Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Critical Role‘s campaign one and Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn.
From the moment viewers of The Legend of Vox Machina are introduced to Scanlan Shorthalt, the message is clear: this gnome is not a fan of commitment. Scanlan much prefers casual relationships, one-night stands, and flirting with almost anything that moves; he’s not picky. Given this, very few would expect this character to want to settle down, but deep down, Scanlan has a good heart, and is capable of love, believe it or not.
All throughout season one, we see Scanlan worrying about Pike quite a lot and showing great admiration for her, in a way that made viewers feel like there is more than meets the eye. In episode six of season two, “Into Rimecleft,” the audience finally gets an insight into Scanlan’s true thoughts and feelings, learning that he desperately wishes for love in his life, but has no idea how to achieve that, claiming that he can’t “get it right.”
Pike, for her part, appears to care for Scanlan, but for now, it’s difficult to tell if those feelings are any different from what she feels for her other friends. Besides, the cleric has never appreciated Scanlan’s tendency to turn everything into a joke, nor his flirtatious nature. With season two halfway done, and another on the way, viewers have begun to question whether or not these characters’ relationship will ever grow into something more.
Do Scanlan and Pike become a couple in the show?
Unfortunately, it’s too early to tell if the animated show will make these two characters a couple, but if it remains faithful to its source material, it’s likely it’ll happen at some point. In the Critical Role web series, Scanlan even proposes to Pike, but unlike in the show, where she jokingly turns him down, the bard is the one to call it off. Scanlan believes that he’s more in love with the idea of Pike than with her, and the two remain friends for a while.
Despite that, it’s clear that the characters have actual feelings for each other, and later in the series, they come to understand that. This leads Pike to ask for Scanlan’s hand in marriage, which he happily accepts this time around. After they tie the knot, the gnomes live together in the home of Pike’s great-great-grandfather and have two children. Unfortunately for fans of this pairing, though, the romance is short-lived, and the two eventually get divorced.
All this said, let’s not forget that The Legend of Vox Machina is an adaptation with its own canon, meaning that these characters might end up having a different fate in the show. Fans will just have to keep watching in order to find out what happens.
The Legend of Vox Machina is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.