Critical Role, a show about "nerdy voice actors" playing Dungeons & Dragons, is the main reason I'm into D&D and TTRPG today, and while I haven't caught up with its third campaign, I've seen all of Vox Machina and Mighty Nein's adventures I have.

As I've mentioned in the past, it's been wild to see "Critical Roll" go from a casually streamed game with an audience small enough to accept pizza donations to a real multi-platform monolith.

One of the fun consequences of its rock-star popularity was the animated series The Legend of Vox Machina. This happened primarily because Critical Role asked fans if they would like to see the first campaign animated, to which fans replied, "Yes, please, $1 million for an hour ($11 million total)."

The show has already had a first and second season, with the Briarwood arc of the OG stream and roughly a third of the Chroma Conclave storyline. And last month, the show was confirmed for a third installment, the timing of which is also clear thanks to an exclusive from IGN. The site has also released a look at the show's new intro sequence.

The intro begins with Vox Machina walking and laughing, and then Vax Irdan, the baby chosen by the goddess of death, turns around to see her porcelain mask swinging a thousand threads of fate.

Percy, a mentally well-adjusted, normal, and emotionally respectable gunfighter, burns the blueprints of his weapon now that he is past the goth, or revenge phase. But in the ashes, Ripley looms menacingly. In a mild spoiler from the live stream, yes, we're not done with her yet.

Then there is the heartwarming sight of Keyleth, who will live for thousands of years as a druid, slowly becoming alone as her party members disappear one by one.

As for the rest, there are mostly group shots and action scenes of Vox Machina's party, making good use of their newly acquired "proof of divergence." Also shown are hints of what will happen after the current Chroma Conclave arc.

The blindfolded figure contemplating the world's most sinister orb is almost certainly Delilah Briarwood, who appears in episode 100 of the live-streamed "Unfinished Business" campaign. In it, the party was unable to stop a resurrected villain from opening a portal to Shadowfell and attempting to resurrect Vecna.

This makes me wonder if this episode and the ensuing massacre will be part of Season 3 or if it will be preserved as a Season 4 cliffhanger. If so, it's going to be one heck of a drop. Personally, while I would love to see a game of "Critical Role" at some point, I remain eagerly awaiting the return of the old members for a gorgeously animated reenactment.