The Legend Of Vox Machina Full Recap (Seasons 1-3): Everything To Know Before Season 4

Be it silver screen or animated series adaptation, the “Dungeons and Dragons” franchise has never missed a chance to fully utilize the core essence of high fantasy storytelling. Amazon Prime’s “The Legend of Vox Machina,” inspired by the first campaign of  “Critical Role”, is no exception in this regard. After successfully delivering three great seasons, the series went on a two-year-long hiatus, and finally, the much-anticipated fourth season is about to premiere. Before that, let us catch up with the story so far, and all the major players viewers need to watch out for.

Spoilers Ahead

The Fellowship of Vox Machina: Briarwood’s Crisis

“The Legend of Vox Machina” is set in the world of Exandria – a land of magic and mystic where cosmic gods once dwelled, and focuses on the Republic of Tal’Dorei, which is facing a crisis due to the presence of an unknown evil. After the royal army and several different teams of mercenaries fail to contain the threat, King Uriel announces a significant reward for anyone who can take down the evil. At this point, viewers get introduced to the ragtag group of misfits, Vox Machina, a group of mercenaries of different talents, generally considered to be inept losers due to their streak of past failures. Vex’alia, a perceptive, smart half-elf ranger, is the unofficial leader of the group, who can sense the presence of dragons due to having studied the ancient beasts extensively, who were responsible for her parents’ demise. Vex shares a strong bond with Trinket, her bear companion, whom she rescued when he was a cub. Vex’s brother, Vax’ildan, is a half-elf rogue who is quite protective of his sister and plays the role of stealth scout. Percy is a sophisticated human gunslinger who comes from a noble background, as his late parents were once rulers of the now corrupted city of Whitestone. Keyleth is a half-elf Moon druid who is a former member of Air Ashari, and despite having immensely strong elemental powers, is hindered by her diffident psyche. Grog, the incredibly strong goliath barbarian, is the powerhouse of the team, who defected from his previous faction to choose his own path. Pike Trickfoot is a gnome worshipper of Sarenrae, the Everlight goddess, and derives magical powers from her to act as the healer of the group. Lastly, Scanlan, the hedonistic gnome, is a bard by profession and has certain magical capabilities. Percy and Vex share a romantic connection, so do Vax and Keyleth. A Playboy Scanlan is otherwise caring for his found family and has feelings for Pike. Grog rescued Pike’s family long ago by turning his back on his clan, and since then, they have shared a strong bond of friendship. 

To prove their worth to the world, Vox Machina decides to take up the responsibility of eliminating the unknown threat, which turns out to be a Blue Dragon named Brimscythe who was posing as Uriel’s army general, Krieg. Brimscythe is also responsible for the deaths of Vax and Vex’s parents. Initially failing to defeat the ancient behemoth, the team owned up to their responsibility after realizing they failed the people who put their faith in them. However, after the team manages to vanquish Brimscythe and get honored by Uriel, they come across Lord Sylas Briarwood and Lady Delilah, the present rulers of Whitestone, who are, respectively, the vampire lord and necromancer in secret, responsible for the death of Percy’s parents and the ruination of his city. In the past, Delilah prayed to the Whispered One, an ancient archlich turned dark god, to save her dying husband, and the couple were granted insidious powers. The rest of the team learns the truth of the Briarwoods, and Percy is occasionally consumed by a dark, vengeful entity, which prompts him to take down the Briarwoods’ close associates one by one. Lady Allura, who’s a powerful wizard member of Uriel’s council, tries to keep Vox Machina protected as Uriel turns on them after being brainwashed by Sylas, while Delilah’s necromancy raises hordes of undead who wreak havoc on Tal’Dorei royal guards. Pike’s connection with Everlight weakens after her clash with Delilah, and Keyleth’s powers somehow push the Briarwoods back. While Pike decides to go on a spiritual journey to rekindle her connection with her goddess, the rest of the team moves towards Whitestone, where the grim sight of people and children dressed as members of Vox Machina hanged to death gives them a reminder of what they are up against. As it turns out, Percy’s sister, Cassandra, is being held hostage by their old tutor, Professor Anders, who is under Briarwood’s control, and while trying to rescue her, members of Vox Machina turn against Percy by getting mind-controlled by him.

