Review: The Legend of Vox Machina “Depths of Deceit”; “Whispers of Ziggurat”; “The Darkness Within”

 

 

Overview:

“Depths of Deceit”

Percy has come into paths with another name on his vengeance list. However, before his thirst for revenge can be quenched, it is revealed that his former torturer, Ripley, may be his only chance of reaching the Briarwood’s. While the battle for Whitestone rages upon the castle, Vox Machina journey deep within its dungeons for their final facedown with the tyrants. However, before stopping the evil Briarwoods, one or two of their party members may switch sides.

 

“Whispers of Ziggurat”

The Briarwood’s ultimate plan has come to light. But it might be too late as they are about to awaken the undead god known as “the whispered one”. It will take everything that Vox Machina has left to stop their enemies before the world is lost. The final battle against the Briarwoods takes place here, deep below Whitestone Castle. And unfortunately, Vox Machina may lose an ally along the way.

 

“The Darkness Within”

With the Briarwood’s defeated, it should be time for the legendary party, Vox Machina, to celebrate. However, with Kayleth on the brink of death, Percy will face one final showdown against his inner demon. His friends will have to keep him from enacting his final task of revenge, or they may lose their friend forever.

 

Our Take:

It could be argued that the best thing that The Legend of Vox Machina has done as a new adult animated series is cliffhangers. Each of the 9 episodes released up to this point has ended with a solid hook that leaves the audience grasping for the next instalment. With such a solid grip on conclusions, it was expected that the climax of the season and subsequent season one finale would be significant. And still, The Legend of Vox Machina exceeded expectations when bringing its epic first 12-episode run to an end.

Thank the dungeon master that this series has been released three episodes at a time. Waiting for this big finale would have taken some painful patience. These final three instalments build upon each other, raising the stakes and adding dramatic moments for a satisfying end. Truthfully, it is impressive that this much content could be squeezed into twelve half-hour pieces.

Honestly, this experiment of bringing a well-thought-out and long played campaign to the masses in a television series paid off in more ways than expected. The epic fantasy worked surprisingly well in this format. Offering loads of source content to work with, the adaptation is full of depth, complexity, and most importantly, a solid story from beginning to end. All the little details that were slipped in early in the season managed to have relevance by the conclusion. These minor elements take much longer to develop and fruit with most other shows.

With each new batch of releases, a common theme continued to come up with these reviews. No wonder people were getting so hooked on watching this small group of voice actors childishly perform a role-playing game. Dungeon Master and showrunner Matt Mercer has a wealth of fantasy knowledge, and more so, he knows how to tell a damn good story. Meanwhile, the talent around him takes the Dungeons and Dragons lore steps further than your average game of dice-rolling.

In the beginning, when this party of misfits faced down a dragon and lost miserably, it would have been difficult to estimate the depths and triumphs that this series would take us on. After watching the end of this first season, the only thing to say is thank goodness there is more on the way. There is no word yet as to when season two will premiere. Still, you can rest assured that we and all the other animation fans will be paying close attention and buying our time with a few rounds of some role-playing games.