Critical Role: Campaign 4, Episode 11 Part 1 — "Make Merry"

Air Date: January 22, 2026
Summary by: Critical Role Podcast Summarizer

Episode Overview

In this episode, the narrative of Campaign 4 continues as the party splits focus between two threads: the journey of Tysha and companions through the snowbound Dvalmar Pass, and the brewing political intrigue in the city of Dolmakyar. The episode dives deep into themes of grief, shifting power dynamics, personal transformation, and the precarious tension of rebellion. New dangers and hidden histories are unearthed as the group maneuvers through fracturing alliances, clandestine plans, and magical mysteries.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Dvalmar Pass: Journey, Mourning & Discovery (01:33–24:57)

• Setting: The adventuring party makes their way through the frigid, windswept Dvalmar Pass, moving east from dwarven lands into treacherous, storm-lashed mountains.
  • “Three days have elapsed as your band has made your way east through the Dvalmar Pass... the cold winds of Helvar that have whipped up across the vastness of the endless night. The cold frigid air of a land that does not know the touch of the sun.” — Matthew Mercer (01:33)
• Character Check-Ins:
  • Julian: Vigilant, exhausted, hiding his identity.
  • Tysha: Transiting from mourning to a more energetic self, seeking connection to the land and her companions.
    • “Every time she leaves Dol Makyar she has to put down the version of herself that was with Hal and her kids and the world and family and life that she knew... But right around day three... Tycha is becoming herself again so she's actually a little more chipper.” — Ashley Johnson (05:07)
  • Vaelis: Familiar with traveling alone, unease at companionship, maintains cautious distance.
  • Erinessa & Octys: Both internal, polite but detached, with Octys deeply preoccupied by his altered physical being, no longer feeling the cold as a normal person would.
    • “He knows it's cold but he doesn't feel cold like a person feels cold anymore... Just all these little things that keep popping into his head as he goes.” — Matthew Mercer (07:41)
• Historical Lore Drop: The pass is revealed to be an ancient dwarven-made road, first constructed for alliance purposes and now littered with statues, inns, and evidence of frequent travel. The group avoids areas marked by the banners of the revolutionary council and the Taconis family, opting for a longer detour.
• Poignant Moment: Tysha interacts with a devout dwarven woman amid shattered statues and lanterns — the site is revealed via a Natural 20 roll to be sacred and defiled ground, a holy site of Tehana, primordial of Earth, intentionally marred by statues devoted to Trojana.
  • “This wall was a holy site of Tehana... and that these statues were built to deface it.” — Matthew Mercer (19:01)
  • [Tysha storms away, shaken and silent, her pain and anger palpable.]

2. Dolmakyar: The Scheme of Sundered Houses & Brewing Uprising (31:34–86:42)

• Recap & Stakes: After 48 tumultuous hours in Dolmakyar, the players meet in the aviary of the Seven Stars Tavern. Scheming abounds: executions, betrayals, thefts, and the unsettling movement of powers within the city hierarchy. The party faces a city reeling from enforced change, with the Revolutionary Guard dismissed, a new dean installed, and noble houses consolidating magical and political resources.
  • “They fired the police force and are going to absorb them into the Haylovar... They want to plunder a hundred year old weaponry...” — Taliesin Jaffe & Travis Willingham (41:58)
• Strategic Brainstorming:
  • Plans to siphon newly-available funds, form a shell mercenary company to intercept the dismissed guards, and to plant trustworthy spies inside enemy ranks.
    • “If we have access to funds, I think we need to give those that have been dismissed somewhere else where they can go... Pay them to not go to the enemy.” — Sam Riegel (39:44)
  • Shrewd suggestions to leverage artifacts, make replicas, and use the chaos of merging museum wings to their advantage (potential for fraud and embezzlement).
    • “It would be a shorter list. To tell you what I wouldn't [siphon off].” — Travis Willingham (43:26)
• Atmosphere of Paranoia: Trust is thin, with various members voicing how few reliable contacts remain. Everyone is aware the city is on the brink, and the opposition acts with almost reckless speed.
  • “Why are they moving so fast? It's borderline reckless.” — Marisha Ray (44:07)
  • “It is reckless, not borderline.” — Matthew Mercer (44:14)
• Planning Contacts and Moves:
  • Identifying allies within the revolutionary remnants and noble houses.
  • “Moles” and “eyes and ears” are recruited through social maneuvering, e.g., leveraging the gossip of a noble's wife with loose lips, and referencing connections to working-class and underworld figures.

