Admiral Cha Niathal- Ambitious Despot or Concerned Military Officer?

I find myself incredibily facsinated by the character of Cha Niathal. Many portions of the Legacy of the Force series have been predictable or dull thus far. Many characters in the series are, for lack of a better term, boring.

However, Cha Niathal seems to be one of the standouts. A Mon Calamarian admiral serving the galactic government is not a new thing. However, when compared to the character of Admiral Ackbar, a dozen differences can be noted right off.

How do all of you percieve Admiral Niathal? Is she a ambitous military officer with a lust for political power? A subverter of democractic tradition? Or is she a committed and concerned military officer trying to save her government from other (both internal and external)? Or she is she some combination of the two?

One thing that is for certain is that we have been allowed into "her head" in this series in a way not seen since Stackpole or KJA wrote Admiral Ackbar. Unlike many admirals or other general officers, whole chapters or sections are written from Niathal's POV.

To be frank, I am not sure about how I feel about Niathal. I go between disliking her motives to sympathizing with her earnest care for her soldiers. I see her as a coniving military officer with a eye on higher office and as a solider forced to take the helm of government during a crisis.

In other words, I could go either way.

So, what do all of you think about Niathal? Do you like her, dislike, approve, disapprove, etc? Do you think she is a cookie-cutter character or a standout?

Discuss!

--Adm. Nick

P.S.

Ackbar is still the greatest, no matter what!

 

Niathal seems like someone who honestly (inwardly) wants peace in the galaxy through military force, but not to the point that a Sith would go. She's more like Roan Fel and those who support him.

Still, what I most like about her is nothing that matters in-universe, but the fact that she's such a stereotype breaker......aside from the fact that she's an admiral.....

 

I think that she's essentially a Mon Calamari Borsk Fey'lya. There's nothing in Niathal that wants the galaxy destroyed or enslaved. She certainly believes that the Seperatists Part Deux should be crushed. However, that doesn't preclude ambition on her part. Honestly, she reminds me a bit of Admiral Saul Karnath. It might end up with her fall being far farther than even she could imagine when she serves Darth Murder.

 

I think she's a victim of circumstance to an extent. She is ambitious, yes, and she did want to be COS. However, there was no way she wanted to get the position the way she did, she simply had no choice when shown that recording. Come the end of the war, she'll either come away from the whole debacle as a legitimate COS or as a war criminal.

 

She strikes me as something of an in-between. She certainly has her eye on the top job, but she really wants to get there honestly. She seems like someone doing what she thinks is needed, even if she doesn't want it to be. It really does feel like the Roan Fel situation, as noted earlier.

Sadly, I think if her principles do win out in the end, she'll wind up with Darth Wannabe's saber through the brain.

 

i agree that she's an interesting character, and one that's been very well used in LOTF.

i see her as almost along the lines of what Jacen started out as, and still at least publically claims to be, just without the Force and all that goes along with that. she honestly wants peace, and mostly sees power as a means to that end, though like most people she probably doesn't mind the perks. but unlike those of the Rebellion generation, she's more willing to "do what must be done" even if it's morally/legally questionable.

also, much as Jacen was pushed from amoral Force-user over to outright Sith by Lumiya and the current crisis, i see Niathal as being pushed from a well meaning, if not entirely likable, military officer with rather normal political ambitions to a the leader of a military coup.

unfortunately, she's near the top of my "not likely to make it out of LOTF alive" list.

 

Pushed? I dunno, seems more like Lumiya pointed out a pit and said 'look, there's all the power you need to make the peace you want!" Jacen leaped in himself, even after learning the price involved. Manipulated? a bit, yes, but he made his own choice.


As for Niathal, she's ambitious, a bit on the ruthless side, but is fiercely devoted to her idea of the Alliance. However, she's gotten a job she'll not keep, because if she tries to stop Jacen from taking control, he'll kill her without a second thought.

 

I think that she has been painted as a sentient with a very capable military and political mindset. She is worthy of her role as Supreme Commander.....although I think that Palleon is the better being for the job, if only because having him in a high ranking position keeps the Empire in the loop. It's nice to have a new player in the political/military command arena. Cal Omas has been in charge for well over a decade. That seems a bit long to be in power, but that could be my American "Two four year terms as President" bias speaking.

