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mctreeleth · 7 years

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I had a theory and I really needed to play close attention to what was said so I could work out whether or not I was on the right track, so here’s my transcription of the scene with just Vax and the Raven Queen in episode 103 of Critical Role (plus a little bit of theoretical commentary)

(From 51.33 on the Alpha stream.)

Vax’ildan, as your eyes dart back and forth, glancing upward at the sky above, snow hitting and stinging your paralysed eyes, you see the terrible lich above you. A flash of green, then darkness. Floating, without weight, without temperature, you glance around in the surrounding shadow and you cannot see anything, your hands before you, nothing, it is just void, darkness. You will yourself to see something, anything, and in an instant, you begin to glow. Your form becomes visible around you, you can now see your body, nude and held aloft in this dark space just emanating this soft, vibrant, orangish white light. As the light begins to emanate, and cast away the nearby darkness, you also see what appears to be a tangling of some sort of web, strands of silk, that also begin to glow a similar light as to your form, that holds you tightly in your position. You struggle, but you’re held firm. You think you yell out, but as you glance upwards to shout for help, you see the shadows now curl back to reveal the familiar sight of a massive, white, porcelain, woman’s face, eyeless yet staring straight at, if not through you. Her presence, imposing as it may be, soothes you, as her giant hand, larger than a house, at palace it seems almost, emerges from below and gives you a ground to step on, your feet finding purchase in the centre of her dark palm. As your feet touch her palm, the silk web seems to loosen, you cast off the threads and fall to your hands and knees. You take a moment, and you hear that soft voice once more.

“My champion, you return to me, and tear a swath through the tapestry. Please, be calm. My sight can pierce many veils, but you’ve been hidden from my sight in recent days and I am worried what foulness has turned its intent upon us. Now here you come, to me, your very thread frayed, and soul transitioning, an unexpected destiny for my beautiful fate touched.” And one of her fingers kinda curls through your hair at the back of your head. “Tell me what you have seen.”

“Your enemy.”

“I have many enemies.”

“Vecna.”

“What does this Vecna intend?”

“He has come… he’s come back to our world… my home… and my family is in danger, the world… is in danger.”

“How so? How could one man be as dangerous… what does he intend? What have you learned?”

“I-I-I… I don’t know.”

(There is a pause as she considers him.)

“I wonder why he would guard my sight… well…hmm.” And she goes into quiet contemplation for a moment, you see the strands of hair that emanate from the sides of the mask just kind of slowly shifting like waves on an ocean. “This Vecna comes to your world... to be a king?”

“…That… or grind us all into dust.”

“This is historical. Mortals continuously intend to find others to grind into dust. If this being has the power to block my sight, he has power beyond a mortal realm. Did you see anything else?”

“We travelled to the Shadowfell… there was, a tower, and he had servants, he had… powerful servants, a woman, that we have fought before, and another, a-a-a man, a-a… creature – I don’t know – with a blade, a dark blade, and he… was too powerful for us, he crushed us…”

“And in your short spark with him you learned nothing more of his plan? No hint of what he’s plotting?”

“He threw me to the ground the first second he laid his eye on me, he murdered my sister, I thought we had come to an arrangement…”

“We have?”

“Where is my sister?”

“She lives still, she is beyond my influences”

(he lets out a sobbing breath of relief)

“However, your body is ash, and your soul is steeped in the divine energies that uphold the paths between life and death. Hmm. You’ve yearned* your eternal rest.” And her mass begins to recede into the darkness.

(* I first wrote that down as ‘earned’ but I’ve checked multiple times and I’m pretty damn sure it’s ‘yearned’. It’s at 59.21 on the alpha video.)

“No… no, no, come back, no. I will not leave them behind. I want to help them. Still.”

The faint grey of the mask that had begin to fade into the shadow, stops, and comes back even brighter, vibrant almost. You sense the mystery of the Raven Queen, shift from this entity that dodges and weaves to instead, a pillar of power of life and death that is both awe striking, and awe fearing, and for a moment you realise how small you are in her presence. “You truly see to seek this? To bring it to its end?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“Your resolve is admirable, your love of your chosen family is vibrant. What I offer you is the power to see this conflict through till its end. You will be briefly beyond the very grasp of death and I will hold back any attempt for you to transition. You will be a bulwark of my power in cold flesh, walking between heartbeats, unstoppable. You will have the power to walk once more with Vox Machina, with your sister, with your Keyleth, and should you use this power wisely, perhaps save Exandria, save them, save her. But when it’s done, and this foul, undying king lies dead or sealed, you will return to me, my champion, evermore.”

The imposing image now shifts and changes in an instant, the giant being is now this simple woman, the mask you once saw removed now missing, and there, the somewhat… sad, beautiful, pale face of the Raven Queen as she steps forward, the silence is broken by the sounds of her footsteps across nothing… tkh, tkh, tkh, her hand comes up – warm, you weren’t expecting – as it races across your brow, and curves across to your chin, and pulls it up a bit; “Do you accept my gift?”

“You have such loneliness in your eyes.”

“Perhaps you will keep me company when you come back to me. Do. You. Accept?”

(There is a long pause.) “I do.”

“Then so be it. You, whose nature bucks destiny, my beautiful thing. Go, share what you have shared with me, with others like me. Take what you can learn, of this Vecna’s plans, for if he can block his intent from one, who knows what he plots against the other powers beyond the gate. Learn from them, ask them. You have my blessing, they have theirs to give as well. And they may be all that stands between the ruin of this world, and you. Let their blessings turn the tides, Vax’ildan, but choose your time wisely, for corruption like this waits for no-one. Now…” she pulls your head down and kisses you on the forehead, and brings your head close to hers, and you hear a voice whisper right into your ear, ever so faintly, “…wake up.”

(Ends 1.04.35 on the Alpha stream.)

(Basically, I typed this whole thing up because I’m not 100% on the idea that the Raven Queen ever even meant that Vax would die after Vecna – I get the feeling that she was going to give Vax the death she thought he wanted, freeing him from his role as her champion (the death that he “yearned” for) - “Return to me, as my champion, evermore” isn’t that different than his current deal, and the come back to me, keep me company is something that friends actually should be doing once they realise how lonely their friend is. Matt never actually said at any point during this particular scene that Vax was gunna end up dead – the players just all drew that conclusion and we all just went along with it.)

#Critical Role spoilers #Critical Role Transcript #Vax'ildan #The Raven Queen #I'm probably just being straw-graspingly optimistic #but the more I thought about it the more I wasn't sure she ever said anything about him dying #and I couldn't concentrate hard enough while just listening #my focus kept drifting #so I figured that transcribing it would be the best way to guarantee I was paying attention #and yeah #maybe I'm just ignoring the subtext but also maybe Vax is being dramatic and extra™ like he does #if the Critical Role Transcript guys wanna use this they're more than welcome to it but I didn't format it to any particular guidelines

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