God I can’t get over how well they intertwine individual arcs within the larger narrative. Like they went from a medium that spans hours per session - basically tailor made for the deeper exploration of character arcs and relationships, and not only did they successfully condense everything in the stream down, but they were also able to expand and establish on dynamics that happen later in the campaign, AND manage to do it better than most shows originating in this animated tv show structure. It’s crazy.
Like, Vex and Keyleth for example. At this point during the campaign, the focus was not on either of them. Vex’s possessive insecurity and Keyleth’s personal doubt in the face of leadership EXISTED, sure, but neither were given a highlight in this arc. The story belonged to Percy.
But then comes the animated show. There’s a lot to pack into a single season, but even so, importance was given to not only them, but the other characters and other relationships as well, to be as explorative of their individual characters/relationships as the could. And it works! Vex’s jealousy over her brother is on full display and reveals the depth of vax being the only constant she’s ever had. Keyleth, whose insecurity and doubt in her physical capabilities as well her her future leadership position has also been displayed through the season, now threatens vex’s closeness to her brother and his roll in her life. So vex is cruel to her. She’s impatient, she’s cold and blatant in her distaste of Keyleth. Harshly criticizes her short-comings, and actively tries to paint a poor picture of her to Vax, in an attempt to stop his pursuit of her.
And then they flip the script. They’ve spent a season building up Vex’s cruelty to Keyleth, and now instead of Delilah’s spell nearly killing Vex, the show has Keyleth sacrifice herself for her. And Vex looses it.
It’s a very abrupt wake-up call, and Vex’s panic and grief over a downed Keyleth reveals a truth behind her feelings towards her. She’s forced to recognize that as scared as she is about loosing Vax, nothing could ever make it fair to take that fear out on Keyleth. Vex adores her. Thinks she’s kind, and incredible, and clearly cares deeply about her; Laura has said as much!
And it shouldn’t have taken that much for Vex to sort her shit out, of course not. But the narrative they wrote not only cared to highlight this aspect of Vex that she struggles with, but took the chance to bring it to its conclusive reckoning in the starkest way possible. Watched her take out all of her insecurity on her, and then as Keyleth was unconscious, dying Vex’s arms - for Vex - asked, “was it worth it? Does she really mean so little to you?” And Vex was forced to realize “no, of course not.”
There’s no telling how many seasons this show will really great, and for them to not only care enough to highlight these later arcs and tie them down, but to do so successfully?? It’s incredible. It could have been so easy to keep the focus on Percy, but they didn’t. The care was expanded to Vex and her attitude towards Keyleth, and seen in the planting of Scanlan’s poor self-esteem within the group. It’s seen in the Twins, in keyleth trying to reach out to percy, in the highlight of Pike’s arc and her role in the final battle because Ashley couldn’t be there during C1, but Pike deserved to shine alongside them. All of the little interactions sprinkled in amongst them at any opportunity, that fill them with life and speak to how deep their relationships go. I always knew that this world and these characters were cared deeply about, but the conclusion of this season has fully illustrated just how much care was put into bringing their world to life as richly as can be.
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