After a series of catastrophes where no-one could seem to roll well, I truly have no idea who's going to make it out of Critical Role's next episode

Critical Role's 4th's campaign is in full swing, and this past episode we followed the schemer's table—for those not in the know, this campaign's a "West Marches" style adventure, where the stacked cast of 13 players split off into their own groups.

The schemer's table, so named because of the political scheming it's involved in, just spent four and a half hours spinning out last week as the chickens came home to roost. Allow me to give you the bullet points (spoilers, obviously):

• Halandil Fang's (played by Liam O'Brian) daughter has been expelled from school after the prior episode, where the equivalent of the pope personally popped in to threaten his life. He rolled a natural one to try and calm his now-revolutionary daughter down.
• Azure Nayar (played by Luis Carazo) is getting pulled in all directions—playing nice with two sorcerous houses while being loyal to neither of them. Also, the head of one such house now thinks he's in a relationship with his cousin (he is not, he just has her axe, long story).
• Murray Magnesson (played by Marisha Ray) is on the cusp of getting fired from her job at a school which is rapidly becoming less about teaching magic, and more raising soldiers for another sorcerous house while leaving them without any magic that'd be useful in standing up against them.
• Also, Azure's boss hates her.
• Tyranny, a demon (played by Whitney Moore), has been ordered by her father to destroy her corporeal form and return to hell.
• Also, she got the crap kicked out of her by her sister (also a demon, also playing reformed bodyguard for the church, it's—don't worry about it).
• Wicander Halovar (played by Sam Riegel) is perhaps the most screwed of all of them, having embarrassed his control freak grandma (the same pope who threatened Halandil Fang).
• As a result, he's now been marched to Halandil's theatre, likely to be assassinated by his grandma in a staged killing that'll kick off a civil war between the church and the orcish people of Dol-Makjar proper.

Throughout the entire episode, absolutely nobody could roll well—a streak of terrible luck that plagued the cast during the whole thing. Absolutely terrible timing, given the walls are closing in. While earlier episodes of this campaign have had me clenching my cheeks, this one tops it.

This'd be the part of the article where I try to make predictions, but I truly, thoroughly, have no idea what's going to happen. Wicander's getting assassinated, probably by his grandmother. Tyranny's not even there, having chosen to actually go to hell (but with backup). Halandil Fang is both beloved and also marked for death. There might be a revolution and a teacher's strike going on at Murray's school.

Will the Kaedra, orcish paint angels that were created in an elaborate ritual during this very play's opening night, rush to Halandil's defense? Will the glade of fey (oh there's a glade of fey nearby, under the lake, where there is a dragon, don't worry about it) appear? Will the assassination attempt be a convincing lie—and if isn't staged, then who the hell is trying to kill Wicander?

There are so many goddamn plates spinning at this point that I haven't the faintest clue which ones are going to get knocked off their poles, but I absolutely cannot wait to see the porcelain fly.

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