‘The Mighty Nein’ assessment: Vital Position hits new highs with their darkest sequence but

My first publicity to Vital Position wasn’t a clip from any of their campaigns, however as a substitute, a GIF set of their animated introduction for Marketing campaign 2. Scrolling previous it on Tumblr, I instantly grew to become bewitched by the characters. Who was this joyful blue tiefling preventing foes with glowing lollipops and unicorns? What lay up to now of this clearly traumatized, fire-wielding wizard? And the way had this disparate crew of goblins and people and orcs and extra banded collectively?

With these questions in thoughts, I set off proper down the Vital Position rabbit gap, discovering the adventuring get together generally known as the Mighty Nein. But as a lot as I loved witnessing these characters’ tales play out in an improvised Dungeons and Dragons format, I could not assist however yearn for an enlargement on the animated introduction that had uncovered me to them within the first place.

Now, that enlargement is right here within the type of Vital Position’s new animated sequence The Mighty Nein. And it is as wonderful as I had hoped.

What’s The Mighty Nein about?

The Mighty Nein is Vital Position’s second animated sequence with Prime Video, following within the footsteps of The Legend of Vox Machina. Whereas the latter took a couple of episodes to nail the steadiness between bawdy humor and excessive fantasy, The Mighty Nein hits the bottom operating, delivering a darker, extra mature story proper from the get-go.

That story begins with a heist: A strike crew of formidable wizards from the Dwendalian Empire steals the highly effective Luxon Beacon from the Kryn Dynasty. The sequence performs out virtually wordlessly, punctuated by beats of deadly magic and hand-to-hand fight. It is a gripping reintroduction to the world of Exandria, one which units the stage for a devastating warfare between nations. It is also a darkly humorous alternative for The Mighty Nein‘s start line, as a result of whereas the Dwendalian wizards and Kryn troopers are elite, extremely organized forces, our titular heroes are… not.

By the point The Mighty Nein begins, the precise Mighty Nein crew is way from being assembled. Every of the crew’s members (and regardless of what the title suggests, there are solely six of them) is scattered to the winds, coping with their very own woes. And belief me, The Mighty Nein does not skimp on the traumatic backstories. Filth-covered wizard Caleb Widogast (voiced by Liam O’Brien) scrounges for magical elements whereas operating from his previous. Goblin thief Nott the Courageous (voiced by Sam Riegel) drowns her sorrows at each waking second. Cobalt Soul monk Beauregard Lionett (voiced by Marisha Ray) faces derisions from her superiors, who dismiss her detective work primarily based on her hotheadedness.

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Elsewhere, shipwrecked sailor Fjord Stone (voiced by Travis Willingham) awakens with magical powers he did not ask for and does not know how you can use, whereas prankster Jester Lavorre (voiced by Laura Bailey) cannot get her patron god (and greatest buddy) to reply her name. Rounding out the group is Mollymauk Tealeaf (voiced by Taliesin Jaffe), a circus ringmaster oozing with charisma, but plagued with worries about his circus going underneath (and a few unsettling recollections).

Briefly, these six don’t have anything in frequent. Nonetheless, the brewing battle over the Luxon Beacon will carry these outcasts collectively in sudden methods and supply them the possibility to show that possibly, simply possibly they’ll make a distinction for the higher. Based mostly on the abilities proven by each the Dwendalian and Kryn forces within the opening, although, they’ve their work lower out for them.

The Mighty Nein builds a formidable crew.

Credit score: Prime Video

The Mighty Nein takes no shortcuts in terms of bringing its crew collectively. There are arguments and in-fighting aplenty within the sequence, every an ideal showcase of the distinct personalities the present is working with. But from these arguments emerge robust bonds of camaraderie, made all of the sweeter by the battle it took to get there.

The Mighty Nein manages to protect the entire great relationships gamers crafted on the desk throughout Marketing campaign 2: Nott and Caleb’s safety of each other, Jester and Fjord’s playful friendship, Beau and Caleb’s rising respect and belief, Mollymauk’s capacity to carry everybody collectively… I might go on, because the webs The Mighty Nein weaves between its characters are as wealthy and different because the characters themselves.

The complexities of those characters and their relationships come by means of, not simply in dialogue but additionally in The Mighty Nein‘s jaw-dropping motion sequences. The Legend of Vox Machina already set the bar excessive on how you can translate Vital Position’s battles into animation, however The Mighty Nein greater than meets that bar, even surpassing it in terms of magic utilization.

That is as a result of every magic person in The Mighty Nein has their very own distinctive manner of casting. Caleb makes use of materials elements to create damaging spells, Jester summons glowing herds of mini unicorns and sweet, Mollymauk wields blood magic that even he appears shocked he has entry to, and Fjord sends out watery blasts with out fairly realizing how. Within the case of all 4, however particularly the latter two, watching them struggle means watching them uncover enchanting new talents on the fly. You are seeing heroes develop into themselves in actual time — and in spectacular trend, because of dazzling animation from Titmouse.

This sense of discovery turns The Mighty Nein into an unforgettable story of turning into one thing larger than you ever thought you possibly can be, and of discovering belonging you by no means thought you’ll. It is the discovered household trope achieved to a tee, and truthfully, after I dreamed of an animated sequence primarily based on the Marketing campaign 2 intro all these years in the past, by no means did I anticipate it to hit as exhausting as this.

The primary three episodes of The Mighty Nein premiere Nov. 19 on Prime Video, with a brand new episode each Wednesday.