Percival finds and confronts one of the targets of his revenge: Professor Byron Anders, once his tutor, now a traitor who turned his coats for the Briarwoods. With Anders possessing a strange power that allows him to turn others into his thralls, can Percival prevail against the mad professor without harming his friends in the process?
Tropes
- Adaptational Deviation: In the original stream, after Percy kills Anders, Vex'ahlia is the one to break Percy out of Orthax's influence. However here, Percy is broken out of his influence by hearing Cassandra call out to him.
- Animated Armor: Anders uses his powers to animate the armors of his mansion to sick them at Vox Machina.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: When Anders has him pinned to a wall and dead to rights, Percy distracts him by apologizing for his family neglecting his intellect, stating: "A talented mind needs time to cultivate! To think! To work out all the angles!" All the while, his eyes dart around the room, working out all the angles needed to pull off the trick shot that would defeat Anders without harming his mind-controlled friends.
- Boom, Headshot!: Anders meets his end via a Trick Shot from Percy's pepperbox that takes his jaw off and leaves him with half a face, and Percy swiftly follows up on that with a point-blank bullet to the remainder that reduces his cranium to crimson semifluid.
- Burning with Anger: When Percy hits his Rage Breaking Point against Anders over the latter mercilessly taunting about Cassandra's impending demise as she's choking on her own blood at his feet, a Freeze-Frame Bonus shows his body outlined in hellfire before he manifests the Black Eyes of Evil that signifies Orthax's influence
- Failed a Spot Check: Despite looking right at him when his Black Eyes of Evil activate, none of Vox Machina notice the signs of something being seriously wrong with Percy because they're too shaken up over being snapped out of Anders' Charm Person powers and then distracted by his still-moving silver tongue on the ground, though they do notice the black smoke that manifests as a sign of Orthax's presence right as Percy give Anders the Coup de Grâce through the window.
- Faint in Shock: Cassandra understandably freaks out when Keyleth manages to heal her slashed throat, before passing out right afterward.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Averted. The Everlight reveals to Pike that she subconsciously severed her connection to her goddess out of shame regarding the 'depravity' she indulged in while messing around, drinking, and causing a ruckus with Vox Machina. The Everlight makes it clear that she doesn't consider said acts shameful in themselves, nor does she frown upon Pike's relationship with the party, despite their less-than-moral characters.The Everlight: Your friends share your passion. Your temple shares your faith.Pike: So....I have to choose?The Everlight: We do not choose. We walk down a path. Any path can be a holy one, as long as one walks it with truth. You can be whoever you want to be in the light, Pike Trickfoot.
- Healing Magic Is the Hardest: When Keyleth uses what appears to be Cure Wounds on Cassandra, she has to sit down and take out material components to make a poultice first. She has to apply pressure to the wound in order to slow the bleeding long enough for the spell to work its magic. It takes longer than six seconds for Cassandra to heal. This is a lot more work than Call Lightning or shape-changing. It is also more involved than Pike's healing earlier in the series.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Percy manages to break Anders' hold over his friends with an extremely well-placed trick shot off the discarded armour parts and Grog's axe that blows Anders' jaw to bits. In the original stream, this was a natural 20.
- Vex gets into a brief Sniper Duel with a bow-wielding Paleguard in the main hall, sending arrows and witty barbs at each other, before Vex ends the fight by shooting straight through his own bolt mid-flight to pierce his skull.
- Jawbreaker: Percy's bullet lands true on Anders', reducing his lower jaw to splattered blood and scattered bone fragments.
- Kill Steal: Grog thinks Vax does this when the latter cuts down the armor he was having trouble with.Grog: I hate your face so much.
- Logical Weakness: As strong as the armors are, they're still vulnerable at the joints, and as soon as they notice it Vox Machina makes short work of them.
- Oh, Crap!: Vox Machina react this way when they see that Anders is controlling Grog.
- Personality Powers: In Percy's flashback in the prior episode, Anders demonstrated frustration at Cassandra ignoring his lesson to mess with Percy, as well as Lord de Rolo refusing his suggestions to improve residuum production—in other words, a dislike of people ignoring him or disobeying his commands. The Briarwoods’ gift ensures that nobody can ever ignore him or his orders ever again. Ironically, Percy, the one person who apparently always listened to his lessons and behaved himself as a model student, is the one person he never controls with the ability, out of a sadistic desire to torment him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Percy gives a vicious one to Professor Anders after he shoots Anders' jaw off, calling Anders out for betraying the de Rolos—instead of simply asking for anything he wanted from them—in response to his belief that they looked down on him. Percy finished this speech by killing Anders with a bullet to the head.
- Tongue Trauma: A brutal example where Percy specifically targets Anders' mouth to stop his charm, resulting in the bullet blasting through his jaw and severing the tongue. Even worse, the still living tongue is then impaled by Grog using one of Vex's arrows.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In response to Keyleth crafting the clouds above Whitestone into the de Rolo family crest, serving as a beacon to demonstrate to the populace that it's time to rise up against the Briarwoods along with the resistance, Delilah uses her magic to unleash a Zombie Apocalypse upon the town, preferring to massacre every last citizen there rather than allow them to rebel openly against their forces.
- Visual Pun: Anders' 'gift' from the Briarwoods discolors his tongue a metallic grey whenever he's using his Compelling Voice powers. He's literally been gifted with a silver tongue.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Delilah sacrifices her steward's life force to raise an undead army from the plentiful graves around Whitestone to descend upon the populace and massacre them after Vox Machina succeed in rescuing Cassandra and killing a good number of their followers, preempting the party's attempting to ignite open rebellion amongst the remaining citizens.
