The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3, Episodes 4-6: Fanservice Done Right
The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3 continues to give me everything I want as a fan of the series. Episodes 4-6, “Hell to Pay,” “The Frigid Wastes,” and “The Coming Storm” were simply a stellar block of television.
While I’m not always a fan of the three-episode drops, this block of episodes showcased how to use this kind of release style. It picked up the cliffhanger from last week, resolving the Hell storyline and Kima missing. I was stunned Vox Machina took out the next dragon, something I didn’t think would happen until later in the season. In turn, they set up more of the back half of the season with betraying Raishan, Thordak’s babies starting to hatch, and Percy focusing his hunt for Anna Ripley. Still, these three episodes never lost the character moments along the way.
The characters are the best part of this show, and this continues in these three episodes. Scanlan is still struggling with fatherhood and, as Pike said, caring for someone other than himself. This arc has been so rewarding as, after two seasons, Scanlan isn’t as one-note as he was earlier in the show. All of the romances are developing or falling apart in a way that makes my little shipper heart happy. While Percy and Pike took a bit of a back seat in Season 2, as they both had the major story arcs of Season 1, it’s great to see them have a focus again—especially Pike, who has had the best one-liners of the season. Between last week’s “OW! MY TIT!” and this week’s “Cram it, de Rolo! I’m having a day!” she has kept me laughing amid the most harrowing scenes. This series does so well balancing its ensemble, and it’s quite the masterclass of how to do it.
This show also has unapologetically gratuitous fanservice fight scenes. The moment I realized the demon was going to fight the ice dragon, I shared in Grog and Scanlan’s excitement and literally slapped my desk, yelling, “THIS IS AWESOME!”
One thing I do enjoy about The Legend of Vox Machina is that you can watch and appreciate the series without needing the context of Critical Role. As I said last week, I’m a fan of the animated series, but I haven’t watched much of the original source material. I know some spoilers, but overall, I don’t know where the story is heading. In turn, it’s often fun reading the fandom reactions to certain things while objectively being able to watch the show as an outsider.
Take Zerxus Ilerez and Keyleth turning into a goldfish. From watching how Critical Role fans reacted to these two moments, I understood that these two instances were “A Critical Role Thing” that I did not have context for. Fans were so excited to see these moments on screen.
The Legend of Vox Machina works as a series because I didn’t feel like I was missing out on “The Critical Role Thing.” Zerxus was presented as a fascinating new antagonist who clearly was part of the deeper lore of the story. The show gave me the basics I needed to know about him, his motives, and his past to then, in turn, pit him against Pike in one of her best scenes in the show so far. For the Keyfish (as I have learned it’s called), it was a cute little moment of Keyleth turning into a goldfish. It made me chuckle as a humorous bit during a banger song. It wasn’t until later, when I got on social media, that I found out the deeper story for these parts. I have now watched the “We’re Gods!” moment.
The show rarely excludes new fans who haven’t seen Critical Role. Season 2 was a far worse offender in making me feel like I was missing out on lore or world-building as a new fan. Season 3 has rectified that. It ensures that people like me can still follow the story, fall in love with the characters, and, for the most part, not get lost. Rarely does this show take me completely out of what’s happening. Overall, this series is a celebration for Critters and their long-time dedication, but it is presented in a way that I can enjoy it, too. Season 3 has excelled at this so far.
Season 3 of The Legend of Vox Machina continues to pop off. Where I had more of a disconnect with Season 2, I feel so well-fed this time around. The romances, the building story, the bonkers crazy battles! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the season. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.