Editor’s note: The following article contains spoilers for Episodes 1 to 3 ofThe Legend of Vox Machina Season 2.A little gnome with a giant heart. That’s an expedited summary of Pike Trickfoot (Ashley Johnson), one of the seven characters leading Prime Video’s animated seriesThe Legend of Vox Machina. The holy healer’s Season 1 arc saw her torn between her faith and her friends before realizing the two weren’t so incompatible after all. Season 2’s debut episodes don’t waste a second before once again tossing Vox Machina to the very bloody wolves — or, in this case, dragons — and this time, Pike’s valiant nature unites the emotionally scattered group with an unhesitating clarity of purpose.
Pike’s Emotional Journey in Season 1 of ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’
In the concluding minutes of Season 1, Episode 4 ofThe Legend of Vox Machina, Pike splits from Vox Machina while her fellow mercenaries leave to help Percy de Rolo (Taliesin Jaffe) reclaim his ancestral home. As part of a religious order, Pike’s one of a select few individuals with the ability to heal. She feels lost, and, what’s more, useless to her friends after Delilah Briarwood’s (Grey Griffin) necromantic magic shattered the holy symbol Pike uses to draw power from her god. She visits a temple dedicated to the Everlight when her ardent prayers fail to reestablish a connection, unsure if Delilah cursed her or if Pike has somehow angered the Everlight.
The narrative move reflects Johnson’s absence from earlyCritical Rolelivestreams due to prior commitments, but keeping Pike separated inThe Legend of Vox Machinalends her a richer Season 1 characterization than her counterparts, save for Percy. And without Pike as a safety net, Vox Machina contending with a pair of vastly more experienced enemies heightens their separate stakes; if someone falls in battle, there’s little chance of resurrection.
After several attempts to make sense of her plight, the Everlight guides Pike onto a path of self-acceptance. The gnome was indeed the problem (“it’s me, hi…"), after a fashion. She’d shown comedic uncertainty about her faith as early asThe Legend of Vox Machina’s premiere episode when asked to bless a family’s home, and she admits to viewing her raucous misadventures with Vox Machina as a sin. But despite Pike’s subconscious misgivings, the Everlight assures her that Pike’s devotion to helping others can absolutely co-exist with drunken bar brawls, creative cussing, and gleefully smashing enemies’ skulls in – which is a subtly refreshing take on spirituality. Rejuvenated, Pike reunites with her friends and proves herself a more than formidable opponent while wielding the full power of the Everlight.
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Pike Refuses to Run Away in Season 2 of ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’
Despite their experiences as successful warriors, Vox Machina can’t do anything except run for their lives in Season 2 ofThe Legend of Vox Machinaasthe Chroma Conclavedecimates the city of Emon and murders countless innocents. Forced to flee to Whitestone for a reprieve, the group debates their next move: fight or flee? Scanlan (Sam Riegel) advocates for giving up a hopeless fight. An irritated Pike accuses him of cowardice and challenges (“I thought we stopped running away from our problems."). When he pushes the point of contention further, arguing that killing the dragon Brimscythe (David Tennant) in Season 1 was a stroke of luck, Pike quietly stares down her reflection in a glass of wine. It’s a moment of unspoken doubt, yet the holy warrior reassures the group, and herself, that they’ll find a way; Vox Machina is that tenacious.
Pike’s brief hesitation course-corrects upon reaching Vasselheim, the strongest city on the neighboring continent of Issylra and the birthplace of numerous religions. Given the city’s open commitment to faith, visiting has long been one of Pike’s dreams. Practically bouncing on Grog’s (Travis Willingham) shoulders outside the Vasselheim gates, her default optimism runs high, and she snatches the chance at diplomacy from Percy’s eager hands by appointing herself as Vox Machina’s envoy to the city’s officials.
Whether that decision was arrogance or naivety on Pike’s part doesn’t matter. She presents herself with reverent professionalism to the city’s leaders, the Dawn Marshals, appealing to their shared values by saying, “This evil must be met with holiness.” But in a blow to Pike’s idealism, Vasselheim’s overseers operate as isolationists. They refuse to intervene unless and until the Conclave arrives at their gates.
Pike Is Vox Machina’s Moral Compass
The moral failure by fellow claimants to faith leaves Pike enraged. “They have a duty to justice,” she fumes, a statement once again proving her deep commitment to serving her god by protecting the innocent. It also highlights the disparity between the world’s best-armed city and Pike, the little gnome with a big heart and no army except her six friends. An everyday individual is the true upholder of godly principles, not outwardly pious and inwardly selfish religious officials.
Pike’s journey is far from complete, however. When Osysa the Sphinx (Alanna Ubach) eviscerates Pike by dubbing her a “hopeless holy warrior” who’s afraid she can’t fully protect her loved ones, it’s proof enough that several of Pike’s character threads remain ready for unraveling. Until then, Osysa orders Vox Machina to leave with their dignity intact. Pike grabs her symbol of the Everlight and seethes, “Fuck dignity. I’m not leaving, not giving up, until someone listens.” She doesn’t care if she dies, but she won’t be ignored. Once again Pike serves as Vox Machina’s moral voice, reminding them why they sought Osysa to begin with — to protect the helpless. In a powerful moment, their crestfallen faces turn defiant as they rally behind Pike silently but steadfast.
Appropriately, this is what the sphinx was waiting to hear. Osysa, and, by extension, Pike, drew forth from Vox Machina “the will to give everything”: an attitude necessary to face the Chroma Conclave with any hope of survival.
What’s Next for Pike in the Fight Against the Chroma Conclave?
With a secure goal and the character prioritization shifting, Episode 3 ofThe Legend of Vox Machinalimits Pike’s contributions for the time being. Still, the Everlight’s astral projection power provides the heroes information about the Conclave’s movements through Pike’s eyes. She cries when the Conclave’s leader, Thordak (Lance Reddick), massacres a new swath of people, and she’s unable to save them.
The first episodes of Season 2 present a Pike more certain in her purpose and individuality even as she reckons with an evil beyond her current power to defeat. Subtly effective writing highlights the idealism, righteous anger, and natural devotion that make herThe Legend of Vox Machina’s secret (and not-so-small) emotional core. Having the award-winning prestige ofAshley Johnson, the original ElliefromThe Last of Usvideo game, behind the microphone is a colossal bonus.
New episodes ofThe Legend of Vox Machinaair on Prime Video every Friday.
