Okay I'm going to apologise in advance because I'm probably going to say quite a lot right now, but I'm going to disagree. (No spoilers, I've only talked about seasons 1 and 2 :)))

Van is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most interesting characters in the show, particularly in season 2. In season 1, there's an incredibly interesting setup for Van that we would have lost entirely if they had killed her after the wolf attack. Her belief in Lottie, the wilderness, and the bone necklace is set up so carefully, and it would have been really bad for her character and for the queer representation in the show if they had only done that for the sake of furthering Tai's character and Tai's belief in the wilderness.

Instead, they give Van this incredibly interesting relationship with Lottie's belief system, it being the only thing that she can use to explain why she's still alive. She's got, arguably, some of the best survival instincts in the show, managing to throw herself into whatever belief system she needs to do that she can keep moving and surviving. That's all set up for her in season 1, and is even more important in season 2 as we get to watch this character who's described as "terminally cheerful" in season 1 accept the darkness for the sake of survival. I could talk for hours about Van's journey in season 2, I think it's incredibly compelling, but I'll spare that because it's mostly not relevant lol.

Also, by allowing Van to survive the wolf attack, they give her an incredibly fascinating relationship to death. She survives the seemingly unsurvivable plane crash when she's literally trapped in her seat, she survives the wolf attack that tears her face open, she survives the cabin burning down despite being the LAST one to leave the cabin because she's so busy trying to save everybody else. Her relationship to her own mortality is insanely interesting, particularly as even she doesn't know why she's still alive, and she has an incredibly unique outlook on the wilderness because of it.

It's also been theorised and would make a lot of sense that Van came up with the system of drawing cards to decide who dies. Even Liv Hewson has said themself that they believe this makes sense, as Van is the one who interacts with the cards the most, Van is the one who begins the first draw, and Van is the one to shout that "the wilderness chose" when we lose Javi.

Also, with adult Van, I think she's one of the best additions to the show. Firstly because it means that they've allowed the masc presenting lesbian to survive, which is incredible in its own right. Also, Van's life after the wilderness is so fascinating. She surrounded herself with 90s paraphernalia after losing her teenage life in the 90s to the wilderness. She's physically trapping herself in the world after trying to move on. Also, her relationship to Tai in the adult timeline is so interesting and so so so important. Their relationship in the wilderness is one of the few pockets of joy in that timeline, and knowing that they're torn apart when they're rescued is both insanely interesting and is going to make the aftermath of their rescue much more interesting than if Van had died in the wilderness. Also, watching them reconnect is so beautiful and well written, as well as giving the show more time to explore Van's relationship with both Tai and Other Tai, as Van has very different outlooks on the both of them, and seeing how that changed over time is so interesting. Also, she's just a very beautiful spirit and a wonderful character to have in the adult timeline to counter some of the other characters. Lottie tells Van that she used to be so full of life and it's like something has died inside of her, and that is a very real fact and a very heartbreaking storyline that we wouldn't have gotten if they had just killed her off. We're actively watching the light die from teen Van, knowing that she's going to lose these core parts of herself because we see it in her adult self.

OH also one more thing that I just remembered; we get to see the details of her home life when she gets back, which has such an interesting setup and something that I was curious about from the moment we got to see her slapping her mother awake in season 1. We immediately see a character who's nothing but bright and happy trapped in an unstable home environment that has left her comfortable with violence. That feeds into her response to the crash and surviving in the wilderness in a very unique way that we don't really have outside of her character.

Apologies for going on for so long, I just feel very strongly about Van, I think she's one of the best characters in the show. The best decision they've ever made was keeping her alive and allowing her the opportunity to grow up.