Looking for wild magic, absolutely insane characters, and shockingly graphic violence? Then Amazon’s new animated fantasy series is for you. One of those rare shows that has something for everyone, it might be even better than its predecessor—a show that took nerddom by storm thanks to the growing love for Dungeons and Dragons post-COVID. Within the first three episodes, which dropped today, we get delightfully pummeled by ridiculous shenanigans, surprisingly deep character moments, and fight scenes that are more fun than anything we’ve seen in recent television—live action or animated.
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We could only be talking about The Mighty Nein, Amazon’s second foray into Dungeons and Dragons’ territory. Based on the second campaign from Critical Role, The Mighty Nein is considered their best IP to date, and that shows in the animated version. The show kicks off before the technical start of the campaign, giving us a real “session zero” feel that immediately gets our buy-in before the start of the familiar tale that watchers of the actual play have come to know and love. In episode one, we meet Beau, a surly monk with a chip on her shoulder and a new assignment. We also get Caleb and Nott the Brave (no comma), a dirty (literally) wizard with a dark secret and a little-girl-but-really-a-goblin who seems to have a soft spot for him. We even get a blink-and-you-miss-it glimpse of Yasha. Episodes 2 and 3 give us the rest of our main cast, with introductions to Jester Lavorre, literal chaos incarnate, and Fjord, a half-orc with new powers he has no idea how to comprehend. We also get Essek, who has a seemingly new element to his story, as well as divisive baddie, Mollymauk Tealeaf, bringing our main cast together in a way that feels so perfectly ripped from the annals of D&D.
The Mighty Nein Leaves Little To Be Desired
It’s more cinematic than its predecessor, The Legend of Vox Machina, and certainly has a more serious tonal shift without losing the humor that keeps it grounded and firmly away from edgelord territory. It’s almost impossible not to have an immediate favorite amongst the cast of characters, and we get new elements to the story that help to immerse us without falling prey to lore dumping. There are certainly changes to the plot in the transition from D&D actual play to animated action series. Still, none of them take away from the story that existing fans have come to love, and they’re easy for new fans to understand and digest—it’s not one of those that alienates viewers outside of its deeply entrenched fanbase.
Where the first three episodes miss the mark is the distinct lack of Yasha. It’s understandable why they went this route, considering that Ashley Johnson’s availability was so scattered during the original actual play, but the transition into an animated series gave the studio an opportunity to play with the beginnings of her story. But instead of making her feel like a more central and solid character, we get a single, 30-second glimpse of her. Sure, it leaves us wanting more, but Yasha deserves as much screen time as the others—even if we’re only getting a peek into what she’s doing while away from the rest of the main adventuring party.
The first 3 episodes of The Mighty Nein are now streaming on Amazon Prime, with weekly episodes dropping next Wednesday.
What are your thoughts on the first 3 episodes of The Mighty Nein? Let us know in the comments! And then head over to the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
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