A Study In Contrasts

I'm going back to Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 for today, because of something that occurred to me after I made Saturday's post. What I thought of was that maybe there was more to which heralds were spotlighted this issue than simply random chance, luck, or whatever. 

Terrax and Stardust are very different beings, and yet very similar. Terrax controls earth, is made out of it, or looks like he is. Solid, strong, changing only over long periods of time, as a result of a slow grind of external forces (think of the Grand Canyon being carved from the rocks over millions of years by water). Stardust is energy, and seems to control it. Ephemeral, shifting often, easily malleable into different forms, depending on the forces acting on it in that moment.

Terrax is possibly the worst Herald Galactus ever had. He accepted the power, and the job that came with it, but quickly proceeded to lead Galactus to a world that would poison him. The reason being that Terrax wanted to use the Power Cosmic as he saw fit, no "heralding" strings attached. In contrast, Stardust may be the most loyal Herald. Silver Surfer and Nova both seemed to have a "crisis of conscience" moment, making them question feeding Galactus inhabited worlds. Firelord and Air-Walker both had issues, though I can't remember what exactly. I think Firelord just didn't like taking orders. Morg was devoted, but too batshit insane to do his job without bringing heat down on Galactus. And if there's one thing Galactus enjoys, it's feeding without disturbance. Terrax I've already discussed. 

But Stardust, if guilty of going too far - the Stormbreaker mini-series, where Stardust decided no one should be allowed to survive Galactus devouring their world being an example - seems deeply devoted to the responsibilities that come with the Power Cosmic. Make sure Galactus stays fed? No problem! Only inhabited worlds around? Too bad for them, Galactus must survive, and so on. Basically, Stardust cares only for Galactus' needs, and Terrax only for his own. 

But where their personalities converge is in the lines they'll cross in their pursuit of what's important to them. Stardust wants to serve Galactus (why, I need to think more about), and to that end is willing to first attack its own kind (for barring the path), and then sacrifice those same members of its species to Galactus, to prove loyalty and devotion to the Devourer. Never mind that those were the last surviving members of the Ethereals other than Stardust, Galactus must... be... fed. 

With Terrax, it's a case of his confidence being gone. He was captured by Annihilus, turned into a puppet, and actually begged Gamora to end his life. He needs to restore his self-worth, and to do that he's going to inflict some damage on whoever makes themselves available. If it means attacking those who try to help him, or show concern, so be it. If it means destroying an entire planet, because the natives don't know how to live without someone telling them what to do, well that's what he'll do. Because the important thing is that people understand that Terrax is back in control, and he is to be feared.