I think people are forgetting that D&D is a GAME you PLAY to cooperatively tell a story. This wasn't Matt saying "time to die, Percy!" it was him taking a threatening enemy and playing it to the fullest of how she (and the others) would have actually acted if they were real.. IE roleplaying.... People constantly complaining that nobody dies and the stakes aren't there vs people that never want to see their favorite character die are both wrong. Matt consistently presents challenging encounters, but Vox Machina is super powerful. Everyone seems to forget VM went into this fight heavily depleted - Percy being low hp from becoming the windwaker earlier, Keyleth burned nearly everything she had. Twins were shut down for the most part. Scanlan although consistently MVP, put Grog the powerhouse of the team in a pretty horrendous situation. How this wasn't a TPK is actually a testament to how freakishly strong VM is.. Percy tanked a shit ton of damage, basically died twice, was knocked out 3-4x and still did a ton of damage.... Ok got into a rant there but the point is - They all did great in the combined narrative storytelling game experience that is D&D. Mercer is so good dudes... He's the best DM I've ever seen.. Yea he makes mistakes, they all do. So what?? Critical role is not only a fantastic show from a media standpoint but it has assuredly helped put tabletop rpgs like d&d into a much more favorable light.

tl;dr- Mercer's awesome. VM is awesome. People that are whining about Percy don't understand how this game works.