are going to be quite awkward for the foreseeable future...
  • And speaking of Yasha, her Cool Sword the Magician's Judge is known as the blade of an executioner. While it is a powerful weapon, it makes her old title of "Orphan Maker" a little too apt.
  • Reveals about Yasha's backstory in Episode 46 make Beau's earlier flirting with her a lot harder to look back on. Turns out, Yasha does love women, but she was already married in the past. Her wife Zuala was killed, but her tribe doesn't believe in "till death do us part", so Yasha still very much considers herself married. Not that Beau could've known that at the time.
  • Also in Episode 46. When Yasha awoke to Molly's grave, she said, "It happened again". Not only has she lost her best friend but she's also lost her wife. It's little wonder Yasha's afraid of losing the rest of the group.
  • All of Nott's aquaphobia, after Episode 49 reveals why she's afraid of water. Particularly the bathhouse scene in Episode 9, in which Fjord and Beau hold Nott under water and she comes out saying "I’ll kill you all!"
  • All of the jokes the fans and players have made about at least one of the party members turning out to be evil turns into this after episode 69 where. Yasha ends up being forced to serve Obann (who is heavily implied that she made a deal with to kill her tribe as revenge) and The Laughing Hand with her nearly killing Fjord.
  • In an early episode, when discussing Molly's (fake) backstory, Beau guesses, jokingly, "you killed your whole family!" Not so funny now after Beau hears Caleb's backstory in Episode 18. Going back to watch this moment, you'll notice that Liam freezes when she says that.
  • When the group splits up into three groups to infiltrate a house at the end of Episode 12, Sam jokes that Matt actually has a fourth parallel subplot he's keeping track of that none of them are aware of. Come the end of the episode, this turns out to be completely true in the worst way possible.
    • In the same episode, Nott suggests that rather than Molly disguising himself as a leper, Caleb could burn him and his clothing to portray Molly as a burn victim. Caleb’s not too happy with the plan, however, and we find out why later on - because as a teenager he was brainwashed into burning his parents alive, and is still traumatised.
  • Nott drinking and getting intoxicated? Extremely funny thanks to Sam's performance. The revelation that Nott drinks to get away from being a goblin? Not as funny in hindsight.
  • Nott's extreme loathing of water? Sam makes it a laugh riot every time. The fact that Nott hates water because she was drowned as Veth? Horrifying.
  • When the Mighty Nein first met the Gentleman, Laura Bailey was actually absent, with Jester being played by the DM. Matt comments that it's very difficult to play her as she's so unpredictable, there's no telling what she would do in this situation. Travis jokes, "She'd prolly run up and just give him a hug." Yes, Jester likely would have run up and hugged the Gentleman if she knew then he was her father.
  • One of the areas in Xhorhas is called the Coronas, referring to the halo around the sun, which is known for being fatal. The players have fun with this, but then the very fatal COVID-19, the coronavirus, broke out at the end of the very year the M9 visited the coronas.
  • After the frosty reception of the Orphan Maker by her former tribe, Beau wonders if Yasha killed the previous leader. An aghast Yasha says she probably did. Beau thinks it's awesome, and Sam giggles. Smash cut to Yasha's backstory comic, ^note although this information was previously revealed in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and it's revealed that after the Skyspear killed Zuala for daring to have a relationship with Yasha (and in the process persuading Yasha to go against the Skyspear's harsh ideas), Yasha massacred the tribe's leadership in grief. That unnamed Skyspear was also her adoptive mother.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • In Episode 35, Jester gives Nugget the Blink Puppy to her mother to look after temporarily while the Nein go to meet with Marius, telling him to treat her mother as "home" for now. The Nein's task at the docks went south fast and ended with them forced to steal a ship and flee Nicodranas, and the guards having seen them steal the ship will make it very hard for them to return. Nugget was left behind, but Jester's actions earlier ensured he'd at least have a happy home, and Marion said she'd always wanted a pet.
  • Nott's Mama Bear tendencies, once it's revealed she's really a mother.
  • In Episode 41, Jester asks Nott if she's ever kissed a boy and Nott reluctantly says yes and states you never forget your first kiss. Though she says her first kiss was done on a dare and plays down its importance, she ultimately admits it was a good day. Episode 49 reveals she was recalling her first kiss with Yeza, her eventual husband.
• He's Just Hiding:
  • A common fan reaction to Molly's death in Episode 26. To be fair, he's come back once before...
    • These fans were mostly vindicated, then not vindicated, then vindicated again in episodes following 111, where Molly’s grave was decidedly empty and his body was wandering Eiselcross with the Tomb Takers. Meeting with the man in question acquaints the Nein with Lucien, the former personality of Molly's body, who assures him that Molly is gone, if he ever existed. It becomes explicit later on that this was a lie or an unintended falsehood, as Molly proves himself to be very much still in there.
