After episode 4’s high-stakes cliffhanger, “De Rolo’s Eleven” takes a step back. Leaning into Legend of Vox Machina’s comedic side, our team is seen bickering about the failure of the perfect heist.
Seeking knowledge about Pike’s vision of the Whispered One’s battle, Percy plans an unbelievable feat: to steal a book from the Cobalt Archive. While perfect in theory, plans quickly unravel as everything that could go wrong does. Taryon — a distraction of the team’s Trojan Horse — is quickly outed, alerting the archive’s security of the theft. Meanwhile, Keyleth struggles to disarm the anti-magic field, because Percy is interrupted by a random Scanlon fan. Twins Vex and Vax successfully use a truth serum to learn the vault’s security code. But the magic inadvertently backfires, keeping them from lying. And once in the vault, Grog and Pike must improvise as they battle the Magic Guardian in search of the precious book.
What should have been a covert maneuver turned into an overt failure, with Vox Machina permanently banned from the premises. Fortunately, Grog retains what he learned about the Whispered One’s fight long enough to transcribe.
Episode 5 is a decent entry in the series, excelling in the series smart comedic writing. The Ocean’s Eleven influence was a nice touch, especially changing the the intro credits. The animated action remains stellar, especially the design of the Magic Guardian. A benefit story wise was Vex and Vax’s being touched by the truth serum. It allowed Vex to be honest about her secret nuptials, and Vax to reveal his ailing health. A touching moment for the siblings who find themselves somewhat estranged by their new lives. A necessary happenstance in the rather comical episode.
Despite pausing the momentum from episode 4, “De Rolo’s Eleven” is an enjoyable episode as we hit the series halfway point.
Rating: 7/10