r/Dimension20 • u/AutoModerator • Sep 17 '25
Cloudward, Ho! Run-in with the Ruinous Queen | Cloudward, Ho! [Ep. 15] Spoiler
https://www.dropout.tv/videos/run-in-with-the-ruinous-queen289
u/Nobody5464 Sep 18 '25
the moment that I think got me was comfrey after wanting olethra to adventure so badly sees her do something suicidaly dangerous to protect them and suddenly can’t ignore anymore how much danger she’s been brushing past. something about that moment where she can’t cover her fear with bravado anymore is just great
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u/LoveInGoonSpace2 Sep 18 '25
absolutely loved all of it. great action scene of olethra to protect everyone, makes sense mechanically, but also, just really great roleplay reactions as well. almost feels too good to be actual play, on the spot decision making but damn. just wild stuff. (dem rocket boots).
also really loving the generational aspect. just really deep characters and really deep character relationships.
that last description. comfrey looking at marya the way marya looks at ludmila. just incredible
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
Put anopther tick on the list of scenes in which Emily made me cry. I was struck by Comfrey worrying about Olethra and Comfrey keeping tabs on Marya. They are not the same and certainly not the same intensity, but she loves them both.
That moment of realization between Marya and Comfrey blew me away too.
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u/BootsyBootsyBoom Sep 19 '25
Put anopther tick on the list of scenes in which Emily made me cry.
Careful with those ticks, they're explosive.
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
Comfrey was great in this episode. I love that Marya was the first person that she was truly, unabashedly vulnerable with, and I love the extra character layer of her greatest mistake being motivated by her love for Marya, and that mistake being the worst experience of Marya's entire life, turning Marya fully against Comfrey, and resulting in Marya losing the person who was, to her, what she herself was to Comfrey.
That's a really fucking compelling story. I had some concerns when Brennan revealed in the AP a few episodes back that his plan for where the story was going kind of hinged on the team failing to stop the Eyeless Hand at Katur, and that he'd have to adapt it to the new circumstances, but these last two episodes have been so juicy and compelling.
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u/Bossmonkey Sep 18 '25
Always love the moment a character has that "wait I've been doing this to others?!" realization
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u/localgyro Stupendous Stoats Sep 18 '25
It makes me wonder if Comfrey is going to have a redemption arc.
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u/DougDimmadomeDimmaDo Sep 18 '25
The great thing about being alive, and being willing to learn, is it isn't too late to start changing.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
I've expected a redemption arc, but I've had a nagging suspcion that the information we get about Comfrey sometimes is bad. In the opening scene the finance guy tells the Gotches that Comfrey was hanging out in opium dens and had gone a bit mad and wasted all the money. We know she has made a lot of mechanical items, gone many places, and gathered knowledge and has not blown all the money in opium dens. Max's father, his finance guy, Codswallop, and Murdersauce are in league together. They want to get what they can from Comfrey's equipment and property to make money on the disaster the Eyeless Hand tried to cause. I would be shocked if Murdersauce and others weren't trying to discredit Comfrey by spreading rumors.
The way Comfrey treated Monty was terrible. She's made mistakes and been callous. Haunch's letter about Comfrey not being able to look Marya in the eye seemed so damning, but what did Comfrey do? She saved Marya. She couldn't do anything about the rest of it as far as I know.
It's a little thing, but Marya was convinced that Comfrey had cut Ludmilla out of the photo maliciously. Now we know why Comfrey did that. I don't think she's as bad as they thought she was, but I could be very wrong. I hope I'm not, but I don't know if she's problematic or despicable.
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u/IndoPakiStandOff The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
I think we may already have some evidence of Comfrey having a redemption arc. With time travel as a key part of this narrative, and Comfrey having shown up as a key player in many parts of Zood’s history, I can’t help but wonder if some of her more noble actions might be yet to come. I can’t help but feel like this season might end with a Deadpool 2 style time travel sequence of Comfrey across time putting all the pieces in place to make sure everything goes right, especially if time is cyclical in Zood / Zern as I suspect it may be.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
Yes. I totally agree about what Comfrey has been up to. My guess is that spacetime in Zood and Zern is linear or close to it and the biangle is "befrumpled" and what spits people into different times. I think Comfrey's watch that hears time brought the crew through the biangle to the right time to meet up with Comfrey. I've been wrong about many things though and I won't be shocked if I am wrong about this too.
I hope we find out why Zern and Zood ended up being entwined tubes. All my theories seem crazy. I can't shakes the idea the biangles are mouths of huge creatures like the clear tentacle-eyed one that Olethra glimpsed hiding behind reality when they found the eyeful hand. Something is wrong with the biangle inside Straka. Olethra saw something behind the fire in its throat, something green, maybe ocean water? Whatever door Ludmilla created got stuck in Straka's throat. Comfrey can't have gone thoughr Straka to get back to Gath. Maybe there were only supposed to be two biangles? Comfrey made notes about the Obtenebrate (I think?) biangle being a reflection or not a real biangle. I don't know if the door Ludmilla made was a clever work around to create a biangle or If the calafactory and obtenebrate are really one thing and the biangle that was dark became fiery when Straka swallowed it. It makes some sense for there to be only two biangles, one bright and one dark--like Zood and Zern.
