Critical Role Review C2 Episode 75
By: I.Am.No.Man.
Episode 75: Rime and Reason
What. An. Episode. We all know this was going to be a crazy episode. A bunch of level NEIN players just waltz right into an Ancient White Dragons lair. It goes about as well as you think. It was amazing to watch the last half of the episode unfold in it's chaotic glory.
Even getting up to the dragon's lair was quite a warm up. The Nein face off against a small gathering of Yeti (guards?) outside of a large cavern in the mountain. The fight was a pretty entertaining warm up scrimmage. They hit all the usual comedic notes and cool action poses. Nott screams a lot, Caleb hides in the back, Reani turns into a giant scorpion, and Jester singlehandedly owns the fight.
The rest of the first half is basically throwing together a half-assed plan that, at one point, involved a Tauntaun style use of a gutted Yeti carcass to possibly entice the dragon. There was also a Caduceus and Fjord moment that I think deserves a shout out. Caduceus sets up a Commune session with the Wildmother for Fjord. Caduceus then gives Fjord some encouraging words that were truly Taliesin poetics. "Someday someone will pray for a miracle, to some god somewhere, and that prayer will be answered because you show up." Beautiful words from a beautiful man. I love the small moments that stand out in episodes like this. Almost as memorable as the iconic "life needs things to live." As comedic and entertaining the first half of the episode is, (watching Marisha struggle through Caleb's accent all night will never get old, oh ja) let's be real, we are all here for some white dragon battle action.
The dragon encounter was incredible! From the very start of the encounter the entire plan kind of goes awry, but the Nein and their angelic pal Reani are quick on their feet and completely own the whole battle. Reani gets a special shout out for the tense three round encounter she had one-on-one with Gelidon, the Nightmare in Ivory. I think my butt cheeks are sore from clenching so hard during the last 20 minutes. Reani sure makes Druids and Beast Shape look so good! Luckily Mica is a veteran player that used all her abilities perfectly and clung to life with 7 HP to spare! And we get Mica for a brief part of next episode! Mica will have almost as many guest appearances as Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Will Friedle.
As frightful and near deadly as their brief encounter with Gelidon was, the Nein handled it like the mismatched champions that they are. Fjord and Caleb, the two squishes, stayed as far back as possible with their firbolg healer at the ready. Jester, Beau, Nott, and Reani stealth their way into Gelidon's lair. Jester and Nott use their magical abilities to steal back their lost piece of Ice Flex (and a couple interesting trinkets to satiate Nott's sticky hands). Caleb, the ever useful wizard manages to shield everyone in his tiny hut while casting the teleportation circle to safety. I think that was plenty excitement for one episode. Let's hope next week's session is a bit calmer. There's only so much I can handle in a week.
