When Essek was introduced in Critical Role’s second campaign, he quickly became a fan favorite dubbed “Hot Boi Essek.” However, even as more was revealed, Matt Mercer always hinted at shocking darkness in his past. “The Mighty Nein” brings this dark past to the forefront with Essek betraying his nation, his queen, and the beliefs of his culture in an attempt to save his mother.
However, this proves to be for naught when she surrenders herself to the Bright Queen. In revealing her illness, Essek’s mother seals her doomed fate. Essek is forced to end his mother’s life. Following this, he frames his closest friend for his own crimes. Essek seems to take his mother’s order to return to the Beacon to heart, but his treachery will surely continue to play a role throughout season 2.
In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Huo discusses Essek and his dark path. She teases how showing Essek at his lowest is key to understanding how he becomes the man the Mighty Nein eventually meets. Huo also shares insight into the motivation of Essek’s mother and teases the mystery surrounding the Bright Queen.
How Showing Essek’s Downfall Sets Up His Future
After Essek kills his mother and is ordered by her to return the Beacon there is a shift in his character. He takes drastic measures to ensure he can follow his mother’s final wish, framing his friend to outsmart his ultimatum. However, there was more nuanced reasoning behind this shift. Huo was taking cues from Essek’s future and how his actions and experiences shaped him into the man the Mighty Nein meet.
Tasha Huo:
Poor Essek. Poor, poor hot boi. It felt like the only way it could have ended was him killing his mother, which is terrible to say, but as a writer, it really is. It’s the only… There are consequences to his actions, and that was something that he really had to learn. Because when I look at Essek, I think about where he is at the end of the whole show, and that is someone who is very rewarding to care about and to love and to support and to see come fully into his own. I love to see a character at the opposite of their journey and all of the elements that created that person.
So that when he eventually does meet the Mighty Nein, hopefully, if we again get multiple seasons, you understand why he’s so guarded. You understand why he has these secrets and why he is scared to open up. One of the scenes from the campaign that I really love and is very memorable to me is when they sort of ambush him at the Shore House, and they’re all just like, it’s mostly Jester, right? Like, why don’t you have friends? Tell me more about your life. And because of Jester, Essek reveals a little more than he probably ever would to anyone else, which is that he’s kind of lonely, right?
He’s kind of sad and he doesn’t have friends because he doesn’t believe… Like, the reason he floats is because he wants to put on an impression, right? All of these walls that Essek puts up, I think, are really, really interesting. It’s interesting to me as a writer to know, where do those walls come from? And then on top of that, it’s really trying to build in the understanding of the religious fanaticism that builds up around the Beacon and the Kryn Dynasty. And how far are they willing to go? And sort of those two ideas combined really pointed us towards the scene being what it needed to be so that we could see those two sides coming together.
Essek’s mother ordered him to return the Beacon the moment before her death. Her final words to Essek reveal she knows of his deception and beseeches him to fix it, as a final wish. Now, to Essek being forced to end his mother’s life may have seemed like a punishment. Huo revealed that was not his mother’s intention or motivation.
Tasha Huo:
I think to [Essek’s mother], because again, playing into that religious fanaticism that Essek is fighting so hard against as a man of science, that I think that Essek’s mom views it as a gift to him because this is a sacred moment. It is a beautiful thing to return to the primal gods, basically. I’m giving you that opportunity to do that for me. And hopefully this changes you in some way, but also, “Return the Beacon.” Because that is key to everything that is going on in this ritual right now, the sacredness of what this is. I think her greatest hope is that Essek comes and is consequated and joins their religion because she believes it is the right way.
Exploring The Bright Queen’s Tragic Origins
When the blood dripping from the Bright Queen’s nose was brought up, Huo played coy, “Did we? Oh, I wonder what that means.” She teased more to the Bright Queen than fans know. Huo hinted at darkness and tragedy in the Bright Queen’s history that will likely come up later in the series. Fans who have read the Bright Queen’s comic may have a bit of insight into this traumatic backstory.
Tasha Huo:
There’s a lot of lore on the Bright Queen that I didn’t know anything about when I was watching the campaign. It came from a lot of talking to Matt and learning more about the story afterwards, just simply because the Mighty Nein don’t ever get to that point in the actual show. So, it’s very cool to be able to build out her character because there is a very rich backstory, and she has a really fascinating history herself that is just mired in trauma to everyone that has trauma.
The first season of “The Mighty Nein” is available to watch on Prime Video now.
