With the recent conclusion of season one, we will discuss The Mighty Nein. Based on Critical Role’s second campaign, the show follows our seven misfit protagonists and how they come together to form their group.
Do note that this review will contain spoilers so go watch the show first if you haven’t on Prime Video! It’s well done with lots of good character moments.
The Story
The story follows our main cast: Beau, a hotheaded member of the Cobalt Soul, Nott the Brave, a down on her luck goblin, Caleb, a wizard with a mysterious past, Mollymauk, a showman with a heart of gold, Jester, a bubbly cleric, Fjord, a sailor looking to find his confidence, and finally, Yasha, the one we least know about but is seemingly controlled and compelled to kill.
We also follow Essek from the Kryn dynasty, one of the two kingdoms about to go to war when their beacon was stolen.
The story begins as we learn about each character and how they meet. Caleb and Nott meet early on, becoming close. Jester and Fjord meet when Fjord ends up in Jester’s hometown and Jester is forced to flee after a prank threatens her life. Fjord promises to protect her as she travels to live with relatives and they share a close bond.
They all come together—except Yasha— during a pivotal moment where they’re all at a circus gone terribly wrong when Caleb attempts to retrieve beetles for his spells. They band together during the chaos and after, with lots of mistrust and fighting.
My favorite episode of the entire season comes with episode 5 and Caleb’s backstory. He’s a former volstrucker, whom has been tracking him down after he defected. They’re responsible for stealing the beacon from the Kryn and being manufactured into a deathly weapon.
Caleb, or his real name Bren, was groomed into being a volstrucker due to his gifted abilities with magic. It all culminates to a heartbreaking conclusion when he sets his family home on fire and kills his parents and cat.
Eventually he realizes the evil of the volstruckers and what he was participating in and leaves. It’s a gut-wrenching episode and realizing how complacent our one main character was, but glad to see he’s gotten away from it since.
Later in the season, the group disbands, seemingly done working together but they all come back together to complete a heist of stealing the beacon in an epic final episode. The season ends with them finding Yasha and she asks them for help.
It is a rather abrupt way to end their first season, but I am optimistic that we’ll get more great moments between everyone and how they could defeat Ikithon, who wants to use the beacon for terrible things.
The Characters
I thoroughly enjoyed the cast and while I haven’t watched much of The Legend of Vox Machina, I did sometimes feel like the main cast was a little cliche and lacked some depth. This is not the case for The Mighty Nein. Of course, Caleb got a large focus in one episode as his backstory closely tied in with the current plot, but mostly everyone gets a lot of time to truly define who they are. With the exception of Yasha, who we don’t see much of, but I do know she’ll be a part of the main crew eventually.
Beau is one of my favorites as a hot-headed Cobalt Soul monk who doesn’t quite fit in anywhere and is abrasive to be around. But she’s a decent fighter and has great moments. Caleb is another favorite because I just love tragic characters, but my top favorite has to be Jester.
Jester is so delightful and silly to see on screen, but she does have great moments of vulnerability and really bonds with Fjord. She talks to her God, The Traveler, who I did really think was just something she made up until he appears briefly. It was at least a nice moment and further reassurance that she’s in fact not crazy.
I’d really love to see more about Fjord, but it is great to see him as the story progresses from a lowly sailor to someone with more confidence in himself and becoming a formidable fighter.
There’s also a lot of mystery around Mollymauk we don’t see much of this season. He gets momentarily possessed at times and it’s unclear by who or why or what happened. I hope this is further explored next season, along with what is up with Yasha and why she has the nickname “Orphan Maker” when there’s hints she doesn’t want to do it. I would also like to learn more about Nott. She also has a heart of gold and does have times where she deeply cares about people and I want to know why she’s become the way she is now.
I also wonder if there’s a chance for Essek to defect from the Kryn and become a part of the main crew. His story of trying to save his mother from permanent death is touching, and he ultimately fails. He’s sympathetic, even if he’s helping Ikithon wield their beacon for nefarious reasons when it was originally made for reincarnation.
What’s next?
Of course, if you really, truly are dying to know what happens next, Critical Role has the entire campaign completed since 2021 with 141 podcast episodes. However, I’m personally fine with waiting for more of the animated show to release, and thankfully, it sounds like we don’t have too long of a wait for season two!
There’s no official release date as of now, but they’re aiming for a tentative 2026 premiere. After that massive cliffhanger, I would love if it could return that soon, but animation takes time, and I’ll just for now be happy it’s returning at all. Here’s to 2026!
