The Legend of Vox Machina season 4 spoiler-free review

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To understand these tropes and how the show bends them to achieve the best possible outcome, it’s important to know where The Legend of Vox Machina comes from. Critical Role started in 2015 as a web series where a group of professional voice actors live-streamed their ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It has since evolved into a multimedia company that branches off into video games, animated shows, and tabletop publishing. None of this would have happened without a group of friends playing a game of D&D together, and that’s what you’re watching when you tune into The Legend of Vox Machina, which adapts the characters and storylines of that first campaign (also known as Vox Machina).

This may not be evident to viewers who are new to D&D, but Amazon MGM Studios’ The Legend of Vox Machina is, by far, the best representation of what it feels like to play “the world’s most famous role-playing game.” While subsequent Critical Role campaigns got more nuanced as the cast carved its niche and found its audience, Vox Machina feels like “basic D&D”: a mix of chaotic shenanigans and epic storytelling, where larger-than-life heroes take on increasingly dangerous foes by, as one of the show’s taglines says, “fucking shit up.” The animated show preserves that feeling while ironing out the convoluted nature of a story told in D&D form into a sleek, linear narrative that has to make some concessions to the episodic TV format.

Season 4 will feel familiar to longtime D&D players as the “let’s just keep playing” part of the campaign, where you essentially enter post-game content. After wrapping up the main plotline and defeating the BBEG, you’re just having so much fun that you ask the Dungeon Master to come up with something else. In fact, season 3 felt like the perfect conclusion for the tale of the group of adventurers known as Vox Machina: What challenges are left for the heroes after defeating an entire conclave of evil dragons? An even more evil god, of course.

Season 4 begins with a one-year time skip that serves to separate our group of heroes before their inevitable reunion. The two romantic couples that formed over the course of the story went off to do their own things. Vax (Liam O’Brien) and Keyleth (Marisha Ray) traveled to complete the latter’s “aramente,” while Vex (Laura Bayley) and Percy (Talieisn Jaffe) settled down in Whitestone to help rebuild the city. Grog (Travis Cunningham) and Pike (Ashley Johnson) stuck together, but while the jolly goliath is happy getting drunk and singing the tales of his bravery, the halfling cleric is feeling left out at the start of the season. Meanwhile, Scanlan (Sam Riegel) abandoned the group to focus on his musical career and rebuilding his relationship with his estranged daughter.

From there, Vox Machina gets roped into one last adventure that puts them on the path of an evil cult trying to resurrect a mysterious entity known as the Whispered One. This may not sound like the most original plot, but that’s not an issue. The characters remain the heart of this story. The relationship between the members of Vox Machina and their personal journeys add emotional weight to the action that sustains each episode.

This is, in fact, one of the recipes behind Critical Role’s success. They took the most exciting elements of the D&D experience, the larger-than-life heroes, the epic battles, the kick-ass lines, the clear good-vs.-evil dynamic, and made it all feel more realistic by bringing their characters to life through their acting skill, combined with dedication and passion. The Legend of Vox Machina took that primer and ran with it.

However, season 4 falls a bit short in terms of character development and big, emotional moments. This being the penultimate season, the show has a lot of ground to cover to get to the big cliffhanger of the final episode, which comes at the expense of the more sober, introspective moments. The biggest example is the show’s adaptation of “A Bard’s Lament,” episode 85 of Campaign 1 of the actual play show. It’s one of the best and most intense moments in Critical Role’s history, and it explains why Scanlan left Vox Machina for a long time. The show moves the character’s unforgettable speech to a point in time after Scanlan left the group, and it crams it at the end of an — admittedly spectacular — musical magic duel at the end of season 4’s episode 8.

It’s not a capital sin, but it does take some gravitas away from one of the most famous moments in the show’s history, and it makes it harder to understand Scanlan’s absence from this season. However, fans of the halfling bard should not despair, because his substitute is more than up to the task. Taryon Darrington makes his debut this season, becoming the newest member of Vox Machina. Voiced by the legendary comedian Wayne Brady, “Terry” will surely become a new fan-favorite.

Speaking of legends, Andy Serkis also joins the cast this season, and while the character he plays is still a secret, fans who are familiar with the actual play show can easily make a guess. Trust me, it’s as awesome as you think.

Season 4 of The Legend of Vox Machina serves as a setup for the show’s explosive finale in season 5. The heroes, who seemed at the peak of their power at the end of the previous season, are soon revealed to be more vulnerable than ever, as spiraling events quickly lead to a cliffhanger that fans will never forget. The show delivers on almost every front. It’s the best representation of the Dungeons & Dragons experience I’ve ever seen, but even if you’ve never touched a polyhedral dice in your life, this is a fun, entertaining ride that provides a refreshingly familiar dose of adventure, action, and drama.

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Vox Machina season 4 premieres June 4 on Prime Video.