Awesome / Critical Role Taryon Arc

The Taryon Darrington story arc focuses on Taryon Darrington, an inexperienced aspiring author and adventurer that Vox Machina shortly meets in the city of Ank'Harel in the continent of Marquet after an abrupt exit by Scanlan Shorthalt from the group. Together with Taryon, Vox Machina travel to Vesrah to finish Keyleth's Aramente, to the Nine Hells to kill the Rakshasa Hotis and to Taryon's home Deastok in the continent of Wildemount to confront his father.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Episode 84: Loose Ends

• In order for Scanlan's resurrection to succeed, Matt needs to roll 7 or higher on a d20. What does he actually roll? A natural 20.
• When the group returns to Vasselheim to clear up unfinished business, Grog asks to detour to the temple of Kord so that he can speak with Earthbreaker Groon. Not only is the monk waiting for them with his back turned, yet still knowing exactly when Vox Machina enters the room, but he also challenges Grog to a rematch, causing the sand in the fighting pit to ripple outwards apparently from sheer badassery as he gets ready to fight.
  Earthbreaker Groon: Show me what you have learned.

Episode 85: A Bard's Lament

• Grog faces Earthbreaker Groon in single combat and wins.
  • Earthbreaker Groon is no slouch during the battle. During the first part of the fight, implacable kung-fu master that he is, Grog is barely able to keep up with Groon, let alone land a blow. Later, once Grog finally is able to land blows on him with his Dwarven Thrower hammer, he repeatedly parries and blocks blows with his bare hands - even catching the hammer mid-arc - as well as using Grog's size and momentum against him. He also utilises chi-based attacks to land pressure point strikes, temporarily stunning Grog, as well as one attack that causes Grog's blood vessels to rupture Fist of the North Star-style, drenching him in blood - it's only Grog's high constitution save that prevents him from dropping to 0 HP, but he still is forced to tank a lot of damage as a result. Matt notes that unlike last time, Groon is not pulling his punches.
  • At one point, after several failed attempts, Grog finally manages to catch Groon in a bear-hug and tries to suplex him, but the Earthbreaker is too heavy, seemingly rooted to the ground. Finally, Grog manages to sweep the monk's legs out from under him, throwing off his centre of gravity enough to grapple Groon to the floor, before whaling on him with the hammer.
  • The HDYWTDT moment: after a bloodied and punchdrunk Grog, down to single-digit HP, narrowly avoids two stun attacks, Groon unleashes a flurry of blows that knock Grog unconscious twice... but harnessing Relentless Rage, Grog is able to remain conscious and rally himself, summoning the last of his strength for a series of attacks with his hammer, the last of which knocks Groon clear out of the arena and unconscious.
  Grog: Who's good now?
• Immediately after the battle, divine lightning strikes the Titanstone Knuckles, changing them into their "Exalted" form and effectively confirming Grog as the favored champion of Kord himself.
  • Crossed over with Heartwarming, Grog and Groon shake hands (Groon's grip shown to be stronger even with Grog wearing the Titanstone Knuckles).
  Groon: What have you learned?
  Grog: That without the love of my friends, life has no meaning, and I would be nothing.
  Groon: And how will you utilize this knowledge?
  Grog: I will make their strength mine, and my strength their own, and in turn, I will try to make the world a better place than I found it.
• The entire cast gets one for Scanlan's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and the ensuing argument.

Episode 86: Daring Days

• The entire confrontation between Vox Machina and Taryon shows just how powerful they've become. Taryon is a 13th level character and is completely powerless. He unleashes his best spell upon them, and they all take only minor damage, with even the one who failed the saving throw having ways to half the damage. And they didn't even try: Vex wasn't there, Vax attacked once, healed him and then talked to him, Keyleth cast minor spells just to make it interesting and Percy did actually nothing (not even pulling out a gun) but waiting for something interesting to happen, and Taryon still could do nothing. In the end, he's reduced to ask if at least they felt his attack. The whole thing only lasted a couple of turns, and if they tried they would've been able to put him down before Taryon's first turn.
• Vax sneak attacks Taryon in the surprise round and rolls a critical hit, dealing 88 points of damage. Taryon only has 106 hit points.
• The fact that Taryon took Vax's first blow and didn't pass out is considered one in-universe. Vax points it out to him in the aftermath to convince him he does have some skills.

