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I don't know what your feeds are like, reader, but if you're into fantasy like I am, I bet you've been seeing the word "grimdark" popping up in your spaces lately. I'm far from the expert on what the subgenre means exactly, but I do know some of the steps - it's sword & sorcery storytelling with much bleaker themes and connotations. There is one expert I know of, however, and while we don't have an exact definition of grimdark from Critical Role's Matt Mercer, we do at least have his thoughts on why it's showing up so much.

The Legend of Vox Machina voice actor and usual Critical Role GM recently appeared on the YouTube series String and Tell with Tawny Platis, where he spoke about everything from his personal experience in the sound booth to the current state of AI and its threat to artists. And speaking of dismal worlds, Mercer also happened to touch on what he called the "dark nerd" trend, a trend for which Mercer is "unabashed in [his] geekery."

"From a societal standpoint," The Mighty Nein voice actor began, "There's a lot of frustration. There's a lot of need to express stories that empower those who feel disenfranchised, those that want to try and exhibit necessary, large-scale change in a world that feels oppressive. There's now a generation of - specifically, game designers - but overall, writers and creators that have been feeling that for so long. We have an entire Gen Z generation that has come into a space where the world that they were promised, even more so than the Millennials, is very much gone." 

However, the kind of dark art that comes out of dark times - like his own Age of Umbra Daggerheart campaigns, for example - isn't a bad thing for Mercer. In fact, he says, dealing with the darkness can be a source of light.

"So the stories that represent that frustration," he continued, "And are seeking a way to get everyone to collectively agree to, 'How do we fix this? How do we embrace this burning hellscape and turn it around?' The sense of community that can come through fandom in these spaces can then turn into a space of, 'How do we communally support each other? How do we take these concepts and these shared ideals and, in small or big ways, enact these in our day-to-day life? I'm very, very happy that we get to work in spaces that are intense but still kind of geek-fandom-centric."

With two animated series on Prime Video, Campaign 4 in full swing, and so much more Exandrian lore to come, Critical Role is showing no signs of slowing down. That's why the adventuring party at Popverse are here to bring you everything we can from those nerdy-ass voice actors & Bo., including:

• Critical Role release schedule
• Critical Role's Campaign 4 characters ranked
• How to watch Critical Role in order
• Ways for you to relive the Critical Role panel from ECCC '26
• Taliesin Jaffe on playing Mollymauk Tealeaf for Campaign 2 vs. playing him for Prime Video
• Matt Mercer's homebrew warrior class (created originally for Vin Diesel)

...and much, much more. Roll initiative, player. Magic awaits.