^Tarkin. Although both are members of High Command, so Thrawn doesn't seem to answer to him. Palpatine in Legends liked having his top subordinates not have too much direct command over each other so they couldn't consolidate in a rebellion, seems like this has carried over to Canon.
While the rank of Governor/Grand Moff is *technically* civilian, Tarkin was allowed the uncanny ability/power to walk into almost any setting(be it civilian or Military) and usurp control of it. We saw this when he immediately asserted control over the Death Star after its initial test was successful; no questions asked(Krennic's hissyfit notwithstanding.)
We also know that Thrawn answers to Tarkin as well -- Rebels S03E20 made that abundantly clear...
Thrawn: "It's exactly this moment I have been waiting for... To wipe [the Rebels] out!"
Tarkin: "I want you to capture their leadership."
Thrawn: "In such a battle it may not be possible to take prisoners..."
Tarkin: "Ah, but a man of your talents will manage. If we are to crush this Rebellion, we must make examples of its leaders."
Thrawn: "As you wish, Governor Tarkin..."
Moreover, S04E10 told us that Tarkin was detrimental in diverting funding from Krennic's "Stardust" project, to Thrawn's TIE-Defender project. Additionally, Tarkin was able to arrange one-on-one meetings between Thrawn and Palpatine himself, in order for Thrawn to prove why his project was more valuable to the Empire than Krennic's(ie. the Death Star)... That's a lot of pull, right there.
On that note, I'm sure you can now understand why Thrawn was so infuriated when Pryce compromised his TIE-Defender project by destroying all the fuel stores on Lothal... He'd literally *just* went to bat for his project's superiority in front of the Emperor himself, and then she f*cked it all up.
Mark my words: Thrawn's downfall will be caused by the stupidity he is surrounded with, but I digress...
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Last edited by Galan007 on Feb 24th, 2018 at 08:04 PM
thanks for the detailed response. it's easy to forget how damn powerful Tarkin was!
One last question for now lol- it may not have been revealed yet, but why would the Emperor fund Thrawn's project OVER the Death Star? I'd always thought the DS was his priority??
Make no mistake, Palpatine DID want the Death Star become fully realized. As he saw it, a space station of that magnitude/power was the easiest and most feasible way to crush all opposition, dissolve the Senate(and with it any remaining semblance of Democracy), and rule the galaxy through fear of the Death Star's power.
Palpatine: "There will soon be no need to spread the Imperial presence across the galaxy. Once the Death Star is fully operational, its very existence will suppress all opposition." - Thrawn
That said, it was also made clear in Rogue One AND Rebels that many high-ranking officials within the Empire(including Tarkin) viewed the Death Star as little more than a gaping money-pit that yielded no legitimate results:
Tarkin: "In my view, Director Krennic's project has been nothing but expenses and excuses for years on end..." - Rebels
That said, after years of failures with the Death Star, Palpatine was looking into other alternatives to achieve the aforementioned dominance over the galaxy -- and one of those alternatives was Thrawn's TIE-Defender project. Aside from the fact that Thrawn's project had the full support of Tarkin, Palpatine himself also favored Thrawn... Unlike Palpatine, however, Thrawn believed the Empire's presence/resources should *not* be allocated to a single vessel, regardless of how powerful it is. Thrawn believed a flexible Navy was key to greater success/dominance:
Thrawn [speaking to Palpatine]: "I would also warn against diverting too many of the Empire's resources from a flexible navy of capital ships and starfighters to massive singular projects that can bring the Imperial presence to only one system at a time." - Thrawn
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Last edited by Galan007 on Feb 24th, 2018 at 08:38 PM
I remember that wolfe wouldn't join them and Gregor probably stayed with him. With that out of the way, Rex is still with the rebels, and Kix is still in stasis.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: The entire Season 2 final was just completely axed, all that tension in the duel, the final battle between Master and Apprentice was just destroyed.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Palpatine couldn't even manage to overpower two relative scrubs compared to him...
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: The whole Empire vs Rebellion shouldn't have even mattered, the Empire controlling the galaxy shouldn't even be any issue, where Ezra was he could have completely changed the fate of the galaxy at any time.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Literally NO one noticed Ezra and Sabine at all as they were doing their thing, in the middle of the dig site when there were Troopers and miners around, they only noticed until after everything started happening. It's beyond being stupid/incompetent, no one has any brains or eyes apparently.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Yes she did, she's just now on Malachor. Before that whole bit, she did a spectacular ending which would have been an awesome send off...but no, now she's just hanging around on Malachor.
Feb 24th, 2018 06:06 PM
