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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

RE: Thrawn Fans Unite!!!

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Casta, Jul 8, 2000.

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  1. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Casta signing in.

    Thrawn has recently toppled Mara Jade to become my all-time favorite character.

    Some quotes on Thrawn's tactical genius:

    TLC (paperback, pg 122):

    mara jade: "There isn't anything. not with thrawn. He has no patterns; no favorite strategies; no discernible weaknesses. He studies his enemies and tailors his attacks against psychological blind spots. He doesn't overcommit his forces, and he's not too proud to back off when it's clear he's losing. which doesn't happen very often."

    pg 121. "Yes, Thrawn was one of the best. Brilliant and innovative, with an almost compulsive thirst for victory."

    What makes Thrawn even more special than others, is that he fared well in most of his battles against New Republic, despite the alleged crumbling Empire beside him and the death of the Emperor. Grace under fire, and he was cool enough to pull them all together. Even more, he was the LAST of all Grand Admirals. The New Republic defeated Thrawn's forces by neither tactical ingenuity or formidable military forces, rather it's a luck/coincidence. Thrawn was stabbed by Rukh, and that chops the head of the Imperial Navy.


    Daala? Tactically traumatized.
     
  2. Supreme Chancellor Thrawn

    Supreme Chancellor Thrawn Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 1999
    Yay for Thrawn, my favorite character in the Star Wars universe. Brilliantly written, of course, by the almighty Zahn, Thrawn is trully an excelent addition to Star Wars.

    The official Thrawn is ALIVE fanfic, for anyone who wants to see what would have happened if the Blue One wasn't killed at Bilbringi:
    http://boards.theforce.net/message_flat.asp?topic=170395&replies=175
     
  3. Taarkin

    Taarkin Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 6, 1999
    [stickinthemud]I think Thrawn was more of a really good guesser than a tactical genius. Like how he magicly guessed who would transfer into what ship when the Falcon and Luck were docked in HttE. And how he magicly guessed that Ackbar was going for Bilbringi rather than Tangerine(sp on both). I don't buy the art thing; look how diverse human art is. A few samples of Picasso and Rembrant won't tell you that Horatio will try to cross the T, or that Yammamoto is going for Midway rather than the Aelutians. And without his glowing red eyes, he's nuthin'.[/stickinthemud]
     
  4. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Well, Taarkin, it's inevitable sometimes military guess in war, because you don't know every single thing. But Thrawn was making no random guesses. He drew logical inferences based on previous experiences as well as information at hand. Would it rather be better to say Thrawn was making educated guesses? Or even better, logical deduction. Read the passages again, you'd find out Thrawn actually stated how he came up with the conclusion. He was predicting his opponents' strategies instead of guessing. Mara Jade the Emperor's hand had acknowledged that if there is anything that distinguish Thrawn from other Grand Admirals, then it must be his capability of predicting his opponents' strategies. How could Mara Jade know, since she had never been in battle with Thrawn, without Emperor's telling her? And that implies Palpatine acknowledged this special skill of Thrawn himself.

    Believe me, Thrawn's rise to Grand Admiral is no serendipity. Consider just one single situation: He is not a humanoid. And Emperor was know for the notoriety of being a bigoted racist. And double standard can be implied. Thrawn, despite the racial bias of the Emperor, still managed to gain the title, even without an affirmative action program. Without his tactical ingenuity, Thrawn would have not gone this far, transcending the prejudice with his own formidable military wisdom. Emperor does not just name his Grand Admirals randomly, and his entitlement was largely based upon merits.

    All right, there are always skepticisms about the art thing. I've noticed that you said how different human art to be, from Picasso to Rembrandt. Good point, but there is a loophole--Picasso and Rembrandt do not belong to the same time period. Compare the style of Kandinsky against Da Vinci, huh, is there anything in common? Not at all. I understand that you are trying to make the point that art have different branches and you can't just tell from one the ethos of humans. However, every epoch has its own prevalent type of artistic style. Maybe it will cross with other type, and the prevalence would enable it to influence concurrent branches of art and even better, the future branches. There are always elements of human ethos that's carrried through generations of various branches of art, because of the parallel influence and continuity of the influence. The integral emotions, and the spirit don't change with time (hatred, good vs bad, etc). Nonetheless, the prevalence of certain art brances during a particular time period reflect the mores and the psyche of the society as a whole.

