The last we saw of Critical Role’s animated version in Amazon’s Prime’s “The Legend of Vox Machina,” the unlikely heroes had saved the day and felled the foul villains known as the Briarwoods. However, as Season 1 came to a close, the skies were darkened by the wings of dragons flying in, who quickly launched their attacks. With Vox Machina barely getting any time to catch their breath, Season 2 of “The Legend of Vox Machina” begins with a sense of urgency as dragons unleash hell upon the citizens of Emon. The newest season dropped today, and it’s clear that the dragons aren’t here to make friends. Against such insurmountable odds, with foes that fly and rain down acid, ice, and fire, what new techniques will the heroes utilize to take on the beasts? Keep reading as we go through all that happened in the first three episodes.

Spoilers Ahead

Rise Of The Chroma Conclave

Vox Machina has returned to the capital city of Emon in Tal’Dorei after vanquishing the Briarwoods, and the sovereign Uriel is announcing his decision to step down from the throne when alarm bells start ringing. Everywhere that the people look up in the sky, a dragon is flying with destruction on its mind. The attacks begin quickly, and entire armies are frozen up. Normal citizens have their faces molten by acid while the biggest of the lot pours burning magma on everyone. From the acidic fumes of a green dragon, Uriel is among the many who lose their lives while the rest of the royal family barely survives, thanks to Allura’s defensive charm. Her attempts to bind the green dragon fail, and Kima’s attack doesn’t leave a scratch on it, while its retaliation seems like it wiped out the entire royal family. Debris crashes all around, and the Vox Machina crew can barely stand on their feet, let alone go on an offensive. Vax suddenly spots a strange, masked figure with long, flowing hair amidst the debris. The ice dragon’s attack is deflected by shopkeeper Gilmore’s magical barrier protecting the heroes, but the city’s people aren’t so lucky. While some get eaten, others succumb to the toxic fumes as the beasts rain down death throughout the city, planning to leave no survivors. Keyleth recognizes one of the monsters from the glistening eyes she had seen in Brimscythe’s chamber in Season 1, but the carefree Grog charges at it head-on with his axe, only to have it shattered to pieces.

While escaping, Percy lunges in to save Vax from the falling acid and gets his skin burnt. The biggest of the lot is the fire-breathing Thordak, who demands of Emon’s citizens to submit to itself, the Cinder King. As the final blow to the rule of Emon, it decimates the Cloud top palace, leaving a gaping hole where it stood. Thordak then warns the citizens that the dragons, together known as Chroma Conclave, are here to rule over humanity. Vax rescues Gilmore from the ruins of his shop as the others salvage whatever they can. Grog takes a massive, shiny belt; Pike takes a vial of holy water; and Scanlan takes a dusty broom. Inside their keep, Gilmore cautions Grog against using the blade he had picked up from Sylas Briarwood in the previous season because it’s full of evil magic, as the townsfolk start gathering at the keep’s door to be saved. However, their feeling of safety is short-lived as the ice dragon arrives and routs the citizens, so Keyleth has to create a passageway to Whitestone, and they barely escape. As Keeper Yennen of Whitestone instructs Vox Machina to head to Vasselheim, which is supposedly the stronghold of the realm, Scanlan loses faith that it’s possible to face such monsters, but the others encourage him to join the lot, and they finally head towards Vasselheim to seek help at the Platinum Sanctuary. Back at Emon, the ice dragon Vorugal informs Thordak that a group escaped, while Umbrasyl is tasked with bleeding Westruun dry of its gold and then killing the Vox Machina.

The Trials Of Vasselheim

Episode 2 of “The Legend of Vox Machina” Season 2 opens with Keyleth’s portal to Vasselheim opening and Scanlan being the first one to slip out, only to realize that the tree is hanging horizontally from a mountain, and the crew starts crashing. Scanlan’s magic saves Percy, Grog, and himself, while Vax, Vex, and Pike are flown in by the hawk-shaped Keyleth. After dusting themselves off, they realize they’re at Vasselheim. Upon entering the city, the crew notices the several shrines dedicated to each major deity and reach the Platinum Sanctuary, where Highbearer Vord and the council look at the destruction the dragons have wreaked on Emon. She has sympathy and hospitality to offer, but that’s all. Apparently, Vasselheim won’t risk its safety of being well-hidden by jumping into battle, reminding us of Wakanda before T’Challa took action in “Black Panther.” After being pushed out of the Sanctuary, Vax once again notices the masked figure out in the distance while a councilman sneaks out to inform them that in order to take on dragons, they require assistance from the Slayer’s Take’s patron. The Slayer’s Take is a band of mercenaries/ hunters who eradicated the dangerous beasts that resided around Vasselheim. Suddenly, Sylas’ sword whispers to Grog that it’s hungry, and Vax is unsure about asking for help from the Take. But Vex assures that her friend Zahra is a part of the group, and they’ll be forced to take them in.

Inside the Slayer’s Take headquarters, several skulls of strange beasts adorn the walls, and as Vox Machina walk in, it’s quickly revealed that Vax and Vex are not welcome because they stole the bounty on a monster the Take was supposed to hunt and made away with the prize. Her “friend,” Zahra, and another man who introduces himself as Cashaw aren’t particularly fond of the siblings. The entire Take lunges at Vox when a strong female voice commands them to stop and says that she shall handle the crew. The pull of a lever sends the crew underground, where they’re introduced to the patron—a Sphinx named Osysa—who tests each of their capacities. All of them fail, and Osysa commands them to leave, but Pike refuses and demands help, even if it means she has to die. Impressed at her will to sacrifice her own life, Osysa agrees to help by telling them about the Vestiges of Divergence, ancient weapons that can fell even the mightiest of beasts. However, they’re too strong for humans to wield, which is why they’ve been spread across the realm. The first such Vestige is the armor of the Matron of Ravens; the Deathwalker’s Ward is said to be buried in a tomb at a lake in the west. Osysa adds that this Vestige needs to be brought to her mate, who stays far away from her, and he’ll be able to help the crew. Zahra is irritated that Osysa let them go with a task, and Vex remembers to rub it in for good measure.

