Mission to Zyxx is a space opera comedy podcast series, created by and starring Alden Ford, Allie Kokesh, Jeremy Bent, Seth Lind, Winston Noel, and Moujan Zolfaghari. The series premiered on September 6, 2017 and concluded its run on September 22, 2022 with the completion of its fifth season. The series was produced on the AudioBoom network for its first two seasons, before switching to Maximum Fun for the remainder of its run.
Mission to Zyxx is a science fiction story set in a fictional universe where most of the known galaxy is under the authority of the Federated Alliance. It follows a crew tasked with acting as Federation ambassadors in the Zyxx Quadrant, an isolated part of space, to establish diplomatic relations with the inhabitants of its many planets. The overall story arc revolves around the crew progressively coming to revolt against the Federation and confronting threats to the universe. 99 episodes were released, alongside a number of special episodes, mostly Christmas-themed, shorter, or performed live in front of an audience, which are also part of the series' continuity.
The series features almost exclusively improvised dialogue from its cast members, which are typically given a setting for each episode; it features an overall narrative arc, while focusing on mostly self-contained episodes. The six creators form the main voice cast, usually starring in each episode as the show's main characters alongside a guest actor portraying a character centric to the episode. The recorded dialogue is later edited for pacing by Ford and Bent, with Shane O'Connell adding music and sound effects reflecting the events featured in the story.
In March 2025, the team announced a prequel series called The Young Old Derf Chronicles, which would focus on the character of Old Derf, played by Justin Tyler.
Synopsis
Mission to Zyxx takes place in the Zyxx Quadrant, a relatively isolated and lawless part of space. The Federated Alliance, which recently overthrew the Galactic Monarchy, the previous government, sends a crew of four on a diplomatic mission to Zyxx in order to establish relations with local planets and recruit them to join the Federated Alliance. The crew consists of the Bargarean Jade or "Bargie," a sentient ship and former acting star, and her three occupants: Pleck Decksetter, a young farmboy who recently joined the Alliance; Dar, the crew's security officer; and C-53, a Protocol and Diplomatic Relations Droid, all working under the remote supervision of operations manager Nermut Bundaloy.
In the first season, the crew of the Bargarean Jade accumulates failed attempts at establishing diplomatic relations; meanwhile, they progressively uncover the Federated Alliance's growing corruption. Pleck meets Old Derf, a "Zima warrior" who claims to fight for the "Fresh Side" of an all-encompassing force known as "The Space." Old Derf claims Pleck is the prophesied "Chosen One": another Zima Warrior and Avatar of the Fresh destined to the unite the two sides of the Space, the Fresh Side and the Wack Side. He warns Pleck to beware of "Nermut Bundaloy," whom he surprisingly claims is the Avatar of the Wack Side. The crew obtains an ancient bean-shaped artifact, opting not to return it to the Alliance. The Council of Seven, the Alliance's corrupt leaders, mistakenly identify the crew as part of the Rebellion attempting to overthrow them. They capture Nermut, intent on executing him. In a desperate rescue attempt, the crew manages to both save Nermut and destroy the Delegator, the famous Alliance ship he is a prisoner aboard. Although they are welcomed into the Rebellion, credit for the destruction of the Delegator is given to another crew, leaving them to serve in the Rebellion as nobodies.
In the second season, the crew continues to attempt to establish diplomatic relations with planets of the Zyxx Quadrant, this time on behalf of the Rebellion. They now travel with Beano, a strange being hatched from the ancient artifact obtained during season 1. The situation becomes desperate when the crew learns that The Council of Seven is traveling to Zyxx with a Planet Crusher -- a gigantic spaceship capable of destroying planets -- to annihilate Resistance headquarters. Following infighting conflicts, ostracized Councillor Ballwheat uses a Planet Crusher Crusher to kill the six other Council members, destroy Resistance headquarters, and crown himself 'Emperor Nermut Bundaloy' (coincidentally the same name as the crew's operation manager, therefore fulfilling Old Derf's prophecy), establishing absolute control over the galaxy. Beano saves the crew's lives, but reverts to being an inanimate bean in the process. In his last moments, he uses his powers to grant the crew one wish; Bargie abruptly wishes to become a successful actress once again.
The third season starts an unspecified amount of time after the season 2 finale. After being abandoned by Bargie so she could resume her revitalized career, the rest of the crew has separated and lives in hiding from Emperor Bundaloy, who now rules the galaxy with an iron fist. After the Emperor sends squads of C.L.I.N.T.s, the clone soldiers under his command, to kill the former crewmates, they reunite to survive, with the addition of AJ, a defecting C.L.I.N.T. As the crew travels through Zyxx in an attempt to find a way to fight the Emperor, it becomes clear that Bargie is in deep legal and financial trouble. The crew encounters former Zima Knight Kor Balevore, who has been imprisoned and nearly seduces Pleck to the Wack Side before breaking free and escaping. Bargie gets captured, and is put on trial for "financial murder." Although she is ruled innocent, the Emperor uses this opportunity to attack the crew once again, hoping to get his hands on a revived Beano, which would allow him to unleash the full power of the Wack. Although Pleck stops Bundaloy from fully obtaining Beano's power, Kor Balevore helps the Emperor fuse with Beano and the Planet Crusher Crusher to become The Allwheat, a black hole-like consuming entity.
