“The Legend of Vox Machina” has always been a series that plays in the realm of comedy and tragedy. Since the first season, death and destruction have been intertwined with moments of joy and triumph. In the finale of the most recent season the titular heroes are at perhaps their lowest point.

Pike has struggled with her identity and sense of purpose the entire season. So much so that she lost her way and turned against her friends in grief. After finally regaining her trust, Vox Machina concedes to the power of the Whispered One in the hopes of protecting one of their own. However, this proves to be in vain, leading to them conceding the world while still losing Vax.

In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Arthur Loftis and Sung Jin Ahn discuss Pike’s dark storyline in season four. Loftis reflects on adding elements to Pike’s story that weren’t in the original campaign. Ahn shares how his goal has always been to make the audience cry.

Arthur Loftis Reflects On Adapting Pike’s Story In The Legend of Vox Machina

Temple of Geek: I have a couple questions for you as someone who was a fan of Critical Role before working on the show. I really love a lot of the changes we’ve had. I love that we get to see Pike have this full-throttle evolution storyline. As opposed to being off to the side in the way that logistically she had to be. Was there anything in season four that changed from the original campaign that really stuck out to you about her?

Arthur Loftis:

I agree. I think she had such a side story in the original thing because obviously she was working on other stuff at the time that it is really cool seeing her in a way. I wouldn’t say she’s the main character, but she’s giving main character energy in a lot of ways. She becomes the driving force of the season. It’s fun to see everyone kind of reacting to that. So, in that way, the benefit of doing this show is that we can revise a little bit of the things that just had to be the way they were.

Temple of Geek: Pike getting that main character energy is such a bummer because it’s all sad. It’s not main character energy that’s fun and silly. It’s, your main character energy is you’re going to have a rough go, but sorry. That Grog death scene was so rough. You guys have done some really good death scenes throughout the show.

Sung Jin Ahn:

Shout out to our director, Eugene Lee. He personally [story] boarded that sequence too.

Arthur Loftis:

I think Eugene has probably killed half a dozen people at this point, cartoon people, to be clear. But yeah, when you need a director that’s going to make the audience really feel bad at the end of the episode, he’s supremely gifted in that way.

Sung Jin Ahn:

Yeah. I would joke specifically that episode, the Grog Death episode. We got a two-for-one deal because it was also the death of Pike emotionally, seeing her best buddies disintegrated like that. And she’s already been through so much up to that point. So yeah, that was a two-for-one deal.

Throughout the season Pike grapples with the devastation left in the wake of the Chroma Conclave. While she and Grog continue to travel, the rest of Vox Machina have split off to live their lives. However, the loss hits closer to home when the threat of the Whispered One’s cult takes out the last of her family.

As she strives to avenge Willhand, her judgment is further clouded. This leads to another devastating blow when Grog is killed. All of which leaves her vulnerable, especially without the Everlight, to the Whispered One’s manipulation. This betrayal is part of a larger plan formulated and executed by the Whispered One in the finale.

Sung Jin Ahn Has Wanted Fan’s Tears Since Season One

Temple of Geek: How did it feel to end on such a bummer note for this season?

Sung Jin Ahn:

Well, okay, so it’s a little different for us, I think, because we were fortunate enough to start working on season five immediately. So, we didn’t have that gap. We’re just like, “Oh, great. We get to continue this. We’re stoked.” But I’m realizing now that from an audience perspective, there’s going to be a gap between seasons. I’ve adopted this philosophy of just as my perspective of films and storytelling has evolved, there are good stories, there are bad stories, and then there are memorable stories. So, I feel like at least that ending is very memorable. It’s going to be living in people’s mind palaces for a little bit or for a while.

Arthur Loftis:

I think that’s the highest level you can achieve is that you made something that people kept thinking about afterwards. It wasn’t just like, “Oh, that was cool and I’m just going to move on with my life.” They’re going to have to live with that pain for a while before they get some resolution.

Sung Jin Ahn:

It’s been fulfilling on my end. I think full circle, this kind of ties back to when I first started working with Sam [Riegel], Travis [Willingham], and Critical Role back in season one. They took me to dinner and we’re getting to know each other. And one of the things I think Sam asked me is like, “Oh, what would you want to get out of this show?” And at that time, I remember distinctly saying, “I want to make the audience cry. And I want to be able to really play with the emotional response and how we can curate how the audience feels and reflecting back.” Now, I feel like we got so many opportunities to do that. And so, I feel very happy to be a part of a narrative process and tell a story that gives you that flexibility to really go to the highs and lows. So, I just appreciate that aspect.

Temple of Geek: I feel like you’ve succeeded at doing that since season one and have just made it worse every season.

Sung Jin Ahn:

Yeah. And then we’ll keep doing it if there’s a runway for it.

Temple of Geek: This was definitely one of those finales where I was like, “Oh, thank God I know season five was renewed.”

Sung Jin Ahn:

Yeah. So that helped us, I think on Arthur and I, since we were making it, it was one continuous journey and road. So yeah, we didn’t get as much cliff hanger-y, chest hole-y, positive as much as the audience will.

Arthur Loftis:

And maybe part of it too is knowing that we have this story that we’re actually going to get to take to completion. I think in Hollywood today, that’s rarer and rare to see something that gets to see the beginning and the end. We truly are going to finish the complete arc and get to see where all these characters land. I am extremely grateful to get to see it get to this point. And we didn’t know. We kept going this whole time waiting to see. And so yeah, that big final season renewal is a big deal.

All four seasons of “The Legend of Vox Machina” are available on Prime Video now.