‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ Cast Promises ‘Chaotic’ & ‘Emotional’ Season Ahead (VIDEO)
It’s almost impossible to discount the success of The Legend of Vox Machina, Prime Video‘s animated series based on the Dungeons & Dragons campaign originally started by the media company known as Critical Role. Ahead of its second season and during October’s New York Comic Con, the series announced a surprise third season renewal. Then, just five days after the Season 2 premiere on January 20, Amazon Studios announced a multi-year television and first-look deal, which will include a new animated series based on Critical Role’s second campaign The Mighty Nein. All this, plus a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes!
While the first season of the show found the unlikely group of heroes coming together and learning how to work as a team, the second season kicks things into high gear by introducing challenges both emotional (relationships, personal growth) and dangerous (their main foe this time around is a group of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave, who have their sights set on domination and destruction). The episodes also go deep into the characters’ pasts as they focus on the growing bond between the team members, who learn to trust each other more fully as they encounter bigger stakes in their adventure.
“We’re kind of past that point,” Liam O’Brien says, referencing the fact that his character, half-elf Vax’ildan — who has a strong relationship with his sister Vex’ahlia (Laura Bailey) — is used to looking out for their own interests. “Vox Machina is rubber-banded together. So you’re seeing [the twins] stay stronger together and watching their own relationships grow and evolve and watching them branch out to their new families in new ways trying to make both work.”
Among the words the cast chose to describe the current season were “emotional,” “chaos,” and “bigger.” For Ashley Johnson, who plays gnome Pike Trickfoot, things have felt especially personal as one of the biggest changes that’s been made in adapting the tabletop game to animation is the incorporation of Johnson’s character. During the original live-streamed game, the actress was often missing from the table for long stretches of time or stuck playing remotely from across the country due to her previous role in the NBC series Blindspot. In The Legend of Vox Machina, however, Pike is a constant presence and plays a big part in helping her teammates through their many conflicts.
“I think that’s where we were sort of able to change the real-life story,” Johnson said. “I think it’s the perfect time to get to know Pike a little better and it makes sense that we’re having all these conversations and really getting into the nitty gritty of who we all are and what we all stand for. It makes me really happy to be there for most of it this time around.”
Watch the full interview above with cast members Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, and Matthew Mercer, and don’t miss the next three episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina, premiering Friday, February 3 on Prime Video.
The Legend of Vox Machina, Season 2, Fridays, Prime Video
