Based on “Critical Role”, the adult animated fantasy adventure series “The Legend of Vox Machina” is between serving fans and creating an engaging universe. The world is built on the popular “Dungeons and Dragons” game, while the lively voice acting and old-school animation make it an interesting watch. After a bumpy start, the series picks up speed with Rolo’s Percival story arc. The twelfth episode, titled “The Darkness Within”, brings the story to a close, while a final scene makes you wonder about the future course of the story. The finish does not answer certain questions and allows us to smooth out these rough edges. FRONT SPOILERS.
Vox Machina Legend Recap
The Vox Machina – Keyleah, Grog, Pike, Scanlan, Vex, Vax, Percy and the Trinket Bear – hold unique powers. Although they are unsure of themselves, they head to the royal palace in search of bounties. The ruler Uriel assigns them the task of taking on a dangerous creature, and the dragon kicks them. The heroes retreat to the castle with the news that the beast they are dealing with is a blue dragon, which the Council already knows. We eventually find out that the dragon is General Krieg, who plans to rule Tal’dorei with his army of dragons. They kill the dragon and the king throws them a big party. He wants to beef up security, with Vox Machina heading the department.
The series primarily follows the story of Percival de Rolo and his grudge against the Briarwood family for the murder of his parents. Sylas and Delilah Briarwood arrive for the grand feast, and Delilah ushers the king in. She also recognizes Percy across the table and stirs up his anger. Vax is going to steal the Ziggurat, the spellbook, from Delilah’s room. When the Briarwoods catch Vax, a fight ensues and the rest of the Vox Machina take to the field. As the Briarwood couple manage to escape, Percy shoots the coachman, and the team gets knocked into the dungeon. Pike momentarily loses his connection with the Everlight, showing her around the Sanctuary.
When Delilah sends the undead to attack the Vox Machina, the heroes show some movement, even though the guards die. The Vox Machina heads to Whitestone, Percy’s ancestral domain, to confront the Briarwoods. Delilah worships the Whispered One, and she can create hell on her own. The heroes enter the apparent ghost town – and Percy encounters the familiar face of Warden Yennen. From the old preacher they know that the Briarwoods have imprisoned Archibald, Percy’s childhood friend and leader of the revolution.
In prison, Keyleah knows she can transform into a white tiger, while Percy reveals his more violent side. Percy’s pepper shaker “The List” sees the death of Captain Stonefell, and Scanlan meddles with Duke Vedmire. On the other hand, the heroes have to deal with Professor Anders, who slits Cassandra’s throat. Keyleah revives him with a muddy mix and a bit of magic, while Anders’ tongue does his charm. He manages to hypnotize them all, but Percy comes to the rescue with his Orthax-infused pistol. After Anders, they deal with a horde of zombie warriors, some of whom are five times Grog’s size.
As Archibald becomes a martyr, Percy leaves Duke Vedmire for public murder because the Duke is not on Percy’s list. The list involves Anna Ripley, the scientific genius who used the Briarwoods as patrons. The heroes encounter her on their way through the dungeon, and although Percy is too eager to pull the trigger, Vex’ahlia talks him out of making some tough decisions. The finale comes a little too close to the game when Delilah places Percy’s undead ancestors on top of the heroes and attempts to drown them in acid. Meanwhile, Cassandra sides with the Briarwoods – and the heroes must pull two levers simultaneously to drain the acid.
Grog swims in a pool of acid to pull off the impossible feat, but now they have Pike with grace. Next, the heroes encounter Sylas and Delilah – and Sylus’ vampiric gaze pits the heroes against each other. At the last moment, Delilah and Sylas flee to the Ziggurat to perform a final ritual. The heroes are defeated, but Keyleah comes to the rescue as she summons the power of the Sun Tree. On the other hand, Pike takes care of Delilah Briarwood. Keyleah and Grog team up to fry Sylas alive. A vengeful Delilah mortally wounds Keyleah. On the day of the winter solstice, the barrier between two realms is thinnest, and the perfect time for the Whispered to pass through this realm.
The heroes stop the ritual, but the Zigurrat Kingdom eliminates the power of magic and potions. As Pike’s hologram disappears at the end, Vax applies Keyleah’s formula to his wound. As Percy’s struggle with Orthax comes to the fore at the last moment, Cassandra delivers the final blow to Delilah. With backup from Cassandra, who is out of the Briarwood spell, Percy breaks free from his gun spirit. Scanlan closes the Orthax chapter by throwing the gun into the acid pool, and Percy entrusts the duty of ruling Whitestone to Cassandra.
The Vox Machina legend ends: Who is Orthax? Is it dead or alive?
Orthax is a demon who feeds on Percy’s thirst for revenge. When Percy made his pepper shaker gun, the List, he accidentally summoned the demon. According to the Devil’s Contract, Percy feeds the Devil souls, while the Specter gratifies Percy’s revenge. The gun has six barrels, but there are only five names on it – that of the Briarwoods, Anders, Anna Ripley and Stonefell – while Cassandra’s sixth name suddenly appears on the gun in the tenth episode. As Orthax’s shadow demon catches up with Percy, reality blurs before his eyes.
Percy sees Captain Stonefell instead of Scanlan, and the Orthax urges Percy to shoot. But in the end, the conflict comes to an end when Percy drops his gun and comes to his senses. Meanwhile, Scanlan deduces that the spirit still possesses the weapon and throws it into the acid. We hear the demon’s cry one last time, and the monster dies. While Percy remains grateful to his friends, Scanlan reveals his method of deduction – pure guesswork! Percy later works on Anna Ripley’s pepper shaker gun, named Animus, and keeps it for her. As a demon, Orthax can never fully die – and he can resurface later.
Is Anna Ripley dead or alive?
As the heroes tackle Sylas and Delilah Briarwood, Anna Ripley doesn’t want to stand in the crossfire. She flees the scene and the heroes don’t know where she is just yet. Vex’ahlia says another battle is due, which keeps viewers rooted for a second season. However, Ripley keeps her promise by showing the heroes the way out of the traps. If you follow “Critical Role,” you’ll know that Anna Ripley resurfaces in “The Chase to Glintshore,” where she strikes a similar deal with Orthax. While the show keeps it alive, it would be interesting to see if a possible second season continues its story.
Who are the four dragons at the end?
At the end, Uriel announces his abdication from the throne since he had previously misjudged the Vox Machina. As it entrusts responsibility to the Council, the Emon Kingdom sees a transition from sovereignty to democracy. Meanwhile, the buzzing pain of Vex returns and we see four dragons heading towards Castle Cloudtop. These dragons are the Chroma Conclave, which takes us to the beginning of the fourth chapter of “Critical Role”. They are Raishan, the Diseased Deceiver, Thordak, the Ash King, Umbrasyl, the Devourer of Hope, and Vorugal, the Frigid Doom – Friends of Brimscythe aka General Kreig. Dragons are destroying the land – but maybe that’s the stuff of a potential second season.
Read more: The Legend of Vox Machina episodes 7, 8, and 9 recap and ending, explained
