Critical Role and Amazon Prime’s The Legend of Vox Machina has had some new voice talent announced for season 2, but not all of them have had their parts announced. Here are some predictions as to who the actors may be playing!
Successful D&D web series/podcast, Critical Role had their first campaign turned into an animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, season two of which coming out in January 2023. Their voice talent is unmatched, considering the main cast alone has some star-studded voice actors in it, but the guest stars and recurring roles meet this intensity. Season one featured the voices of David Tennant, Grey Griffin, Stephanie Beatriz, Indira Varma, Rory McCann, Dominic Monaghan, and more. There recently was a huge casting announcement introducing new voice talent to the show, including the following guest stars: Henry Winkler, Lance Reddick, Cheech Marin, Will Friedle Billy Boyd, Cree Summer, Alanna Ubach, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Troy Baker, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and Ralph Ineson.
But, we only have a few of these roles actually confirmed, most talent not having announced their assigned role at the time this article is being written. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have theories based on the voice and what we know will be featured in the upcoming season two, so here are some predictions based on what we know so far!
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO OF THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA AND THE CHROMA CONCLAVE ARC OF CRITICAL ROLE AHEAD!
Henry Winkler and Cree Summer
The two roles that have been confirmed so far are Henry Winkler’s role as Pike’s grandfather, Wilhand, and Cree Summer’s role as “The Otherworldly Voice” featured in season one episode two, “The Terror of Tal’Dorei – Part 2,” which many believe to be Raishan, the Diseased Deceiver and the green dragon member of the Chroma Conclave. Summer’s role is heavily implied by the show itself, as the only thing confirming Summer to be Raishan is the fact that Raishan is the only female member of the Conclave and the only one of the Conclave to have spoken through the orbs in Brimscythe’s cave. This could have been a coincidence had her return to the show as part of the guest cast not been confirmed as well. Winkler’s role was clearly stated in the Variety article featuring the initial announcement.
Will Friedle and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
These two reprising their roles of Kashaw Vesh and Zahra Hydris, respectively, seems most obvious to long-time fans of the podcast. Friedle and McGlynn’s guest roles on Critical Role during Campaign 1 were some of the most significant and plot-relevant. The two returned to the show a number of times after being introduced during the “Trial of the Take” episodes and bearing witness to some of the show’s most important plot developments–the campaign finale included. The significance of these characters’ roles in the animated series is currently unknown, as they could have been rewritten significantly to fit them into the narrative better, or even featured as cameo roles. However, the role The Slayer’s Take plays in discovering the Vestiges of Divergence in the campaign is not to be ignored, and a truncated version of the “Trial of the Take” episodes could be attempted to fit Kashaw and Zahra into the narrative more comfortably.
These are the only people on this new cast list that were in the original campaign. So, the rest of these roles will need to be guessed by which roles seem most likely to make an appearance in season two, knowing the Chroma Conclave arc will be taking at least two seasons to complete. Let’s guess, for now, that season two ends with the events of “Passed Through Fire,” considering Kelly Hu is set to return in her role as Dr. Anna Ripley–which, if that’s the case, that’s a lot of ground to cover! So here are some roles that need to be filled and how the presented voice cast could fill them.
The Chroma Conclave
Apart from Raishan, the guess as to who plays which dragon is as good as guessing which voices would best suit a trio of ancient, male, chromatic dragons. From what we heard of Raishan’s voice in season one, the dragons will have deep, hiss-like voices. It’s possible three of the six other male voices announced could be playing Thordak the Cinder King, Vorugal the Frigid Doom, and Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer. Of the six, I think any of the men could play them. Considering David Tennant was the Brimscythe, his voice turned down an octave while in dragon form; any of them could easily be the villainous dragons.
Headmaster Cerkonos
Pyrah is an incredibly important stop during the Chroma Conclave arc, as not only does Keyleth still need to go there to continue her Aramente, but the Fire Plane holds a Vestige of Divergence, and once held Thordak himself. Strong, regal, and a guiding voice in Keyleth’s journey to leadership, Headmaster Cerkonos, the leader of the Fire Ashari, may very well make an appearance this season. Who would play him, though? Lance Reddick seems like a viable option, though Sendhil Ramamurthy could play him as well.
Kevdak
Kevdak and the Herd of Storms make an appearance in Westruun as a major part of Grog’s personal arc and vital in the defeat of Umbrasyl. His defeat is key to the plot of the Chroma Conclave arc and unlocking deeper knowledge about Travis Willingham’s Grog. Of the voices present, I think Ralph Ineson would be an excellent fit, his voice fitting the role well with what we know Kevdak to sound like, though Troy Baker could probably play the part as well.
Garmelie
Once they venture into the Feywild for Fenthras and to speak with Syldor Vessar, I think it would be very fun if Billy Boyd played Garmelie, the satyr. Considering who Garmelie turns out to be in Critical Role canon, which I will not get into as that could spoil more things than can currently be explored, Boyd would be perfect for the mischievous role. But who knows? Maybe he’ll be a member of Scanlan’s former troup, Dr. Dranzel’s Spectacular Traveling Troupe, or a goliath in the Herd of Storms, or another role that is yet to be revealed.
The Raven Queen
The question of who Alanna Ubach could be playing irks me, as her range is vast and could be attributed to many roles. One that I considered was Kaylie, as she certainly has the comedic talent to be Kaylie playing off Sam Riegel’s Scanlan, but I don’t think that’s her. She could be Osysa, the gynosphinx residing beneath The Slayer’s Take, as she would be a guiding force on their journey, but maybe not. So what other strong female presence permeates the entirety of the Chroma Conclave arc? The Raven Queen, the Goddess of Death, and total dynamic changer in Campaign 1. The Raven Queen has a hand in the fate of basically every character, but especially Vax’ildan’s. If Ubach were to play the Matron of Ravens, that would be fantastic.
Season two of The Legend of Vox Machina is set to release in January 2023 on Amazon Prime Video; here’s a first look at the new season!
