I love this conversation and I'm so glad you've brought it up. I feel for you on this analysis. I used to feel the same; it just felt like something was missing at first. Martin is the hero and deserves the wife and babies.
At least, that's how it felt then. Now, I can honestly say the life of Martin--all tragedies included--is one of my favorite things about the series.
So much of human experience deals with children, desire for children, societal expectations for children--and I get it, the species has the survive somehow, and it's pushed by more than sex drive.
However, that same human experience is so much more nuanced than biology. The legacy of children is a beautiful one for sure, but beyond a few generations the actions, impact, and connection of a mortal parent is lost. Martin's legacy is even stronger: he's a spiritual father to everyone who lived in his Abbey, for untold generations.
And this is where we come back again to Brian's religious influence: Martin is absolutely a Christ figure, and is intended to take on that "heavenly father" role. (This is a whole other topic--to be clear now, I love this type of character despite not being religious myself.)
His life is filled with burden and loss and death and although he lost a traditional life, he gained an eternity seated in honor in his sandstone home. I don't feel Martin has lost anything by being a mentor. In the end, I think the most powerful role parents play are as mentors as well.
I could wax lyrical forever, but I'll wrap up:
Another one of my favorite things about Redwall is the emphasis on found family. The communities we build around ourselves who love, support, and nurture us--whether we have a biological family or not. There is something absolutely magical about found families, because what isn't magical about someone loving you to the core of your being even though they weren't bound by blood or sexual desire? It's so wonderful.
In sum, Martin has a family: he found them, and they found him, and they love him unconditionally as he does in return. His natural habitat is community, he's welcome into many homes, he arrived just in time to save and nurture a nation, and he was solidified as a hero and honorary father until the end of Redwall's days.
No one could ask for a better legacy.
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