The Mighty Nein Is Critical Role’s Magic At Its Best (Review)

Critical Role successfully brought its first campaign to life on the small screen with The Legend of Vox Machina, but now it’s time for the lovable ragtag group of adventurers known as The Mighty Nein to step into the spotlight. While it takes a few episodes to officially get the gang together, those early episodes establish the world and its quirky cast of characters immensely well, and once the group unites, the series never looks back. While Vox Machina impressed, The Mighty Nein soars past, capturing the magic of Critical Role’s world and devilishly flawed but lovable heroes absolutely brilliantly.

One of the best things Prime Video did right out of the gate was to premiere the first three episodes of The Mighty Nein all at once, as it takes a few episodes to establish the majority of the group as individuals and set up how they are going to end up in each other’s orbits. That said, I was never bored in the least, and the talented cast captivates and immerses you in moments big and small throughout, and I can’t praise that cast enough.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Critical Role favorites bring their own flair and wonder to each character, with each member of the team stealing the show in their own way without overshadowing the whole. Most of the first episodes are built around Beauregard Lionett (Marisha Ray), Caleb Widogast (Liam O’Brien), Nott the Brave (Sam Riegel), and Fjord Stone (Travis Willingham), but soon other favorites like Jester Lavorre (Laura Bailey), Mollymauk Tealeaf (Taliesin Jaffe), and Essek Thelyss (Matthew Mercer) are in the mix as well. Yasha Nydoorin (Ashley Johnson) doesn’t have a huge role here and will have to wait until season 2 to get a bigger spotlight, but the times she is featured definitely leave an impression.

Everyone has their favorites from the original campaign, and the show does a magnificent job of remaining authentic to their stories and designs while also allowing them to flourish in animation. It’s difficult not to see everyone falling in love with Jester, Nott, and Mollymauk, regardless of whether they’ve seen the original campaign, but I also found myself fully invested in Caleb and Beauregard’s early, dysfunctional relationship and seeing how that starts to soften over time. In fact, each of the characters has a substantial arc over the course of the series, and even when they make unfortunate choices, it’s difficult to ever root against them.

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There’s also a welcome edge to each character and how they interact with each other, making them truly feel like an at times unwilling family that ultimately realizes they need each other more than they want to admit. For every barbed exchange between Caleb and Beauregard, there’s a sweet moment between Jester and Mollymauk or Fjord and Jester, and the relationship between Caleb and Nott is so richly complex it could be its own series.

Now, this is all well and good, but the series isn’t just about character work and heavy moments, as there’s plenty of bombastic and truly brutal action to dazzle fans as well. Magic is simply a joy to witness in this world, with every spell and magical construct slicing through the screen. The battles are viciously violent, and yet there’s also a visceral style and sense of movement to almost every encounter.

The season never loses momentum either, as there’s simply not one bit of filler amongst the season’s eight episodes, with the season finale paying off some of its smaller stories while an epic magical battle happens in the skies above. The hooks for a second season are present as well, and with where this season ends, you’re going to be calling for that second season sooner rather than later.

The Mighty Nein showcases everything fans love about Critical Role’s immense storytelling and rich cast of characters, and Season 2 cannot get here fast enough.

The Mighty Nein Season 1 is now available to stream on Prime Video.

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