Critical Role: Vox Machina — Origins vol. 3

In a startling change of pace the members of Vox Machina start this volume off flush with cash after a successful mission.  This flushness lasts for three whole pages before they find themselves broke again and needing a score.  That they wind up competing in an underground fight club is only the start of the shenanigans here as they also find themselves face-to-face with a frosty herald of Erevon the Rimelord in a plot that seeks to frame their old friend Realmseer Eskil.  It’s a plot that involves the guild of thieves known as the Clasp and reaches as far as the city of Emon.  This seems like a perfectly straightforward path for everyone to follow, until Vex and Vax find out that someone very close to them hails from that city and may even be a part of this very conspiracy.

Vol. 3 of “Origins” continues the enjoyable mix of high fantasy, adventure, and humor that characterized the previous two volumes.  So if you’re like me and enjoyed them, then it’s safe to say that you’ll appreciate most of what is on display here.  I say most because while the first two volumes were self-contained stories, vol. 3 marks the series transition to a series-of-miniseries.  Not only does it end with the major plot thread unresolved, it even has a “To be continued in ‘Vox Machina:  Origins’ series IV” on the final page.  This kind of format transition isn’t a bad thing, as anyone who read “B.P.R.D.” can tell you.  It just defers proper enjoyment of the story being told here until I can see how it ends.