Your Top 20 Favorite "Thrawn" Book Characters: No. 17, Vah'nya
The only person who loves Eli Vanto more than me and you
I asked for your favorite Thrawn novel characters and you voted. The list so far:
17. Vah’nya
Species: Chiss
Abilities: Telepathy and precognition
Job: ozyly-esehembo
Canon appearances: Thrawn: Treason
Legends appearances: None
The bio: Everyone knows Chiss sky-walkers lose their Third-Sight ability to navigate warships through precognition when they turn 14. What this character presupposes is…maybe they don’t? Vah’nya is the sky-walker aboard the Steadfast, Admiral Ar’alani’s ship. Despite being 22 years old, she retains her Third Sight. Vah’nya aids Ar’alani and Thrawn in the rescue of Un’hee and the recovery of her memories.
From the books:
“I’ve been ordered to the bridge,” he said, eyeing her closely. Not just good company, but also highly intriguing. Though her Third Sight was slowly fading, as it did with all navigators, even at twenty-two she still had greater skill than all but one or two of the younger girls.
He’d looked into it a bit, and as far as he could tell no one knew why her ability had lasted this long. But then, with the whole Chiss navigation system a deep, black secret, it wasn’t surprising that it hadn’t been very well studied.
On top of all of Vah’nya’s other interesting qualities, she was the only person aboard he’d been able to persuade to call him by his real name. That alone would have earned her high marks in his book.
“Ah,” she said. “So you were not merely coming to see me?”
Why she’s a favorite: Vah’nya cracks the list despite commanding very little ink so far. She has potential as a major character in future Thrawn books. Her ability to retain her precognitive powers past adolescence underscores the riddle of why Force sensitivity is gender- and age-specific among the Chiss. It’s a puzzle fan-favorite Eli Vanto has been sent by Thrawn to investigate. In addition to potentially being the key to his solution, Vah’nya is a bonafide love-interest for Eli. And in the Thrawn series, romance is about as rare as a 22-year-old sky-walker.