Lit Thrawn trying to unite and protect the galaxy: do you believe it?

Ok from seeing CT-867-5309 thread about Luke's darkness/motivation I thought I'd go with this for the EU with Thrawn.

Now Thrawn when first introduced is merely a clever but ruthless Warlord. Who gets his just deserts by a person from a race whose planet he helped ruin.

But by Hand of Thrawn it was revealed that Thrawn was trying to unite the galaxy to resist against some unkown threats that would make your blood freeze. It was even had him manipulating Palpatine to do. it. Spelt out explicitly with Mara saying how Palpatine was a step ahead and Thrawn was 2 steps ahead of everyone.That was further explored in Outbound Flight and Choices of One where he saves the galaxy from an evil warlord.

Thrawn goes from Villain to misunderstood hero. Now my question is like with Luke do you buy it ?

 

I believe Thrawn wanted a unified galaxy to fight the Vong - if it can be done then he's created a giant roadblock for the YV so Chiss space will we safe. Palpatine's Empire is heavy on the military so it's a safe bet to support. Palpatine himself probably knew this was Thrawn's reason for working for him but didn't care. If the Vong came, he'd wipe them out, if they didn't he had a superb admiral to crush his enemies with/conquer more of the galaxy (what Thrawn was doing in the Unknown Regions more or less).

 

That was what Thrawn wanted but did you find it believable for the character ?

 

Öh... Palpatine already knew about the Vong before he ever meet Thrawn as explained among other places in Outbound Flight.

 

I'm obviously saying this wrong. The question is not what was or not known but whether you buy the change in motivation and character from Villain out for power, into a hero looking to protect the galaxy ?

 

No, didn't buy it, thought it was absurd.

Been awhile since I read the relevant novels, but is there even any proof in the novels that Thrawn was actually doing this? We have other characters saying it, but does Thrawn ever say it? Does he do anything in TTT that hints at it?

What reason did I have to buy it? Why would I want to?

I suppose it's possible, or plausible, but typical of Zahn in its obnoxiousness.

 

No, the way Thrawn is written in TTT is completely at odds with his post-Bantam characterizations, including Crisis of Faith.

 

Maybe we should compile a list of unbelievable directions the EU took, huge changes in characterization, unnatural conclusions, etc.

 

I think it'd break the forums.

 

My reaction to the idea back when I first heard about it. I had the same reaction after reading the later novels that went into Thrawn's background. What really gets me is that, as others have said, it doesn't line up with how Zahn originally portrayed him.

 

@CT-867-5309 It's been awhile since I read it but I think he said it to Car'das in Choices of One but I can't remember the exact phrasing.

I agree with Jello is was a bit of a whitewash by Zahn, though would it have been as bad if it was not so blatant ?

 

I figured that it made sense for a young Thrawn. It was established way back with Mist Encounter (written before Specter of the Past) that Thrawn joined the Empire to protect his people.

 

Several years ago I read through the post-ROTJ in chronological order. It makes a mockery of the word continuity.

 

The problem is that in Crisis of Faith, which is right before TTT, he has his whitewashed characterization.

 

What happened in Crisis of Faith?

 

At a guess Thrawn had a crisis of faith.

 

Thrawn fought Moriarty. Also it had bug aliens and that tangled it with Dark Nest in my mind so it is in a mental blind spot.

All I remember in Thrawn chilling with Soontir Fel and not being a ruthless warlord.

 

The only true Thrawn is the one from Galaxy of Fear.

 

Thrawn manipulating Palpatine does it contradict common sense

Why Yes, yes it does. One does not simply manipulate the Grand Daddy Dark Lord Of The Sith. Palpatine May have tricked Thrawn into believing that, but no way was it true.

 

Agent Kallus does he contradict Cad Bane.

Oh wait.

 

The character saying it is Mara - and she may have lost respect for Palpatine since Dark Empire, or perhaps Children of the Jedi.

The scene in question:

At the edge of the known galaxy, where Palpatine's holo had shown only the white stars of the Unknown Regions, an entirely new area had been colored in.
A huge new area.
"Funny, isn't it," Mara said, the dread still swirling through her. "He was exiled from the Imperial court, you know. Just summarily thrown out."
"Who was?" Luke asked.
"Grand Admiral Thrawn," she said. "Picked the wrong side in one of the political battles that were always going on and lost. Everyone else in the cabal wound up demoted or imprisoned or else reassigned to a semiprivate torture chamber like garrison duty in the Outer Rim. But not Thrawn. Oh, no. Even the Outer Rim was too good for this ungrateful alien who'd been accepted into Imperial society and paid them back for their kindness with a slap in the face. No, they had to come up with something very special for him."
"And that something was exile to the Unknown Regions?"
Mara nodded. "If the Outer Rim was a torture cell, the Unknown Regions was a fully populated rancor pit," she said. "So with some prodding—and probably a lot of dealmaking—they got Palpatine to put him on a Star Destroyer and send him on a one-way trip past the Outer Rim."
She snorted a derisive laugh. "And just to add insult to injury, they managed to make it a mapping expedition. Imagine—one of the best strategists the Empire had ever known being reduced to mapping duty. Ruining his life and his reputation with a single stroke. I'll bet they were chuckling together about it for years afterward."
Luke shook his head. "I seem to be missing the joke."
"So did they," Mara said, her dark mood darkening even further. "The joke is that it apparently never occurred to any of them that Palpatine was always one step ahead of whatever was happening in his court. And if he was a step ahead, a strategist like Thrawn was at least two steps ahead."
Luke's mouth felt dry. "Are you saying that Thrawn and Palpatine had the whole thing planned out from the beginning?"
"Of course they did." Mara gestured at the holo. "Just look at all the territory he opened up. He couldn't possibly have done that by himself. Palpatine must have been feeding him men and ships all along the way."