Prime Video is the home of some of the top live-action fantasy shows of recent years, including The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. That said, a different show on the streaming service proves that fantasy can work even better in animation. The Legend of Vox Machina is four seasons into its five-part run on Prime, which is far enough that it’s safe to say with all seriousness that the Critical Role TV show is superior to The Wheel of Time.
The Wheel of Time won’t have the chance to overtake Legend of Vox Machina in the fantasy genre, even though Prime Video has already confirmed when the animated series will end. Wheel of Time was cancelled in 2025, after just three seasons were produced. Considering that the book series on which the live-action show was based consists of 15 separate novels, there were plenty more stories that could have been told if Rosamund Pike and the rest of the cast were able to continue their roles, even if the adaptation continued to be somewhat loosely inspired by the books.
In contrast, The Legend of Vox Machina has been enough of a success for Prime Video that the platform not only renewed the animated series for seasons 4 and 5 at the same time, but also confirmed that season 5 will be the end. That will be enough for the Critical Role team behind Vox Machina to craft the perfect ending out of what began as a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Add on how the world of Vox Machina has already successfully expanded to include another show while Wheel of Time was cancelled, and the two are worth comparing.
The Legend Of Vox Machina Beats The Wheel Of Time As Prime Video’s Top Fantasy Series
The Legend of Vox Machina surpasses Wheel of Time in several ways, including on Rotten Tomatoes. Wheel of Time earned an average 88% approval rate from critics and an average 76% from viewers over three seasons.Vox Machina holds an impressive 100% rating from critics and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from viewers across the first four seasons, starring Laura Bailey as Vex’ahlia, Taliesin Jaffe as Percy, Ashley Johnson as Pike, Liam O’Brien as Vax’ildan, Marisha Ray as Keyleth, Sam Riegel as Scanlan, Travis Willingham as Grog, and Matt Mercer as Orthax, Umbrasyl, Sylas Briarwood, Trinket the Bear, and many more.
But Legend of Vox Machina isn’t superior to The Wheel of Time just because a certain number of fans and critics preferred the animated fantasy offering. Between when the show launched in 2021 and ended in 2025, Wheel of Time ran for just three seasons with a total of 24 episodes. The show is visually stunning in live-action, but The Legend of Vox Machina proves that animation is a solid option for building a fantasy world in a way that looks great without costing as much as The Wheel of Time or Rings of Power.
The animated series has strayed further and further from the source material over the years since the first season premiered in 2022, but remains true to Critical Role’s original Dungeons & Dragons campaign as much as possible without requiring the massive budget or years of production required for its live-action competition. Vox Machina has released four seasons, for a total of 48 episodes so far, and the season 4 finale set up what should be an epic finale whenever that ultimately releases.
The Legend of Vox Machina‘s world of Exandria is also being explored in The Mighty Nein, another animated series based on Critical Role’s second full D&D campaign. The recent fourth season even included a main character from Critical Role’s third campaign, which could set the stage for another animated show, featuring the motley crew of Bell’s Hells adventurers. Even unfinished, Vox Machina has earned the bragging rights as Prime Video’s top fantasy TV show.
With One Season Left, The Legend Of Vox Machina’s Legacy Is Still Undecided
Even though Vox Machina has performed well enough over the first four seasons to rank higher than The Wheel of Time among Prime Video’s fantasy series, it still remains to be seen if the animated series will stick the landing. The Legend of Vox Machina season 5 is officially on the way to end the story of this particular band of heroes, and the season 4 cliffhanger means that the final arc can get off to a thrilling start.
The cliffhanger finale delivered not only the sudden death of Vax, just when it seemed he was finally safe; the Whispered One forced the surviving members of Vox Machina (sans Scanlan) to submit before him. The people of Exandria saw them do just that, which could mean that the citizens of the continent will be less than friendly to the heroes in season 5, and Vax may or may not be there to help. Death doesn’t always stick in The Legend of Vox Machina, and the first four seasons have already delivered the resurrections of Vex, Percy, and Grog.
Vax’s disintegration to end season 4 doesn’t mean he’ll be missing from season 5, and the team will likely need all hands on deck if they want to beat the Whispered One. Considering how much the show has departed from the story of the original campaign, even viewers who watched the Critical Role cast playing Dungeons & Dragons can’t say with certainty how the saga is going to end.
If the show continues to deliver the same kind of quality of the first four years to the fifth and final season, The Legend of Vox Machina could have the kind of fantasy legacy that other shows aspire to. It’s too early in The Mighty Nein‘s run to predict whether it will do as well as Vox Machina in the long run.
- Release Date
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January 27, 2022
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Brandon Auman
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Laura Bailey
Vex’ahlia (voice)
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Taliesin Jaffe
Percy (voice)
