Amac Productions

While watching this episode, my girlfriend insisted I not act ‘like I know things.’

All because I said I thought the volstrucker stealing the Beacon might be Astrid.

She does have a point though.

Unlike her, I have watched almost the entirety of Campaign Two from start to near end. I have the final two episodes of the campaign to go which I just cannot bring myself to watch yet. I don’t want to say goodbye to these colorful assholes.

I just love them so much.

For example, Caleb.

In this episode he and Nott break into a weird pet shop and at first I had no idea what on Exandria we were doing here until he went to the bat cage. Suddenly, I had a flash of Liam pulling out the bat poop for a spell and clapping his hands together to do a thing.

As his magic is inherently component based.

I don’t think my girlfriend – who introduced me to Critical Role – loved that I knew why he need bat poop.

Components for spells.

Honestly though, watching the series it was nice to be able to truly understand the scope of what was happening. How important the Beacon is the Kryn Dynasty and why they would want it back so vehemently that they would go to war.

Meanwhile, Trent is playing innocent saying that the Bright Queen just wanted a reason to start a war, not that he helped by pouring gasoline everywhere!

King Dwendal is an idiot.

I mean, I thought that during the campaign. From the outside looking in, he clearly lets his advisors run the Empire more than he does. He’s just a freaking puppet.

Meanwhile, the Cobalt Soul is considered more evil here than the campaign it would appear.

As Dairon doesn’t officially take Beau as her student. Instead, in secret so they can each spy on the Soul and everyone else to discover how far the corruption goes. Which is far more sinister than the campaign, which I don’t hate.

I don’t hate many of the changes they’re making.

It’s a TV show. They do not have four hours every week for three years to flesh the story out the same way they did in the campaign. Also, it’s important to establish how the Mighty Nein are forged because Vox Machina were together by the time we met them.

Their origins are interesting as flashbacks or origin tales separately.

The Mighty Nein came together by pure happenstance that’s mixing with the central plot of the story here.

Unlike the campaign where the Mighty Nein sort of stumbled into the war between the kingdoms, they’re all pursing it whether they know it or not. Well, at least the ones we meet this episode are.

Beau is off to meet someone to discuss the subterfuge happening.

Caleb needs power to face his old friends.

Nott wants to help him with that power for her own purposes which is why she didn’t immediately hand him over for a pile of gold.

She needs something more than money.

I think I also shocked my girlfriend when I said I was rooting for the Kryn Dynasty.

On a scale of evil, they’re not really that bad. Something precious was stolen from them. Not just a religious artifact, but a piece of their history that literally carries the souls of those who have died. Those people expecting to be reborn have been ripped away.

Imagine if you were that man losing his love, only clinging to the hope that one day you’ll be together again. You know, you’ll see each other again.

Only for the thing that can do that, to be stolen so cruelly from your home.

Stolen to be a weapon in the hands of horrible people.

In case this episode wasn’t clear enough, Trent is awful, and most definitely should not have the beacon.

Meanwhile, we have Beau who is putting together pieces of a puzzle she has no picture for but certainly knows the end result isn’t great. Definitely a great nod to Marisha’s oddly accurate and impeccable note taking skills.

I love that I know a lot of the little details behind the scenes.

It’s great even for those who never watched Campaign Two. You can follow it. Pick it up and understand the series where it starts and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But if you have, you can hear Liam clapping the bat poop together. See Marisha scrambling through her many notebooks for something Matt dropped 20 episodes ago. You hear Sam dropping the little tidbits of how much Nott is drinking. His wild eyes when he pulls a weapon as Nott.

It’s great to feel those dynamics there.

But you’d still be having a great time even if you didn’t.

It’s wonderfully done.

I also love all the voice actors chosen. They complement really well, because I’m so used to Matt doing all the NPCs, that I thought for a moment I’d miss him. Like, I would be happy if they just had Matt voice all the other characters. No doubt in my mind that the show would still be amazing.

However, they picked people who do an excellent job of making the character their own while still capturing the essence that already existed.

The Bright Queen for example is by far my favorite example.

Trent is probably next.

I love it.

You know what, though? There’s just too much to list that I loved about this episode.

My girlfriend pointed out that the scope of the show feels so much larger than The Legend of Vox Machina did as a series. While it feels true to me, I also know so much about the world we’re in right now in Wildemount from watching over a hundred episodes of Campaign Two.

The sheer scope always seemed huge to me. Matt does such a great job with worldbuilding.

But I also think it’s more of how the stories are told as well.

The Legend of Vox Machina was very linear in storytelling. We start in one place as a group and then continue together as a group.

Unlike The Mighty Nein, campaign and all. It’s more sandbox style. Everything has to be prepared before the characters were walking around the world. Matt needed everything ready to go and move on with or without the characters going there.

As he pointed out, by choosing to go one direction they were not there for an attack on a small town. Which had been the other direction they could have chosen. Matt points out that had they gone this way, they would have been there to see it.

It’s interesting because it truly feels like a world.

It moves without the characters moving it.

Agendas and plans and people live within it, letting it breath and move with the main characters moving the story forward.

Matt needed everything prepped because he had no idea how the campaign would go. He didn’t know the players’ choices in advance, so he planned many things out before they arrived places. Giving this series a lot of information to go on. It easily makes it feel larger and more real.

I love that the main voice actors voice minor characters when they’re not playing their main characters.

I love how smart Beau is.

I love that Zeenoth is just plain evil and awful and we’re not waiting to figure this out.

I hate that Trent is so awful that somehow, I ended up agreeing with Vess DeRogna. I needed a shower after that one. *shudders*

I did not and did need that scene of Trent doing something terrible like disecting a real alive creature in the middle of the classroom. Seriously, does no one ever just sit in on these classes randomly and think this is the most unhinged man ever and we probably shouldn’t let him teach. Maybe we shouldn’t even let him out of a cell. I’m just saying!

The opening is reminiscent of the opening from the campaign. It just needs ‘your turn to roll’ for it to be perfect.

Nott is wonderful.

I love the drinking habit.

Her hiding the wanted poster.

Helping Caleb.

I loved that I freaked out my girlfriend by knowing that the stuff Beau found was Residuum. You know, from Whitestone! She did not seem upset by that fun fact that Trent is even more awful than she first realized. She started watching Campaign Two post that Caleb reveal.

Very fun little tidbit that will be explained. You know it will, entirely, but it’s fun for those who know to be like…. YESSSS… I see.

And lastly, Yasha.

Yasha.

Yasha…?

Oh dear.

I know the timeline was going to be wonky, but I didn’t realize quite how wonky. I really hope this is some sort of flashback thing or something because she’s due to meet Molly like two years ago if not. Please, do not take that relationship away from me.

It was soooooo good. And Ashley and Taliesin killed it. They were so good together and wonderful and amazing as friends. Please tell me she’ll be joining up with the Stormlord and thus the circus soon. Please?

Otherwise, we’re going to have multiple problems all at the same time.

Oh dear.

Well, that’s a question that will hopefully be answered in the upcoming weeks as more episodes drop. I cannot wait. Though I must. I will endure. I think. I hope.

Who knows? Hopefully, I’ll see you next week!

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