This week will see the end of campaign 2 of Critical Role, so I wanted to take a look back at the Mighty Nein and their journey. There will be many spoilers for all of campaign 2 and some for campaign 1. You have been warned.
When the campaign first started I will admit that I had a hard time connecting to these characters. Campaign 1 meant a lot to me, but I’ve seen them play one shots and loved those too. I think the problem was that they spend a very long time keeping secrets and not trusting each other. When Molly died there were tears, sure, but I didn’t feel as deeply upset as when Percy or Vex died in C1 (and those characters were able to be revived). Over time I did start becoming more attached and invested, but it took a long time. I think right before when the peace negotiations were underway is when I started really getting into things, followed by Traveler Con to the end. Basically Laura Bailey won d&d with a cupcake, and Jester won my heart.
After that there are so many great moments. Caleb gave a great speech to Essek which I wrote a whole piece on because it was THAT GOOD. (I posted it on twitter but never here. Maybe that can be a bonus post later this week.) We got to see who the Traveler really was and meet Keyleth’s mom. Two great ships sailed that I was hoping for (Fjord/Jester and Yasha/Beau). And then there was Lucien.
When Lucien first rose from Molly’s grave the entire fandom got excited at the idea of Molly coming back. Personally I loved the idea of them having to fight Lucien and come to terms with the fact Molly was gone, and worried the fandom would react poorly to this storyline. Last week was the Boss Battle with Lucien, and a failed attempt at a resurrection seemed to have the story end with Molly at peace. I could have been happy with that, but then Talisien had to pull a Hail Mary and get the second divine intervention from the Wildmother. Part of me feels like this is an appropriate ending, as the Mighty Nein now officially have nine members. Part of me feels sad for Molly going back to being an empty vessel. I hope this week we see him gain some memories of his friends and get to live his life the way he always wanted to – leaving the world a little better. We could all use that feeling of hope and accomplishment right now.