3. Social Intrigue & The Abandoned Palazzo Divinos (52:35–83:40)

• Social Setting: An impromptu gathering forms at the Seven Stars, as rich "peacocks" arrive, turned away from the canceled (or sinisterly altered) masquerade at the Palazzo Divinos.
• Revelations from the Nobility:
  • Camilla and Oras, minor nobles, recount their uncanny experience — an empty, enchanted party with food but no hosts, banners bidding farewell, and absent house members. Commoners search for loved ones, and a sense of unease pervades the revelry.
    • “Fireflies hanging in the air, some sort of ethereal music on the breeze, the parlor tricks of a house steeped in sorcery... a massive banner... ‘our final feast, hosted in the city of Dolmachio, may all have safe passage to the realms beyond. We await our brothers and sisters in Faerie.’” — Camilla via Matthew Mercer (65:12)
    • “There was a dwarven man who was screaming and crying at the gates, not being let in, who was asking where his daughter was, saying that she worked at the Palazzo over and over again. ... There were other working folk outside... And they dragged him off into the shadows and he was screaming. He punched one of the guards.” — Oras via Matthew Mercer (80:10)
  • Insight checks reveal the anxiety and paranoia among the guests — especially Oras, who holds and eventually snaps a magical glyph designed to reveal invisibility, indicating he suspects deeper dangers.
    • “There’s something kind of trustworthy about a paranoid person.” — Matthew Mercer (70:17)
• Party Moves: The group deftly mines the newcomers for information, plants seeds of rumor, and maintains their subterfuge.

4. Investigation of Magic & Unsettled Events (83:40–86:42)

• Detect Magic: Murray (Marisha Ray) casts Detect Magic to investigate, discovering the fading of enchantments and the now-empty “glyph” once meant for Thiazi’s escape.
  • “The illusion on the glyph has faded. ... If it’s unbroken, how did thiazi [not escape]? Thiazzi died before he even tried to use this.” — Matthew Mercer (85:25)
• Realization: The piece is unbroken and inert — Thiazi never got the chance to use his hidden magical escape, implying last-minute betrayal or intervention, adding another layer to the party’s suspicions of how events transpired.
  • “Somebody else got to him and killed him in a different way before he died. In the public performed way that we saw.” — Sam Riegel (85:47)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Every time she leaves Dol Makyar she has to put down the version of herself that was with Hal and her kids and the world and family and life that she knew. But... Tycha is becoming herself again..."
  — Ashley Johnson, (05:07)

• "He knows it's cold but he doesn't feel cold like a person feels cold anymore. ... Just all these little things that keep popping into his head as he goes."
  — Matthew Mercer, regarding Octys (07:41)

• "This wall was a holy site of Tehana... and that these statues were built to deface it."
  — Matthew Mercer, revelation about the dwarven site (19:01)

• "It's going to go very quickly."
  — Travis Willingham, on the unraveling revolutionary guard (39:39)

• "Do you think it's about the control of artifact, or do you think it's about rewriting history?"
  — Marisha Ray (41:30)

• "I love a little fraud. I love a little embezzlement."
  — Marisha Ray (43:01)

• "It's like they're racing."
  — Matthew Mercer, on the pace of conspiratorial change (44:17)

• "You have more experience eating ass than kissing it."
  — Sam Riegel, in a sly encouragement to 'play the part' (78:06)

• "He meant something to a lot of us in this city. He meant something to a lot of us. ... There was a dwarven man who was screaming and crying at the gates, not being let in, who was asking where his daughter was, saying that she worked at the Palazzo over and over again. ... And they dragged him off into the shadows and he was screaming."
  — Oras (via Matthew Mercer), describing the Palazzo's aftermath (80:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Start of the Journey – Dvalmar Pass: 01:33
• Tysha’s Poignant Encounter at the Shrine: 15:03–19:42
• Schemer’s Table Political Update & Intrigue: 31:34–44:23
• Party Discussion of Mercenary Plans: 39:17–44:39
• Arrival of the Party-Goers at Seven Stars: 52:35–55:03
• Camilla & Oras Reveal of Palazzo Divinos: 62:09–66:40
• Tysha Casts Detect Magic on the Glyph: 84:22–85:30

Tone & Style

The episode balances somber moments of grief and personal reckoning (especially in the Dvalmar Pass) with caustic wit, sly banter, and brisk plotting in Dolmakyar. Characters swing between weariness, cynicism, and resourcefulness, often lacing their strategical talks with dark humor and camaraderie.

Conclusion

As the party “makes merry”—if only for a moment—they are beset on all sides: personal loss, the threat of oppressive new powers, and the lingering unknowns of arcane tampering in the city. The episode ends on unresolved tension: the realization that deeper plots underlie public tragedy, the city's fate hanging by a thread, and the companions poised for decisive (and dangerous) action in the episodes to come.

Next Episode: Part 2 of this adventure will be released Tuesday.