But in the end, he came and played. So he wasn't "dead wood" to be tossed out. The char was played. That alone proves that not booting him was the right call, now that he is gone and we know better.

"I rolled Celebrimbor in March of last year. According to Valg, Kelin rolled in January. Thats 3 months difference, and yet I was a hero while Kelin was still in the very low-mid ranks."

Perhaps you power-ranked more effectively? It took Fungor 360 hours to hero, perhaps Kelin was slow to Hero as well?