Lit Would Thrawn Approve of the First Order?

Well, we could ask the person he put in charge of the single most powerful and important facility in his Empire.

 

Thrawn wasn't exactly happy when C'baoth declared himself the new Emperor - he saw C'baoth as a tool rather than as his boss. Eventually C'baoth proved so crazy that Thrawn sought to slow-grow a new clone of him in the hope that this clone would be much less crazy - as well as seeking to imprison C'baoth on Wayland again.

 

Which kind of boils down to how I imagine Thrawn would view Kylo Ren.

As a tool.

Probably a far more easily manipulated one than C'boath.

"You know what would be SEXY and BADASS? Killing those Rebels."

"They include my best friends from the Academy."

"Vader would do it."

"They're dead."

The big thing which Joruus C'boath proves is the fact Thrawn isn't actually all that good at controlling people outside of the military. Like many autocrats, he's a guy who is very good at understanding those in regimented military life but fails with civilians. Faced with someone like Kylo Ren or Snoke, Thrawn is forced to put up with them or acquiesce to their demands. Given we find out how Thrawn's cloning program turned out, I'd also argue he just flat out doesn't understand the Force and thinks of it as X-men powers or magic.

I imagine Snoke, if he's a Dark Jedi Master (not a Sith Lord but close enough for govermment work) that Thrawn would end up subordinate to him while Ren would just be an irritation he'd point at the Rebellion/Resistance/New Republic.

 

There's always the possibility that Snoke has no powers at all and is really somebody like Thrawn (if not Thrawn himself) pulling an elaborate masquerade. Seems a bit doubtful though.

 

My working Fanon theory is Snoke is from a divergent branch of the Jedi Order from way back when. Back when it was the Ashla and Bogan versus the Light and the Dark.

Which would mean Snoke is a canon version of a Xenxdorite rather than Sith.

Which may be a bit too similar of an origin story to really matter much but I'd still find it cool. Also, they wouldn't have the Sith magic trappings and alchemy but be more focused on martial practices as well as armor.

 

The Sith are already a divergent branch of the Jedi Order from way back when - but there's always room for more branches. Newcanon's already given us one:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ordu_Aspectu

 

From Legends, the Sith were a syncretic religion of the Second Schism and Sith magic.

But yes, I like seeing more of these branches.

Gives lots more chance for lightsaber fights.

 

I was thinking more of the TPM description:

The Sith had come into being over two thousand years ago. They were a cult given over to the dark side of the Force, embracing fully the concept that power denied was power wasted. A rogue Jedi Knight had founded the Sith, a singular dissident in an order of harmonious followers, a rebel who understood from the beginning that the real power of the force lay not in the light, but in the dark. Failing to gain approval for his beliefs from the Council, he had broken with the order, departing with his knowledge and his skills, swearing in secret that he could bring down those who dismissed him.

He was alone at first, but others from the Jedi Order who believed as he did and who had follwed him in his study of the dark side soon came over. Others were recruited, and soon ranks of the Sith swelled to more than fifty in number. Disdaining the concepts of cooperation and consensus, relying on the belief that acquisition of power in any form lends strength and yields control, the Sith began to build their cult in opposition to the Jedi. Theirs was not an order created to serve; theirs was an order created to dominate.

 

Thrawn would really like to join the First Order, but unfortunately those persistent rumors circa the Galactic Concordance that Snoke is an Unknown Regions threat (maybe even the threat to the Chiss) are too numerous to completely ignore. And no one has been able to give Thrawn a straight answer on who exactly Snoke is--he suspects the people he asks don't themselves even know.

This mystery is one that is even too much for Thrawn to solve. But he can't help the New Republic either. (spoiler for Thrawn novel)

Spoiler

And by 34 ABY, since no official records were kept showing that Thrawn really isn't in exile--that it was just a sham--the new people running the Chiss look at the records and think Thrawn's exile is genuine! So they won't let him back.

Thrawn decides to just become a bartender on Nar Shaddaa. Thrawn wonders, as many arms reach out to him asking him for a drink, if this is that defeat Bendu was talking about back on Atallon.

 

My inclinations personally are I think Zahn would like Thrawn to be a decent man working for an evil system with just Far Right military politics (albeit lacking any social issues there).

While canon Thrawn is probably a more straightforward Imperial fascist as seen by Disney.

