Drowning in Nostalgia for a Past I Hate

yeahhh, they can take care of each other out there ㅠㅅㅠ

my shaylas ( ˃ᯅ˂)

made a matching drawing to my Iron Lung fanart, because to me, they are two sides of the same coin (same side of the coin, imo) they go hand in hand 🤝 also the little kibty is named Felicette! she was the first cat to go to space and come back safely 🥹 she is often forgotten in the history of space travels, and for what she had to go through, i wanted to have her here as well because she deserves it 🧎

PUT THIS IN THE LOUVRE IMMEDIATELY!!!

I think that the canon Thrawn books are simply better than the legends ones.

I honestly don’t know how most people feel about this, but I’m gonna throw my opinions out there anyway. So, what are the big differences between the two? The main thing is this: we get a lot more development of Thrawn himself in the canon books, especially the Ascendancy trilogy. However, in legends, Thrawn as an actual character is most fleshed out in Outbound Flight (note: I have not read the Hand of Thrawn duology and can’t comment on it). This is not to detract from legends Thrawn; I love both iterations of the character and Outbound Flight remains a favorite of mine. However, Thrawn in his original trilogy is very much a force of nature as opposed to a very fleshed-out character, given that he was the villain. His development was also somewhat retroactive, as Outbound Flight was written afterwards. Meanwhile, we’re a lot closer to Thrawn in both his canon trilogies.

Furthermore, and this is one of the big things, his motivations are much more interesting in canon. He has willingly been vilified by his people and put into exile in order to infiltrate the empire, and spends a lot of time there in order to help the Ascendancy. He spends over a decade in the imperial service, and during that time, he goes out of his way to do things that benefit his people, even though it risks his station and life. He sends Eli Vanto to Ar’alani, tries to recruit Nightswan, repeatedly annoys Darth Vader in order to rescue Chiss Navigators, and openly works with the Chiss without permission, skirting dangerously close to treason. Thrawn in canon is a character who is going to incredible lengths to do anything that has even a chance of benefiting his people, even when it risks his own life. Especially when it risks his own life.

The other major improvement from legends is the increased development of the Chiss Ascendency and its characters, as well as an increase in those characters. Ar’alani gets much more focus in canon than she did in Outbound Flight, and has become a key part of Thrawn’s story. And speaking of Outbound Flight—Thrass is given increased attention and development in the story, not in place of his time in Outbound Flight, but in addition to it. Nothing of Thrass’ character in Outbound Flight is seriously countermanded by his Ascendancy characterization, and many aspects of Outbound Flight, especially the Chiss parts, have been effectively canonized by the Ascendancy trilogy. Eli Vanto, Karyn Faro, Samakro, Thalias, Ba’kiff, Thurfian, and all the rest are also wonderful additions to Thrawn’s mythos. Getting to see snapshots of Thrawn’s youth, his rise, his struggles within the Ascendancy, and even his failures also go a long way towards making him more of a fleshed-out character and not just the overwhelming tactical genius that he was in legends.

And most importantly: Eli Vanto actually appreciates the art Thrawn studies and can give meaningful commentary rather than just saying it’s “interesting” (looking at you, Captain Paelleon).

i haven't read many of zahn's non-star wars works, but just looking at the evolution of writing between the original thrawn trilogy and the ascendancy trilogy, the difference is night and day. mara jade may have been a revolutionary character for the 90s sci-fi scene, but everything about the way she was written pales in comparison to every female character zahn has invented since then. ar'alani, karyn faro, thalias and ziinda are all incredible characters, and perhaps the most impressive to me is borika, who has more depth and nuance established in the single chapter she's in than a lot of popular main characters from different books, both star wars and not. the way zahn weaves story threads and writes characters nowadays is such an improvement from his books in the 90s, and i wish more people could see this past their veil of nostalgia

LOCUS / SAMUEL ORTEZ