The battle for Whitestone rages on in The Legend of Vox Machina

Amazon Prime’s The Legend of Vox Machina returned this week with three new episodes, and the series continues to deliver as it builds to an epic conclusion.

In the wake of the previous batch of episodes, Vox Machina found themselves dealing with a revelation of epic proportions: Percy’s younger sister, presumed dead, is alive. Episode 7, titled “Scanbo,” picks up with a flashback of Percy and his sister, Cassandra, studying residuum in Whitestone, before the Briarwood’s attack.

The episode, which is half backstory and exposition, half solo Scanlan adventure, created a perfect balance of heavy world-building and goofy fight scenes. While the rest of Vox Machina awaited Scanlan’s distraction before they can rescue Cassandra, Percy revealed that he created his guns with the sole purpose of avenging his family.

When the exposition delivered by Percy gets heavy, the episode smartly sends Scanlan off to prove himself to the group, but mostly to Vex, who believes he can’t be of much use to them.

He enters the home of Duke Vedmire, in which he finds himself chased around the house, trying various potions to get himself out of that situation. The overconfident, stubborn attitude is captured perfectly by Sam Regal, who brings both a charming, if sometimes annoying, air to Scanlan.

No matter how scarily close Scanlan came to meeting his end, his harebrained plan worked, leading Vox Machina to an intense battle during episode 8, “A Silver Tongue.”

This episode felt classically D&D, especially once the battle began. It’s always a bit difficult to imagine everyone’s fighting styles and move sets while watching the Critical Role live streams, but this fight sequence against Professor Anders showcases it perfectly. The use of the charm effect within this sequence was also a TTRPG staple, forcing the members of Vox Machina to unwillingly fight against Percy.

The heart of the episode lies within the reunion between Percy and Cassandra, which features an emotional reconnecting, despite lingering animosity from Cassandra regarding Percy never returning to see if she lived.

Alongside that heartfelt reunion, this episode featured Pike reclaiming her power and choosing the path she wanted to be on. The Everlight, her goddess, reassured Pike that any path can be a holy one, even fighting alongside Vox Machina. Her reassurances finally allowed Pike to reclaim her magical abilities, and find the worth within herself once again.

This thread continued into episode 9, “The Tide of Bone,” when Pike astral projected to Whitestone to help Vox Machina fight an army of zombies created by Delilah Briarwood. The use of astral projection feels like a fun nod to Ashley Johnson’s constant Skype appearances during the first campaign, where she couldn’t attend the live streams in person due to her time on NBC’s Blindspot.

In addition to Pike’s reunion with the party, this episode also featured Vax confessing his love to Keyleth. In the middle of the zombie battle, Vax turns to Keyleth and says, “You know I’m in love with you, right?” This revelation was surely a high point for fans of the relationship between the two since it was a continuous thread throughout the entire Vox Machina campaign.

Most importantly, this episode found Percy finally claiming his rightful position as the leader of the Whitestone resistance, and announcing himself as one of the only living De Rolo’s. His speech to the people of Whitestone was empowering for both the villagers and for Percy as a character, who is now fit to lead heading into the final three episodes of the season.

Though, the battle in these upcoming episodes won’t be an easy one, if the Briarwoods have anything to say about it. Delilah’s undying dedication to Silas was emphasized in this episode with the flashback cold-open, granting the audience a chilling recounting of his transformation into a vampire and Delilah’s into a necromancer.

Their accelerated timeline will prove to be Vox Machina’s greatest challenge yet, all coming to a head when the final three episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina drop next week.

Overall, the most recent episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina were action-packed, yet still filled with the same heart and sorrow that feels distinctly Critical Role. The cast continues to shine in their roles, and the guest stars do an incredible job breathing life into this vast world.

The Legend of Vox Machina concludes February 18, 2022, only on Amazon Prime Video.