Episode 87: Onward to Vesrah

• During the fight against the fish pirates, when Trinket crushes the pirate's head in his jaws. Then proceeds to swing the corpse around like a dog toy, followed by a very pleased expression.
• Taryon gets his first kill against a marid with his Ring of the Ram... which ends up catapulting him off the ship due to the recoil. He doesn't even get to see the end result of his kill.
• Vox Machina saving an imprisoned man from the sinking pirate-ship:
  • Keyleth, while standing on the deck of the sinking ship, uses Control Water to slow the ship's descent and forms a tunnel in the water through which everyone can run.
  • Percy detects the caged prisoner in the dark, flooding, loopsided ship and runs down to help him out.
  • Vax picks the lock and carries the unconscious prisoner out as the ship sinks.
  • Keyleth pumps the water from the prisoner's lungs, then, Vex and Vax (in a weirdly competive way) bring him back from the brink of death by healing him.

Episode 88: Tangled Depths

• While it heavily wounds them both for 40+ points of damage, after being swallowed by the Kraken, Keyleth shoots a Fireball deep within the creature's belly which ends up igniting the oil previously dumped by Grog's alchemy jug. Due to the massive damage, the Kraken fails its Constitution save and they manage to get vomited out.
• Speaking of Grog, he gets swallowed a total of three times by the Kraken, and every single time he gets himself out of there and after being taunted by the Kraken after the third escape he retorts with "Yo, oh ancient one, can you read my mind now?" and flips him off as he escapes the Water Plane. Grog also proved pivotal to distracting the Kraken, severing tentacles and making sure Vax's body got out, giving him a hope of resurrection.
• Let's give some credit to that shark. That CR 2 shark that almost managed to MVP the fight. True, it mostly was because the Kraken didn't really care and never attacked, but the shark went through the whole fight landing hit after hit, tearing tentacles and in the end only lived because Keyleth planeshifted away, breaking the spell. Not bad, for a low-level conjuration.
• True, it only happened because Vox Machina most explicitly could not kill the Kraken, but he effectively manages to be Vox Machina's second defeat. They had no way to keep him at bay, they could only be grappled, swallowed and zapped and then try to escape only to repeat it all again. In the end, after hours of fight, several good hits (including a couple on the eye, several from the inside and tearing away most of his tentacles) they realized they didn't deal him enough damage, and he wasn't really giving the party much consideration until near the end where it truly became angry. The Pet of the Titans really earned his reputation.

Episode 89: Curious Tides

• Keyleth's completion of her Aramente and reaching level 17 grants her access to her 9th level spells! She tests out Shapechange by transforming sequentially into a goristro, a beholder, and an adult bronze dragon.

Episode 90: Voice of the Tempest

• Everyone else in the party (sans Taryon, Pike, and Scanlan) reaches level 17 by this episode.
  • Vax and Vex become a 4th-level Paladin and Rogue and gain the Resilient (Constitution) and Sharpshooter feats respectively.
  • Grog becomes a level 2 fighter capable of Action Surge.
  • Percy gains the ability to use Action Surge twice.
• Keyleth, having completed her Aramente, returns to Zephra with Vox Machina by her side. She is then given the mantle of leadership and is crowned "Voice of the Tempest". As a result of completing her lifelong journey, she also delivers a speech to the tribe and the party, thanking them for making her the person she is today. She is also given the Inspiring Leader feat.^note The Inspiring Leader feat is where Keyleth gives a 10 minute speech to the party, to embolden them with courage. They are all given temporary hit points equal to her level plus her Charisma modifier.

Episode 91: Vox Machina Go to Hell

• Matt's descriptions of the Iron City of Dis and the Nine Hells in general in addition to its denizens are both awesome and a heavy dose of Nightmare Fuel.
• The cliffhanger ending. Keyleth leaves the inn without the others to find a means of scouting and locating Hotis's exact whereabouts and tries to stealthily cast Shapechange only to be noticed by two individuals (a dwarf and a chain devil) who were interested in Vax while he was disguised as an albino tiefling. She ducks into an alley, and then stops and chooses to stand her ground, hood down and hands aflame. The individuals demand that she hand him over. Her past self most likely would have submitted to their request. Instead, she puts her foot down and refuses to acquiesce, the Voice of the Tempest expressing that she has no intention of doing so, setting the stage for a potential alleyway encounter.

Episode 92: Deals in the Dark

• How does Keyleth resolve the encounter from last episode's cliffhanger? She Shapechanges into an erinyes and intimidates the two into fleeing with her stature as a higher-ranked devil. She makes good use of it later to intimidate a shopkeeper into giving Vox Machina whatever information he can on their objective—which, as it turns out, wasn't much, but now they have an insider in the City of Dis.
• Taryon provides a door for Vox Machina so that can sneak into Utugash's abode.
• Noelle Stevenson's guest character Tova, a sassy dwarf with little patience. And what is her class? A Blood Hunter, specifically Order of the Lycan. And her animal form? A were-bear.

