The Mighty Nein is an adaptation of the second campaign in the Critical Role D&D campaign. It takes place in the same world as The Legend of Vox Machina, but 25 years in the future, on a different continent. Both shows are the brainchild of dungeon master Matthew Mercer, and are set in the high-fantasy German-English continent of Wildemount.
Be warned: spoilers ahead.
The show begins in a dramatic scene between two mutant beasts: a husband and wife. Cultish figures surround the two. The man stabs the woman, and her soul gets sucked into a geometric beacon. The man wipes his eyes and speaks to the beacon as if it were his wife, saying, “I cannot wait to see what you become.” After a beat of calm, this secret society gets breached by attackers. The cult-like figures try to defend the beacon, but it’s to no avail. Three terrorists invade the stronghold and steal the beacon from this cult. While escaping, the invaders use magic to run faster and generate weapons to kill guards. Before these thieves can fully escape, one of them uses the power of the beacon and destroys a large portion of the land they’re standing on, injuring themselves in the process.
After the credits roll, we are thrown into the back streets of a medieval village. A hoodlum gets beaten up by some citizens, but defends himself by scaring the attackers off. This hoodlum’s name is Caleb. Caleb meets a small green elf-like creature who steals a pouch from him. Caleb runs after the creature and eventually catches up with him, begging on his hands and knees for the pouch. The two decide to team up to rob a local provisions store. Caleb fills up the elf’s flask, and in return, the elf helps Caleb break into the store.
The now-captured husband from the cold open is being used as a demonstration by a professor teaching “wizards serving the empire”. These students are dressed in dark uniforms, signifying their possible villainy. The king calls for this professor to ask him what he thinks of a possible war. The king is being threatened by the queen of the land where they stole the beacon. Neither the king nor his advisors, aside from this professor, know that they have the beacon. The king decides to prepare for war based on this accusation, after being nudged by the professor. The king also requests that the monk group “The Cobalt Soul” investigate the theft.
A monk, Beauregard Lionett, and her advisor explore the area where the beacon was used. Beauregard finds a small green crystal at the site and pockets it. Back at the Cobalt Soul HQ, Beauregard shows the crystal to Zeenoth, higher up in the Cobalt Soul. Zeenoth tells Beauregard that she should have given the crystal to her advisor as soon as she found it. Beauregard shares her theory that some group of terrorists stole a massive weapon from the other kingdom, but Zeenoth shuts her down, telling her to go study more.
Back in the streets of the town, Caleb and the elf create a distraction to sneak into the provisions shop that they want to steal from. The two work together and create enough hubbub to get into the shop. In the provisions store, the two take various items of interest, including a handful of white dust and a “WANTED” poster. They escaped from the shop owner just in the nick of time.
Beauregard is attacked by a henchman of the king named Owelia, who knocks her out. She’s saved by a former Cobalt Soul spy named Dairon, who recruits her to help gather information on a conspiracy she’s forming. Now benched and wounded, Beauregard jumps at this opportunity. Caleb and the elf-creature, whose name is revealed to be Nott the Brave, decide to team up and try to survive on the streets together a little longer.
Before the episode ends, we meet up with the professor and the three thieves who stole the beacon. One of them is in extreme pain; it seems like his arm is decaying. This is due to the release of the beacon’s power. The professor tells the thieves that the beacon is the key to all of their plans. Then, the credits roll.
The first episode of this series has a lot of moving parts, and is the type of show that you have to accept as it comes to you. As with a lot of high fantasy, the excessive amount of names, people, kingdoms, and powers is overwhelming, but the show does a good job of easing us into how the magic works and how each kingdom operates. We get a clear picture of who the villains and heroes will be, and there’s a lot set up for the next episode. The magic style in this show is similar to that of Dr. Strange, with light beams being conjured from the hands of a select few wizards. The episode was well-paced and does a good job of making sure we care about both Caleb and Beauregard’s storylines, though the dialogue can at times be on-the-nose and corny.
This show also does a great job of setting up the stakes early on. The beacon is important, and someone stole it. This is established within the first 10 minutes of the episode, so whether you understand who these people are or not, you at least know what’s at stake.
Rating: 8/10