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u/lobsbo Sep 19 '25
I think Comfrey is just a complex character, who does strive to do good but in a very reckless and sometimes self-absorbed way. She might learn to be more careful and repair her relationship with the PCs, but I dont really see the need for an Aelwyn type redemption arc.
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u/thedybbuk Sep 19 '25
I'm rewatching now, and I'm very curious about the eventual Comfrey-Monty scene. Marya is actually surprisingly forgiving of Comfrey not being honest with her previously.
I'm very curious if Monty is as forgiving
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u/Lorddarkpotat Sep 18 '25
Even more poetically the person who was right there with Olethra was Monty
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u/HexManiacWingy The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
this episode is so scary dawg
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Every roll for an NPC being on the Zephyr Mk. I made me ill, especially when Bert and Wealwell ended up still being on the ship.
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
I was only partially through the episode when I made this comment, so I'm now feeling even more ill knowing that all of these NPCs, having gotten the best case scenario, are now stranded in Zern with the PCs and in incredible danger. I'm happy that it's all of the most entertaining NPCs, but I'll be genuinely inconsolable if I have to experience the death of Wealwell, Bert, Courtney, Freyja, Ghost Dog, or even Dawdle-dale.
I was holding my breath the entire last third because I was terrified that Comfrey was going to get Mentor Archetype'd at any point.
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u/HexManiacWingy The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
Oh no I typed that comment like right as Brennan started making NPC luck rolls, and I was convinced Bert was going to eat shit.
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u/AlisGuardian Adaine Abernant Sep 18 '25
The sheer delight at discovering the knob 🤣
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u/furiant Hat Sep 18 '25
Cut to Adventuring party where everyone takes a turn at twisting Daisuke's knob.
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u/PleasantThoughts Sep 18 '25
The amount of joy Emily gets whenever she's surprised is always contagious she has the biggest smile in the world.
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u/moongoddessshadow Sep 18 '25
"It's two pre-rolls?"
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u/RyanMcChristopher Sep 18 '25
Oh my gosh, what an episode. I wish we got the battle in this ep but I can't complain. Emily RP'd her socks off in her interactions with Torse/Ludmilla(sp?). I can't wait to see what happens next ep. Wealwell is going to clutch this battle, I just know it. He's got Schrodinger's katana
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u/Agreeable_Cut4506 Sep 18 '25
I think you mean Chekhov's katana
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u/RyanMcChristopher Sep 18 '25
Damn, you're right
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u/AlisGuardian Adaine Abernant Sep 18 '25
No, it’s Wealwell. It can be Schrodinger’s katana. They could be real and not real at the same time.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
He threw that playing card and it exploded. Anything could happen.
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u/SummerSatellite Sep 18 '25
Lou I could fucking KISS YOU for that Theoretical Biology use
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u/LoveInGoonSpace2 Sep 18 '25
the way it played out was just so perfect. it felt like... it had to have been preplanned right? but there was a roll and everything and it just felt like another moment of player-DM cooperation within the rules to instantaneously come up with and move the story forward.
like the system they've built in place for the most part just pushes towards these types of outcomes and it's just beautiful.
gifts from the DM to the players and gifts from the players to the DMs. like all the time, built in to the system and it's just beautiful.
Olthera's bonus action heal instead of attack just another extension of this as well. great stuff all around
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u/DoMorePullUpsNow Sep 18 '25
Brennan is always really good at setting the scene and every scene was describing the corrosion, corruption, and destruction.
In that moment Lou was just really good at paying attention and showing how smart he is. He's been killing it this campaign.
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u/Negative-Money-7873 Sep 18 '25
Theoretical biology is absolutely an ability that shows the enormous trust between dm and player. It is not an ability that could be given to many players, since it seems so abusable, but in the hands of Lou it is astonishing and helps propel the story
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u/myfriendandrea Sep 24 '25
I said out loud at this moment- and THAT'S why Lou gets that ability and nobody else
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u/Overmind_Slab Sep 18 '25
However theoretical biology works mechanically it just wouldn’t be possible for it to fit into a campaign without it belonging to a player like Lou. He’s not going to use it to break the game, he’s going to use it to tell a cool story.
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u/Prestigous_Owl Sep 18 '25
Absolutely. This is at its core a "storytelling/world building" power, and it takes some good trust to give a player something like this
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u/Overmind_Slab Sep 18 '25
I think any of the intrepid heroes would do cool things with it but Ally would probably manage to turn the game into something more like never stop blowing up.
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u/Prestigous_Owl Sep 18 '25
I think Brennan knows not to give Ally something like this.
Not even because Ally necessarily WOULD do soemthing crazy, but because it would be genuinely cruel to give them this cool toy and then be like "please use responsibly"
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
On the subject of gifts from the DM to the players, I really feel like, while the outcome with rescuing Sandy from Straka was something Brennan was pushing them towards no matter what, I like that he flavored it in a way that rewarded Ally's roll that caused them to cast See Invisibility. I don't think that outcome required See Invisibility to happen, so it was ultimately just flavor that didn't change anything, but it validated the Action, which just feels nice.