      Fjord/Travis: We could get User One, User Two, or the admin profile.
  • Some people are convinced we haven't seen the last of Captain Avantika, despite the rather swift and brutal way in which she was dispatched by the Plank King in Episode 43. It helps that Matt seemed to avoid outright saying that she died during his recaps in the two following sessions. This was both Jossed and Confirmed in sense in episode 112, when Avantika did in fact reappear...as an revenant.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • When asked about his relationship with Nott, Caleb shoots down the implication of their relationship being parental by stating he views her as a little sister. Nott later states she sees it as parental, but with her as the parent. Gains an additional level of hilarity with the knowledge that Nott is a mother.
  • In episode 13, after their first encounter with a Kryn Dynasty soldier in the sewers:
    Jester: This is wars between empires, do you really care?
    Beau: I don't care about wars between empires, I just like having more information.^note The majority of the latter campaign is about stopping the war between the empires
  • In Episode 29, which happened to air on Travis' birthday, Brian FaceTimed Travis^note who, along with Laura, could not attend on account of their newly born baby and got the GenCon audience to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him. Travis said that his one birthday wish was for the Mighty Nein to "kick some fucking ass!" Well, they did. They kicked unholy amounts of ass. To cut a long story short, they tore apart an entire slavery ring without suffering any casualties, setting free all the slaves said ring had in their compound, and they killed someone that Matt was planning on making an Arc Villain.
  • Episode 49 gives a Call-Back to Episode 21, where Nott introduces herself to Calianna as "Bren". As "Bren" is Caleb's real name that he had never told to anyone, Liam spends a solid minute staring at Sam looking incredibly bewildered and confused. On Talks Machina, Sam confirmed that this was a complete coincidence.
  • When Jester finally meets Yeza, she realises that real relationships are somehow different from the ones she read about... which are all from smut. After Nott is turned back into Veth, she and Yeza end up doing it just as much as they do in actual smut.
  • Speaking of Nott, one of the first things Sam says is "I'm sticking with this fucking accent for the next 2 years." Nott is turned back into Veth just a little over 2 years after that... but Sam goes right back to the voice anyway.
  • Speaking of callbacks across the whole season, episode 3 had a notable chain-of-whispers sequence where the gang managed to mangle a single sentence - fast forward to 2020 and the premise has been expanded into Narrative Telephone, with far more room for mangling.
    • The review segment of Narrative Telephone episode 4 has Sam deliberately trolling the whole Zoom channel by setting up a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl puppet behind him, which only drops out of view when he turns to see it. The ruse is revealed in the most hilarious way possible when the amateur puppeteer, one Mrs Quyen Tran-Riegel, fails to slip out of the side door completely unnoticed (the puppet nearly gets stuck in the door!), turning it into the Critical Role equivalent of the well-loved Prof. Robert Kelley viral video.^note It's the one where Kelley's two kids interrupted his video chat, and his wife failed to evade notice while getting them out again. Also, this is all, of course, a throwback to Travis's well-documented terror of Samara from The Ring.
  • The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount was, according to an insert in the book, written around the time of Episode 50 of the campaign, and so doesn't take into account later developments on the show. One tip it offers for accommodating players who may not be interested in the Empire/Xhorhas war is "with a little bit of creative tweaking of the setting, you could create a Wildemount campaign where the war has been called off or never even happened!" The former ended up being more-or-less exactly what happened.
  • The whole final arc of the previous campaign becomes this with the revelation that the Traveller is actually the archfey Artagan. Vecna spent so much time and put so much effort into becoming a god... and Artagan does it with the faith of a little girl.
  • Also from Narrative Telephone, everyone mimicking Liam's Caleb accent leads to Midsommar getting mentioned a couple of times. Fast forward to episode 100, and the island of Rumblecusp turns out to be home to a Cargo Cult much like the one in Midsommar.
  • There's a twofer one. All the way back in Campaign 2 Episode 3, the party kept misinterpreting Matt's words when he described a local rumor in the town of Trostenwald about an island known as Crooked Stone that sits in the middle of the Ustaloch^note "Eastern Lake" as being cursed because a witch had supposedly lived there over a century ago. Despite Matt repeatedly informing them that there was no witch and only the ruins of a building there now, the party kept trying to insist that there was, in Sam's words, "a full hut with a witch inside". Matt threatened that if they wanted to will a witch into existence so badly, he'd throw one at them.
