Critical Recap: ExU Divergence Episode 1 “Give and Take”

Hello! Welcome to Critical Recap! I’m Dani Carr, the Critical Role Lore Keeper. Let’s dive into our recap of Exandria Unlimited: Divergence Episode 1 Give and Take!

HOPE & DREAMS

Here in Exandria, long before Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein and Bells Hells, the Calamity rages, as it has for centuries now. The clash between the Prime Deities and the Betrayer Gods has razed the world and at the southern tip of Gwessar, the sky is choked with red ash. Here, in the fortress prison of Rybad-Kol, the Strife Emperor’s stronghold, hope is a dangerous thing – which the Sundering Lord Azmog reminds his prisoners as he displays his power over them all.

Azmog states that the All-Hammer, the Platinum Dragon, and the Moonweaver are all dead. He forces his captured rebellion leader to denounce the Changebringer and kills him in front of the entire prison to make a point that hope is futile and change is not coming. The prisoners are sent back to work in The Pit, an underground quarry.

Garen (he/him, played by Matthew Mercer), an elder dwarf stonecutter, is one of these prisoners. He has been here for years, longer than most others, and his left forearm is gone, replaced with an iron cap at the elbow. Garen, exhausted, dreams of his former family in their beautiful dwarven home of Uthtar before hearing their scared voices. He wakes up to the brutality of his goblin enforcer, Kuzzle, but is rescued from further punishment by Rei’nia “Nia” Saph (she/her, played by Celia Rose Gooding), a young half-elven medic.

STEW POT

Nia hasn’t been here long, but she runs the Mop, the infirmary that keeps the prisoners healthy enough to work and no more. She keeps her deep sense of optimism and hope hidden to survive, but she is sure that change is coming. Garen, however, does not share these beliefs. Nia takes Garen to the Mop, needling him to stay alive so that she doesn’t get punished for losing a strong worker. Her job is to keep people upright, after all.

Over in the fortress’s kitchen, known as the Slop, Fiedra Marrow (she/her, played by Jasmine Don), a halfling thief and leader of the Roach Gang, is cleaning and cooking with her boys Otto, Taveen, and Kephekedrial. Fiedra is focused on her missing dragonborn bodyguard Crokas (he/him, played by Alex Ward), who got into a fight and was taken away recently. Lady Cyrulia arrives and informs Fiedra that an important dinner will take place tonight and they need real food for their guests Lord and Lady Callister.

Acherus Blix, a guard that Fiedra knows is a spy for the Lord of the Hells, informs her that Crokas is joining the other dragonborns that are being sent to the Scaled Tyrant for her troops. They will be shipped out in the morning. Some are being sent to be devoured, like Nia’s friend Erro Mordaurum (he/him, played by Liam O’Brien), a gold dragonborn wanderer. The two are chained inside a carriage with other panicking and confused dragonborn. Erro calmly tells them all to breathe and wait; if the moment comes, make it count.

TAKING ROOT

Fiedra is determined to save Crokas, so the Roach Gang focuses on making food for the dinner while she leaves to concoct a plan with Nia in the Mop. Nia is overloaded, but staying on top of her many patients even as the warden Barbithrix threatens her to keep to a timetable for the sick or her patients will be killed. Fiedra arrives and privately fills Nia in on the situation. Nia wants to save Erro. They know that any sick prisoners will be sent to the oubliettes, known as the Wandering Walls, to quarantine or die, so this avenue would buy them some time.

Meanwhile, Garen notices a mouse attempting to reach a hole in the wall. He assists the mouse and notices that the hole is filled with many mice – a rarity for a desolate place like Rybad-Kol. Garen also notices a strange root growing out of the stone. He hasn’t seen a root in a century. Fiedra joins him and gives him some nice bread, the crumbs of which he gives to the mice. A flea hops onto his hand, biting him, but the bite glows.

