[Spoilers C4E25] What a ride...
I know I've said to myself "this is the best episode, no this one" 7-8 times this campaign alone, which only has 25 episode total. But I think this takes the biggest cake
Whoa... What an episode. Can't believe Brennan is able to pull a Red Wedding ish episode like 3 - 4 times now, and it's still fucking great to watch and still be amazed. Also his ability to come up with unique battles when it matters is crazy.
From the battle set-up to setting up a puzzle for schemers to crack, the battle was crazy from top to bottom. Starting the battle with a poisoned king, "killing" the Photarch in the first round, he set the tone of the battle right at the beginning, made players make right decisions and not die (especially Murray who was right in the middle of the blood bath). Also gave Murray/Marisha some leeway so she can stay invisible thus stay alive.
Also, kinda pissed that he was able to fool me with the death of Photarch because when she "fell", I was so confused about how a high level cleric/sorcerer (she was able to cast Wish, a 9th level spell to get her son, she's super high level) was knocked out by a single bolt, but his ruse with the Nat 1 roll distracted me from that train of thought and made me so stressed and confused.
The core of the battle is very much >!"The battle of the Sucrosi road" from A Crown of Candy!<, but he added so many layers to it and twists that it felt so fucking different and unique and awesome. In my 2nd and 3rd rewatch of the episode I could NOT stop imagining Lou sitting there giving the same looks he was giving in ExU Calamity.
Brennan is endlessly creative, but I really wish he kinda includes hints of some of his best work from D20 here as well. Also, would love it if Sam (or Whitney) is able to pull a "Where's your light now?" on Brennan.
PS: Always a fan of him hyping up the players calls and moves, Marisha deserved that praise for the portant move.