The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles Volume 2--Cassandra

The Legend of Vox Machina: Whitestone Chronicles #2

by Marieke Nijkamp (Writer), Travis Hymel (Illustrator), Diana Sousa (Colorist)

Critically injured and seemingly abandoned by her brother after the murder of her family, Cassandra de Rolo finds herself at the mercy of Whitestone’s usurpers. Much to her shock, Delilah and Sylas Briarwood treat her with the utmost care—almost like a daughter—as she recovers within the relative safety of her own childhood bedroom. On edge and suspicious of their motives, Cassandra adapts to survive while processing the trauma of her family’s demise and Percy’s abandonment.

The Briarwoods delight in parading Cassandra around the city in an attempt to convince the despairing populace of their benevolence. Instead of becoming their paragon of obedience, Cassandra unwittingly becomes the guiding light of the rebellion attempting to rescue Whitestone, particularly in the eyes of her childhood friend and rebel leader, Archie. Cassandra vows to do whatever she can to help her beloved home, but are the ghosts of her past powerful enough to overcome the ghosts in her present, or will the Briarwoods’ brainwashing drown out all reason?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

80 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2026

About the author

Marieke Nijkamp a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek.

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Please note I don't respond to friend requests or messages on GR, but you're always welcome to tweet or email me. :)

Reviews

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second volume focuses on Cassandra as she is haunted by literal ghosts and fills in the gaps of her complicated relationship with the Briarwoods nicely but it wasn’t quite as interesting as the first volume and the artwork was a disappointing step down.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is the next instalment of the vox machina comics that focus on side stoires involving whitestone
i personally did not find this story on Cassandra added much to the world as this story is seen or mentioned in the podcast, other comics, and tv show.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

The second installment in the Whitehall Chronicles details the events before our titular party enters the Whitehall is unfortunately quite a letdown from the truly excellent first installment. It has a similar premise just concentrating on Percy's sister Cassandra, who is left behind when he escapes.

The story lacks the intricacies of the first installment and rather plays out as a rather simple hostage drama where Cassandra seems to drift through the story without much input, or good understanding into her character. There's not much that we learn that is new either, making the whole story feel unnecessary.

The art is mediocre at best, again a stark contrast to the excellent style that we got in the first installment. Characters occasionally look a bit too much like potatoes, up to the point that it's distracting from the story. If the story was excellent then this would probably be enough but with a thin plot the whole thing drags.

If you are a true fan or just want to complete the series you might as well pick this up. Just don't expect anything like what the first installment was. I almost feel like a victim of a bait and switch. Here is hoping that the third installment returns to the excellent that we got in the first volume. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second of three Whitestone Chronicles books, this one focuses on Percy's sister after his flight from the city, and the intervening years between then and when Vox Machina return.

This felt flat, in pretty much every way. The story doesn't do basically anything that hasn't already been revealed in the podcast or the TV show, and the artwork is a big step back from the artist on the first volume. Characters have no dimension, while the backgrounds feel either missing or last-minute.

Not actively bad, but really an exercise in 75 pages of not very much at all.

[DaniLanglie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the art in this was kind of... simplistic and same-y, I didn't find myself particularly impressed by any of the background work or set pieces. The characters looked fine. Cassandra's journey was a little one-note too, and didn't really add much new.

I will say, though, I loved the idea of Cassandra's siblings appearing as ghosts guiding her through her journey as the book went on, and how that showed her evolving feelings about her past and her future. Really heart-breaking way of depicting her grief and fear!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciated that this delved more deeply into what happened to Cassandra in alignment with the game cannon. Too often I’ve seen folks who’d only watched the show claim all of her actions were the result of (gestures vaguely) magic. Nice to get an expansion on her character

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the inclusion of the ghosts of her family in the background of most scenes. I also think the plot twist was done well. Would have liked it if I wasn’t told so much of the story rather than shown, especially since it’s a graphic novel with plenty of opportunity to show the story.

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

she better be joking

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

light on plot and character development, it is mostly a filler for existing lore. not totally necessary.

[James Deaville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved seeing Cassandra’s story how she eventually became a part of the Briarwood family. Plus so many Easter eggs to different people throughout.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, the Briarwoods and their manipulation. This has been such a fun series so far!

[Izzy Iz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This… didn’t really add anything to the story? The timeline is confusing? I did not learn anything new about any of the characters? Disappointing too since there was a lot of potential here :(

[Larry Rintoul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good back story of Cassandra.

[Codepoetz · Rating 2 out of 5]

There isn't much story here and the art is overly simplistic.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another banger from the Whitestone chronicles arc. Short but tells a vivid tale of family, betrayal and the Briarwoods rise to power.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The abuse and conflict of Cassandra is shown well in this comic. She was never my favorite character, but she was one of my favorite plot points for Percy.