The Mighty Nein weaves the tale of a group of strangers thrust together by circumstance; a chance meeting at crossed pathways that changes the course of all of their lives forever. It is a dark tale, full of traumatic backstories and dangerous dealings, but it’s also one of friendship, of found family, and of breaking free of the things in your past that are holding you back.
Critical Role‘s latest animated series has some things in common with their first, The Legend of Vox Machina: similar animation styles, the same core cast of voice actors, and some general D&D vibes. I think if you knew nothing about Critical Role and just happened to stumble upon these two series on Prime Video without realizing they were made by the same people, you’d probably be able to figure it out pretty quickly. But The Mighty Nein is also very distinct from The Legend of Vox Machina in a lot of ways, not the least of which is tone.
The Mighty Nein takes on a darker, more serious feel and, with longer episodes, it feels like there’s more time to really dig your teeth into complex plot and character arcs, which is no easy feat with so many characters at its core. Of course, the show is still peppered with that classic Critical Role humor (one running bit being people pointing out that there aren’t nine of them), but overall the vibe is a lot more serious.
This follows the tabletop versions of these stories. Vox Machina started out as a group of friends being silly while playing D&D, and while the story they told was beautiful and exciting, for the first half of that campaign, they were playing on a folding table and just goofing off with their pals. By the time the second campaign started, they were a little more polished, a little more intentional; this was no longer a home game made public, this was an actual play TTRPG being created for people to watch.
We also meet these characters at different times. We meet Vox Machina fully formed, both in game and in the animated series. They are already a group trying to save the world. (Well, when we meet them, they’re a group trying to win a beer chugging contest, but you get the picture.) In The Mighty Nein, we meet the players one by one. Well, we first learn a little about the world we’re in now; about the Beacon that will be the center of the series, the Kryn and the Volstruckers that surround it, getting to see that we’re still very much in a world of magic. But THEN we meet our players. And slowly! We only see three of the main characters in the first episode!
Over the course of the first three episodes, we meet Caleb (Liam O’Brien), a dirty wizard down on his luck and we see the first time he meets Nott (Sam Riegel), the goblin girl with sticky fingers, a drinking problem, and a big heart. We meet Beau (Marisha Ray), the lesbian monk with a keen eye for investigation and a bit of an attitude problem who wants to prove her worth. We see Fjord (Travis Willingham) training on a ship, only to lose his crew and mentor Vandran in a wreck…which also is when he starts hearing an ominous voice from the depths that also gives him his warlock powers. We meet Jester (Laura Bailey), a sheltered, optimistic and adorable blue tiefling who is a cleric to the Traveler, who no one else has ever heard of. And finally, Mollymauk Tealeaf (Taliesin Jaffe), an enigmatic purple tiefling who uses oracle decks and is part of the circus where their lives all end up intersecting.
Also Jester remains THE MOST ADORABLE CHARACTER TO EVER EXIST IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. I love her, your honor.
We also meet other important players along the way, including but not limited to Yasha (Ashley Johnson) — though she remains a bit of a mystery for now, all we know for sure is that she’s big, buff, strong as hell, a little scary, and has a glowing rune on the back of her neck — and Essek (Matthew Mercer), a drow of the Kryn Dynasty.
I loved Campaign 2 of Critical Role — it was the first campaign I watched any episodes of live — but I have to admit, there were things about the overall plot that went over my head. The political machinations of the Kryn Dynasty and the Cobalt Soul were hard to keep up with when it was revealed little by little over the course of years with lots of (very fun and charming) interludes. (Also sometimes I would admittedly fall behind, leaving long gaps between binges, which didn’t help. What I’m saying is, not being able to keep up with the complexities was definitely a me problem, not a storytelling problem.) Watching this season of The Mighty Nein felt a little to me like seeing a Shakespeare play after you’ve read the text. The text, while undoubtedly genius and enjoyable, was a little harder to follow, but then when you see it acted out, it all clicks. I think it definitely helps that I had the background of having watched Campaign 2, but I really don’t think it would be hard to follow along for someone just watching the animated series.
I’m loving how much plot and backstory we’re getting with this series, and I think Season 1 is setting some really great groundwork for being able to hit the ground running in future seasons. Speaking of, those of you who have seen Critical Role know that there’s a well-known sapphic pairing at its core, which I won’t spoil in case you only are watching the show, but we don’t get to see that play out just yet; it’s a slow burn, and we’ll have to wait for it. But that doesn’t mean this season is lacking in queer content. For example, no one will be able to walk away from this season not knowing Beauregard Lionett is gay as hell. She’s also COOL as hell.
Pop pop!
Seeing all of Beau’s “dope monk shit” animated is one of my favorite parts of the show. I also love getting to see more about her time at the Cobalt Soul, and how SMART Beau is, which is at least partially to the credit of Marisha, one of the most dedicated note takers during their actual D&D campaign, and it’s really fun seeing how that translates to the narrative. Bonus: Getting to hear Marisha do her voice again is a gay blessing unto us all.
And don’t get me started on those ABS.
Another female character’s queerness is also undeniable by the end of the season, but that’s something you’ll have to wait for the rest of the episodes to drop to find out more about that.
Speaking of queer people, Auli’i Cravalho makes an appearance as a guest voice this season! Other awesome familiar voices you might hear along the way include but are not limited to Lucy Liu, Alan Cumming, Ming-Na Wen, Anika Noni Rose, Rahul Kohli and *checks notes* Tim McGraw! A hilarious mix of names to list all in a row, and all are excellent in their roles.
Overall, I really loved this this season and I think you will, too. If you’ve never seen any Critical Role content, it’s an epic tale of magic, corruption, adventure, and friendship with complex characters and episodes that are thick with plot, drama, and humor. And if you HAVE seen Critical Role content, the easter eggs sprinkled throughout will have you giggling and kicking your feet. The adventure begins!
I haven’t watched any of the campaigns, but really enjoyed Vox Machina, and am really liking Mighty Nein too! I had Beau for one scene and was like, “smart Korra? I love her!”
This actually makes me so happy to hear. It seemed like that could the case, that someone who didn’t watch the campaigns could enjoy these shows, but it was impossible for me to tell with all my background – thank you for sharing!