    How does it connect to Thrawn? I have two assumptions. First, it's likely that Thrawn is looking at the current artifacts, trying to pick out the particular mentality of the people who created the art during this time. Second, Thrawn may also go back and look at the historical pieces to perceive the general ethos of that culture. There are always themes and cultural motifs that appear in artistic creation from time to time. The ehtos of a culture has left its own indelible stamp on the artwork itself. Hatred and prejudice have never disappeared from human civilization, right? With these two different approaches combined together, Thrawn would know what's the civilization like today and how it was generally. "Now" yields prevalent traits for combat, "then" reveals general psychological weakness for long-time annexation.

    I think that's my refutation against your words, Taarkin.
     
  5. Akire Kenobi

    Akire Kenobi Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Also, in response to Tarkins thoughts about art, the trend in almost all the worlds of the Star Wars Galaxy, except Adumar and maybe Mon Calamari (Spelling on both), is that there is one big government running the whole world. there aren't little division all over the map, of different cultures and societies. in one world, there is usually one language, one government, one society. therefore, any art that was made would have been very similar to others during the same time. the arguments of Casta tie into this too.
     
  6. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Yes, Thrawn is one of my favourite new EU characters, along with Mara Jade, Corran Horn, Pellaeon and Talon Karrde (plus many, many more!)
     
  7. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Hmmmm....I found it's much easier to jump into defense of Thrawn than Mara, because this guy is cold-blood, and devilishly impeccable.

    To be honest, I always liked Vader, but not as much as Thrawn. Vader appeals because of the whole redemption and pathos that lies in his life. Thrawn is plain cool because of his brain. This shall be a thread advocating for Imperial Meritocracy, exempt from New Republic Affirmative Action Plan.
     
  8. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    For people who are Vader fans: have some Kleenex stand by.

    Not only Thrawn is cooler to me, I deem him as a better military commander. Where shall I start?

    Vader ruled by fear, but Thrawn by authority. Vader is obeyed and served with awe because he inspires fear, and one misstep means *choke*. His own subordinates respect Vader's power and the Force with him than Vader the person. To put it more simply, we esteem Darth Vader because he is our cute boss the Sith Lord and beauteous protege of Palpy. Nothing less, nothing more.

    Thrawn has derived his authority of dominating his forces from the genuine awe of his men. His power surely plays a part, but his confident energy, his tactical manuevers, and his calculating moves are things that have earned this steely glory. In TLC, pg 68-69 (paperback edition), one of Thrawn's conscripts, Ensign Mithel, was not able to have the tractor beam get hold of Skywalker's ship, but managed to prevent further disaster (I'm not ruining this for people who haven't read TLC) through innovative means. Well, it still might count as a failure. And this guy was guaranteed to die if he had been assigned under Vader. To everyone's surprise, Thrawn promoted Ensign Mithel to Lieutenant for his creative attempt to capture Skywalker, recognizing it's in the better interest of Empire to preserve a quick, intelligent mind. And the end result for our beloved Grand Admiral? "Yesterday, the Chimaera's crew had trusted and respected the Grand Admiral. After toay, they would be ready to die for him." From short-term aspect, it's nothing wrong to haul this little ensign to prison cell, but Thrawn's prescience has prevented him from such deed, and instead he opted to spare the guy as well as fortifying stone-solid devotion from his subordinates. You'd find Thrawn actually yielding second chance for people not very worthwhile of his trust (e.g., Niles Ferrier the ship thief).

    The biggest difference lies in each of their temperaments. Vader goes by his own instincts and emotions. Thrawn, on the other hand, relies on rationality and information. Vader loved control over other people's presence and mind, but to Thrawn, everything is merely a pawn on his own chessboard. Vader is a Sith through and through, but he's no military leader like Thrawn. Think about it, Vader was equipped with two death stars, a bundle of super star-destroyers, regular star-destroyers, various other ships, AT-AT walkers and dozens of scary superweapons, but he even couldn't overwhelm a bunch of bedraggled rebel punks (and occasionaly, stone-wielding teddy bears). With a few Victory-class star-destroyers and not very many ships of other kind, Thrawn managed to capture star systems and trump New Republic forces. Vader removed the rose from stem using a steam shovel, while Thrawn craftily managed with a spoon. Vader prevails because of power, and Thrawn triumphs for strategic ingenuity. Vader is replete with hubris, and Thrawn, lofty pride.

