For the past three years, Critical Role fans have been asking “is it Thursday yet?” in anticipation of the next weekly session from the live-streamed Dungeons & Dragons program’s second campaign. Yesterday marked the last Thursday in the Mighty Nein’s adventure, clocking in at a whooping seven plus hours full of tears and goodbyes.

 

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Prior to the final session, the Critical Role crew took care of some important housekeeping. Marisha Ray (8.13, The Grind) informed viewers to keep an eye out for an upcoming State of the Role to find out about a secret project that the Critical Role team has been developing. While Ray did not explicitly describe this project as a third campaign, she indicated that it would have plenty to do with the show’s future.

While the Mighty Nein’s story has come to an end, there are a few follow-up events that Critical Role fans – known as Critters – may want to keep in mind. On Tuesday June 8, the day after campaign two’s final session posts to YouTube, the final episode of after-show Talks Machina will become available for fans still processing the events of the finale. Additionally, Comicbook reports that the long-awaited crossover one-shot, in which campaign one’s Vox Machina will face-off against campaign two’s Mighty Nein, will stream Friday June 18 at 7 PT.

Been beside myself all day. Having a hard time believing the #MightyNein are coming to an end. Thank you to everyone who has joined our family on this adventure. I can’t wait to see what the next one brings! #CriticalRole pic.twitter.com/2Smp80fRWy

— Laura Bailey (@LauraBaileyVO) June 4, 2021

Since Thursday’s Dungeons & Dragons session was pre-recorded, the star-studded voice-acting cast behind Critical Role’s Mighty Nein was able to take to social media to engage with fans in real-time, with various degrees of spoilers involved in such posts. Speaking to spoilers, the cast encouraged fans to utilize the hashtag #CriticalRoleSpoilers when discussing the episode on social media. However, throughout the evening, many other words and names associated with the finale’s events began to trend on Twitter, independent of the #CriticalRoleSpoilers thread.

Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer (Overwatch), who first warned fans of the impending finale last week, took to Twitter to thanks the fans and moderators who contributed to the stream’s success.

Also, PLEASE show some love for all of our incredible moderators who stuck through it (and do so wonderfully every week), and the joyful @CritRoleStats for all of their hard work as well. We love you all!!! <3 https://t.co/YQxgT1bngJ

— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) June 4, 2021

*LIGHT CRITICAL ROLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

Critical Role’s campaign two finale saw families reunite, a new friend with a familiar face, a final face-off against Master Trent Ikithon and the sailing of both literal and metaphorical ships. The series’ final combat saw the Mighty Nein and their families thrust into full-circle peril as Ikithon threatened to burn down Blooming Grove, smoking-out Caleb and his allies. In the wake of the heated showdown, individual send-offs for players helped tie remaining loose-ends that fans feared would be left hanging, though some threats still lurk in the recesses of Exandria.

Fan engagement on both the live-stream and social media was overwhelmingly positive and full of gratitude toward the cast and crew. The response signaled that Critters, while sad to see the Mighty Nein part ways, felt satisfied by the ending. The indication – and later post-episode Twitter confirmation – that a highly-championed romantic relation had become canon, evoked particular elation from a faction of Critters (warning: the linked-tweet contains explicit spoilers).

Zemnian friends, is there one of those super long words in our tongue for the emotions one feels at the close of a years long D&D campaign?

Asking for a Freund.

— Liam O’Brien (@VoiceOfOBrien) June 2, 2021

While the fan feedback was positive, Thursday’s final session was all about the players bringing their stories to a conclusion that they see fit for their own characters. Mercer guided the players through a “denouement” period where they described their futures beyond the Mighty Nein, with the friendships and relationships they forged together informing their fate. As this epilogue got underway, the emotional weight of three years and one hundred and forty-one episodes of the Mighty Nein’s campaign could be felt at the table.

Tears flowed freely among Mercer and the cast as the seven-hour session closed. And, in the early hours of the morning, Critters faced an empty screen and a future void of Thursday sessions from Critical Role’s Mighty Nein.