Arms Outstretched (glossary term)
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | The Adventure Zone: Balance |
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- For other uses of the term "Arms Outstretched", see Arms Outstretched (disambiguation)
Arms Outstretched is the name of the last 12-ish minutes of The Adventure Zone: Balance's "Ep. 56: The Suffering Game - Chapter Six"[1] in which Magnus Burnsides temporarily dies and Taako and Merle save him from being trapped on the Astral Plane, which in the world of TAZ: Balance (and in D&D in general) is the afterlife.
The term is also used to refer to other times when Magnus, Merle, and Taako save or help each other.[2][3]
Arms Outstretched was named by Griffin McElroy (who wrote a song by the same name that plays during Arms Outstretched) in the 2017 The The Adventure Zone Zone episode:
[Griffin McElroy]
...it’s gonna be a lot of cooks in the kitchen and it’s gonna be like, unless we do all get together at that point and say like, "Alright, what are we doing with this thing?" then it’s not gonna be this cohesive narrative, it’ll be you guys being, just, murderous bandits as you run across the countryside, like— You know what I mean? [Agreeing hums] Like, it’s really—and so I get really defensive about people saying, like, "I wish Griffin would let the boys like, make more of a big decision."
Because, to answer the thing that we haven’t even talked about which was the point of the question of like, things you guys did, uh, the whole "Arms Outstretched” sequence where Taako soul-jars and you guys pull Magnus from death? I’m not kidding, I had a whole thing? In the Astral Plane…? Gone. Like, fucking gone. That was probably the biggest, most brutal thing.[4]
Fan Reactions/Example Usage
[tres-corny-boys]
We’ve got the actual arms outstretched scene which was so powerful holy shit. I can’t ever get over this scene. Everything. “here’s a fucking idea for you”. taako going for magnus’ soul. that fucking nat 20 strength check from taako. the MUSIC. MERLE FUCKING USING HIS SOULWOOD ARM TO GRAB ONTO THEM BOTH.[2]
[tuupii]
Taz just caused with ‘arms outstretched’ an emotional reaction in me I haven’t had since my homestuck days.
#arms outstretched [...] #i held my breath focusing completely on what was happening[5]
[raychleadele]
Listen. Arms Outstretched still knocks me flat every time I can’t believe these boys.
#arms outstretched #ta z#this is my ...third? time?? listening to the suffering game #and i just cant handle it[6]
[pactmagicFollow]
Listen, it’s been ages but literally every piece of fanart for the Arms Outstretched scene in Wonderland still totally fucks me up, I love it.[7]
Fanwork Examples
Fanart
External Links
- Ep. 56: The Suffering Game - Chapter Six. on The Adventure Zone Wiki.
- Ep. 56: The Suffering Game - Chapter Six. on Maximum Fun.
- arms outstretched tag on tumblr
References
- ^ forgottentazfacts says here that Arms Outstretched starts at 51:25 and continues to the episode. (archive)
- ^ a b tres-corny-boys, CAN WE TALK ABOUT ALL THE ARMS OUTSTRETCHED MOMENTS IN THIS PODCAST BECAUSE THIS SPECIFICALLY IS KILL ME, 20 Aug 2017. (archive)
- ^ Also for example this post by raychleadele, which is a cap of The Adventure Zone graphic novel where Taako pulls Magnus out of a fire tagged "arms outstretched".
- ^ tazscripts, transcript of The The Adventure Zone Zone 2017 (archive). Publish date unknown, accessed May 2, 2019.
- ^ tuupii, untitled text post, 2018-08-16.
- ^ raychleadele, untitled text post, 9th Aug 2018
- ^ pactmagicFollow, [untitled text post] (missing link, deleted blog, March 1st, 2018.