After a year of waiting, the second season of The Legend of Vox Machina is finally here. Here are all the little details and changes Critical Role made to adapt their stream to an animation series.
Last year, the long-awaited animated series The Legend of Vox Machina finally appeared on our screens. This series is based on the very popular first campaign of Critical Role. Now the second season is releasing and as a big fan of the original, I’m going to explain changes and Easter eggs the cast made in the first three episodes.
To compare here is a bad adaption:
Quick explanation: Critical Role are some nerdy voice actors, who play some Dungeons and Dragons! You might know some of them like Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien and Matt Mercer.
In 2019, they made a Kickstarter for an animated special to their first campaign with a goal of $750,000. Within an hour fans smashed that goal with over a million US dollars donated. During its full runtime the campaign made over 11.3 Million. A few happy tears from the cast later, they made it into an animated series with Amazon Prime .
When you adapt something with 44 Episodes, ranging in runtime between 3–5 hours, some things have to be changed to make it work. So first I'll go over the episodes spoiler free, before nerding out for us hardcore CritRole fans.
Episode 1: Rise Of The Chroma Conclave
The biggest change from the original campaign is the inclusion of Pike in Vasselheim and this will probably stay for the entire existence of the show. Ashley Johnson, the player behind the character, was sadly very absent in the campaign due to filming a TV show.
That's why Pike stayed in Whitestone to treat the wounded. For the show they wanted to change this as she is very much integral to the group and Ashley was always regretful to miss so much of the campaign.
Originally the team spent more time in Emon during the attack of the Chroma Conclave to search for survivors and even tried to make a deal with the shady underground organization "the Clasp". Ultimately, Vax turned down their offer, so that’s probably why it was left out.
Episode 2: The Trials Of Vasselheim
Quite a few things were changed concerning the relation between Vox Machina and the Slayer’s Take. During the first few episodes of the campaign the group already got into an altercation with the organization for poaching one of their target monsters. Which means they already had been to Vasselheim before.
To make up for this incident, the group had to go on two quests for them. This part was not in the series. Instead, they allude to Vax and Vex having done something similar in this version of the story. So, you could say this is a nod to the original.
The second difference concerns Zahra Hydris, Tiefling Warlock and Kashaw Vesh. Both of them met Vox Machina on those quests and befriended them.
In the show they made Zahra an old “acquaintance” of Vex’ahlia instead, but kept the distrust both of them had for one another. All in all, even though they changed a bit here, the spirit of these characters was kept, although the development of their history is a bit different.
Because of these changes, the order for Vox Machina’s search for help was switched around. In the stream, they first went to the Slayer’s Take and then to the Platinum Sanctuary.
Here we can find a bit of a bizarre difference. Do you remember the tall woman in charge? Well in the campaign, Highbearer Vord was an older man with silver hair. No Idea why they decided to make him a woman this time around.
In general, the head of the church was a bit more helpful during the campaign by giving information on the vestiges and sending a champion with them.
On a last note for this episode; they adjusted the fight between Earthbreaker Groon and Grog a bit. Instead of a one and one, the stream had it as a fight with Scanlan and Vax helping Grog.
Episode 3: The Sunken Tomb
Now we directly follow the group to the tomb. Most of the differences here stem from what I explained above. With a different dynamic between Zahra and Kash, they secretly followed the group instead of helping them as friends. So the whole splitting up thing and tricking Vox Machina doesn’t happen in the campaign.
Honestly, the key points here are the same as in the stream. Some conversations happened at earlier points in the original timeline, but the core remained the same.
SPOILER: So Much Foreshadowing
Now to reiterate: Big fat SPOILER WARNING. This next part is for Critical Role fans with knowledge of the entirety of Campaign 1, not only the Chroma Conclave arc.
I hope all new fans are gone now, so let’s marvel at the team’s ability to foreshadow so many big plot points in such short time.
One big question mark from the first episode are Allura and Kima. Last time we saw them protecting the remnants of the Royal family. Besides the fact that Kima wasn’t in Emon in the campaign, Vox Machina saved the family and Gilmore together. So I have many questions on their status right now, because them being dead is not an option.
Careful viewers will have noticed the girl with green glowing eyes going to Whitestone with the refugees. No doubt in my mind that’s Raishan. Cute Easter egg for fans to do the Leonardo di Caprio pointing meme at the screen. Poor newbies will get their minds blown later.
Now let’s talk about the big goddess in the room: the Raven Queen or Matron of Ravens. I immediately noticed her in episode 1 and 2. She showed herself to Vax’ildan during the fight in Emon and then on her temple in Vasselheim. We all know the relationship those two share and what will happen in the next episode. So, goosebumps alert!
Another thing that raised my red flags is all the foreshadowing regarding Scanlan. How they show his discontent and fear of not being part of the group. This is such a good setup for his departure at the very end of the arc. Sadly, Kaylie hasn't been spotted yet, even though she should be here? Hopefully we'll get her soon!
Also, Craven Edge slowly creeping in makes me so nervous and excited. Hopefully they’ll show some of the Grog & Cursed Sword dynamic more. With Grog's battle in episode 2 they have a good setup for character development, after all we did not get to see the Wishing Skull debacle.
I could gush for hours on the inclusion of “Do not go far from me”. Everything about the twins, their past, and their relationship is so well done. We get a peak at what’s to come and honestly knowing the future probably hurts more than the ignorance of new viewers.
Spoiler for Campaign 2: As a major fan of the next campaign I need to point out the funniest Easter egg in Vasselheim. If you look carefully in the background, when they show the temple of the Wildmother you see a familiar silhouette. At first glance it looks like fan favorite Caduceus Clay! Of course, it can’t be him as he hasn’t left the grove yet, but it's probably one of his family members searching for a cure. Still my heart let out a big screech.
In a few days we'll get the next three exciting episodes and I can't wait to see more of our beloved misfits!