With one of, if not the best character arcs in the saga, Laurana began a spoiled brat and evolved into the Golden General and all because her love of Tanis Half-Elven allowed her to break free of her elven prejudice. Let’s take a closer look at Lauralanthalasa Kanan. Buy The Art of Dragonlance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...

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Transcript
We first met her as a love sick, spoiled princess who turned into the Golden General leading armies against the Dark Queen herself. I’m talking about Lauralanthalasa Kanan of course...
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to dive into the life of Lauralanthalasa Kanan. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the sourcebooks and novels for this information, but if you believe I misspeak or have something wrong, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
I get a lot of flack from Dragonlance fans about my perception of Laurana as a character. She is entirely defined by the state of the world, rising to the challenges set before her, but her beginnings were less than admirable. Tracy Hickman refers to her as transitioning from “'...[a] spoiled little girl' to the general of armies.” Tracy actually named her after his wife Laura. Laurana was one of the original three characters that Tracy and Laura Hickman workshopped to define Dragonlance. Kitiara as the paragon of Evil, Laurana as the paragon of good, and Tanis as the paragon of Neutrality. Just as the trio would have a love triangle and moral struggles between them, the campaign world itself would follow suit, echoed in the machinations of the gods, the Queen of Darkness, Paladine and Gilean.

The character herself notes that she behaved naively, chasing after a man who supposedly didn’t love her. Doing what she is doing, not for the greater good, or glory, but to earn the love of and prove herself to Tanis. This is of course halfway through her character arc, and by the time she arrives in Southern Ergoth, she is entirely caught up in the workings of the world, doing what she can, not for the selfish love of one man, but for the love of her friends and the good in the world. You can see this evolution in the writing, naturally, but also in the way the artists portrayed her. But before we can truly appreciate what she becomes, we have to take a trip down memory lane to where she began. Laurana is the youngest child and only daughter of the Speaker of the Sun Solostaran Kanan. Her older brothers are Porthios Kanan and Gilthanas Kanan. Laurana was taught to be a symbol of her people and act gracious in polite society, though she was a product of being pampered and spoiled. She learned ceremonial swordplay and to telepathically communicate with griffons. When her father took on Tanis Half-Elven as a ward, Laurana and Tanis would fall into a romantic though childish relationship, promising to marry when they reached maturity. She was a skilled diplomat, and even used her good looks and charm as a weapon to get her own way.

A week after confiding her love for Tanis to her brother Gilthanas, Tanis left Qualinost. Laurana was heartbroken. So when Tanis returned unexpectedly with an entourage heralding the changing world to come, Laurana was devastated by his rebuke of her affections and his confessions of loving Kitiara Uth Matar. This is also the beginning of the love triangle that would become a point of contention through the War of the Lance and after, leading to Laurana’s capture. Laurana was determined to win the affection of Tanis however and even chased after him when the companions left. This is the defining moment for her character, it broke her out of the protected womb and allowed her to see the state of the world, and get exposure to different perspectives and people that her insulated life sheltered her from. Exposure to different world views and personalities is essential for personal growth and we are afforded a front row seat to Laurana’s...