 

TV Thrawn does seem to be a bit more of a gloater than novel Thrawn.

 

I think Thrawn would be with the First Order...he is all end justifying means. The FO would be the intrument to bring order and protect his people.

However....In the Old EU I think his failure was in trying to defeat the Rebellion/NR.

Granted...this is all hindsight as we got Thrawn first and then a lot more info on the post RoTJ galactic-geography.

The first thing he on his to do list should have been shoring up Imperial territory.

Bringing the warlords to heal...sent out a message to all Imperial ships and tell them he is in command and all Imperial Army and Navy personnel are now under his command. Any Warlords who refuse....well....that is what Noghri are for. When some warlords 2nd in command wakes up with his bosses head in his bunk and a personal note from Thrawn people will fall in line.

Imperial reformation. Do away with the slavery, genocide, etc...make it more a benevolent military dictatorship with himself in charge.

Better equipment for the military...mostly they are good with capital ships and the army...but upgrades to the starfighter corps were needed. He did good with the Scimitar bomber...but standard fighters should have been improved. Think Defenders or Avengers.

DO NOT ENGAGE THE NEW REPUBLIC UNLESS THEY FIRE FIRST. Or in retaliation for attacks on Imperial space.

If he had done this I believe he could have controlled approx 1/2 of the former Empire.

 

That's what he successfully managed to do in TTT - changing Empire from 1/4 original size to 1/2 original size (The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare).

 

Thrawn's position was doomed from the beginning in Legends.

No matter how brilliant he was, no matter how cunning, and no matter how many rabbits he pulled out of his hat...The Force was against him.

I don't mean that in the "God is on the side of the heroes" sense but that he couldn't account for a threat as terrible as the Vong.

The Emperor in the Deep Core who would have just been able to walk up and take Thrawn's Empire from him.

 

There was a theory floating around for a while that this was exactly what Palpatine did do - that Rukh was not sent by the Noghri government on Honoghr, outraged at the Empire, but was an operative of the Emperor Reborn instead - with Thrawn's "I am the Empire now" speech to Mara being the thing that eventually signed his death warrant.

That might be giving the Emperor Reborn a little too much influence though.

 

well, clearly yes, given that

Spoiler

Snoke is Thrawn

 

I wrote a fanfic scene once where the Emperor is watching Leia on Honghor ala the Wicked Witch of the West or Saruman and then causes the Decon Droid to malfunction with the Force.

Because that was awfully convenient timing.

 

Thrawn did give it the job of spying (which caused Leia to get suspicious)- I didn't see any malfunction there.

Seems a little too subtle for the Emperor Reborn to me - that guy tended to lack the original subtlety of Palpatine (possessing clones will possibly do that).

 

And it all fell apart by his own hand. Ordering the Noghri to kidnap Leia led to losing their loyalty and his death. If he had left the NR alone...not bothered with using C'Baoth and have to placate him with Luke and Leia...He could have gotten a treaty with the NR from a position of strength and been set to do what he needed. With the ysalamiri he could have done away with C'Baoth and gotten access to what he needed and grown all the troops he wanted....as well as whatever else he needed from Mount Tantiss.

 

We have the in-universe explanation he was being poisoned by Carnor Jax so maybe that hadn't started yet.

Maybe Carnor used space lead or mercury.

 

The clone Palpatine probably was wary of Thrawn's penchant for ysalamiri. All Thrawn needed to do was sneak one of those lizards onto Palpatine's cloning chamber, and when it came time for Palpatine's next body-jump--it wouldn't work.

Palpatine may have been all for teaming up with Thrawn during the Thrawn Trilogy until he heard about Thrawn using all those ysalamiri. For all Palpatine knew, Thrawn might decide on a little payback for Palpatine not exactly keeping his end of the bargain regarding preparing the galaxy against the Vong, and Palpatine didn't want to risk it.

 

I'd actually be okay with the Yuuzhan Vong returning if they were treated as a refugee remnant fleet, mostly exterminated by the First Order.

A threat, yes, but not a GALACTIC one.

 

Well, towards the end of the new novel Thrawn states his long-term goals are

Spoiler

to wait for the Emperor to die and, having put himself in a position of power, influencing the selection of a new, more just leader. What if Snoke is that leader?

 

Takes you to the Jedi Council to have your sanity restored. Oh wait.....

Nice work Luke. You had one job!