The Legend of Vox Machina‘s Cast on Season 3 Challenges and Changes

The members of Vox Machina person been done a batch successful Prime Video’s animated series The Legend of Vox Machina. Over 2 seasons, audiences person gotten utilized to seeing them hunt for magical Vestiges, pledge themselves to gods and magical objects, and intimately larn dragon biology. With play three, the amusement is aiming to bash thing different: namely, use immoderate unit connected the enactment aft each they’ve been done frankincense acold and seeing if (and how) they crack. 

At a caller property lawsuit attended by io9, the Vox Machina cast talked astir however they proceed uncovering caller ways to accommodate worldly they fundamentally cognize successful their slumber astatine this point. While they’ve each been dependable acting for decades, it’s different happening to bash that and besides accommodate your ain material. After aggregate seasons, the formed find they’ve improved on the way, and that nary 2 seasons are precisely the same. Sam Riegel, who voices Scanlan, said that if Matt Mercer “kept america connected our toes” DMing the Critical Role existent play campaign, the show’s accumulation was arsenic challenging successful its ain right.

© Titmouse/Critical Role/Prime Video

It isn’t conscionable that the animation and penning person go “more and much complicated,” said Riegel. The formed besides person to equilibrium however the archetypal run really played retired versus erstwhile and however the amusement chooses to diverge and bash its ain thing. In immoderate instances, it’s the formed straight making these calls connected the page; Riegel and Travis Willingham (who plays Grog) wrote respective episodes successful the archetypal 2 seasons, and present Marisha Ray (Keyleth) and Liam O’Brien (Vax) person penned immoderate for play three. Other times, it means utilizing the caller mean arsenic a crushed to interruption what’s considered a Dungeons & Dragons rule: splitting the party.

Season 1 mostly had the characters each together, but 2 and 3 person breached the pack up into smaller groups for aggregate episodes, followed by a reunion during a climactic battle. As Willingham noted, keeping 7 main characters connected surface astatine each times tin beryllium an animation nightmare, truthful they took chances erstwhile imaginable to “thin out” the party. These predominant splits had further uses, specified arsenic letting the amusement screen much crushed astatine a quicker pace. (See: the squad getting their respective Vestiges implicit 2 episodes alternatively than dozens, similar successful the existent play.) It besides amended served the characters and their interior conflicts; with the enactment down a idiosyncratic (or three) successful combat, oregon adjacent erstwhile someone’s going done it emotionally, the “tension and stress” tin physique to a constituent wherever they emergence up oregon interruption down.

Those moments marque for immoderate of the astir memorable scenes successful each Critical Role campaign, and adjacent successful Vox Machina alone, there’s rather a batch of them. Yes, the formed holds those moments adjacent and beloved to their hearts, and they privation to bash close by the fans (and themselves) successful that respect arsenic overmuch arsenic possible. When asked, Mercer and Laura Bailey (Vex) said the squad doesn’t truly statement astir what to bring successful truthful overmuch arsenic person “impassioned” conversations astir what they each consciousness should beryllium retained for the adaptation. While breaking the play down, they look astatine those moments and fig if they should spell “close to wherever they were originally, oregon [in] places wherever they acceptable present wrong the communicative we’ve constructed.”

©Titmouse/Critical Role/Prime Video

Along with much seasons to proceed Vox Machina, that communicative volition grow with different amusement based on Critical Role’s Mighty Nein campaign. According to Willingham, that amusement volition consciousness noticeably antithetic from Vox, from the superior cast’s dynamics to showing audiences however they each conscionable and travel unneurotic arsenic a group. Riegel followed up by describing The Mighty Nein‘s animated adaptation, arsenic tonally antithetic than Vox, along with being “more melodramatic and in-depth.” And dissimilar Vox Machina, who each cognize they’re mostly bully radical conscionable looking to marque immoderate gold, the eventual Mighty Nein squad volition besides person to “figure retired whether they’re the bully guys oregon not,” according to Willingham.

If Vox Machina’s run yet grew into itself, Mighty Nein’s is wherever the formed began to stride and Critical Role turned into what it is today. For that campaign, Willingham said the formed “all stretched and flexed our muscles with what those characters could be,” and they privation to bring that implicit to its adaptation. But whichever of the 2 adventuring parties you prefer, Riegel is confident fans of 1 volition besides bask the other’s show. The 2 bid whitethorn beryllium acceptable decades apart, but they’re successful accumulation broadside by side, and are meant to play disconnected each other. In fact, everything from the franchise fundamentally feeds into the shows: Ray described however the Mighty Nein show could beryllium influenced by its ain run and Vox Machina, along with Bells Hells, the Actual Play’s 3rd (and current) campaign.

By Ray’s ain admission, it’s a “very bizarre” but unsocial operation they’ve recovered themselves in, and they’ve been capable to marque it work. To O’Brien, this was a earthy way for things to go, since the post-Vox campaigns each had large communicative elements that were carried implicit from their predecessors. “Adjusting things successful past [in-world] past disconnected of things that happened past week [at the table] is simply a amusive tightrope walk,” helium said. “The longer we bash this, the richer the satellite gets.”

There’s a batch connected the Vox Machina cast’s plate, betwixt the 2 shows, existent campaign, and different projects. Even with that, determination was a feeling of excitement and anticipation among them during the property event, and they were anxious to spot however audiences instrumentality to the caller play and the changes that’ve been made. Early connected successful our discussion, Ray said the archetypal 2 seasons were astir “establishing the characters and who they are.” For play three? “Now,”  she said, “it feels similar we’re truly capable to combat with the weights off.”

Legend of Vox Machina’s third play premieres connected Prime Video successful weekly, three-episode blocks starting October 3.

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