Week three of Critical Role and Amazon Prime Video’s The Legend of Vox Machina is here! And if you thought last week was dark, heartbreaking and emotional crushing – get ready for more! Over the previous three episodes, our heroes made it out of Emon, arrived “safely” in Whitestone and helped free a vital member of the Rebellion. In episode seven, “Scanbo,” Vox Machina prepares to continue their rampage and break Percy’s (Taliesin Jaffe) sister Cassandra (Esmé Creed-Miles) out of her captivity. Let’s not waste any more time and dive right in!

DISCLAIMER: This is a recap and, by nature, contains more spoilers than dice rogues roll for sneak attacks. If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch it yet, we suggest heading over to Amazon Prime and checking it out!

RELATED: Keep up to date with The Legend of Vox Machina with our recap for “Spark of Rebellion.”

“Scanbo” opens with a much younger (and happier) Percy and Cassandra taking part in a lesson on residuum glass from Professor Anders (Stephen Root). Percy seems to love these lessons, while Cassandra is easily distracted. To teach her a lesson, Anders has her conduct a somewhat risky experiment. Thankfully no hands are lost as Lord and Lady De Rolo (Jaffe and Grey Griffin) arrive to check on them.

Anders tries to talk to the De Rolo’s about a proposal, but Lord De Rolo quickly puts him in his place. It seems they only care about him teaching their children and nothing else. While he keeps a cool head in front of his bosses, Anders loses it when Percy and Cassandra try to make him feel better. Clearly, he doesn’t actually like them and is only there because it’s his job. His ominous comment about waking up to find themselves face to face with reality is only scarier knowing what happens to them.

Cue theme song. Critters, did you catch this cover of Scanlan’s (Sam Riegel) song from episode three? Just imagine this playing during the opening and thank me later.

“Scanbo” picks back up as Percy and the rest of Vox Machina break Archibald (Dominic Monaghan) escape the dungeon and prepare for their next move. Vax (Liam O’Brien) and the others want to know more about Percy’s black smoke and how he could turn that weapon on him so quickly. Vex (Laura Bailey) realizes that Percy is an entirely different person when holding the pepperbox. But why?

Vax (Liam O'Brien) and Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) in The Legend of Vox Machina.

Vax (Liam O’Brien) and Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait. Percy drops some pretty heavy backstory, including how he survived outside of Whitestone on his own and how the creation of the pepperbox came to him in a dream. He created the pepperbox with one goal: to exact revenge on those who killed his family. What Percy doesn’t touch on is how the black smoke appears, but I’m sure the others aren’t going to let that go for long. He does explain to Grog (Travis Willingham) what the names mean.

However, while Percy and Vax discuss murder machines, Keyleth (Marisha Ray) senses something from the Suntree roots and tries to breathe life into it. Through the Suntree’s eyes, Keyleth can see how the tree became corrupted and began to die over time. Somehow, Keyleth manages to set the roots on fire which Vax puts out with the only ale in the building. Poor Grog. But it isn’t his anger that gets to Keyleth – it’s Vex’s.

Archibald breaks things up and brings everyone back to the present issue. With Percy back, they have a real chance at getting people on board with the Rebellion. Percy doesn’t seem to agree and only wants to save his sister. But it looks as if Archibald knows that they can do both simultaneously. The team heads out and Archibald explains that the De Rolo homes have been given away to the Briarwood’s (Matthew Mercer and Griffin) most loyal subjects.

Cassandra is being held in the home of Professor Anders. Percy wants to go in guns blazing (literally, of course), but Vex knows they need a distraction. And after much debate on who that distraction is, we watch as Scanlan heads out to Duke Vedrime’s (Rory McCann) home. It’s time for the gnome bard to prove that he has the skills to be really annoying.

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Scanlan (Sam Riegel) in The Legend of Vox Machina.

Scanlan (Sam Riegel) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

“Scanbo” now becomes a one-man musical extravaganza as Scanlan heads off on his mission. Things seem to be going well at first. He manages to draw some guards away, sneak over to the house and just before he is about to set some hay on fire – it rains. Rushing inside, he comes face to – well, we won’t go there – with the Duke. Let the shenanigans begin! Also, peek at the group of Pale Guards playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Scanlan tests out all the potions to see which one will help most. The first blinks him in and out of spaces. But eventually that wears off and the second causes him to become really small. It works well for a bit until that one wears off and he crashes to the floor. The final potion lets him breathe fire and his idea of setting the Duke’s home ablaze comes true. Just like he planned. Let the vomit puking begin.

Back at their little hideout, Percy opens up to Vex about his worries about seeing his sister again for the first time in years. He shares how she was a bit of a nightmare growing up. From what we saw at the beginning of the episode, we can understand where she is coming from. Vex also lets on that she is worried for Scanlan, too and while she might let them all believe Vex doesn’t care about the gnome, it seems she really does.

Back at the Duke’s, Scanlan finds himself back into the corner of the study where the Duke keeps all of his hunting prizes. He has one last trick in his bag and that’s the scroll we saw in episode five. It didn’t work before, but maybe if he sings it, things will be different. And it is. This time, Scanlan polymorphs into a triceratops! Let the dino-mayhem begin! Scanlan manages to make it to the roof before the spell wears off, but now he is trapped. The fall itself would kill him and the Duke is hot on his tail.

Scanlan (Sam Riegel) in The Legend of Vox Machina.

Scanlan (Sam Riegel) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Back at the hideout, Percy is growing anxious and decides now is the time to move. Vex tries to stop him when Vax sees the flames coming from the house. With the guard drawn away, the group makes their move. Archibald heads off to rally the rest of the group as Vox Machina runs to the door. Vax wants to check for traps, but Grog decides bashing the door in is better. Spoiler alert. It was a trap.

“Scanbo” jumps back to the Scan-man as he tries to hold his own against the Duke. Scanlan doesn’t just have skill; this gnome has sass. He manages to hold the Duke off for a bit for Scanlan’s hand shaped into a mighty purple middle finger. However, the Duke overpowers him. Back at Ander’s house, the Pale Guard learns why launching half a dozen arrows into Grog isn’t the best choice. Oh, the rage. Let their battle begin.

We flashback to the Duke’s again just as he is about the strike the killing blow on Scanlan. But he isn’t ready to lay down and die just yet. In a rather moving quote about brothels teaching him that size doesn’t matter, he uses this moment to cast lightning out of his pelvis area right into the Duke. One last middle finger and Scanlan heads out and in a blaze of glory. Until the spell ends and he crashes into the ground.

Back at Ander’s home, Percy heads upstairs and finds that he has Cassandra. The siblings’ moment is cut short as Anders threatens to kill Cassandra. But it doesn’t seem to be a threat at all and “Scanbo” comes to a close as Percy watches Anders cut his sister’s throat. Emotional damage.

RELATED: Check out all of our recaps for The Legend of Vox Machina!

Talk about balancing action, comedy and drama! The Legend of Vox Machina has yet to disappoint and it seems that week three is kicking off strong. We get the chance to see some of my favorite Scanlan moments in an episode almost entirely dedicated to him! You need someone to cause a diversion –  you call Scanlan. But the show still manages to drop heavier themes and that ending. We didn’t get the chance to see what Pike (Ashley Johnson) was up to this episode, but I hope she is okay. The group can really use her right now.

We can’t get over this cliffhanger and thankfully, episode eight is up next! Let’s dive in!

Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: VEX’AHLIA

 

 

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