Why Did Orion Leave Critical Role

Critical Role became famous for its beloved “nerdy-ass voice actors” consisting of Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O’Brien, Sam Riegel, and Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer. However, the party consisted of an eighth member, Orion Acaba, until he abruptly left Critical Role.

Why Orion Left Critical Role

When Critical Role began in 2015, Campaign 1’s party consisted of the same group seen in The Legend of Vox Machina, with one addition: Orion’s Dragonborn Sorcerer Tiberius Stormwind. Acaba appeared in the first 27 episodes of the show during its Geek & Sundry. With his outspoken nature, he quickly became one of the more prominent characters on the show. He even featured on merchandise. So, what happened to Orion on Critical Role?

Fans first received a clue that something was amiss when Episode 28, “The Sun Tree,” aired. Mercer opened the episode with news that Acaba could not join that session. Then, he announced the same thing in the following episode. Finally, on Critical Role‘s 30^th episode, “Stoke the Flames,” Mercer confirmed that Orion Acaba had left the show permanently.  

Officially, Critical Role stated they and Acaba had come to a mutual agreement and parted amicably. During Mercer’s announcement on the show, he also noted Acaba had his own Twitch channel he planned to grow and encouraged viewers to check it out. However, fan speculation based on tense exchanges between Acaba and the cast, among other things, convinced some that there was more to it than that.

Much of this stemmed from Acaba’s “problem player” antics at the table. He went off on side quests in-game on multiple occasions without the other players. Often, he did not fully explain his intentions to Mercer or the rest of the party and expressed frustration when asked for clarification. In his final episodes, many fans noted what they described as tension between him and the other players.

In one example of this, Acaba wanted a magical item owned by Sam Riegel’s character, Scanlan Shorthalt. Believing Tiberius would have more use for the Circlet of Concentration, he tried to trade Scanlan for it during a session when Riegel wasn’t present. After this, he continued to have Tiberius ask Scanlan to trade in subsequent sessions. Eventually, Riegel relented, but many fans expressed discomfort with Acaba’s behavior, particularly in trying to obtain the item when Sam wasn’t there.

Another point of discomfort for fans came in his interactions with Allura, an NPC played by Mercer. For a time, Tiberius and Allura seemed to dance around each other in a possible romance. However, when Vox Machina rescued Lady Kima from the Emberhold, it became apparent that she had a history with Allura. Acaba expressed frustration with Mercer over giving Allura another romantic attachment. He continued to have Tiberius pursue her, even when Allura showed some discomfort.

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Fans also observed Acaba trying to take over the spotlight in scenes between other characters. At times, Acaba would interrupt other players or try to jump in to have the kill or make the moment his. Other times, Acaba would metagame beyond what is typically approved. He even received some accusations of cheating from fans, who felt his metagaming crossed over into that territory, while some thought he fudged his rolls.  

Following his departure, Acaba revealed in a series of videos, since taken down, that he had suffered from health problems. In Critical Role‘s announcement, Mercer himself asked fans not to speculate and to respect Acaba and the team’s decision to part ways. That has not stopped fans from theorizing on the matter, however. As new fans join the Critter community, the topic of Orion Acaba’s removal keeps coming back up.

Whatever the cause of his exit, Acaba has not appeared in Critical Role media since. The early Vox Machina Origins comics wrote him out, and Mercer did the same in the campaign by killing him off. He has not appeared in The Legend of Vox Machina, the animated series based on Campaign 1, and seems unlikely to do so. Although Critical Role eliminated Tiberius, Acaba attempted to continue his story on his own Twitch channel. He eventually discontinued the series. Since then, Acaba and Tiberius have been wholly removed from Vox Machina and future editions of Critical Role media.

And that’s why Orion left Critical Role.