The Torch Is Passed:
Don to Dawn
Dawn Granger receives the powers of Dove after Don Hall's death, and as already discussed, Don reassures Dawn that she's perfectly capable of the role. This event, occurring in Issue 5 of the main series, represents the final "passing of the torch" that Dawn needs to really be comfortable with being Dove. From this point on, Dawn does not doubt herself as much when she works with Hank, and she seems to take Don's ethereal encouragement to heart, indeed becoming the Dove she needs to be to restrain Hawk from going over the edge. In many ways, she is the fulfillment of and an improvement upon Don's work as Dove; throughout the rest of the 28-issue series, we see Dawn working to use her Dove powers as a studied check and balance to Hank's Hawk powers.
Why Dawn Needs Reassurance
But why does Dawn, a generally self-assured and confident young lady, need that reassurance, anyway? Well, there are a few aspects coming to bear on this:
- Dawn has had a very normal (and rather sheltered/privileged) upbringing until now, as the over-achieving only child of fairly well-heeled parents
- Dawn is not used to having much attention directed her way
- Dawn is not sure at all that Hank will accept her help
In each of these circumstances, Dawn is coming up against completely unfamiliar emotional territory. She's always excelled in whatever she puts her mind to, and yet this kind of superheroic stuff comes at her from out of nowhere, blindsiding her. Her sheltered life before this has done nothing to prepare her for the emotional wasteland she faces in Hank's psyche, let alone the morass of minor villains that keep popping up and requiring her superheroic powers. Though Dawn seems like the far more reasonable one, she and Hank are both feeling their way around early in the series; Hank is moving through his grief like molasses, and Dawn has no idea how to help him, or whether she's even the right one TO help him.
Approval Helps Her Relax and Be Dove
I think this is why Don chooses this moment in Issue 5 to visit, while Dawn is recovering from flu-like symptoms and has her own guard down. He is the only one whose permission she will actually accept, because he is the one she believes she has wronged by taking on the Dove powers. Hearing from Don Hall's own mouth (well, figuratively speaking) that she IS the right one to be Dove and IS good for Hank in the long run enables Dawn to feel confident again...and so, in that moment, she's finally comfortable with accepting the torch she was handed.