The Legend of Vox Machina: Scanbo (1x07)

Ahhh god, this show just keeps getting better and better.

Cons:

Most of my "cons" in this one are going to be small, mostly nitpicks. I really loved Percy's flashback sequence where he talks about having the dream of making a gun, but I wish there had been a bit more clarity earlier in the season that nobody else in this world has guns, that this is a Percy-specific weapon that he invented. I can imagine a newcomer to the story being confused by that element, where everyone is suddenly like "what is a gun, though?" when nobody has seemed confused by it before.

On a personal preference note, there were a couple Scanlan jokes that I didn't appreciate this week... that weird incest joke at the beginning about Percy and Cass? Like, why? I did like that Vex and Vax told him off in unison, showing that they're united even after their little spat over Keyleth which I'll discuss in a minute. Also, I know there was a lot of poop humor in the campaign, but I didn't literally need to see Duke Vedmire's shit... I'm not saying these are real problems with the episode, just jokes I was unimpressed by.

And this is a nitpick, it really is, but during the truly excellent Scanbo sequence, Scanlan escapes to the roof and then is "trapped" up there. Later, he uses Scanlan's Hand to beat up Vedmire and escape, which looks cool, it just kind of annoyed me that he didn't think of using it earlier when he was stuck on the roof. It was the first thing I thought of, and I felt like it was contrived that he didn't do the obvious thing to get away.

Pros:

Literally this whole episode was amazing, though, and the two that followed it are equally strong... god, this show is something else.

Starting the episode with a Percy and Cassandra flashback was such a smart thing to do. Establishing Professor Anders, and the bond between the siblings, makes everything about the following sequences with Anders hit all the harder. It works better than the Stonefell episode, honestly, because we get a little more setup and time to ruminate in who this man was and why Percy would have him on his List. Plus young Percy and Cassandra are so stinking cute.

I'm going to make a brief confession here, which is that I've always been something of a Perc'ildan shipper. Don't get me wrong, I love the canon ships, but Vax and Percy have an incredibly rich and complex friendship over the course of the stream, and when I was thinking of all the things I probably wouldn't get to see play out in the animated show for lack of time and significance, I was sure that Vax and Percy moments wouldn't make the cut. But these three episodes are rife with amazing moments for these two, which gives me so much hope that their unique relationship will get time to shine in later seasons, when Certain Things occur. (If you know you know.) In this episode, we start off the story proper after the flashback with Vax being super mad at Percy, threatening to kill him if he ever points his gun at any of them ever again. I love how furious he is, worked up and rightfully alarmed, but at no point does he run off and leave Percy to his fate, and as we'll see over the next couple episodes, he's willing to die fighting by the side of my friend. This is the good shit, y'all.

And despite my small point above, I really did love Percy's backstory of creating the gun. Great imagery, such an anime backstory vibe, really upping the stakes and helping to explain the true extent of how dark Percy is willing to go for the sake of his revenge. I love how he says that he's been inspired before, so why does it matter that it came to him in a weird creepy dream? He's so clearly repressing things, so clearly in denial, and the group can see it right in front of their eyes but it's hard to actually do anything about it. I didn't catch it the first time around, but when he's talking about the name on each chamber of his gun: Stonefell, Anders, Delilah, Sylas, and Anna, Scanlan asks about the sixth barrel, and the shadow on the wall behind Percy is pointing the gun at his own head. Those who know the original campaign might be a bit baffled since this isn't exactly the answer that Matt and Taliesin had in mind for that last barrel, but it was a fucking amazing and spooky image that solidifies the intensity and darkness of this story all the more.

Keyleth and the Sun Tree! What an amazing subplot we're seeing, which we know will have a great payoff by the end. The visual of the tree weakened by necrotic decay, the beautiful music of the Sun Tree trying to communicate with Kiki... all of it was great. Then of course she accidentally starts a fire, setting Vex off, and Vax rushes to defend her... I absolutely love all the points of strain we're seeing between the various members of the group. It's like Whitestone and the stress of their situation is bringing everything to the surface. Vex and Vax's codependency, Keyleth and Vax's romance, so many little aspects that can be revealed in between the drive of the main story. I loved that shot of the twins glaring at each other, before Archie cuts in and brings the focus back to the task at hand.

