I’ve always wanted to fight an ice dragon.
Creative Staff
Writers: Jody Houser, Matthew Mercer
Artist: Olivia Samson with Juan Pablo Massa
Colorist: Diana Sousa
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artist: Alexandria Monik
What They Say
Waging war in the wintery wastes!
Vox Machina–the members who aren’t magically frozen, anyway–follow their mystery assailant through a portal and find themselves facing something much bigger, both literally and metaphorically, than they anticipated!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
We left Vox Machina standing off against an angry white dragon, servant of the Rimelord. When facing off against the agents of ancient evil it’s best to not linger in their domain. Especially when that domain is freezing cold and half your party is wearing light clothing.
The design of the white dragon in this is really well done. She looks lean and hungry, and not bottom-heavy like how some artists depict dragons. She looks formidable but proves to be easy to manipulate into a position where she can be easily struck down. The writers know that the audience knows this is a foregone conclusion. The stakes are low because we know the group isn’t going to fall to this beast. So the fight is full of banter, giving each character a chance to use an attack or two and showing off Keyleth landing a decisive blow. The fight is brisk and makes up for the majority of the issue.
It’s likely a good thing that the ice dragon was already established as being weakened because I doubt the group would have fared as well against an ice dragon at full strength. Ok, anyone who has played D&D knows that an adult white dragon is way above the party’s level. What I don’t get is the dragon exploding upon death. That’s some homebrew shit right there. Or perhaps it has something to do with the ominous core that Percy spots in the icy corpse after they managed to retrieve the dimension stone they can conveniently use to get right back home.
I do like the fact that the townsfolk don’t believe Vox Machina when they attempt to stand up for the Realmseer. Even though the entire crowd had been ice just moments before they don’t believe that the situation was ether as dire as it seemed or could possibly be caused by an ancient evil entity. The ignorance is astounding, but considering recent real-world events, let’s face it… people can be very stupid.
In Summary:
The face-off against the white dragon is a quick little jaunt, full of pithy one-liners and punchy hits. While a white dragon should have been more than a match for the adventurer party, they’re lucky she wasn’t at full strength. A few good hits take out the dragon, but she’s likely not the one who was calling the shots. After all, white dragons are not supposed to be the cleverest dragons. For the time being the town, and Vax, are safe. Whoever set up Eskil to take the fall is still out there, and Eskil’s name needs clearing. I’m left wondering where this story arc is going to lead Vox Machina next.
Grade: B
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: November 3, 2021
MSRP: $3.99 US