Force Z with an armoured carrier

Would Force Z have shown the superiority of carriers if it had included one?

An armoured carrier with a worked-up air group might instead have shown the limits of land-based bombers attacking defended warships.

A worked-up armoured carrier would change the usual Force Z lesson. Mediterranean veterans, radar, Fulmars, Sea Hurricanes, or supporting Buffaloes would give the battleships a much stronger defence against Japanese bombers. Air-group quality and fighter direction become the central variables. The counterfactual is more useful than a simple battleship-versus-aircraft morality tale.