    Thrawn is doubtlessly a villain, but not in the sense of Vader and Palpatine. Back-stage scheming, manipulative and deliberate nuances, Machiavellian manuevers all prove him as the ultimate master of psychological warfare.
     
  9. Supreme Chancellor Thrawn

    Supreme Chancellor Thrawn Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 1999
    Excelent posts in defense of our favorite, Casta. Thrawn doubters will surely meet their defeat.

    Let's bring out our favorite Thrawn quotes, shall we?

    "Not only will they fall for it, they'll be utterly destroyed by it."

    "Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."

    "The error, Ensign, has now been corrected. You may begin training a replacement.

    "Why, the only puzzle worth solving, of course. The complete, and utter destruction of the Rebellion."

    And my personal favorite, see my sig below:
     
  10. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    The all time classic:

    "But, it was so artistically done."

    Every fan club starts by posting quotes. Trend noticed.
     
  11. Teniel Djo

    Teniel Djo Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 8, 2000
    THRAWN ROCKS! :D
     
  12. Mitt

    Mitt Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 1999
    Mitt signing in! For those of you who don't know me, I am Empress Mitth'raw'nuruodo. You may call me Mitt for short. :)
     
  13. Supreme Chancellor Thrawn

    Supreme Chancellor Thrawn Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 1999
    Of course, how could I forget his most famous line. Perfectly in character of the great Grand Admiral, as he "dies." I, of course, am certain that he did not. Long live Thrawn!
     
  14. Supreme Chancellor Thrawn

    Supreme Chancellor Thrawn Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 1999
    Hey, cool, I got another star! In the Thrawn thread, how fitting!
     
  15. Asyr Handor

    Asyr Handor Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 1999
    Thrawn was the best.....awesome tactician etc. etc. etc. Dieing certainly didn't hurt his popularity. :)

    All I can say is...."But it was so artistically done." :D
     
  16. Teniel Djo

    Teniel Djo Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 8, 2000
    I was wondering when you'd sign in, Mitt. :D
     
  17. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Thrawn manifests to be a stronger character. Unlike Daala, he does not go around and endorse "my innovative tactis". Daala never could stop boasting how very brilliant is her tactical mind. She SAID so. Thrawn IS so without even uttering a syllable, becaus we know he IS so.

    So, move over, Daala. The Empire belongs to Thrawn.
     
  18. Mitt

    Mitt Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 1999
    Yeah took me a whole day to actually get around to posting here.

    I agree Thrawn may not be dead. I for believe there are more clones out there and its possible to clone him again.
     
  19. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    My concern is, would the clone Thrawn be the same as the original Thrawn? Didn't the clone of C'Boath was a little unstable?


    Daala? Didn't she mention that she was the inamorata of Tarkin to Pellaeon?
     
  20. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Thrawn was strong without being tough, bold without being rash, and masterful without being self-congratulatory.

    Daala fits for all adjectives after "without"
     
  21. Entil`Zha

    Entil`Zha Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 1999
    Grand Admiral Thrawn is quite a brilliant strategist, I would even say the best, one must wonder why the Emperor didn't keep him close during the fight at Endor, there, the Empire would have surely crushed the Rebellion, but I guess his work in the Unknown Regions were more important.. do you think Palpi knew about the YV? Anyway, I'm getting out of the subject! So, Thrawn was or is the best, he must have a clone of himself somewhere around the galaxy, or family he left behind leading the Chiss, let's hope so
     
  22. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Daala in Darksaber has mentioned that although Thrawn was among the best of military commanders, he was dispatched to the Unknown Regions because of his alien lineage.

    Does Thrawn have a family? A wife, maybe? Hmm...god, I'm scared to hear about Thrawn the family man.
     
  23. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Admiral, Thrawn is a Chiss. Thrawn's real name is notoriously hard for human pronounciation: Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Realize that Thrawn is the core name in MitTH'RAW'Nuruodo.
     
  24. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    I always thought Thrawn was Thrawn's real name until I stumbled upon one of the links on the website of Club Jade. One of their members has a fan-site for Chiss and Thrawn is included. That's where I find about the real identity of Thrawn.

    The web address for that:

    http://fan.starwars.com/ChissLife/

    Click on the section that says Thrawn.
     
  25. Casta

    Casta Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2000
    Young, dashing military commander of the Empire, of course. :)
     
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