Week three of Critical Role and Amazon Prime Video’s The Legend of Vox Machina is coming to a close with the series ninth episode. And this one is lore and action-packed. We get answers to a few questions that have been brewing in the back of our minds, plus enough zombie fighting to feel that need you never knew you had. Join us for our recap of “The Tide of Bone” as we close out week three of this epic series!
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: Don’t fall behind with The Legend of Vox Machina! Check out our recap for “A Silver Tongue!”
“The Tide of Bone” opens with a lore drop on the Briarwoods (Matthew Mercer and Grey Griffin). It turns out that Sylas is sick and dying. Instead of just watching her husband leave this world, Delilah turns to some rather dark magic to save him. She performs a ritual using the book of The Whispered One and brings Sylas back as a vampire. No reflection and all. No wonder she is so protective of her man.
Flash forward to the present as the two watch over the battle taking place in Whitestone. Sylas feels like he should be at the front, but Delilah tells him he is too precious to her. She has it all taken care of, though. Remember those zombies from the last episode? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
Cue the opening. We don’t skip intros in this house.
We return to Vox Machina trying to break their way through the hoard of zombies and with some quick thinking, Keyleth (Marisha Ray) saves Vax (Liam O’Brien) from becoming one’s lunch. Scanlan (Sam Riegel) cries over zombies and is quickly protected by Cassandra (Esmé Creed-Miles), who might not be the damsel in distress we thought she was. Grog (Travis Willingham) cuts a way through the path, but the zombies just keep coming. And if you ever wondered where dead people live… it’s in the ground. Duh.
Keyleth (Marisha Ray) and Vax (Liam O’Brien) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.
Just as they are about to be surrounded, Byrn (Stacey Raymond) appears and rushes them to the safe house where Archibald (Dominic Monaghan) is waiting for them. He wants Percy to lead the rebellion since he is the rightful heir, but Percy has other ideas. We also get a sweet moment between Vax and Keyleth as he thanks her for saving his life. Elsewhere, Scanlan loses his mind over the zombies when Vex (Laura Bailey) tries to slap him back into the present.
Things get quiet and everyone can hear the rambling of the zombies outside. It turns out the safe house isn’t so safe and Scanlan gets bit while more zombies make their way up from the ground. Our heroes fight their way out through a hatch in the ceiling. Slowly, the rebellion starts to crumble as people realize their lives aren’t worth the fight. Cassandra tries to get Percy to speak up, but he is still fighting against it. He isn’t a leader and was never meant to be.
But, Scanlan has bigger issues to deal with as the bite on his arm is getting worse. Cassandra breaks the bad news that Scanlan is likely to lose the arm to necrosis and Grog offers to chop it off for him. Last resort, though. Archibald reminds them that now isn’t really the time to worry about the little things since they are surrounded by zombies. They hit the street and rush off towards the center of town.
However, the group comes across a rather big undead giant and Percy decides he needs some more firepower to deal with this one. And friends, let me introduce you to Bad News. With one shot, he manages to topple over the giant. Too bad it can only be shot once. Duke Vedrime (Rory McCann) wastes no time showing up and forcing the group to scatter and regroup at the Suntree. The Duke spots Scanlan and sets his sights on him first.
RELATED: Check out why we can’t stop crushing on Vox Machina’s Keyleth!
Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.
“The Tide of Bone” cuts to the battlefield, where Archibald continues to try and persuade Percy to lead their people. He knows the people will stand by their side if they know who Percy really is. But again, Percy isn’t up for leading this shindig and is fine just helping them alone. Before Archibald can press him further, he spots Scanlan running across the field with the Duke on his tail. He intervenes but is no match for the Duke and is torn in two.
Percy loses his gusto for a moment and Vex grabs him and rushes the group towards the Suntree. The zombie hoard won’t stop and Keyleth uses ice to freeze them in their spot like the boss she is! Don’t worry, Vax, we think she is terrific too. With the hoard stuck behind the ice, the others use this moment to regroup at the Suntree and clean up their wounds.
Cassandra urges Percy to lead the rebellion now that Archibald is dead. She knows that no one else can rally the people and put a stop to the Briarwoods. And it seems that she has finally gotten through to him. Percy makes his way down the Suntree and introduces himself to the people of Whitestone, dropping that whole name – Lord Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III. It’s a rallying speech as he honors Archibald and opens up about his fear over what happened to his family. FOR WHITESTONE!
Thankfully, he manages to muster the troops just as the zombies break through the ice and converge on the Suntree. Another fight breaks out and Vax takes a moment to share his true feelings with Keyleth seeing as they might not make it out alive. Worst. Timing. Ever. But it does manage to put some fight into Keyleth. We will just have to put a pin in that conversation for now.
Things aren’t looking good, and Percy calls to retreat up the Suntree. As they all thank each other for being by their side, holy light crashes through the sky and Pike (Ashley Johnson) arrives. But she isn’t really there, though. She is using astral projection to appear with them, but she does feel every bit of Grog’s bear hug. But all cuddles aside, it’s time to put a stop to the zombie apocalypse that is happening. And now that Pike has reconnected to the Everlight, she is unstopable.
Percy (Taliesin Jaffe), Scanlan (Sam Riegel), Grog (Travis Willingham) and Pike (Ashley Johnson) in The Legend of Vox Machina. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.
“The Tide of Bone” gives us a quick ominous moment where Sylas tries to head to the front lines only to be stopped by Delilah. She can risk losing him and decides their plans (super vague villain stuff) need to be accelerated.
Back on the battlefield, Vox Machina and the rebellion start kicking major zombie behind. Grog and Vax even compete to see which one can bring a giant down faster. The Duke watches as his army falls and decides that it is time to run. Except he can’t do that after Percy blows his kneecap out. Instead of killing him, though, he allows the people of Whitestone to exact his punishment.
Keeper Yennen (Gina Torres) arrives after seeing the literal holy sign in the sky along with others and Pike blesses their weapons so they can join the fray. Yennen tells Percy that they can handle the zombies and that they need to take back what is his. Vox Machina, along with Cassandra, head towards the castle and sneaks in through the dungeons.
The final episode of week three comes to a close as a mysterious woman (Kelly Hu) calls out to the group from within a cell. She wants revenge against the Briarwoods as well and Vax agrees to let her out in return for help finding them. However, the black smoke is back and No Mercy Percy appears with the only freedom he is going to give her. The scene cuts to black as Keyleth calls out to Percy to wait.
RELATED: Check out all of our recaps for The Legend of Vox Machina!
What a week this has been for The Legend of Vox Machina. An entire episode dedicated to Scanlan followed by an epic battle against Anders. And it all ends with zombies, Percy turning into a leader and that cliffhanger! We have three more episodes left and I can’t imagine they will be little walks in the park. Percy and the others need to deal with the Briarwoods and we need to know what their plan is. I think the biggest question on my mind right now is whether or not they will tie up the Briarwood arc in the final three episodes. Or are they going to draw this out into season two?
It’s time to wait another week, friends. But hopefully, it goes by quickly! Episodes 10, 11 and 12 hit Amazon Prime Video on February 18, 2022. What did you think of this week’s episodes? Let us know in the comments below and on social media!
What I Do: I'm the Hermione Granger of GGA. I oversee operations where needed most across many different spaces including news, video games, board games, interviews. You name it I have a foot in it.
Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
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