Matt Mercer is very insistent that the Matron of Ravens is not evil. She's not sinister or cruel. She's neutral in every possible way, just there to preserve the natural order of life, death, and fate.

@Hellbilly709

Жыл бұрын

Very true! She’s lawful neutral!

@georgerobins4110

8 ай бұрын

@@Hellbilly709I thought she was true neutral?

@Hellbilly709

8 ай бұрын

@@georgerobins4110 Nope, she’s lawful neutral!

@georgerobins4110

8 ай бұрын

@@Hellbilly709 huh. Well my friends lied to me 😂

@theirishviking9278

3 ай бұрын

@@georgerobins4110 think she has moved between those two allocations since she was first introduced in... 3e i think

The sequence of Vax speaking to the Matron of Ravens is one of the most beautiful moments in the whole series.

@MidgetPally521

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, to add to it, like most of the scenes in the show are directly ripped from the game. Liam (Vax's Player/VO) was going through a very hard time having just lost his mother to cancer and was struggling with the mourning and death. Matt chose to give him this whole speech and made his character fate touched as a gift to him. Also fun fact if you didn't know, their whole game began as a birthday wish from Liam to Matt for a DnD one shot with all his friends.

Vex gave her approval and encouragement to give Kiki peace of mind, Kiki overcame her fear of her Aramenté and wants to be closer to Vax, and Vax found peace knowing the truth of his calling. We love it when we have simultaneous resolutions for Team Half-Elf.

This is how Vax transitioned from a rogue to a Paladin, a holy warrior for a god. Multi-class!

@elbruces

Жыл бұрын

Bastab + Smite damage!

I adore the Raven Queen in this. It's not a curse what her people are called to do. It's an honor. They're charged with one of the most intimate things a mortal can do: preserve the cycle of life. Like the Matron said, death is what gives life meaning. I also really love that she's showing how long she's watched him. And that forehead kiss is so different from other gods. She may be spooky, but she is definitely a proud mother.

@Luzarioth

Жыл бұрын

I utterly disagree with that "death is what gives life meaning" bs... that is our Stockholme Syndrom talking.

@ryuhere4014

Жыл бұрын

@@Luzarioth Death makes life a fleeting thing, it makes it something you don't hold forever. It becomes something you need to treasure because you can't get it back once it's gone. That's why death gives life meaning. It is something I said to my friends once and I'll say it here: The acknowledgment of death is the realization of the value in life.

@kimberhoven4214

Жыл бұрын

what's fascinating in Matt's setting is that she used to be a mortal, and as such most likely has a more sympathetic view for the mortals that fall under her purview

@mr.stuffdoer8483

Жыл бұрын

@@ryuhere4014 life gives life meaning. Death cuts short the meaning you give yourself. I don’t think an infant would say their life was meaningful if they died in 10 minutes.

@ryuhere4014

Жыл бұрын

@@mr.stuffdoer8483 An infant doesn't know what death is. A kid doesn't realize what death means. When you're young and naïve, you don't think of the value of what you posses. It's only when we grow and learn what it means to die that we realize the value our life holds. How much value your life has? Well, that is up to you to decide that, is it not? And I don't think an infant would say anything was meaningful lol

A bit of lore about the Matron of Ravens (I don't think this is going to be brought up explicitly in the show) is that she used to be a mortal. She ascended to godhood by usurping the power and role of the old god of death, because she disapproved of the way he was performing his duties. When she ascended, she literally erased his name from creation.

@Hellbilly709

Жыл бұрын

His name and her mortal name as well, if I remember correctly.

@EsquilaxM

Жыл бұрын

WE actually don't know the motivation of the Exandrian/CR version of the Raven Queen for her ascension. For all we know, it was simply seeking power or the limits of magic, like her contemporaries.

I just wanted to commend you for your vulnerability. Really enjoying these. Thank you!

Grog not having a romantic partner was a conscious decision by Travis. He just wanted to kill things and receive shiny. That said, he was the biggest cheerleader and fan of his wife's in-game romantic shenanigans. The sword that locks into place is a reworked immovable rod. Scanlan and Vax's plan was to dimension door into the dragon's heart and lock the rod in place, unfortunately Sam rolled horribly on an intelligence check and they ended up somewhere in the intestines.

"You keep spam-calling me, what do you want!?" Haha!!! That made me laugh out loud. Great reaction!

It looked to me like the Matron's last line hit you like it hit me. She seems sinister on the surface, just like death. But once you delve deeper, you realize that she is a vessel for a natural process that is part of living.