Garen is fascinated by the unusual mice, but Fiedra gets his attention by asking about the Wandering Walls. He built the oubliettes to last – but the best work can’t happen under strain. There are weak spots. Fiedra realizes that Garen is a living key to this prison and he has been inspired by the mice. He’s willing to help. Nia goes to the carriage and convinces the guards that Crokas is sick and contagious. Her ruse is successful and Crokas, Erro, a dragonborn mother and her two children, a green dragonborn, and a bronze dragonborn are sent to the oubliettes.

DINNER WITH THE DEVILS

Fiedra and the Roach Gang prepare the fancy dinner and take it to the high tower to serve. There are eight high-ranking generals of the Betrayer Gods in attendance, in addition to the child of Lord & Lady Callister. They discuss the latest battle, where they saw the Arch Heart strike out the eye of the Ruiner. Azmog’s earlier speech was all propaganda and bluster. They have no idea where the Prime Deities are and many Betrayers have been banished.

The only Betrayers left are the Strife Emperor, the Scaled Tyrant, and the Lord of the Hells. The Chained Oblivion is a being of pure chaos and no ally to rely upon. Their cause is not advancing. Lord Callister interrupts the conversation to stab the hand of his bored child and demand that he stop fidgeting. The child stares at the knife in his hand and plays with the wound as the conversation continues. Do they seek to free the banished Betrayers?

Fiedra is stunned by the child and his wound. As she serves, she tries to ignore him, and the child tells her that it’s okay – he wouldn’t want to help himself, either. Fiedra, unnerved and knowing she can do nothing, gives him some. That’s the best she can do. The child pours the wine on his wound.

IT BEGINS

Meanwhile, the dragonborn are taken to the Wandering Walls, which are gaps in between the walls of the prison itself. The dragonborn are forced to slide through, but Crokas, who is enormous, gets stuck in the opening. The dragonborn are left behind to introduce themselves and quickly realize that no one is sick. The kindly blue mother is Celeste and her children are Celwyn and Celdria. The jovial green dragonborn is Coswald and the bronze dragonborn is Marlath – he is a traitor who sold out other dragonborn after being promised wealth.

Back in the Mop, Gren sees ash-covered birds approaching Rybad-Kol from the clouds. He can feel a fight coming and knows to get out. He finds another opening to the outside and sees the enormous red figure of the Strife Emperor heading from the west. Nia and Fiedra arrive and Garen tells them what he saw. They can use the distraction of the gods arriving to free the dragonborn. Nia notices that her hidden locket, which contains a picture of her beloved sister Liana, is glowing. The locket is filled with fireflies, one of which bites her and imbues bless.

This sign invigorates Nia as she and Fiedra follow Garen to a weak spot in the prison walls. He hammers and chisels into the wall, revealing a passageway to the oubliettes. Nia whistles for Erro, who follows the sound. Guards notice Fiedra and fire crossbow bolts at her. They are followed into the walls, but are dispatched. Fiedra and Crokas reunite, as well as Erro and Nia.

NATURE IS VIOLENT

Suddenly, the fortress is under siege as ROOTS shoot through the walls. The group is protected by the fireflies as an entire tower of Rybad-Kol is uprooted (heh). Thunder and lightning crash around the fortress and a hordes of mice rush toward them – one of which drops a crumb in front of Garen. Screams sound in the halls and in the distance, a wolf howls. The group hunkers down in the walls and eventually an unnatural silence falls outside.

Erro and Garen attempt to break the portcullis keeping them trapped, but Erro taps his fire breath weapon before the lock is melted. They wait until Erro can breathe fire again and Crokas uses his strength to break through the gate. They exit into a crumbled hallway and survey the utter ruin that is Rybad-Kol. There is nothing but rubble and roots and ravens picking skeletons clean. A chunk of the Strife Emperor’s enormous armor is lodged into the mountainside.

