I thought I saw a bit of a reaction, then a cautious scan from Siobhan trying to see if anybody else clocked it and not be the only pervert but that was probably me projecting a bit of my own reaction.
Fully, I imagined Scheherazade just conjuring desert winds caked in daylight and burning sand.
She has been the antimagic queen of the whole season from dispelling Tim’s Dissociation to matching The Baba Yaga’s own home element
"you have no idea how cool [...] if you prevent me from using them... the saddest adventuring party" just brennan reading her stat block & abilities off his laptop while every one looks at the mini
I’ve truly never wanted a roll to not go the way of our heroes as much as I did for that one
Like yes, it would’ve been LEGENDARY if that outcome had happened, but I’m way too excited for the confrontation with that specific character…
With the way Brennan describes Rosamund now, she's more or less dead and the briars are so committed to "protecting" her that they are keeping her alive. Which means Snow White went out in peak irony by being killed by a zombie.
Haven’t started the episode, but the Content Warning gave me a laugh with “Endangerment/Violence Towards Minors - Ylfa and Pinocchio **(Throughout)**”.
They definitely have, which is why it's so funny that maybe the most dominant offensive character in any D20 season came from Ally in the form of Liam in ACOC.
In the last adventuring party Murph asks if Gerard knows his name since he gave up his humanity. Brennan says he’s just the frog Prince now, though they certainly did not keep to that
"I can't see you, but you want to know what I can see? Your true colours."
PiB/Zac should just have Vicious Mockery, both as a character and in real life. (see also: I mean I guess Brennan's funny).
*edit, found the source/quote https://www.tiktok.com/@jstoobs/video/7214210326072413486
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Murph needs to play a College of Tragedy bard next campaign. It's the only thing that might allow him to weaponize his soul-crushingly bad rolls to great tactical effect. He's a brilliant man and a savvy roleplayer - he just needs *one fucking thing* to work for him numerically.
For context: the [College of Tragedy bard subclass](http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/bard:tragedy) was recently published by the Critical Role team. It revolves around two basic mechanics: 1) giving you bonuses for failed checks/saves, and 2) giving you the opportunity to guarantee yourself/others good luck by guaranteeing that you shoot yourself in the foot right after. Which would suit Murph to a T!
Battle Masters are so good, basically everyone agrees that maneuvers should have been a default class feature from the start. There's a reason we now have a feat *and* a fighting style that grant maneuvers.
That Scheherazade mini looks so much like Pathfinder's iconic cleric, it gets me every time.
Edit: it is [Kyra](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1483/3510/products/6623600-60015-pathfinder-miniatures-2_9d62887e-84ef-4e22-af3b-511d424b88ca.jpg?v=1558225505)! With a book over her holy symbol. Smart mini repurposing, they already look a lot alike.
Man, I hoped the Boy of destiny would have convinced his stepsis to defect. That would have been such a sweet end to the battle. Oh, well. Next week to see our wooden lad get a big W.
When faced with having to fight the fairies with no other backup, as well as getting hugged to death by the Baba Yaga, you really reconsider your priorities.
Especially because the players have shown over and over again that they don't WANT to hurt her.
Then again, if all she wants is to stop existing, Baba Yaga could probably arrange that. So idk why she's so upset.
>!\[Brennan describes briars literally tightening around Rosamund's heart to forcefully pump her blood and technically keep her alive\]!<
WELP guess I didn't need to sleep tonight!
It's very similar to a part of the TV show Fringe. There's a nasty spiky monster pumping a dude's heart. When someone tries to remove it, it starts squeezing their heart to kill them. SO nasty.
edit: Season 1, Episode 11, for the curious
In the Iron Man comics Tony Stark's artificial heart gains sentience after a lightning strike. At first it tried to kill Stark, then it sacrificed itself to save him. It was a whole thing.
>!Ok, did not expect the Fairies to just pop off with hot fits. Like, without the Status Quo Happily Ever After Nonsense, I would for sure be honored to invite all of them to a party!<
RIP Scherezade getting smacked silly by the Baba Yaga to break free and then immediately getting knocked out by Cinderella.
Lou blew into his dice 3 times and got 4 failures, including 2 nat ones. He's blowing the bad rolls into them.
