Critical Role

Jaffe reflected on how a character he helped create is at the center of Laudna's struggle and his joy at seeing this character. He praised Marisha Ray not just for making this character but for the choices she has made while playing Laudna, especially with Sword-gate.

Taliesin Jaffe: "If you have a really loud bad voice in your head. That can be rough. Damage voice is bad, and boy, she's got the worst of it."
Screen Rant: "That you made."
Taliesin Jaffe: "Yeah, the Percy in my head is definitely like, Wow, I feel a bit guilty about this all. This is very much my fault. I love that Marisha made this character. It's such a fun character and so tragic. Yeah, I was very curious. I was very, I don't want to say I was surprised, but it was interesting to watch everybody's reaction to that. Marisha's like, I don't know how not to do this. We're just doing it. After the game, it was very, we were all like, What a throw. It was nuts."

Jaffe also discussed Asthon's origins and his connection to both Dunamancy and the Primordials. He explained how Ashton has felt after learning about these new aspects of himself and how it has impacted his understanding of himself. Jaffe also reflected on how Ashton hoped this discovery would forever change things and where they are with this new information.

Taliesin Jaffe: "It's interesting. I won't go into too many details, but all my characters tend to be paralleling, I try and find aspects of my reality, or my personality, or history that interconnect into them. The parallels between some of that and some other real-world stuff going on were very intense. I did my best to reflect my own experience going in and kind of having interesting revelations about one's past and just the assumption that it was going to change everything. It was something that they never really thought about or they thought they were never going to get, so it wasn't really on the menu.
And then, when it got put out there, it became an obsession. Then they were told they were very special, and immediately it went directly to their heads, and not in that braggart sort of way, but like, Oh, now I have all this. I have power, and I have responsibility, and I'm going to do all this. And then getting into the thick of it and realizing doesn't really change anything. It just doesn't.
They're looking forward to learning, less about their parents now that that's kind of beyond them, but the Primordials are interesting. It is a connection to the world that they never thought they were going to have. It's something that is talking to them where nothing else ever has. It does explain a lot of the things that have happened in their life, but not all of it either. They still have that weird thing in their head. Yeah, they're trying to pace themselves. They know some of their bad habits.
But it is an interesting mix of, I don't want to say disappointment because that's not what it is. There was a bit of disappointment that it didn't change who they were fundamentally. They were really kind of hoping it would. That's why they started dressing up like Superman briefly. Got the really nice, I'm going to be a superhero. I'm not a superhero. That was really, no, that was a bad call.
It has at least made them realize, they have to figure out on, at least on a practical level, where they come from, and what their responsibilities are, and what it means. Self-Discovery is not necessarily all about self-actualization, but it's also about just learning some cautionary tales, and trying not to make the same mistakes, and trying to also see what mistakes may be in the future or what you're capable of. That's kind of where it's at right now for as long as they can remember to be smart and not stupid."