edit: in short: I pretty much agree with what Deacon Blues said. And I am really interested to see what went down with her and why. And how Dorothy got the job. Imho this whole thing gives her a rather interesting plotline, even though it sounds strange without any further information.
it's really strange how- despite having traits I would normally love, she always makes me squirm
I love stubborn characters. I don't mind idealistic characters. I probably love them too.
It's just that, despite all the good character planning you mention (and that I credit her for, and like I said, with a different portrayal, hell, she would've been at least liked if not among my favourites) - she STILL gets all that admiration. It STILL makes her look like a Mary Sue.
I also disagree, imho she was very happy to get all that attention and recognisation, otherwise we wouldn't have seen such a dead-confident, bossy Relena. Recognizing the danger of her/ Sanc Kingdom's situation just shows she's not naive or stupid. which I also credit her for.
I'm all for stopping the fighting also- that's not a problem I have with her at all. I love some good, smart politics instead of battling it out. She's not a buzzkill to me
But- where does she get her credentials from? How come she is recognized and people listen to her? She has no experience, she is a schoolgirl, an airheaded one on top of that.
The way she got to be Queen of Sanc was ridiculous and I felt like I had been hit with a massive baseball bat of mary sue-ish plot building about that one.
Why, cause her brother thinks he's worthless and she's the only one who can do it? She was just a schoolgirl with very little to no training (or higher education for that matter) her brother is clearly deluded or drunk.
Yet, informed and better equipped, and socially/ politically established people figured it was a good idea to give her a kingdom, despite absolutely ZERO indication she was up for the task. They gave her a butler, and a lady pilot to assist her.
Of course she then established herself and it turned out she was doing an okay job, but the whole story of her getting the job was ridiculous on all levels.
Compared to for example Kihel, it was lame. Kihel just got the job because no one knew it was her, and proved herself that way. It was only Dianna who was potentially being reckless there.
About Lacus (non destiny)- sure she has her flaws, and she bothers me, but at least she had SOME credentials for why she was able to be an influence- she was famous. Plus, no one ever gave her a kingdom or was silly enough to give her direct political power. Sure, she stole a ship, but it's not the same. This isn't a defense of Lacus
Just saying.
My point is, Relena wasn't wrong in what she wanted, she just had flaws, and sometimes she was completely uncalled for and out of line- in the way she, a sheltered girl who never saw anything bad up until her father died goes and criticizes people on a pretty personal level and puts herself on a moral high-ground, not attempting to understand potential reasoning behind other's actions, that just seriously bothered me. I thought it was pretty ignorant and I failed to see how she never got criticized for that, she was still perfect, reasonable Relena. It was also strange, seeing how we also saw how she was capable of intelligent observations and didn't misunderstand her situation. But at the same time she was completely ignorant of other's situations.
She should've been called out for these things. She shouldn't have been painted as the only possible solution and received this sick idolization.
Sorry, this just always bothered me
And like I said, I don't hate her, she just always felt like wasted potential to me.