Title: Cloudward, Ho!
GM: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Players: Emily Axford (she/her) as Marya Junková (she/her). Zac Oyama (he/him) as Daisuke Bucklesby (he/him). Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as Vanellope ‘Van’ Chapman (she/her). Lou Wilson (he/him) as Montgomery ‘Monty’ LaMontgommery (he/him). Ally Beardsley (they/them) as Olethra MacLeod (she/her). Brian Murphy (he/him) as Maxwell Gotch (he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout

If you missed them, catch up on our review of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth episodes!

We return this week to the final episode of Cloudward, Ho! Our Intrepid Heroes fight in the sky against Ludmila and Straka as the power of Zern invades Zood. They’ve broken open the Queen’s ship, revealing her mechanical form, so with one of his gold bullets, Daisuke takes his first shot. The wind steals the gold away; however, right before they move on, Brennan recalls Comfrey’s inspiration, which undoes the miss and allows him to hit. With a second regular shot, Daisuke hits as well.

Olethra helps Torse, flying out of Straka’s mouth and grabbing Daisuke as well to draw closer. She gives him cover, dropping him on a ridge near Marya. Torse leaps down as well to protect the sharpshooter. Continuing onward, Olethra completely severs the cord which connects the Zernian queen and Straka.

Never one to leave a successful escape alone, Ally hits below the belt, having their character claim the title of Marya’s protege, earning Ludmila’s wrath.

Longspot shoots Olethra, claiming the mech as his property. Hatwell drops down on Straka. Launching himself from Straka’s beak, Maxwell rushes his brother, throwing Hatwell off the side of the giant mechanical bird. Unfortunately, Hatwell dexterously saves himself.

Racing to her granddaughter’s side, Comfrey tells Ludmila that she prevented Marya from going through the biangle, earning the Zernian queen’s ire. Van intercedes. By healing Ludmila, she inflicts twice the damage, confirming both the Queen and Straka take double damage for radiant attacks / healing.

Marya launches down the hole Olethra made in Straka. Racing through the beast’s mechanical insides, she finds the living heart and Corrodi Primarchs.

Hearing Marya’s exclamation, Daisuke shoots down, knocking one of the Primarchs down and killing another.

With Marya inside the Straka, Ludmila focuses her wrath on Comfrey, striking her down. Olethra rages, sending an attack down on the Primarchs. She leaps to join Marya, who marvels at having learned from a brave MacLeod and now being the teacher of another one.

Above, Maxwell and his father fight, questioning where Samwell has gone until the man of the hour reveals himself by climbing out of Straka’s chimney. He is fifteen years older than when Maxwell last saw him. Samwell restates his faith in Maxwell and joins his brother’s side.

Hatwell falls into Roywell’s wingsuit thanks to Ally making an offhanded joke and rolling a Nat 20. Murph railed, but like it or not, Hatwell lives. Unwilling to engage, Maxwell dives into the fight with the Primarchs. Torse confronts the Primarchs, excited to kill them as Ludmila attacks Comfrey again and again, ending the inventor’s life right before Monty can act to save her.

Tying Comfrey’s body to Courtney’s saddle, Monty races to Van’s side, taking on injuries to himself and to his little dinosaur companion. They take out the remaining parasite, and turning upon Ludmila, he tosses one of the modified ticks at her.

Siobhan calls Sentinel, placing Van between Monty and Ludmila as she does Divine Smite, absolutely wrecking the Zernian queen. As Van rips the queen’s head from her body, the group confirms that the form before them is completely artificial, leaving no sign of the original Ludmila aside from the heart in the Straka’s core.

Marya takes out another Primarch as she races through the back of the biangle in Straka’s throat. Luckily, she has her boots of the winding path on, allowing her to rewind before she gets ripped apart by fiery space time, and the process clear her mind, showing her Ludmila’s body preserved above her heart in Straka.

When Marya announces this, Olethra jumps into action. She breaks through, revealing Ludmila’s body, and seeing this, Olethra covers Marya in preparation for the captain to tinker in hopes of saving her former protege’s life.