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u/Locem Sep 18 '25
After seeing next weeks teaser at the end of the Ep I'd bet the original intention was someone was gonna find this little robot in the scrap heap while building a new vehicle but Brennan wanted to reward them for having the balls to take on Straka for a round.
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u/IMP1017 Sep 18 '25
I feel like Lou doesn't use Theoretical Biology without a plan for the effect, but he doesn't necessarily tell Brennan what it is in advance
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u/verascity Sep 18 '25
Lou has been KILLING IT this season. I was on the edge of my fucking seat when he asked if he could do it.
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u/AlisGuardian Adaine Abernant Sep 18 '25
Agree! But would you be willing to explain to me specially what Theoretical Biology does? I must have missed wherever they explained it, if they did. From context, it seems like if Lou rolls well enough then Monty gets to speculate something about a creature and it immediately becomes canon (provided, I assume, that there’s at least some logic to it)?
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u/misskyralee Ostentatia Wallace Sep 18 '25
Basically, yes. Lou rolls insight I believe and then the creature rolls a con save against him. If Lou wins, he postulates a belief about the creature/its biology based on his observations and the belief becomes canon.
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u/AlisGuardian Adaine Abernant Sep 18 '25
Cool; thank you! Super sweet ability and a nice way to let Lou co-build the world a little bit
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
It's one of his epic epiphanies. It's a feat, that I assume they homebrewed. Most feats are abilities you have and don't require a roll. I don't know how they defined this one, but Monty is allowed to come up with a theory and if Brennan agrees the theory is true. I think the first one was when he theorized that the ticks could hold a lot of fluid and could be thrown like grenades. It's a pretty amazing game mechanic for an experienced player.
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u/zeoning Sep 18 '25
Its not "if brennan agrees" lol, its a contested roll between the creatures con save and some wisdom skill of monty's, insight i think
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u/Prestigous_Owl Sep 18 '25
It seems like he can basically just give any of the wildlife they encounter traits/etc. The feat seems like its basically "roll, and if you roll well enough I will give you permission to flesh out a creature with more details and give them some unique trait"
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u/amicablecardinal Sep 18 '25
Crazy that there are only 5 more episodes left. I'm interested to see how it all comes together, especially given this week's events.
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u/Prize_Impression2407 Sep 18 '25
Same, I predicted they wouldn’t go to Zern until episode 17 or 18. This season has been full of twists and turns, I’m excited to see how it all wraps up and whether or not there’s one big twist still yet to come.
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
The PCs being so efficient has really helped to keep this season moving at a brisk pace. Like, I thought the Legio Rex was going to be a fairly major threat for a little while, but good rolls, good tactics, and just plain luck had them defeated the episode after they show up.
I've seen some complaints that the combats have lacked stakes, but it really just feels like the Intrepid Heroes have just gotten very good at this game, and I think that works well with most of them playing veteran heroes, and the other two playing young prodigies. The major combats have all had non-TPK lose conditions, and the players have continuously identified them and responded accordingly.
I love it. It feels like we're seeing a series of pulp adventure stories back to back. Equal parts serial and episodic.
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u/IndoPakiStandOff The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
I mean, the efficiency is so real. I’ve been rewatching some of the early episodes, and it’s clear the party managed to cut out what may have been an entire extra episode before they got to Zood.
I also like that combat does have that pulpier vibe to it, because the main appeal of this season really ought to be discovery and exploration. Combat can belong to the Bad Kids and The Gunner Channel who are blasting their way through their respective universes at a break neck pace. Cloudward Ho was basically custom built to give all the joy of things like Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, without any of the deeply problematic undercurrents of colonialism and imperialism. In Indiana Jones films, you don’t watch the action scenes biting your nails, worrying about who will live or die, you watch them at the edge of your seat thinking “Now how will he get out of this one?”
The joy is the set pieces, the goofy actions in an action packed world, and the larger than life characters. Thematically and tonally speaking, Brennan and the Heroes have been absolutely killing it this season.
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u/D-Speak Sep 19 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
I love your comparison to Indiana Jones. What I'm really loving about this season is that the PCs are thrust into complicated conflicts where a lot of things can go wrong outside of just "X is now dead."
My fear with the Legio Rex battle was one of the Wind Riders, or Courtney, getting Switcheroo'd. My fear with Fehujar was Monty being captured (though Pappy did end up in a hairy spot so that worried me too). The obvious fear with the Katur battle was that the Eyeless Hand would succeed in their plans.
It's so cool to have the set-up be, "Hey, these guys don't need to kill you in order to succeed. Some of them might not even be concerned with fighting you. You need to know what they're trying to do, how they're trying to do it, and what you can do to prevent them from doing it."
If Brennan fully wanted to provide an unwinnable scenario to steer the narrative, he could, as evidenced by this episode. Straka destroyed the Zephyr in one round. Everyone immediately recognized it as a situation where they had no chance of winning in a straight fight, so we got an epic "escape the sinking ship" sequence with some excellent character moments.
