“The Mighty Nein” is Critical Role’s second animated series after the wildly successful “The Legend of Vox Machina.” While they have experience adapting their previous campaign for animation, “The Mighty Nein” is a different beast. “The Legend of Vox Machina” stays relatively in line with the story of Campaign 1. The new series quickly veers off the path.
What this means is the story Matt Mercer initially crafted will be fully explored. The conflict between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty was present during Campaign 2. However, they weren’t at the forefront in the way they are with “The Mighty Nein.” In Temple of Geek’s exclusive interview, Mercer reveals that these new details and story beats existed largely in his mind and were happening off screen. “The Mighty Nein” is an opportunity to fully flesh them out and explore them like never before
The Mighty Nein Brings The Story From Matt Mercer’s Imagination To The Screen
Matthew Mercer
“It’s interesting. A lot of these were things that were just happening in the background that the players directly never couldn’t encounter because they were machinations happening on larger scales. Part of what’s cool about doing this as a cartoon now is we have the opportunity to delve into things that aren’t directly seen by the players and just kind of alluded to through the surrounding environment or NPCs and stuff. So, a lot of it are things that existed in my imagination and were informing other aspects of the world in the campaign. So, it’s been really, really cool to finally flesh them out and see them realized narratively through the animated series.”
Campaign 2 is beloved by fans, and for good reason. The characters and world are rich. The story, while unexpected, plays out primarily through the characters’ own motivations and connections to the larger world. While some of them have connections to this conflict, they aren’t the most prominent part of their story initially.
However, this storytelling style wouldn’t work in a more streamlined animated series. “The Mighty Nein” brings these characters to life while further fleshing out the world. The Dwendalian Empire and Kryn Dynasty conflict is at the forefront. Showrunner Tasha Huo was the perfect person to figure out how to adapt the world and story of Campaign 2 into an animated series. Huo is a massive fan of Critical Role, especially Campaign 2. She knew not only who the characters are and how to tell their story; she also knew which questions to ask in order to tell the parts of the story that fans didn’t get to see the first time.
Tasha Huo Knew Which Questions To Ask About Critical Role Campaign 2
Tasha Huo
“A lot of it was, “I was a huge fan of Mighty Nein. And this is a huge story that ends up paying off way later, but I don’t know anything about it because I didn’t get to see any of it when you guys were playing.” So, I was sitting in a room with Matt and the rest of the cast and just saying, like, “Hey, what was Essek up to? What was it like living in the Dynasty? What were they thinking when all of this stuff that the Mighty Nein were dealing with in the Dwendalian Empire was going on? What was going on over there? And how can we tell their stories?”
Because something that I love about the Mighty Nein and the world that Matt created for Exandria itself was that there are no good guys and there are no bad guys. And so, in The Mighty Nein, as a war starts to brew across this continent, every side has a story. I wanted to make sure that we were telling the other side of the story, even if our main characters are not in that part of the world. So, it was very cool to get to do that with Essek to see the Bright Queen. All of that was super fun.”
The Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty were more of a backdrop for the Mighty Nein’s adventures. This eventually changed over the course of the campaign as the war crept closer, but it was not at the forefront of Campaign 2. In “The Mighty Nein” the conflict is front and center.
This not only expands the world but also allows them to more deeply delve into the politics as well as characters like Essek. The intricacies and complexities of war, espionage, and conflict on a large scale and small scale can be explored. By reworking the story and centering these concepts, they have the ability to more mindfully interweave certain stories and characters while highlighting what is more important to each storyline.
Travis Willingham Reveals How They Rethought Certain Story Beats & Character Arcs In The Mighty Nein
Travis Willingham shares insight into the early planning sessions. He explained how certain characters and arcs stood out as needing to be rethought. However, his description also makes it clear that the wisdom that comes from hindsight may be one of the best tools in their narrative arsenal.
Travis Willingham
“I think it was very early. It wasn’t just things like Ashley’s character, Yasha, in the campaign, coming in, coming out, coming in, coming out. Trying to rationalize what that would mean. Does Yasha just run away a bunch? And we were like, “Okay, let’s rethink that. Let’s have her, from more of a place from her backstory, be approaching the Mighty Nein.”
And then it was like, Okay, well, then let’s also think about these other things that showed up later in the campaign in terms of episode count. But if we introduce them early, we get a chance to spend more time with them. So, we’re not learning who they are, acting like they’re really important for some reason, and then maybe having to rely on flashbacks.
So, you get to sit with Essek, figure out what he’s been going through, what’s driving him. Why has Matt been telling you for so long that he’s not a great person, or he’s not exactly what he looks like? Figure out who Trent and the Volstrucker are. How does that apply to Caleb? Learn all these different characters from their session zero perspectives.
And when we gave ourselves the, I would say, license and freedom to explore that, those blue-sky sessions were so much fun, because it’s taking things that a massive portion of our audience are very familiar with and thinking about it in a new way so it can be fresh, interesting, and keep them surprised as well. Which is what we think is important as audience members, especially when you deal with IP that people know so well.”
“The Mighty Nein” will have more surprises and unexpected twists in store for fans. Longtime fans of Critical Role know many of the story beats of “The Legend of Vox Machina.” And while there are certain storylines, character arcs, and narrative moments that they’ll know, “The Mighty Nein” is a new experience. Aspects of this story and world that were never explored before are spotlighted. The Mighty Nein are likely more interwoven into the larger story from the start.
Essek is a more fully fleshed-out character. Yasha’s story is more cohesive and planned out. “The Mighty Nein” is an opportunity for the Critical Role team to show a truly unique adaptation. This is the story that fans never got to experience with characters they already know. The thought and passion they have put into this series is palpable not just in these answers, but in the show itself.
The first three episodes of “The Mighty Nein” premiere on Prime Video November 19.
