The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3 took fans with an Amazon Prime subscription on a fast-paced journey in late 2024 with three dragons to kill, a city to save, a friend to resurrect, and some spicy scenes between the two main couples of the series. The animated show has been renewed for Season 4, but with no news of when the next batch of episodes will release beyond the 2025 TV schedule, I for one was happy to dig into Critical Role’s most recent book release: Vox Machina – Stories Untold.
Comprised of ten short stories based on characters involved in Vox Machina’s adventures and set at various points in the timeline, Stories Untold is technically based on the finished Dungeons & Dragons campaign that inspired the Prime Video animated adaptation. The canon of the shorts therefore doesn’t entirely align with the show, but reading it gave me an idea of what I’d love to see adapted into Season 4.
Read on for elements from Stories Untold that I'd love to make the cut into animation! If you're a show-only fan of Critical Role who doesn't want to know what comes next, I've marked how spoilery I think each of the stories is for what is probably going to happen in the series.
The Sun Tree's Personality - “Under Golden Boughs”
Level of spoilers for the show: high
The Sun Tree has been key to The Legend of Vox Machina over the first three seasons, for reasons ranging from the Briarwoods hanging corpses from its branches to Keyleth using it as a means of travel. Campaign fans know that Keyleth was also able to speak back and forth with the Sun Tree, and the Sun Tree did whisper to her in the Season 3 premiere in what I can only assume is another Matt Mercer voice cameo.
And in Vox Machina – Stories Untold, the "Under Gold Boughs" short is told from the perspective of the Sun Tree starting from the very beginning of Whitestone. It does go into spoilers for how the Amazon series is likely to end if it follows the campaign, so I’d say that it’s a must-read for fans who don’t mind spoilers but perhaps best delayed by fans who want to wait for answers.
Kaylie’s Mom’s Backstory - “The Exploits Of Kaylie (Volume 1)”
Level of spoilers for the show: low
Kaylie has been a key part of the last two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina thanks to her status as Scanlan’s surprise daughter. One of the Stories Untold shorts unfolds from her perspective, including some scenes with her mother who we’ve only heard about on the show. It’s also set in the years before Kaylie encounters her father, so there’s no need to worry about spoilers for the future.
And it’d be great to see or at least more learn about Kaylie’s mother in a future episode of the show. The Legend of Vox Machina has used flashbacks before as well as split the group up to tell separate stories, so it doesn’t seem too outrageous to hope for some of the Stories Untold reveals about her mom to be included in Season 4.
Explaining Cerkonos’ Importance - “Liar”
Level of spoilers for the show: low
The "Liar" installment in Stories Untold centers on Raishan to provide backstory on how the Diseased Deceiver became diseased and freed Thordak, but a Legend of Vox Machina character who survived Season 3 makes some cameos: Cerkonos, leader of the Fire Ashari. The character had a brief role in Season 2 when Keyleth and Co. visited Pyrah and then helped in the epic battle against Thordak in Season 3, so why not more of him?
It doesn’t hurt that Robbie Daymond, who participated in Critical Role’s most recent D&D campaign, is the voice of Cerkonos and added some new layers to the character in the table game. Why not see more of those adapted into the show?
Gilmore’s Feelings For Vax - “Shaun”
Level of spoilers for the show: low
For as much as Vex proved to be the most proactive member of Vox Machina when it comes to pursuing a love interest (see: opening her door completely naked to Percy), Vax is the only one so far to actually have more than one love interest during the show's timeline. As of the end of Season 3, it’s clear that he’s all-in on Keyleth, which means Gilmore is out of luck.
Admittedly, the show hasn’t really suggested that there was a deep love between Vax and Gilmore, but that would actually fit with Gilmore’s installment in Stories Untold. It also wouldn’t take much screentime for The Legend of Vox Machina to address any lingering feelings, and I’m sure I’m not the only fan who’s always happy to see more Gilmore.
Trinket's Personality - “Going On A Bear Hunt”
Level of spoilers for the show: VERY high
Possibly my favorite of the Stories Untold chapters is "Going On A Bear Hunt," told from the perspective of Trinket within the walls of the Whitestone castle. That fits with how Season 3 ended, but I won’t go into further detail here to spare show-only fans any spoilers about the adventure that awaits him and his companions. I will say that it's fun to see the world of Exandria (and his love for Vex) through the eyes of the grizzly bear.
It’s possible that we haven’t seen much of Trinket in The Legend of Vox Machina due to how animator Sung Jin Ahn naming him to Temple of Geek as one of the most difficult aspects of animating the show, but I for one would love to see more of Trinket’s personality in Season 4.
Tary And Doty Become Adventurers - “Take This Down”
Level of spoilers for the show: medium
One of the most talked-about changes from campaign to show after Season 3 was how Scanlan departed from Vox Machina, which was scripted and animated before the Critical Role team knew there would even be a Season 4. While Scanlan's motivations for leaving the team were different than voice actor Sam Riegel's original choice in the game, the bard's absence can lead to some fun.
Riegel's replacement character in the campaign was a fumbling adventurer by the name of Taryon Darrington, complete with a mechanical companion by the name of Doty. Legend of Vox Machina moves through the original story so quickly that there have been a lot of cuts, but it’d be a shame to lose Tary. The Stories Untold chapter doesn’t actually spoil any of the main story, unless it counts as a spoiler that Tary is a character from the campaign.
Since there’s no news of when exactly fans can expect The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4, I can recommend checking out Vox Machina – Stories Untold as long as you don’t mind spoilers for where the TV show’s story is likely to go. If you do mind spoilers but still want a fix of this world as we wait, there are some short stories that you can enjoy without learning anybody’s endgame before the show gets there.
Vox Machina – Stories Untold is available for purchase now, complete with a foreword penned by Critical Role cast member (and Vax’ildan voice actor) Liam O’Brian. You can also revisit the first three seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina streaming on Prime Video now.
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