Kira was a great pilot and Durandal obviously wanted him but he knew that Kira wouldn't see eye to eye with him and considering Kira's antics it was best that he never pursued it. Hence why when he had evidence of Athrun talking to Kira he didn't go ask Athrun to try and persuade Kira, he instead used that evidence later to persecute Athrun when he believed that Kira was no longer a factor. Thus taking out two of his greatest threats, Kira/Athrun and than later Lacus. Had they not been around than nothing would have stopped the Minerva from stomping out Logos quickly and Durandal to be in the prime position to enact the Destiny Plan. After all, by the time he pulled the trigger on Athrun he was confident in Shinn's loyalty and his ability to win the war(and he was right, the war would have ended at Orb had Team Kira not shown up).
Char's cockpit wasn't destroyed at the end of Zeta. While the Strike had the chair melted(meaning that Kira should have died from the heat alone than), and the Freedom was stabbed and completely destroyed with parts flying everywhere. Kira also survived an explosion to the face and his no-kill rule would have gotten anyone else killed but because of Kira's plot armor he never suffered any real consequences for not killing. His friends were also magically not in greater danger despite his no-kill rule.
I would vastly prefer someone like Athrun or Shinn on my side, at least they aren't blinded by naive idealism and I know they wont leave the entire enemy mostly unscathed or give them a chance to return or to suicide on the ship.
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Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan
Certainly not Lunamaria, but Athrun (for the time he was there) and Rey were able to get the job done. And besides, Rey also had the skills; he was just a low-profile guy in my book.
I can't speak for Durandal's intervention after the incident when Stella was brought out of jail back to the EA Forces because HE was informed of the incident. However BEFORE THAT, Talia and Athrun were the commanding officers with full authority vested in both of them.
What I mean is that the writing department didn't give a more serious try at showing Talia and/or Athrun making full use of the authority they have in the times when combat was nowhere on the horizon. Especially in Talia's case, I expected more of her as your typical no-nonsense commanding officer. I'd have paid a lot of money to see Talia and Athrun shouting out loud their discontent into Shinn's ears, and end up giving Shinn confinement time or tasks of cleaning up parts of the ship on his own as punishment. During that time when the violations were nowhere near what Shinn did with Stella, it was the law of the sea and nothing more. And by law of the sea, words about punishment usually don't come out of the ship.
Anyway, enduring punishment should always be a good tool for any character to think again about past actions. Too bad the writers didn't think of that.
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Pretty sure Athrun's extremely rough and borderline abuse of Shinn was him trying to show his authority. Talia most likely was given orders not to prosecute Shinn due to the hero nature that Durandal wanted to give off to the people.
That and Durandal didn't have all that much faith in Athrun compared to Shinn and I doubt Athrun had the authority to even punish Shinn severely or to take him off the battlefield. Only Talia really had that power and considering Shinn saved their asses multiple times already and is the designated pilot of the Impulse there really isn't much she could have done about him.
Talia, after all, did not have the authority to give the Impulse to anyone else and it was far better leaving Shinn, a proven pilot for the Impulse(and popular with the crew since he saved them multiple times already), in the Impulse than to risk it in the hands of another who would have to quickly be adjusted to it(Such as Lunamaria not being good as Shinn in it and it took her awhile to adjust fully to it).
Besides, Shinn did what was expected of him on the battlefield, his quirks were almost entirely off the battlefield and didn't really effect his piloting at that point.
Talia was required by Durandal to report everything that was happening. Hence why she couldn't pursue any tougher punishments against Shinn or Rey. All Athrun could do is yell at Shinn and get away with putting his hands on Shinn and punching him and the such which is not allowed in the military and could have cost him his position right than and there if the abuse was pursued.
As for Rey? His piloting skills may be high but he was never shown to be a greater pilot than Shinn in the series. Besides, he was there to serve as Durandal's eyes and ears as well and to keep Shinn loyal and on track.
Leniency also went to Lunamaria since they could have prosecuted her due to her sister's betrayal but instead Durandal had those charges dismissed and assigned her the Impulse even though there was doubt of how loyal she could be if Athrun(the man she used to crush on) and her sister showed up again.