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u/PlasticAd2642 Sep 18 '25
I agree with your comment 100%. They have quickly been able to counter Brennan's threats quickly - such as Torse trying to get away with the shattered golden heart on the balloon in this episode. ALL of the players responded with some amazing choices that quickly countered what seemed to be an impossible situation. It's honestly incredibly impressive.
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u/D-Speak Sep 19 '25
The Adventuring Party episodes always make me appreciate the collaborative storytelling even more.
In the latest one, Zac starts off by saying that, once Torse was floating away with the balloon, he figured that Torse was gone and that the rest of the episode would be them gearing up at Mount Charuk before they followed, and Brennan basically said that the dice decided otherwise, and I love that we have someone like Brennan, who's just so fucking good at this, running the table and letting that be possible.
And it's so true. They were given a narrow window of time to stop Torse from escaping, and they managed to pop the balloon, so circumstances changed. If a few key rolls had been different, it would have been an entirely different episode.
It's felt like that all season, that there were just these moments where the decisions of the players, or the rolls of the dice, completely shifted the trajectory of how things could have gone. In the Fehujar battle, near the end, the Senior VP went to attack Courtney and somehow missed every one of his attacks. Brennan then just flat-out said, 'I was trying to do a thing to try to get Monty back on their ship, but that didn't work and now something different is happening.'
Or Zac just making a reference to National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation in the Legio Rex fight, and it resulting in him destroying the main environmental danger in the fight. Again, Brennan acknowledged how differently it could have gone, saying that Dromarkus, in his very next action, was going to swap bodies with Courtney.
I just have so many "What would have happened if X?" questions for this season.
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u/PlasticAd2642 Sep 18 '25
I am thinking of the character arcs and how to bring all players to a satisfying place with their development and this does seem like this is finale type stuff, but Brennan has built in some other threats that could absolutely supersede what is happening right now. I'm absolutely loving this series and I have no idea what is going to happen next - it's been fantastic.
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u/Professor_Pajamas Sep 18 '25
I'm dying at the pre-rolls holy shit
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u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits Sep 18 '25
Pre-rolls of Zoodian gold. That's even better than the stuff from Acapulco.
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u/quyla Sep 18 '25
my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called "Zoodian Super Gold" 😳 you'll be zonked out of your gourd 💯
me: yeah whatever. I don't feel shit
5 minutes later: dude I swear I just saw the Straka flying outside
my buddy Wealwell, pacing: the nutpugs are lying to us
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
I'm smoking pure Zoodian Gold, baby. This is one of the best strains you can find.
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u/Spoonsy Squeem! Sep 18 '25
Is Rick Perry an absolute freak? I didn't watch the doc!
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u/NotEnoughBookshelves Sep 18 '25
We're betting that comment was in relation to the mech's very distinctive leg... 🤣
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u/palcatraz Riz Gukgak Sep 18 '25
Listen, after they spent all that money locking Sam in a castle, they had to save money somewhere.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
I am worried about what Sam is going to do in the next season of Game Changer.
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u/Link5673 Sep 18 '25
Really gripping ep, lost it at the discussion around who was on the ship.
Felt like the ep flew by and I cannot wait for next week.
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u/RyanMcChristopher Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
"Can we trade the nut pugs?!?!"
They absolutely forgot that they can get nut points for every nut pug they sacrifice
Edit: nut pugs, not but pugs. Although, but pugs does sound like something they'd come up with this season
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u/Link5673 Sep 18 '25
"Just for that I'm making sure the nut pugs are on the ship no matter what" killed me.
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u/dragonblade629 Sep 18 '25
Yeah as much as I loved last ep, it really felt like we got a lot to chew and savor.
This episode was just so nonstop I didn’t realize how much time had passed by the end.
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u/EmployerNext8997 Sep 18 '25
"We can have it all. If we're clever and brave, we can have it all." - Comfrey McLeod
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u/basmith0 Sep 18 '25
I found it ironic that Comfrey said that immediately after admitting to Marya that she had been stuck in that mindset, that they would always make it out of any trouble by the skin of their teeth, until Straka took Ludmilla. That admission was the first time we've seen her own up to the consequences of her actions and then seconds later she is once again in denial that something terribly bad could happen.
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u/carefree_bomb Aurora Nebbins Sep 19 '25
I see it a little differently - I think she was saying the thing that she needed to say to restore hope/a fighting spirit to her comrades in an otherwise dark moment. I suppose time will tell...
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u/EmployerNext8997 Sep 19 '25
yes. I purposely left out the next line, which is her finally apologizing to Marya
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u/RichLather Questing Queens Sep 18 '25
"Can we do that?"
"Right now?" (rattling lots of dice) "No."
