The first three episodes of The Mighty Nein debut on Prime Video on November 19, with the remainder of the 8-episode season releasing weekly after that.
Critical Role is a bonafide cultural phenomenon, one that helped change the face of Let's Plays, and together with Stranger Things, helped introduce a whole new generation to Dungeons & Dragons. When the franchise led to one of the fastest and most successful crowdfunding campaigns ever, it also resulted in one of the best high fantasy TV shows in decades with The Legend of Vox Machina. That show managed to condense the hundreds of hours of the first Critical Role campaign into a cohesive scripted narrative at a fraction of the time, while also finding ways to preserve the improvisational nature of the campaign through some delightfully silly moments that made the characters feel alive.
But this is not The Legend of Vox Machina, for Metapigeon and Titmouse are delivering a new kind of high fantasy adventure in The Mighty Nein, one that feels vastly different from the first Critical Role adaptation in all the right ways. The new show feels less like an improved Dungeons & Dragons campaign and more like a proper fantasy epic, one that is full of political intrigue, complicated characters, warring factions, and a mismatched group of losers who decide to band together and make a name for themselves.
The spirit of Critical Role – its charm, Matt Mercer's worldbuilding, and the actors' ability to derail the most serious scenario with a healthy dose of childish humor – is still here. And yet, this is a more focused show than Vox Machina, with a darker tone, more fleshed-out characters, and a more confident story that relies less on fantasy tropes and archetypes. This is still a comedy, and there are plenty of hysterically funny moments and character dynamics, but the approach feels more like a scripted fantasy story with improvised dialogue than an improvised fantasy story with scripted dialogue.
The Mighty Nein takes place decades after the events of The Legend of Vox Machina; don't worry, there are no spoilers for how that show ends, though you might notice a reference or two. This time we're in Wildemount, a different continent on Exandria, which is engulfed in a cold war between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty. Skirmishes are common and tensions are high, but things escalate when a powerful arcane relic known only as "The Beacon" is stolen from the Kryn, which threatens to unleash an all-out war that can destroy the entire continent. In the middle of it all we find a group of fugitives, outcasts, and all-around weirdos who meet by chance and come to be known as the titular Mighty Nein (though there are only six of them).
Several members of the titular party have direct stakes in the conflict or connections to its key players, and their story feeds directly into the big background conflict. The Mighty Nein kicks off with a thrilling opening scene that explores events not covered in the campaign, but that instead sets the stage for the larger world of Wildemount, placing the audience right in the middle of the conflict on both sides.
Indeed, the animated show spends a significant amount of time cutting away to other parts of its world, giving us an inside look at the inner workings of the Kryn Dynasty and its hierarchy, or the different institutions that make up the Dwendalian Empire, their cultures, and the people caught in their conflict. In a way, The Mighty Nein follows the post-Game of Thrones trend of juggling several (perhaps too many) storylines at once in order to cover different perspectives in its fictional world, later connecting the different stories in an explosive finale. Whether you're coming to Wildemount for the first time with this show, or you're a fan of the original campaign, The Mighty Nein provides an expansive and immersive world that adds layers to the existing story as we look beyond the titular party to learn and care about those caught directly in the crossfire.
For example, we spend a significant amount of time this season with Trent Ikithon (Mark Strong). We observe and understand his machinations, motivations, and tactics, while also shifting perspectives and seeing how his work affects people around him, from the highest authorities of the empire to the drow wizard Essek Thelyss, who finds himself an important part of the conflict. The episodes do a good job of giving depth to these characters beyond just their role in the story of the Mighty Nein.
A big part of how The Mighty Nein can pack so much worldbuilding and story into its first season is that each episode runs for around 40 minutes, more like Arcane and Invincible than the original Critical Role show, though the animation doesn't suffer as much as Prime Video's superhero show. The story moves at a slower pace, establishing the different characters before bringing them together; this is especially noticeable when it comes to Ashley Johnson's Yasha Nydoorin, who is missing for most of the season.
Indeed, the titular party doesn't get together until about halfway through the season. This can be a bit frustrating, but the approach ends up giving the overall story more personal stakes as we explore each of the heroes as individuals first, exploring their motivations and flaws before we witness their dynamics as a group. After the latest season of The Legend of Vox Machina struggled with its breakneck pace and the desire to have individual arcs for each character, this feels like a better balance.
Even if the episodes are longer, there seems to be less time to goof around, as the tone of this show is much darker and more serious than The Legend of Vox Machina. We don't spend time messing with a door that's impossible to open, or talking to a cursed sword while pretending to go to the bathroom. The story itself is more urgent from the get-go, with the war brewing and our characters immediately getting into serious trouble. This is also a very different adventuring party, with more serious members (though with very notable exceptions). Starting with the character classes, The Mighty Nein introduces new abilities and types of power in Exandria that give the show a unique look and feel. We get a Witcher-like blood magic user, a monk with tremendous physical prowess, and even a warlock with a mysterious and ominous patron.
Most importantly, just like the real actors grew into the world of role playing by the time Campaign Two came about, so did their characterizations become more sophisticated and mature. The heroes of the Mighty Nein are more morally gray than those of Vox Machina, and their backstories are more nuanced and complex. The act of heroism in this show becomes more of an active choice – a difficult one at that – rather than a given conclusion. Still, there are things that remain the same, such as Sam Riegel doing incredible work as the female goblin Nott the Brave (no comma); he infuses the character with a sense of tragedy and deep insecurities behind her joking demeanor. The clear standout is Laura Bailey as Jester Lavorre, the overly enthusiastic tiefling cleric who talks to an invisible deity she calls the Traveler. From Bailey’s choice of accent, to the character's mannerisms and group interactions, to her ability to draw dicks on every surface no matter what the circumstances, Jester’s every scene is hilarious.
One of the big changes The Mighty Nein makes to the world of Critical Role is its portrayal of magic, which is more nuanced and complex than in Vox Machina. There is a focus on the components that make up spells, and on the casting itself rather than just showing off a cool power. This is something we rarely see in media, with the exception of the criminally underseen Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Likewise, the addition of the warlock character and the cost of doing magic expands our understanding of the arcane arts in this world. Arguably the biggest mystery and lore addition this show makes is with the Beacon, as well as the introduction of a new type of magic known as "Dunamancy," which further cements The Mighty Nein as part of its own unique fantasy world and not just a differently flavored Dungeons & Dragons setting.
Unlike The Legend of Vox Machina, which is neatly divided into story arcs like the original campaign, The Mighty Nein feels like one singular story that extends beyond this first season. The last episode ends on a big cliffhanger that feels incorrectly placed; the season ends feeling like it's missing an episode or two, as the cliffhanger is not just a promise of more to come, but more like Part One of a single story that carries on in the next episode, ending right as we were getting started. This is the problem with the change in pacing and structure for this show, as we spend so much time in worldbuilding and introductions that it comes across as a lot of buildup and half a climax. It might not be a problem in retrospect if we get another season and actually get to see the full party come together, but as a first season, it is kind of reminiscent of the way Netflix Marvel shows ended right after they finally show what audiences tuned in to see.
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