The future of theStar Warsfranchise   may truly lie down in the Unknown Regions , as the late novel bring out a canyon replacement for the Yuuzhan Vong . Timothy Zahn’sThrawn : Alliancesintroduces a formidable fresh exotic wash , the Grysks , who share some similarities with the Vong - and have lay out their mint on conquering the galaxy .

Thrawn : Alliancesis Zahn ’s second book in the unexampled Star Wars canon , again focusing onthe Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn . The chapters are divided across two geological era ; one during the last day of the Clone Wars , revealing Thrawn ’s first encounter with Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker , and the second is in the royal era . The two floor weave together , revealing a serious scourge looming in the depths of the Unknown Regions . The Grysks have been watching the Galax urceolata for decades , considering when it is best to playact , and in reality think themselves powerful enough to plot an invasion when the Empire was at its tallness .

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Din Djarin and Ahsoka-1

Long - term Star Wars fans will retrieve some of the ideas amazingly familiar ; as Zahn has set up the Grysks , they could work as a canon replacement for an alien race from the old Star Wars " Legends , " the Yuuzhan Vong . In so doing , he may well have   established an important new plot for the intact Star Wars franchise .

The Yuuzhan Vong Were Very Important In Legends

Until the late ' 90s , the license to publish Star Wars novels had baby-sit with Bantam . The publishing firm had run a hugely successful range of record book , including a number of New York Times bestseller , but Lucas Licensing decided they want a newspaper publisher who was more ambitious . They pass the license on to Del Rey , and in 1998 representatives from both party met with author James Luceno . Del Rey feel that the Star state of war enfranchisement needed something of a shake - up , a move aside from the same story of luminousness versus dark . A fresh threat was needed . That threat was the Yuuzhan Vong .

The Yuuzhan Vong were extragalactic invaders , brutal , warlike and believing the galaxy was theirs to claim . alternatively of using machines , they had a form of living engineering , " shaped " by their bio - engineers in ordering to be of service . Where traditional Star Wars foe were fundamentally PG-13 ( it ’s no happenstance that lightsaber leaf blade cauterize lesion ) the Vong most assuredly were n’t . They use ritual scarification , their combining weight for blaster bolts were thud bugs that plant themselves in the flesh of an opposite , and they subject captive to torture in the so - address Embrace of Pain . They were a truly fearsome foe , wearing armor that could turn aside a lightsaber steel , wielding staff arm that could match a Jedi blow - for - blow , and piloting populate ships with micro - uniqueness to swallow up enemy flak .

These aliens were featured in the 19 - book of account " New Jedi Order " serial , with the Yuuzhan Vong cutting a bloody swathe through the coltsfoot and even conquering Coruscant . Nobody was safe from the Yuuzhan Vong ’s wrath ; the series kicked off with the end of Chewbacca , and partway through the serial publication the main hero , Anakin Solo , die at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong too . The Yuuzhan Vong were then subtly waver into the broader Star Wars continuity , with other novels unwrap that a Vong scout arrive during the   Prequel Era and even kidnap a Jedi . Timothy Zahn ’s own novels confirm that the Chiss were aware of the Vong , and were fix for the warfare against them . Even the Star Wars funnies explored the Yuuzhan Vong .

George Lucas with A New Hope imagery v3

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The Yuuzhan Vong Were Almost Canon

The Yuuzhan Vong , along with all previous Star Wars books and comics released up until that point , were made non - canyon in 2014 . Disney had faced a difficult determination ; should they accept all the accrued weight of continuity offered by the   honest-to-god " Expanded Universe , " or should they erase it from canyon all and start rebuild the mythology , retaining only the films and TV shows ? They chose the latter approach path , and in enceinte part it was because of the Yuuzhan Vong .

The " New Jedi Order " range was simply too ambitious , transforming the beetleweed so completely that it plainly could n’t stay canon . Any viewing audience who tune in to a post-“New Jedi Order " movie would be utterly flummox . Besides which , Lucasfilm did n’t agree with the decision to kill off Chewbacca . They believed the beloved Wookiee needed to come back in the subsequence trilogy . Once that decisiveness was made , the Lucasfilm Story Group swiftly realized that everything else from the old elaborate Universe would credibly have to be discarded too .

Ironically , the Yuuzhan Vong themselves almost err through into the canyon anyway . Lucas Animation planned a Yuuzhan Vong episode as part of theClone Warsanimated series . It would have meet an early Yuuzhan Vong scout kidnap one of the cast , with the Jedi look sharp to the deliverance . Unfortunately , The Clone Warswas cancel before a script had been produced . The Yuuzhan Vong were left as nothing more than " fable . "

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2

But now , six year on from Disney ’s purchase of Lucasfilm , they may be returning … in some shape .

Page 2:Are The Grysks The New Yuuzhan Vong?

