Adventuring parties coming together for a quest is the cornerstone of the fantasy genre. “The Legend of Vox Machina” takes a more traditional approach with the team already established. However, “The Mighty Nein” takes the time to introduce each of the members individually. They come together for the first time in the fourth episode, but even then their bond is more circumstantial and transactional than anything else.
However, this changes over the course of the second half of the season. Because of this, the audience gets to know each of the characters as individuals first before they slowly become a team. In the penultimate episode they each make the decision to trust one another and truly become the Mighty Nein. The trust, love, and bonds that weave throughout the entire team feel authentic and earned in a way that isn’t always witnessed in the fantasy genre.
In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Tasha Huo discusses how they plotted out the developing bond between the Mighty Nein. She reveals which duos she is looking forward to fleshing out in future seasons. Huo wanted the team and their eventual evolution into a found family to feel earned and authentic.
The Internal Dynamics Of The Mighty Nein Will Be Further Explored
Certain duos are prominently featured in the first season of “The Mighty Nein.” Jester and Fjord, as well as Nott and Caleb, are the most notable. Their initial meetings and evolutions as confidants are pillar dynamics throughout the season. However, other pairs that became key to the campaign were hinted at as well. Nott and Jester, Fjord and Beau, Molly and Jester, as well as Caleb and Beau, are featured, but not as obviously. Huo reveals which pairing she is most excited to play with in season 2 of “The Mighty Nein” and beyond.
Tasha Huo:
A favorite pair. It’s like picking your favorite child. The Fjord and Beau bros’ relationship is so great. Because I do feel like she understands him in a way that maybe the others do not or sees a lot of herself in him that allows them to relate. So, their pairing is super fun. Nott and Fjord is always very fun just because their bickering back and forth will never get old to me. Of course, the Caleb and Nott relationship is really, really special. It’s just so, so incredibly sweet.
What I’m interested in exploring is a little bit more of the Caleb and Beau relationship because I don’t feel like we get a ton of that quite yet in season one. But they have an interesting relationship, just Empire kids and the things that they know and believe and are passionate about. Actually, there is a Venn diagram where they care about a lot of the same things. So, while they’re butting heads now, there’s some interesting growth there in their characters too.
“The Legend of Vox Machina” introduces the party as an established group of adventurers. While there is conflict within the group, they clearly have history and a certain amount of loyalty to one another. “The Mighty Nein” slowly brings the group together. This means when they do finally become the Mighty Nein, and as the group evolves, it resonates more.
Tasha Huo:
Yeah, and it is a lot of plotting that out, right? And a lot of trial and error as we’re talking about it because originally, I think I had pitched waiting way longer to have them really come together. So that we could tell more of their backstories so that we could really see more of their individuality before they came in. And understand where they’re coming from. But ultimately, it just didn’t feel as fun because, whether you’re a fan or not, you’re waiting for these people to come together. And that’s what you’re here for: the Mighty Nein.
And so we ended up moving that up to the 104, which was the latest we could really start to bring them together. I appreciate you think it was earned because it felt like a risk to separate them that way because we just automatically expect a group of adventurers to be together already. Why aren’t they together? And why aren’t they fighting a big bad sort of the way that we’re used to seeing these groups coming together? But it was just so important to me that these characters are full of, again, trauma, but also secrets and walls and their own emotional baggage.
I just didn’t buy that early in the season they would be a team and would be perfectly fine hanging out and fighting big bads together. So yeah, it was a lot of back and forth trying to figure out what felt right and also what felt the most rewarding as a viewer. I think you’re right; like by 103 or 104, you’re like waiting for them to come together, and it feels like, okay, I know them well enough now. And also, they’re not a team yet, which is what I also love. And I think that was kind of the compromise, right? It’s like, yeah, they’re together; we get to see them fighting the devil toad in 104. But they still kind of hate each other.
The Mighty Nein may be working together, but they aren’t yet a team. They split off from each other in the penultimate episode. Which means when they do come back together, it is an active decision made by each of them. This cements the bond between the Nein and gives their dynamic as a team an authentic feel. It also lays the foundation for the found family they become.
Tasha Huo:
Yeah, a lot of the questions we were asking ourselves over and over again in the writer’s room were, Why would they stay together with the characters that they are? They would not. So what is the thing that’s going to keep them together? Okay, I think they can all agree that they don’t want Caleb to die. So, we can all go on a mission to make sure Caleb doesn’t die. But when that’s done, there’s nothing keeping us together after that; we’ve done the thing. And now we have our own missions. So, 107 felt like a necessary step. But it’s so painful to see them leave each other. It’s awful.
Jester’s Crisis Of Faith Was Inspired By Tasha Huo’s Confusion
In the penultimate episode of the season, Jester suffers not only a crisis of faith, but she also questions her reality. Jester begins to believe she may have made the Traveler up in her mind. This is proven to be wrong when he finally arrives to assist her. While this wasn’t a concern explored in the campaign, Huo shares what inspired this emotional arc for Jester.
Tasha Huo
Also, the thing about Jester, just real fast, between us, Caitlin, is I literally did not know that the Traveler was real until they saw him, like they physically saw him. And then literally like two weeks ago, Sam [Riegel] was like, ‘Yeah, but we all knew that the Traveler was real.’ I was like, you did? Oh my god, I must have missed something. I thought everyone thought she was crazy until, like, the third act of the whole campaign. So funny. I love it. I love keeping that; it’s like, maybe she’s just crazy because that was my experience of Jester for sure.
The first season of “The Mighty Nein” is available to watch on Prime Video now.
