‘Critical Role’ 3×32 recap: A Stage Set
The Bells Hells are making friends on Critical Role!
Critical Role 3×32 recap: Campaign 3, Episode 32 “A Stage Set” Aired September 1, 2022
Back to Bassuras
The Bells Hells take their crawler back to Bassuras where Fearne says a slightly awkward goodbye to her mother (with Imogen watching Birdie like a hawk… no pun intended). On their own again, the Bells Hells know they need to report in at the Paragon’s Call.
The Bells Hells still need to capture Armand Treshi, not to mention try and figure out what the Call is up to under the hand of the enigmatic Otohan Thull. Its a tall order. So naturally, they decide to find Dancer instead. To figure out what the deal is with Fresh Cut Grass going murderbot (not at all to avoid Thull).
Dancer’s Tale
They find Dancer in a local bar looking very rough… and missing an arm. Knowing that Dancer’s history with FCG is checkered, they leave FCG outside. It does make Dancer comfortable enough to do some talking and she confirms some things about FCG’s origins.
She bought them about three years ago from a mysterious masked man called D who comes into town every few years. D claimed that he found FCG in the ruins deep inside the Rumedan Desert. D comes to town every few years, and Dancer says they’ll have to talk to him if they want to know more.
Frightened, but determined, Dancer does agree to go outside and talk to FCG. They don’t make up– Dancer isn’t ready for that yet– but they do clear the air . Dancer tells FCG to sort their life out before they come to find her again. Figure out how to control the murderbot, and then maybe they can have a relationship.
Checkup
Dancer did mention that when she flipped FCG’s proverbial on-switch, their personality was already written into it. It got the Bells Hells wondering if she perhaps did something wrong. They decide to go to Imahara Joe’s and ask him to take a peek inside FCG.
Joe is very excited to do a little tune up, and while he doesn’t see anything wrong with FCG, hearing about the murderbot does ring a bell with Joe. He remembers a story called the Care & Culling– a political incident that happened during the ancient Age of Arcanum.
The city of Aeor sent out care unit Automatons, healers and clerics, out of their city to important political figures all across Exandria. The Automatons all functioned normally, until they very much didn’t. Sleeper agent automatons activated all over the world and killed many many people. Could FCG be one of these automatons? The Bells Hells will have to track down D if they want confirmation.
The Bells Hells reporting for duty
With no other way to procrastinate, the Bells Hells finally report in to the Paragon’s Call. They are given quarters and new yellow cloaks to mark them as part of the Call, but they’re far from trusted. Every move they make is very closely watched by the mercenaries.
Especially since the Call are on the move. There are a bunch of crates being loaded onto a mammoth crawler to be moved out of town. Including some crates that Ashton recognized– the same crates that they were trying to steal from Hexum when they were magically thrown out of her house and left for dead. The Call are moving the crates (and maybe Treshi) out in the morning, while the Bells Hells are supposed to stay behind and guard the keep.
Down below
While Ashton and Laudna brave a sandstorm to retrieve the enchanted ring that tracks Treshi (Critical Role C3x13), Chetney turns invisible and immediately heads downstairs. The Bells Hells were told to stay well away from the basement, so the fact that he finds what must be a vault door is no surprise. More surprising was the sight of Armand Treshi.
In a prison cell.
On one hand it was a plush prison cell, even fit with nice furniture and books galore. On the other hand, he was locked inside it. So has Treshi begun to outlive his usefulness to the Paragon’s Call? Or is he just very afraid for his security?
A shout goes out before the Bells Hells can figure it out. The Paragon Call are under attack. Chaos reigns.
But not all chaos is a bad thing.
Watch Critical Role Thursdays at 7pm PST on Twitch and YouTube! Check out last week’s Critical Role recap here, or watch me talk about all the highlights and theories here!
Critical Role 3×32 Highlights
- Laura got a whisper when they talked to Dancer about Dee and now I’m a little convinced that D is actually Devaxian– the automaton the Mighty Nine woke up in Campaign Two!
- What is going on with Artana Voe (Critical Role C3x9)! Orym spotted the bounty hunter in the streets of Jrusar. Is she still working for Armand Treshi? Or is she now out to catch him?
- Ashton, don’t you dare call Laudna extra! She’s not the one with glowy-skull diamonds!