Percy shows his exceptional marksmanship skills by shooting Anders to break his control, and clears off another name from his list. Eventually, while allying themselves with resistance against Briarwoods, Percy is encouraged by his teammates to lead the people of the doomed city to fight for freedom, and Pike returns with her reinvigorated connection with Everlight to defeat hordes of the undead awakened by Delilah. The band proceeds to Briarwood castle, from where they rescue Dr. Anna Ripley, who previously plotted against Percy’s parents by joining hands with the Briarwoods and tormented Percy by torturing him. A vengeful Percy nearly kills Ripley, but Cassandra stops him, and it turns out that she has been mind-controlled by Briarwoods since the beginning. Taking Vax and Cassandra as their potential sacrifices, Briarwood’s plan to summon the Whispered One in their underground ziggurat lair, while the remaining members of Vox Machina struggle to free themselves from entrapment. With Grog’s assistance, the team manages to get free, and Keyleth kills Sylas using the sunbeam spell, which effectively frees Cassandra from his mind control. An aggrieved Delilah tries to summon the Whispered One prematurely, only to bring an orb like a conduit instead of the entity. Percy prepares to take his revenge against Delilah when the true form of Orthax is revealed – the Abyss originated a vengeance demon which had possessed him after his parents’ death. Vex appeals to Percy’s humanity, who will be completely taken over by Orthax if he ends up killing Delilah, and eventually, Percy fights back against the vengeful demon by shooting himself. Orthax eventually latches onto Ripley, who manages to flee the scene in time. Delilah is killed by Cassandra, and Grog obtains Sylas Briarwood’s bloodthirsty, soul-consuming, sentient sword, Craven Edge. Cassandra sits on a reformed Whitestone’s high seat while Vox Machina returns to Sovereign Uriel and gets honored for saving the kingdom once again. 

Chroma Conclave: Search For Vestiges of Divergence

However, the team doesn’t get much respite, as the full extent of the past dragon crisis is unraveled as four ancient, powerful dragons – constituting Chroma Conclave- make their way towards Tal’Dorei’s capital city, Emon.  Umbrasyl, Raishan, and Vorugal are led by their red dragon leader, Thordak, to lay waste in Emon, and the group of mercenaries is no match for their incredible powers. Sovereign Uriel dies in the attack, and Vox Machina decides to venture to Vasselheim, the cradle of creation, to seek help from leaders of all faiths to unite against the dragons. However, the fundamentalist, selfish leaders of Vasselheim refuse assistance, prompting the band to venture to the second-best option – the monster hunter guild known as Slayer’s Take. Trouble arises as Vex and Vax, who were former members of the guild, have a problematic history with their old comrades, Zahra and Kashaw, which means direct help is out of the question. The team is led to the guild’s patron, a sphinx named Osysa, who reveals that in order to slay the dragons, they will need powerful artefacts known as Vestiges of Divergence, created during the Calamity, aka the centuries-long conflict between Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods. Following Osysa’s guidance, the band moves to the nearby temple of the goddess of death, Matron of Ravens, to find the first vestige. However, while they are able to find out the first artefact, Deathwalker’s ward, Vex ends up dying as Percy accidentally sets off a trap. Pike is unable to bring her back, and a devastated Vax pleads with the goddess of death to take his soul instead of his sister’s. Matron grants his wish and turns Vax into her champion, donning Deathwalker’s ward and obtaining newfound agility-based powers. Viewers get a brief glimpse at the siblings’ rough childhood, as their elf father, Syldor, harboured disdain towards the ‘half-breeds’ for their mother’s identity as a human. Escaping from their father’s clutches, the siblings tried to return to their mother, Elaina, who perished when their hometown was razed by Thordak. 

