Critical Role’s Matthew Mercer Cast Divine Intervention in Latest Bells Hells Twist

The following contains spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 3, Episode 107: “Under the Arch Heart’s Eye”.

Matthew Mercer effectively gobsmacked the cast of Critical Role in Campaign 3, Episode 107 by delivering divine intervention through Abubakar Salim’s Arch Heart. Bells Hells’ surprise audience with the Exandrian Prime Deity drastically altered their endgame in handling Ludinus Da’leth and his plan to unleash the god-eating Predathos.

After an extremely effective three-hour combat with Sorrowlord Zathuda, Critical Role fans were left speculating what Sam Riegel could have meant when he teased Episode 107 as “a special one” on X earlier in the day.

The second half of the Bells Hells session delivered on Riegel’s promise when Mercer relinquished his Dungeon Master’s chair to Salim, who reprised his role as Downfall‘s Arch Heart. “We have a lot of guest DMs, and some things are hard to hide to certain parts of the company,” Travis Willingham explained his shock in the latest Critical Role Cooldown, “I had no fucking clue”. And Willingham was not the only one at the table left in utter disbelief by Salim’s return as the Arch Heart.

Unlike Campaign 3’s past guest DMs Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan, Salim’s godly role combined Dungeon Mastering and divine intervention. Transporting Bells Hells into his domain, the Exandrian god revealed that he and one other deity were ready to leave Exandria behind for good. While he repeatedly reiterated that these were merely his informed opinions, The Arch Heart seemed convinced that expelling the gods from Exandria permanently would be the only way to prevent another Calamity. The god then explained that he needed someone more trustworthy than Ludinus to serve as a vessel for Predathos and chase him and his siblings off Exandria.

The Arch Heart’s proposal enticed Bells Hells, introducing a massive wrinkle in their existing plan to save Exandria’s pantheon. Though Salim’s convivial god protected the identity of his co-conspirator during their conversation, Marisha Ray’s Laudna received a private ping from The Arch Heart’s sister, The Matron of Ravens. While it’s not yet clear whether the Raven Queen and the Arch Heart are acting as partners in this venture, it was a role-playing moment between the two in Downfall that inspired Mercer to invite Salim back onto the show. 

The somewhat blasé and nihilistic attitude that Salim brought to Downfall‘s Arch Heart motivated Mercer to rack up a steep long-distance phone bill to discuss The House of the Dragon actor’s thoughts on the impending threat of Predathos. During Critical Role Cooldown, Salim revealed that he concocted the plan for a member of Bells Hells to serve as Predathos’ vessel independent of Mercer. “It might not be the only solution,” Salim commented on the morally complex quandary that Bells Hells have been grappling with throughout Campaign 3. Whether or not Bells Hells take the god’s advice to heart, their visit with the Arch Heart certainly serves as a crucial and cinematic moment in their high-stakes adventure.