I finally did it. I finished watching The Mighty Nein, Critical Role’s second campaign. I started watching The Mighty Nein in 2023 and completed it this year. It took me two years to watch Vox Machina, Critical Role’s first campaign, so the timeline fits. I’d argue that The Mighty Nein is the more popular campaign within the fandom due to the higher production value amongst other reasons. The Mighty Nein had a slower start for me, but once I was in it, I grew to enjoy it. If you aren’t able to watch 141 episodes, but want to know what happens, this post is going to be an overview of the campaign as a whole. As such, there will be spoilers.

Spoilers for The Mighty Nein

This post will have four sections: the characters, the story arcs and the NPCs (non-playable characters played by Matthew Mercer), the romances, and my overall view of the campaign. Before I begin, I will reiterate that there will be spoilers for the campaign. If I’m going to deep dive into it, I want to talk about all of it. This will be my third and final time mentioning it.

The Characters

There were eight characters in this campaign and they are as follows:

• Caleb Widogast, Human Wizard. Played by Liam O’Brien
• Nott The Brave / Veth Brenatto. Goblin / Halfling Rogue, Wizard. Played by Sam Riegel
• Jester Lavorre. Tiefling Cleric. Played by Laura Bailey
• Fjord. Half-Orc Warlock Paladin. Played by Travis Willingham
• Beauregard Lionett. Monk of the Cobalt Soul. Played by Marisha Ray
• Yasha Nydoorin. Aasimar Barbarian. Played by Ashley Johnson
• Mollymauk (Molly for short) Tealeaf. Tiefling Blood Hunter. Played by Taliesin Jaffe
• Caduceus Clay. Firbolg Cleric. Played by Taliesin Jaffe

My two favorite characters from this campaign were Fjord and Caduceus. I think Fjord’s character was interesting especially his ties to his patron. His story gripped me right away and I liked how Travis could be a character to help advance the plot. For Caduceus, I felt he fit in with The Mighty Nein especially being a later addition. Caduceus offers great advice to the party especially when it came to Fjord choosing to serve The Wild Mother, which is who Caduceus serves. Caduceus was an excellent foil to the other characters as he was serious which balanced Jester’s personality.

Jester, Caleb, Yasha, Beau, and Nott / Veth are all tied for me as far as which ones I like the best. Jester’s attitude and her approach to the group was sweet. She often offered levity in dire situations. Caleb’s tragic back story shapes his character and why he is who he is. Caleb getting the vengeance he deserved was satisfying. Beau was abrasive and downright rude at times. However, I think Beau had the strongest character development out of everyone in The Mighty Nein and that’s worth mentioning. Beau comes to terms with the Cobalt Soul and the work that she does and I liked seeing Beau rise to the occasion. Finally, I liked the humor that Sam brought with Nott. Nott is a chaos gremlin at times, but when she has her chance to tell her story, it was really interesting to watch.

My least favorite character from this campaign was Molly. Molly’s personality rubbed me the wrong way from the get go. I think Molly was pompous and while that was probably an intentional choice by Taliesin, it didn’t work for me. It’s important to say that while I didn’t like Molly, I loved Caduceus, who was also created by Taliesin. Taliesin had my favorite and least favorite character in this campaign.

The Story Arcs and the NPCs

As I mention Mollymauk, I think it’s a great time to talk about the story and Molly specifically. Molly was killed in episode #26 “Found & Lost”. During a standoff with Lorenzo, Molly tried to use one of their Blood Hunter abilities. Unfortunately, Taliesin rolled too high and Molly went unconscious. Since Molly was right next to Lorenzo, Matt asked Taliesin what his last words were and Molly spit blood in his face before being killed. The moment itself is brutal! When I watched it, I could see the emotion behind Matt as this played out. While I wasn’t a fan of the character, I never would have wanted Molly to go out like that. The Mighty Nein killed Lorenzo eventually, but this moment changed the tone of the campaign.

