The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 Episode 12 Review

The Legend of Vox Machina

Prime Video

Season 4 Episode 12

The Ascension

Doty, take this down. Everything changed. I came looking for an adventure to put in a book. I found something else entirely. Doty…end of chapter.

Pike faces off against Vax’ildan before the rest of the team arrives. They discover too late that Pike has made her decision and the only thing left is their friend standing against them and protecting the Whispered One.

This is the culmination of all the trauma Pike has been dealing with over multiple seasons and it is coming to a head as she confronts the team. I like the scene because it does something unique in giving Pike the room to showcase how her friends have failed her and forces them to confront that reality. It’s also really cool to see Pike looking badass.

At the same time, Gideon and Delilah are performing the ritual and Vox Machina will discover that their biggest obstacle to stopping his ascension is their own friend. It’s an incredibly tense confrontation leading to an epic return that could turn the tide. What makes the moment work is that Pike can confront the deep emotions she’s been bottling up and it allows Vox Machina to learn more about their friend.

Grog returns and confronts Pike as well as she has her friend trapped. Grog’s return signals something deeper within the group and in his own way, he delivers the sobering reality of everything Pike is trying to hide within herself regarding her grief. Ashley Johnson and Travis Willingham as Pike and Grog give amazing performances in this episode and their scenes together are emotional and gripping.

Pike finally relents and Vax decides that he has to embrace his fate and finish the fight to stop the Whispered One. It’s another intense scene between Vax and Keyleth as the team springs into action.

Now with any other animated adventure series, the finale would include an epic showdown between the heroes and the villain ending in everyone doing their part to end the threat and moving forward. But this is Vox Machina and the final battle in this episode does include everyone doing their part and almost dying in the process leading to a pair of epic confrontations, but the epic escape from Thar Amphala is not the end of the story by a long shot and nothing is as clean as one would believe.

The final moments of the episode showcase the cunning and determination of a villain Vox Machina has never faced before. A villain that forces them to make a choice that will change how everyone sees them and still punishes them for it in a way whose ramifications will be interesting to see in the final season. I thought it was an incredibly brave choice to make from a writing perspective and I applaud Francisco Angones for making it. As a fan of the original campaign, the change in this episode was brilliant and creates a level of uncertainty and surprise that I absolutely love.

The season finale of The Legend of Vox Machina was a tour de force of action, emotion and performance that left me stunned, surprised and utterly delighted. The fact that I am analyzing and asking myself questions at the end about what everything means is a testament to the great writing and stellar performances by the cast. I cannot wait for season 5 and will eagerly anticipating it.