Truth in Legends: The EU in Rebels Season 3?

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What’s Filoni got up his sleeve with all this “Truth in Legends” talk? Let’s investigate where it might go in Star Wars Rebels season three.

Is there a bit of truth in legends, after all? On May 27th, Dave Filoni tweeted out an intriguing teaser kernel about season three of Star Wars Rebels, and the Twittersphere got to popping. Filoni will be at Star Wars Celebration Europe this summer, and it looks like some info might be supplied during his visit.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all at #SWCE 2016! And remember, there’s always a bit of truth in legends. pic.twitter.com/auc6HDDAx1

— Dave Filoni (@dave_filoni) May 28, 2016

Now, I’m pretty sure based on photos I’ve seen that the book spine pictured is a first edition copy of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. Which would make sense, because if they’re going to start pulling anything from Legends, they should start with the best books. Of course, Twitter immediately started tossing out who they would want to see – Mara Jade! Thrawn! Talon Karrde!

I’ve read almost all of the Legends titles, and I’ve read Zahn’s contributions multiple times. I know there are certain characters that just won’t work in Rebels (i.e., Mara Jade–sorry to dash any hopes). However, if Filoni is teasing something from Legends, and if I’m right on it being from Heir to the Empire, here is a short list of possibilities that could fit into Rebels.

Keep in mind that Rebels is set less than five years before A New Hope.

3. Gilad Pellaeon

Pellaeon has a long history in the Legends universe. He was a commander of a small task force during the Clone Wars era, and in fact had contact with Ahsoka Tano and Rex when he let them aboard his ship the Leveler. After several promotions in his early Imperial service, Pellaeon went on to serve under Tarkin, Piett, Darth Vader, and even Emperor Palpatine. Thus, he would be an interesting addition to Rebels. He would be a young officer during the Rebels era, and could very well be introduced as an up and coming protégé of Tarkin (who has already been featured on the show). I’d love to see Pellaeon in a roll where he would be faced with tracking down the rebels, perhaps working with Agent Kallus.

 

 

3. Talon Karrde

According to the Legends timeline, Karrde would be working under Jorj Car’das’ massive smuggling organization during the Rebels era. He would be one of Car’das’ top lieutenants, working with underworld information brokering as well as smuggling. Karrde would be a logical choice to show up in Rebels; the main Rebels characters are often on missions to obtain weapons, food, and fuel for the young Rebellion. It would make sense for them to come across Karrde in their dealings with smugglers. And in Heir to the Empire, Karrde does have a soft spot for helping others, and is known to be an honorable man. He could become an ally for the crew of the Ghost, albeit an invisible one. Karrde would fit into the Rebels action easily, and he could be a character the show writers could continually come back to.  Plus, I’d like to see his interaction with Ezra. Ezra is in a conflicted place–he is torn between becoming a Jedi and being a soldier. What if he struck out on his own, and met up with Karrde? Perhaps this is just wishful thinking.

 

 

1 . The Chiss and/or Grand Admiral Thrawn

And now for the “truth in legends” possibility that makes the most sense. The Chiss. Early on, show writers even toyed with incorporating Chiss before Rebels began. Check out this picture of Agent Kallus as a Chiss!

Introducing the Chiss species would be easy; any new character could be Chiss. Since Rebels isn’t beholden to plots and backgrounds of Legends, the Chiss could be just another species around, not a species that had been stuck on the Outer Rim in isolation. I think this might actually be what the showrunners do.

Now… Thrawn. At this point he wouldn’t be a Grand Admiral, so he would just be Thrawn. In the Legends books it is known that Thrawn, as lead officer of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, destroyed the Republic ship Outbound Flight, killing many Jedi Order members. According to the Legends timeline, he would have been exiled on an uninhabited world in Chiss Ascendancy due to his continued preventive strikes the Chiss did not approve of. Once he was discovered he was brought to Emperor Palpatine (who already knew of him), and was quickly incorporated into the Imperial Navy. If Filoni was to bring in Thrawn, perhaps as an officer, that would be HUGE. Thrawn is one of the most loved characters in all of the Legends novels, and by incorporating him into Rebels that would make him official canon. He would be tasked with eradicating the rebels, perhaps as Darth Vader’s mission specialist. If this was to be the case, I think we would see the rebels in for a lot of trouble. Thrawn is a military mastermind, after all. And it would be awesome to see Thrawn vs. Vader; Vader’s style of command (punishing and brutal) differs so much from Thrawn’s command style (creative and thoughtful). Having these two face off on how to deal with the rebels would be amazing.

Only time will tell what Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels has in store. Until then, I early await any news from Dave Filoni, his truth in legends hint, and Star Wars Celebration Europe.