The whole sequence with Vax and the Matron is one of my favorites from either season! It was so otherworldly and beautiful, it just took my breath away. I loved your thoughts on their conversation. Most folks I've watched reacting to these episodes have felt like Vax is shackled to something evil, even after they've watched this scene, but the Matron is a true neutral who safeguards the journey from life to death. To be fair, I think some of the aversion to the Matron is because the unnerving imagery in the episodes since Vex's death. I appreciate your objective observations within the context of the show and outside! Vax is now an important part of the fate of all living beings. That's such a huge honor! And based on his good mood after his talk with Raven Mom, it seems like he's feeling the same way. It's still a sad situation, but it's not evil. 😸 Anyhoo, those are my thoughts.

The Matron of Ravens may be the Goddess of Death, but she's not evil. She's simply a neutral force of nature. In this world where the dead can be resurrected and bound as shambling, undead creatures, she watches over the sanctity of death, and strives to grant her charges a peaceful, eternal rest. The Matron of Ravens is also the Goddess of Fate; and so she watches over people, and ensures that the paths of their lives aren't meddled with. Everything has its time. But there's peace in accepting that, too.

The stuff with Vax was done so beautifully! I watched the episode of the campaign where this happens only a few days ago and man, they did such a good job! And the visuals are STUNNING and have been this whole season, SO great

Also - when Kali says that she is going to Marquet... she's saying she's leaving Scanlan FAR behind; Marquet is an entirely different continent (though not an unreachable one. Shaun Gilmore, the magic shop owner, is from Marquet)

I have a Grave Cleric to the raven queen and the whole scene was just That's my mom!!! Lol But I really love how they're unfolding her lore and putting vax in a better place. I love the Matron as Matt wrote her.

I absolutely loved Raven Queen stuff from the stream, and I absolutely adore Matron of Ravens in the show. I think she's one of the more interesting gods in the pantheon and they absolutely doing her justice.

About Percy being more goofy now that he's not so twisted by vengeance: this isn't really a spoiler bc they don't get into it in the campaign but rather it was revealed by the cast... Percy is 21-23 years old in the campaign. He is a baby. He and Keyleth are the youngest in the crew except with her you can kinda tell. This poor boy had to grow up way too fast, and he also loves pretending he's the only grownup in the room. He's uhhh really not. I think a lot of things about him start to make sense once you know his age and it's sweet in a bit of a heartbreaking way that he gets to be more of goob now.

5:38 - the word you're looking for is "psychopomp", a being who ushers the souls of the dead from life to afterlife; every culture has its own myths about such beings, whether it's Charon the Ferryman of Hades, or Anubis, or shinigami, or the Grim Reaper himself - the Raven Queen is just another iteration on that theme.

These dragons have innate spell casting, and all their powers get stronger the older they get. So Umbrasyl’s invisibility, and Vorugal’s true sight in episode 1 for example, are spells or spell-like abilities they naturally have.

@playlistb3795

Жыл бұрын

Also from Episode 1, Scanlan mentioned they had Magic when Raishan dispelled the Scanlan's Foot

@christopherjunkins

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. I was wondering that for a while now myself.

@christopherjunkins

Жыл бұрын

@@playlistb3795 Thanks. I was wondering that for a while now myself.

@zippomage

Жыл бұрын

if I'm allowed an "um actually" for just a moment. All dragons gain True Sight after a certain age. They also get Blindsense, which was tremendously helpful to Umbrasyl in this fight. He knew where the barbarians were hiding, where the trap was, and how to trigger it just by being close to it. Dragons are the ultimate predators that way.

@fraelikkriil830

Жыл бұрын

@@zippomage blindsense yes but are you sure about truesight? I thought they just got boosts to perception

The sword seemed to be a combination of a weapon and an item called an Immovable Rod, which is normally used as a tool - for climbing, supporting weight, holding other objects in place, etc.

@hephaestus4242

Жыл бұрын

Mild Campaign Spoilers: In the campaign, Scanlan used Dimension Door to take Vax into Umbrasyl’s stomach. Also, that sword was an immovable rod. That being said, I love the adaptation of the campaign to the animated series.

What you said about Davy Jones got me thinking of that quote do you fear death lol

Whew, a lot of the visual imagery this season, so striking. A lot of it being the Matron of Ravens stuff.

Percy was true mad lad last season, so the counter balance is a welcomed addition.

