My point is that technology changes every single day and if you are keeping yourself up to date with these and are not consistence then being a pioneer is not going to give you any advantage. Bitcoin community evolved and even person like Satoshi can not make much impact anymore. Bitcoin is not a one node or few nodes. It's thousands nodes and millions are into it.
Good point. Being a pioneer in something doesn't mean you'll be the best at it. You need to remain constantly updated with the latest happenings in the industry. Considering that the Blockchain industry moves at a fast pace, new things emerge every day. Gavin was a great developer back in Bitcoin's early days and could still be one if he decides to make a comeback. It's only a matter of staying "up-to-date" with everything that has happened with crypto and Blockchain technology since one's departure. The last activity related to Bitcoin Cash, may give us an indication that Gavin would continue working on BCH's side if he makes a comeback. After all, he's been always known to be a proponent of large block sizes within the Bitcoin blockchain.
I remember the day where Bitcoin XT was proposed as a solution for scaling the main BTC blockchain by accepting larger blocks than 1MB. Back then, many people were against large blocks for a very good reason (mostly centralization issues). While Bitcoin XT never came into light, the new Bitcoin Cash hard fork made a drastic change in Bitcoin's block size capacity. I would've imagined Gavin working hard on "big blocks" in order to make the alternative BTC blockchain as secure and scalable as ever. Still though, we should accept the fact that he's not an indispensable person. I believe that we shouldn't worry much about Gavin since we already have hard-working developers on both ends (Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash). Should he return, he would prove to be useful for the long-term development of BCH.
Nonetheless, I believe that Gavin's decision to abandon Bitcoin was largely because of his loss of credibility within the Blockchain industry. After all, he insisted that Craig was the real Satoshi without any evidence backing his claims. With loss of confidence, there's no reason to head back into Bitcoin now. Hence, his return or departure wouldn't make a difference in Bitcoin's long-term development due to the immense number of people working on it today. Just my thoughts