"Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04) is the fourth episode of The Legend of Vox Machina, Season Three. While Vax, Keyleth, Pike, Grog and Scanlan seek magical armor in the Hells of Despath, Percy, Vex, Kima and Allura try to survive against the savage Vorugal. Can each team survive the fires of hell, and the frigid doom?
Plot summary[]
Pike wakes in a vision of an empty landscape, praying to The Everlight. The goddess appears and tells her that redemption does not exist in the Hells of Despath. If Pike goes there, she may find herself used for wicked aims and alone. The Everlight disappears, and Pike sees a dark figure ahead calling to her. Suddenly, she wakes with Grog's hand on her shoulder. The group descends into the pit holding the City of Dis, and Scanlan magically transforms them into fiends. As they move through the city's horrors seeking Zerxus Ilerez, Pike continues to see flashes of the demonic figure.
Back in Draconia, Percival, Vex'ahlia, and Allura break out of the ice-covered cavern, Allura frantically looking for the missing Kima.
In Hell, Pike feels increasingly ill. She sees a suffering ghoul and attempts to help her, but is repulsed and falls to the ground. This sets off screaming all around the group, breaking Scanlan's concentration on his spell disguising the party. The creatures surrounding them notice the strangers in their midst and a chase ensues. Pike hears a voice urging her toward it, and as the party leaps off a tower into the void, Keyleth and Vax'ildan assume flying forms and transport the group to another tower guarded by Yenk, an immense demon which fights off the pursuers and admits them.
Screenshot of Zerxus Ilerez, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04).[art 2]
Inside, the dark figure of Pike's vision greets them, asking what a priest of the Everlight is doing in hell. Keyleth explains they seek the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, and Zerxus tells them he won it from J'mon Sa Ord in a card game. In order to win it back, Pike must play against him. If she loses, she will stay forever in hell. Pike signs the contract in blood, and the rest of Vox Machina is imprisoned behind a glass barrier. The demon explains the rules of Five Skulls: Each player receives five cards, one bearing a black skull, and must find their opponent's before he finds theirs by asking questions that must be answered truthfully.
The game begins, but Pike's first guess is incorrect. Zerxus tells her that the choice her goddess gave her was empty, as both paths led to the same place. He was once given a similar choice that cost him his family. His god betrayed him, as hers will as well. But he already knows where her black skull is, as her eyes went to it. As he identifies it, all the cards burst into flame. In a fury, Grog starts to surge forward when metal bands emerge from the chairs in which the party is seated and encircle them all, holding them in place. Zerxus tells Pike she is now bound to the sanctum and the service of the Fallen Knight, but Pike begs for another chance. Zerxus is willing, if she wagers the souls of her friends. Pike is reluctant, but agrees.
Screenshot of the Ring of Brass, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04).[art 3]
Zerxus goes first in the new round, asking her if she's ever wondered if the Everlight needs her more than she needs the goddess. Pike denies it but two cards disappear from her hand, since she was lying to herself. However, Zerxus guesses wrong as to which of the remaining three is the black skull. On Pike's turn, she also guesses wrong. Zerxus then asks if she ever wonders if her life would be better without the Everlight, and she admits she does, but his guess is again wrong. She asks Zerxus who he was and why he chose her. He tells her of a time a thousand years ago ruled by magic, when he was First Knight of Avalir and a member of the Ring of Brass. The civilization was condemned by their curiosity and hubris, resulting in The Calamity. Zerxus was given the choice to join the Father of Lies in order to spare his family. Thinking he could redeem the god, he agreed, but had to watch his family grow old and die. All gods lie.[1]
It is Pike's turn in the card game, and she asks if Zerxus wishes his family was here in hell with him. Zerxus struggles with his answer, eventually saying, "Of course not!" However, two of his cards burn away with the lie. With two cards left in Zerxus' hand, Pike notices his eyes dart to one of them, and she chooses it, revealing the black skull and winning. The bands holding the others fade away and they are released, as Zerxus presents Pike the golden Plate of the Dawnmartyr. Pike thanks him for losing graciously and he gives her his token which will allow them safe passage through the city. As he watches them leave, he muses to Yenk that her heart will fill with vengeance. He tells the fiend to leave her, and kill the rest, as "The time for his ascension draws near." As the party travels through the city, they hear a lightning bolt behind them and turn to see the now-gigantic figure of Yenk pursuing them.
Credits[]
Cast[]
- Laura Bailey as Vex'ahlia
- Taliesin Jaffe as Percy
- Ashley Johnson as Pike
- Matthew Mercer as Dis Guard / Yenk
- Liam O'Brien as Vax'ildan
- Marisha Ray as Keyleth
- Sam Riegel as Scanlan
- Travis Willingham as Grog
- Stephanie Beatriz as Kima
- Luis Carazo as Zerxus Ilerez
- Tracie Thoms as The Everlight / Ghoul
- Indira Varma as Allura
Crew[]
- Written by - Brandon Auman and Travis Willingham
- Directed by - Eugene Lee
- Storyboard Artists - Jack Anderson, Servan Castillo, Eugene Lee, Isadora Morales, Aki Yun Lee
Featured characters[]
Quotations[]
- Zerxus: She has no idea what courses through her veins. No matter. The seed of doubt has been planted and will fill her heart with vengeance, as we watch it grow.
Yenk: Your orders?
Zerxus: Leave her. Kill the rest. We are his blood. The time for his ascension draws near.
Trivia[]
Screenshot of three mages of the Age of Arcanum, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04).[art 4]
- While Zerxus is explaining his past the image used to portray the Age of Arcanum shows three mages representing Matthew Mercer, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Aabria Iyengar as mighty mages.
- Pike's comment to Zerxus Ilerez, "We all have blind spots, even you," is likely a reference to Blindspot, the network television series in which Ashley Johnson had a co-starring role from 2015 through 2020 which kept her from playing a large portion of Campaign One and the first half of Campaign Two.
- The glyphs on the stone under the screaming tree in the hells read: "Team Fae HTree / Isa Chaves Servan / Aki Yun / SA Anderson".[2] The storyboard artists for this episode are Isadora Morales, Servan Castillo, Aki Yun Lee, and Jack Anderson.
- The glyphs shown in the small circles around the stained glass window of Zerxus' husband and son are abbreviations for the months of the Exandrian Calendar.[2]
- The glyphs in the contract signed by Pike and Zerxus are not translatable and appear to be written in a different language or glyph system.
- The "Five Skulls" card game was design with the help of Ivan Van Norman and Spenser Starke from Darrington Press LLC.[3]
References[]
- ↑ The full story of Zerxus and the Ring of Brass is told in Exandria Unlimited: Calamity.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 See the translation in this Reddit post by u/Umbaril.
- ↑ See The Legend of Vox Machina, Mid-Season Roundtable | Season 3, Episodes 1-6 on Beacon at 0:08:38 (Subscription required).
Art:
- ↑ Screenshot of Vox Machina in hell, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Screenshot of Zerxus Ilerez, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Screenshot of the Ring of Brass, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Screenshot of three mages of the Age of Arcanum, by Titmouse from "Hell to Pay" (LVM3x04). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.