With its dazzling animation, complex, multi-faceted characters, and all-star cast of voice actors, Critical Role’s sophomore animated series, The Mighty Nein, is off to a flaming hot start (pun intended). Whether watching the Ruby of the Sea woo a crowd with a live performance or Trent Ikithon torture unsuspecting victims in the name of science, many of the most memorable sequences in season one of The Mighty Nein are changes and/or additions made to the original campaign.
But while tweaks to The Mighty Nein may have allowed Matt Mercer and the rest of the Critical Role crew to retroactively course correct and add new angles to a familiar story, the many changes to The Mighty Nein have resulted in one main party member being sidelined for nearly the entirety of season one. Though Yasha Nydoorin finally comes face-to-face with the other members of The Mighty Nein in the closing moments of season one finale “The Zadash Job,” her removal from key early moments in The Mighty Nein leaves a day-one character feeling frustratingly detached from the rest of the party.
What Have the Critical Role Cast Said About Changes to The Mighty Nein for the Animated Series?
To the show’s credit, the team behind Critical Role has been incredibly upfront about the many changes that took place in adapting The Mighty Nein into an animated series. After all, how could there not be changes made when trying to condense hundreds of hours of story into dozens? For most of season one of The Mighty Nein, we’ve reaped the benefits of those changes, like being able to jump across continents and drop in on what villains like Trent Ikithon or Essek are doing.
But while the changes to The Mighty Nein for the animated series give the likes of Essek ample screentime in early beats of the story he was otherwise absent from, there’s one major character who’s conspicuously absent for almost the entirety of season one of The Mighty Nein: Yasha.
Though she spends the majority of season one of the animated series on a highly lethal one-woman quest to track down the Luxon Beacon, viewers of The Mighty Nein who haven’t seen the original campaign may be surprised to learn that the brooding barbarian Yasha Nydoorin (Ashley Johnson) is actually a day one member of the Mighty Nein.
How was Yasha Originally Introduced in The Mighty Nein Campaign?
In the original The Mighty Nein campaign, Yasha is present for the very first session and is introduced not as a lone wolf stalking her quarry, but as the quiet, awkward traveling companion of Mollymauk Tealeaf. That’s right, in the stream, Yasha served as the muscle/roadie/security for the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities, where she met and befriended the colorful card reader Molly.
Yasha and Molly’s Campaign Friendship Is Lost in The Mighty Nein Series
Though she’s still sparse on personal details (and still very physically intimidating, with massive muscles and a greatsword), Yasha in The Mighty Nein campaign is much softer around the edges and more personable: quiet and stoic, yes, but awkwardly sweet whenever she does open her mouth. In the early episodes of The Mighty Nein‘s stream, Yasha and Molly feel very much like a packaged set who have forged a friendship through shared time on the road and countless hours together at the carnival.
Yasha and Molly’s bond in the campaign is an endearing, unlikely friendship that, thanks to the narrative changes made to the early beats of the story, is entirely absent from season one of The Mighty Nein animated series. Furthermore, the series might not have ample time to rebuild the dynamic before the narrative permanently separates Yasha and Molly.
We Miss Yasha and Beau’s Flirtation
The changes to Yasha’s introduction between the campaign and season one of The Mighty Nein series also cost us another major loss, and that is the complete lack of early interactions between Beau and Yasha, who (in the original campaign) awkwardly flirt with each other for the duration of the carnival. The Mighty Nein season one has no lack of romance. We see plenty of early Fjord/Jester moments, and the series even treats fans to flashbacks of Volstrucker Caleb making out challengers-style with Astrid and Wulf.
But in the simple act of removing Yasha from the carnival scene, the early, lighthearted flirting between Beau and Yasha is lost from The Mighty Nein series. And feels like a tragedy for fans who wanted to see Yasha carrying Beau bridal-style to her seat. The Beau/Yasha relationship and the Molly/Yasha relationship are the major glaring casualties of Yasha’s new introduction in, but Yasha also has sweet, early interactions with Jester, with Caleb, with all of the Nein, that are lost for the sake of narrative cohesion.
Though she may have caught up with The Mighty Nein by the time season one comes to a close, the story now places Molly, Caleb, Nott, Jester, Fjord, and Beau as the core group of heroes, with Yasha serving as a mysterious newcomer, not a familiar face as she was in the campaign.
Why Did Yasha’s Introduction Change for The Mighty Nein Animated Series?
So why did Critical Role opt to separate Yasha from the rest of the party in The Mighty Nein season one? Blame the NBC series Blindspot – no, seriously. Though she was able to take part in streaming many episodes of the The Mighty Nein‘s campaign (including the premiere), Ashley Johnson was simultaneously filming for the network procedural, which often resulted in scheduling conflicts that left the Nein without their barbarian in several key episodes.
Facing the already gargantuan task of condensing the campaign 2 narrative into digestible, hour-long chunks, it makes sense that the cast of Critical Role would find a way around her constant comings and goings for ease of story. About the changes to Yasha’s introduction, Johnson told Geek and Sundry:
“Her arc is the same. It’s her introduction to these characters that we got to sort of tinker with a little bit, make a little bit more interesting, give a little bit more depth and tension. I’m very excited for people who know Campaign 2 and who know Yasha and know that tenderness she has to see this creature – she absolutely is a beast, a killing machine. But there are reasons for that. I’m just most excited to see people’s reactions who don’t know the story.”
But while Yasha may have bolted after the destruction of the carnival in the original The Mighty Nein campaign, she’s still in a solid 117 of 141 episodes and is an undeniable, fully-fledged member of the Mighty Nein since day one. Does separating her from the rest of the party help simplify an otherwise convoluted story? Definitely. And, to the show’s credit, The Mighty Nein makes up for lost Yasha moments by laying early groundwork for her larger personal narrative than the campaign does, offering a glimpse at the mysterious mark on the back of her neck and a full-blown flashback to Yasha’s dead wife.
Were the Changes Made to Yasha’s Character From The Mighty Nein Series to Campaign for the Better?
So, with the first full season of The Mighty Nein in the rear view mirror, were the changes made to Yasha’s introduction from campaign to series for the better? Are a few brutal kill sequences and a flashback of Zuala a solid trade-off for the loss of the Molly/Yasha dynamic and BeauYasha being dropped completely?
The Mighty Nein is a slow burn, and I have no doubt that with time, the series will spend substantially more time with Yasha, eventually uncovering her true personality, exploring her relationship with Beau, and establishing her as a fully-fledged member of the Nein. But you only get one chance at a first impression, and for Yasha lovers like myself, it’s frustrating to see her sidelined and her dynamics with Beau and Molly left on the cutting room floor. For now, we’ll have to sit with that feeling and wait to see what happens going forward.
The Mighty Nein season one is now streaming in full on Prime Video.