Keyleth’s past comes to the surface as well, as it is revealed she is supposed to gain control over elemental powers by undergoing the Aramante ritual – like her mother, but lacks confidence in her abilities. The group stumbled upon  Keyleth’s father and Allura in a ravaged fire Ashari encampment, and learned that they had originally imprisoned Thordak inside a fire rift. Later, the dragon leader managed to escape and brought all kinds of calamities from the other side of the rift. Keyleth finds strength by remembering her mother’s teachings and manages to close the rift by turning into a fire elemental creature, saving the tribe in the process. The group comes across Osysa’s fellow Sphinx friend, Kamaljiori, who agrees to grant them the second vestige if they pass his challenge. As the members choose the challenge of landing a hit on the Sphinx, they fail miserably, but Scanlan uses his wit to inflict an emotional wound on Kamaljiori by singing a love ballad about his and Osysa’s companionship. Moved by his song, an impressed Kamaljiori gives Mythcarver’s sword to Scanlan, which allows him to see the location of the remaining two vestiges in a vision. Trouble emerges when Umbrasyl, who is assisted by Ripley in locating Vox Machina, ambushes them, and, engaging in a fight with Kamaljiori, he kills the Sphinx. Meanwhile, Grog, who has been feeding Craven Edge, falls into a bloodlust and ends up impaling Pike in his deranged state of mind. Keyleth’s transportation spell is hampered by Umbrasyl, who has obtained the Mythcarver as well, and as a result, the band of warriors gets separated. Scanlan, Grog, and Pike stick together, and Grog, who has returned to his regular mental state after seeing his best friend grievously injured, breaks out of the sword’s control and destroys it, allowing Pike to heal herself. However, Grog’s stature diminishes by doing so as he turns into a regular folk. On the other hand, Vax, Vex, Keyleth, and Pike end up in the beautiful yet treacherous Fae realm, where a satyr named Garmelie promises to guide them to the third vestige, Fenthras. Before finding it, the group arrives at the elven city of Syngorn, where Vex meets with her disdainful father and shows him she no longer needs his validation. A mysterious Archfay, Saundor, who possesses Fenthreas, engages in a battle with Vex, which results in his death and the group obtaining the third vestige. 

On the other hand, as Grog, Pike, and Scanlan need to venture to Westrrun to obtain the fourth vestige, Grog’s tragic past comes to the surface. It is revealed that he was once one of the enforcers in his uncle, Kevdak’s group of marauders, and grew conscious after coming across Pike, her great-great-grandfather, Wilhand, and spared their lives. As a result, Kevdak, who possesses the vestige Titanstone Knuckles, had beaten him profusely and excommunicated him from the group. At present, Kevdak and his marauders serve Umbrasyl and have held prisoners captive to do their bidding. Helping Scanlan and Pike to free the prisoners, Grog challenges his uncle in a battle and taps into the strength of the bond he shares with his friends to regain his strength by triggering his berserker rage. Keyleth, Vex, Vax, and Percy arrive at Westrrun after taking a detour from Whitestone, and with Vex’s help, Grog kills Kevdak, ending his tyrannical reign in the process. Scanlan goes through a brief personal journey when Kaylie, his daughter, whose existence was an unknown factor for him, tries to hunt him down for abandoning her mother, but eventually spares his life. Percy’s plan to ambush and trap Umbrasyl goes wrong, and Scanlan’s ridiculous plan to pin the dragon from within fails as well. Vax, who has tapped into his full potential as a Champion of the Matron of Ravens, acquires the power of flight and saves Scanlan from falling to his death. Just when all hope seems lost, as all the members of Vox Machina prove no match to Umbrasyl’s might,  Scanlan conquers his fear and wields Mythcarver to slay the black dragon. Ripley, who has been observing everything from the shadows, slips away secretly, while Thordak continues to dismiss the group’s emergence as a credible threat. Raishan, the green dragon, defects from Chroma Conclave to offer her assistance to Vox Machina, in order to foil Thordak’s plan, who wants to hatch a brood of dragon eggs to lay waste to the whole of Exandria. 

Conclusion of the Dragon Crisis

As the third season of “Vox Machina” begins, it is revealed that Raishan turned against Thordak after the dragon leader didn’t keep his promise about curing her terminal disease. The green dragon offers the fellowship the location of  Plate of Dawnmartyr, the legendary artefact which can deflect Thordak’s attack onto himself and kill him. Keyleth is not totally convinced of Raishan’s intentions, so the group decides to reject her proposal, but they eventually agree to join hands after Raishan helps them to escape the onslaught of Vorugal, the white dragon. However, there are other takers of Dawnmartryr, such as Ripley, who is being controlled by Orthax after the events of the first season, has stolen the artefact. However, Ripley stole the fake Dawnmartyr, and the team ventures to Hells of Despath, where the real artefact is in possession of Zerxus, a collector. Zerxus tries to corrupt Pike’s connection with Everlight by challenging her to a mystical card game, offering Dawnmartyr if she wins, and eternal enslavement if she ends up losing. A cunning Zerxus manipulates Pike’s insecurities to secure his win, until Pike asks for a rematch and manages to work around his emotional burdens, lying with the severed connection with his family. Zerxus’ loss grants Pike Dawnmartyr, but the sore loser siccs his demonic bodyguard, Yenk, after the group. Around the same time, Vorugal, the white ice dragon, tracks down the fellowship and engages in a fierce battle with Yenk, which ends in a severely weakened Vorugal killing the demon. The band wastes no time in launching a full-scale assault to kill Vorugal.