    • Explorer's Guide to Wildemount would be released over a year later, and has a story-quest hook written that involves the lake becoming cursed due to some kids having visited the island on a dare, finding an actual witches amulet in the ruins and tossing it into the lake, where it's magic is turning the animals residing in the lake into aggressive undead skeletons. If a party retrieves the amulet as part of their investigation, its owner may come looking for them. Thanks Nein!
    • And then later, the Nein themselves would face a witch in a hut: Isharnai the Prism Sage, the hag who made a deal with Beau's father and cursed Veth. Jester utterly cleans her clock in one of the most clutch moves in the history of Critical Role, with a blueberry cupcake, Dust of Deliciousness, and Modify Memory. In Taliesin's words, she "Greteled [Matt's] Hansel" by "feeding a witch a baked good"..
  • In 2020, the gang taking a break at the same time that season 4 of The Masked Singer led to speculation that Sam Riegel was secretly taking part in that show, as Baby Alien. After that was Jossed, Matt waited till the last quarter of the year to spring on our heroes an Eldritch Abomination, in the form of a disturbingly baby-faced creature borrowed from Kingdom Death, making it literally a baby alien.
  • Stephen Colbert, who famously played D&D with Matt in the Red Nose Day special, once joked about Lee Pace attempting lines in the old Elvish as the result of the Sindarin and Noldorien elves having different languages. Fast forward to Narrative Telephone season 2, and Mica Burton as Reani attempts to deliver part of it in Elvish, which led to Matt making the exact same reference.
  • There's a lovely short-range one (qualifying for CMoA) in episode 123, where Sam's opening bit is as a D&D-themed motivational speaker who imparts his wisdom and his mantra to all the guys - who end up rolling the most natural 20s in the show's history.
  • In episode 42, Jester disguises herself as Molly while sneaking off a pirate ship, only to amend the disguise a few times and describe it as "Molly in pirate clothes" after its pointed out that he is not an inconspicuous person. After being resurrected in the end, Kingsley both dislikes Molly's gaudy attire and decides to pursue life as a pirate, eventually becoming Plank King.
• I Knew It!:
  • Many fans guessed that the second campaign would take place in Wildemount, specifically within the Dwendalian Empire.
  • It was also a popular guess that Beauregard would take the Way of the Cobalt Soul, as Marisha had mentioned that there was a reason Beauregard wore blue.
  • Many Critters guessed that Nott would take the Arcane Trickster archetype, based on her high Intelligence and friendship with Caleb. There was Foreshadowing for this one, too, as one of her lines in Episode 1 was "Caleb's been teaching me a few tricks", hinting at either Arcane Trickster or the Magic Initiate feat being in Sam's plan.
  • The fact that Caleb had killed his parents was intuited by several fans after he touched the Dodecahedron.
  • After Mollymauk’s death, a common theory was that Taliesin’s new character would be a Grave domain Cleric..
  • After seeing Lorenzo's Cone of Cold in Episode 26, many fans guessed that he was an Oni. This was later proven correct.
  • After Obann expressing familiarity with Yasha and the odd specifics of the spell he used to dominate Nott a lot of people successfully guessed that he's a Cambion, along with being involved with whatever led to Yasha becoming a Fallen Aasimar. Both points were proven true in Episode 69.
  • From the beginning of the campaign, a common theory was that Fjord would eventually multi-class into Paladin - this was proven correct as of Episode 76.^note Or rather, the video posted to Twitter after the episode to show everyone levelling up their characters, as Matt forgot to do so on the stream.
  • Themes of chains and bondage have been with the campaign from the beginning, leading some fans to speculate that the party would come into conflict with Tharizdun the Chained Oblivion. Episode 83 proves this correct.
  • Caleb, Beau, Molly, and Nott all having mysterious women featuring prominently in their backstories led to many a theory about them all being connected. Turns out, the woman who turned Nott into a goblin is the same woman who Beau's father made a deal with for prosperity, though the jury is still out on whether she's also connected to Caleb. She is not the woman in Molly's backstory, who is later revealed to be Vess De Rogna.
  • Fans have been guessing since almost the beginning of the campaign that the Traveler is really Artagan the archfey, and were proven right in Episode 94.
    • A bit before the reveal, this fan comic portraying the Traveler as having absolutely no idea what he's doing started gaining popularity. Matt himself was surprised at just how accurate it was.
  • Fans have began making jokes about every character on the top table being in love with Jester before Beau admitted to having a crush on Jester and Liam confirmed on Talks Machina that Caleb is a "little in love with Jester".
  • Since Viridian's first appearance, the chat had been speculating that she was Keyleth's mother. This was proven true in Episode 102.