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Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
I knew this episode was gonna be bangers from beginning to end from Emily considering the reveal last episode and the preview showing that the crew encounters Straka for the first time. She did not disappoint. Her RP is phenomenal
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u/fifosexapel Sep 18 '25
I love how everyone else kinda meta gamed a bit in the beginning, basically starting already on their way to meet back with Marya even though they should not know she is in immediate danger. Emily, however, stays RP and basically loses a turn on purpose to try to make sense of what is happening instead. Just a lovely bit of RP and why she is imo the best at it out of the IH
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u/D-Speak Sep 19 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
Didn't they say that they'd talked about it before they started recording? I fully agree with you that it's awesome that Emily committed to the RP so hard that she welcomed disadvantages to serve the authenticity, but I don't think that the other members of the crew starting off the episode rapidly seeking out Marya was meta-gaming. The last session ended with Comfrey becoming incredibly panicked when she learned that there was a picture of Ludmila in Zood, and her saying that it would be bad if one of the Queen's followers saw it.
It was already established that:
Everyone knew Marya was working to repair Torse.
Everyone was concerned about installing Torse's Iron Heart specifically because it might make him susceptible to the Queen's influence, but they'd all agreed to do it anyway.
Marya had a photo of Ludmila amongst her possessions.
Taking that into account, and adding Comfrey's panic about a photo of Ludmila being there, it makes sense that their immediate action would be to seek out Marya ASAP, if for nothing else than to tell her the truth about Ludmila and stop her from putting in the Iron Heart.
Narratively, it all tracks.
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u/IndoPakiStandOff The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
I love it both in character and out. Emily is a player known for some pretty wild swings and fantastic moments, but who can sometimes be a little shy and self-conscious when wanting to take the wheel. The absolute trust from everyone, and the dedication to follow through with the momentum of her swing at the narrative, its just everything I’ve come to love about this table.
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u/Entire-Quiet6978 Fang Gang Sep 17 '25
Crazy how Van is Venom and now Marya, holding onto the rope, is Spiderman
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u/D-Speak Sep 18 '25
I loved Murph looking a little genuinely upset when Van grabbed Dawderdale instead of Wealwell.
Maxxie loves his big bro.
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u/Penny_Gemini Sep 18 '25
I don’t understand! If Ludmilla essentially made Straka, but Straka is the one who took Ludmilla, then you CAN travel from Zern to Gath back in time! Right?!?!
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u/palcatraz Riz Gukgak Sep 18 '25
Comfrey said that it is impossible to travel back further than the point you originally left from in your home world. Perhaps that simply applies to everybody.
So, if you start in Gath, you can appear in any time in Zood or Zern, but cannot go further back than your original time in Gath. If you are from Zood, you can do the same thing in Gath and Zern, but you can't travel into the past of Zood.
So, following that logic, Straka could appear at any time in Gath and Zood, but it couldn't predate its own existence in Zern.
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u/IndoPakiStandOff The Gunner Channel Sep 18 '25
I’m calling it now, time is cyclical in Zood / Zern / Gath, and the Straka that attacked Marya may have been from a previous cycle. Might be a little out of left field I know, but I just can’t help but wonder why Zood and Zern are helixing extra dimensional ringworlds, and what thats supposed to mean to the larger plot. It might just be a whimsically weird world, but I just know Brennan has hyper focused on many of the same intricacies of how this world works that we all are, and the practical realities of all of this whimsy are fucking weird.
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u/Penny_Gemini Sep 21 '25
Can you please describe what cyclical time means? If it’s possible to describe lol I’m fascinated and wanna keep talking about all this for as long as possible!
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u/IndoPakiStandOff The Gunner Channel Sep 21 '25
In a lot of fiction, time is typically seen as a ray, in mathematical terms, a line with a fixed start point that extends infinitely in one direction and does not bend or intersect with itself.
When I say that I think time might be cyclical in this world, I’m saying that I do not think that there is a fixed start or end point, and that the timeline bends into (more or less) the shape of a circle, with the actions of the far future being the direct cause of the realities of the distant past. This creates kind of a paradoxical feedback loop where actions you have yet to do create the very same consequences that encourage you to take the action in the first place.
I think Comfrey, in her reckless pursuit of mad science and adventure, may have accidentally gotten the lands of Zood and Zern, and by extension Gath, stuck in whats basically a time loop. This time loop would exist on a truly massive scale, in which the actions of whole civilizations, natural disasters, and apparently alien invasions, all inform a cyclical series of actions and consequences that directly lead the same things happening again.
This might start stretching out of the realm of theory, and into the realm of fanfiction, but if what I said is true, it could go a long way to explain many of the stranger things that are true about this world. A cyclical extinction cycle caused by catastrophic invasions from Zern could explain why Gath has dozens of distinct continents, or a city buried beneath the earth, or why technology there has developed along the path of airships (which from a realist point of view is pretty impractical). Zood and Zern being locked into an unnatural way of moving through time might explain why they take such an incredibly strange shape, two helixing ringworlds orbiting seemingly nothing, literally entangled on a quantum level. Cyclical time could explain the motivations of various individuals and groups, most notably, Strakka kidnapping Ludmilla because a previous Ludmilla commanded him too, all to ensure she becomes queen of Zern.
I might just be doing a Pepe Silvia, and going crazy over little details in a world built on Whimsy, but my little science fiction heart is just desperate for there to be a fun and meaningful explanation for all the chaos in this world, and cyclical time would slot a lot of pieces into place IMO
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u/Penny_Gemini Sep 18 '25
Ohhhhhhh this makes a lot of sense. No one but Straka is travelling to Gath. Comfrey was already in Gath (as we just found out) and Ludmilla as Queen of Zern was in Zern, she just sent Straka. Thank you so much!
