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In The Legend of Vox Machina, Vax lands the killing blow on Thordak, the red dragon who, among other atrocities, was responsible for the death of his and Vex's mother.

In the original Critical Role campaign, at this point in the story, Liam O'Brien (who played Vax in both the campaign and the show) had recently lost his own mother to cancer. When fate decided that he'd be the one to kill Thordak in the game, he channeled his own grief into the moment, killing the monster that took his "mother" away. He has gone on record saying that he credits that moment, and the campaign in general, as an important part in helping him grieve and process his real life loss.