The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 2

is the second episode of the first season of The Legend of Vox Machina. Vox Machina tells Sovereign Uriel of the monstrous culprit behind the village attacks, and track the creature back to its lair. Vox Machina must rise to the occasion and go face-to-face with a beast that is seemingly impossible to kill.

Plot summary
The blue dragon attacks a military encampment, leaving most of the soldiers dead.

Meanwhile, Vox Machina reports back to the council that the unknown threat is a dragon. The council expresses little faith in their ability to fend it off and General Krieg suggests the council muster troops to deal with the threat. Vex feels the twinge again. She tells the rest of the group that she has studied dragons, as her and Vax's home had been destroyed by one, that she can feel when they are close, and that one has infiltrated the council. The party suspects the somewhat creepy-looking Gregory Fince. They decide to split up to deal with the threat.

Pike and Vax go to Gilmore's Glorious Goods, where they are greeted by Shaun Gilmore. He and Vax exchange flirtatious greetings, and Pike interrupts them to get back onto the topic of dragons. Gilmore brings out a book, cautioning that most lore on dragons is fanciful and useless, and reads out an excerpt: that dragons will be killed where two rivers meet. Vax thanks him and tells Gilmore he owes him dinner.

Meanwhile, Grog and Scanlan sit in the town square and drink ale. Scanlan notices Fince, and he and Grog manage to go unnoticed as they track him to a large estate. They notify the rest of the party, and on the way, get Grog a sandwich. As Grog eats the sandwich, Scanlan and then Keyleth attempt to open the door of the estate, but fail. Vax is able to pick the lock with the toothpick, and they enter into the home of General Krieg, which Percy remarks is somewhat tacky. They begin to split up, when Vax notices a trap door beneath a rug.

In the lower level, they find Fince gathering scrolls from a library. The party interrupts him and tells them that they've caught him, but as Fince pleads with them, telling them that he is only gathering evidence, he is suddenly run through from the back with a sword by General Krieg. The party realizes that Krieg must be working with the dragon and had summoned the troops only in order to kill them. Krieg disappears into the next room, and when the party follows, they do not find him.

In that room, Pike notices that most of the items inside are magical and warns everyone not to touch anything. Grog gets distracted by a pin-up tapestry of a red tiefling woman, and Keyleth disgustedly tells him to stop staring and throws something at it to distract Grog, only for the object to go through it. The party goes through the portal, though Scanlan is reluctant to do so.

The portal takes them to a cold cavern, which Vex surmises is high up in a distant mountain. They come upon a huge amount of treasure, and begin to gather it before they realize it is a horde. They then see Krieg, who turns into Brimscythe before them. They attempt to fight him, but again, struggle, and they take cover in a nook within the cavern. Vax notes that the "two rivers" refer to the veins at the dragon's neck, and tells the party they need to get the dragon onto the ground so someone can strike at the weak point. As Brimscythe stalks and taunts them, Vox Machina realizes that their haphazard combat style may in fact work for them, and hatch a plan. They all appear before Brimscythe, arguing amongst themselves how to proceed, and Brimscythe attacks, only for the party to instantly dissolve. Scanlan reveals that it was an illusion, and the party all launch their attacks, with Grog getting the final blow. After they kill the dragon, the lair begins to shake and crumble, and they escape with only a very small amount of treasure.

They return to the council of Emon, where they are given their reward: honorary membership on the council, and the key and deed to a nearby keep, as the council wants their heroes close by to help defend the city from threats.

We then come upon a sickly-looking carriage driver and a lavish carriage carrying a wealthy couple. The carriage is stopped, and the woman calls upon the driver, but the man tells her, "I'll take care of it, my love." He is accosted by bandits, but then immediately bites and kills one of them, leading the other bandit to shout in horror. As the woman calmly drinks tea inside the carriage, carnage ensues, and the man then steps back in. The carriage then continues on towards Emon.

Cast

 * Laura Bailey as Vex'ahlia
 * Taliesin Jaffe as Percy
 * Ashley Johnson as Pike
 * Liam O'Brien as Vax'ildan
 * Marisha Ray as Keyleth
 * Sam Riegel as Scanlan
 * Travis Willingham as Grog
 * Matthew Mercer as various

Vox Machina

 * Keyleth
 * Percival de Rolo
 * Scanlan Shorthalt
 * Grog Strongjaw
 * Pike Trickfoot
 * Trinket
 * Vax'ildan
 * Vex'ahlia

New

 * Shaun Gilmore
 * Desmond Otham
 * Delilah Briarwood
 * Sylas Briarwood

Returning

 * General Krieg
 * Gregory Fince

Trivia

 * Though the episode was intended to be released on January 28, 2022 in the United States, it released several hours early when it became January 28 per UTC time instead.