The tragic life and times of Gilad Pellaeon

So I was thinking a bit about Pellaeon (probably my favourite character in the EU) and I've come to the conclusion that he perhaps the most tragic major character in the EU.

He spends decades in space in the service of an Empire only to see it crumble to ruins around and see the lives of comrades thrown away by fools and mountebanks. He has the terrible stigma of the retreat at Endor always hanging over his head, of surrendering to the New Republic - of course he would argue that all these were for the greater good and most of us would agree, but to many on the grand he must have looked a coward or a traitor.

He never wanted to lead but had it thrust upon him by the disaster and failure of others and his duty forbids him to lay down the heavy burden.

He painfully nurses the shattered post-peace Empire only to find it mired in political trouble that eventually ends up with who knows how many dead on his conscience.

His son is killed in some minor skirmish.

He just strikes me as very melancholy character, having suffered inordinatly in his long, long life.

Anyone else think so?

Do chuid

 

I agree, though I think it starts earlier than the Empire; he enlists during the Clone Wars, and watches his Republic crumble.

 

Wow, his life is pretty bad. Surrenduring to the New Republic was better than losing all of the Empire's territory so he should be praised for that. He still is one of my favorite EU characters though.

 

While Admiral Ackbar is my all time favorite character, Gilad Pellaeon is my favorite Imperial character.

Pellaeon is a awesome character. One of my biggest hopes is that one day Del Ray and Lucasbooks decide to do a book about the major campaign between Admiral Ackbar and Admiral Pellaeon 13 years after Endor.

This campaign is perhaps the most important campaign of the entire Galactic Civil War. The losses that Pellaeon sustained during these brawls convinced him to try to make peace with the New Republic.

It was one of the bravest things he ever did, IMO. His idea to pursue peace instead of more fighting probably saved the lives of billions, not to mention preserving the Imperial Remnant.

--Adm. Nick

 

I think Pellaeon's caution is also something that should be addressed. The man's retreat at Endor is something that is a pattern in his career. One wonders how exactly he was close to his seventies in a captain's position and is only in charge of his own star destroyer by battlefield attrition even before Endor's stigma.

 

"His son is killed in some minor skirmish"

Hold on a minute, his son was killed leading a squadron of TIE Defenders with the Falcon that helped cripple one of the Vong capital ships (an interdictor?) that was vital in saving Wedge's battle group at the Battle of Bilbringi.

"The losses that Pellaeon sustained during these brawls convinced him to try to make peace with the New Republic."

Wasn't the failure of the Predictor in HoT the final reason he gave up?

 

C19, I feel the need to defend Pellaeon here.

1. Pellaeon was originally a working man, which means he has no power base.
2. He's originally from the Republic, which doesn't help either.
3. He (AFAIK) never served with a high-profile project, or as an admiral's, major politician's, or GA's captain until Thrawn, so a lot of people hadn't heard of him.
4. He doesn't seem to do evil things (a la Ghorman Massacre), which made him more low-profile and less likely to be hailed as a hero of the New Order.
5. There are a lot of people who pass the four tests above who become SD captains; he probably had to serve under one of them, despite being more competent.

 

I think Pellaeon's caution is also something that should be addressed. The man's retreat at Endor is something that is a pattern in his career. One wonders how exactly he was close to his seventies in a captain's position and is only in charge of his own star destroyer by battlefield attrition even before Endor's stigma.

There could be any number of reasons: lack of political savvy, lack of political connections, turned down promotion (ala Riker), served as a CO on another vessel but voluntarily took a transfer back to the crack Chimera, etc.

Why assume the worst?

As for his caution I maintain that this was brought about by trauma caused at Endor - seeing the "best and brightest" die like that could have highlighted a natural reluctance to risk his men. Serving under "waves of men" 'commanders' like Teradoc probably didn't help as did his impotence when the Empires greatest strategist was murdered beside him.

Remember Pellaeon seems to have been relatively adept and adventurous in his early career: lying about his age to sign up, graduating in the top third, his quick thinking and heroism at Gavryn, being noted as one of the most promising young officers by Bail. These tend to suggest at the theoretical political difficulties keeping him back and at the very least leave open the possibility of the over cautious nature as a post-Endor phenomena.

Do chuid

 

He was in Bloodlines. He was captain of a Republic warship. He really got passed up for a long time. Even getting demoted to first officer on an SD.

 

What exactly was his rank in Bloodlines, or was he refered to as captain of such and such a ship? Because it is possible for a lower ranking officer to be captain of a ship in the real world.

 

It was just my assumption that Pellaeon was a Captain on an Admiral's flagship. Like Captain Piett was captain of the executor while Ozzel was there.

