Lit A/V The Force Awakens and the EU [TAGGED spoilers.]

What is Legolas doing in that comic?

 

And Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

 

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

 

Oh god. That brings back memories.

 

yeah but using the same character with the same history is pretty damn close. Let's say Grand Admiral Thrawn still running around but wasn't killed by his bodyguard so they can use the character instead. I don't think not killing him off would totally alter the character if they keep him still the same style. It's not as if they'd take him and then make him a happy Sullsitan candy salseman.

 

The character no, the story yes. I just feel it is unnecessary.

Though I will concede that Thrawn as the primary opponent is about the only thing that would have me even consider viewing a reboot.

DON"T GIVE THEM IDEAS!!

 

Thrawn is the biggest Mary Sue in all of Star Wars, ever. Entire sequences in the Thrawn Trilogy are designed just to show how much cooler and smarter Thrawn is compared to Darth Vader.

I'd much rather have Ahsoka in the new trilogy than Thrawn.

 

There was one known Thrawn-clone; and a suggestion that there could be at least one more.

 

Instead of those 2 then howabout Mara instead. We can have gems like this

"But even as she turned on the console and started keying for her data search, she could sense his brooding attention
switch from his research to Mara herself. Vader had always been polite enough, but even without Mara's Force
sensitivity it would have been abundantly clear that he didn't like her.
She'd never figured out why that was. Certainly their goals were the same: service to the Emperor and his New Order.
Perhaps he thought her training had taken too much of the Emperor's time and attention, or perhaps he suspected her
of trying to supplant him in the great man's eyes.
Both thoughts were ridiculous, of course. Mara had her work to do, and Vader had his, and there was no point trying
to second-guess the Emperor's wisdom in the way he employed either of them.
But she had yet to find a way to get that message through to Vader."


"For a handful of heartbeats Tannis stared down at them, the muscles in his neck suddenly taut. Then, slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers again.
And whatever thoughts he might have had about betrayal were suddenly gone. "Vader," he whispered. "You're like Vader."
"Only better," she said coolly"

"Grimacing, Mara shifted her weight in the other direction and threw herself sideways onto the conference table. A
quick kick-and-roll off her left shoulder, and she had landed in a crouch on the floor on the far side. "Take it easy,"
she called as soothingly as she could. "What's Governor Choard to you, anyway?"
Raising his lightsaber high, Vader slashed the blade straight through the table.
Mara took a quick step back as the two sections of the bisected table crashed to the floor. With the wall at her back,
and Vader between her and the door, there was only one option left. "You want trouble?" she demanded, finally
igniting her lightsaber and lifting it to blocking position in front of her. "Fine. Come and get it."
Vader's only reply was to shift his own weapon again into attack position as he stepped into the gap between the two
sections of table. Stretching out to the Force, Mara reached to the wall behind him and switched off the lights.
It was a trick she would never have tried with a normal opponent. Their two lightsabers didn't give off a lot of light,
but there was more than enough for biological eyes to work with while they adjusted to the gloom.
But Vader's helmet was equipped with optical sensors for use in dim light, with all the strengths and weaknesses
inherent in such equipment. There was a chance that for the first crucial second before the contrast adjusted itself all he
would see was her glowing lightsaber blade floating in a field of otherwise total darkness.
She was right. With a bellow, the Sith Lord angled his lightsaber and slashed it viciously in a horizontal arc through
the air half a meter beneath the glowing magenta blade.
Only Mara wasn't there anymore. Using the Force to hold her lightsaber floating in place, she had dropped to the floor
the instant the lights went out and rolled out of sight beneath one of the angled sections of the broken table.
Vader stopped in his tracks, and for a long moment the room was silent except for the hum of the lightsabers. Mara
listened carefully, but the steadiness of the sound indicated that he was holding the weapon motionless. Was he finally
coming to his senses?"

 

Or the Thrawn in TTT was a clone all along, if you want to take a page from American Gods.

