The third season of the animated sequence The Legend of Vox Machina is now streaming in full, and the Important Function role-playing staff is able to speak about it — with out digging into spoilers simply but.
On the annual Unbelievable Fest movie pageant in Austin, Texas, Polygon sat down on the desk with Legend of Vox Machina writer-producer Travis Willingham (the voice of goliath barbarian Grog Strongjaw) and writers Marisha Ray (half-elf druid Keyleth), and Liam O’Brien (multiclass elf Vax’ildan) to unpack their private “regerts” and wins from The Legend of Vox Machina season 3 — and take into account how their method to the present has modified over three seasons of rising involvement and rising confidence.
This interview has been edited for readability and concision.
Picture: Prime Video
Polygon: By the point you began making season 3 of Legend of Vox Machina, how had the method or your stage of enter modified when it comes to ensuring the present received your characters proper?
Marisha Ray: We’re deeply, deeply within the weeds — particularly Travis and Sam Riegel, main the cost each step of the way in which. The remainder of us have full management over our character voices. Quite a lot of occasions, we’ll go into the writers room — we begin each season being like, These are the moments that it might be a dream to hit, with acknowledgement that we would not get there, however attempting to honor so much from the marketing campaign as a lot as attainable.
I do really feel prefer it’s gotten smoother, within the sense that the wheels are greased now. It’s rather more seamless. The writers we work with, the artists as properly, they’re attending to know these characters as deeply as we have now. So I feel the method has turn into much more of a well-oiled machine.
Liam O’Brien: I feel that Sam and Travis particularly have layers and layers of expertise now doing it, so nothing throws them. [To Travis] Nicely, I don’t know if issues threw you — however you simply are so skilled with it now that it’s that well-oiled machine Marisha talked about. Marisha and I’ve joined the fold as writers on the present, so we’ve simply gotten extra concerned in that means. [Marisha and Travis applaud lightly]
Travis Willingham: [Whispers] Golf clap. Golf clap.
Picture: Prime Video
O’Brien: And we’ve regarded for methods which you’ll discover on this present season — after the Vox Machina marketing campaign ended on our channel, we continued to inform tales, and the world and historical past simply ballooned outward and have become extra dense. And we’ve loved discovering little components from different locations to counterpoint the Vox Machina story. That historical past exists, so it is smart that it might be in [the show].
Willingham: Yeah, I feel in seasons 1 and a couple of, we have been attempting to determine how we’d squish 25-plus hours of gameplay down into six hours, and we’ve figured that out now. In order that’s good. And the solid — they’re planted within the writers room like snipers. It’s nice to see them hearken to concepts which are being thrown out, storyline modifications which are being entertained, after which developing with dialogue on the fly and different concepts. [It’s great] simply watching that creativity spark forwards and backwards throughout the room.
However as Liam stated, I feel what’s most attention-grabbing about season 3 is that we’re beginning to pull in different issues from completely different components of the universe, to essentially tee up the place the brand new model of the story can go. I feel season 1 and a couple of have been about delivering the Briarwood arc and establishing the Chroma Conclave arc in a means that was very near devoted to the canonical illustration from the livestream. And now we’re attempting to unsettle our viewers a bit of bit, attempting to make ’em guess about the place issues are going.
Can any of you consider something you sniped? Have you ever pointed at a change or a line of dialogue and stated, “Oh, I don’t suppose my character would do this, or say that”?
[All three, overlapping emphatically: “Oh yes / yeah / definitely”]
Willingham: On a regular basis. On a regular basis. I might say everyone seems to be so dialed into their characters that as we’re exploring these items — it may be as small as a dialogue tweak or change. Taliesin Jaffe might be top-of-the-line at making his traces be as Percival de Rolo as attainable. However we’ll additionally give arc notes, emotional notes, we’ll ask questions, give solutions. We give motion solutions, typically: “My character wouldn’t battle up shut like this, they’d wish to keep farther away.” “Don’t overlook about this factor that I used so much within the sport.” All kinds of stuff.
Ray: Yeah, I feel we’re in a really distinctive scenario — and the writers will inform you an identical factor. It’s not typically when engaged on an adaptation that you simply get not solely the manager producers and creators of the story within the room, but in addition the individuals who created the characters.
I feel early on, there was in all probability a bit of little bit of nerves from a few of the writers on that, and being like, [long, nervous groan] I don’t wish to mess this up. How a lot freedom do I’ve?? There was a studying curve for us as properly, to know that some issues that have been very nuanced, or took an extremely lengthy period of time to develop within the marketing campaign, you sort of must nail in a single act of an episode.
Willingham: And now [the writers are] simply irreverent. They don’t care what we expect!
