Critical Role is a genuine cultural phenomenon that fundamentally changed the landscape of Let’s Plays and, alongside Stranger Things, introduced an entire generation to Dungeons & Dragons. When the franchise launched one of the fastest and most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history, it resulted in The Legend of Vox Machina—one of the finest high fantasy television series in recent memory. That show successfully condensed hundreds of campaign hours into cohesive scripted narrative while preserving the improvisational spirit that made characters feel genuinely alive through delightfully absurd moments.
But The Mighty Nein is not The Legend of Vox Machina. What Metapigeon and Titmouse deliver here is a fundamentally different kind of high fantasy adventure, one that diverges from the first Critical Role adaptation in all the right ways. This new series feels less like an enhanced D&D campaign and more like a legitimate fantasy epic—complete with political machinations, morally complex characters, warring factions, and a mismatched group of outcasts who band together to forge their own legend.
A More Mature Vision of Exandria
The spirit of Critical Role remains intact: the charm, Matt Mercer’s intricate worldbuilding, and the cast’s ability to undercut serious moments with perfectly timed childish humor. Yet The Mighty Nein is a more focused production than Vox Machina, featuring a darker tone, more fully realized characters, and a confident narrative that leans less heavily on fantasy tropes and archetypes. This is still comedy—there are hysterically funny moments and character dynamics—but the approach feels more like a scripted fantasy story enhanced by improvised dialogue rather than an improvised fantasy story given scripted structure.
Set decades after The Legend of Vox Machina (no spoilers for how that show concludes, though eagle-eyed viewers will catch references), The Mighty Nein transports us to Wildemount, a different continent on Exandria engulfed in cold war between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty. Skirmishes are commonplace and tensions run high, but the conflict escalates when a powerful arcane artifact known only as “The Beacon” is stolen from the Kryn, threatening to ignite all-out war that could devastate the entire continent. Caught in the middle are fugitives, outcasts, and general weirdos who meet by chance and become known as the titular Mighty Nein (despite numbering only six).
Several party members have direct stakes in the brewing conflict or connections to its key players, and their personal stories feed directly into the larger geopolitical struggle. The Mighty Nein opens with a thrilling sequence exploring events not covered in the original campaign, instead establishing the broader world of Wildemount and placing viewers directly in the middle of the conflict from multiple perspectives.
Expansive Worldbuilding Beyond the Party
The animated series dedicates considerable time to other corners of its world, offering insider perspectives on the Kryn Dynasty’s hierarchy, the various institutions comprising the Dwendalian Empire, their distinct cultures, and the people caught between them. In many ways, The Mighty Nein follows the post-Game of Thrones trend of juggling multiple (perhaps too many) storylines simultaneously to cover different perspectives within its fictional world, eventually connecting these threads in an explosive finale. Whether you’re discovering Wildemount for the first time or you’re a veteran of the original campaign, The Mighty Nein delivers an expansive and immersive world that adds meaningful layers to the existing story by looking beyond the titular party to understand and empathize with those directly in the crossfire.
For instance, substantial screen time this season goes to Trent Ikithon, voiced with chilling precision by Mark Strong. We observe and comprehend his machinations, motivations, and tactics while simultaneously shifting perspectives to witness how his work affects everyone around him—from the empire’s highest authorities to the drow wizard Essek Thelyss, who becomes an essential part of the conflict. The episodes successfully give these characters depth beyond their function in the Mighty Nein’s story.
Pacing That Prioritizes Character Over Action
A significant reason The Mighty Nein can pack so much worldbuilding and narrative into its first season is that episodes run approximately 40 minutes—more comparable to Arcane and Invincible than the original Critical Role show, though the animation quality doesn’t suffer like Prime Video’s superhero series occasionally does. The story moves at a deliberately slower pace, establishing individual characters before bringing them together. This is particularly noticeable with Ashley Johnson’s Yasha Nydoorin, who remains absent for most of the season.