  • A few Critters guessed that Caduceus was asexual before it was officially confirmed in Episode 114.
• It's Easy, So It Sucks!: A common criticism of the second campaign, especially towards the later episodes. Between the Nein being a fairly strong party, Beau's Stunning Strike being a borderline Game-Breaker, and having two Clerics to easily cast Revivify, there's rarely been a fight where the party has felt in real danger, and several much hyped end-of-arc bosses were beaten much easier than expected. (e.g Lorenzo, Avantica and Vokodo) Campaign One's major boss fights would often cause multiple party deaths or near-deaths, and its resurrection rituals led to some of its most iconic moments among fans, a tension some feel is missing from the second campaign. It took a while for Matt to have ways of getting around this problem.
• It Was His Sled: Nowadays, it's nigh-impossible to get into Campaign 2 without the subject of Mollymauk's death being spoiled, given its iconic status and the effect it had on the campaign going forward.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Beau can be an obnoxious and blunt person who steps on the toes of others, but she came from an abusive home where her parents often neglected her, resentful that they didn't have a son. She rebelled against her parents by stealing from them and becoming a criminal, which they reacted to by having the Cobalt Soul effectively kidnap her to "beat her indiscretions out of her" and disowned her. Once they finally had the son they always wanted, they burnt their bridges with her. Beyond that, until she met the Nein, she never had any friends, partially due to her own abrasive personality from a lifetime of abuse and neglect.
  • Nott has a tendency to stomp all over her friend's boundaries and meddle in their lives and is extremely self-centred and impulsive to the point it causes multiple problems for the Nein including accidentally killing Caduceus.^note Fortunately Jester was on hand with Revivify. The Woobie part comes after episode 49 where she reveals she was originally a halfling named Veth who was bullied a lot growing up outside of Yeza, her first love whom she married & had a child with. One night, she and her family were ambushed by goblins and to make sure her husband and son got away, she lured the goblins away & killed some of them. Once the survivors caught her, they drowned her and had a hag curse her to reincarnate into a goblin form which she hates and is gradually eating away at the true Veth. This doesn't completely excuse her nearly restarting the war between the Empire and Kryn just to break the curse, but it gives some explanation.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships
  • Yasha, after only one episode. Beau and Fjord both show interest in her, and she has an established friendship with Molly. Then there's the Crossover Shipping with Grog.
  • By the second episode, Fjord, too, has seen a lot of shipping—with Yasha, as mentioned, and also with Caleb, Jester, Beau, and Molly.
  • Jester as well, not helped by her being The Tease to nearly everyone.
  • As the character with the most focus on Archive of Our Own, Caleb has the most diverse shipping range to date (Molly, Fjord, Jester, Caduceus, Essek, and also Astrid and Eodwulf).
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Taliesin?/Is this Taliesin?" quickly became one in episode 27. To the point even the cast ran with it in-game.
  • Caduceus is just happy to be here, or anything along those lines has become a meme due to the sheer almost dull reaction Caduceus seems to have when encountering things, even when its clear he is really happy or excited.
  • The Metagaming Pigeon.
  • Uk’otoa (Uk’otoaaaaa).
  • Saying "Mollymauk is fine" has become somewhat of a meme on tumblr.
  • Taking any word that begins with "f" and changing it to "fj".
    • "Fjorgot", because of how Fjord's memory can occasionally seem to be swiss cheese.
  • The chair.
  • After Episode 49 had two characters reveal the name they'd been using up to that point was not their original name, it's become common to jokingly ask "What is X's real name?!" of anyone, such as Frumpkin or Brian W. Foster.
  • "HOT BOI" whenever Essek is mentioned.
  • Any comment about bread will ring in a chorus of "I LIKE BREAD!" from the chat.
  • I've noticed that there are exactly 2 types of Jester fanart.^note Similar to D.Va from Overwatch, fan artist will either cite Jester's Sweet Tooth eating habits to depict her as more rotund and chunky, while those going by the characterisation will draw a more fanservicey, Animesque Jester.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • After The Reveal of Caleb's backstory, nearly the entire fandom agreed that Trent Ikithon needed to die. To elaborate he put Caleb and two others through brutal, abusive training while they were only teenagers, asking them to murder traitors to the empire as part of it, culminating in planting fake memories in their heads that their parents were traitors and having them kill their parents as their final exam.
  • Lorenzo screams over it in-universe and out by graphically killing Mollymauk as a warning to the Nein.
• One True Threesome: "Widofjorester" combines the ships of Caleb, Fjord, and Jester all into one. Also "Beauyester" or "Bashter" for Beau/Yasha/Jester, and "B/A/E" or "Blumendrei" for Bren/Astrid/Eodwulf.
