Something on Sunday: Homecoming; happy-ish endings

[owlmoose]

For more about the Something on Sunday project, see readingtheend's post explaining her vision.

First of all, the main thing for this week is that T is home after almost two weeks away. I think I've taken a couple of nine-day trips without him since we've been together, but it's not common, and it's rare for him to travel without me at all, much less for this long. So that makes me happy: both having him around again, and not having to hold down the fort by myself.

Secondly, this week's episode of Critical Role, which I was able to watch live, was huge, and amazing, and heart-breaking, and stand-up-and-cheer awesome. Vox Machina took on their final boss, and I almost could not have hoped for more. The story has been leading up to this moment for a long time -- certainly since the Briarwood arc, and you might even say as far back as their first trip to Vasselheim -- and everything came together so well, both in terms of a satisfying battle, and probably the best possible outcome they could reasonably have expected: Vecna defeated, despite the wild card of Arkon and the hand still being out there, no party members killed (or even unconscious for very long), and Vasselheim still mostly standing, though many casualties were surely suffered. There's some slim hope for Zahra and Kash to have survived, and I have to imagine that they'll at least try to raise Velora, so even the biggest losses can be mitigated. As for Vax... much as it hurts, I have accepted that his story likely ends here, and despite the tragedy of it all, I'm ready to let him go. Of course, if a miracle or a loophole lets him live out a natural lifespan, I won't be unhappy! But I'm not pinning any hopes on that. The one time I teared up: when Vax took a moment to look over the battle field and take it all in. Sam/Scanlan trying and failing to save a ninth level spell to Wish Vax back to life was also super-moving.

I expect there to be one more episode to wrap up all the story loose ends -- find out what happened to our various friends and allies, set a direction for everyone's future, discover Vax's ultimate fate -- but then it will be time to see what comes next, and I confess I'm almost as excited to discover what's planned for the next campaign as I was to see this one wrap up.

Comments

[schneefink]

It was such a great final battle :) I was very nervous about it, and then it ended more happily than I expected. So many emotions! Scanlan especially. I can barely wait to see the final VM episode on Tuesday (even though I already know approximately what happens because I'm so bad at resisting spoilers.)

[owlmoose]

What did you think? I have to say I found it quite emotionally satisfying, although I know that, in at least one respect, it wasn't the ending that a lot of people wanted. But I thought it all came to a close very nicely.

[schneefink]

I loved it. I liked that Vax died: trying to get out of a deal like that would seem wrong for a champion of the Raven Queen. I would have been fine if they'd, idk, negotiated for another year or something like that, but like this we got to "see" him die on-screen and it was great.
I was quite surprised by Pike/Scanlan, and at first I didn't know what to think about it, but the image of them living together with Grog in one house won me over :)