Vecna In Critical Role: When Did Vox Machina Fight The Big Bad & How Did It End?
"Critical Role" is a long-running "Dungeons and Dragons" actual play series in which a collection of professional voice actors play D&D alongside fellow voice actor Matthew Mercer, who serves as Dungeon Master and created the campaign setting of Exandria. While the cast has now completed two full "Dungeons and Dragons" campaigns (and is in the midst of its third), by far their most famous adventure is their first campaign, which was adapted into the Amazon Prime animated series "The Legend of Vox Machina."
Campaign 1 centers around a band of mercenaries named Vox Machina. Prominent members of the team include the half-elf ranger Vex'ahlia "Vex" Vessar (Laura Bailey), half-elf rogue Vax'ildan "Vax" Vessar (Liam O'Brien), gnome cleric Pike Trickfoot (Ashley Johnson), and the half-elf druid Keyleth. Rounding out this band of adventurers are the goliath barbarian Grog Strongjaw (Travis Willingham), gnome bard Scanlan Shorthalt (Sam Riegel), and human gunslinger Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klosswoski de Rolo III (Taliesin Jaffe).
Due to the extreme runtime of "Critical Role" itself (which, as of 2022, had surpassed the decades-long anime "One Piece" by 670+ hours), many fans watching Campaign 1 will likely want to skip ahead to some of Vox Machina's most iconic moments. This includes the team's battle with the malevolent archlich Vecna (Matthew Mercer), which takes place throughout "Critical Role" Campaign 1, Arc 5, and concludes in "Episode #114, "Vecna, The Ascended." Here's everything that happens during the fight between Vox Machina and Vecna.
A disastrous first battle with Vecna
Within the world of "Critical Role," Vecna was a mortal archmage who achieved lichdom hundreds, if not thousands, of years before the events of Campaign 1. He grew an army of followers and made plans to ascend to godhood through a "Ritual of Seeding," though he was eventually betrayed and killed by his lieutenant, Kas the Bloody-Handed.
Vecna's return to Exandria was first teased in Campaign 1, Arc 1, and is fully achieved in Campaign 1, Arc 5, when the Lady Delilah Briarwood (Mercer) successfully revives Vecna at the Tower of Entropis in the Shadowfell. This occurs in "Critical Role" Episode #103, "Race to the Tower," in which Vox Machina arrives too late and is forced to duel Vecna atop Entropis. What follows is perhaps the worst beatdown Vox Machina suffers in the entire campaign, as Vecna, Briarwood, and their supporters easily hold off Vox Machina and teleport their home base of Thar Amphala to Exandria.
During the battle, Vex Vessar dies at the hands of a "Power Word Kill" spell, Grog Strongjaw is banished back to the Shadowfell, and Vax Vessar is turned to dust by a "Disintegrate" spell. Though Vex is revived by Pike Trickfoot, and Percy manages to kill Delilah Briarwood, the party's first fight with Vecna ends in Vax's death and a "Planeshift" retreat courtesy of Keyleth.
Vox Machina defeats Vecna in style
In the aftermath of Vox Machina's horrific first battle with Vecna, Vax Vessar is revived by the Matron of Ravens and the group sets out to prepare themselves for a second attack on Vecna, who has now achieved godhood, and plans to remold Exandria in his own design.
Vox Machina spends several episodes gathering special artifacts and weapons to aid in their fight (including the sword of Kas the Bloody-Handed) before finally returning to the Tower of Entropis in Episode #113, "The Final Ascent." Along the way, they're joined by a dragonborn barbarian-paladin named Arkhan (played by "True Blood" star and "Dungeons and Dragons" enthusiast Joe Manganiello), whose own party was attacked by Delilah Briarwood a few weeks previously. Arriving at the top of Entropis in Episode #114, Vox Machina and Arkhan engage Vecna and his allies in a final battle for the fate of Exandria.
There are plenty of explosive moments in this fight, including Vecna's summoning of meteors to rain down on Vox Machina, the arrival of an ancient brass dragon named Devo'ssa, and Keyleth transforming into an angelic celestial known as a Planetar. Grog manages to open three holes in Vecna's armor using the sword of Kas, allowing him to drive two Divine Trammels (spikes of platinum that can pierce a wounded god) into those openings and pin Vecna down. This gives Scanlan Shorthalt and Keyleth the time needed to perform a Ritual of Prime Banishment, opening a Divine Gate which pulls up Vecna and erases him from existence.
True Blood's Joe Manganiello steals the Hand of Vecna
While the epic final fight between Vox Machina and Vecna is perhaps the most exhilarating and explosive battle in all of "Critical Role," the aftermath of this fight is even more famous among fans of the series as it actually made an impact on the lore of "Dungeons and Dragons."
After the battle, the dragonborn Arkhan tells the party that he plans to destroy the detached Hand of Vecna, an immensely powerful artifact which was left behind after Vecna's banishment. Arkhan raises up his axe as though to destroy the hand, but instead slices off his own hand, attaches the Hand of Vecna to his stump, and teleports away from the party. Since Joe Manganiello was a guest star in this final arc, this move was completely unexpected and stunned the rest of the Vox Machina cast. It remains one of the most dramatic twists in all of "Critical Role" to date.
In an interview for the D&D Beyond YouTube channel, Manganiello explained how the character of Arkhan was later added by author Adam Lee to the canon D&D adventure "Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus" – with the character still using the Hand of Vecna that he had stolen from Vox Machina. The epic scale of this battle and its impact on "D&D" canon makes Vox Machina's showdown with Vecna one of the best moments in all of "Critical Role," and one new viewers won't want to miss.