mithen

It's funny, I was thinking the same thing about the arranged-marriage AU! Clark doesn't seem as necessary there. I think part of it is not so much the lack of a "human side" (although it is that), but the lack of a hero side. They kind of go together here, he can't become a champion for Earth until he knows Earth and its people better, while he could be a champion for Krypton in the AU because he knew its people.

(I've obviously been thinking about this quite a bit, lol!)