In the aftermath, as the party takes a bit of respite in a magical chateau, Scanlan opens up about the regrets of leading a hedonistic lifestyle, which has affected his relationship with his daughter, Kaylie. Pike shows him a vision of Kaylie still being emotionally attached to him, which comforts Scanlan, and he goes on his personal mission to reconcile with his daughter. Throughout the third season, Vex and Percy, Vax and Keyleth went through the whole ‘will they/ won’t they’ motions in terms of committing to their feelings for each other, and finally getting some time to unwind, they acknowledged their suppressed emotions for each other.  Meanwhile, Ripley informs Thordak about the secret location of magically concealed Whitestone, which results in Thordak’s hatchlings wreaking havoc in Percy’s hometown. As the team goes after Ripley, a flashback scene reveals the inventor’s tragic past as she lost her family, her community to the tyrannical rulers of Cerberus Assembly. Since then, she wanted revenge against the powerful by arming the oppressed with her firearm inventions, and Orthax found a suitable conduit in her vengeful mind. Ripley tries to recruit Percy to her cause time and again but fails, and despite having the chance to kill her and Orthax, Percy once again spares her life. This time, the decision proves to be fatal as Ripley shoots Percy to death before fleeing to evade capture. Due to Percy’s soul remaining tethered to Orthax, Pike is unable to resurrect him, and the team suffers a tragic loss.

Scanlan rejoins his band and learns about the horrifying situation. Vox Machina prepares for a final assault against Thordak and brings in their old allies for the epic showdown. Scanlan and Grog destroy Thordak’s eggs, and the vengeful dragon leader unleashes his full might with a nuclear fire breath attack, which Pike is able to deflect back at him using the Plate of Dawnmartyr. A fatally injured Thordak tries to escape, and Vax delivers the decisive blow to kill him once and for all. However, the only remaining dragon of Chroma Conclave, Raishan, betrays the pack by fleeing with Thordak’s corpse, as she channels the energies of her dying body to live through an undead Thordak. 

Vax and Vex decide to go after Ripley, while Keyleth tries to gain mastery over her powers to perform a location triangulation ritual to locate Raishan. After getting captured by Ripley, the siblings manage to free themselves and engage in a prolonged fight with her crew. Vex takes her revenge by killing Ripley, and as a champion of Matron of Ravens, she senses that Orthax’s connection with her gun might provide a way to release Percy’s soul and bring him back to life. The band joins Keyleth as she has discovered Raishan’s lair, and as a battle ensues, Raishan reveals her deep disdain for the Asharis who betrayed the dragons in the past due to their ambitious nature. Keyleth tries to make Raishan see reason, to no avail, and she eventually manages to kill her by injecting Raishan’s disease into the green dragon’s new body – Thordak’s undead corpse. Turns out, Keyleth is strong enough to kill a dragon without even needing a vestige. 

Taking a page from Raishan’s book, Vax prepares to bring Percy back by moving into Orthax’s domain to transfer his trapped soul into his own body. Vax struggles to convince Percy’s weary, guilt-ridden soul to return, Vex’s impassioned appeal to her lover does the trick. Percy lives again, and Orthax is seemingly vanquished. However, the ritual takes a toll on Vax’s soul, and it remains to be seen how it affects his role as champion of the Matron of Ravens in the future. The members of Vox Machina go their separate ways, while promising to band together once again whenever Exandria needs them. 

Delilah Briarwood’s summoning of the Whispered One, aka Vecna, in the first season has gradually gained momentum after her death, as in the final moments of the third season, a group of cultists is seen standing and praying in front of the mystical black orb, which appeared after the failed summoning ritual.  The upcoming fourth season of “The Legends of Vox Machina” will focus on the threats posed by Archlich Vecna, as the warriors will need to come together to take on yet another world-ending threat. 

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