Star Wars Books Thread
- Thread starter Mr Light
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Haven't read the new book yet, but I'm pretty sure it was confirmed elsewhere several weeks ago that that guy is a new character and not Thrawn.
Yeah, while the original iteration of the Thawn character would be prime material for the "fleet admiral character, this is a new version, who can be as different as he needs to be for the sake of the new stories.
For the curious who don't know who this guy is and want to read the original stuff about him, Thrawn first appeared in the trilogy that bears his name (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). The aftereffects of his career were covered in the "Hand of Thrawn Duology (Spectre of the Past, Vision of the Future), while his backstory was covered in Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight. Choices of One (a sequel to Allegiance ) had Thrawn as a major character, while he also cameoed in the Galaxy of Fear chapter book The Swarm (the only time he was not written by Timothy Zahn).
(As far as the adult books go, the order I listed them is the recommended reading order, IMHO. Obviously, bear in mind that the Star Wars universe they present is nothing like the one we've gotten now, with Force Awakens.)
For the curious who don't know who this guy is and want to read the original stuff about him, Thrawn first appeared in the trilogy that bears his name (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). The aftereffects of his career were covered in the "Hand of Thrawn Duology (Spectre of the Past, Vision of the Future), while his backstory was covered in Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight. Choices of One (a sequel to Allegiance ) had Thrawn as a major character, while he also cameoed in the Galaxy of Fear chapter book The Swarm (the only time he was not written by Timothy Zahn).
(As far as the adult books go, the order I listed them is the recommended reading order, IMHO. Obviously, bear in mind that the Star Wars universe they present is nothing like the one we've gotten now, with Force Awakens.)
I thought so too initially, but then it occurred to me that it would have created a bit of a problem with the post-RotJ narrative we've seen thus far. Specifically that the Empire essentially folded within a year of Endor and that the remnants of the fleet buggered off into the unknown regions only to re-emerge decades later as the First Order.
If Thrawn was part of the post-Endor/pre-Jakku fight then he couldn't have been terribly effective. If he fled into the unknown regions then what happened to him? Whatever the possible answers, either scenario seems destined to disappoint.
Granted there's a similar problem with his showing up in Rebels, but at least we have a good amount of time for him to be operating before inevitably killing him off.
Well, considering that the character wasn't part of that important Imperial meeting in Aftermath, maybe he was gone by that time. Or maybe he was elsewhere (like with the Imperial faction at the end of Lost Stars, or with the group that made their last stand at Jakku in the Battlefront game -- setting up Force Awakens). Who knows?
Also the problem assumes that canon Thrawn is as good as his Legends counterpart, which may or may not be the case. (And even Legends Thrawn was never as good as his reputation among his enemies and the real-life fans would have you believe.)
^The only reason the EU Thrawn failed was because he was betrayed by his bodyguard. He failed to fully account for the Noghri's system of honour and was unaware they'd been exposed to Leia's influence. Indeed, I'm not sure if he even knew Leia was Vader's daughter, which was the key to the whole thing. So yes, he really was very clever but he wasn't omnipotent. To me that just makes him all the more interesting as an antagonist that can never loose can be every bit as tedious as a hero who always wins.
As for this new incarnation: I think it's a reasonable bet that he won't survive his time in 'Rebels' and is probably already dead or "gone" by the time of Rogue One.
The thing with a character like Thrawn as an adversary is that you can't have him stick around for too long or he'll cease to be a credible threat. He needs to appear exactly long enough to make it look like he actually might win until he's overcome at the last minute. Which is pretty much how it played out in Zahn's trilogy.
As for this new incarnation: I think it's a reasonable bet that he won't survive his time in 'Rebels' and is probably already dead or "gone" by the time of Rogue One.
The thing with a character like Thrawn as an adversary is that you can't have him stick around for too long or he'll cease to be a credible threat. He needs to appear exactly long enough to make it look like he actually might win until he's overcome at the last minute. Which is pretty much how it played out in Zahn's trilogy.
Course, he also had the clone backup in reserve. (Although, how would that benefit you, practically speaking? You'd still be dead. It's not like your ghost got a new body that allowed you to resume where you left off. If the whole memory implant thing is used to in theory recreate the original, you've effectively only brainwashed someone else into thinking they were you.)
You never can tell, esp. since we never got any of the stories from Thrawn's perspective in any of the books (only through other people who knew or interacted with him). Wonder if Zahn will change that for his new canon novel about the character?
(I kind of wish that the hints that a Thrawn clone survived and was operating had been followed up on, as that could've introduced some interesting stuff, esp. as to what kind of character Thrawn mark two would've been.
I think the new "Grand Admiral Guy" is suppose to be at least a hint towards Snoke in TFA, but I've not read these novels yet. But Thrawn is coming back in Rebels and in a new Timothy Zahn novel next year.
Now they might kill him off, but I would think they would more likely have his sent to the Unknown Regions after his brush with the rebels. Either as punishment for failure, or because he thinks they will set up bases out there and he'd rather have everything in place before they get their, only for them to settle on Yavin and/or Dantooine first for reasons outside Thrawn's knowledge.
Now they might kill him off, but I would think they would more likely have his sent to the Unknown Regions after his brush with the rebels. Either as punishment for failure, or because he thinks they will set up bases out there and he'd rather have everything in place before they get their, only for them to settle on Yavin and/or Dantooine first for reasons outside Thrawn's knowledge.
As I understand it, Vision of the Future was one of the last Star Wars books published by Bantam before Del Rey took over the license. So, I'm not sure whether Bantam had any plans for the invasion or if it was just meant to indicate that the heroes still had adventures waiting for them.
Del Rey did actually follow up on both ideas, sort of; their New Jedi Order series had the Yuuzhan Vong invade the Galaxy for conquest, with hints dropped in other books that there were some, including Thrawn's people who had some awareness that they were coming and that the Vision of the Future threat was the Vong.
The Del Rey book Survivor's Quest also implies at the end that another Thrawn clone did survive and had organized the the plot of the book, with Mara Skywalker wondering if part of it was to get them prepared for the threat that the Vong would later pose.
After looking though Wookieepedia it sounds like that character was identified in Life Debt.
I haven't read the Aftermath books yet, but it sounds like the unidentified Grand Admiral is a new character rather than Thrawn.
^^I'm only 80 pages into Life Debt, but yeah, the Fleet Admiral is already revealed to be a new character.
I agree. Of course - as pointed out - Thrawn could have been referring to the Vong, but it was unclear.
Vision of the Future is one of my favorite EU novels, and I have the privilege of owning a copy signed by the author.
The Unknown Regions were always at the top of the NJO era star maps ;-)
http://i1.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-con...-njo-map.jpg?fit=429, 9999&crop=0,0,100,321px
http://i1.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-con...-njo-map.jpg?fit=429, 9999&crop=0,0,100,321px
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