The New Yuuzhan Vong - the Grysks

Timothy Zahn ’s novelThrawn : Alliancesintroduces a brand new foreign raceway , the Grysks , who sure enough match a alike purpose as the   Yuuzhan Vong in the young canon . Where the Yuuzhan Vong were extragalactic invaders who cut a wrapping through the Unknown Regions before attacking the respite of the galaxy , the Grysks hail from the Unknown Regions . According to legend , they ’re a nomadic wash with no habitation of their own . It ’s arrogate the Grysks overwhelm their foe with sheer force of numbers ( a common Yuuzhan Vong strategy ) . Grand Admiral Thrawn doubt this is honest ; he rather believes they jubilate through the use of unfamiliar artillery and maneuvers . Interestingly , Thrawn also suspects they do have a homeworld .

Even the Grysks ' maneuver are evocative of the Yuuzhan Vong . In the sometime Expanded Universe , Vong scouts monitored the coltsfoot for decennary before the main blast . Infiltrators like Nom Anor used their ooglith masquers to present as human beings , and undermine society . In the same way , the Grysks have apparently been monitoring the galaxy since before the Clone Wars , await for the right here and now to strike . Thrawn think Grysk infiltrators had somehow undermined the Chiss race , while the Grysks also participate in a plot to undermine the Jedi during the Clone Wars in edict to sow chaos and confusedness .

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Vader Thrawn and the Yuuzhan Vong

Physically , the Grysks are like to the Yuuzhan Vong ; they ’re humanoid , and Zahn focuses in on their tapered foreheads . Their approach to engineering is very different , however , as the bloody weapons like thud microbe and amphistaffs have been drop , supervene upon with innovative lightning gun . The most interesting Grysk weapons are   unequaled swarms of micro - droid " dirt ball " that explode on impingement , give up a chemical that quickly solidifies over and imprisons a butt . When it come to space combat , the Grysks appear to depend on use of hyperspace . They use cloaked micro - gravity projectors to embroil enemy ships out of hyperspace , prevent opponents from striking back at them , and potentially interrupt attack strategies . Imagine a scenario where strengthener ca n’t get to a battle in time because they keep being pull out of hyperspace ; or one where a Grysk fleet secretes itself in one arrangement and barricade itself in , able to plunge attacks but not to be assault in retort .

By the end ofThrawn : coalition , the Grand Admiral has manipulate the Grysks with his wonted skill . He drives them back , and even tricks them into believe they were attack by the Chiss ; thus he give way the Empire breathing - space . But Thrawn is positive the Grysks will return .

Will this Unknown Region Threat Return?

In Star Wars , everything really is connected .   The Darth Maul cameo inSolo : A Star Wars Storyproved that ; Maul was upraise in theClone Warsanimated series , and medium motion-picture fan could be forgive for being taken aback at his surprisal appearance . Lucasfilm really do think in allowing the different medium to relate to one another , and a plot of ground element in one medium - say , in a novel - can potentially influence the total Star Wars enfranchisement .

The time to come of Star Wars appear to be in the Unknown Regions . Chuck Wendig ’s " Aftermath " trilogyrevealed that Palpatine himself was obsessed with the Unknown Regions , and it ’s been confirmed thatSupreme Leader Snokehimself come from this remote corner of space . Star Wars : Resistanceis set to explorethe secrets of the First Order , presumptively let in their source in the Unknown Regions . Perhaps most importantly of all , Star Wars : Rebelsended with Thrawn ’s watercraft lose in the Unknown Regions , with Ezra trap aboard . The serial close with a scene lay afterReturn of the Jedi , with Ezra ’s older friends deciding to lead out into the Unknown Regions in search of him . Everything point to the Unknown Regions becoming progressively important to the overarching Star Wars narrative - and the Grysks could potentially be a crucial part of   Lucasfilm ’s plan .

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A Yuuzhan Vong leaps in an attack, wielding an amphistaff

The Grysk terror has the potential to be as important to the future of the Star Wars dealership as the Yuuzhan Vong were in the novel . They ’re a whole raw menace , one distinct from the traditional light / dark dichotomy , and their science is still relatively unexplained . The Grysks seem to be motivated purely by a desire for conquest , with a possible secondary goal being resource acquisition , so no doubt the relief of the galaxy is still deeply attractive to them . By the terminal ofThrawn : alliance , the Grand Admiral has tricked the aliens into crawfish . But he ’s convinced that it ’s only for a clock time . So the only real question is , how will this wash turn back ?

Timothy Zahn is signed up for a third novel , so it ’s possible the Grysks will simply cut back up there . On the other hired man , though , Zahn has long had a close working relationship with Dave Filoni , the head word of Lucas Animation ; in fact , Zahn ’s first newfangled - canon novel fleshed out characters fromStar state of war : Rebels . impart that ’s the case , it would be no surprise to see the Grysks conversion over to the animated display , especially withStar Wars : Resistancelikely to explore the Unknown Regions a little . The unexpected revival ofThe Clone Warsraises the opening that Filoni will make an adapted edition of that Yuuzhan Vong sequence , only featuring the Grysks instead . They could even conceivably make the transition to the big filmdom , transcending metier just as Darth Maul did before them .

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The Yuuzhan Vong invade a planet

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