 

Hold on a minute, his son was killed leading a squadron of TIE Defenders with the Falcon that helped cripple one of the Vong capital ships (an interdictor?) that was vital in saving Wedge's battle group at the Battle of Bilbringi.

Which book was this in?


Dana

 

If Pellaeon was in Bloodline's was on someone else's flagship, than where was that someone else when the retreat was ordered?

Incidentally, in Darksaber, it said that Pellaeon had commanded ships larger that a Victory before.

 

It was just my assumption that Pellaeon was a Captain on an Admiral's flagship. Like Captain Piett was captain of the executor while Ozzel was there.

It's a good assumption, I'll give you that. But I think it's also possible for an Admiral to make his flagship a ship commanded by a Commander. And if an Admiral has to transfer his flag in the heat of battle, I doubt it would matter what rank the ship's captain was. Not that I'm saying that the Admiral Pellaeon served under at the time in question transfered his flag in the heat of battle to Pellaeon's ship.

Another possibility would be either a temporary promotion or a bevert promotion that was never made an official promotion. Pellaeon could have been given either when his ship was made an Admiral's flagship and still been a Commander. Or he could have simply been a Commander and the Admiral selected, or was assigned, his ship as his flagship for what ever reason, perhaps one of haste.

 

That makes sense. But why was Pellaeon ordering the retreat in Bloodlines if he wasn't the senior figure at the battle?

 

DantanaSkywalker

It was in the NJO series: Final Prophecy.

 

I've a sci-fi series with a fictional United Nations Naval Service in it. One of the regulations in it is that an officer can take charge of the fleet if he has information vital to the survival of naval forces in theatre. Nobody can revoke this order, but the officer will be executed if he fails to demonstrate subsequently that it was for the best.

Optionally, Pellaeon may have peremptorily removed from command another admiral temporarily. Or said admirals/commodores may have been incapacitated, and P was the longest serving Captain who could give the order. We know there's an Admiral Prittick who tries to gather the fleet at Annaj (mentioned in TaB). However, it's unclear whether he had a command at Endor, or joined the fleet later, or what.

Or he gives the order to the ships of his squadron following the death of the guy i/c of the Chimaera. Then other ship commanders decide it's a good plan. An admiral hears and agrees. Everybody starts falling back. Pellaeon technically couldn't order a withdrawal, since in this scenario there are superior officers. However, they countenance his decision. So Pellaeon becomes "the man who gave the order to retreat from Endor". Technically true, even if he wasn't the highest ranking officer at the time.

 

I think that in Bloodlines something probably happened to the bridge, and he was left the senior officer standing, so he took over. Retreating from the battle and automatically assuming command probably pissed a few people above him off, even though he did the proper thing. He might have gone from Lieutenant to Captain in under sixty seconds, and then had political ramifications hit him.

 

But why was Pellaeon ordering the retreat in Bloodlines if he wasn't the senior figure at the battle?

What Raven said above seems a possible answer. Also, I recall reading something about someone with the highest bevert rank taking command in lieu of someone ranking higher than that bevert rank, which if he were given a Bevert Captain's promotion and the Admiral died, then he could have taken charge. Though the whole highest bevert thing didn't make much sense as it seemed to suggest that a Bevert Captain could order a regular Captain who had held that rank for years as to what they should be doing. There's also the possibility that the Admiral could have given Pellaeon orders to order a retreat if anything should happen to him and the battle was not going their way.

 

Knight, I think you mean "brevet," not "bevert."

And I think what Raven said was right.

 

Well Remember, when Zhan wrote it....there were no Grand Admirals at Endor and Piett was the only Admiral. Hence, when Piett died there was the chance Pellaeon WAS the highest ranking officer.

Also its possible that since Harrsk went rogue and Grand Admiral Grant was captured, Pellaeon was the only officer of any rank who returned to the Empire proper.

We can also presume that in the chaos, Pellaeon might have thought Harrsk dead and the Grand Admiral dead on Endor.

It's also possible that he simply said "I'm getting the Nine Corellian hells out of here. Anyone who wants to join me better do so."

Though that seems a tad out of character

Not the running part

I wonder if Pellaeon is related to Shagai of the Clone Wars and his Shivastene companion Scooby

 

Seems like an reasonable explanation, Raven.

Note: Anymore future references or psuedo references to a talking dog and said companions will result in summmary execution.

Captain Ardiff: That seems quite likely, considering that Harrsk and Trigit were there as well. Pellaeon came up with the idea, and maybe Grand Admiral Teshik(whose ISD was probably crippled) agreed and ordered the Imperial fleet out of Endor.