Critical Recap: Critical Role C3E34 “What Dreams May Come”

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Critical Role Campaign 3 Episode 34 What Dreams May Come!

FLURRY OF MEMORIES

Bells Hells each individually experience being surrounded by a white abyss and a psychic flood of memories. FCG recalls life with Dancer and meeting Ashton, then older memories of a skyline in the clouds, other automatons cheering, and a gray-haired man that he fears, as well as a kindly older woman that they like. Chetney’s memories revolve around former romances and a long life of work, as well as the light of Ruidus unleashing the beast within to an uncontrollable impulse to hunt and kill.

Ashton recalls being a child, their elven father and kind mother preparing for something around a glowing gateway, his father wearing the Hishari leather headdress and saying “it begins.” Laudna’s memories are of her family home, then that fateful dinner with the Briarwoods, and her fears of losing herself to Delilah’s unrelenting will. Delilah calls Laudna her vessel in this life and beyond.

Imogen’s will holds her together as she recalls being a toddler with her mother before she opens her eyes and sees Otohan facing her in the white void. Otohan tells Imogen that denying her nature is to be consumed by it, but to embrace it is to master her fate. She wants Imogen to come with her, but Imogen summons the chaotic power within and blasts Otohan away.

LOSS AND RETURN

Imogen returns to the streets of Bassuras, shocked to find that most of the surrounding buildings are gone. Her friends appear one by one where they were, with Otohan nowhere to be seen. Laudna succumbs to the wounds inflicted by Otohan. In her final moments, she sees flashes of the powerful women in her life – Imogen, Fearne, her mother, and Delilah. The darkness creeps in and Delilah embraces her, telling Laudna that death is but a waiting game. Laudna is dead.

FCG goes to Fearne, knowing that she has healing magic and could possibly help bring the others back to life. FCG casts revivify on her, asking her not to leave the new family she is building with them and telling her that he needs her to stay. Fearne can feel the darkness pulling her away, but sees a golden light and hears FCG’s voice. Fearne glances back to see what lies beyond and sees a dull green moon, a thorny hillscape, and hungry eyes of oblivion and uncertainty. She chooses the light and opens her eyes, alive again. FCG tells her that Orym has died and she must save him.

Imogen looks for Laudna, finding her body in the rubble of a ruined building. Ashton helps pull her out, asking Imogen to message Jiana Hexum – he is willing to do anything she needs if she will help. Imogen takes out the purple crystal and places it on Laudna’s chest. Ashton takes Laudna’s body to Fearne and Imogen messages Delilah, telling her to bring Laudna back. Delilah tells Imogen that she would if she could. Imogen must bring her back for both of them.

AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

Fearne struggles to decide who to revive – Orym or Laudna – having only one spell slot left and running out of time to bring one of them back. FCG prays to the Changebringer to guide them in the right direction and gives their Changebringer coin to Fearne. When Imogen’s plea to Delilah fails, Fearne flips the coin. She goes to Laudna and promises to find a way back for her. Fearne casts revivify on Orym, begging him to come back. They can’t do this by themselves.

Orym is among the cherry blossoms of Zephrah and can see Will ahead of him. Though he wants to stay, he can hear Fearne. Will tells Orym that he’s not done and that he looks forward to when they’ll be together. They hug and Will returns Orym to the light. Orym is alive again, but Bells Hells have lost Laudna. Ashton opens the portable hole and talks to Armand Treshi, but he cannot help them with Laudna. With no other options available, they run away from the Seat of Disdain and go to Imahara Joe’s.

WHAT TRESHI KNOWS

Joe allows them to hide from Paragon’s Call in the storage space beneath his workshop. They interrogate Treshi, who claims that unleashing the Shademother was Ira’s idea, to cause chaos in the city and push the Chandei Quorum to believe they needed to hire Paragon’s Call. Treshi was under pressure from Otohan and Ira made himself available. Ira was overzealous in his work and far too curious about Paragon’s Call. Then the Moon Tower fell and their partnership ended.

Treshi wanted to establish himself as indispensable in Jrusar. He was helping Otohan by allowing her to use his shipment line to Wildemount to bring in numerous shipments over the past year, where they were held by Jiana Hexum and then taken out of the city. Treshi arranged their acquisition and distribution out of Jrusar. He hoped that if they could complete these last shipments, his contract would be up and Otohan would help clear his name.

CONTRABAND

Bells Hells take a look at the crate, the vials, and the black lockbox. Fearne recognizes the vials as the ones she saw in Otohan’s strange backpack. Chetney crafts wooden thieves’ tools and uses them to bypass a metal trap on the lockbox. It contains a green sand, which Orym recognizes as residuum, a magic amplifier and the prime export of Whitestone. It is deeply concerning to see it shipped in this way as Orym knows Keyleth and the de Rolos have been working to control who has access to the valuable material.

Chetney finds a subterranean tunnel where he gets rid of the lockbox and the group asks Joe to make them a lead box for the residuum. FCG identifies the crystal vial, learning it is a potion of possibility – drinking it gives two fragments of possibility (luck points) that last eight hours. Chetney unlocks the crate, finding six more vials. Bells Hells discuss who could possibly help Laudna; Eshteross, Jiana Hexum, Keyleth, or the de Rolos are the likeliest options.

LOSING CONTROL

The group attempts to sleep, but are interrupted when a couple of Paragon’s Call members come looking for them. Joe claims to have not seen them, but the mercenaries take a look around the workshop and enter the storage room. Bells Hells hide in the tunnel, escaping the mercenaries’ notice. They leave and the group’s long rest resumes. In the morning, FCG gives Chetney a handmade wooden toolbox, as an apology for their attack yesterday. Chetney gives FCG an emotions clock to help them describe their state of mind.

They discuss what happened when Imogen lost control, how Otohan only wanted her. They discuss the strange memories that were recalled, like Imogen seeing her mother despite believing that she was gone from birth and FCG seeing people that he doesn’t remember. Ashton saw his parents on their last day together. Orym knows a little bit about the Hishari village; they delved into elemental magic they couldn’t control and didn’t understand. Ashton remembers watching everything rip apart, then waking up outside Bassuras.

TAKING CONTROL

Imogen messages Xandis, captain of Eshteross’s skyship, who can be there in half a day. The others comfort Imogen, telling her that none of them could have prepared for what Otohan could do. They want to help her control her power and say that it’s up to her what she does with it. Somehow she was protecting them, since they didn’t get hurt when she destroyed part of Bassuras. FCG casts gentle repose on Laudna, getting a strange sense that the spell stopped something.

Imogen and FCG message Eshteross, telling him that they have Armand but lost Laudna and that Otohan knows he is involved. Eshteross tells them to bring Laudna to him and he’ll see if he knows anyone who could possibly help her, though resurrection is rare magic. They pay Joe for the lead box he made and thank him for all of his help. They catch up with the skyship and board just as crawlers begin attacking, but the skyship successfully leaves Bassuras, heading north for Jrusar.

That is it for Episode 34 of Critical Role!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• We lost Laudna and my heart is broken. Operation Save Laudna is ON!
• Eshteross was an option, but they also discussed taking Laudna back to Whitestone, where she was originally killed and resurrected.
• What were all those memories about? What actually happened in the white void? Where is Otohan??

Catch Episode 35 on Thursday, September 22nd at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole and on youtube.com/criticalrole or a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday yet?