Critical Role: Who Is Trent Ikithon in Mighty Nein, Explained

Warning: The following explainer of who Trent Ikithon is contains spoilers for Critical Role’s The Mighty Nein Reunion: Echoes of the Solstice.

Caleb Widogast’s vicious and trauma-inducing former teacher Master Trent Ikithon made an unexpected return in Critical Role’s live special The Mighty Nein Reunion: The Echoes of the Solstice, forcing the adventuring party into an unwelcomed bout of déjà-vu. For those wondering just who Trent Ikithon is, here’s what you need to know.

Who Is Mighty Nein Villain Master Trent Ikithon?

The human Wizard Trent Ikithon was an instructor at the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum and a member of the Cerberus Assembly. The Assembly, in which Master Ikithon served as the Archmage of Civil Influence, boasts some of Critical Role’s greatest villains across all three campaigns including Delilah Briarwood and Ludinus Da’leth. Trent Ikithon was no exception to the Cerberus Assembly’s villainy and his specific brand of evil served as tragedy catalyst for Liam O’Brien’s Mighty Nein hero Caleb Widogast.

Under Trent’s private tutelage, Caleb suffered a barrage of abuse and was ultimately mentally manipulated into killing his parents in service of the Dwendalian Empire. While the villainous Matthew Mercer nonplayer character represented a defining moment for Caleb, he would not be properly thwarted until the finale of Critical Role’s second campaign. The episode “Fond Farewells” saw the Mighty Nein face-off against Ikithon and use the Collar of Silence and Sovereign Glue to nullify and seal him away with the Cobalt Soul. However, this solution was undermined by the Apogee Solstice.

Related: Critical Role: Who Is Luc Brenatto in Mighty Nein, Explained

How Trent Ikithon Returned in Critical Role’s The Mighty Nein Reunion: Echoes of the Solstice

Ludinus Da’leth’s ironically evangelical crusade to destroy the Exandrian pantheon reached a major turning point during Campaign 3’s Apogee Solstice event. Trent’s former colleague utilized the rare arcane occurrence to attempt to free a god-eating entity known as Predathos. Though the specific extent of what Ludinus achieved continues to be unraveled by Critical Role’s current Bells Hells party, there has been a palpable impact on Exandria’s magic. Unfortunately for the Mighty Nein, the arcana they utilized to dispatch Trent Ikithon was put in flux by the events of the solstice.

Mr. Icky Thong, as Jester calls him, was not the only escapee from the Cobalt Soul, as the one-shot saw the elderly Wizard team up with an abyssal entity to exact his vengeance on the Mighty Nein. Trent wasted no time resuming his mental torment of Caleb, invoking the undead visages of his parents and leveling threats against his loved ones. Trent’s reemergence left the Mighty Nein no choice but to kill the mage in earnest, resulting in the live show’s climatic kaiju battle.