The Mighty Nein season 1 episode 7 ending explained: What is revealed about Vess DeRogna’s true identity?

The Mighty Nein is an animated fantasy series on Prime Video, adapting the second campaign of Critical Role's Dungeons & Dragons gameplay. Created by the Critical Role team, it features voice performances by the original players: Laura Bailey as Jester, Taliesin Jaffe as Mollymauk, Ashley Johnson as Yasha and Liam O’Brien as Caleb.

Marisha Ray as Beau, Sam Riegel as Nott and Travis Willingham as Fjord, with Matthew Mercer voicing supporting roles. Guest stars include T'Nia Miller as Vess DeRogna.

Season 1 premiered on November 19, 2025, with the first three episodes, followed by weekly drops. The story follows the Mighty Nein, a group of misfits in Exandria, as they navigate political intrigue between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty, personal secrets and the perilous Luxon Beacon artefact.

In Episode 7, "Belonging," released December 17, 2025, Vess DeRogna's true identity is revealed: she is a betrayer within the Cerberus Assembly, pursuing forbidden power connected to the Eyes of Nine and sites in Eiselcross with abilities matching Mollymauk's blood hunter traits.

This episode reveals that, in addition to being associated with The Gentleman as the client who hired Nydas Okiro, she is also looking for a crew to steal the Luxon Beacon from Trent and is the mage who stole Lucien's book, which she is using to locate something in Eiselcross's wastes.

The Mighty Nein season 1 episode 7 ending explained: Essek's betrayal and Vess DeRogna’s true intentions revealed

The episode begins with the public execution of Curator Tasha, ordered by Trent Ikithon to cover his tracks and eliminate the opposition of Cobalt Soul. The botched beheading highlights the Empire's brutality. Vess DeRogna and Trent exchange tense words afterwards, showing rivalry.

After completing tasks for The Gentleman, including retrieving an arcane compass, the Mighty Nein split temporarily to handle personal matters. Caleb tricks Nott and confronts Trent alone but is trapped and spared by former allies Astrid and Eadwulf, who warn him off. 

Fjord leaves Jester at a hotel with a farewell kiss, seeking answers about Uk'otoa. In a bathhouse vision, Uk'otoa attacks Fjord, but Beau saves him; they bond and decide to prove themselves.

Beau meets Dairon, who gives her a staff and urges her to hide before vanishing. Molly follows Cree, discovering a bloody ritual site and a carved figure resembling him with multiple eyes, triggering trauma.

Jester, feeling abandoned and doubting the Traveler, teams up with a despondent Nott to vandalize a temple, failing to summon her patron and reinforcing their isolation. Nott publicly reveals her goblin form in despair.

In the Kryn Dynasty, Essek faces accusations over the Beacon theft. His mother, Deirta, ill with Typhros, sacrifices herself, forcing Essek to execute her for a "new chance." Essek frames and executes Verrat to cover his betrayal, deepening his fall.

The group struggles alone but reunites, realising they belong together. The Gentleman offers a job, stealing the Beacon from Trent, to potentially stop the war.

The episode's final minutes focus on Vess DeRogna in her private chambers after The Gentleman hands over the arcane compass. He casually suggests the Mighty Nein as a capable team for the upcoming Luxon Beacon theft from Trent Ikithon, unaware of her deeper plans.

Once alone, Vess places the compass on a table and activates it with a spell. The device projects a holographic map pointing to multiple hidden locations across the treacherous frozen wastes of Eiselcross, an unforgiving northern archipelago renowned for its ancient ruins from the pre-Calamity era.

She then retrieves a forbidden tome from a hidden compartment. The book's cover is marked with nine glowing red eyes arranged in a pattern, directly echoing the recurring "Eyes of Nine" motif from earlier episodes. 

This symbol has been subtly tied to Mollymauk's mysterious past, his blood hunter rites that involve red eye activations, and visions of the Nonagon, a figure from Lucien's fragmented history that Molly inherited upon awakening.

Vess opens the tome and begins chanting in an ancient, unfamiliar language. As she does, her own eyes begin to glow bright red. A fresh tattoo of a single red eye materialises on her palm, pulsing with energy. She closes the book and lets out a triumphant, manic laugh, staring at the map.

This sequence fully exposes Vess's true identity and intentions. On the surface, she is the Archmage of Antiquity in the Cerberus Assembly, ostensibly working with Trent Ikithon.

In reality, she is a double agent with her own agenda: betraying Trent and the Assembly to chase forbidden knowledge and power from Aeor, a fallen floating city whose crashed remains lie in Eiselcross.

The Eyes of Nine refer to the Somnovem, nine powerful entities tied to cognition, dreams, and reality manipulation, as a result of Aeor's experiments. Vess has been orchestrating events- using The Gentleman as a proxy, to acquire artefacts like the compass and Lucien's tome, which guide her toward awakening or harnessing this ancient force.

Her red eye abilities mirror Mollymauk's, strongly implying a shared connection to the same ritualistic power source, possibly the Nonagon cult or Somnovem's influence.

This positions Vess as the season's emerging big bad, far more dangerous than Trent's political machinations, with plans that could unleash cosmic horrors on Exandria.

The reveal recontextualises her earlier interactions and sets up the Eiselcross expedition as her endgame, manipulating the Mighty Nein into helping without them knowing her full motives.

With Season 1 ending soon, the finale on December 22, 2025, will likely cover the Beacon heist, the escalating betrayals of Essek and Vess, group dynamics, and war threats.

Where to watch The Mighty Nein season 1

The Mighty Nein Season 1 streams exclusively on Prime Video, with all episodes available for subscribers.

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