When Critical Role’s first season of The Legend of Vox Machina premiered earlier this year, the heroes were going through the growing pains of being a recently formed adventuring party. By the time everything had wrapped up and the group was returning home after killing the Briarwoods, everyone had leveled up and the experience made them become a better team, if not a stronger family.
But one successful quest was the first step to their larger story, a story which was put in motion once the final episode ended on a group of dragons coming to wreck the city of Emon. In both Dungeons & Dragons and most fantasy stories in general, dragons aren’t exactly pushovers, something that this first look Legend of Vox Machina’s second season makes quite clear.
Though Vox Machina got lucky vanquishing that first dragon in season one, the quartet of chromatic dragons known as the Chroma Conclave present a considerably headier ask, and their only hope is to gather weapons capable of killing the Conclave. The arc of the same name is the longest of the arcs in the actual “Vox Machina” campaign (it covers episodes 39-83), and like with the “Briarwood” arc that comprised season one, will be streamlined.
That said, Legend of Vox Machina isn’t stopping at just two seasons. During its New York Comic Con panel, the Critical Role cast revealed that the series had been renewed for a third season, since in Matthew Mercer’s words, adapting this one arc in just a dozen episodes would be “daunting.” But first on the docket is season two, which will arrive on Prime Video in January 2023.
During the live Comic-Con panel, the entire crowd erupted in massive cheers when they learned the show would be getting another season. The several hundred-strong crowd that packed most of the Empire ballroom of the Javits Center late Thursday included more than a dozen cosplayers dressed as the show’s titular characters.
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The cast went through some rather vague, not really spoiler-y “spoilers” for the upcoming season and its characters. Matt Mercer mentioned how this part of Vox Machina’s story was particularly emotional for their characters, and as he started to tear up talking about how much the series has grown, the entire cast jumped up to give their DM a dragon-sized group hug.The cast hinted the second season may hold even more fraught emotion for the members of Vox Machina. Liam O’Brien, who plays twin Vax’ildan, said his character and their sister Vex’ahlia (Laura Bailey) may need to overcome some family complications. Other relationships, like Pike and Grog’s friendship may also be tested.
As far as the bard Scanlin Shorthalt is concerned, actor Sam Riegel said: “Right now he’s a horndog and a silly singer, and in this upcoming season he will be a mature singer and a horndog,” He later added, “He struggles a little bit with being the littlest and least useful of the group, but he will have his moments.”The cast also promised even more content from season two for fans chomping at the bit for more Critical Role. The cast ended the live panel by singing the show’s main theme acapella.
Speaking of music, need a refresher before the series’ return early next year? Prime Video also shared this “musical recap,” a must-watch for fans even if you remember all the events from Legend of Vox Machina season one.
Update, October 6, 8:45pm: This post was updated to include a panel report from Gizmodo’s Kyle Barr.
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