Ashley Johnson Talks Changes To Yasha's Story In "The Mighty Nein," Plus [Spoiler] Voicing Zuala

"For fans of Critical Role, it has been such a dream watching Campaign 2 come to life with The Mighty Nein. Seeing our favorite characters and watching the early days of their stories being told through animation is, honestly, a dream. As Season 1 of the show has aired on Prime Video, one character in particular has everyone shouting for more week after week, and that's Ashley Johnson as Yasha Nydoorin."

"The biggest being she doesn't start out at the circus with Mollymauk Tealeaf (Taliesin Jaffe), and doesn't join the Mighty Nein right away. Speaking about Yasha's story change from campaign to animated series in an interview with BuzzFeed, Ashley explained, "In sort of breaking how we were going to narratively tell this story, and in early discussions of talking about what we really want for our characters, what we want to be shown in the series, we ultimately made some changes for Yasha, specifically.""

"Moving up aspects of Yasha's story was born out of the fact that the character wouldn't need to be absent in the animated series, like she is in the early campaign. Ashley was starring in Blindspot at the time, which caused her to miss 55 episodes throughout Campaign 2, in particular, the beginning. For the animated series, Zuala is voiced by Aimee Carrero, a longtime friend of Critical Role who has played in Exandria Unlimited and Campaign 3 alongside the cast."

Yasha Nydoorin's storyline was significantly altered for The Mighty Nein animated adaptation, with earlier integration into the party and a revised origin that omits an initial circus connection to Mollymauk. Ashley Johnson's scheduling during Campaign 2 caused long absences, motivating changes so Yasha would not be absent in the animated episodes. The adaptation casts Aimee Carrero as Zuala and includes scenes that reveal Yasha's past, including a notable moment with Zuala in the finale. Timing and relationship shifts provide clearer glimpses of Yasha's history and emotional development.

Read at BuzzFeed