I love the Matron of Ravens. She's such an interesting god, especially in this setting. She'll always be a part of my pantheon of any of my worlds because of that. Fun fact, the entire reason the Raven Queen (her actual name in DND) joined the pantheon in 5e was because of her part in Critical Role. The blade in campaign was an Immovable rod. It was a brilliant plan but...

@sluggardly

Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure she was introduced during 4e, actually. 5e presents the Dawn War pantheon (of which she's a part) as one of the options a DM can use for their game, but it had it's origin in the Nentir Vale setting from 4e.

@OpDDay2001

Жыл бұрын

The Raven Queen is part of the Faerun world/lore, like J Taylor said.

@laurahart1337

Жыл бұрын

@@OpDDay2001 Correct, she was originally introduced in 4e to, I believe, the Grayhawk setting. Because of the switch to a focus on Faerun in 5e they decided not to use her in the initial setting for several reasons (too many gods of death, she was only featured in one edition, etc etc). Matt used her in campaign 1 before she was added to the Faerun pantheon (she was added in the book Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes) and Chris Perkens, if I remember correctly, when speaking on "Lore You Should Know" during the Wildmount section specifically states that she would not have been added if not for her popularity after being in Critical Role. It's REALLY cool. ❤

Seeing their story brought to life in such a beautiful way is so incredible to watch. I was also tearing and cheering the whole time throughout the latter half of this season.

They did an amazing job with the Matron of Ravens' design and vibe

This is a good year for nuanced philosophical depictions of (personified) Death.

You also asked about Mythcarver: it can only be used to its best capacity by a bard. Umbrasyl will never be able to wield it as well as Scanlan might (though in the actual campaign, he really didn't use it much).

23:00 Yeah in the campaign there's way more time to shift between characters and tones more fluidly whereas with the animation they kind of needed to pick a tone and stick to it for a bit to introduce the characters. So With Percy's big arc with the Briarwoods I can see how it wouldn't really work in the short time they had to go from tragedy to comedy too much for that particular story arc and that particular character. He is currently the most well established character so now we can have some other aspects of his character come out in minor moments and it can be a balance to let the spotlight shine on some other people for a while. We can let Vax have his Emo moment and Percy can play support in a "Been there, done that" way. We can have Vex confront her crappy dad and a creepy incel tree and have him be a supportive friend. We can get other people's backstories partially in play and he can be there in the background doing cool science and shooting people in the face like a boss, etc. We can have little bits of Mad scientist Percy! and Nerd Percy! Because he is absolutely both, he was a big nerd as a kid who read a lot of books and tinkered in his lab hence him knowing a lot about the Feywild and speaking Celestial of all things. And nowadays he's a genius not quite mad scientist who experiments with gunpowder and other dangerous things to make weapons and invented the Gun. So having the occasional mistake used for comedy purposes is great, it's like he rolled low for his tinkering check or something. Balancing this ensemble with this time budget seems like a nightmare but they're doing a pretty good job so far. It'll cycle back around, everybody does cool stuff all throughout the story, so rest assured there will be ample opportunities for everyone to shine if the show makers do their jobs right!

To be fair, it doesn't seem like Scanlon leads his lovers on. He doesn't convince them that he intends to marry them or stay around at all. He's very honest about his intentions to take them to bed.

The Raven Queen in Exandria is a specifically interesting goddess in Exandria (the world of Tal'dorei and Vox Machina), in that she was mortal. Originally a wizard, she grew in power to challenge the original god of death... and won. Following her ascension the name of that defeated god disappeared from the world, as did her mortal name, and she became the new goddess of death, the Raven Queen. This happened before the Calamity, which is said to have been caused by someone trying to replicate her feat.

Man, they did a very good job with the Matron and Vax, I loved it. We're almost done.

Vax has become Yuna! Now he can unlock the J-pop singer dressphere

Gosh, just so amazed with each episode.

As a couple others mentioned, and I think its been hinted at in the show, is that the Raven Queen is a mortal who ascended to godhood and destroyed the original god of death, who was very much NOT a good god of death. His philosophy was any soul they wanted to take, they would. The Raven Queen changed that philosophy into what you see in the campaign/show. When your time/fate is up, death will come naturally. I'm not sure if this was the actual case, but when Vax went into the Raven Queen's temple in Westruun, he got transported to the main temple in Vassleheim (the one you see in S2 Episode 2). It is where he communed with her in the campaign, and I'm very glad they kept it in.

