Game Of Thrones Is No Longer TV's Greatest Fantasy Series Thanks To A 100% RT Hit

Although Game of Thrones spent a long time as the best fantasy show ever made, one Prime Video hit with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes has finally taken the HBO show’s crown. The success of Game of Thrones was almost unprecedented in TV history. HBO’s adaptation of author George RR. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire saga cost more than any TV show that came before it, dwarfing the already record-breaking budget of Scorsese’s HBO gangster show Boardwalk Empire with its massive, multi-million episodes.

Season 1 could have been a colossal flop, but instead, the show was such a huge hit that R-rated mature fantasy became one of television’s biggest cash cows. In the years since, Netflix’s The Witcher franchise, Castlevania, and Arcane, Starz’ Outlander, AMC’s darker Buffy replacement Interview with the Vampire, and HBO’s own His Dark Materials have all attempted to replicate the show’s breakout success. This is without even mentioning the official Game of Thrones spinoffs House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

While the final season of Game of Thrones was divisive to say the least, the sheer cultural impact of the show and the undeniable acclaim of its early seasons means the series still stands out as a landmark of TV history. Much like Oz and The Wire saw HBO change crime drama forever, paving the way for Breaking Bad, Ozark, and True Detective, Game of Thrones redefined the fantasy genre on the small screen. However, this did not stop Prime Video’s Critical Role show The Legend Of Vox Machina from finally outdoing Game of Thrones in its fourth outing.

The Legend Of Vox Machina Has Beaten Game Of Thrones

Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power, is the most expensive fantasy show the streaming service has ever produced, while The Wheel of Time was an obvious Game of Thrones competitor thanks to its cult bestseller source matter, its sprawling story, and its starry ensemble cast. However, the animated actual play podcast adaptation The Legend Of Vox Machina is Prime Video’s best replacement for Game of Thrones as the show has plenty in common with HBO’s hit, but also boasts an identity and style of its own.

With major supernatural villains, frequent injections of shocking, gory violence, morally grey main characters, and a complex internal political system in its fantasy setting, a simple summary of The Legend Of Vox Machina can make the series sound like a perfect dupe for Game of Thrones. However, there are some crucial differences that have helped Critical Role’s Prime Video series become such a breakout success since its 2022 debut.

For one thing, it’s far funnier than Game of Thrones ever was, which makes its darker and more downbeat moments more palatable. While Paramount’s upcoming Golden Axe game adaptation looks like a straight-up parody of epic fantasy in the vein of Disenchantment, The Legend Of Vox Machina instead draws its R-rated comedy from its characters. This is a pivotal distinction, since it means the show’s villains are still threatening, so its story still has major stakes.

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Far from just a playful parody, The Legend Of Vox Machina feels more like an animated, R-rated mix of Game of Thrones and The Princess Bride, with the charm and camaraderie of the latter mixing with the brutality and unpredictability of the former. This explains how the show recently managed to outdo Game of Thrones with critics and fans alike, since The Legend Of Vox Machina hasn’t plunged too far into darkness.

In its messy final season, Game of Thrones left viewers with few characters to root for, an issue that started a few seasons earlier when the show took on a distinctly hopeless tone. There is a fine line between gravitas and outright misery, and the fact that Prime Video’s The Legend Of Vox Machina has managed to remain a fun and thrilling story while being just as violent and gritty as Game of Thrones proves the show has outdone HBO’s seminal genre hit.