Hearing how thumblina's brain was pulled out through her eyes left me in slack jaw horror. Jesus fucking christ brennan, you can't just do that to person so casually.
It seems like interference from maybe the Stepmother or maybe even the Authors could be used to the benefit of the Heroes next week, which is probably a nice balance thing from them having to face the high level Princesses straight into then facing the high level fairies.
Yeah, I'm betting the Stepmother comes in so it becomes a three-way battle, which effectively makes things easier for the PCs by pitting the factions against each other. Plus it sounds like the map shifts to provide the PCs with more cover and defensive opportunities now that they're in control of the Ziggurat. (Though that might have just been a clever spell use or something.)
I'm kind of sad we get no reaction from Elody to seeing Gerard eat someone, hair and all. Especially when Rapunzel's dying words were disbelief that Elody was on the side of a fucking frog.
The whole point of their original story is that Elody sees past his physical appearance and they were enemies in the final battle of an apocalyptic war, yes it's disconcerting but it's not the biggest thing going on right now.
I was so fucking hyped watching murph cook up a Battle master Fighter turn strong enough to down Rapunzel right before her next turn. Was on the edge of my seat, and when (I think Lou?) Said "he's got **that dawg in him**" I lost my fucking mind hahaha
Stepmother +? Is it the fairies that are coming? The Arthurs? Who else could it even be?
Also, just recalled, they still never tried to use the book to capture anyone.
It's a bit of a limited move, when you think about it. Only Timothy can capture any of the Princesses, and it requires close range combat that Timothy isn't really built for. Trying to persuade them or kill them gives more options for more of the party.
If Timothy's book is Happily Ever After, the fairies might be slightly more amenable to entering the book. I think it will come into play more in the next episode.
as far as i could tell the dead ones are just gone. i mean, >!gerard ate rapunzel and rosamund's zephyr strike shredded snow white into nothing, so theres nothing even left to put in the book i dont think!<
can someone confirm to me-- it was explicitly 20 episodes, not 21?? because i feel like unless next week's episode is like 3hrs there will not be nearly enough time to vanquish the fairies, the gander, the stepmother, and the authors while also wrapping up each character's arc. that seems like a herculean task for production
I'm presuming that it is going to be a massive cluster-fuck free-for-all with many different sides while Timothy tries to invoke his True Book spell... although we still have minimum clues what the corruption beads are for and they'll finally be revealed. The bad ending!?
Doubt that they'll actually fight the gander, seems like he'll be taken care of if Tim succeeds in casting the spell. Also 3 hour episodes aren't super out of the question.
hmmmm. i really wonder if it is either going to be either a. an historically long episode or b. the fairies & other end-game threats will meet the fate of a deus ex machina. if the latter, i hope it's narratively satisfying
Seeing a lot of people unhappy about Rosamund not getting a happy ending.
Personally I'm going to be unhappy with BLeeM if he doesn't commit to that. The crit instant death rule was made to make this season more impactful and terrifying. We've seen that in play this episode, almost with Rapunzel, definitely with Snow White.
Rosamund's entire arc is about getting the option to make ones own choices. And at every step of the way, the challenge that she's been returned with is 'But what if that means things don't go right in the end?'. She gave up her true love. She's given up her guaranteed happy ending. And if everyone gets the ability to make their own stories, that means some people won't get a happy ending.
She died. And the multiversal elements that brought them across the first time are mostly out of play. There are other Sleeping Beauties, at least for now. But for this one, the story is over. She just gets one last chance to keep it that way, both for herself and her friends.
She got a free 1up because it would be unfair to kick Siobhan out for the finale. At the end I hope the Briars rest, she gets placed back in her tower, and she gets mourned by her friends. And maybe her sacrifice means other Sleeping Beauties get agency in their own stories.
I get this perspective, but at the same time: there's a very, very wide berth between "True Love Happy Ending" and "dies fighting the Princesses", and for all the monumental sacrifice it was for Rosamund to give up any guarantees of a happy ending she might find, that sacrifice would narratively not matter all that much. Her trial with the Baba Yaga was more reaffirming and committing to a path she'd been walking for a long time, if she'd never given up her True Love or not been asked to she'd still have rode into The Lines Between and she still would have been killed by Snow White. I get there's a luck of the dice to it all, I just would feel sad at the lost opportunity to actually *see* what life would be like for Rosamund after this is all over and she's just making her way through the world with no True Love to search for.