• Paranoia Fuel: After Episode 29 & the death of Lorenzo, Matt revealed at their GenCon panel that Lorenzo had been using his abilities as an Oni to stalk the remaining members of the Mighty Nein throughout the Iron Shepards’ keep since the previous episode.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: The more popular ones are Widomauk (Caleb/Molly), Beauyasha (Beauregard/Yasha), Widofjord (Caleb/Fjord), Fjorester (Fjord/Jester), Widojest (Caleb/Jester), Clayleb (Caduceus/Caleb), Fjorclay (Fjord/Caduceus), and Shadowgast (Caleb/Essek).
  • Beauregard and Jester have several competing ones: Beaujester, Lavorregard, Jestergard, and Sappheau.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Molly's Blood Hunter skills have been often ridiculed, and he's usually considered the weakest character mechanically. Between his dual-wielding style and unique class feature (a Cast from Hit Points damage buff) Molly takes several turns to gear up properly for a fight, which combined with Taliesin's indecisiveness of committing to ranged or close combat means he rarely gets to shine during a battle. It's telling that Molly ultimately dies due to his own class feature knocking him out before Lorenzo killed him, since otherwise Molly would have been able to receive healing and Matt ultimately completely reworked the class in early 2020.
• Ship Mates: Early in the campaign, a decent network formed between the 3 most popular ships at the time (Caleb/Molly, Beau/Yasha, and Fjord/Jester), since it paired up everyone in the Mighty Nein (with the exception of Nott - who was often regarded as Everyone's Baby Sister due to Sam's vagueness about her age). Later on this network drifted due to various factors like Molly's death and Caduceus' introduction, Yasha mourning her dead wife, Nott's revealed husband and child, Beau's secret romantic feelings for Jester, and a variety of other pairings that developed over time. In a interesting reversal, Two of the original ships: Fjord/Jester and Beau/Yasha, have become canon with the Fjorester kiss and the Beauyasha date. Funnily enough, both of the other personalities in the body that was once Molly's have flirted with Caleb, although it didn't go anywhere.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Shadowgast vs Widojest vs Fjorester vs Beaujes vs Beauyasha. Several fans angrily dropped the show when Beaujes was sunk; other fans clung to their insistence that "Laura's microexpressions" meant that Beaujes or Widojest would become canon at the eleventh hour. Some fans (as detailed in Why Fandom Can't Have Nice Things on the Trivia page) even attacked Matt over this, claiming that Jester being hit by a magical effect that increased her age by five years was actually an intentional ploy to make Jester "old enough" to get with Fjord. Other fans claimed that Beauyasha sailing instead of Beaujes was actually "queerbaiting"; called Beauyasha a "lesbian ship for the straights"; and argued that Laura and Marisha were actually going to do Beaujes before the COVID hiatus wherein they decided not to because Critical Role Productions LLC wanted to do Beauyasha and Fjorester instead. To say that this all got messy very quickly is an understatement.
• Shocking Moments:
  • The ending of Episode 12. The group's second infiltration goes wrong when the High Richter returns and catches them in the act. Just as she's about to arrest the group, Ulog tackles her and uses a magical gem to blow them both up. And that's not even the most dramatic part. As the group is leaving one of the spires in the Trispire district explodes, several figures are seen jumping down, pursued by some very powerful mages, and as the group is fleeing through the sewers they run into a heavily wounded soldier wearing black, insect-like armour... the same kind used by the Empire's enemies according to The Courting of the Crick.
  • The reveal of Caleb's backstory in Episode 18 left all the viewers in shock.
  • The end of Episode 25. To account for their players' upcoming long absence, Fjord, Jester, and Yasha are captured by slavers,with a silence spell leaving the rest of the group sleeping soundly and none-the-wiser.
  • Episode 26 took the end of 25 and hit us hard. Due to poor dice rolls and bad strategy, Mollymauk was killed by the Iron Shepherds. Considering they no long have a cleric, and are far from civilization, Molly might just be the first permanent party death.
  • Episode 29, live at GenCon 2018, where the Nein (plus Caduceus Clay, Keg, and Shakastë) managed to completely dismantle a notorious and entrenched slaver ring in their own stronghold and over the course of a single night. Plus they rescued all of their missing party members, Nila's family, and three others without any of the Iron Shepherds' captives dying.
