Critical Role's New Campaign Contains Surprise Tie to Vox Machina Campaign

Critical Role brought back a classic Campaign 1 villain in a new role for their latest campaign. As Critical Role continues its third campaign, the show's cast continues to reveal connections between current characters and past storylines. Not only does the campaign feature several returning characters from past campaigns (including three characters from Exandria Unlimited), we've also seen some surprising connections emerge between other characters and the past. 

[Spoilers for the current Critical Role campaign follows.]

In the most recent episode of Critical Role, Marisha Ray's Laudna revealed a bit more about her creepy backstory. Laudna previously revealed that she was a former resident of Whitestone, the ancestral home of Vox Machina's Percy de Rolo and the location of one of Campaign 1's most iconic storylines. In the most recent episode, Laudna revealed that she was a warlock who gained her powers from Delilah Briarwood, one of the main antagonists of the Vox Machina campaign. In the most recent episode, Laudna explained that she was actually killed by Delilah and her husband Sylas during their takeover of Whitestone, but was resuscitated by a burst of necromatic energy. What's more – Laudna's arcane powers are seemingly derived directly from Delilah Briarwood herself, as Briarwood acts as Laudna's warlock patron. Near the end of the episode, Delilah confronted Laudna in her head, chastising the undead warlock for revealing her secrets. 

Delilah's seeming return brings about a lot of questions. Briarwood was killed off no less than three times during the Vox Machina campaign, so her assumed resurrection isn't much of a surprise. However, it's unclear whether Briarwood is merely a ghost or if she has some sort of continued connection with Vecna, the lich who served as the ultimate villain of the first campaign and whom Delilah served as a follower. There are also lingering questions about how Laudna was resurrected – Laudna is a Hollow One that exists between life and death, but the exact manner in which she was resurrected is still unclear, as is whether it was a deliberate resurrection or merely an accident. 

Delilah Briarwood's resurrection is also curiously timed, as she will likely play a major role in the upcoming The Legend of Vox Machina animated series, which details the early adventures of Vox Machina and includes events from the first D&D campaign. 

Were you surprised by the return of this classic Critical Role villain? Let us know in the comment section!