Warning: this article contains spoilers for season 3 of The Legend of Vox Machina.The Legend of Vox Machinahas changed quite a bit of the story of the rag-tag adventuring party when compared to the original stream from Critical Role, but the third season introduced some major twists with ramifications that still have yet to become clear. Some of these changes inThe Legend of Vox Machinaseason 3have been for greater emotional impact and some have been to help the flow of the story, but either way,The Legend of Vox Machina’s 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoesmakes it clear these were changes for the better. So far though, none have been so sweeping as the changes to how Vox Machina acquired the Plate of the Dawnmartyr.
In the original stream, Vox Machina acquired the Plate by traveling to the City of Brass, the capital of the Elemental Plane of Fire. There, Scanlan Shorthalt (Sam Riegel) attempted to win it from its owner, the fire giant Juuraiel, but lost the card game. However, the giant was impressed enough by the team to give them a second chance, and agreed to give them the Plate in exchange for their slaying a particular pit fiend within the city.
Later, Vox Machina travels to the City of Disto permanently slay Hotis, a rakshasa that has spent a good amount of the campaign trying to kill Vax. It is in Dis that Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) makes a deal with the devil Ipkesh in exchange for help destroying Hotis.
In season 1, episode 5, we are given a flashback of Vax’s most impressive kill, which is shown as a tiger-headed monstrosity with backward hands. This is clearly meant to be Hotis, because although there is no dialogue specifying his being a rakshasa, the reversed hands are a unique characteristic of that type of fiend.
InThe Legend of Vox Machinaseason 3, these plot lines are combined and simplified, by having the Plate be in Despath in the possession of the devil Zerxus Ilerez (Luis Carazo), but his appearance means that new complications are in store for Vox Machina. While they do succeed, thanks to Pike Trickfoot’s (Ashley Johnson) stubbornness and insight,Zerxus clearly has a longer game in mind than just the game of Five Skulls he loses to her.
Zerxus Ilerez Is A Tragic Figure From Exandria’s Past Who Is Still Relevant
A Paladin Of Redemption Brought To Heel By The Father Of Lies
Zerxus wasn’t always a devil in the service of Asmodeus, the Father of Lies, andhis tragic story is at the heart of Critical Role’s miniseriesExandria Unlimited: Calamity. Set during the beginning of the Calamity, the apocalyptic event that shattered the face of Exandria a thousand years before the events ofThe Legend of Vox Machina, that stream shows Zerxus during his life as a mortal human, where he was a member of an adventuring party known as the Ring of Brass.
Exandria Unlimited: Calamitywas not run by Matthew Mercer, but instead by Brennan Lee Mulligan, of Dimension 20 fame. Mulligan was also the Dungeon Master for theDownfallmini-arc of Campaign 3, which followed on from the events ofCalamity. In a flashback sequence from season 3, episode 4 ofThe Legend of Vox Machina, a montage shows three mages at the time of the Calamity who clearly resemble Mulligan, Mercer, and the other DM fromExandria Unlimited, Aabria Iyengar.
While the Ring of Brass did their best to save Exandria from a horrible threat, and technically succeeded,they failed in part due to Zerxus falling prey to the temptations of the Father of Lies. In hopes of being reunited with his dead husband, Zerxus made a deal with Asmodeus in exchange for his soul, but was betrayed by him and has spent the last millennium being forced to tempt more mortals into the service of Hell.
Zerxus’ Deal With Pike Could Have Huge Consequences For Pike In Season 4
There’s No Such Thing As A Simple Deal With A Devil
While the original Critical Role stream had it be Percy who makes a deal with a devil and Scanlan who gambles for the Plate,The Legend of Vox Machinaplaces Pike in both situations. This is very much in line with Pike’s character arc throughout the show to date, as she has struggled with a crisis of faith that at points has left her stripped of her powers and blessings from her god, the Everlight. Her willingness to gamble her faith and soul to protect her friends shows thatPike’s loyalty to the Everlight may be waning again.
The Legend Of Vox Machina Season 3 Finale Had 1 Perfect Moment That Reunited The Team (Even Percy)
One blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the Legend of Vox Machina season 3 finale proved just how far Vax has come in his relationship with Percy.
While the ending of season 3 shows that Pike is still in good standing with her god for now,she is clearly no longer the bulwark of faith that she was in earlier seasons,and it sets up her major conflict inThe Legend of Vox Machinaseason 4. In the final battle against Thordak in episode 9, Pike asserts that it’s her faith in herself that makes her powerful, not her faith in the Everlight. In episode 12, however, a blast from Raishan’s necromantically-infused dragon breath turns out to be more than even the Plate of the Dawnmartyr can absorb, and Pike is knocked down in the resulting explosion.
Orthax & others
Lance Reddick
Thordak
Season 4 ofThe Legend of Vox Machinais still a ways away, but it’s clear that Pike has a great deal of both inner and outer conflict ahead of her. The Everlight may still have more to say about Pike’s wavering faith, and with Zerxus' comments about the power hidden in Pike’s blood and his desire to turn her to Asmodeus' service, the brash young gnome will have a significant decision to make while she helps her friends stopthe impending doom that is the Whispered One. Whatever happens,The Legend of Vox Machinaseason 3 seeded plenty of new story threads for season 4.
