Created by Critical Role Productions and Amazon Prime, The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 picks up one year after the defeat of the Chroma Conclave. With the realm enjoying an uneasy peace, the adventurers have drifted apart to pursue their own lives. However, the rise of the Whispered One—an ancient, terrifying force—forces them to reunite and battle a dark new threat.
Vox Machina has proven to be one of the best ongoing fantasy shows made in recent years, having three perfect seasons in a row, along with a successful spinoff series released just last year. This fourth season serves as the penultimate season of the series because season five was recently announced to be the final season, meaning we would be witnessing the beginning of the end of the story of these beloved misfits. I was both excited and scared to see what crazy fates our heroes would endure on their new mission, and after watching all episodes I can confidently say that this series has once again delivered another phenomenal season.
The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 is an incredibly crafted penultimate season that maintains the charm and epicness of the series as it takes a much darker turn and sets the stage for a grand conclusion. This season was an emotional rollercoaster from start to end as we see the team reunited to take on a new high-stakes quest that pushes all of them to their limits and brings them face to face with an enemy that is more deadly than anything before, and one that makes things much more personal for them. From the magnificent performances and writing to the outstanding animation and visuals, this series continues to get increasingly better with every season and progresses the story masterfully in all the best ways possible.
The entire cast of Vox Machina returns to once again deliver phenomenal voice performances for their respective characters in their respective arcs, as we get to see each of them create more emotional depth and development for our heroes as they endure their darkest quest by far, where none of them are truly safe. Every performance and arc is amazing in this season, but there are certainly some major standouts that soar highly, including Ashley Johnson as Pike and Liam O’Brien as Vax.
Pike is dealing with the fallout of Vox Machina’s war with the Chroma Conclave, the one-year separation of the team, and her wavering faith in her religion, which puts her on a dark path of tragedy and loss that begins to consume her. The once hopeful and kind-hearted Pike gets pushed to her breaking point and it is beautifully delivered by Ashley Johnson in her performance.
Vax endures the consequences of saving Percy’s life last season while also being forced to face his destiny as champion Matron of Ravens, locking him into a deadly fate he may not be able to escape. Liam O’Brien makes us feel Vax’s fear and distress fantastically in his voice performance, making us feel for him on many emotional levels and dread for what may happen to him if he chooses to follow the path he’s been forced upon.
All the returning voices and their characters are perfect as expected, but this season does bring in some major newcomers that hugely impact the team and the story in very different ways. The first is a new member that joins Vox Machina, named Taryon Darrington, a human adventurer who uses magical gems as weapons and is accompanied by a robot companion Doty, who writes down his adventures. He seems useless at first, serving as a nuisance to the team, but then shows his worth and skills over the course of the season, becoming a full-fledged member that fits perfectly with our favorite band of misfits. He is wonderfully brought to life by comedian Wayne Brady who brings so much energy and humor to the character, making him a truly lovable dork that gives the team fresh dynamics and greatly helps them in their fight against their new foes.
The second major newcomer is the main villain of this season, called The Whispered One, a sorcerer who tried to become a god centuries ago but was defeated by champions. He has now returned to once again achieve his goal by establishing a dark magic cult known as the Children of Truth, who mercilessly kill anyone who gets in their way. The cult itself is full of nasty and sadistic faces that prove to be dangerous foes to our favorite heroes, but they are nothing compared to the terror and horror brought to us by The Whispered One, who is voiced by none other than the legendary Andy Serkis. Andy Serkis makes his mark in another fantasy franchise as a layered, manipulative, and scarily powerful villain that honestly terrified me more compared to the dragons of the previous two seasons, and it is all thanks to not only amazing writing but also phenomenal voice acting from Serkis. After being built up over the course of the season, he ended up being truly phenomenal, and it really makes me wonder how the team is supposed to defeat a fearsome foe like him.
The story of this season truly takes viewers on a wild emotional rollercoaster as the characters each endure their own emotional struggles and personal demons that threaten to destroy them all while facing a truly terrifying threat that makes things personal for each of them. Hilarious moments of banter and unhinged but humorous violence are still present in this season, but it does take a much darker turn with its raised stakes and firmly establishes that no one is truly safe on the path to the end. This all gets proven in a truly shocking finale that changes the team, the realm, and everything forever as it sets the story up for a grand final season that can go in any unexpected direction. Will our heroes triumph over this new enemy? Will they survive? These are all haunting questions that the season makes you ponder as it shatters your heart into pieces with its bold choices and directions that I loved very much even when it destroyed me emotionally.
The animation is truly epic beyond words as it progressively gets better with every season and delivers haunting visuals that fit with the darker tone of this season. Additionally, the action is still just as violently satisfying and masterfully crafted as it always has been, especially with the crazy directions it goes based on the new threats and new locations our heroes end up dealing with on their journey. The cinematography is truly stunning, and it really pushes the limits on what 2D animation can do in terms of detailed beauty and giving it that truly awe-inspiring feeling, very much like Lord of the Rings. The incredible storytelling and animation gets paired with yet another amazing score by composer Neal Acree, who blends different genres of music together to make this darkly epic season feel even more darkly epic.
Vox Machina has firmly cemented itself as one of the best fantasy shows made in recent years and it has set the stage for what could be a truly spectacular and highly emotional conclusion to the series that I am both immensely excited for but also deeply dreading as I worry deeply for the fates of these beloved characters that we’ve been with for so long. The end is coming and I am both ready and not ready to see how it goes. I’m going to give The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 an A+ = 100.
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