Permanence Valued

We're going back, yet again, to Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1. Today I wanted to think about why Stardust is so devoted to Galactus. Stardust makes it pretty clear that it has no use for the the constantly changing lives of the Ethereals, that it admires the Corporeals, because they build, and change their surroundings, and they (and their creations) persevere long beyond the limits of their own lifespans. Given that, its loyalty to Galactus - who routinely destroys the Corporeals and the things they build - was puzzling to me on the surface. Of course, Stardust admits at the end that the admiration for corporeals was bull, and that Galactus is the only being that Stardust loves. The important question, as friend Tevion almost constantly has to remind his biology students, is why?

But then I realized this morning, that Galactus is a greater example of this resilience. He survived the previous universe. He's one of the few forces that can routinely end the existences of the hardy Corporeals. His is a name and legacy known throughout the entire universe, which is a monument in of itself. Stardust is enabling that legacy to not just continue (since Galactus has demonstrated the ability to find food himself before), but thrive (by making that easier).

And then I realized (about two minutes ago), that Galactus is perhaps a prime example of the merging of these two worlds. He was originally a Corporeal, and has their resilience and permanence, but is in some senses an Ethereal. Stardust describes its people as flitting from place to place, aimlessly. What does Galactus do, but travel the cosmos looking for food? That's it, that's all. There never seems to be a greater purpose to his travels, nothing planned to do along the way. A true nomad. So maybe there's something to that.

Or maybe it's something else entirely.