They have no idea how they are alive. Based on the damage, Garen believes the Strife Emperor was fleeing the Dawnfather and the Wildmother. Fiedra and Crokas attempt to find the other members of the Roach Gang, but the Mop is in ruins. Erro looks for his belongings, seeking his detailed and handwritten map of Gwessar above all. He finds everything when the mice pull out his rucksack from the rubble. He sees a firefly leave a glow on the map, marking a spot in an area he recalls frequently traveling with someone named Donaea.

SURVEYING

Garen searches for survivors and realizes that very few of the prisoners were killed – the dead bodies are almost entirely soldiers. He finds Starmian Fiddleflask, an elderly halfling, and Gond Gulfsome, a sickly bugbear. These two were traveling with Nia and led by Erro, who had promised to get them to Torm’s Hill. They all find some extra supplies and Crokas points out the traitorous Marlath to Fiedra, telling her to keep an eye on him. She reminds him to keep an eye on everyone.

This group of twelve leaves the ruined fortress behind and into the dead expanse of trees and scattered armor. There are two main paths they can take – to follow the roads and search for survivors or to move quickly through the woods and head north (which would put them on the path to the marked glow on Erro’s map). Erro wants to head north but leave the others. Nia wants the survivors to come with them and Garen wants to follow the roads to find more survivors. They agree to go through the woods and stick together.

Starmian is hopeful for rain. He remembers rain from his childhood. Fiedra is already annoyed, even though it has only been one night. Erro, a seasoned traveler, builds a bonfire and keeps them subsisted on a pinecone of goodberry seeds. On day one, they are out of water. Crokas, not wanting the children to suffer exhaustion, puts them on his back and travels on all fours. Garen, Erro, and Fiedra all take a point of exhaustion as they press on.

HOW TO SURVIVE

They travel for five days with no water or food. The forest has nothing they can forage or hunt, as the area is volcanic. Fiedra is exhausted and rides on Gond’s back. On day six, they find a deer to eat, but still no water. Everyone but Crokas has a level of exhaustion by day seven. Nia realizes that they will not find water. She cannot let go of her hope and repeats to herself that change is coming. She holds onto the locket of her sister and prays to Liana. She is on her way.

Night falls and Nia ponders as the fire is built. Liana told Nia to meet her at Torm’s Hill. Their parents might still be out there somewhere. Starmian believes that water is just beyond the tree line. He so desperately wants to feel the rain again. Nia takes his letter opener and heads out of the trees. Erro follows Nia as Starmian passes away by the campfire. As he passes, the rain begins to fall.

Nia knows that it was Starmian who caused the rain. She and Erro watch floods rush in the distance. Crokas and Fiedra come to the edge of the forest and the four of them watch the colossian figure of the Stormlord walk across the land, his steps the thunder they are hearing. Nia thanks him for the rain. Erro reflects on how much they give and take.

Crokas catches the eye of the Stormlord, who asks if he is afraid. Crokas responds positively. Will he flee? Crokas doesn’t think it will help. The Stormlord comments on the strength it takes to carry others. He tells Crokas that they are leaving forever, but Crokas does not understand what he means. They are witnessing the final miracles and they will need to be strong. The Stormlord walks away and the mist reveals a leather belt at Crokas’ feet.

That is it for Episode 1 of Exandria Unlimited: Divergence!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• That belt is the Stormgirdle! That’s a major Vestige of Divergence!!!
• Crokas is my son. I have adopted him. That’s my son. Also, his breath weapon doesn’t work! He breathes slushies when he tries to use it, because he is baby.
• The Stormlord loves three (3) main things in his followers – strong of muscle, strong of heart, and empty of head. Crokas will fit right in.
• Brennan’s first word was hope. Fire. Light. And now Hope. Welcome back to the past, y’all.

Catch Episode 2 on Thursday, February 20th at 7pm Pacific on beacon.tv, where Beacon members get access to the entire episode, podcast included! The episode will also release on twitch.tv/criticalrole and on youtube.com/criticalrole and a week later on our podcast. Is it Thursday yet?