The titular party doesn’t fully assemble until roughly halfway through the season. This can feel frustrating initially, but the approach ultimately gives the overall story more personal stakes as we explore each hero as an individual first—their motivations, their flaws—before witnessing their group dynamics. After the latest season of The Legend of Vox Machina struggled with breakneck pacing and the attempt to give every character individual arcs, this feels like superior balance.
From Bailey’s choice of accent, to the character’s mannerisms and group interactions, Jester’s every scene is hilarious.
Even with longer episodes, there seems less room for goofing around, as this show’s tone is considerably darker and more serious than The Legend of Vox Machina. We don’t waste time struggling with an impossible door or conversing with a cursed sword while pretending to use the bathroom. The story itself carries urgency from the opening moments, with war looming and our characters immediately landing in serious trouble. This is also a fundamentally different adventuring party with more solemn members (though with notable exceptions). Starting with character classes, The Mighty Nein introduces new abilities and power types to Exandria that give the show a distinctive aesthetic. We get a Witcher-like blood magic user, a monk with extraordinary physical capabilities, and even a warlock with a mysterious and ominous patron.
Characters Who Choose Heroism Rather Than Embody It
Most importantly, just as the actual actors matured in their approach to roleplaying by Campaign Two, their characterizations became more sophisticated and layered. The heroes of the Mighty Nein occupy moral gray areas more than those of Vox Machina, and their backstories are more nuanced and complex. Heroism in this show becomes an active choice—a difficult one at that—rather than an inevitable conclusion. Still, some elements remain constant, such as Sam Riegel delivering exceptional work as the female goblin Nott the Brave (no comma). He infuses the character with genuine tragedy and deep insecurities beneath her joking exterior. The clear standout is Laura Bailey as Jester Lavorre, the excessively enthusiastic tiefling cleric who converses with an invisible deity she calls the Traveler. From Bailey’s accent choice to the character’s mannerisms and group interactions to her compulsion to draw phallic images on every available surface regardless of circumstances, every Jester scene is comedy gold.
Magic as Art and Science
One significant change The Mighty Nein makes to the Critical Role world is its portrayal of magic, which is more nuanced and intricate than in Vox Machina. There’s emphasis on the components comprising spells and on the casting process itself rather than simply showcasing cool powers. This is something rarely depicted in media, with the exception of the criminally underappreciated Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Similarly, the inclusion of the warlock character and the cost of performing magic expands our understanding of arcane arts in this world. Arguably the biggest mystery and lore addition this show makes involves the Beacon and the introduction of “Dunamancy,” a new magic type that further establishes The Mighty Nein as part of its own unique fantasy world rather than just a differently flavored D&D setting.
The Cliffhanger Problem
Unlike The Legend of Vox Machina, which divides neatly into story arcs mirroring the original campaign, The Mighty Nein feels like one singular narrative extending beyond this first season. The final episode concludes on a major cliffhanger that feels improperly positioned—the season ends feeling incomplete, as if it’s missing an episode or two. The cliffhanger isn’t merely a promise of more content to come but rather Part One of a single story that continues in the next episode, ending precisely as momentum builds. This is the challenge with the show’s altered pacing and structure: we invest so much time in worldbuilding and introductions that it registers as extensive buildup and half a climax. This might not prove problematic in retrospect if we receive another season and actually witness the full party unite, but as a standalone first season, it recalls how Netflix Marvel shows would end immediately after finally delivering what audiences originally tuned in to see.
The Verdict
The Mighty Nein introduces a complex world brimming with political intrigue, action, and arcane mysteries. The show possesses its own distinctive identity that establishes it as more than simply a Vox Machina continuation, featuring a new ensemble of flawed and fascinating heroes and a greater emphasis on expanding narrative scope. With extended episodes, the pacing deliberately slows to deepen both characters and their surrounding world, though at the cost of significantly delaying the titular group’s formation. Though darker in tone, the show retains that familiar Critical Role essence, particularly in standout characters Nott and Jester who provide the heart and humor that made the original campaigns so beloved.