In the fourth season, the Allwheat continues to exist and consume its surroundings, seemingly unstoppable. The disappearance of the Emperor left a huge political hole, leading to countless power conflicts across the galaxy. In an effort to unite the galaxy and find a way to deal with the Allwheat, the crew, who now also travels with Dar's newborn child Horsehat, starts working for Seesu Gundu, a former Resistance commander who seeks to become the galaxy's new ruler. As they help Seesu campaign throughout Zyxx, the crew encounters Dame Wiggles, an ancient time traveler. Having been taunted by the telepathic voice of the fused Emperor and Beano, Pleck plunges inside the Allwheat. The crew follows, attempting to save him. The Emperor reveals it was his plan to lure Pleck inside the Allwheat, as he intends to use the accumulated powers of Beano, the Wack Side, and the Fresh Side to eradicate all life in the universe but that of the members of his and Pleck's species. Despite being fused with him, Beano rebels when the Emperor attempts to harm the crew, resulting in the Allwheat's destruction; the Bargarean Jade, with both the crew and Seesu Gundu's family aboard, falls through a rift in reality.
Season five starts after the Bargarean Jade drifted into the unknown for several months before crashing onto a planet devoid of sentient life, on which the crew, together with Seesu Gundu and her family, have remained stranded, far away from anything known to the natives of their original galaxy. After finally achieving lift-off, they make contact with the Coalition Of United Planets, or C.O.U.P., the leading organization of this part of the universe; with a return to Zyxx impossible in the near future, they are hired by the C.O.U.P. as galactic ambassadors while the organization works on finding a way to send them back.502: Themm and the Holograms [ft. Cody Lindquist and Charlie Todd ] The crew attempts to complete missions for the C.O.U.P., to varying degrees of success. C-53's consciousness is transferred into a humanoid frame.504: To Jer is Hermann [ft. Ray Cordova ] The C.O.U.P.'s flagship is attacked by the K'hekk, an insectoid hive-mind collective led by the Grower Mind, who still harbors feelings for Bargie, its ex. 510: The Pest of Both Worlds, Pt. 1 The Grower Mind demands the Bargarean Jade and her crew travel to its homeworld to meet Bargie's supposed 'son,' Grobo. Narrowly escaping the Grower Mind's clutches and, using C.O.U.P. tech and K'hekk soldiers manipulated by C-53's newly-K'hekk-infected frame, the crew finally creates a space-time portal and returns to the Zyxx quadrant. 511: The Pest of Both Worlds, Pt. 2 [ft. John Robert Wilson ] They return to find the galaxy in disarray, led by a clone of the real Nermut Bundaloy, who serves as a puppet president for the resurfaced Kor Balevore. Realizing that Balevore has stolen Dame Wiggles's time-traveling cane, intent on vengeance, the crew makes a last-ditch attempt to stop the Wack sorcerer once and for all.
Cast and characters Main cast In addition to their main roles, cast members also portray several key recurring characters and many minor one-off characters. Alden Ford as Pleckthaniel Ugene Decksetter, or simply "Pleck", a farm-boy and young member of the human-like Tellurian species from the planet Rangus VI. Clumsy, and often responsible for the crew's shortcomings, but friendly and well-meaning, he trains as a "Zima Warrior," a being defending the "Fresh Side," the positive side of a force known as "The Space," and aiming to defeat its negative side, the "Wack Side." Pleck is led to believe he is the fated "Chosen One," the universe's only hope against the Wack Side. Allie Kokesh as: Dar, the crew's security officer. A non-gender, nonbinary, hypersexual, and omnisexual being who belongs to a species of nearly identical large beings whose name is unpronounceable to other species, Dar is resourceful and incredibly strong, but can be rude and unpredictable. They begin an on-off relationship with Nermut Bundaloy before becoming asexually pregnant with an infant she later names Horsehat and co-parents with Nermut. C-RED-I-T-5, a "credits and attributions droid", a robot who provides credits to the audience at every episode's end. Jeremy Bent as C-53, a Protocol and Diplomatic Relations Droid identifying as male with encyclopedic knowledge of the universe. C-53's consciousness exists within a cube, which is placed into a "frame", or machine, that he then controls directly; he changes frames several times over the course of the series, and his mysterious past is gradually revealed throughout each season. Seth Lind as Operations Manager Nermut Sylvester Bundaloy, who gives the crew their missions and receives their mission reports afterwards. Instead of being aboard the Bargarean Jade, he communicates with the crew via hologram; he later develops a romance with Dar, and comes to be physically involved in several of their missions. Friendly but insecure, and aged twenty-three at the beginning of the series, he is a Lird, a small species similar to birds or lizards with an average life expectancy of twenty-six. His official job title changes throughout the series, although he remains an operations manager; he is also an aspiring musician under the pseudonym Bermut Nundaloy. Winston Noel as: The Clone Light Infantry Nomadic Troopers, or simply "C.L.I.N.T.s," Tellurian clone soldiers who enforce the laws of the Federated Alliance. Needlessly aggressive and mentally limited, the C.L.I.N.T.s never get along with each other, and are generally unfit at working together. They are physically modeled after Rolphus Tiddle (also voiced by Noel), the Commander of the Rebellion, and often act as secondary antagonists.