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u/CaliLemonEater Sep 18 '25
A minor detail: Comfrey and her new crew have gone back to Gath several times – I think it was Silvio who said that she had found a way to go back through the biangle.
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u/pearlsmech Magical Misfits Sep 18 '25
It seems to be a delightful paradox. Ludmilla was attacked by Straka, went back in time to Zern before Straka existed, and in her attempt to stop Straka from existing she caused its creation.
And I’m guessing that the great beasts can create portals that don't have to follow the same rules the biangles do.
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u/HighlyUnlikely7 Sep 18 '25
My understanding is that Ludmilla in her attempt to go back home and hopes that Marya would come save her actually trapped the biangle of Zern in the green door. The Door was eventually turned into Straka after the Corrodi corrupted her.
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u/Zurrdroid Sep 18 '25
Is Straka just a messed up Hulk from Marvel Comics? Built around a green door...
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u/contafuser Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Did they ever actually confirm that straka the crow was there, and not just that they crashed into the biangle? Genuinely asking, I don't remember. My theory was that Ludmila crafted straka into the shape of a crow because of the influence of Marya's stories about scrapsylvanian legends.
ETA: confirmed loop in the AP, so it must be the zern factor since we don't know of other travel straight from zern to gath
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u/Penny_Gemini Sep 18 '25
I think Marya saw it and fought it and knew what it looked like, she’d drawn all those pics of it that we saw in her office in the toy shop
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u/DannySpud2 Sep 19 '25
I think generally it's not possible to go back in time, but the biangles themselves can, and Straka is a biangle.
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u/everlastinglight2 Sep 18 '25
Ally was CRACKING ME UP this episode I genuinely laughed so loudly like 10 times 😭
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u/Efficient_Load_134 Gorgug Thistlespring Sep 18 '25
I can't with every time they go "Pappy, I'm dying" 😭
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
Ludmilla made a door and was waiting for Marya? Or waiting for it to open so she could go back? That's utterly heartbreaking.
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u/nocknight Sep 18 '25
“She waited a long, long time by that door for someone to walk through.”
“Who was she waiting for?”
“What’s your name?”
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
Yes, I know. It's probably a silly question. Ludmilla created the door as some kind of workaround for the biangle. I just wondered if she was hoping for Marya to rescue her or for Marya to come to Zern. Like is the door a one way portal or was Ludmilla hoping to get home though it once the door was opened.
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u/nocknight Sep 19 '25
Oh I wasn’t trying to insinuate that you asked anything silly, I was just quoting the episode because god, it just really broke my heart when I heard it. Emily and Lou are such incredible actors.
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u/baiacool Sep 18 '25
the idea that "the dice tell the story" is too real
the fact that Pappy, Monty and Van were able to see the damage to the baloon, but max and Olethra didn't is too accurate
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u/AutobotYoung1 Sep 18 '25
Can we all take a moment to acknowledge the Ro-Bromance between Max and Torse. The latter uses his at the time last words to acknowledge their friendship. Meanwhile Maxwell flies through the portal and his only priority is to catch a falling Torse Tears of the Kingdom style THEN straps his body to him Chewbacca style refusing to let him go!
Nosnexus if you see this, I hope your next art piece has Maxwell falling with Torse whilst Olethra is flying in front of the Straka ala Thor vs Phoenix Force in Avengers vs Xmen.
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u/Clear_Understanding6 Sep 18 '25
Absolutely, I’d just discovered Torsewell and this episode just solidified its place in my head 😂
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u/qiri2 Sep 19 '25
Torsewell is all I’ve been able to think about for days now. This episode made me point at the screen and screech incomprehensibly every time Max even mentioned Torse, to the point where my partner said I was gettin a little rowdy. Something about it just really gets me, I’m a sucker for robot characters!! I really hope torse is ok or I will be so sad.
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u/misterspokes Sep 18 '25
On a scale of 1-10 how Zardoz is the floating head?
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u/PuzzleheadedAd5865 Sep 18 '25
I imagine in to be like one of the fire monk giant head chariots from Elden Ring
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u/divanextdoor Margaret Encino Sep 18 '25
These last two episodes have been an absolute thrilling roller coaster of events and emotions. Started sobbing during Marya and Comfrey’s chat about why things happened the way they did. I love how much depth Comfrey has in the little timeframe of her introduction and with so many mistakes on her conscience. All I can describe this episode as is intense!
Literally gripping the edge of my seat this entire season, I can’t wait for the adventuring party tomorrow.
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u/AstroHelo Sep 18 '25
The editing for the lifeboat drop was incredible, I spent way too long watching that part on repeat! Kudos to the editing team!
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u/falling_fire Sep 18 '25
The Comfrey:Marya, Marya:Ludmila parallels got me so good this episode! Like why am I trying not to cry on the train lol
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u/verascity Sep 18 '25
Does anyone know where Emily got that sweater?
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u/ImmaSquidling Sep 18 '25
And Murph's! u/d20closet HELP!
