The Mighty Nein Season 1 Review: Critical Role Successfully Strikes Again With its Second Campaign

Even though they’re just a bunch of nerdy voice actors who love Dungeons and Dragons, Critical Role has give us probably some of the best animated fantasy stories yet.

With The Legend of Vox Machina, we got a truly action-packed and abrasively hilarious epic adventure to remember. Now, as The Mighty Nein rolls around, a bigger adventure promises much more (though at some costs.)

Similar to The Legend of Vox Machina, The Mighty Nein follows Critical Role’s second bunch of ragtag misfits coming together (innuendo intended) to find a dangerous artifact known as the Beacon. However, their journey together will uncover terrible secrets, titanic threats, and much more.

While fans know that both shows take place within the same realm of Exandria, they have exclusive differences that make each of them stand out from other. For The Mighty Nein, the biggest difference lies in what it wants to cover from the get-go.

This means that rather starting them off all together, Season 1 acts as the origin point for its main characters.

However, there’s a particular focus on two members of the Nein: the secretive Caleb Widogast and the somewhat brash Beauregard, who are on opposite ends. Essentially, Season 1 has a strong focus on the soon-to-be rivalry between the both of them (which Critters know because of a particular reason.)

Past Season 1 Episode 3, their constant “butting of heads” and debate about doing what’s right between the Empire and the Cobalt Soul, a society of lorekeepers, simply keeps you hooked because of how meticulously unrevealing it is. Every time there’s pushback from Beau, you can just feel the tension that would’ve been present at that table.

There’s a specific scene between Caleb and Beau later on where that tension really pushes those bounds. At this point, the Nein would have been somewhat united, but at the cost of their own security due to a huge monster attack. 

However, early on, Caleb actually gets a partner-in-crime to help him, that being the enigmatically chaotic Nott the Brave. Unlike the regal, charming Scanlan that new fans have been accustomed to, Nott’s deceptive thievery gets her and Caleb into some fun messes in the first two episodes.

Yet, like Scanlan, Nott also feels like the optimistic spirit of the Nein as she brings some curious wonder to understanding Caleb and what he’s capable of. Though it mostly feels like narrative build-up at first, the almost-familial chemistry that Caleb and Nott share starts to make you feel empathetic for both of them.

There are multiple scenes that these two share, but the one that truly strikes home doesn’t come until later until The Mighty Nein Season 7. By that point, as you’ve gotten to know what makes each of the Nein stand out, Nott perfectly becomes the binding force this team needs. 

Speaking of optimistic spirits, it’s clear that Jester, the adorable “cleric” of the Nein, blends the familiar raunchiness of The Legend of Vox Machina into a single character while allowing her to be poppy as the original webseries character.

Add to that a blossoming relationship with the renewed Fjord, a sailor who’s now trekking his own path, and you get some truly fun chemistry. However, this on-screen dynamic has been a long time coming for Critters, and I’m happy to say that their moments together won’t disappoint.

In fact, from their beginnings in Season 1 Episode 2 to the more harrowing fights with the Nein involving thugs, fireworks, and more, Jester and Fjord’s chemistry, truly brought here by Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham, really works. Though, much of the narrative build-up is felt on Fjord’s end of things because of a wickedly divine connection.

As for Mollymauk, he’s perhaps the most mysterious of all, though it’s great to see how Taliesin Jaffe has been able to nail the character’s accent. For most of The Mighty Nein Season 1, Molly’s confident trickery acts as a facade for something much more sinister, though his tarot card tricks prove ominous already.

Although, because of how the series focuses on Caleb, Nott, Beau, Jester, and Fjord early on, Molly’s role is much more limited to the back half of Season 1. That isn’t to say that Molly isn’t as important as the others, but it’s best to expect Molly to be a more action-focused character.

Another fan-favorite character that fans have been dying to see, including myself, is the imposingly great Yasha. Given how Ashley Johnson’s schedule during this campaign limited her capabilities with Yasha, the way that The Mighty Nein Season 1’s story makes use of its time is succinct.

What we get with Yasha are some of the most brutal sequences from any main Critical Role character in this world. Expect a lot of gore and blood to be spilled during Yasha’s scenes!

She’s clearly a force to be reckoned with as she’s a lone wolf, but we also do get intriguing, if brief, flashbacks into her past life that certainly plays a role for Yasha’s future. However, I do hope there’s a Season 2 to build upon what pieces we got already.

Most of this doesn’t even begin to encapsulate what happens with Essek, who’s off trying to balance the power of the Beacon in order to save his mother from a condition of psychosis. The emotional core of The Mighty Nein Season 1 is truly locked into Essek’s arc, which acts mostly as a side story to propel his later involvement with the Nein forward.

Perhaps what’s the weakest point of the series is that it has to do a lot of world-building in its initial run. Season 1 is heavily focused on building Caleb as the catalyst for everything the Nein face, so his background is very much laid out to bare.

Due to the fact that these episodes are twice as long as The Legend of Vox Machina, it means that the series has to use its time wisely. It compacts much of the first twelve or so episodes from the webseries, but does so in an intricate way that makes narrative sense for its format.

Fortunately, it still retains the chaotic aura that you’d expect from the Critical Role cast in so many Season 1 moments.

For example, there’s one scene where Fjord tries to go all out with his powers, but “poofs” up like the Percy-Vax-Scanlan door scene from The Legend of Vox Machina Season 1 Episode 6. Moments like these perfectly add to the show’s charm, even if it feels more serious than its predecessor.

Despite some stretched-out moments and meticulous character setups, The Mighty Nein Season 1 is another critical success for Critical Role, its fanbase, and D&D players all around. Hopefully, Season 2 gets greenlit so these characters can be further explored and the action can truly kick off.

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The Mighty Nein Season 1 premieres on Wednesday, November 19, on Prime Video.

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