 

There's other lines in that scene that add context:

"Vader," he whispered. "You're like Vader."
"Only better," she said coolly, a part of her mind wondering what Vader would do if he ever heard her talk that way. But what the Sith Lord didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

 

Still makes no difference to the authors intent in that scene and pretty much the whole book. Mara is cool and Vader is not.
You don't have a problem with that I take it ?

 

Not a huge problem, no. Vader's been depicted as a severely flawed character for a long time- predating Zahn's books, in fact. And Zahn was far from the first person to show Vader losing control.

It's true that Mara's powers are a bit excessive (she can heal herself in these books but not in Vision of the Future). I think that was put down to her losing a lot of power after Palpatine's death, and having to rebuild it, relearn various techniques, etc.

 

Interesting while not huge, hmm so you do think though, there is a problem there then.

It's not about Vader having flaws or not. (Vaders complexity is what makes him the greatest villian ever) but being hit over the head on how inferior he is to Mara. That is completely different thing. Mara herself dismisses the thought of jealousy but we as the readers know that is the case.

It happens so much (and with Thrawn too) that sometimes I wonder if either 1) Zahn really believes it or 2) Is maybe a bit insecure about his OC's or 3) His less than subtle way of getting back at Lucas for not accepting his characters or his contribution to brining back Stawars.

 

I'd go with 1: for all the scenes in TTT where Thrawn, various smugglers, and so on put down Vader (and sometimes the Emperor).

 

Or Zahn has made it personal project in life to screw around with F4's mind! He has deliberately put these scenes in for that purpose!

Jade can think whatever she likes. Vader? Not going to give a toss about her or anyone else, there's only one being in the galaxy able to give him cause to pause and that's the Emperor. Had he thought he could get away with it I'm quite certain he'd have done to Mara what he did to Tohm in Ghost Prison. Nor would Jade have survived a prolonged confrontation with Vader and they both know it.

What Allegiance and CoO are, to a very great degree, is portraits of delusion writ large.

 

Lol very good

If Zahn himself had not made his statements on Mara I probably would have believed you that there was a hidden meaning of delusion unless you mean Zahn himself perhaps

It's not just Vader (though he is the main whipping boy) for comparisons with Mara and Thrawn.

Even back in SideTrip (1997) there was a less than subtle comparison with Thrawn and Boba Fett. Thrawn don't need no stinking armour to be cool!

"It's being done, sir," Niriz said. With most people, he thought distantly, the addition of Mandalorian armor would instantly create a powerful air of strength and mystery.
With Thrawn, in contrast, it almost seemed to detract from the sense of authority that was already there."

 

Take that Fett fans.

 

Admittedly that's nothing to the Vader comparison in that scene, though nothing beats Vader backing down from a stare-down from an 18yr old girl in my view


"What about these?" Vader added, nodding toward LaRone. "What about them?" Jade asked. "I'm told they refused to identify their unit earlier this evening," Vader said, his voice darkening. "I also have word now from the
Reprisal that they have five storm-troopers missing."
LaRone felt his throat tighten. So they wouldn't be going to Stormtrooper Command, or even be turned over to the
ISB. Vader himself would be dealing with them.
At least it would be quick. Probably.
But to his amazement, Jade shrugged. "Interesting, but irrelevant," she said. "These stormtrooper are mine."
"Yours?"
'You have the entire Five-oh-first," Jade reminded him. "You certainly won't begrudge me my Hand of Judgment."
For a long moment Vader stared down at her. Jade stared back, her face impassive but firm.
Then, to LaRone's relief, the Dark Lord stirred. "As you wish," he said, lifting a hand slightly.

 

Maybe Thrawn was actually a Zeltron with the Tint setting all messed up.

 

I always enjoy when the audience is more informed by certain characters by what everyone else says about the character than the character itself.

I suppose it started with Boba.

 

I have to admit that I love that Thrawn isn't a Force-user, but at the end of the day, Palpatine and Vader > all.

 

In which case you'd likely like Admiral Griff in Classic Star Wars.