By adapting hours and hours of actual gameplay, the cast and crew of The legend of Vox Machina I had to make some changes. Some are hugely emotional arcs built out of originally smaller moments, while others are a chance to build on the story that evolved years after the original run.
And in the case of the season finale, it was a chance for a cast member to make amends for a spontaneous decision from years ago.
[Ed. note: This post contains big spoilers for the end of season 3 of The Legend of Vox Machina, as well as spoilers for the Vox Machina Critical Role campaign.]
Most of the group members decide to split up: Vex (Laura Bailey) and Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) will return to Whitestone to help rebuild; Vax (Liam O'Brien) will accompany Keyleth (Marisha Ray) on the next stage of her great spiritual journey; Scanlan (Sam Riegel) will accompany his daughter on a world tour; and Grog (Travis Willingham) and Pike (Ashley Johnson) will stay together and have more adventures.
It's all pretty friendly, bittersweet, but ultimately a result of the characters simply needing to be in different places after their big climatic battle.
However, the timing of the original campaign was not so peaceful, both in and out of character.
“My character in the original campaign had a big argument with the group,” Riegel says. “Throughout the season, it just didn't feel right to end a season with Scanlan super angry at the rest of the group after what they'd just been through. “It made sense in the campaign, because the campaign was ongoing.” He pauses and then grimaces, before adding: “And even in the campaign it didn't make sense! “Everyone at the table was mad at me for doing it.”
“Surprised!” —Bailey intervenes—.
Tabletop role-playing games are by nature improvised, and because the story will continue, players can have their characters make big, drastic decisions, like crashing their parties. But a television show has a more limited scope, so it was important to keep the story contained.
“[It] It just didn't seem like a fun way to end it,” Riegel says of the change. “If that's the end of the series, it's not a fun way to end the series with one character angry at everyone else, roll the credits. “So we tried to merge and reshape that story into something that was a bittersweet goodbye rather than an angry goodbye in the hopes that we can still revisit that anger later in the series if we get more seasons.”
The season ends with a group of hooded cultists singing hauntingly, so the newly announced season 4 of The legend of Vox Machina It will definitely raise the stakes. At least in the meantime, we can take comfort in knowing that they are parting on good terms.