You're not missing anything. The divine scion is meant as a prestige class for a full spellcaster. This is the case for just about all prestige classes that offer full or almost full spellcasting progression.
Even a cursory glance at the prestige class should tell you it would be a horrible downgrade for a martial character like a paladin.
Not every part of a character's flavor has to be based on mechanics, you know? There's nothing in the Divine Scion flavor text that couldn't be applied to a regular Paladin.
After everyone took prestige classes in 3.5, Paizo redesigned them so that thy're only advantageous for very specific character concepts. So yes, just because the character qualifies for Divine Scion doesn't mean it makes sense for them. A Paladin qualifies for Quicken Spell, too, doesn't mean they can make use of it!
A Paladin qualifies for Quicken Spell, too, doesn't mean they can make use of it!
I mean technically there's the magical lineage trait if they really wanted to make use of it. Not really not worth it though...
Flavor and roleplaying is great, but if you like the story the prestige class tells, you could just mimic that in roleplay while having the paladin stay a viable paladin.
I mean technically there's the magical lineage trait if they really wanted to make use of it. Not really not worth it though...
I knew someone would come up with an exception! I originally wanted to say "Fighter", but a Child of Acavna and Amaznen lvl 13+ can use Quicken Spell on cantrips.