The Legend of Vox Machina: The Bard’s Lament (4x08)

I feel like I can sense that people will have mixed feelings about this episode, and... yeah, you can count me in as well.

Cons:

It's tedious and unhelpful to just go around saying "but in the campaign..." every time something isn't adapted the way I wanted it. But on the other hand, this show inherently has an odd relationship to the idea of fan service, maybe more so even than other adaptations. There are certain moments, certain character beats, that are already legendary within the source material. And I gotta be honest... this wasn't a very satisfying replacement for the way the Bard's Lament episode goes down in canon. In the animated shows, everyone left on good terms last we saw them at the end of season three, and then we show up here and Scanlan is hesitant and weird and thinks that Vox Machina brings out the worst in him... I don't know. The impact of "what's my mother's name" was just not there at all with this.

How this story originally went down, Scanlan left in anger, and was gone from the group for more than a year, and when they were reunited, there were some serious hurt feelings. I'm thinking about Grog saying "I'm a big guy but you made me feel small." I'm thinking about how much Scanlan had to grovel for Grog and Pike's forgiveness because of how genuinely devastated they were by his perceived abandonment. I'm thinking of how genuinely sweet Vex was towards Scanlan, truly relieved to have him back at their side. None of that was here. It felt like the group really had only come to find Scanlan because they needed Mythcarver. It felt like he was a colleague, yes, but little more than that. A means to an end. And to have it end up that Scanlan still feels like he needs to find himself, so he's not going with the group... there's just not a lot of tension to that, not a lot of angst and drama about it. Kinda felt tepid. If you're going to have there be a conflict at all, if you're going to show that Scanlan's feelings are hurt by the discovery that his friends only showed up because they needed something from him, then at least stick to your guns and have them part in anger here. Instead there are sweet goodbye hugs and forehead kisses, and the group wanders off without him. Generally just... underwhelming in basically all regards.

 I don't envy them the challenge of trying to adapt this plot beat, where they ended season three with Scanlan and Kaylie departing in peace with the rest of the gang, and then here they have to try and inject some of the bad feelings back into the situation... but yeah. Whatever they thought they were achieving here, for me it didn't land.

This is a smaller detail but it also bothered me how the gang accepted Scanlan's decision to stay back and started walking away without seemingly even asking him if they could borrow his vestige? Like, were they just going to leave without the weapon they believe can kill the Whispered One, just because Scanlan is still trying to find himself? What would they have done if Scanlan hadn't offered it to Pike on his own initiative?

I wish Lionel had been like... a funny character, the way he was in the campaign. Maybe we'll see more of him and he'll be a goofier presence. Maybe I'll get that angst of Grog feeling like he's been replaced, but there was none of that present here.

And I still don't really get what they're doing with Pike and her whole journey. Why is she having this crisis of faith, how does it connect with her resentment towards Scanlan... make it make sense. It just comes across ridiculously unmotivated and unfocused to me at this point. 

Pros:

Trying not to be too hard on this episode just because it was a disappointment compared to the original form of the story. There were moments here that really worked.

I like the idea of Scanlan using the Chateau as a traveling speakeasy, that is a really cool concept and makes a lot of sense for him. It's nice seeing him and Kaylie being in such a good place. In general, Kaylie was a real MVP in this episode. I love the way she connected with Pike and encouraged her to talk to Scanlan. I loved the way she spoke to Scanlan about how her resentment towards him would never have had a chance to go away, if she hadn't given him the chance to prove himself. The killer line of the episode is when she tells Scanlan: "you didn't know my mother's name either." Scanlan's hurt feelings are real and valid but also, he is being a bit of a hypocrite and I super appreciate Kaylie being the one to point that out. I also did love the angst of Pike showing up just in time to hear Scanlan say that leaving the group was the best decision he ever made.

Turning Mythcarver into a musical instrument, and then having it feature in an epic bard battle... I mean this is the kind of fun silly creative awesomeness this show is so good at. I can't really complain about the symbolic power of the whole gang singing to add their strength to Scanlan so he can take out the Whispered One's evil bard with the power of song. That's just fantastic fun.

I also like that the gang is fond of Tary now, and that he's able to contribute something to the team dynamic. Him and Pike commiserating together was a lot of fun, and he's the one who suggests they sing to help Scanlan during the bard battle. He also puts a tracking gem on the evil bard before he runs off, and earns Scanlan respect by doing so. I love that Tary hugs Percy and cries after being validated by the last member of Vox Machina. We love you, Tary!

I guess I'll stop there. This is a great show, and this is a perfectly okay episode of it if I'm being reasonable. I wanted more from Scanlan's return, especially having waited over half the season to get back to him. But I also respect that it was a difficult challenge to figure out how to do this.

6/10