On a lighter note, my favorite story moments were Fjord’s pirate arc, saving Yasha from Obann, Rumblecusp, and the final two episodes. This goes right into the NPCs, but Avantika is my favorite NPC from campaign #2. I loved her. She was flirtatous and every time Avantika would flirt with Fjord, my eyes would go to Jester because she HATED it. The drama, I’m here for it. I liked the combat sessions on and off the ship, they were entertaining to watch. I liked watching The Mighty Nein save Yasha from Obann. It helped explain Ashley’s time away as she was filming Blindspot at the time the episodes aired. When The Mighty Nein lost Yasha to Obann, it was a devastating blow to the group. That’s the thing with Dungeons & Dragons, sometimes you win, and something you lose. While the wins are exciting, the losses can also help shape the story. When The Mighty Nein finally took out Obann and Yasha rejoined, I was happy for them and to get to see more of Yasha.

The Rumblecusp arc aka. TravelerCon is another standout story point for me. Seeing Jester’s love for The Traveler and how The Mighty Nein save this island from Vokodo were fun episodes to watch. I found myself flying through episode after episode during this point of the story. Also, this arc had a huge reveal when The Mighty Nein meet Keyleth’s mom. This was spoiled for me before I watched it, but it didn’t ruin it for me. I liked the crossover from the first campaign and tying up a loose end from that story. The final two episodes from The Mighty Nein are also favorites. I liked the Lucian boss fight and all the eyes. Each eye had their own ability and it was interesting to see what they all did. The final episode wrapped up the story in a heartwarming way. I found myself feeling happy at the conclusion instead of being sad that it was over.

Before moving on, I wanted to mention other NPCs besides Avantika. I loved Pumat Sol. Pumat owns “The Invulnerable Vagrant” a shop that The Mighty Nein frequents. Matt’s voice that he comes up for Pumat is perfect and everytime The Mighty Nein finds themselves at “The Invulnerable Vagrant”, they seem to be in good spirits. Marion Lavorre, Jester’s mom, is another notable NPC. The love that Jester has for her mom shows no bounds. I think Marion abandoned Jester a lot in her childhood, but Jester still loves her anyway. The final NPC that I will mention is Dairon. Dairon serves as Beau’s mentor and pops in and out throughout the story. If I had to choose a second or third favorite NPC, Dairon would be in one of those spots.

The Romances

In TTRPGs, characters can romance each other or romance NPCs. In Vox Machina, there’s Percy and Vex, Keyleth and Vax, and Scanlan and Pike. In The Mighty Nein, there’s Jester and Fjord, Beau and Yasha, and Caleb and Essek. I’m not including Veth and Yeza since they were married prior to the events of the campaign. With the romances in campaign #1, I adored them. Percy and Vex were meant to be together and I was giggling watching them get together over the course of the campaign. Keyleth and Vax were also cute together, although their romance ended in heartbreak. Scanlan and Pike were a later developed romance, but I liked them together especially when Scanlan could mature into the man Pike deserved.

For The Mighty Nein, I feel that the romances were forced and I think it detracted from the story. Starting with Jester and Fjord, I felt Jester was more into Fjord and it wasn’t as reciprocated by Fjord. While they kissed in the end, it didn’t feel genuine to me. Beau and Yasha, while I think they are cute together, it felt like they got together in the last few episodes of the campaign. It didn’t have the same effect that the romances from Vox Machina had. I felt Caleb and Essek were better off as friends than being in a relationship. I think this campaign was less about developing relationships organically and instead was more of “I like you, let’s date”. That’s fine! I prefer campaigns with romances where the romance develops over time and it develops based on the events from the story.

Final Thoughts

The Mighty Nein was a fun, chaotic, and heartwarming campaign. I’d describe The Mighty Nein as a Guardians of the Galaxy type story with a bunch of misfits teaming up together. This campaign is absolutely worth the time commitment if you’re able to dedicate the time. If not, there are several abridged recaps including an animated one by Dani Carr that’s available on Beacon.

Now that I’m finished with The Mighty Nein, what’s next? I am planning on watching any remaining Mighty Nein adventures including the one-shots, the campaign recap, and the Vox Machina vs. Mighty Nein one-shot. Once those are done, I’m going to recommit to Bells Hells, the third Critical Role campaign. I watched it on and off in 2022 and 2023, but then left it behind to go watch The Mighty Nein which was absolutely the right choice for me. On top of that, Critical Role’s fourth campaign is set to premiere in October, so I will be balancing that on top of Bells Hells. Eventually, I will reach a point where I can say that I’m caught up on all things Critical Role. Today is not that day.