Bidet, and welcome back to Exandria.
That the first season of The Legend of Vox Machina was a surprise hit for Amazon will not have come as a shock to fans of Critical Role. With the show’s troupe of ne’er-do-well D&D heroes hitting the road for a second season on Prime Video, we’re recapping each batch of episodes as they drop.
First and foremost: We will be spoiling the crap out of the new season of the show through these recaps (though certain details will remain omitted, for the sake of those that haven’t seen the original Critical Role D&D campaign. Nevertheless, consider this your big ol’ spoiler warning.
This week’s drop contains the season’s first three episodes, and they are:
Episode 1: The Rise of the Chroma Conclave
Episode 2: The Trials of Vasselheim
Episode 3: The Sunken Tomb
Episode 1 – The Rise of the Chroma Conclave
The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 begins with a cataclysm. Fans of the long-running Twitch stream upon which the show is based will be well aware of the tragedy that occurs in ‘The Rise of the Chroma Conclave’.
We open on the same scene that concluded the show’s first season: Sovereign Uriel Tal’dorei stands before his people, pledging to create a more fair and just society in the wake of a scandal that has brought the quality of his leadership into question. As Uriel speaks, bells begin to ring out across the city, and Vex’ahlia’s sixth sense is triggered — there are dragons on the way. Four dragons — a white, a black, a green, and a giant, contorted red — descend upon the city of Emon. The dragons tear the city down around Vox Machina’s ears, slaughtering thousands. It is presumed the attack is in retaliation to the slaying of their comrade, Brimscythe, the dragon that had disguised himself as General Krieg in Season 1.
There is nothing anyone can do to stop the onslaught. Chaos reigns, and no one knows what to do.
When the holocaust is over, the red dragon, Thordak (played by Lance Reddick), sits on a molten throne, carved into what earlier that afternoon had been a citadel. The seat of power in Emon is now a literal chair for a dragon.
The carnage goes on and on. Indeed, almost all of this first episode’s 23-minute runtime are dedicated to ramming home the scale and ferocity of the dragons’ attack.
Certain sequences that appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons game are truncated or brought forward here. Vax catches sight of the Raven Queen for the first time amid the carnage. Gilmore’s rescue is performed immediately, and without the sense of breathless desperation that the players felt in the game.
Our heroes return briefly to Castle Greyskull, and find hundreds of refugees from Emon on their doorstep. Grog discovers a brutal-looking sword that will be very important later. Their moment to breathe doesn’t last long — the dragons find them again, and a second fight breaks out. Vox Machina, and a handful of survivors, make it to Whitestone through a tree-bound teleportation spell from Keyleth. There, they regroup and try to make sense of what has happened to their city. The party has a lot of questions — why did this happen? Where did the dragons come from? And why are a group of chromatic dragons, notorious for being mistrustful backstabbers even among their own kind, working together?
A plan is hatched — Vox Machina will go to Vasselheim, a fortress city built on religious fundamentalism and a deep distaste for magic, in search of answers and in hopes of raising an army.
Episode 2 – The Trials of Vasselheim
The trip to Vasselheim puts Vox Machina on the backfoot right away. Now somewhat used to being accepted by Emon’s high society, finding themselves back at ground level is a small shock. A fast tour of the city’s religious temples includes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of Caduceus Clay outside the temple of the Wildmother. Matthew Mercer performs an Australian accent that only slightly gets away from him. We approve.
Pike is happy to be in a city where clerics and the power of belief are held in such high regard, but her delight is short-lived. Presenting their case to Highbearer Vord results in another dimming of their fortunes — Vasselheim values its isolation as much as its fortified walls. It refuses to be dragged into a fight with a group of dragons.
Vax catches sight of the Raven Queen’s temple and remembers the spectral woman he saw during the Conclave’s onslaught.
The party is told by a member of Vasselheim’s religious council that they should seek out The Slayer’s Take, prompting a divided reaction from Vex and Vax. The Slayer’s Take is a loose organisation of work-for-hire hunters that specialise in tackling large and dangerous beasts.
Vax is not particularly enthused by the idea of going to The Slayer’s Take. Vex, on the other hand, is quite interested, insisting that she has an old friend on the inside named Zahra that can help them out.
This is a particularly big swerve from the established canon of the RPG and may be difficult for some older fans to swallow. Speaking swallow, it’s at about this point that Grog’s sword starts talking to him. The sword tells him, “I Hunger.” He agrees and wanders off to find some food.
