This story contains major spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 3, Episode 38.
Critical Role brought life and death stakes to Exandria in the latest episode of its third Dungeons & Dragons campaign, which saw a long-awaited character return that came at an unexpected cost.
Though only a few days had passed in-game, fans have been waiting over a month for the hopeful resurrection of Marisha Ray’s player character Laudna. A nail-biting resurrection ritual left fans and players on edge, even causing Laura Bailey a nosebleed at the table, but Laudna was ultimately returned to the Bells Hells in Whitestone. The relief from fans was palpable as was the excitement over Laudna and Imogen's reunion, as the two witches have remained a popular romantic pairing among fans. The duo remained seated next to one another, hands interlocked, until the show’s intermission.
However, the excitement over Laudna’s resurrection became eclipsed in the second half of the episode when Imogen had another one of her prophetic dreams. Bells Hells patron and well-loved non-player character Lord Ariks Eshteross was spotted by Imogen walking into the storm of her torrid dreamscape. Previously experience foretold that this served as an omen of character death, causing the party to rush to Jrusar to check on the eccentric orc baker.
Upon their arrival, the Bells Hells found Eshteross dead in his home after a struggle with Otohan Thull. The powerful villain and assassin leader had previously caused the party much turmoil after an encounter with her resulted in three character deaths. With links to deaths in Orym's backstory and connections to Imogen’s source of strange power, Otohan stands as one of the largest threats awaiting the Bells Hells. This aggressive action against Eshteross led to a bevy of new reactions from fans, now reeling from the news uncovered in Jrusar.
As this eventful Dungeons & Dragons session served as Critical Role's Halloween episode, the cast was dressed for the occasion, leading to additional hijinks at the table. The X-Men group costume, except for Sam Riegel dressed as Mr. Fantastic, also drew excitement from fans online. Costume-related obstacles to the game included Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer’s blood-red Gambit contacts obscuring whom he was directing the conversation toward and Riegel's long elastic arms threatening the safety of Imogen’s toy horse.
Other fan-favorite highlights from the evening included Fearne finally acquiring a miniature gun for her monkey Mister and Laudna’s rat Pate De Rolo becoming a sentient familiar voiced by Mercer.
Critical Role streams live on Twitch and YouTube Thursdays at 7 PT.
Source: Twitter