Episode 93: Bats Out of Hell

• Utugash proving his worth. Fat and lazy as he might have become, he's still a formidable opponent, and he combines his power with field knowledge and advantage by managing to cage Trinket early on and Grog halfaway through the fight and creating a Wall of Fire around him (and some of Vox Machina) that both protects him and damage his opponents (him being immune to fire damage). He actually dies once he leaves it to eliminate the others.
• Before being caged, Grog goes full juggernaut on the pit fiend, and combines his two classes to get three frenzy rage attacks and two attacks with his new Action Surge, bashing Utugash five times with the hammer for over 100 points of damage. And that's without critical hits, or the advantages heavy weapons would grant him.
• After Utugash crushes Keyleth and Tova with his corpulent form and severely wounds the druid with a critical hit, the situation flips on its head as Keyleth Shapechanges into a fire giant and attacks him for over 50 damage in one strike. Matt lampshades how she shouldn't have the attack as per the rules, but it was just too awesome to deny it. Immediately afterward, Tova attacks and gets the HDYWTDT by slashing Utugash's throat open and exacting revenge for all the torture she underwent.
• Vox Machina as a whole making their way to their goal within the prison despite almost losing Keyleth and everyone inside converging on their location, and still managing to fulfill it and escape thanks to Plane Shift.

Episode 94: Jugs and Rods

• Vex has to earn her title as Mistress of the Grey Hunt. After spending thirteen hours in meditation, she gets a vision of a Grey Render and after a quick chat with Percy rides off on Trinket to fight it with only Trinket to back her up. Her first attack being a surprise attack deals 56 damage alone and she survives the battle on 10 HP and kills the Grey Render after giving it a chance to live.

Episode 95: One Year Later...

• Despite being played mostly for laugh, when Vex is going after Vax she sends Trinket at him. We get a reminder that Trinket is a huge, dangerous bear, while he scares the shit out of Vax and sends him running.

Episode 96: Family Matters

• Matt's poker face during the final battle deserves special mention. For context, the party is fighting an illusory demon conjured as part of an elaborate con. Matt plays the battle perfectly straight, making attack rolls, noting damage amounts, and generally playing it like it's a real fight. All of this while keeping track of what the illusionist can see and having the "monster" react or fail to react accordingly. What finally gives it away is that the creature literally cannot hit anything, being nothing but an insubstantial image with sound effects. Sam even notes how he found it suspicious, but Matt kept rolling those dice. Also, Matt's acting skills show up since he simulates the exact same reactions he has when a villain rolls a 1 or a bunch of terrible numbers in a row.
  • Taliesin/Percy also gets one for figuring this out almost immediately, muttering to himself "maybe it's an illusion?" and making sure to watch the Trickfoots. Unfortunately, the rest of the party fell for a Red Herring and prolonged the fight.

Episode 97: Taryon, My Wayward Son

• The manner in which Keyleth dies. Jumping off a cliff down a thousand feet before Surprisingly Realistic Outcome her body smashing upon the rocks. Fortunately, Vex revives her in a quick and timely manner. Everyone agrees that they're not sure how they're going to top that.
• The Siphon under Whitestone has been a source of anxiety in-universe and out, primarily because of how little is known about it. Vex takes a one-in-a-million chance and fires her Oracle Arrow into it. She gets more info in one shot than the smartest mages in Tal'Dorei could from months of research!

Episode 98: The Mines of the Many

• A testament to Matt's god-like improv abilities: After Tary's mother, Maria, tells Tary that she found comfort in the books that Tary had left behind, Sam tries to trip Matt by having Tary ask which one was Maria's favourite. Matt responds almost immediately with a title and plotline involving the creation myth of Wildmount. Somewhat doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny as the rest of the cast is collapsing in fits of laughter throughout the entire exchange.

Episode 99: Masquerade

• After years of living under Howard's tyranny, Tary finally stands up to his father and presents him with an ultimatum: work with Tary to repair the Darrington name or leave.
• Percy gets one for his Armor-Piercing Question to Scanlan:
  Percy: What's Kaylie's mother's name?
  • And when Scanlan can't answer it?
    Percy: (tosses the bag of pistol shot to him) Dick. (begins to leave) For the record, it's Sybil.