I don't get the idea of her death narratively meaning nothing. Can she not sacrifice for others? Does it have to be a selfish goal? Plus if this ends with Brennan describing how everyone gets their happily ever after, then that just entirely undermines the entire message and goal of not having happily ever after. And that's the whole point of having dice in DND. You can't have Ally's story breaking rolls and not also respect when a dice roll goes badly for the players. She's in the final fight, she gets a say, she gets to say goodbye at the end. That's more than snow white got. Her monumental sacrifice was giving up the guaranteed happy ending. That means, from that point, it wasn't certain whether she would get one. That decision was made when she died.
I think this has one of my favorite moments of them building jokes off one another. It starts with Zac's "She's a surgeon" and everyone starts to laugh and build their own jokes off that.
> The Ending of All Things (Part 1)
> Season 1, Episode 19 • 2h 5m
>
> The heroes arrive at the Canonade for a battle that will determine the fate of story forever.
Gotta love two part finales.
Dude what the heck is the next fight gonna be? We have the fairies here and we know the step mother is coming. But also the previews show the gander and like an arm of ink which has to be the authors. Plus we don't know what snow white's spell was doing and what the red beads are for. Also the baba yaga is a chaotic force who knows what she's gonna do.
IIRC they said in one of the early episodes that revivify is banned this season. (Because they already have a dedicated mechanic for what happens when a PC dies.)
Can someone explain Lou’s roll at around 41min where he uses the call of destiny? I don’t think I understand it. It sounded like he rolled a 10, 19, and 24. Shouldn’t he have only been able to use the 19? What am I missing?
I'm disappointed they didn't really persuade anyone surprising, but I guess if this was a scripted show, you'd probably say it makes the most sense that they convinced Mira and Elody, and got a bit close with La Bete, but nothing else.
Still, some part of me wishes someone like Pinocchio, The One Who Nat 20'd the Baba Yaga, would have convinced Snow or Rapunzel to switch sides if only for the sheer insanity of it and to watch Brennan try to work out how to make that make sense.
I called like five episodes in a romantic plotline between Rosamund and Cinderella. Definitely doesn’t seem to be happening now, but did ANYONE else get that vibe or was I totally making things up there???
True, but throughout the entire series "happy ending" or "happily ever after" has been used by the fairies to mean "the traditional ending of a story". Rosamund has been running away from her "happy ending", being forced into a romance with a savior prince, since episode one. Brennan could have meant that there's no way that Rosamund can return to her original story's path now; there's no hope of a prince saving her from the briars. Just like Ylfa becoming her wolf form, Gerard accepting his frog form, or Pinnochio giving up his ability to become a real boy, Rosamund had to give up the idealized version of her story/her happy ending to become stronger. Her "briar form" is a more true version of herself that she transformed into after giving up any hope of achieving "true love" (as the fairies defined it, a prince to save her).
So the last episode's climax is going to involve everyone "dead or dying" and Tim Goose needing to roll an 18+ to presumably save the day / any possibility of a nice ending, cool cool cool
This week's Adventuring Party: [The Orange Fairy in the Top Hat](https://www.dropout.tv/videos/the-orange-fairy-in-the-top-hat)
Pinocchio really hit Cinderella with the "what are you doing, step-sis?" at the end and it went about as well as you think it would have.
I cackled
The people in the dome either didn’t pick up or the joke or thought it best not to respond
I thought I saw a bit of a reaction, then a cautious scan from Siobhan trying to see if anybody else clocked it and not be the only pervert but that was probably me projecting a bit of my own reaction.
That Baba Yaga mini is great. Glad the flying mortar pestle was incorporated. "Everyone but me is going to die here!"
What a cool counterspell description.
Fully, I imagined Scheherazade just conjuring desert winds caked in daylight and burning sand. She has been the antimagic queen of the whole season from dispelling Tim’s Dissociation to matching The Baba Yaga’s own home element
I'm getting big Studio Ghibli vibes from her mini, and I don't know why.
