Late Friday night, Dave Filoni took to Twitter to tease his appearance at Celebration London this summer and to remind us that “there’s always a bit of truth in legends.” Needless to say, fandom handled this precisely as expected. (Thrawn. Everyone’s losing their minds because it might be Thrawn. Or maybe Mara Jade. Nah, probably Thrawn.) Problem is… that’s boring. Why waste these beautiful months of speculation time by assuming a certain Chiss is a given? Here are eight more minor Legends characters who I think have potential to appear in Rebels.
Qwi Xux – She’s the most logical choice, really. With Rogue One rapidly approaching, what better tie in for Rebels than to delve into the building of the first Death Star? Qwi Xux was a very naïve scientist who contributed greatly to its creation. Perhaps the time isn’t right to directly introduce the Death Star but teasing its existence with a secret military science lab would be intriguing to say the least. Using Qwi would give Rebels a chance to further contribute to the idea of Imperials who aren’t bad people but who still support the cause and it would given them an excuse to design a blue bird lady.
Adan Dooku – If they’re looking for a cool Prequel Trilogy connection, reaching back to Count Dooku would be a smart one that could also tie into Alderaan. In the Agent of the Empire comic, Adan Dooku was the Count’s nephew who lived on Alderaan in exile amongst the Organa court. He may not have been the best of people in Legends but the sky is the limit when it comes to canon.
Laryn Kre’fey – Or, as Rogue Podron as renamed him, Cray Cray Kre’fey. It’s only a matter of time before Bothans make their return to prominence in canon. Rebels needs on ranking officer cannon fodder and we should offer up Laryn Kre’fey. He’s arrogant and not too smart. In other words, he’s the perfect character to bring over from Legends just to die because of his own mess up. (He’s a legend because of how much he’s sucked. That’s the joke, guys.)
Maarisa Zsinj – The new canon has been knocking it out of the park when it comes to including more Imperial ladies. Rebels, unfortunately, has been lagging behind on that front. Enter Maarisa Zsinj, mother of a certain somewhat psychotic Warlord Zsinj. She served during the Clone Wars and continued to serve under the Empire, even achieving the rank of Admiral. Admiral Zsinj could be a fun adversary for the crew of the Ghost to go up against especially if she has any of the same flare as her son.
Kolot – Ewoks or bust, damnit. But seriously: the Emperor probably has some crazy science experiments secreted away somewhere and that sounds like the perfect facility for the Ghost to stumble upon while they’re searching for where he hides the Force sensitive kids. Let’s be honest… can you really see Filoni and company giving up the chance to have a smart and cranky ewok interact with Zeb, Ezra, and Chopper? No? That’s what I thought.
Peckhum – Star Wars has a crazy old hermit quota to fulfill and I nominate Peckhum to do so. There’s not a lot of material in Legends with him so all the Rebels team really needs to do is have him onboard the Lightning Rod and somehow managing to get to his destination intact. We’ve already met Hondo so another eccentric smuggler/pirate type makes plenty of sense.
Bror Jace – The Rebel Alliance is in desperate need of bacta which is the perfect mission for the Ghost. They fly to Thyferra for secret negotiations with the Zaltin family. Success will mean saving the lives of thousands of Rebel fighters. Failure could mean many of them will die. The Ghost arrives and who is there to meet them but Bror Jace in lavender shorts. Negotiations between him and Hera eventually result in a flying competition. Hera wins. So does Kanan because he doesn’t have to see those shorts.
Niles Ferrier – Wouldn’t it be ironic if they ended up using a character that Zahn created for his first trilogy and it’s not Thrawn or Mara? No one likes Niles Ferrier but it is the sort of trolltastic maneuver I could see Filoni pulling. Okay, fine maybe he’s not in Heir to the Empire which is the supposed book spine that he tweeted but it’s pretty darn close! Ferrier is not a nice person in the least. He’s kind of a jerk who looks out for only himself. He would definitely be a very different type for the Ghost to encounter. He sure is Legendary… for being a jerk. Also, we would get another Defel. That would be fun.
Tell us… which Legends character do you think Filoni could be teasing?
I still hope that Kanan will regain his sight for a couple of reasons. One is that the blind warrior story line has been done before. The second one is that Kanan would not lose his ability to fight in total darkness after regaining his sight because a person who loses their sight, then learns to move around without their sight, and later regain their sight will not lose that experience. Kanan would then be able to teach Ezra how to do that.