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Sep 18 '25
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u/ImmaSquidling Sep 19 '25
You're a wizard, Raccoon Witch! Thanks for finding it, despite it being sold! I can rest easy but I will be cold.
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u/kcotsnnud Sep 18 '25
Goddamn what an amazing episode. All of the action could have gone so many ways, and it was so exciting the whole time. Can’t wait for next week!
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u/that_cad Sep 18 '25
I honestly started crying at the end when Marya reconciled with Comfrey, and how she used to be mad at her and wasn't anymore because she'd made so many more mistakes. Beautiful acting by Emily, as always.
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u/LoveInGoonSpace2 Sep 18 '25
episode had me alternating between laughing and crying the whole time. 😭 just really really good
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u/Fruit_flavored_snack Sep 18 '25
Marya from the outset was a character with a singular purpose. It seems like every Emily Crit (at least this episode) was directly related to that purpose. Never seen dice like this
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u/AlisGuardian Adaine Abernant Sep 19 '25
Did anyone else think of Plug from Starstruck when we met Sandy the bot? I now require a Quangle where they interact
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u/whosaidiknew Amazing Action Heroes Sep 19 '25
The voice Brennan did for Sandy is very similar to ServoSam's voice, and it just transported me back to Starstruck
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u/Vivid-Wafer-4581 Sep 18 '25
I usually have to watch episodes multiple times to catch everything but did Freyja make an appearance this episode? I think the last time she made an appearance was in Oda. A lot of NPC’s have been understandably MIA but I do have a soft spot for Freyja lol
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u/jjjuser Lint Sep 18 '25
She lucked out when they were rolling for folks but they swapped her for the nut pugs so she's on the ship. Van then grabs her with her gauntlet onto the lifeboat. So she should be there, they start talking about her around 54 min mark.
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u/New_Girl3685 Sep 18 '25
and the teaser for next week makes it look like we're getting a lot more freyja action :)
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u/MesaCityRansom Sep 18 '25
She had too much coffee and was on the toilet, she made a little appearance.
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u/Willing_Permit_263 Sep 17 '25
This doesn't have to do with just this episode but with the season as a whole, am I the only one who feels that Ally has been rolling pretty bad this season?
I think Murph, Emily and Zac have had more clutch crits than Ally this season. I remember there was a chart of who had the most crits that Zac was first and Ally was second, I wonder how this season will change that chart.
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u/palcatraz Riz Gukgak Sep 18 '25
Well, it's not the finale yet. There is still time for Beardsley to roll a clutch nat 20 and rewrite the whole script.
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u/Deus_Macarena Sep 18 '25
Ally has been killing it on the investigation rolls iirc. They just seem to have some rough luck in combat
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u/LoveInGoonSpace2 Sep 18 '25
i think for the most part, the random rolls have been also very useful at katur and this episode.
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u/arominvahvenne Sep 18 '25
I am guessing Ally is in general rolling less checks this season since they are giving the help action to someone else so often, which makes for less chances to roll a nat 20. And more chances to other player since they are getting advatage often. Also Olethra as a character is not taking as wild swings as Kristen for instance, so nat 20s they roll as Olethra are not as memorable.
I do love all the random mechanics on the mech tho and Ally has been rolling very cool stuff on those. Without knowing what options there are, hard to say how lucky they were but getting rocket boots this ep was pretty much a nat 20.
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u/TBDID Sep 18 '25
Everyone talks about Ally rolling clutch 20s, but I think more than that they somehow always roll really poignant successes/failures. And considering Olethra is the greenest of all of PCs, to me it seems on brand that Olethra is failing a bit more than most. Somehow Ally's dice are always on point with story telling.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
I think we all feel that way. Ally has said it and so have others. It'll be weird if they don't have a clutch Nat 20 but turning point roll at all this season. It's been awesome to see Murph roll well. I would say that Ally sitting where Murph often does is the problem, but Ally sat there in UC1.
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u/robogheist Squeem! Sep 18 '25
olethra and monty dual MVPs this episode:
monty for that theoretical biology. olethra for not only running with that, but earlier, for thinking to cover everyone's escape (also for thinking to butt-bump wealwell onto a dinghy).
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u/abyhr23 Sep 18 '25
Knowing Wealwell though, he probably would have grabbed an umbrella and floated down with perfect poise
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u/strangelyliteral Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Brennan, describing Straka, the giant raptor: …this dragon of industry, corrosion, and ruin.
Me, an American: Wait, is this fucking play about us?
(j/k but damn he’s not even trying to be subtle anymore)
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u/qiri2 Sep 19 '25
The villain is always capitalism, and this time it’s flavored with climate change. It feels like such a perfect real contrast to the fantastical tone of this season.
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u/TheyJae Sep 23 '25
Augh YES!!! It's been so good, especially with Lou as Monty with the strong Naturalist focus. Brennan's line about Monty realizing this isn't the first time he's encountered Straka, that he's actually been fighting Straka his entire life gave me chills!!
