Can’t get enough of Critical Role’s The Legend of Vox Machina? Start here

Legend of Vox Machina, the highly anticipated adult animated series based on Critical Role, is finally available on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service. Each Friday in February, new episodes will be released. That gives fans new and old a great excuse to catch up on the original material — dozens of hours of gameplay available both on YouTube and as a podcast.

The team behind Critical Role Vox Machina, is a troupe of voice actors who have been playing Dungeons & Dragons together since 2014. Their weekly broadcasts on Twitch comprise one of the most popular “actual play” experiences in the world — that is, a performance devoted to actually playing D&D in real time. This animated series is based on the previous campaign and was designed to provide a gateway for those new to the world of multimedia adventures and to give them the opportunity to explore unexplored areas.

For anyone who doesn’t want to know the details, there is a series that has been designed to be accessible to all viewers. The series starts on a new medium and offers comparatively short stories. But, as with building a character for D&D, sometimes it pays to spend some time fleshing out the details and digging into the backstory.

The series takes place where?

Legend of Vox MachinaVox Machina refers to the Vox Machina adventurer group. It takes place on a planet called Exandria, specifically on the continent of Tal’Dorei. Exandria — home to gods, monsters and remarkably difficult doors — is Matthew Mercer’s own campaign setting, and represents a shared universe where all Critical Role campaigns take place. If you want to learn more about Exandria’s history, there’s even a handy video that explains its origin story.

Elements of Exandria will feel familiar to D&D veterans who have hosted campaigns in the Forgotten Realms — including having deities similar to the gods of Faerûn, and the presence of races like elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, in addition to humans. Exandria can also be connected to other planes of existence, such as the Feywild and Shadowfell, or the Elemental Planes.

The animated series starts out in the city of Emon, the capital of Tal’Dorei. Emon is an industrial hub, situated on Tal’Dorei’s western shore — the first campaign highlights Tal’Dorei as being on the cusp of technological innovation. As magic and technology combine to make marvels, skyships can be used to fly from Emon to Exandrian continents such as Marquet and Issylra. Emon is also home to landmarks like Gilmore’s Glorious Goods, the Alabaster Lyceum, the Ivory Tower and the Palace of the Sovereign, which is the seat of Uriel Tal’Dorei and the Tal’Dorei Council, the ruling parties of the Republic of Tal’Dorei.

What information should I have about the characters entering?

Critical Role’s heart has been always the relationships between its characters. Vox Machina has seven core members — eight, if you include Trinket the armored bear. Trinket is the companion of Vex’ahlia “Vex” Vessar (Laura Bailey), an imperious, frugal ranger who is twin to Vax’ildan “Vax” Vessar (Liam O’Brien), a cunning, sardonic rogue. Vex and Vax have always been inseparable since they were taken from their human mothers by their proud elven father at an early age. If you want to learn more about the twins’ origin story specifically, you can also check out Critical Role: Vox Machina — Kith and KinMarieke Nijkamp’s novelization of the story is available in. Polygon also has an exclusive extract, with audio narration provided by the original cast.

While they’re not twins, or even siblings, Pike Trickfoot (Ashley Johnson) and Grog Strongjaw (Travis Willingham) also share a close bond, having been raised together by Pike’s great-great-grandfather, Wilhand Trickfoot. Pike is agnomish cleric for the Everlight Exandrian deity that heals and redeems, while Grog loves ale more than any other thing. Pike was not available for several episodes of the streamed campaign, as Ashley Johnson had filming conflicts at the time — that’s partly why Pike often drops into big moments in the story by way of astral projection.

Keyleth of the Air Ashari (Marisha Ray), Scanlan Shorthalt (Sam Riegel) and Percival “Percy” Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (Taliesin Jaffe) round out the rest of the group. Keyleth is a shapeshifting Druid and perhaps the strongest member of the group. However, her uncertainty and awkwardness often keep her from realizing it. Scanlan is Keyleth’s polar opposite where self-confidence is concerned — as a bard, he spends a lot of time performing, singing songs, and generally trying to charm the pants off of anyone that looks his way. Percy is the dark, wealthy gunslinger in the group. He has a mystery past which will unfold as the series continues.

Matthew Mercer, the voice of several NPCs, is found scattered throughout the Critical Role episodes. He crops up everywhere, from barkeeps to brawlers, populating the story’s landscape.

Vox Machina can be described as unlikely heroes. It was originally formed as mercenaries and now spends most time in prison. Vox Machina OriginsComic series are looking for jobs. They’re uncouth, unorganized, and pretty noticeably unwelcome in polite society over the course of the first campaign. This live reading of the scene at New York Comic Con gives you a glimpse of their distinctive brand of heroicism. They get drunk and make a lot of mistakes, which leads to them ending up in a brawl in a bar.

Which episodes should I look at before watching the entire series?

Legend of Vox MachinaAs we said, the animated series begins with unheard-of adventures. After the first two episodes, the animated series delves into the Briarwood arc of the first campaign, which places Percy’s storyline at the forefront and explores his relationship with his hitherto shrouded past in Whitestone.

Briarwood arc is a reference to Silas Briarwood and Delilah Briarwood. (Matthew Mercer plays Silas). In a virtual panel for New York Comic Con 2021, Marisha Ray described the Briarwood arc as the “obvious jumping off point” for the series, with Sam Riegel adding that it was “the first time it kind of felt like art.” The Briarwood arc has lasting ripples across the first campaign — which are also echoed in the events of the troupe’s current campaign, one that’s set many, many years after the first.

We recommend these episodes of Critical Role as a supplement to the animated series. They most closely correspond with the Briarwood campaign. All episodes following episode 24 in the first campaign are directly linked to the Briarwood storyline and could contain spoilers about the Briarwood-centered events. Legend of Vox Machina. We’ve also included a few additional episodes that will set up the long-running dynamics between the NPCs and the party.

• Campaign 1, episode 14: “Shopping and Shipping” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 16: “Enter Vasselheim” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 17: “Hubris” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 23: “The Rematch” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 24: “The Feast” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 25: “Crimson Diplomacy” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 26: “Consequences and Cows” — YouTube and Spotify
• Campaign 1, episode 27: “The Path to Whitestone” — YouTube and Spotify

If you want to know more about the making of the series, and the voice actors behind the central characters, you can also follow along with the “The Legend of Legend of Vox Machina” video series.

Legend of Vox MachinaLike Critical Role, ‘The Viewer is Unique’ will have a unique relationship with its viewers. Whether you’re starting without having consumed any Critical Role before or you’ve been hanging around since that time Vox Machina became cows, it’s likely you’ll be able to find something new.