Niathal has ambitious, thinly concealed ones at that. I do find this preferable to a Supreme Commander that is either A. Content enough in their role to become complacent or B. Openly claiming "Reluctance" at yet another promotion while scheming relentlessly in private. I DO believe that she didn't want to rise to the Office of Chief of State via coup and would like to someday be elected to it. This shows that she does in fact still believe in democracy and isn't looking to form a totalitarian regime. Of course, it's impossible to tell if that is how she would react while the war is still going on.

Unfortunately, we will probably never know. I figure Jacen's increasingly disturbing antics are going to make Niathal realize that she is dealing with a mad man and force her to try to remove him politically or physically. He'll worm his way out of whatever and Niathal will be exposed as a power mongering traitor to the GFFA. She'll either be locked up or choked on the deck of the Anakin Solo.

 

Third option: stereotype.


Can we like, have a fleet admiral who's a Nikto or something?

 

To be fair, I think she's the first Mon Calamari admiral in a long time, and she's quite different from the last. We've had nearly everything during all this time....

 

Very interesting thoughts from everyone.

Compared to Sien Sovv or Traest Kre'fey, Admiral Niathal has far more depth as a character than the standard admiral characters. Both of those previous Supreme Commanders were static characters designed to fill a niche- Sien Sovv was the indecisive/overwhelmed commander while Traest Kre'fey was the agressive and violent one.

In many respects, Admiral Nek Bwua'tu is similar to Niathal, at least in terms of a sterotype breaker. Whereas Bwua'tu is shown as a unpolitcal fleet officer who is not the "standard" Bothan, so to is Niathal a breaker of the "Calamarian" sterotype. Almost every other Mon Cal officer- from Ragab to Onoma to Arboga- seem cut of the same cloth as Ackbar.

My personal hope is that Niathal is becomes one of the leaders inside the GA gov't that eventually helps remove Jacen from power. It may cost her life, but I have a feeling a soldier like her in may in the end do the right thing.

LOTF is about things going full circle. How awesome would it be to see the opposite of ROTS occur at the end of Revalation- a military dictator handing power willingly back to the Senate and restoring democracy.

Anyways, Niathal is one of the few bright spots of this series for me, regardless of which way she ends up going in the end.

--Adm. Nick

EDIT:

RogueWompRat

As Sauron said above, we have actually had very few Mon Cal officers in recent years. The NJO was full of Bothans and Sullustans, with only ONE Mon Cal officer named outside of Ackbar himself. Commander Ackdool. (Worst. Name. Ever.)

Also- as Excellence put so eloquently in my signature, the Mon Cals can afford to have alot of high ranking officers, especially given their role in the RA, NR, and GA.

--Adm. Nick

 

I see her as a committed and competent military officer who also happens to be extremely ambitious -- but who defines her ambitions largely within the existing, democratic system. She's not out to overthrow anything or rule as dictator or conquer the galaxy -- she just really, really wants to be COS, but she wants to work within the system, though she's willing to get a little (but not too) dirty because she knows that's politics. Sort of like a more military, more principled Fey'lya. Not an evil character, but not the kind you root for either.

 

I agree almost entirely with what Havac says, though I believe she was not QUITE aware of how far Jacen was willing to go to achieve his ends, which is why she's so willing to, shall we say, get rid of him at the end of his usefulness.

 

I like the way that Karen Traviss has written her in Sacrifice, it reminds me that Ms. Traviss used to be a war correspondent & has alot of respect for all things military.

It's a shame that Jacen will undoubtedly kill Niathal over some trivial matter & probably when her back is turned. I mean for a brand new character to be written about that much, their death is inevitable in the age of Del Ray.

 

Besides the Big Three, Ben, and Jaina everyone else is living on borrowed time in Del Rey's eyes.

I'm not sure about Niathal. She hasn't done anything that makes me really dislike her, but there's something I just don't like about her.
She kinda reminds me of Caesar, loyal to Rome, but thinking she can do better than the Senate.