Gender and Sexuality Representation in OOTS

[The Giant]

True, I suppose, but by that same token, I would have unquestionably supported giving Haley the "leader" title if we had been told via flashback or dialogue that she was an excellent leader in the past (as a part of her backstory). Just like Shojo's mistake is excusable by the years of successful leadership and deception, so would've Haley's leadership flukes would have been excusable by a backstory of good leadership.

But again, that's not who she was in the past. That would have cut the legs out from her actual character development, from a greedy self-centered rogue who didn't trust anyone. I could have done it, yes, but I think it would have made a more muddled story.

We don't really have much information on what happened during the three months she spent being the leader of that third/quarter of the Azure Resistance, so it's possible that she might have been a good leader then. All we have on it is Roy's comment about how "she's been doing well for herself", which is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it refers to her leadership skills or if whether merely surviving in such a hostile and dangerous environment wouldn't count as "doing well" on its own.

When you lead a group living behind enemy lines, they're one and the same. And given that Thanh and Niu and the rest of the Resistance unquestioningly looked to Haley as their leader even though she is not even native to the country said everything that was needed about how well she did in the intervening time. After all, it's not like there weren't two other options they could have joined instead. The only people who disputed her effectiveness were Belkar (who was half the problem), and herself.