At The Slayer’s Take, a merc with a mouth named Kashaw kicks off a fight with Vox Machina after noticing their faces on a wanted poster.
While the fight goes on, Grog finishes his meal and finds himself drawn to the Dawnfather’s temple, where a monk named Earthbreaker Gruun challenges him to a fight. He demands to know where Grog finds his strength, battering the goliath with every incorrect answer.
Back at the Take, Vox Machina faces off against Zahra and Kash, who are keen to collect on an old debt of Vex and Vax’s. A mysterious voice interrupts the fight before it can begin, and Vox Machina plummets into a pit below The Take. Alone with a leering Sphinx, the party is assaulted with their darkest personal insecurities, leading Pike to take a stand and tell the Sphinx what she wants to hear.
Appeased, the Sphinx reveals the party’s next steps: find the Vestiges of Divergence, powerful weapons forged in the Age of Arcanum before the Divergence that sealed the gods behind the Divine Gate. These weapons, wielded correctly, should be powerful enough to bring the dragons down. The first, Deathwalker’s Ward, the armour of the Raven Queen, lies in a Sunken Tomb nearby
Grog, beaten to a pulp, still isn’t sure what Gruun wants to hear. After Gruun gives up on him for the time being, Grog slouches back to the group, who take him out for a commissatory drink. Percy notices a tinker’s store down a nearby alley and nips in to stock up on black powder for his guns. The merchant, named Victor (yes, Victor made it in), tells Percy he’s the second person to come looking for black powder in a week. The description of the previous customer matches that of Ripley, Percy’s nemesis. Vex pokes her head in to ask if anything’s the matter. Percy thinks for a moment and tells her no, nothing’s wrong.
This may be a sticking point for long-time fans. In the RPG, Percy is a man made almost entirely of character flaws, but he had a hard rule: he never lied to Vex. Why the show breaks this rather important rule, seemingly for the sake of drama it will obviate in an episode or two, remains to be seen.
Episode 3 – The Sunken Tomb
Episode 3 begins with a vision from Pike, in which Thordak convenes his conclave, observing the trinkets the survivors of Emon have brought him as a tribute. It fails to impress. As the Conclave assures him they are ready to proceed with the next phase of their plan, Thordak declares the tribute insufficient, and all are burned. The last thing Pike sees is fire.
The morning joins the party on their way to the sunken tomb. Waylaid by a mysterious monster beneath an ice sheet, Scanlan is saved by Zahra and Kash, who’ve decided they’re going to tag along. They demand the party creates a campfire. As they sit around it, trying to keep warm, there is, at last, a chance to debrief. Vex upends the sack of items they looted from Gilmore’s destroyed Emon store. Among the inventory, she notes a broom (if you know, you know).
Grog picks up a belt, sturdy and girthy. He puts it on, and instantly grows a beard. Thrilled about this development, he doesn’t consider what else the belt may have done for him.
The tomb the party seeks was made for the Raven Queen herself and contains the body of her most beloved champion, Purvon. The Take had thought the tomb destroyed, or they would have attempted to loot it before now. Percy takes great pleasure in pointing out that the Sphinx never considered Zahra worthy of knowing its whereabouts.
While taking watch overnight, Vax begs his sister, “do not go far from me.” Letting him drift off to sleep, Vex remembers the night Vax made the call to leave their family home as children, following an argument with their domineering father.
The next morning Keyleth and Zahra work together to reveal the tomb, hidden beneath the ice close to the camp. Inside the tomb, the party finds strange and offputting art on the walls depicting the Raven Queen’s champion and his end. Zahra and Kash form a plot to steal the vestige from the party.
When Grog slips and falls, landing on a hidden switch, he triggers a door that divides the party — leaving Vex and Vax separated. A battle with some merfolk ensues, and it isn’t long before the groups are reunited. The party finds its way to what looks to be a burial chamber — but there’s no sarcophagus. Vax discovers a hidden room through a hole in the floor and descends to investigate. While Vax is down there, Percy discovers a switch in the floor that reveals the concealed sarcophagus above. Eager to claim the loot before Zahra and Kash try to nab it all for themselves, Percy and Vex open the casket, and the Raven Queen’s champion is revealed. Percy reaches out to touch the Deathwalker’s Ward, triggering an ancient trap.
Those who’ve seen the original Vox Machina D&D campaign know what happens next.
We’ll see you next week for The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2, Episodes 4, 5, and 6.
The Legend of Vox Machina Season 2 will stream in three-episode blocks every Friday on Prime Video for four weeks.
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