This is a Scanlan Shorthalt-centric episode, and by god, I love this horny little gnome with all my heart. I've talked a lot already about how the Whitestone arc was when the streaming show went from "good" to "holy shit this is amazing", and a lot of that was the darkness of the story-line, a lot of that was Taliesin Jaffe pulling out the fucking indescribably good RP. But then there's Scanbo, a moment I will never forget watching for the first time with my jaw dropped in disbelief. "I'm going to kill everyone in this mu'fucking house," Sam Riegel said, and he fucking did it. So good. And this episode managed to capture so much of what I loved in the original, and add some character development stakes to it that weren't there before.

We start with Scanlan trying to convince the group of his value, while the others are skeptical. Grog laughs, Vax says he'll go instead, Vex is dismissive... but Scanlan insists. He's not the stabby guy who charges in and kills the villains. He's loud, he's annoying, he's built to be a distraction, and right now they need a distraction to draw guards away from Anders and save Cass. This sets up the stakes for his own individual arc, and also helps to solidify his position in the group as somewhat the damsel in distress: he's super skilled in his special areas, but he's not meant to be the one in the thick of things, which is why he's always in such terrible mortal peril whenever an enemy actually gets a hit on him. It makes you nervous for what's going to happen when Scanlan goes on his solo mission, but also excited to see the chaos. And oh boy, the chaos....

Scanlan sing-narrating his break-in to Duke Vedmire's place, anxious but determined... Scanlan sneaking in to find Vedmire on the toilet... just, y'all, the whole Scanbo sequence... they managed to capture the chaos and hilarity of that part in the show in a way I never would have imagined. The guards playing D&D, the misty step potion, shrinking potion, and then FIRE BREATH potion, then the scroll that was set up back in episode five, then TRICERATOPS SCANLAN LET'S GOOOO. Fire everywhere, Scanlan on a rampage, then up on the roof, bloodied and pinned down, flipping Vedmire off, dueling Vedmire with Scanlan's hand... lightning from his dick...

I'm sorry, it's just iconic. Legendary. Scanlan Shorthalt, everyone. What a guy. Whatever else you can say about the dude, he's not lacking for self-confidence, and it pays off in a big way.

Meanwhile the absolute chaos of Scanlan's scenes are cut through with the rest of the gang waiting with the resistance back in the hideout. I can't believe this, but Vex and Scanlan's relationship has really become a highlight of the season for me. She's so worried about him, and she and Percy have this wonderful moment where Percy is talking about what an annoying nuisance Cassandra always was when they were kids, and Vex says she sounds like Scanlan. What a perfect tender little moment. Also, Vex calling Percy "darling" gets me every goddamn time. Just the greatest. I know this essentially goes without saying at this point, but the voice acting in this show is so good. I get distracted, pulled completely in by their performances, but every once in a while I'm like... oh yeah, that's Laura Bailey and Taliesin Jaffe and they're so fucking good at their jobs. Yeesh.

So towards the end of the episode, Scanlan has set the house on fire, guards are rushing to Vedmire's aid, and it's go time for the rest of the crew. They break into Anders's house, come across some guards, Grog goes into a rage, and Percy chases after Anders. He finds him in his study, knife to Cassandra's throat... points a gun at him... and then Anders does it, he cuts Cass's throat and drops her to the floor, bleeding to death.

End of episode.

This is an adaptational change from the stream that I 100% approve of. In the original, Vax is the one to come across Cassandra with Anders's knife to her throat, and he rushes in and starts combat right away, knowing that saving Cass has to be a priority. He nearly dies for his trouble. It's some of my favorite stuff from the stream, to be honest, the whole Anders fight is just EPIC in every way in the original, but giving that moment to Percy is just narratively the right thing to do, and cuts some unnecessary Vax-related drama from the proceedings. I love that Percy has his gun pointed at Anders, a man on his List, and yet he says he'll consider letting him go if he releases Cassandra. He's probably full of shit, the vengeance inside of him probably wouldn't allow such a thing, but it speaks to how much Cass has become his priority even in the midst of his larger quest. What a cliffhanger, too! God, the hits just keep coming!

The pacing of this episode is break-neck in the best way, I was completely gripped in the momentum the whole way through, between Scanlan's chaos and the assault on Anders's home, which is going to break right into an amazing action sequence in the next installment. God, I really could not be more impressed with how they've adapted some of the most iconic stuff from the Briarwood arc in the stream. Just stunning, y'all.

9/10