When it comes to adaptations of its actual-play Dungeons & Dragons tabletop campaign, Critical Role has never hesitated to make changes. Their first animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, handled one character death pretty differently from the original campaign, and already in the follow-up show, The Mighty Nein, there have been several changes made to character backgrounds — so much so that some are wondering what will remain canon in future spin-offs and sequels, and what won’t.

However, while there have been changes, episode 5 of The Mighty Nein doesn’t try to fix what isn’t broken when it comes to Caleb Widogast’s (Liam O’Brien) backstory, and the series is much better for it.

[Ed note. Spoilers ahead for The Mighty Nein episodes 1-5.]

Previous episodes have hinted that Caleb has a shadowy past, with Nott the Brave (Sam Riegel) discovering the wizard was wanted for murder. In episode 5, it is unveiled via flashbacks that, when Caleb was younger, he........

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