Aug 11
I think I figured out why TM9 omitted the Modify Memory bit from Caleb's backstory. not because of any narrative motivations-because of structural ones with how they wanted to lay out the episode.
With Caleb's past being interleaved throughout the episode, and the climax of killing his parents lining of up with the climax of the present, being near the end of the episode, there was nowhere to put the recollection of it being revealed to him as a false memory. Nowhere that would fit neatly, at least. And if you're going to do the MM, you do kinda need that realization put in there somewhere, and carrying it over to the next episode wouldn't flow very well.
#critical role#tm9 animated#tm9 spoilers#I was kinda critical of this when it first aired#but I think I get it now#and that makes me less upset about it#I do like the campaign's backstory better#but I fully understand how they would've but the episode's structure over being as faithful as possible#because the episode structure is great! brilliant!#and as others have said#holding out on his backstory being revealed to most of the team for a whole third of the show#isn't something that would flow as well pacing-wise in a scripted series as it did in the campaign#though I do mourn that we'll never get that brilliant scene with Nott by the river as it was in the campaign#honestly similar issues with things like Nolan's Odyssey#where a lot of my issues would be a lot less pronounced if the creators would just be fucking transparent about the reasons behind choices#instead of obfuscating and trying to sound smart about it#like#'the Nobody thing doesn't translate' is stupid and makes you look stupid#'we didn't have the budget to have more than one cyclops and it only really works if Polyphemus says it to someone' is actually coherent#and a respectable choice to make as a creative#bit of a non-sequitur but you get my point
