The Mighty Nein Season 1

Prime Video

Critical Role returns to the world of Exandria with a new animated adventure on a new continent filled with new characters.

After three seasons of the animated adventures of the adventuring party Vox Machina, the cast and creators at Critical Role have teamed with Prime Video to bring their second long form campaign to animated life with the first season of The Mighty Nein.

The Mighty Nein is a vastly different animal than Vox Machina in that while the latter have been traveling and adventuring with each other for a while at the start of the series, Mighty Nein chooses to focus on the circumstances that bring this group of potential heroes together. It not only fleshes out and adds to the stories of the main characters, but also creates more context for events and characters that they will encounter in their journey.

At the center of the first seasons adventure is the theft of a powerful artifact from the Kryn dynasty. An artifact that is intimately connected to the cycle of life of the members of the dynasty. When that artifact is stolen by agents of the rival Dwendalian Empire, war becomes a certainty and caught in the middle are the characters that make up The Mighty Nein.

In the parlance of Dungeons and Dragons there is something called a “Session Zero”. Those sessions that take place before the characters come together to begin their journey and often gives the characters and the game master the opportunity to flesh out character backstories, the world of the game and the relationships characters have with each other before the game begins. Many of the elements of the first season of The Mighty Nein fall into that category as the writers and creators chronicle the circumstances that bring this group together and the secrets they still keep.

Matthew Mercer, who has been the game master and chief world builder of Exandria across three campaigns, takes on the role of Essek Theylyss. Essek is a trusted member of the Dynasty answerable to the Bright Queen herself, but a personal tragedy will push him to commit a desperate act that could have devastating repercussions both for the Dynasty and for himself. Mercer plays him brilliantly as someone willing to do anything to save someone he loves and his moral barometer is constantly changing as he internalizes his own actions and loyalties. There is a beautiful subtlety to the performance that makes the character truly standout.

Marisha Ray takes on the role of Beauregard Lionette. An initiate member of an order of Monk/Spies called the Cobalt Soul. Her order is tasked with investigating corruption inside the Empire and when her investigation uncovers corruption within her own organization, she is forced to go on the run to uncover the truth. Beau is tough as nails, but guarded emotionally and that inner conflict leads to confrontations with every member of the group. As a character who is physically light and agile on her feet, it is satisfying to see her struggle with her emotional footing when dealing with people. She is also burdened with being one of the only people who has a clue of what’s going on in the Empire which makes her frustration and standoffishness understandable and often funny.

Travis Willingham plays Fjord Stone, a former sailor who survived a shipwreck only to wash up on shore not only with no memory of his own survival but with powers he doesn’t understand. Fjord finds himself in the middle of intrigue and machinations that he is not prepared for while also dealing with a growing influence within himself. In this series Fjord almost takes the role of the audience member watching events unfold and personalities clash while trying to keep a level head and be there for this ragtag family he’s found himself a part of. There are hints of something darker at play for Fjord, but the teases enhance the story by making them a slow burn worth experiencing.

Laura Bailey plays Jester Lavorre a Tiefling who is pure chaos and light. While the rest of the characters, including Fjord, are hiding secrets and closing themselves off emotionally, Jester is living out loud in every way shape and form. She is a relentless ball of energy and it is impossible not to smile at her antics and laugh at her one liners while you wait to see the next thing she will do. This doesn’t mean she is without emotional range. There are moments when you feel for her and the contrast between her comrades hiding their secrets and Jester trying to tell them everything about her patron the Traveler is brilliantly done. Her progression throughout the season is definitely a highlight, especially when her devotion pays off.

Taliesin Jaffe plays Mollymauk Tealeaf a circus performer with a mysterious past and no interest in exploring it. Unfortunately, his past comes back to bite him in the form of people who knew him previously and the manifestation of gifts and abilities he doesn’t understand. Mollymauk is an interesting character throughout the season because he does have emotional outbursts regarding the people he cares about, but that is contrasted with a whimsical dismissal of his past that is hard to believe totally. His journey throughout the season takes some dark turns as, unlike the others, he isn’t trying to run or hide from his past. He is confronted with it by others who are trying to force him to remember it.

Liam O’Brian plays Caleb Widowgast a destitute wizard with a dark past who is almost endlessly brooding. His personal journey has direct connections to the events happening in the Empire through his former teacher Trent Ikithon played by Mark Strong. Caleb is trauma personified and you see that trauma played out in an episode that is heartbreaking. One of the things that works for his character in this first season is that his secrets are outed relatively early and keeping himself hidden and safe from his past becomes a part of the active story and not an event playing the background of the plot. O’Brian gives Caleb some of the most emotionally draining and tear inducing moments of the season and I look forward to seeing how they use that going forward.

Sam Riegel plays Nott the Brave a skittish goblin with a severe drinking problem. Her journey is closely tied to Caleb’s and they act as true partners in crime for most of the series as they scheme both with and sometimes against each other. Nott has some deep emotional trauma to deal with and I love that her secrets remain intact this season while others are revealed and sprinkled throughout the episodes. There are hints at what those secrets are and Riegel and the writers do a fantastic job of balancing her obvious trauma with her comedic delivery.

Rounding out the cast is Ashley Johnson as Yasha Nydoorin. Fans of the original campaign will remember that Ashley was frequently away from the table at the beginning while she worked on a series so Yasha would be on her own series of solo adventures that we never got to see until she returned to the group. The animated series allows that journey to be shown with a darker edge that plays into Yasha’s personal tragedies while also connecting her to the bigger events happening in the series. This gives Yasha’s presence in the first season an ominous tone that adds a lot of emotional weight and drama to every scene she is in. I loved how they build on her character throughout the season, the mystery of her mission and how that journey ultimately intersects with the rest of the Mighty Nein.

Beyond the characters, the animation is absolutely stunning. Titmouse and Metapigeon do an amazing job of bringing the world of Exandria to life and every detail makes you appreciate the work of the animators and the love they have for their craft. I found myself enraptured by the look of this series especially with the character designs, action and environments.

The first season of The Mighty Nein is wonderfully addicting. All of the characters are compelling both alone and together and the extended run time of each episode allows for the viewer to immerse themselves in the world, its conflicts and the journeys of these potential heroes. The biggest praise I can heap onto the series is that upon completing all eight episodes, I immediately watched them again and was and continue to be anxious and excited for more.

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