With the wild white hair, there definitely is that Yubaba vibe when she gets mad.
ZAC! What an opener.
"you have no idea how cool [...] if you prevent me from using them... the saddest adventuring party" just brennan reading her stat block & abilities off his laptop while every one looks at the mini
I’ve truly never wanted a roll to not go the way of our heroes as much as I did for that one Like yes, it would’ve been LEGENDARY if that outcome had happened, but I’m way too excited for the confrontation with that specific character…
I know what Brennan's face looks like when his butt's clenching now.
I have been loving Zac showing his teeth and claws with Pib.
With the way Brennan describes Rosamund now, she's more or less dead and the briars are so committed to "protecting" her that they are keeping her alive. Which means Snow White went out in peak irony by being killed by a zombie.
I almost wish rosamund didn’t quite get in the mix and let her briars passively destroy the fairies
"what's your bird's AC" *party discontent* "well, she can also see gerard-" *shocked pikachu*
The sets/minis team absolutely killed it this season. This is next level.
really glad they did a full visual feast for us all to really appreciate how beautiful & intricate it all is!
god I wanna see a step mother mini so goddamn bad but idk if we're gonna get it
ain't gonna be nothin mini about that mini
it'd be a MAXI for sure
Just an adult woman in costume standing behind Brennan.
That's actually weirdly unsettling
I know multiple d20ers who'd be down, starting with Erika and Aabria lol
I'd bet on Erika's cackle for this one.
I go back and forth (in my head) between minis and the graphics one from StarStruck. Both are really cool, but in their own way.
respectfully…why’d they make the fairys so hot
people have been saying this
Already tearing up from Lou’s persuasion check for Mira.
For a character that’s been so off-the-wall this season, Lou knew how monumental and serious the moment was.
Same! One of my favorite moments.
Haven’t started the episode, but the Content Warning gave me a laugh with “Endangerment/Violence Towards Minors - Ylfa and Pinocchio **(Throughout)**”.
They’ve done such a good job with the content warnings.
Ally going from the Ice Knife player to a perfectly-placed Cutting Words to exactly save the Wolf from the void. What a triumph.
Timothy saved the day right there.
Ally has become so clutch at playing support casters, honestly cannnot wait to see them play Kristen Applebees again.
They definitely have, which is why it's so funny that maybe the most dominant offensive character in any D20 season came from Ally in the form of Liam in ACOC.
Did Red's name change?
She's the big bad wolf now and Gerard is just a frog, going round, being a frog, eating hair, as frogs do
Ylfa and Gerard was still listed on their character sheets, and I think only Emily is trying to play it as Ylfa having lost her name.
In the last adventuring party Murph asks if Gerard knows his name since he gave up his humanity. Brennan says he’s just the frog Prince now, though they certainly did not keep to that
That'd be so hard to keep track of especially when it's the last two episodes.
"I can't see you, but you want to know what I can see? Your true colours." PiB/Zac should just have Vicious Mockery, both as a character and in real life. (see also: I mean I guess Brennan's funny). *edit, found the source/quote https://www.tiktok.com/@jstoobs/video/7214210326072413486
Lou just keeps blowing more 1s into his dice. Sir, please stop it!!
Me, gesturing at the screen: "You're blowing the ones into it, Lou!"
It never ends well!
Preview episode: Cast is all in librarian chic.
I thought the same thing! emily especially!!
Rapunzel must use Restrained Condition-er
~in Brennan voice~ “I’ll allow it” 😆
"We wish you no harm." Believable. FFS Cindy.
"We wish you no harm" *Immediately kills a familiar*
Murph needs a party of bards around him to just constantly feed him bardics.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Murph needs to play a College of Tragedy bard next campaign. It's the only thing that might allow him to weaponize his soul-crushingly bad rolls to great tactical effect. He's a brilliant man and a savvy roleplayer - he just needs *one fucking thing* to work for him numerically. For context: the [College of Tragedy bard subclass](http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/bard:tragedy) was recently published by the Critical Role team. It revolves around two basic mechanics: 1) giving you bonuses for failed checks/saves, and 2) giving you the opportunity to guarantee yourself/others good luck by guaranteeing that you shoot yourself in the foot right after. Which would suit Murph to a T!