Meanwhile, Grog had wandered off in search of ale, and on his way out, he found a curious building and a well-built old man meditating inside. He identifies himself as Earthbreaker Groon and challenges Grog to a fight. However, he starts getting beaten to a pulp by Groon, who keeps asking him for the source of the giant’s strength. Grog uses the sword on Groon, who, too, comments that it carries dark magic with it. He then proceeds to ask Grog yet again the source of his strength before cracking a few of his ribs.

The gang reunites outside and goes for a drink, while Percy heads to a black powder merchant’s shop for some ammunition, where he learns that a woman has purchased the powder in the past week, and it’s easy to remember because she had just one hand. Percy immediately knows that it’s his old enemy Riley, whom he had to let go in the last season.

The Sunken Tomb 

Pike finds herself in a city ravaged by the dragons, where the citizens are lining up to offer tributes to Thordak when the other dragons arrive to inform that all the wealth of Westruun has been emptied. Thordak decides that with the people unable to provide any more wealth, their lives are forfeit and breathes fire on them—a vision that Pike receives from Everlight. She informs the rest of Vox Machina and Trinket the bear that the dragons are moving across Tal’Dorei and regrets not being able to save the ones who died, while Keyleth says that Emon was the first place that took them in, which is why they need to kill the dragons. Vax arrives and says that the lake has been found, but that the tomb is nowhere to be seen. Scanlan tries scanning the frozen lake with his magically created foot when the ice cracks, and he’s pulled inside. However, unknown magic kills the ambushers, and Scanlan is brought ashore; it’s revealed to be because Zahra and Cashaw, aka Kash, arrived to help them out on Osysa’s orders.

The fish people called the Adaro that attacked Scanlan were easy pickings for these two. At the campfire, Kash narrates that the tomb was made for the Matron of Ravens, who’s the Goddess of Death, and that the tomb contains her champion, Purvon. While checking out the stuff Vox Machina grabbed from Gilmore, the big belt gives Grog a full beard. The bald head, blue tattoos, and beard make him look like an animated version of Kratos from the “God of War” franchise—probably the look the animators were going for. When everyone goes to sleep at night, Vax’s protectiveness for his sister is revealed in his words, as a flashback reveals how young Vex broke a tiara and was barked at by their father. Irritated by having to listen to their unloving father chide his sister constantly, Vax stands up for her, takes his sister’s hand, and leaves. In the morning, Zahra and Keyleth’s magic divides the lake into two, evocative of Moses as the tomb becomes visible.

Inside the temple, Grog’s stupidity sets off several traps, one of which splits the group in two. Another flashback reveals a fight between the twins after they left their father’s house, with Vex leaving her brother, annoyed that he’s always trying to protect her. While walking, the group of Pike, Vex, Zahra, and Grog is attacked by Adaro, and a fight breaks out. Always excited to fight, Grog starts cutting down the Fish People with the strange sword that starts relishing the taste of blood and demands more. Although the grunts seem easily killable, the Adaro mage that can control water proves to be a challenge. As the rest of the crew arrives, Scanlan’s magical hand helps them float as Vex’s arrow kills the mage. Vax rushes to his sister to check on her, and she politely asks him to stop being concerned with her safety always. Pike worries about Grog’s new-found personality whenever he has the sword in hand, but Percy informs the group that Zahra and Kash have run away.

The two have arrived at the spot where Purvon’s Vestige is stored inside his sarcophagus, but it could be in any of the six caskets. Zahra and Kash find a secret tunnel and enter it, as the Vox Machina follows inside soon after. Vax asks them to stay put as he goes down a hole to explore what’s underneath and finds the carvings of the second Sphinx, but Percy finds a sarcophagus that pops out of the ground. Vex and him remove the casket’s cover to find the Deathwalker’s Ward armor on Purvon’s skeleton, as Vex recalls a moment from her childhood when she found Vax crying when left alone. Back to the present, Vex comes to her senses and asks Percy to stop and wait for Vax, but by that time, de Rolo has already touched the armor, and a ball of black magic hits Vex squarely in the chest. As raven feathers fly around, Vex crashes to the ground, dead. Vax climbs back up because of all the commotion and sees his sister lying dead. The flashback shows the young Vax tearfully hugging his sister and pleading with her not to go away from him.

Season 2, Episodes 1, 2 And 3: Ending

The rag-tag crew is back, and they’re now fighting flying and fire/ice/acid-breathing dragons. In these three episodes, we learn Vox Machina’s journey from their Keep at Tal’Dorei to Whitestone and then to Vasselheim. The Sphinx of the Slayer’s Take advises them to search out weapons that can kill gods and, of course, dragons who become unruly. These archaic weapons, known as Vestiges of Divergence, are spread all around the realm. While trying to collect the first Vestige, they face their hardest setback yet: Vax loses his sister. The sarcophagus of Purvon was charmed with ancient magic to attack anyone who was foolish enough to touch the armor. Percy’s split-second mistake of touching it without taking proper precautions made Vex get hit by a ball of magic that immediately killed her. Vax’s greatest fear of his sister going so far away that he can’t follow her comes true after the initial shock subsides. Meanwhile, Zahra and Kash are nowhere to be seen. The next steps of the Vox Machina hang in the air, as the crew can’t take one step ahead before Vex can be revived. Is this the end for the elf twin who’s immaculate with a bow and quick with her words?