Denouement

is the twelfth episode of the third chapter of Critical Role. Vox Machina fights for Percy's soul as the Whitestone Rebellion comes to a head! All this plus berets, tree-hugging, and... ships?

Previously on Critical Role
"The Briarwoods—being a family that five years ago took over the city of Whitestone, where Percy hails from, murdered his family and he barely escaped with his life—years later came back into the fold of Vox Machina's existence, and it was decided to go ahead and hunt them down to save the city of Whitestone. Upon arriving, they began to stir a rebellion within the town, against this horrible undead-controlled menace by Lady Briarwood herself. After this rebellion was incited, fires were burning, individuals were killed that were responsible for keeping the people down, and just generally bad people all around were being slaughtered by our intrepid adventurers.

"They made their way into Whitestone Castle, where they had uncovered some information about the Ziggurat, a project which the Briarwoods had been developing for something beneath the city of Whitestone, and discovered that Percy's sister Cassandra, who was thought to be dead long ago, actually still survived and was being kept in the castle. She joined the party as [they] fought their way down underneath the city of Whitestone through a series of tunnels, finding [themselves] unintentionally locked within a trap, a retooled version of what was previously an acid distillery for the white stone that's actually mined from the surrounding mountains, and thought left for dead by the Briarwoods themselves. Vax was charmed and taken along with them. Upon facing the danger of this trap and seeing Cassandra turn redcoat to them with the Briarwoods, the party managed to think their way out of the trap before too much damage was taken, and following the Briarwoods to the final chamber where the Ziggurat was constructed, where apparently there is some sort of ritual underway to some entity that they worship or work with they refer to as the "Whispered One".

"Upon following, the party dividing up and following up the sides of the Ziggurat, they managed to catch and encounter the Briarwoods, a charmed Vax, and Cassandra before they could enter the actual ritual chamber. A battle commenced where, thanks to proper preparation, did not go all so poorly, and in the process Sylas Briarwood was destroyed through a combination of Sunbeam via Keyleth and some Pike shield-deflection—very Avengers moment, with a hint of phallic imagery. Sylas' destruction sent Delilah into a mournful wail, and she decided to try and complete the ritual herself, although it may or may not have been too soon to do so. [She] Dimension Door'ed'' her way into the ritual room, which [Vox Machina] followed over the wall. She seemed to complete the ritual, creating this small, vacuous, spinning black sphere that is locked in place. Vex was nearly felled by a spell as she attempted to fly in and stop it. The party then rushed in to aid Vex, Percy took a shot that intentionally did not finish Lady Briarwood, only taking off her right arm as she fell unconscious and bleeding out, Vex unconscious from the fall and also on the cusp of dying. The party rushed in to help her and realized that seemingly the vicinity around this orb had cut all magic. Thus they were snatched up and escorted off the side of the Ziggurat."''