Sure, the Critical Role cast have confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of the Mighty Nein, but during their MCM October 2023 panel, the group also might have planned just what’s going to happen when they return… and it’s all thanks to a fan question about world building.

During the fan Q&A portion of the panel, Matt Mercer was asked if there were more parts of Exandria that he’d want to explore in the series. The answer was yes, of course, but it’s what happened when Mercer talked about where hasn’t really been explored yet where things got fun.

“We’ve only seen but small bits of Issylra, and we’ve really only seen a small section of the Shattered Teeth,” Mercer teased. “And that’s not even considering all of the underwater nations that live kind of separately from the mainland stuff.”

The very mention of “underwater nations” genuinely caught the rest of the cast by surprise, judging by their reactions onstage. (There was an audible “What?!?”) “You guys have never really been in any of the ocean parts except for some of the Delles!” Mercer argued, which made Marisha Ray yell, “We didn’t even know that was an option!” Ashley Johnson grabbed the mic to add, “But also: ‘underwater nations’?”

“Wait! Can we be mermaids? Can we all just be mermaids? Can we have a one-shot mermaid one-shot?” asked a clearly excited Laura Bailey, which prompted a lot of cheers from a very supportive audience. Bailey even knew exactly how it could happen: “Mermaid wedding! Jester polymorphs everyone into mermaids, and it’s all underwater!” she said, in Jester’s distinctive accent.

“This is your fault now,” Mercer told the fan who asked the initial question. “You did this!”

“Okay, but here’s a real question: Is that too much for divine intervention, for Arti to turn everyone into mermaids?” asked Bailey, which led to Mercer in his best attempt to be coy answering, “There’s only one way to find out…!”

You heard it here first. And now all we have to do is wait for the underwater wedding of the season… whenever it gets around to happening.

Watch the full October 2023 MCM panel right here, or the highlights below!

It’s time to start watching Critical Role, if you haven’t already. Here’s how you can do that easily; you’re welcome.