  • Episode 35. The Nein show a horrifying moment of synchronization when they come together to scare Algar away from Nicodranas for good, going so far that even Nott is horrified at the rest of them; they half-intentionally release the enslaved Marid powering the city, possibly crippling its economy and dooming its sister city Port Damali to the same fate as said Marid goes to release its friend held there; Fjord shows a dark side of his abilities by using necromancy to pull the spirit out of a guard he killed as a sort of thrall; and at the end of the episode, what was supposed to be a simple task making contact with someone ends with the killing half a dozen criminals in the middle of the docks, stealing a boat, clashing with the guard, fleeing the city on said boat with only one man who can sail (likely as wanted criminals), and nearly stranding/killing Clay.
  • Episodes 42 and 43; episode 42 ends with the party interrogated on Avantika's ship for breaking into her quarters the night before. When Vera, Avantika's second, reveals that she is able to locate items magically (such as the journal stolen by the group), Caleb immediately reacts by setting the ship ablaze with Wall of Fire. This leads directly into the next episode, where, in the ensuing brawl, Fjord summons a demon to attack the crew and Caleb obliterates several of them instantly with a fireball. Finally, after everyone is dragged in front of the Plank King, Beau and Fjord through a series of clutch rolls successfully set up a situation where Avantika is prevented from lying (and thus can't really defend herself) when being directly interrogated by the Plank King for treason, leading to her summary execution (and the party's banishment from Darktow for breaking so many laws to get there).
  • Episode 45 starts off like a Breather Episode, with the group meeting a stowaway with a saccharine personality, who stole a magic clockwork orb. After fiddling with it a bit... they end up teleported to an ancient mage's extradimensional lair. Poking around even further, they end up face-to-face with a dragon! Who deals 55 damage with its Lightning Breath. The Nein barely escape with their lives, but as they leave cute little Twiggy GETS THE HDYWTDT ON THE DRAGON!
  • Episode 56 is, for the most part, just wrapping up the party's time in Asarius and preparing to receive their favor from Queen Leylas. Then, as they are standing before the Royal Court of Xhorhas, Lady Zethris' retainer rats them out for attacking Kryn soldiers at the border when the Nein first arrived in Xhorhas (having been present for that raid himself), prompting the Queen to have them arrested. Then Caleb manages to roll a high enough Persuasion check to convince one of her guards to retrieve the Dodecahedron from Jester's bag. The moment he reveals it every jaw in the room drops, every sword hits the floor, and the Queen starts to cry. She immediately rescinds her order to have them arrested, takes the Dodecahedron (which she refers to as "giving hope"), and states that while the Nein may be no friends to the Dwendallian Empire, they are all now considered the heroes of Xhorhas! Matt wound up having to cut the session early because he wants Taliesin to be present for the scene to come after this pronouncement (he was unfortunately sick that week).
  • Episode 69 Obann has tricked the Mighty Nein into allowing him to free The Laughing Hand a Humanoid Abomination that serves The Crawling King, to make matters worse he ends up brainwashing Yasha to fight for them, with the group powerless to help her as they're forced to flee for their lives.
  • Episode 72 has quite the doozy; After once again being stripped of his abilities and spells by Uk'otoa due to his continued defiance on releasing the third seal, Fjord finally has enough and puts his patron's money where it's mouth is by threatening to kill himself to deprive Uk'otoa of the final orb and his only other mortal servant. Fjord even goes as far as to drive his falchion three inches into his chest to prove that he's not fucking around, scraping some vital organs as he does, before hurling the blade itself into the lava inside the Kiln. Thus, he has become the only character to willfully or otherwise get rid of their class entirely, as he is now no longer a Warlock due to severing his connection to Uk'otoa. He also finally comes clean to the rest of the Nein about himself and drops the accent he was affecting from Vandren. To quote Taliesin, Fjord managed to out-do Percy on defying one's evil master out of sheer spite.
  • Episode 83 drops perhaps the biggest doozy yet. The Mighty Nein, with help from Yussa and their new ally Allura Vysoren finally uncover the truth about the Angel of Irons. It turns out that the Angel of Irons is a front for Tharizdun the Chained Oblivion. Vecna was an ascended god, but this is an ancient being of destruction, whose great purpose is to destroy Exandria and all life upon it. And it has its eye on Yasha.
  • Episode 102 is probably the biggest one post-COVID hiatus, and fulfills a massive Chekhov M.I.A.; After the Nein meet with Vokodo on Rumblecusp and come to the conclusion that it is enslaving all of its "worshippers" and wiping their memories as a way to force them to serve it and sacrifice all of their worldly possessions to it, Caduceus uses a greater restoration in the hopes that it it will restore Viridian's memories and autonomy. The plan works out perfectly, and she reveals that she's been trapped on the island for 25 years… and that she's actually from Tal'Dorei and that her real name is Vilya. Keyleth's mother who supposedly died during her Aramente was in fact dumped out on Rumblecusp, used her Druidic powers to restore the leg that she lost in the water elemental plane, and now remembers the entire life she lost and the family she left behind. Suffice to say, the whole cast lost their minds, especially Marisha, given that none of them (bar Sam who saw the theorizing in the chat) had any inkling about this reveal at all.
