Star Wars: Talon Karrde– Tamer of Wild Space Wolves
Smuggler, information broker, personal friend to the Skywalker family, and tamer of space wolves– Talon Karrde is one of Legends‘ best characters.
Talon Karrde is one of those fan-favorite characters from Legends that would be so easy to write anywhere into the new canon. In fact, it’s borderline criminal we haven’t seen his return to the Star Wars galaxy.
Smuggler, information broker, and space wolf tamer, Karrde is easily one of the most interesting and fun characters yet to be written back into canon. But where could he go? Honestly, pretty much anywhere.
Who is Talon Karrde?
Conceived by Timothy Zahn for the original Thrawn Trilogy, Karrde was the answer to the question ‘what if Han Solo hadn’t gotten fully onboard with the Rebellion?’ With an ideology stands as an inverse to Jabba the Hutt‘s organization, he is honorable and well-liked by the people under his command and otherwise. He inspires loyalty and trust uncommon of the galactic underworld.
Karrde began his career working for another infamous not-presently-canonical smuggler, Jorj Car’das. He climbed the ranks quickly and proved himself to be useful, becoming one of Car’das’s top lieutenants and even taking over the organization when Car’das disappeared. An expert at making a profit in any and every bad situation, Karrde would eventually make a name for himself as one of the top smugglers and information brokers in the galaxy.
Despite his shady past, Karrde is more-or-less a good guy. He often works for the New Republic through connections with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. This caused Grand Admiral Thrawn– and the remains of the Empire– to view him as an enemy, placing a bounty on his head.
But one of his most interesting social connections is the perhaps the most coveted character for the current canon, Mara Jade. Mara acted as his second in command as he transitioned his organization from smuggling and information brokering to information sharing between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant in the aftermath of their 19ABY peace treaty.
Did I Mention He Tames Space Wolves?
But no, it’s not enough for Talon to be a successful business man and galactic mystery person of the underworld. He’s also an accidental tamer of wild creatures. A trip to Myrkr brought him in contact with highly intelligent, force sensitive space wolves, the Vornskr. He learned– mostly by accident– that docking their tails reduced their aggression significantly.
And so domesticated Vornskr Sturm and Drang joined his team as his personal pets. This would come in handy on trips to Myrkr, where he had a few run-ins with the animals there. But mostly, his ability to communicate with the animals acted as a fantastic and very telling first impression of Talon Karrde’s character.
The galaxy can always use more smugglers and information brokers in just about any part of the timeline. A genuinely likable character like Talon Karrde could fit the bill anywhere. Fingers crossed he’d have Sturm and Drang with him.
And other characters from his same books coming back into the canon. Plus, characters like Hondo prove that a character with dubious alignment is still incredibly popular. It wouldn’t be surprising if we saw him again soon.
Also, his ship is called “The Wild Karrde.”
Is Talon Karrde one of your favorite smugglers? Would you like to see him returned to canon and in what capacity? What other legends characters would you like to see breakdowns for? Let us know in the comments!
May The Force Be With You, Adventures!
