most discussions go straight to Luo Ji vs Wade. but Zhang Beihai deserves to be in that conversation.

the guy figured out on his own that humanity's only real option was to flee entirely. instead of telling anyone, he assassinated aerospace engineers working on the wrong propulsion tech. spent centuries in cryo maintaining a cover story. then hijacked the Natural Selection and got it out before the rest of the fleet self-destructed in the dark forest battle.

he was right about everything. nobody thanked him. it killed him anyway.

i think he's the most tragic figure in the trilogy. more on Zhang Beihai if curious.