  • The ending of Episode 111: Mollymauk is Back from the Dead and seemingly leading the reformed Tomb Takers on an expedition to the ruins of Eiselcross.
  • The closer of the final battle in Episode 140: Thanks to what even Matt describes as a virtually impossible roll on Taliesin's part, Caduceus successfuly revives Mollymauk in his true self, 114 episodes after his death.
  • Nobody expected Sam playing the now-teenaged Luc Brenatto instead of Veth in the 2023 London live show.
• Signature Scene: Molly's grave is becoming one, with numerous fanworks and even the official Mighty Nein Intro using it.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: This is a common issue fans have with Campaign 2, especially those those getting into it later. It has a far more sandbox-style opening, with the Mighty Nein jumping between several locations and pursuing plot threads briefly before abandoning them, resulting in no clearly defined story arcs until the Iron Shepherds in Episode 25, and no over-arching meta-plot until the Nein reach Xhorhas over 50 episodes in. Because of this, the main draw is watching the Mighty Nein develop from an amoral Ragtag Bunch of Misfits into genuine heroes, and this is a slow process that last for the entire campaign. Combined, this means that despite the lack of defined arcs, jumping in later will still result in major Continuity Lockout, as the Nein's later characterizations can't be fully appreciated without knowing how far they've come.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Campaign 2 has some very interesting Guest Characters who setup a lot of interesting dynamics and ideas about the world during the events of the campaign, but sadly have little impact after their brief appearances. For specific examples:
  • Calianna was a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer who appeared early in the campaign, but setup some interesting ideas, such as the Cult of Tiamat, and was a very likable character for her brief appearance, even saving Beau from being Killed Off for Real by a swamp troll. Despite some interesting ideas and brief drama she brought to the party due to her Dark Is Not Evil nature, once the party help her find the artifact she was looking for to destroy, she leaves and is never mentioned again.
  • Shakäste, as the first guest player, was a smooth talking Silver Fox Cleric who right away charmed both the audience and the characters, and was given some interesting implications of a troubled past, and role as a Knight Errant. Though he reappeared to help fight the Iron Shepherds, he leaves after and, outside of one brief reference not long after, is never mentioned again. Worse, he was part of a Benevolent Conspiracy that tries to root out corruption in the nations, an interesting idea, but one that is never used for anything else.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: One of the larger points of criticism of Campaign 2 is that many of the subplots and arcs are being rushed through far faster than the comparative arcs of Campaign 1. This seems to be as a result of the story being more open and less focused then Campaign 1 was.
  • The Knights of Requital subplot during the groups time in Zadash ends rather abruptly, despite the group investing a lot of time into helping out with them. They attempted to frame the High Richter, and the attempt goes horribly wrong, ending with Ullog sacrificing himself to kill her, and it just ends. While it makes sense the group would be concerned with not getting caught, it feels almost as if the plotline was setup to be more important, but because of the outcome of the High Richter's estate, Matt was forced to end it early. Not helping is that the group is faced with a serious issue of the person taking the High Richter's place being similarly corrupt, and the group being concerned with the other members safety, only for The Gentleman to just take care of the issue, allowing the group to get away with the issue with no strings attached. It definitely is a bit of a anticlimactic ending to an arc that seemed to have been set up for bigger plans, with none of the characters relating to it save the Gentleman having any resolution to their roles in the story, to the point that some of the people involved the story are forgotten by the players and seemingly Matt.
  • The Iron Shepherds were built up as counterpart arch rivals to the Mighty Nein, particularly after Lorenzo killed Molly. Instead, they are killed off only a couple episodes after being introduced, without much fanfare, and all kidnapped party members are rescued after only a couple in-game days with no casualties. Almost all the party members end up fine in the end save Molly, who was Killed Off for Real, and Yasha, who rightfully is upset and leaves for a while to deal with it. Matt later admitted Lorenzo was supposed to flee and return later as a foe, but he made a major mistake with his movement during combat that let the party kill him.
  • The Avantika arc set up a lot of mysteries about Fjord's Pact, and provided some good encounters combat wise. However, it ends up being a short arc, as thanks to some good rolls on the groups part and being presented with some other plot-hooks that allowed them focus on other things, the group easily expose Avantika's plans, leading to a fight that ends with Avantika's plans exposed and her no longer being a threat. While Fjord's exploration of his Pact would continue, the overall arc and interactions with Avantika come across as being ended earlier than Matt was likely intending, and it took a post-campaign sessions to truly wrap up the whole Fjord plotline, and the connections to Avantika it had.