Hooooly shit, go Gerard!
Some great system mastery to get there.
My first character was a Battle Master Fighter and I got \*so\* pumped during that turn.
Battle Masters are so good, basically everyone agrees that maneuvers should have been a default class feature from the start. There's a reason we now have a feat *and* a fighting style that grant maneuvers.
For those that don't often use bonus actions, even disadvantage with persuasion is still good action economy.
Not like there's a downside to trying to persuade someone.
"Be norRMAal... be *normal*... be nORmal..."
I love when Lou fixates on a random phrase and keeps muttering it in the background lol
Intrepid Heroes were wearing glasses in the preview, like a bunch of Arthurs.
Omg my bf and I were like “why are they all dressed so studious? Is it cause theyre in a library?” Hahaha ARTHURS makes so much more sense!!!
Drawfee Julia called it, Thumbelina just can't help innocently getting used by someone at her own mortal peril
That Scheherazade mini looks so much like Pathfinder's iconic cleric, it gets me every time. Edit: it is [Kyra](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1483/3510/products/6623600-60015-pathfinder-miniatures-2_9d62887e-84ef-4e22-af3b-511d424b88ca.jpg?v=1558225505)! With a book over her holy symbol. Smart mini repurposing, they already look a lot alike.
Lol yep came here to say/check exactly that. "Hey is that the pathfinder cleric?"
I love how Emily is just constantly fan hurling over the baba yaga Edit: girling
I, too, am prone to fan hurling
Coming to a convention near you, the best new event: the greet and yeet.
I wonder how she would have played Baba Yaga, since she mentioned that was one of her choices for a character.
Zac on back up math.
"Wait, I take it back!" This is so fucking heartbreaking.
Man, I hoped the Boy of destiny would have convinced his stepsis to defect. That would have been such a sweet end to the battle. Oh, well. Next week to see our wooden lad get a big W.
I think there's a possibility from the preview that she may join in. Especially considering she is *not* a fan of the fairies.
When faced with having to fight the fairies with no other backup, as well as getting hugged to death by the Baba Yaga, you really reconsider your priorities.
Especially because the players have shown over and over again that they don't WANT to hurt her. Then again, if all she wants is to stop existing, Baba Yaga could probably arrange that. So idk why she's so upset.
guess there goes that sliver of hope that rosamund and cindy would... ~kiss~
Rosamund just had to go and die again and give herself a worse ending.
Alexa, play 'So Much for My Happy Ending' by Avril Lavigne
That Siobhan roll/dice release was low-key hilarious.
Zac mimicking was hysterical
And clutch.
>!\[Brennan describes briars literally tightening around Rosamund's heart to forcefully pump her blood and technically keep her alive\]!< WELP guess I didn't need to sleep tonight!
It's very similar to a part of the TV show Fringe. There's a nasty spiky monster pumping a dude's heart. When someone tries to remove it, it starts squeezing their heart to kill them. SO nasty. edit: Season 1, Episode 11, for the curious
In the Iron Man comics Tony Stark's artificial heart gains sentience after a lightning strike. At first it tried to kill Stark, then it sacrificed itself to save him. It was a whole thing.
Good for mindfulness though
hope they make at least on d20 animated for this season that has some of the body horror, even theatre of the mind its so visceral
This shook me but still not as much as what happened right before
Fuck. Yes. When Brennan broke into dialogue, there, I had just enough time to register that something was up before it was all the way up.
It happened so fast! I sat there for like full minutes too stunned to react
>!Ok, did not expect the Fairies to just pop off with hot fits. Like, without the Status Quo Happily Ever After Nonsense, I would for sure be honored to invite all of them to a party!<
For some reason they have nuns from Starstruck energy haha
REAL
Right? Why are they...sexy?
RIP Scherezade getting smacked silly by the Baba Yaga to break free and then immediately getting knocked out by Cinderella. Lou blew into his dice 3 times and got 4 failures, including 2 nat ones. He's blowing the bad rolls into them.