Hey great reaction! Found you from a reddit recommendation. I'm going to go back and watch the rest of this series with you and check out some other shows you've done. You should definitely to The Expanse

As an actor, writer and small p pagan type, i have done a bit of work with Hades and the Matron has a similarity for me: they do not deal death or decide who dies, my "feeling" is that their role is indeed to usher, to embrace, to welcome, to comfort and allay fears; to show that death is only the path to life. DEATH from Discworld has a similar feel, though DEATH is striving for empathy and can appear to be cold at times, that DEATH is curious and tries...

The talk between The Raven Queen and Vax was very poetic.

I think when Ridley said she’ll get resources she meant a portion of his gold to fund her schemes.

@thehorse8056

Жыл бұрын

*Ripley

Don't all known dragons have sorcery duh..!🤣

In the game, Vax took a potion that shrunk him to around Scanlan's size then Scanlan dimension door'd both of them into the inside of the dragon (he studied dragon internals for 2 days leading up to the fight to make sure they didn't just end up in the acid sack). When inside they used an Immovable Rod to hold it in place while it was being attacked.

not my mum 🤣

Vax's story arch was made for Liam by Matt, I think is mother was dying of cancer at the time and he was having a rough time of it.

The Matron has dominion over death, fate and winter, though winter is rarely brought up. Re Grog checking the axe, for most of the campaign they don't have easy access to the Identify spell, so they often have to use the items to try and figure out what they do. Craven's Edge is, I feel the worst result but so many things they don't understand until they get a wizard or sorcerer to help. In campaign 2, a character has access to Identify immediately and you can't help but feel it was a reaction to their C1 struggles lmao

Mythcarver actually doesnt do anything for the dragon. As its a weapon to be specifically weilded by bards, hence the name. The invisibility is Umbrasyl's innate spellcasting, as all of the chroma conclave are ancient dragons they all have spellcasting abilities.

We worship the matron in these parts. That there is my queen 🥰

Anybody else have "dragon colonoscopy" on their bingo card?

That Devine Intervention from Pike was a big hit but still, ancient dragons man. Not sure how I feel about changing the Immovable Rod to a Magic Immovable Blade, but it still probably did as much damage to pull through it.

@elbruces

Жыл бұрын

When I saw they'd changed it to a sword, I was like "why has nobody homebrewed this before, it's *way* better!"

Have you watched any of the Campaigns?

@Omn1Media

Жыл бұрын

I’ve watched 4 sessions of Campaign 3, 1 of Campaign 2, I’ve watched a bunch of their one shots, and I’ve started Campaign 1 from the beginning. The show turned me on to them but I’m also trying to avoid spoilers for what they might do in the show so I’ve been bouncing around their stuff after people said Campaign 3 has spoilers for Vox, and now they are animating Campaigns 2 and it’s like, I can’t watch anything 🤣

@RhiannonNeale

Жыл бұрын

@@Omn1Media if you want an injection of Critical Role, an interesting amount of world building, but no real spoilers for the Vox Machina characters, try watching Exandria Unlimited: Calamity! It's a 4 part series with some familiar actors and some guest actors, and deals with the lead up to the Calamity, the war between the Gods that happened over 1000 years ago in the timeline. It's absolutely fantastic, a showcase of role-playing and acting, and just. Ugh. Heartbreaking in the best way. I feel like you specifically would appreciate it and get a lot out of it!

@Omn1Media

Жыл бұрын

@@RhiannonNeale That sounds awesome. I'll look it up! Thank you!

@mayaenglish5424

Жыл бұрын

@@Omn1Media But specifically EXU: CALAMITY not any of the other EXU's because they also contain spoilers for C1!!! There's definitely a lot of world building that you won't catch if Calamity is the first thing you watch, so if you do start with that, I would recommend Re watching it a million years from now when you've finished watching all of campaign 1 and 2. Have Fun! 👍

I still don't know about the Matron of Ravens. she has been watching him for a while, and her behavior to her "beautiful" champion is sketchy, not too different from Saundor is to Vax's sister. She's a hypocrite - for she was once mortal, and she chose to kill the previous god of death in order to ascend to divinity. And she wanted Vax because he is Fate-Touched - he can twist and shape the threads of Fate, which is also her domain. But the animated show isn't the campaign, so things may be slightly different. They've made many characters much nicer than they were in the original material - Grog and Scanlan, Percy, even Garmelie. Perhaps the Matron will get a glow up on her own.