The Legend of Vox Machina season 4’s massive cliffhanger sets the stage for an emotional season 5

If Critical Role fans (aka Critters) weren’t already aware, The Legend of Vox Machina season 4 is the penultimate season before Vox Machina’s adventures end in season 5. It’s sad news for anyone wanting more from the Heroes of Tal’Dorei, but not too surprising for Critters who watched the original Dungeons & Dragons actual play. Like it or not, The Legend of Vox Machina is in the campaign’s final arc.

However, there is good news. The cast and crew were aware that the show would end with season 5 while season 4 was being produced. During the animated adaptation’s early days, how much of Vox Machina’s story could be told wasn’t as certain as it is now, after Critical Role’s adaptations — including The Mighty Nein — became certified hits. Originally founded by a Kickstarter campaign that was soon snatched up by Amazon, the first two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina were guaranteed, but nobody knew what would happen beyond that.

That put the creators under understandable strain, as they had to decide how much of the original D&D campaign to put into each season, fearing that they could leave fans and the story hanging if the show were not renewed. Years later, with season 5 of The Legend of Vox Machina guaranteed, the cast and crew knew exactly how best to cherish and navigate the arcs of season 4.

“It was a really beautiful thing to know that we had a season five when season four was being created because we got to take time with this arc and not feel rushed,” Laura Bailey, executive producer of The Legend of Vox Machina and voice actor behind half-elf ranger Vex, tells Polygon. “We were able to leave this season with a cliffhanger knowing that we’ll have the ability to wrap it up and find a conclusion for [Vox Machina] in the most wonderful way possible.”

We won’t say what that cliffhanger is here to not spoil the ending of another great season of The Legend of Vox Machina, but Critters can easily imagine what Bailey is talking about. Suffice to say that season 4 is perfectly enjoyable on its own, but it also perfectly sets up the grand finale of the series.

It’s been eight years since Critical Role’s Campaign 1: Vox Machina ended. It will be interesting to see what differences, if any, The Legend of Vox Machina will make to that story. Now that we know that the team had plenty of time to plan and deliver a proper conclusion to Vox Machina’s tale, we can’t wait to find out.

The Legend of Vox Machina is streaming now on Prime Video.