Everything You Need to Remember Before ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ Season 4 Drops Tomorrow

The gang is back, and Exandria will never be the same. With ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ season 4 premiering on Prime Video tomorrow, June 3, there is no better time to revisit the wild, heartbreaking, and exhilarating journey that season 3 put our beloved band of misfits through. The show has maintained a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes across all three seasons, and the appetite for what comes next has never been louder among the Critter community.

Before you dive headfirst into the chaos of a brand-new threat, here is everything you need to know about the Chroma Conclave arc and the jaw-dropping season finale that set the stage for what is coming. Spoilers for season 3 follow in full.

The Chroma Conclave Arc and How Vox Machina Finally Won

Season 3 of ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ premiered beginning October 3, 2024, picking up immediately after the events of season 2. The season dove straight into the endgame of the Chroma Conclave storyline that had been building for years. Season 3 continued and closed out the Chroma Conclave arc first set up in season 1, with Vox Machina finally defeating Thordak, Ana Ripley, Orthax, and lastly Raishan, putting an end to multiple villains that had been antagonizing them across three seasons.

The season opened with Vox Machina navigating a tense and uneasy alliance with the dragon Raishan, who had been disguised as Yennen. She revealed that Thordak had once promised to help free her from a curse that was slowly killing her, but had never kept his end of the bargain, driving her to betray him. That morally complicated alliance forced the group to confront questions of trust and desperation under apocalyptic pressure.

The climactic episode nine centered on the battle between Vox Machina and Thordak. While the ancient red dragon launched a brutal assault on the forces of Whitestone and Syngorn, the team split up, with part of the group rushing to destroy Thordak’s dragon eggs, and Grog ultimately bringing the roof of the lair down on the dragon. The win came at a cost, with Kashaw Vesh not surviving the battle.

Percy’s Death and the Season’s Biggest Gut Punch

Percy and Vex finally began dating after seasons of romantic tension, though their relationship clashed with the apocalyptic tone of the season. That contrast became devastatingly meaningful when the unthinkable happened. Vax and Vex hunted down Ripley and killed her as revenge for Percy’s death, with the heartbroken Vex striking the killing shot.

In episodes 10 and 11, Vax kept hearing Percy’s voice screaming out for help from inside Ripley’s pepperbox gun, which he had taken after their defeat of Ripley. Vax spoke to the Raven Matron, who showed him how he could free Percy’s soul from the gun, which served as Orthax’s domain, and his plan and the team’s resurrection spell worked, returning Percy to them. The reunion was earned, emotional, and carried the full weight of everything the season had built toward.

By the time Vax carried Percy’s gun into the final fight, it was clear he had well and truly buried the hatchet with his fallen comrade, with Vax ultimately telling the gunslinger that he loved him and that he was his brother. For a relationship that spent much of the series defined by friction and near-tragedy, it was an unexpectedly beautiful resolution.

Keyleth’s Growth and the Cost of Magic

One of the quieter but equally powerful threads running through season 3 was Keyleth’s arc as she struggled to grow into the leader her people needed her to be. Keyleth was integral to finding Raishan, traveling to the Earth Ashari and mastering a dangerous and largely forbidden locating spell that bound her to the earth and finally unlocked her Earth Guardian powers.

Vox Machina tracked down Raishan, who tricked them by taunting Keyleth into killing her, freeing her soul to bind itself to Thordak’s body. The manipulation was a cruel final move from the diseased dragon, forcing Keyleth to reckon with having been used even in the moment of victory. The season consistently used her journey to reflect the broader theme that power gained without self-acceptance always comes with a hidden price.

Vax’s Rotting Arm and the Shadow of the Raven Queen

Season 3 closed with a moment of quiet dread that will define everything heading into the new season. The ending of ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ season 3 revealed that Vax’s arm is starting to rot, infected with a black necrosis, appearing right after he saw a vision of a zombie in a puddle. The implication is unmistakable for anyone who has followed his arc since season 2.

Vax’s arc in Critical Role does ultimately end in death, and this is seemingly being set up in the animated series, though whether his fate will play out similarly remains to be seen. The Raven Queen’s warnings about meddling with death were not simply dramatic flair, and the show has made clear that the debt Vax took on to bring Percy back will not be forgiven easily. His relationship with Keyleth, now one of the series’ most beloved pairings, makes whatever is coming all the more painful.

What the Whispered One Means for Season 4

The official synopsis for season 4 reveals that ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ is set a year after the Chroma Conclave, with Vox Machina having separated and its members searching for love, family, and purpose before a long-slumbering evil awakens to threaten the realm. That evil has a name the show cannot legally use.

In ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ animated series, Vecna is only referred to as the Whispered One, as the show is not an officially sanctioned Wizards of the Coast production and cannot use the name. According to Sam Riegel, the Whispered One is a “super terrifying villain,” and season 4 will examine and explore his reach, including his cult followers, in ways the original Critical Role campaign was never able to do.

The show is expanding its reach to more than 240 countries and territories worldwide for season 4, and with Wayne Brady joining the cast as Taryon Darrington, the new season is bringing fresh energy alongside its darkest threat yet. The dragons are gone, but whatever is whispering in the shadows of Exandria may be far worse.

Now that you have caught up on everything season 3 left behind, which storyline are you most anxious to see continue when ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ returns tomorrow, and do you think Vax can outrun the Raven Queen’s claim on him for much longer?