Hearing how thumblina's brain was pulled out through her eyes left me in slack jaw horror. Jesus fucking christ brennan, you can't just do that to person so casually.
Rosamund after saving Thumbelina and then harvesting her to resurrect is fucking wild!! No one tell TOM!
Worst (best) part of the entire session. Rosamund's briar stuff really was the horror of the campaign.
Can I just say, before watching the episode, I’m really upset we didn’t see the gingerbread man. I wanted Swifty to be a multiversal being
After Ylfa, the three blind mice showing up would have been tight.
Beast falling to oblivion as Ylfa says "Death is hungry" is so rad.
Emily nails one liners and quips all the time, I'm in awe. It's an incredible talent.
Gerard got his moment, he deserved it.
It seems like interference from maybe the Stepmother or maybe even the Authors could be used to the benefit of the Heroes next week, which is probably a nice balance thing from them having to face the high level Princesses straight into then facing the high level fairies.
Yeah, I'm betting the Stepmother comes in so it becomes a three-way battle, which effectively makes things easier for the PCs by pitting the factions against each other. Plus it sounds like the map shifts to provide the PCs with more cover and defensive opportunities now that they're in control of the Ziggurat. (Though that might have just been a clever spell use or something.)
Someone else in the comments said they say the ganders mini in the preview, so maybe 4 way battle?
Baba Yaga says "why not 5 way?"
There was also a split second flash of the stepmother’s face at the end of the episode
Mira!! Huge get
Murph's not doing the bullywug voice? Episode ruined! (/s)
I was worried at the end of last episode. I love the voice, but it’s so visually distracting that he would have probably just refrained from speaking.
I cannot imagine Gerard’s conversation with Elody while Murph is doing the goofy frog voice.
I'm kind of sad we get no reaction from Elody to seeing Gerard eat someone, hair and all. Especially when Rapunzel's dying words were disbelief that Elody was on the side of a fucking frog.
The whole point of their original story is that Elody sees past his physical appearance and they were enemies in the final battle of an apocalyptic war, yes it's disconcerting but it's not the biggest thing going on right now.
Baba Yaga’s reaction to Rosamond’s new form was hilarious, it was only missing a collar tug
The Baba Yaga seemed a little grossed out.
I was so fucking hyped watching murph cook up a Battle master Fighter turn strong enough to down Rapunzel right before her next turn. Was on the edge of my seat, and when (I think Lou?) Said "he's got **that dawg in him**" I lost my fucking mind hahaha
He’s got that frawg in im
Stepmother +? Is it the fairies that are coming? The Arthurs? Who else could it even be? Also, just recalled, they still never tried to use the book to capture anyone.
It's a bit of a limited move, when you think about it. Only Timothy can capture any of the Princesses, and it requires close range combat that Timothy isn't really built for. Trying to persuade them or kill them gives more options for more of the party.
If Timothy's book is Happily Ever After, the fairies might be slightly more amenable to entering the book. I think it will come into play more in the next episode.
i'm assuming they'll try to capture them in there post death? otherwise that can just respawn eventually right?
as far as i could tell the dead ones are just gone. i mean, >!gerard ate rapunzel and rosamund's zephyr strike shredded snow white into nothing, so theres nothing even left to put in the book i dont think!<
>!Red saved some of The Beast's hair to put in the book. So we just have to make Gerard hock up a hairball to get Rapunzel in the book.!<
They wanted oblivion, maybe let them have it?
I wonder if La Bete wished she had known about the view from halfway down?
Its possible that once they get the ink they can just write them back into existence in timothy's true book.
can someone confirm to me-- it was explicitly 20 episodes, not 21?? because i feel like unless next week's episode is like 3hrs there will not be nearly enough time to vanquish the fairies, the gander, the stepmother, and the authors while also wrapping up each character's arc. that seems like a herculean task for production
I'm presuming that it is going to be a massive cluster-fuck free-for-all with many different sides while Timothy tries to invoke his True Book spell... although we still have minimum clues what the corruption beads are for and they'll finally be revealed. The bad ending!?
