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Suppose sometime in 9ABY he aquired Force powers or somehow "stole" them like Doom does with Cosmic beings. How much more of a chance does he have of winning against the New Republi now? And if he did, how would he do against the resurgent Palpatine in 11ABY?

Depends on the exact level of mastery he receives. Likewise, the reborn Emperor has a stranglehold on a great deal of Imperial military resources.

Originally posted by Gideon
Depends on the exact level of mastery he receives. Likewise, the reborn Emperor has a stranglehold on a great deal of Imperial military resources.
I haven't read Dark Empire, did the Emperor eveer make reference to how he would depose Admiral Thrawn? Or would he willingly step down?

The Dark Empire Sourcebook strongly implies that the reborn Emperor helped arrange for the Grand Admiral's assassination during the disasterous Battle of Bilbringi, once it was evidently clear that Thrawn's goals were no longer coincidental with the Emperor's own. And as I recall, it was never confirmed that his wayward bodguard, Rukh, was informed by the Noghri loyalists led by Leia Organa Solo. While the Grand Admiral is peerless in terms of military tactics, Emperor Palpatine is by far his superior in terms of political strategy, deception, and intruige.

Anyways, this fight on the face of it is lopsided.

First, keep in mind that the vast majority of Imperial resources, armament, and personnel are aligned with the Emperor. To quote the New Essential Chronology, "Palpatine had done a better job of uniting the warlords than any other, including Thrawn -- only the Emperor could rule the Empire."

Second, recall the Thrawn Trilogy also reveals that Palpatine installed backdoors to the main computers of every Star Destroyer so as to prevent it from falling into Imperial hands. With one code, he could render all of Thrawn's ships defenseless and immobile, though I wouldn't doubt that the Admiral could eventually counteract that.

Third, Palpatine alone is capable of destroying fleets of ships with his Force Storms.

The conclusion is that Grand Admiral Thrawn, though assuredly superior than any of the enemy commanders, is outclassed in every other possible way.

Yeah, I thought so. Thanks for the quote

Make it an opponent other than Palaptine and give Thrawn some Force-induced foresight or Battle Meditation. That'd be wickEd schweet.