Over the summer, Critical Role filled the gap between campaigns with a story arc called Exandria Unlimited. At first, fans thought this was just a simple boon meant to keep them occupied while waiting for campaign three to start, but the connections between Exandria Unlimited and the new campaign are more tightly drawn than anyone could have imagined.
With only eight episodes to work with, Exandria Unlimited Dungeon Master, Aabriya Iyengar, managed to wrap up as many loose ends as possible, ending the adventure with a bit of closure to tide fans over. However, there was still so much left unfinished by the end of the story that it sparked hope for a return to Iyengar's tale.
With the launch of the Dungeons & Dragons' play show's campaign three on October 21, fans were in for a surprise when the new characters were introduced. Arriving in Marquet for a new leg of their adventure were three of Exandria Unlimited's five player characters: Ashley Johnson's Fearne Calloway, Liam O'Brian's Orym and Robbie Daymond's Dorian Storm. So far, Daymond (whose Critical Role debut was in Exandria) has appeared in both episodes as a guest star, though it's unclear if Dorian will leave at some point or if he'll become a permanent cast member instead.
Noting that they'd left behind fellow party members, DM Matthew Mercer's Dariax Zaveon and Aimee Carrero's Opal after Opal's attunement to the Spider Queen's Vestige, the three embarked together on a new leg of their journey, seemingly at the behest of Ashari Tempest Keyleth, Marisha Ray's character from the first campaign. Why they continue traveling together and what Keyleth is searching for remains to be seen, but it already seems that previously-established enemies and adventures of the Crown Keepers will be integrated into the new campaign.
The Crown Keepers made a major enemy in Emon. The Nameless Ones, as the group identified themselves, were after the Spider Queen's crown, and when the party found themselves in possession of it, they determined it unsafe to turn it over. Fleeing Emon and the Nameless Ones, the party struggled against the power of the crown, even seeing a change in alignment for Dorian when he agreed to sacrifice Poska to the Spider Queen if it meant saving his friends.
With Opal attuned to the crown at the end of Exandria Unlimited and the Nameless Ones still out there, fans can only assume that, at some point, those characters, enemies and the crown itself will come back into play. Opal could even become corrupted to such an extent, that she poses a threat to her old friends and the new adventurers they've teamed up with.
The Crown Keepers suffered from a strange loss of time and memory during the course of their adventure that was never quite explained. Whether that point is further explored in the new campaign remains to be seen, but the mystery of their coming together as a group will almost surely be revealed at some point as the new party gets to know each other.
Because Critical Role continually takes place in the world of Exandria, created by Mercer, each new campaign and story arc includes elements, locations, events and characters previously revealed or explored in past campaigns. Directly tying the events and characters of Exandria Unlimited doesn't necessarily mean the whole campaign will be consumed by those storylines, but fans can rest assured they haven't seen the last of enemies like Poska and her Nameless Ones anymore than they've seen the last of Opal, Dariax and the dangerous Vestige of Divergence.