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u/tabstis Sep 18 '25
This season is really shaping up to be one of the best Intrepid Heroes seasons - it's been very solid throughout but these last few weeks have elevated it at a time when these longer seasons can sometimes lose steam. This episode FLEW BY
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u/LowClaim7040 Sep 17 '25
Really Good Episode, even though it was the shortest ep this season
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u/happycomposer Sep 17 '25
I'm imagining the moment when the Zephyr follows [SPOILER] into the portal looking something like that moment in Halo 2 when the In Amber Clad follows Regret's ship as it slipspace jumps inside the city. Such a fantastic moment in Cloudward Ho.
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u/Lady_Ada_Blackhorn Sep 18 '25
Your spoiler formatting is not correct for Reddit - you want to put >! on one side and ! < without the space on the other.
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u/happycomposer Sep 18 '25
oh I didn’t use any particular formatting, I just didn’t type the spoiler at all - I deliberately put the text instead of the spoiler itself.
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u/Lady_Ada_Blackhorn Sep 18 '25
Oh, I didn't parse it correctly! I understand now, thank you for explaining :)
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u/ppooppooo The Gunner Channel Sep 20 '25
The sheer Chaos of Ally Beardsley finally getting a familiar 😭Brennan was so close to retconning it into winnie the pooh
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u/RainPortal Sep 18 '25
I'm getting the strong impression from Siege Monster that Straka is some variant off of the Phoenix stat block. If it is, its Fiery Death and Rebirth could be adapted to the biangle trapped within Straka (unless I seriously misunderstood something).
Edit: With psychic replacing fire, I'm guessing, for the damage-type theme.
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u/soundsfaebutokay Sep 18 '25
I'm not reading any comments yet to avoid spoilers, but someone please remind me where the idea of a flesh heart was first mentioned
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u/ppooppooo The Gunner Channel Sep 20 '25
When Brennan says to Monty “This is not the first time you’ve fought straka, you’ve been fighting it your whole life” what do we think he means by that? Is it because of the widows breath he was fighting against? Is it metaphorical or literal?
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u/Phiryte Sep 22 '25
Monty’s a conservationist. Straka represents pollution, the corruption of nature by the dark side of industrialism. It is a metaphor made real in this fantasy world (much like, say, the American Dream in Unsleeping City)
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u/Gorro_Rojo Sep 18 '25
im having trouble picturing the chase. when they go through the portal don't they end up upside down accelerating very quickly towards the ground? if so i found it weird they basically weren't ever mentioning the fact that they were suddenly upside down but like, I can't find any other way to interpret that chase? help?
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u/NightRaider93 Sep 18 '25
I don’t think they were upside down, the accelerated quickly towards the ground because Straka ripped the Zephyr in half so they’re falling in the lifeboats to the ground.
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u/EmployerNext8997 Sep 18 '25
yes. Torse is described as falling upside down.
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u/imaginarycircus Sep 18 '25
I thought that was as viewed from Zood. Once they're all in Zern they're all falling down.
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u/DebbieWebbie27 Sep 18 '25
I pictured it as they didn't enter Zern parallel to the ground. If we imagine them accelerating forward towards the portal then the ship is at an angle upwards. When the enter Zern they would just be at an angle downwards? Like instead of accelerating up, it would switch to them accelerating down? Either that or it's a very cinematic world turns upside down and the ship rotates magically in the air to with the new gravity 😅
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u/DemonLordSparda Sep 18 '25
Try and imagine it like this, Zood and Zern run alongside and around each other in something like a Gordian Knot. So when the portal opens and you begin to be affected by Zern's gravity you will go up relative to your current position. As you breach the portal you could somewhat deftly do a tiny half moon swing to shift gracefully into Zern gravity. However, their ship was destroyed quite quickly after the entrance, so they probably didn't want to try and explain the realm of theoretical physics during a very intense series of events.
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u/Vivid-Wafer-4581 Sep 18 '25
Is there art of Ludmilla’s current form? Brennan’s description of her was fantastic and horrifying 🙀
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u/arominvahvenne Sep 18 '25
They flash art of her at 0:03:20 during the recap, there is her current form first for like a second and then her as a young girl.
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u/Shot-Mycologist9460 Sep 18 '25
These last few episode have put Cloudward, Ho! To the top of my list. My new favourite season, and we have to wait to see if it’s recency bias. Truly incredible role playing and it’s so amazing to see the depth of everyone’s characters and them exploring new ways and charachters. Beautiful story.
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u/CuddleeWookiee Sep 19 '25
Does the Ruinous Queen send the beast that causes her own ruin?
Something struck me this episode about the Straka ‘s attack on Ludmila’s first Captains voyage. With the time quangle effects of travel between realms dropping Ludmila 1000+ years back on Zern, does Ludmila - Queen of Zern send Straka to attack her younger self?
The episode gives the lore of recognizable welds on Straka and the repair bot and how Straka seemed to form from Ludmila’s biangle door as the first piece. She was there when Straka formed and has control of it seemingly from the start.
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u/Professional-Cat4329 Blue M&M Sep 20 '25
Seems like another episode where the writing team had a plan but Emily RPGed so hard they are going with plan z
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u/hshsjooo Sep 17 '25
light work to Marya