Entertainment
Prime Video’s 100% Rotten Tomatoes Fantasy Series Is ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Meets ‘Discworld’
The gold standard of any fantasy franchise has always been The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson’s early-aughts trilogy stands apart when it comes to visuals, music, and acting. The themes of good triumphing over evil are as necessary today as they were two decades ago. Just like The Ring, there can only be one Lord of the Rings, but there are many ventures that reinvented the genre while paying homage to the near-perfect series.
The Mighty Nein is the natural progression of the fantasy genre, and it has the Rotten Tomatoes score to prove it. The 100% animated Dungeons & Dragons-inspired show would be nowhere without the tropes and mechanics of The Lord of the Rings. However, it also pulls from Terry Pratchett’s essential world-building fantasy series, Discworld, which has spent decades satirizing the world of fantasy.
‘The Mighty Nein’ Is as Humorous as It Is Emotional
The Mighty Nein is not the first Prime Video series from the minds of the Critical Role team, but it is the show that perfects the model. After the D&D roleplaying team created the animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, they came out with The Mighty Nein. The entirely new cast of characters is about as reluctant as a team can be.
The new party unites when a mysterious resurrection relic is stolen from the Kryn Dynasty for nefarious purposes. This would be a solid set-up to any campaign, but The Mighty Nein marries solid fantasy tropes formed in The Lord of the Rings with humor prevalent in Terry Pratchett’s series of books. Just as in Discworld, the Prime Video series takes these tropes and twists them to delightful effect.
The character archetypes aren’t as expected, leading to conflict and laughs. The half-orc Fjord (Travis Willingham) is the opposite of what some might come to expect. The sailor is largely a coward and would have died if it weren’t for the divine intervention of a deity. He lies his way through the adventure, while catching the eye of Jester (Laura Bailey), a Tiefling who assures everyone that she gets her powers from the seldom-seen “Traveler.”
The tone of The Mighty Nein is more akin to what someone would expect from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Many of the characters are out of their element when they are called to action, leading to many appreciated shenanigans. The Prime Video animated venture balances this tone exceedingly well with the heart-wrenching plot turns that are familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings.
Like any D&D party, many of the characters have tragic backstories, including Caleb (Liam O’Brien), a wizard who forms a strong bond with an alcoholic Goblin, Nott the Brave (Sam Riegel). Both are outcasts in their own way, and the most shocking part of the season is the revelation of where Caleb really comes from. His character lore is heartbreaking and complicated, which is one of the main reasons why he is an outlier. No one joins a D&D campaign if they have a decent home life.
Caleb and Nott’s relationship functions much like a child and a parent, only the wizard is the child. Nott has her own demons and has setbacks. These character dynamics are what elevate The Mighty Nein above most fantasy shows of its ilk. It seamlessly demonstrates heartache as well as humor, making a story unique unto itself.
- Release Date
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November 19, 2025
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Micah Gunnell, Mari Yang, Ed Tadem, Eugene Lee
- Writers
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Marque Franklin-Williams, Tania Lotia, Sam Riegel, Tasha Huo, Travis Willingham, Zak Schwartz
- Franchise(s)
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Critical Role
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Taliesin Jaffe
Mollymauk (voice)
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