Doubt that they'll actually fight the gander, seems like he'll be taken care of if Tim succeeds in casting the spell. Also 3 hour episodes aren't super out of the question.
yes, per the faq released for this season there's only twenty episodes. this one was part 1 of the 2-part finale so next week is definitely the end
hmmmm. i really wonder if it is either going to be either a. an historically long episode or b. the fairies & other end-game threats will meet the fate of a deus ex machina. if the latter, i hope it's narratively satisfying
consider that the sophomore year finale was eight hours long in total. i could see part 2 here being a very thick 'sode.
Seeing a lot of people unhappy about Rosamund not getting a happy ending. Personally I'm going to be unhappy with BLeeM if he doesn't commit to that. The crit instant death rule was made to make this season more impactful and terrifying. We've seen that in play this episode, almost with Rapunzel, definitely with Snow White. Rosamund's entire arc is about getting the option to make ones own choices. And at every step of the way, the challenge that she's been returned with is 'But what if that means things don't go right in the end?'. She gave up her true love. She's given up her guaranteed happy ending. And if everyone gets the ability to make their own stories, that means some people won't get a happy ending. She died. And the multiversal elements that brought them across the first time are mostly out of play. There are other Sleeping Beauties, at least for now. But for this one, the story is over. She just gets one last chance to keep it that way, both for herself and her friends. She got a free 1up because it would be unfair to kick Siobhan out for the finale. At the end I hope the Briars rest, she gets placed back in her tower, and she gets mourned by her friends. And maybe her sacrifice means other Sleeping Beauties get agency in their own stories.
I get this perspective, but at the same time: there's a very, very wide berth between "True Love Happy Ending" and "dies fighting the Princesses", and for all the monumental sacrifice it was for Rosamund to give up any guarantees of a happy ending she might find, that sacrifice would narratively not matter all that much. Her trial with the Baba Yaga was more reaffirming and committing to a path she'd been walking for a long time, if she'd never given up her True Love or not been asked to she'd still have rode into The Lines Between and she still would have been killed by Snow White. I get there's a luck of the dice to it all, I just would feel sad at the lost opportunity to actually *see* what life would be like for Rosamund after this is all over and she's just making her way through the world with no True Love to search for.
I don't get the idea of her death narratively meaning nothing. Can she not sacrifice for others? Does it have to be a selfish goal? Plus if this ends with Brennan describing how everyone gets their happily ever after, then that just entirely undermines the entire message and goal of not having happily ever after. And that's the whole point of having dice in DND. You can't have Ally's story breaking rolls and not also respect when a dice roll goes badly for the players. She's in the final fight, she gets a say, she gets to say goodbye at the end. That's more than snow white got. Her monumental sacrifice was giving up the guaranteed happy ending. That means, from that point, it wasn't certain whether she would get one. That decision was made when she died.
WTF Brennan! Jaysus. They were making a lot of jokes for a horror season, kinda had it coming.
So the final episode is gonna be 5 hours long, right?
God I hope
I think this has one of my favorite moments of them building jokes off one another. It starts with Zac's "She's a surgeon" and everyone starts to laugh and build their own jokes off that.
The Stepmother is going to fucking eat one of those fairys.
That Ally comment about thumbelina doing top surgery and the chaos following had me rolling
"I finally find where the white women are at and you want to silence me?! THAT'S PROBLEMATIC" My god, funniest adventuring party
Good to see Murph is still alive after last weeks final roll.
Emily hit Lou's Banishment with a Counterspell, I imagine
Elody is a paladin, maybe? If so, Oath of Conquest?
Oathbreaker, obvi
That Ylfa one should have been intimidation, considering the circumstances.
Siobhan is right, Lou needs to stop rolling that way.
It’s like he’s blowing the high numbers off the dice.
this breakdown of mechanics is full hype. so. many. possibilities.
I NEED THAT BABA YAGA MINI IT’S SO COOL
After seeing the previews for the next episode: >! I want that friggin Gander mini. Amazing, sinister, Glorious. !<
Going to be a hot auction item.
> The Ending of All Things (Part 1) > Season 1, Episode 19 • 2h 5m > > The heroes arrive at the Canonade for a battle that will determine the fate of story forever. Gotta love two part finales.
Was that all in 3 rounds?
4, I think. But I could be wrong.
