The Legend of Vox Machina: Siege and Silence (3x08)

Oh boy oh boy. I'm hyped for episode nine, I must say.

Cons:

A couple of things in this episode made previous episode aspects in this season a little frustrating. The main one is how the Scanlan situation was handled... like, I don't mind him leaving and then coming back, conflicted about where he belongs - that makes sense as an adaptation change from what we saw in the campaign. But the solemnity with which he left, the silent goodbye to Pike, it felt so... charged, and specific, and then it led to nothing in this moment other than him not being around when Percy died. And there's no specific indication that he could have done anything to help in that instance, either. I think if I could go back into episode six and change something, it would be that Scanlan would tell the group straight out - I need to go and find my daughter and have a real talk with her. And then the group could be a little disappointed but tell him to go. And then when he turns up again and everything's gone to shit, it doesn't feel quite so pointless of a detour? Maybe I'm just a little annoyed at Scanlan's emotional arcs being siloed into scenes with just Pike or Kaylie, and none of the rest of Vox Machina getting involved at all.

The other thing is Raishan showing up and being like "never mind, the truce is back on." Why did they do the whole breakup thing if they were going to bounce right back to this? Just another moment where the pacing felt strange and unnecessary to me. The earlier scene could have been them getting angry with her, then she convinces them that she wasn't the one who sold out Whitestone, and that she'll help kill Thordak. Instead, it was an unnecessary detour that they call off their agreement just to put it back into place two episodes later.

And I feel a bit the same way about the way Keyleth and Vax was handled as a romance, here... sorry, I've really tried to like how they were handled this season, and the whole thing just seems very... meh. After Vax being an asshole early on, then they're just kind of awkward and strained and then they have their first night together after burying one of their closest friends? I mean, Vaxleth being a relationship just soaked in angsty vibes isn't exactly far off from the campaign in some ways, but come on. Ultimately their relationship arc has felt like they tried to do some grounding and focusing of the hemming and hawing and back and forth that happened in the stream, and I'm not quite sure I enjoyed the ultimate result?

Pros:

But look. Y'all. This is the big gathering of the troops episode, this is where all the pieces get on the board for the big Thordak fight in the next episode. It had so much that I wanted to see, and I really did love it. The montage of going to fetch help from around the world was so fun - Keyleth using her Ashari contacts, Grog getting back into touch with Earthbreaker Groon, Vax going after Kash and Zahra, and Vex going after her father and his elven troops. We see the Whitestone troops prepping with Cassandra blessing their involvement, and Gilmore and Allura vowing to use their magic to get involved as well. It's the Avengers Assemble moment, and it's so satisfying to see these characters come back! I wonder if there was any thought given to whether Grog should go find the Herd of Storms instead, but I kind of like this more direct tie to a specific deity granting his blessing to this fight.

Let's back up for a moment and talk about how the episode starts, with just... pouring on the Percy death grief as intensely as possible. I won't go into specifics for those who haven't seen the campaign, but this is shaking out significantly different from what stream viewers expected. I'm kind of obsessed with it. I think back over all the deaths of all the major characters in Critical Role history, and what worked at the table isn't necessarily always going to transfer to the show very well. They pivoted Craven Edge killing Grog into a different kind of trial, but left Vex's death and resurrection pretty unchanged. Now, for Percy? Dude is dead. He's dead and entombed. It's intense, I was not expecting to have to contend with how it would feel to see his funeral at Whitestone, Keeper Yennen talking of how he brought hope back to his home. Cassandra leaving a flower on his chest and weeping. Vax and Grog as pallbearers. Ouch ouch ouch!

And then Vex's grief - again, props to Laura Bailey for this exquisitely painful performance. Her weeping in front of Percy's marbled tomb, clutching the arrow he made for her... and then Vax showing up, offering her comfort... I also loved Scanlan's returning scene, even with my complaints about how his brief departure was handled. Him running up and seeing the group all gathered together, slumped and defeated, without Percy... I love this found family and how devoted they all are to each other! We also get a lovely Scanlan moment as he takes his chance to mourn, with Pike at his side. He's feeling guilt for not being there, but Pike's right that this isn't at all his fault.

While the journey to get here was a little weak in my opinion, I am happy for Vax and Keyleth, and I liked the image of Vax waking up curled around her in bed, with the strings of fate dancing in the room, beckoning him out into the dark. A very poignant image! And speaking of poignant, I thought the lighting in the scene where Vax tells Vex what he's just heard from Raishan, that Thordak is the one who burned down their hometown and killed their mom, was so beautifully lit. The shadows playing over Vex's face were completely gorgeous!

Vex's confrontation of her father was also very satisfying. I like that we don't have any full reconciliation or hint that their relationship will in any way improve, here. But Vex uses the truth of her grief about Percy to convince her father to do the right thing, here - and Syldor actually listens, which is awesome! It was very much like that scene at Helms Deep when the elves show up to fight side by side with men.

Scanlan's song for Kaylie is going to hurt my feelings before the end of this season, so that's going to be fun. I do love how awesome and supportive Pike is being, but I hope someone notices that she's also going through a weird time right now and needs support! Pike is very much a "mom friend" in a lot of ways. You're so used to her being there to support you, that maybe you forget to offer that support in return.

So then the last bit of the episode is all setup for what I assume will be an epic showdown in the next installment! We have our plan, with the ground forces set to engage Thordak's children, while Vox Machina sneaks in and fights Thordak with the vestiges. Only... when their elite team tries to sneak in, they find the cavern empty. Which means... dun dun dun...

When Thordak burst out of the ground at the end, I said out loud: "oh, that is very cool." It's going to be an intense fight to come, but I'm ready to see it! And very curious about how a couple of things that happen in the stream will manifest here...

In conclusion, Trinket letting out a mournful sound at Percy's funeral made me cry a little bit, and this was a very effective episode even with my qualms about the season's pacing in a few spots!

8/10