The legend of Vox Machina It's an opportunity for the Critical Role cast to renew their first campaign. Sometimes that means that characters who weren't present at certain events can now play larger roles. Other times that means incorporating Exandrian lore and mythology that wasn't developed until after Vox Machina concluded its first campaign in 2017.
In the case of the most recent episodes, that means turning a small gameplay hiccup into a big emotional moment. And the cast totally agreed.
[Ed. note: This post contains massive spoilers for the newest episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina, as well as spoilers for the Vox Machina Critical Role campaign.]
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The seventh episode of The legend of Vox Machina ends with gunslinger Percy de Rolo (Taliesin Jaffe) offering mercy to the devious Anna Ripley (Kelly Hu). And instead of receiving it, she shoots him in the chest and he falls dead.
There is a similar moment in the campaign, but the rest of the party is able to quickly take Percy to a temple and resurrect him. However, in the show, it appears that he will remain dead.
“In the campaign we were able to bring him back very quickly, but I think it can be something that loses its gravity if you are able to constantly revive someone who has died over and over again,” explains Laura Bailey, the voice. of the half-elf ranger Vex'ahlia. “So for us to be able to sit with this and experience that pain, I think it needed to be extended.”
“And give it consequences,” adds Jaffe. “There are definitely consequences.”
There is no shortage of ways to recover a fallen companion in Dungeons & Dragons. But while having the option of resurrection is a great way to No You totally lose morale when facing a tough enemy while playing with your friends around the table, on a TV show, an easy respawn lowers the stakes.
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“We wanted death to have consequences,” says Travis Willingham, who plays the barbarian Grog and also writes for the show. “We wanted it to have weight, otherwise it would feel fickle and it wouldn't be a big deal if a character failed. So this was really a moment to take stock of what's important around these characters and how fragile they can be and how temporary some of these things are, if you're not careful.”
Percy's death sends an emotional shockwave through the entire group. And unlike other heavy moments throughout the show, which had played out in some version before during the actual gameplay campaign, this plot was new and particularly raw. Since Vex'ahlia and Percy have a romantic relationship, which they finally acted on this season, Bailey found delving into grief particularly satisfying, as exhausting as it was.
“We'd come out of sessions and then feel terrible the rest of the day, but I think it was necessary,” Bailey says. “We started the whole series and [Vex] He is very distant, closed from the beginning. This was also the case in the campaign. She was tough as a person because she felt she had to be. But I wanted to make sure that in the show we were able to explore why she was the way she was and really see those walls come down. And through her pain and her regret at being shut down and not letting him know what he meant to her, she was able to grow as a person. “I don’t think I would have gotten there if it hadn’t been for the trauma.”
There was one person who, however, did not face a great emotional challenge.
“It was easy for me,” Jaffe says.
“You just close your eyes,” Bailey adds.
new episodes of The legend of Vox Machina fall every Thursday.