The Legend of Vox Machina: One Year Later... (4x01)

We're back!!

Cons:

I thought the gimmick of cutting between Vex and Percy as they each deal with their moments of peril worked to a point, but as it kept going it felt like it was interrupting the flow and the momentum of their respective scenes a bit. Maybe I'll feel different on a re-watch, it was just a tad jarring at spots.

The way they have adapted Pike's religion stuff is maybe the most confusing part of this animated show to me. It's the one thing they've had to basically build whole-cloth without the campaign for a guide, and I often find it a bit unfocused and unclear. I am cautiously optimistic that this story-line with former adherents to the Everlight turning to the Whispered One will position Pike to finally come into alignment with her goddess in a way that feels satisfying to her as a character and to me as a viewer. My fear, though, is more unfocused story-telling where it's unclear if Pike is trying to embrace her position as a cleric or run from it. At some point I think we kind of need to settle in, here. The character with a complicated and greatly conflicted relationship to a goddess on this show is Vax. We probably don't need the same thing with Pike.

Pros:

This was a really strong opener! As I knew would be the case, we are starting to depart even more dramatically from the events of the campaign, in terms of the order and general structure. Tary was introduced on the stream before the one-year time jump, for example, and here the idea is that Vox Machina has been living their separate lives for a full year and then Tary shows up as an inciting incident, of sorts. I really like this as a change, I think it makes perfect sense to tighten up the story. This part of campaign one is infamously less focused and more meander-y than the Conclave arc that preceded it, and while I really like that in my TTRPG actual play show, I appreciate the streamlining that they're doing here in adaptation.

I loved Grog's little recap song, super cute, loved the animation. I loved Grog and Pike in general in this episode, with Pike feeling despondent and Grog doing his best with his limited emotional tool belt to cheer her up. Tary and Doty are excellent, all I could have hoped for, and I am so looking forward to seeing them interact with Vex and Percy as well.

In Whitestone, we've got Vex a bit bored with life as a noblewoman, missing her adventuring days, and we've got Percy investigating what the Briarwoods left behind in the Ziggurat. What I appreciated about their story here is the restraint: they are happy together, have a fulfilling social and sex life, are able to talk about their problems openly. There's no contrived thing where Vex is feeling stifled and trapped and it's causing communication issues... it's just something they're navigating together, appreciating what they've built but missing the old days at the same time. The perfect way to approach this, in my opinion. I loved the joke where Percy says "there's nothing working down there" speaking of the underground Ziggurat, and Vex is like "give a girl a chance" lol.

Also, despite my slight frustration with the cutting back and forth, I did really enjoy Vex's epic forest fight, and Percy's near-miss with the spinning orb of doom. Very cool action sequence. When the creepy monster thing woke up while Vex was still trying to claw it open, that made me jump!

I'm keeping this short because we've got two more episodes to cover. This was a strong opener, I'm excited to potentially check in with Vax and Keyleth, and Scanlan and Kaylie, before our gang all reconvenes!

8/10