The theft of a powerful relic called The Beacon sends
sparks across two kingdoms. A long
simmering war is about to burst if the wrong is not rectified. To stop the escalating conflict, a team of
adventures, thieves, wizards and warriors is assembled to find the Beacon. They’re hardly the stuff of legends: down on
their luck scoundrels with sordid pasts and not so bright futures. But the fate of several nations rests on
their shoulders. This is where the
legend of the Mighty Nein begins.
With The Legend of Vox Machina starting to wind down (Season
4 starts early next year and Season 5 has been confirmed as the Final Season),
it seems like the right time for Critical Role to launch an animated adaptation
of the groups second campaign, The Mighty Nein.
Like Vox Machina, I had no idea what to expect going in outside of recognizing
a couple of very often cosplayed characters and that this was done by the same
group of table top gaming Voice Actors, who like Vox Machina take on the roles
of their real game characters once again.
What I wasn’t expecting was, well a lot.
The Mighty Nein is a very different campaign and story from Vox Machina,
in both positive and negative ways, as I took away from the first episode.
The very first thing that I took away from the opening
sequence alone was how much darker of a story this is going to be.
Three black operative magic users breaking
into a high security stronghold and spilling blood and hacking limbs aplenty
during their escape, it’s a fun sequence but lacks the same kind of warmth and
welcoming of Vox Machina…and the humor.
Yeah there were snippets of wise cracks and chuckle moments but Mighty
Nein seems to be playing its premise very straight and very serious.
And while Vox Machina has gone to some dark
places during its first few seasons, it always remains a feel good adventurous romp.
Mighty Nein has arguably higher stakes and a
no nonsense attitude all across the board.
No time for jokes here, at least not in Episode 1 anyway.
The first episode doesn’t present the full party like it’s
predecessor.
Instead we center on three
of the main characters and I have mixed feelings.
Caleb and Nott seem like an interesting pair.
And while their familiar voices are always
welcome, I wasn’t really grabbed by their plot in the first episode.
The idea of them teaming up at the end holds
promise but I need more time with them to get invested.
On the opposite side, I LOVED Beau.
Not only does she look like a bad ass femme
Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender, she’s the closest of the characters
introduced so far who is so much fun to watch.
Her snark, intuitiveness and action scenes were all highlights (and as I
mentioned, she’s pretty hot).
I could
watch a whole show about her character alone.
Plus I’m pretty sure her mentor Zeenoth is voiced by Jonathan Frakes,
aka Captain Willaim Riker from Star Trek, and its always good to hear or see
him in any role.
As for the plot at large, the concept of a Cold War
amongst warring kingdoms is certainly a way to stand apart from Vox
Machina.
There’s far more political
intrigue here and serious talks about invasions, secret operations and power
plays that you’d think this show was trying to be more Game of Thrones than
Dungeons and Dragons.
I cant say I’m quite
invested yet as Im still getting used to this new world (which is set in the
same one as Vox Machina, just on another continent plus a twenty year time skip)
and how to maneuver to political field Mighty Nein is slowly setting up.
Also, not sure why these episodes are 45mins
long, felt like the plot was dragging here and there in places.
I’ve been told that since I love Vox Machina, The Mighty
Nein would be right up my alley.
Don’t get
me wrong, I’m willing to give it a chance but the more mature and serious vibe
of the show is gonna take some getting used to.
Maybe once more of the cast jumps in I might feel differently but like I
said, I’m gonna continue on with this one and see how it progresses.
And if I don’t happen to like it, Vox Machina
is back in January and I’m more than ready to reassemble with that crew for the
start of the final adventures.
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