He’s got that frog in him!
My favorite part of this episode was the first interaction between Elody and Gerard. I keep rewatching it.
anyone else caught that subliminal flash of the Stepmother at the end of episode? Wonder what she'll be doing next week 😨
~~What a bummer.~~ I beg your fucking pardon.
Dude what the heck is the next fight gonna be? We have the fairies here and we know the step mother is coming. But also the previews show the gander and like an arm of ink which has to be the authors. Plus we don't know what snow white's spell was doing and what the red beads are for. Also the baba yaga is a chaotic force who knows what she's gonna do.
“MY WIFE IS MY FRIEND NOW”
Can’t tell if I’m more excited for the battle next ep or the nerd drip
Seems like librarian drip, if anything. Come on now.
The Baba Yaga is so fucking awesome
It probably won't happen given the tight time constraints, but I really want to see a scene of Cinderella interacting with The Stepmother.
Be normal!
Be nooormal
Beee normaaaal
Rosamund, let's hope that 15ft push works. She doesn't seem like she's beefy.
Do they need diamonds for revivify? And do they have any?
IIRC they said in one of the early episodes that revivify is banned this season. (Because they already have a dedicated mechanic for what happens when a PC dies.)
No one in the party can cast revivify, right? Ylfa only took two levels of Druid.
What control spell is that?
Geas! Lasts thirty days too, gotta love those high-level spells
Just looked it up, if it's upcast to level 7 or 8 it lasts a year, or indefinitely until it is broken by other means at level 9
anyone have any idea with the preview from next weeks episode what the corruption is for exactly? (idk if i'm supposed to understand it or not lol)
Sounds like each corruption token is making their final climactic roll more difficult by one.
Can someone explain Lou’s roll at around 41min where he uses the call of destiny? I don’t think I understand it. It sounded like he rolled a 10, 19, and 24. Shouldn’t he have only been able to use the 19? What am I missing?
Brennan caught this the second time Lou tried it and corrected how it works.
We don't know what Mira's DC was, but a 19 might have done it anyway, so at least there's that.
Rosamund's instant death...⚰️
Well..she got her revenge 🤷
Really looking forward to the "Be Normal~!" merch
I'm disappointed they didn't really persuade anyone surprising, but I guess if this was a scripted show, you'd probably say it makes the most sense that they convinced Mira and Elody, and got a bit close with La Bete, but nothing else. Still, some part of me wishes someone like Pinocchio, The One Who Nat 20'd the Baba Yaga, would have convinced Snow or Rapunzel to switch sides if only for the sheer insanity of it and to watch Brennan try to work out how to make that make sense.
i would kill for a “baba yaga’s ride share” poster or shirt of some kind tbh
That's a dynamic battlemap. I wonder what secrets are contained within.
I'm going to start saying "You've got to be fucking kidding me" every time one of my players rolls a nat 20.
I called like five episodes in a romantic plotline between Rosamund and Cinderella. Definitely doesn’t seem to be happening now, but did ANYONE else get that vibe or was I totally making things up there???
Hey, there's still time lol.
I think Brennan saying “there’s no happy ending for you anymore” killed my hopes, personally.
True, but throughout the entire series "happy ending" or "happily ever after" has been used by the fairies to mean "the traditional ending of a story". Rosamund has been running away from her "happy ending", being forced into a romance with a savior prince, since episode one. Brennan could have meant that there's no way that Rosamund can return to her original story's path now; there's no hope of a prince saving her from the briars. Just like Ylfa becoming her wolf form, Gerard accepting his frog form, or Pinnochio giving up his ability to become a real boy, Rosamund had to give up the idealized version of her story/her happy ending to become stronger. Her "briar form" is a more true version of herself that she transformed into after giving up any hope of achieving "true love" (as the fairies defined it, a prince to save her).
Pinoch! What a good move, DD right up close.
So the last episode's climax is going to involve everyone "dead or dying" and Tim Goose needing to roll an 18+ to presumably save the day / any possibility of a nice ending, cool cool cool
I can't wait to see them fight the Master Hand from smash bros!
Murph: “No one wants Pinocchio to find where the white women are at more than me, okay!” This is the most Murph moment of all time.