“The Mighty Nein” is bringing the Kryn Dynasty and Dwendalian Empire to life on screen. Matt Mercer’s descriptions of these sprawling lands are detailed and bring them to life within fans’ minds. However, through animation, “The Mighty Nein” can take them to the next level. The Kryn Dynasty stands out as the most intriguing of the new lands that “The Mighty Nein” will explore.

The Kryn Dynasty is vastly different from other parts of Exandria that have been explored. The society and culture are completely different, believing in a different creation myth, which led to a completely different religion from the rest of the continent. The magic they use, Dunamancy, is also unique, being kept secret from others. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Travis Willingham shared his excitement when bringing the Dynasty to life.

Travis Willingham:

Just a beautiful look into the Kryn Dynasty. It was one of the most fun parts of the design process to jump into Xhorhas and Rosohna and all these places. And really just make a clear difference between the Empire and the Dynasty. I think those are things that, as fantasy fans, that love to explore imaginative worlds. It’s just nom, nom, nom, mana from heaven, and we think people are gonna really love it.

The Mighty Nein Showrunner Shares Inspirations For The Dwendalian Empire & Kryn Dynasty

In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Tasha Huo shared details about the inspirations. She broke down specific eras or styles of architecture. Huo also explained the feeling that the Kryn Dynasty was meant to evoke, especially in breaking away from the traditional representation of dark elves in fantasy.

Tasha Huo:

“For the Dwendalian Empire, it does have a very traditional, I guess, Germanic Western European fantasy feel to it, which is very cozy and homey to me. So that was nice. But there’s a specificity to the Dwendalian Empire. There’s a lot of brutalist architecture; for example, we tried to create sort of a newer version of what we typically see in fantasy shows for the Dwendalian Empire. So that was fun to explore.

And then also for the Kryn Dynasty, we told them it should feel alien, but it should feel lived in. It should feel beautiful. It’s been typical, usually in high fantasy or D&D in particular, for the dark elf worlds to kind of feel dark. And sometimes not a place that you really want to go. But here we wanted to create a place that felt aspirational and beautiful and worth protecting.”

The visual differences instantly convey to the audience just how divergent these two worlds are. While both the Dynasty and Empire revere magic, their understanding of it is contrasting on a base level. The mages of the Cerberus Assembly see the arcane as power to gain and bid. Where the magic of the Kryn is unique and cherished. In part because of how it fits into their religion and larger society.

The darkness of the Dynasty initially can create a sense of fear, especially when more brutal aspects of their culture are on display. However, the beauty and fantastical are just beneath the surface. These stark visual contrasts also display how the Dynasty and Empire have descended into war with how they view one another. The animation and design are beautifully detailed with both, but the Kryn Dynasty stands out as unique in Exandria and fantasy animation.

The first three episodes of “The Mighty Nein” premiere on Prime Video November 19.