‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ Series Premiere Non-Spoiler Review – “The Terror of Tal’Dorei – Part 1”

By the gods!!! Critical Role‘s long-awaited, animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, is finally here after roaring support from the 45-day Kickstarter. This began as a one-half-hour special that has now grown into a full 10-episode season. But all this progress would be for not, if it wasn’t for the Critters who raised over 11 million dollars, breaching past the initial!

For those unaware, The Legend of Vox Machina is based on characters and stories from a Dungeons and Dragons group that began live-streaming their home game in 2015. Vox Machina is the name of their first campaign’s in-game band of not-so-expectant heroes, so let’s get to it!

This non-spoiler article will consist of a brief overview of the first episode’s plot, as well as references to the trailer, released snippets, and my initial thoughts.

Beware, readers: minor spoilers are ahead!

Plot Overview

What’s Dungeons and Dragons without a tavern introduction?? Unlawful, that’s what.

Vox Machina is introduced to us in the flesh, and in color after years of just seeing them in our collective imagination. The gang is drunk off their minds in a tavern somewhere in Emon and starting trouble.

Just from the first few moments of being introduced, we are sunk straight into the action as the music swells into a vibrant chorus of excitement. One thing that stands out is that the voices of the characters — both figurative and literal — are not lost to us. Long-time fans should find comfort in knowing that the overall tone of the show remains. The same witty banter and recklessness exuded in the streams is present throughout the episodes, made apparent when the barroom brawl breaks out.

After this blitz, the party is tasked by the Council of Emon in taking down an unknown beast, stalking the outskirts of the city. Though tasked by the council, one of the members senses an alarming presence emanating from within the throne room. What could that be?

With no time to react, they are sent out to establish themselves as a promising group of mercenaries. Now left to the closest known location of the beast, Vox Machina does what Dungeon and Dragons parties do best: wander aimlessly around a village, asking inhabitants for information and hope for the best! Eventually, they find clues and head towards the last known location of the monster.

Through the Ranger in the party’s tracking abilities, they eventually catch up to the beast… though find human footsteps at first. For those who play Dungeons and Dragons and have gathered enough evidence from my vague writing, you might have a handful of beasts in your mind by this point. I’m also sure that you’re at the edges of your seat about what happens next. Although, that is for you to wait and watch, or read on with warning…because we are nearing spoiler territory.

Initial Thoughts on The Legend of Vox Machina

For long-time fans and newcomers seeking to enjoy an adventure story full of heart and humor, The Legend of Vox Machina is one to enjoy but maybe not with the kids. This show is definitely for mature audiences, not shying away from graphic scenes that include blood and the dismantling of human appendages.

However, Critical Role did deliver when they said that they wanted a piece of work that was honest to them. I mentioned this briefly in the overview, but the tone of the show feels like watching them play at the table. From the dynamics of the characters and the balance of humor and heartbreak, this show feels like a gift for a fan like me who’s watched since C1, Episode 50.

Behind the Scenes Work

The animation and art in general so far have been fantastic — the movements of the characters are fluid and add to the tone of the story being presented. The only gripe I have is the mix of three-dimensional animation which they used with the beast of Episode 1 and other facilities in later episodes. The sharp contrast between 3-D and 2-D can sometimes be jarring. Additionally, I wish it was all done in 2-D, but it did not pose too much of a problem to where I no longer enjoyed the show.

On the other hand, Arthur Loftis (Art Director) and the art team have done a brilliant job in fleshing out the city we see in the overview shots. The character designs have also received minor upgrades, though lend themselves to the original visages drawn from the Campaign 1 official character work. There’s cleaner linework and the colors used for each character help them all stand out. Even first-time viewers can easily identify what each member of the party does just from looking at them.

Neal Acree — who’s composed music for World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and Overwatch, to say the least — also brings his best to the show. The music in the show matches every intended emotion for each scene, including a remixed version of Critical Role’s “Your Turn to Roll” for the bar scene. There is also a tragic moment that befalls our heroes later, and the music for it really captures the desperate and sorrowful emotions.

Discussion

Suspense!

Though the monster at hand definitely has the ability to bite as much as it can roar, you’ll have to wait til the 28th before you see it for yourself, which means I can’t go too into detail.

The Voice Cast of Vox Machina

The first one to start off with — Matthew Mercer, the infamous Dungeon Master who created the world we’re viewing seems to be making appearances throughout the show as an NPC version of himself. This time, we see his character posting up the “Notice” sign on a board while Scanlan (Sam Riegel) takes a leak after the party gets kicked out of the tavern. So in a way, Matt’s still playing the DM in this episode as he guides the party to a possible road to walk down? He also plays other side characters in the show you should look out for such as Trinket, the bear.

There are plenty of other characters that are making the shift from oratory to visual media, such as the council of Emon! Some of these characters we see are Lady Kima (Stephanie Beatriz), Sovereign Uriel Tal’Dorei (Khary Payton), Lady Allura (Indira Varma), and the Cloudtop District. If these names sound familiar to you, it’s because they’re from shows you may have already watched such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Teen Titans, and Game of Thrones, respectively. The cast is packed full of amazing talent, with guest stars like David Tennant as General Krieg and Tony Hale as Sir Fince.

The council, just like in the game, plays a big role here in the show. They’re often who Vox Machina approached to get quests, and it seems like they’ll be playing a similar role here.

The Mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons

I think it’s interesting that the show tries to adhere to the game’s mechanics still in one way or another. There are a few instances in the show so far that have proven this and a couple instances I can reveal showed up in Episode 1.

In the opening brawl, Percival (Taliesin Jaffe) has his Pepperbox jam mid-fight.

Misfire. Whenever you make an attack roll with a firearm, and the dice roll is equal to or lower than the weapon’s Misfire score, the weapon misfires.

dndbeyond.com – The Fighter Class, Gunslinger subclass

The second instance I found may have been Pyke’s (Ashley Johnson) ‘Lay on Hands’ trait which we saw her use for Grog’s (Travis Willingham) injury after narrowly escaping the beast with his life.

Your blessed touch can heal wounds. You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points equal to your paladin level × 5.

dndbeyond.com – The Paladin Class

There’s a lot more I wish I could divulge here for you guys, but as of now, I cannot go too deep into the details.

Final Thoughts on The Legend of Vox Machina Episode 1

There’s a lot to see in the upcoming episodes of Amazon Studios and Critical Role’s The Legend of Vox Machina. This first episode does well in setting up the party, showing their mindset in the early games and their eventual growth as people.

My favorite thing about the party’s dynamics is that like in the game, it doesn’t feel like any one of them is the leader. I believe there are points in the story where each one steps up to the plate and takes there spotlight but that’s how DND feels like.

Each of the characters has a way of driving the plot forward, such as Scanlan being the one to find the notice and introducing them to Sovereign Uriel, or Vex’ahlia using her innate abilities as a Ranger to track the beast.

At the same time, you can tell the party is still unrefined and have a lot to go through – Keyleth (Marisha Ray) as of now is going through her inner struggle of overcoming her cowardice and seems almost afraid of the true power within her, though she plays a crucial part in the second half of the episode, because she essentially saves the group from death.

There is also the apparent lack of Tiberius Stormwind (originally played by Orion Acaba) who should be in their party at this level, but whether we see more of him in the future is yet to be known.

Whatever outcomes may occur, we have a full season to look forward to Critters and newcomers alike!