• Too Cool to Live:
  • Their death happened due to random bad luck, but Molly's popularity among the fans who liked his unique home-brewed class abilities, his charm, his ostentatious aesthetic, or his mysterious backstory meant that their demise relatively early into the campaign garnered this reaction.
  • Lorenzo was an interesting villain, with not only a powerful group of allies, but was also an Oni. He is easily the standout villain of the campaign until Obann almost a year later. Sadly he is only around a few episodes before dying, removing an interesting villain.
• Tough Act to Follow: Campaign 2 has been praised for many improvements on the technical side, as well as for how well the roleplaying has developed due to the players becoming more comfortable with the rules. However, fans of Vox Machina's more linear story line and simpler, more archetypal characters can struggle to get into the second campaign.
• Ugly Cute: Nott is considered to be unconventionally adorable by the fandom.
• Unexpected Character: Molly falls into this twice, first through coming back as Big Bad Lucien and then through being brought back from the dead as a third seperate entity (Kingsley) by Caduceus thanks to cosmically freakish luck on Taliesin's part.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Algar may have been a Stalker with a Crush towards Jester's mother (who had told him "no"), but the sheer Trauma Conga Line he gets put through makes it hard not to feel a little bad for him: his bodyguards are killed in horrifying ways, he gets knocked unconscious and revived, ending the fight a terrified, broken mess, and that's before Fjord cuts his hand off, the Nein debate whether to leave him alive to his face, while he's bleeding out, he's interrogated via Beau's Extort Truth and finally forcibly shipped off to Marquet with Jester forging a letter in which he confess to sabotaging the city. We also find out that his enslaving of the water genie was mostly just part of his job.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Essek. He's responsible for the war breaking out between the Empire and the Dynasty because he stole beacons and gave them to the Cerberus Assembly to further the study of Dunamancy and his desire to understand it further. Because of his selfish wishes, thousands have died on both sides and although he's remorseful for this, he's made no effort to try and fix things. The Explorers Guide to Wildemount still classifies him as Neutral Evil, but because of Protagonist-Centred Morality, his actions are being somewhat rugswept and covered up.
  • Nott. After the reveal of her true identity as Veth Brenatto, she behaved desperately at times during the Xhorhas arc, accidentally killing Caduceus as a result during the fight in Episode 55. She also offered to potentially restart the war between the Empire and the Dynasty, a suggestion that was made out of fear and desperation which sat poorly with some fans.
• The Woobie:
  • Caleb, after his backstory is revealed in Episode 18 and expanded upon in episode 49. Born Bren Aldric Ermendrud, he went to the Soltryce Academy to become a wizard and was recruited by Trent Ikithon along with his childhood friends Astrid and Eodwulf to undergo special training to become a Scourger. During this time, Trent was abusive and cruel to them, including experimenting on them in various ways as well as forced him to execute traitors and who Trent considered disgusting people. Prior to graduating, false memories were unknowingly planted into Bren's mind about his parents speaking of revolution and overthrowing the empire, and to graduate he was to murder his parents. He put a cart to their door and set their house aflame, and as he heard his parents' dying screams, he broke. He spent many years in an asylum until one day his mind was cleared of the false memories and he fled.
  • Yasha, after her backstory was revealed in Episode 46. Born to a tribe in the Xhorhas Wastes, she was designated the name Orphanmaker and married to a mate whom she had no interest in. In her tribe, she met Zuala whom she married in secret and when they were exposed, Zuala was executed and would have executed Yasha as well had she not fled. There is a huge period of her life where she remembers nothing until she came across an altar of the Stormlord, who pulled her from the depths of hell. Throughout the rest of her travels after meeting the Nein, she loses her best friend Mollymauk and ends up learning what happened during the gap in her memory, forcably dominated by Obaan and remembering the times they had spent together during that gap in her memory and is forced to watch from within her own mind as her body acts without her control, to the point that she's forced to murder countless people in the Zadash Cobalt Soul branch, as well as fight the Nein and nearly kills Beauregard, something that had it succeeded, would have likely ended with her Driven To Suicde as per Ashley Johnson.
  • Jester, not that she sees it that way. She grew up a shut-in due to her mother's career as a courtesan. Because of this, she had no friends growing up outside of the Traveler, who was only there from time to time. One of the very few times that she was able to be out and about, she got herself exiled from Nicodranas due to playing a prank on an influential lord. Throughout her travels with the Mighty Nein, there's been plenty of traumatic moments that have left her a lot more fragile then when she first started.