âI just got involved with a really dodgy crowd. Iâve always managed to get involved with really dodgy people, for some reason.â He pauses. Sips his drink. Looks at bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard. Blushes again. Then laughs. âApart from these two.â
-Matt Bellamy [Melody Maker (June 28th, 2000)]
What is with these, quite frankly, insane takes about Vax not submitting due to his ego and wanting to âsave face?â Did we all watch the same show? You know, the one where thereâs a character who has barely any ego and sacrifices himself for his sister and friends over and over? I mean, if people are not able to understand the heroâs journey to this degree, I fear for the ability to grasp much media at all. When heroism is now being spun as selfish and egotistical, thatâs not just a bad take, itâs a dangerous one.
Because yeah, we can say this is fictional and regardless of how people perceive Vaxâs actions, itâs how he was written so people should bear with it and not be so offended. However, if you view a characterâs act of heroism as inherently selfish, what if a person commits such an act in real life? Would you call them an egotistical person just doing it for vanity? If a solider chooses to leap onto on a grenade for comrades, we donât say âwow, just doing it for his ego, what a loser.â No we honor such people because of the costs of their sacrifice. Are there some people who âplay the heroâ for attention? Sure, but that isnât what this is. This isnât a commentary on narcissistic manipulation. Itâs a character journey that leads to one man standing up to a vile, liar of a villain so others can do the same.
Them writing Vax as a character who doesnât submit is completely in line with his arc. Itâs not about ego or pride when he doesnât bow to Vecna. For one, the idea people seem to have that they wouldâve been able to regroup had Vax given in and Vecna wouldâve kept his promise is ludicrous. Heâs a villain, since when are you supposed to trust anything a villain says? Especially when he had just admitted to spinning an unholy web of lies for so long to convince them to kill him so he could resurrect. But yeah, sure, that guy would just let Vax go so they could regroup.
Second to add onto this, he chose Vax purposefully. He knew that Vaxâs abilities as the Champion of the Matron of Ravens was one of the only possibilities of stopping him and he was glad Keyleth had effectively taken that away. So his challenge is to Vax specifically because he holds a grudge against the one person who truly does stand in his way of taking power, namely the Matron and her Champion. In Vax denying him even the satisfaction of submission, itâs him still saying that the Matron and her Champion wonât give him the control he wants.
People just think that his death is so meaningless. My question then would be, what to you makes a death meaningful? Grog and Pike had just discussed this very thing when he was trying to wake her up about The Whispered One and she gave him her blood because she too had believed that everyoneâs death before had been for nothing. But Grog pointed out that he died for Pike and her father died for them. Just because someone chooses to die and someone else calls it a shame and worthless doesnât mean it was so. For Vaxâs character that death had a lot of meaning. Especially because of what he has to weigh in the balance of making that choice. He knew he was free of the Matronâs curse, he knew he could have a life with Keyleth and yet the importance of showing the world you do not have to bow to a liar and a villain was more important in that moment.
The reason Vox Machina is so enjoyable, at least to me, is because these characters have flaws and behave in a highly realistic, relatable way. Theyâre not perfect and can really fall on their face. Thatâs what happened with Keyleth. Peopleâs inability to admit she made a selfish decision because they consider it anti-feminist to say so is absurd. Itâs just narratively true. The others only bowed because they wanted to support her. You can see they disagree and are uncomfortable with the choice. Grog even tries to move forward until Pike discourages him. But itâs this well-rounded character growth and development which makes the story great. If they all just made the expected choice, they wouldnât be the characters we like anymore.
People are welcome to have differing opinions, the problem here is the overarching idea that a heroic action is actually the selfish one vs capitulation which isnât true at all. Thatâs the problem with driving these takes that Vax is the one in the wrong here, because he in no way is. Itâs just fascinating to me that people are trying to spin something objectively good and an honestly incredible character journey into something nasty.
CHESS: the musical. 2025 recording. One night in Bangkok. minute 2:19. Aaron Tveit doesnât just have the voice of an angel, he also has the voice of my future husband.
omg i just love that in the m9 wired interview one of the questions is âhow tall is fjordâ and liam immediately answers âtall enoughâ and smiles at laura because of their twinning answer in the vox machina interview in 2024
i love their frendship sm (critical role friendships in general)
I might be reading too much into it and being too percypilled, but I really like this moment bc it means a lot to me that Percy has come far enough that a god respects him enough to bother making sure others don't get his name wrong and treat him with respect
Something about Vaxâs last memory being everyone he loves abandoning their morals to save him, despite knowing how willing to die he was to save the world, and for him to stand on that conviction as his last act has me going absolutely batshit
ik right???? knowing vax thatâs devastating. heâs perhaps afraid of dying per se, but when it comes to his morals he does not abandon them, for no reason at all. i think that if keyleth and his positions were reversed, he would not have kneeled but instead tried a fight, even with feeble chances of winning
Death, I believe, is something that happens quickly. Itâs on and Itâs off. That is why this will be very short
Again, spoilers for TLOVM S4 finale
What I believe was Vaxâildanâs POV when he died in the end of S4 of TLOVM.
Vexâhalia. Keyleth. Everyone. They all kneeled to save me. But I wonât. Not to him. My spit hits him in the face. âGet. Fucked.â. The Whispered One looks at me, perhaps a hint of a smile. âA pityâ he says. I feel no fear. Being face to face with a god is not a strange event anymore. His taloned hand stretches towards my face. I feel pain. Like I never felt before. and darkness. My vision blurs than dissipates. I canât hear the sound of my heartbeat anymore, canât hear my friendsâ screams, canât feel the ground beneath me. I have no conscience anymore. I donât feel, donât remember. I simply cease to exist.
I gotta give the writers of the final three episodes of the season credit for writing a villain so well that Iâve seen a lot people saying he was right about the gods which tbh is kinda disturbing.
