Kind of funny how they killed the original Lionet and no one really seems offended. I guess that shows how much the secondary Saints were worth it to the fanbase. And that lack of caring is also probably why the new Lionet fights nothing like the original one.
Kurumada never did squat with 'em!
They seemed to be important at first, especially Unicorn, but then he improvised the whole Black Saint thing and just went from there and they dissapeared. Until they had to fight off grunts protecting Saori during the Sanctuary battles and then cameo'd during Hades to protect Seiya's sister. You know how the Sanctuary arc is basically a testing ground before he could really crystalize what Saint Seiya was. You get the feeling he's just pulling antagonists from his butt and improvising until maybe the Gold Saint temples during Sanctuary arc.
This would have been a good time to have them be teachers to the newer generation, give us a link to the past without burning Seiya and his pals early ya know? Just upgrade them to Silver Saints. they did survive the last Holy War, considering how Shion and Dohko were the only ones to survive in their era that oughta be worth something.
I cared more for the Bronze Lynx Saint in Episode G than any of those doofus.