L'Rell has been called one of the "best Star Trek characters of the streaming era," but is she really?

In naming the fifteen best Star Trek characters of the streaming era, Screenrant chose Mary Chieffo's Klingon L'Rell from Star Trek: Discovery as one, citing that "she sacrificed everything she cared about and wanted in order to lead her people into a future where they survived." This essentially paints her as a hero, but that is far from the truth.

Yes, L'Rell found a better purpose toward the end of her journey, but one can't forget she was responsible for surgically altering Voq to look like Ash Tyler, who, in then, was responsible for killing Dr. Hugh Culber. And though Dr. Culber was saved from death by the mycelial network, he struggled with how he'd survived and suffered with PTSD as did Tyler. It almost cost him his relationship with Commander Stamets.

L'Rell's machinations also almost caused Captain Burnham's death at the hands of Tyler as well and, because of her wrongdoings, she also kept their child from Tyler/Voq, making the decision for him that they should not be involved in his upbringing.

There's no doubt that L'Rell came through in the end for the Federation, even helping them fight against Control in season three of Discovery, but her supposed redemption came at a high price for many people. She may have helped, but she did a lot more harm, doing so because of what she wanted not because of any benevolence to other races.

L'Rell can certainly be called an interesting character, a force to be reckoned with, even, but to call her one of Star Trek's best streaming characters, is dubious, in my opinion. I don't think she was written as a character one would root for. Her means to an end never justified her actions, and the few redeeming qualities she may have had did not overshadow her underlying desire to rise to the top of the Klingon Empire.