#professor anders

THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA | Season 1 Antagonists

For the legend of vox machina consumers, I present to you trans fem/cis women professor Anders! From Byron Anders to Brynn Anders! Yes I did miss spell in the picture but WE DONT TALK ABOUT IT OKAY!?

(This is the second part of my analysis of Episode 7-9's use of visual effects to show Orthax's presence. See part one here)

Throughout episode 7-9, the colour orange is used several times in regards to Percy, relating to moments of immense rage - specifically towards those on his list.

The first notable instance of this is at the start of episode 7, when Percy is talking about building the List, interlaid with the shots of the pepperbox, flashes of the mask with glowing orange eyes can be seen:

- Orthax’s pure and overwhelming influence is showing its ugly head, representing his role in inspiring the guns, physically giving Percy a way to enact the revenge he wants. And with no distraction detracting from it, it appears with it's full unrepentant glow, Percy's anger and desperation after years on the streets collecting in one place (as at that point in Percy’s story, all he has is this purpose, no sister, no friends to dilute it) and for a brief instance this frame can be seen.

Now what’s interesting about this, is it’s very similar to Percy’s eyes when he’s in full blown ‘When murder entered my heart’ mode. The orange iris with the black sclera. The all-consuming call for revenge and change has brought Orthax’s attention onto him, his rage and frustration drawing Orthax like a moth to a flame.

--

The second time the effect appears is in Episode Eight.

Firstly, it is worth noting that althroughout the 7th episode and the first part of the 8th, Percy is EXTREMELY preoccupied with the knowledge that Cassandra is alive, and the need to ensure her safety. It’s why, while he’s bashing the door down and talking to Anders, he isn’t anime boying it up, smoking like a fucking locomotive. Why he’s willing to (allegedly) negotiate with Anders. His focus is on saving his sister, blocking out any calls for revenge from the abyss.

But once Cassandra is out of the picture, once Anders has taunted him to the point where Percy has fucking had enough, THATs when his eyes change, when we get the smoke and one very interesting frame. It’s a split second, blink and you’ll miss it, but when Percival is screaming ‘You son of a bitch’ (also his first instance of profanity in the series iirc), this happens

He’s wreathed in golden orange, with shaky effects added - to give the feel of flame. No longer are the effects regarding Percy either purely white, or reflecting the area around him, they’re now burning, a fire with no visible source. Percy himself is shown to be a figure made of flame, a visual representation of his anger and rage at those who did this to him. He's fucking pissed. And Orthax is able to wield that anger, and now that it has built up further than ever before, it begins to contort Percy’s vision even further.

The third instance is with Anders - and the flash happens twice. The first is another shot of the glowing eye - Orthax able to fully and completely take control of Percy, and the second is when he throws him through the window. The frame flashes a bright orange, with a vibrant orange light being seen from the windows.

So, we know - at least in stream canon - that Percy's pact with Orthax involved him promising the souls of those on the List to Orthax. So, perhaps this bright flash of light are Anders dies is a representation of Percy keeping up this end of the bargain - and Percy's heightened state of rage fueling Orthax enough for it to be visible.

So what the fuck does this any of this mean?

Well, when Percy’s eyes go black and orange, he’s in full revenge mode. The insane one liners come out, and he's smoking like a fucking coal factory.

The moment with Anders is the angriest we’ve seen Percy, the first bit of profanity we’ve heard from him. I’ve spoken before about Orthax using his emotions - specifically his anger - as fuel to control Percy. So, of course in the moment where Percy is at his angriest, Orthax is able to use this, pushing Percy forward, giving him the ability to take action. And Orthax’s control is growing, showing itself in the full, with flashes of his influence showing itself in full.

Vax is the first one to see Cass

Percy kills Anders relatively quickly and then they still have to take care of the suits of armor. Makes sense by d&d rules, but still.

The way that "darling, take your mask off" was almost like an aside before Vex turned and kept shooting people. I know it held significance to shippers and was still an important line to people in retrospect, but the choice to move it in the show gave it maximum impact. It didn't seem to have as huge an impact on the party because of the timing of it mid-fight with the armor, too.

Vax's confession was right after this?? Damn. It does make sense in the context of the campaign and the number of times he's almost died, but.

Ripley using this as an exit point

After now seeing both, I'm really impressed by how the team adapted this fight in particular. Facing Anders outside of the castle lets the focus be on him and Cass without Ripley being around yet. Having Percy be the one to discover them leads to maximum tension and impact for him (also increased pain as he sees his sister's throat slit in front of him...oof). The climax of the fight is Percy shooting Anders, as it should be. Anders managed to dominate and control the whole party, not just Grog. And seeing and hearing Cass was enough to snap Percy out of revenge mode, which is also pretty in character. Vex didn't have to step in yet.

Also, putting Ripley later on is definitely less confusing for new viewers.

He’s one of those character actors who’s been in everything freaking ever. He’s in like one or two episodes of all those procedurals that need an entirely new cast every episode