Still reeling from Comfrey’s death, Daisuke shoots Longshot and then makes his way over to Monty, telling him to leave his beloved’s body with him. Doing so, Monty pushes forward into the fray, leaving Daisuke to guard his love even in death.

Longshot manages to make his way down, shooting Ludmila’s heart. Hatwell kills Samwell, and Maxwell launches forward, attacking his father, who clearly plans to usurp Ludmila and become the King of Zern. Van joins the fight, getting him down to a single hit point. Across time, Maxwell’s grandfather offers him encouragement, and Maxwell kills his father, causing a ringing that sends the golden heart through time and space to reside in Ludmila’s chest.

As chaos unfolds, Olethra uses her mech to resonate with the portal, and Marya leaps into it once more. Defying the supposed unbroken mess of time, Marya reaches to the first day that Ludmila waited by the door. However, as she goes to pull Ludmila through, Marya collapses due to the fire damage right before the Primarchs pull Ludmila back. Even as she dies, Marya sacrifices herself to pull Ludmila through time.

All this allows Ludmila to awaken with a memory and spirit from that day long ago when Marya had succeeded in saving her. Olethra draws her into the mech, and the two race into the portal, hoping to save Marya.

Maxwell panics, and Monty jumps into action, typing ropes from the Zephyr II to help everyone escape despite Daisuke seemingly tempted to go down with Comfrey and Straka.

Van jumps after the mech, helping the two as to find Marya within the fire. Around her, the spirit of Straka holds her. Laying on hands, Van heals her friend, and Marya takes over piloting, but she can’t guide them until Tazgw’agwa comes to their aid as well. Still, they struggle to find their way until Maxwell half-enters the biangle, calling out to guide them.

They laid everything on the line. Brennan gave them so many chances to escape the biangle and prevent mass causalities. He clearly wanted a positive ending as much as our Intrepid Heroes, and they manage it, taking heavy damage as they make their mistake.

All hoped for a miracle for Comfrey as well. Unfortunately, despite every effort, they cannot save Comfrey. To make it that much more painful, Comfrey says goodbye to her granddaughter, protege, and former crewmates. Daisuke has a more private goodbye, seemingly getting a message from Comfrey through the mech before it flies out onto the horizon.

While the rest celebrate the end of Straka, Van hunts for more members of the Eyeless Hand. As Ludmila gets a tour from Olethra, Maxwell talks to the old crew, and they talk of going in search of Shahar. Monty wants to return to Gath, stating his adventure and life’s work will be saving Gath, so he won’t be going, but the rest intend to continue after a bit more time in Zood and a bit in Gath before continuing their adventure.

Highlights

As Brennan opened up Straka, it seemed like a far tamer version of Aabria’s rotting bear. While that wasn’t the first multi-layered battle map that the Dimension 20 Art Department created, it has certainly left a memorable mark.

Zach nearly broke my heart this episode. The disbelief and confusion in the wake of Comfrey death stole the show. Even when he broke through, continuing to fight, his priority was Comfrey, going to her side even in death.

Final Score (5 out of 5 Stars)

Emotions ran hot in this final episode. While we came close to losing a player character, we only truly lost Comfrey, the person who brought our group together in the first place. Comfrey led a good life. She had adventures and friends. As many said, she died as she lived, saving the world.

Despite Christmas clothes and bits aplenty, Cloudward, Ho! ends strong with 3 hours that are wonderfully paced and emotional scenes that had me in tears. Marya’s story came wonderfully full circle. Maxwell faced his father, turning the Gotch family around and honoring his grandfather while Daisuke lost the love of his life after a second chance that ended too soon. Monty’s certainty of himself and his work saving Gath also wonderfully bookmarked the end of his story.

There are plenty of stories ahead, so I wouldn’t mind seeing a second season some time down the line. However, the way the finale closed, I’m not sure we’ll ever get that second season.

Let us know what you thought of Cloudward, Ho! and if you’d like to see a season two in comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

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The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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