#which are also often glossed over in favor of romantic pairings tbh!

[captainjonnitkessler]

"#essek's other relationships ESPECIALLY with Jester and Beau are just as important i think" PLEASE elaborate on this tag! I haven't seen anyone talk about Essek's relationships with anyone else in the Nein besides Caleb, and people don't talk enough about Beau's, Veth's, or Caduceus' relationships in general. ~aeoranexpat

I would LOVE to elaborate thank you!

It's really disappointing to me when people act like Essek's only major relationship is that with Caleb. For sure, they're great narrative foils and they understand each other in a way few others can. But it took a long time and it wouldn’t have happened at all without the others. Essek's redemption came about because of his relationships with ALL of the M9. (Under a readmore because it got kinda long!)

Essek and Jester's relationship is probably my favorite. This post already covers why Jester was the driving force of his redemption - she's the one who was constantly making overtures and friendly gestures and the rest of the M9 followed her lead on that.

I love this relationship because I think Jester was probably the person Essek disliked the most in the beginning. She’s loud, flamboyant, boisterous, overly familiar - the complete opposite of the stoic, dignified Shadowhand of the Dynasty. But no matter how many times he rejected or disappointed her, she kept reaching out because Jester’s love and friendship is unconditional!! Even when they found out he was the traitor, she never hesitated in calling him a friend! Can you! imagine! the feeling of being offered unconditional love and friendship for the very first time in your life! Of being offered almost immediate forgiveness for an unforgivable crime! I love Jester Lavorre and so does Essek!

I think Beau’s relationship with him is also very important. It is, of course, absolutely hilarious that Essek, Secret Traitor With Many Life-Threatening Secrets, got put in charge of liaising with an Expositor of the Cobalt Soul, Person In Charge Of Finding Secrets. This is another great narrative foil that I feel gets overlooked a lot. Can you even imagine how stressed out Essek must’ve been? Getting found out was probably a relief by the time it happened jfc.

Beau was initially welcoming, if wary, but she was also wildly awkward about it which hey! So was Essek! Watch these two socially inept nerds try to make friends! And then his betrayal was uncovered, and she immediately went hard against him. Which, fair! I appreciate that Essek always made it clear that he knew he wasn’t entitled to forgiveness or trust, because he wasn’t. And I love that Beau also made it very clear that she knew that. But he got it anyway, and honestly -

Jester forgave him easily because that’s who she is. Caleb forgave him because he saw himself in Essek. But Beau? Beau’s whole fucking deal is rooting out corruption and evil. It took longer, because he really had to prove himself. But I have to imagine gaining her forgiveness felt the best. Because if Expositor Beauregard Lionett says you’re a good person? You know she’s not bullshitting you or doing it for personal reasons. It’s because she truly believes it, and it’s literally her job to make that call.

Those are the two I find most interesting, although everyone else has their own relationship with him. Veth in particular was the one he most actively harmed by kidnapping and torturing her husband and almost orphaning her child, which was kinda glossed over a lot tbh! But he also helped develop and cast the spell that got her body back, and now he’s dating her best friend - their relationship is FRAUGHT.

Yasha and Essek both know what it’s like to be Xhorhasian in the Empire and to be socially awkward about it. Caduceus has such a drastically different view on life in general, and I think there’s a lot of potential there in their friendship and how it affected Essek’s view on things. And Fjord, the “leader” who considered himself responsible for the group’s safety, was willing to trust Essek with that safety both initially in Xhorhas and again in Aeor.

So yeah, when people portray it as “Essek’s relationship with Caleb (and-also-the-M9-in-the-background)” I think it’s doing a massive disservice to both Essek and the M9! Essek’s individual relationships with everyone in the M9 are complicated and important, and his platonic relationships are every bit as important as his romantic one!

#thank you SO MUCH for letting me expound on this i have a lot of Opinions #also i literally always want to talk about jester lavorre and her platonic relationships. #which are also often glossed over in favor of romantic pairings tbh! #critical role #critical role spoilers #kind of #instantgentlemenvoid