"Grievous will run and hide as he always does"

All the time I am seeing people complaining "Why does Grievous run away?" or "Grievous is a pansy". Well, I think I have an explanation for why Grievous was such a coward in RotS...

It all starts with Star Wars: Clone Wars (2D). Grievous is briefly shown at the end of volume I, and plays a crucial role in volume II. Grievous in Clone Wars is a killing machine. He never runs and hides. He is not afraid of fighting four Jedi even. But then, at the end of volume II, when Grievous is boarding his ship with the captive Chancellor, Mace drops in to save the day. Grievous is ready to fight Windu, and Mace uses the Force and crushes Grievous' chest plates, which causes his coughing.

Now, that is the reason why Grievous runs away in RotS and the new The Clone Wars show. He now knows he can be defeated and does not want to let that happen again.

Anyways, that is my little "theory". If you have a theory, then please post it. I would like to see what other fans think on this matter.

 

I believe that it is more that he prefers to run away and pull an ambush on unsuspecting prey. Although he could be afraid because of the point your brought up, I believe that running and hiding allows him to regroup and come back to attack at a later time.

 

I don't think Grievous is afraid, but understands the limit of his power. For the most part, he can handle normal average Jedi, but those who have awesome command of the force (Mace,Yoda, Anakin and Obi Wan) he knows better to run away. He's faced many Jedi and know they operate by exposing weaknesses, so why go against those who can hold their own against him and find a fault to exploit?

Grievous also knows that in order to keep the war going, he has to survive. He can do more for the war effort by chickening out against stronger opponents then by dieing in glorious battle.

 

I agree. Without Grievous, then the droid army wouldn't be effective. That's why he has to stay alive; it keeps the war going.

 

Well that wouldn't explain why he runs in the new clone wars tv show because that show is set way before he gets crushed by mace.

 

This. Grievous is no coward, he is just being smart.

"The art of using troops is this:
......When ten to the enemy's one, surround him;
......When five times his strength, attack him;
......If double his strength, divide him;
......If equally matched you may engage him;
......If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing;
......And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him,
..........for a small force is but booty for one more powerful."
- Sun Tzu, the Art Of War

 

I agree with VadersLaMent; Grievous knew that unless he had a distinct advantage in terms of troops and strategy, that there woudl be a chance that he coudl be defeated. Being as high-up in rank as he was, he did not want to give the Republic any chance to capture/kill him, so he hid away until he could strike with a huge force against an unsuspecting Republic group (i.e. Utapau). Destroying Grievous was, according to the Jedi Council, the way to give the republic a huge advantage in the war; without Grievous in the mix, the Seps would lose their best general, and would thus be without strong leadership after the "loss" of Count Dooku during the Battle of Coruscant. So, Grievous was not a coward; he just knew when it was time to be aggressive and when to be defensive, flee and wait for the opportune moment to strike back with an even larger force behind him.

 

Grievous is also the more public image for the war.

He's half machine, representing the droid army. He's ruthless, cunning, and chaotic. He brings the house down.

 

Grievous ran (if ya want to call it that) to survive. In war who stay's in one spot? No one you have to move to live. It's that simple.

 

grievous prefers to attack and ambush by setting traps and such....

that is what makes him powerful, the element of suprise...

he cannot defeat people in a straight up fight

 

I think Grievous was a bit cowardly. He'd rather reserve fighting for last - now that is also smart, but it is the cowardly way out.

 

Guerilla tactics have a higher percent chance of succeeding, generally speaking, so Grievous is trying to play the odds in hopes that he will have an edge over the Republic forces.

 

TTYL Shaa'Gi, K'Kruhk, Tarr Seirr, many others and the formally dead Shaak Ti.

 

I wouldn't call anything we've seen the CIS do "guerrilla tactics".

 

What I meant was hiding for a while and then attacking, followed up by retreating again, continuing this strategic cycle.

 

He's hardly a coward. He's a General. He leads. What General do you know does hand to hand fighting? None. Their job is to lead platoons into battle and map out a course for victory.

 

Generals don't lead; they command. And they're in charge of divisions at a minimum, not platoons.

 

Grievous did what he had to; command his troops in battle. However, he was a good fighter when there was no other option or when he was arrogant enough to fight alone (a.k.a Utapau) instead of letting his troops do the job.

 

That can't be true, seeing as the new TCW TV show occurs before his lung(s) is/are Force-crushed. According to your theory, Grievous should still be the fearless, Jedi-killing monster in the new TV series, not the coward who flees in his personal starfighter every chance he gets.

 

He does what he has to.

What would be more foolish, to run away from a battle you know you can't win, or stick it out and be killed or captured? He is the droid general, he is in command of most of the fleet's resources. If he's taken out,that's one more wound to the CIS army.

 

In Destroy Malevolence, Obi-Wan fled from him.

 

Grievous isn't a coward; he's clever. He's using his usual disadvantages (his lack of Force sensitivity and the ridiculously idiotic soldiers he leads) to his avail. By picking the time and location of his battles, he's in a better position than he would be if he were otherwise. It's all about strategy. When it comes down to it, though, he's more than capable of holding his own against most Jedi. How else would you account for his vast lightsaber collection?

A lieutenant typically commands a platoon. A division is where you'd find a general, typically speaking, though you could certainly see them at a brigade-level. They are also the highest authority on posts (bases), generally speaking. But you're right...you would never see a general in actual firefights, let alone hand-to-hand comabt. They're sheltered off somewhere safe, sometimes not even in-country (haha).

Anyhow, this is to assume, of course, that the Star Wars militaries are set up anything like our own earthly forces.

</is in the US Army>

 

>>>How else would you account for his vast lightsaber collection?

eBay.

 

Yeah, the word on the street is that GG is a huge Star Wars fan. He has a collection that pwnz.

 

Steve Sansweet is secretly General Grievous?