O’Brien: It was a studying curve. I bear in mind early within the course of of constructing the animated reveals, going, Nnnnng! I’m holding my child so tightly! However at this level, it’s confirmed, and the center and the essence of the story is so superbly wrought that I feel all of us have been in a position to calm down into it. On the flip aspect, with the writers, I a number of occasions bear in mind writers in addition to us saying, “It’s so nice to have—” Nicely, at first it was, Oh my God, the creators are right here. For those who’re writing Snow White, you don’t sometimes have Snow White within the room going, “That’s not what I might do.” So it’s like having a artistic Clippy within the room, which you’ll both hearken to or—
Willingham: Or “Shut up!”
Ray: That [reference is] so 2005 of you.
“You appear to be attempting to put in writing a romance between these two characters!”
O’Brien: “Have you ever thought-about dying as an alternative?”
Within the spirit of killing your darlings, is there something your character did within the marketing campaign that you simply have been sorry to lose within the adaptation?
Willingham: We haven’t touched on it, and I don’t know if we are going to, however — Grog’s bag of holding from the marketing campaign at this level had collected a grotesque variety of physique components. There have been orc limbs, there have been all kinds of monster appendages and guts, completely different rocks for no motive, items of armor. And, y’know, it’s not refrigerated in there. So issues would come out in, as Matthew Mercer likes to say, a slaw. We by no means fairly discovered the suitable second to make that bag as disgusting because it probably might have been. It’s simply an 80-gallon bucket of clam chowder.
O’Brien: As a result of issues are so condensed, there have been many visitor gamers at our desk over time that we haven’t discovered a means [to get onto the show]. Like, Felicia Day as Lyra the wizard stands out in my reminiscence. We’ve pulled in just a few of these individuals, however there simply is just not a variety of actual property, so we’ve needed to be economical with every thing.
Ray: Yeah, that’s in all probability the largest tragedy. Similar with NPCs. You possibly can’t at all times match all of ’em. Generally we attempt to mix NPCs, or moments, even. We haven’t gone into something with the Trickfoots with Pike, and the way they sort of got here out of nowhere, and weren’t nice individuals. So there’s stuff like that. Perhaps we’ll see if we are able to honor it down the street. There are even traces — I used to be truly simply speaking about this with considered one of our writers the opposite day. There are just a few traces, particularly of stuff that Taliesin had stated in-game, the place you’re like, “We’ve gotta get that in there.” And typically even with particular person one-liners, you’re like, “However how?” [Everyone laughs] “It’s not related!” You attempt to discover it, although.
O’Brien: Generally we attempt to seize one thing that took a few episodes or video games to get by way of, and it’s only a single body of animation. I’m simply attempting to present a nod to it.
Picture: Prime Video
What’s the flip aspect of that? What did your character acquire on this season that you simply have been enthusiastic about?
Ray: I imply, I feel the fantastic thing about what we’re doing is, you’ll be able to present a variety of views or issues which may’ve occurred that we didn’t actually act out within the sport. In marketing campaign one, there was a time the place we sort of took an in-game yearlong break the place the characters went off, did different issues, achieved some private drives that that they had, and we get to see that. So with Keyleth, you get to see her journey to the Earth Ashari, and undergo her Earth Ashari trials.
That was one thing within the marketing campaign that we simply sort of went, This occurred! Now she will flip into an Earth elemental! Isn’t that cool? So I feel having the ability to flesh out — if you’re enjoying Dungeons & Dragons and also you stage up, a variety of occasions, it’s choosing a spell out of a ebook and writing it down and also you’re like, I can simply do this now. However the present permits us to discover how these characters get these talents and develop. I feel that’s at all times enjoyable.
O’Brien: I similar to Vax’s persevering with evolution in his relationship with the Matron of Ravens, and the place he ends the season, the place it’s much less of a cat being dragged kicking and screaming into a bath, which was sort of season 2 for him, and extra coming to phrases with it.
Willingham: The factor I really like isn’t essentially for Grog. However for Pike Trickfoot — Ashley Johnson wasn’t round very a lot [in season 2] due to her capturing on a present in New York. And so she was always out and in, and he or she would miss components of the storyline. So we took a chance to pad her storyline [in season 3] and actually deliver her extra into the way in which season 3 develops. In future seasons, we actually tee her up properly for a bit extra of a meatier bone to chew. And she or he’s such a drive of nature that placing the screws to Ashley is at all times going to be actually enjoyable to observe. So I feel that’s the factor I like essentially the most.
O’Brien: I’ll additionally toss in that what I really like about season 3, is the development of the romantic threads, the place they go, how they relate to one another. The place they finish on this marketing campaign is fairly unbelievable.
