The journey of Chadwick Boseman's T’Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was of self-discovery, as he went from the prince to the King of Wakanda. Having started out as a man who saw the world in black and white, T’Challa realized there was more than simple good and evil, and that he needed to understand the motives behind others’ decisions.
Through his battles with the likes of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, to taking on Thanos’ forces and engaging in the Battle of Earth, T’Challa made a number of judgments that were both right and wrong. Crucially, though, T’Challa did learn from the times he made the wrong calls, while the instances where he was right helped more than a few people.
Right: That Zemo Needed To Live
In the climax of Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa found Baron Zemo after the latter caused Captain America and Iron Man to fight one another. Although he acknowledged that Zemo was hurting due to the loss of his family during the Avengers’ fight against Ultron in Sokovia, he stopped Zemo from shooting himself.
T’Challa claimed the living were not done with Zemo, which turned out to be right. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo was responsible for bringing down the Flag Smashers along with the heroes. Had T’Challa not intervened, Zemo wouldn’t have been able to redeem himself, thus proving T’Challa’s belief that Zemo had to serve justice.
Wrong: That The Winter Soldier Was Guilty Because He Fled
A number of the most memorable Black Panther’s MCU fight scenes involve his face-offs with the Winter Soldier, whom he held responsible for his father's death. T’Challa believed that the Winter Soldier killed T’Chaka due to the latter fleeing when he came to fight him.
However, he failed to realize that the Winter Soldier only wanted to be free of the false charges Zemo had put against him, and his fleeing from T’Challa had to do with his reluctance to fight anymore. In time, T’Challa realized his mistake as he allowed Bucky to stay in Wakanda away from any battles.
Right: To Become The Benefactor For Captain America
After realizing that Steve was right all along about Bucky’s innocence, T’Challa became Captain America’s friend, as well as his benefactor after Tony Stark cut Steve off. For the next two years, it was due to T’Challa providing asylum to Steve’s faction in Wakanda along with resources that Captain America’s faction was able to avoid being captured.
Eventually, this paid off for T’Challa, as Steve brought the Avengers to Wakanda during Thanos’ invasion, following which the faction reunited completely. Had it not been for T’Challa aiding Steve, then Thanos himself wouldn’t have been beaten in the future.
Wrong: Putting Absolute Faith In His Father's Decisions
The whole parent-child dynamic has become a rather played-out MCU trope by now, but Black Panther proved that the relationship isn’t always clear-cut. T’Challa considered his father to be an absolutely flawless king, yet learned that he was responsible for getting his own brother killed.
T’Challa also realized his father had been holding back on Wakanda’s ability to help the world, and vowed not to do the same. To this end, while T’Challa acknowledged T’Chaka to be a wonderful father, he had to admit he was wrong to think that the king made the right choices.
Right: That Revealing Wakanda's True Nature Would Benefit The World
After realizing Erik Killmonger had a point that Wakanda hiding their technology was essentially hubris, T’Challa decided to reveal its true nature to the world. In Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, this turned out to be right as Wakandans were front and center in defending the Earth.
Moreover, T’Challa’s move also denied characters like Ulysses Klaue from attempting to attack Wakanda for their Vibranium as it wasn’t a secret anymore. In addition, the Wakandans themselves were shown to be openly accepted, as the Dora Milaje freely moved around Europe in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Wrong: That He Had No Choice Other Than Vengeance
T’Challa was consumed by feelings of vengeance after his father's death, which many like Black Widow and Captain America tried to dissuade him from. However, T’Challa made himself believe that he had no choice but to go on a bid for revenge.
It was only after he saw that Iron Man was attempting to kill the innocent Winter Soldier for taking his parents’ life during his brainwashing, and the lengths Zemo had sunk to for vengeance on his own family’s demise, that T’Challa understood he always had the choice to let go of his anger.
Right: Placing His Trust In Everett Ross
T’Challa broke the rule of not letting an outsider into Wakanda in Black Panther when he took the injured Everett Ross back with him. He placed his faith in Ross to keep the secret and aid Wakanda, which was the right thing to do as Ross did just that.
Even more so is the fact that Everett Ross was directly involved in defending T’Challa and the Dora Milaje in their battle against Killmomger’s forces. T’Challa banked on his belief that Ross was a man of integrity and the latter repaid this in spades.
Wrong: The Decision To Fight Thanos' Forces Head-On
The Battle of Wakanda is seen as among the greatest fight scenes in MCU’s Phase Three, but there was very little sense in the strategy of Earth’s forces. T’Challa came up with the plan to face Thanos’ Outriders head-on, but this backfired on him as the army from space could contend with Wakanda’s technology.
In the end, they were no match for Thanos himself, who made short work of everyone and had the power to shatter Vibranium with his bare hands. T’Challa promised that Thanos would only find dust and blood in Wakanda, but it ended up T’Challa himself who had to suffer the consequences of defeat.
Right: That M'Baku Needn't Die In Their Duel
The Jabari Tribe leader M’Baku decided to challenge T’Challa for the title of the king through combat, which the latter ended up winning. However, M’Baku had decided to die during this battle, which T’Challa denied him as he believed that M’Baku’s tribe needed him alive.
T’Challa himself didn’t know how right he was in allowing M’Baku to live, as the latter was the one who ended up saving his life from Killmonger. In Avengers: Infinity War, M’Baku brought his tribe to fight Thanos as well, proving that T’Challa was correct in his belief that M’Baku had far more to offer than dying in combat.
Wrong: That Black Widow Deserved To Be Arrested For Turning On Iron Man's Faction
T’Challa managed to chase Captain America and the Winter Soldier to their escape in the Quinjet but was incapacitated by Black Widow who let them escape. Bitter over this, he revealed her betrayal to Thunderbolt Ross, who then branded Black Widow as a fugitive, forcing her to go on the run.
As T’Challa later learned, Black Widow had understood that Captain America was right in his belief of the Winter Soldier’s innocence, meaning he had sicced the authorities on her when she didn’t deserve it. She later gave her life so that the people who perished in the Snap - T’Challa included - could come back, proving he was completely wrong in considering her as a traitor.