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Just finished reading Outbound Flight for the first time and I must say that Thrawn is now my favorite character in the mythos. He's not evil in any sense of the word.

His original incarnation in Zahn's trilogy was a more balanced character. He's been overblown in OF.

He is pretty neat, I never read Outbound though.

Originally posted by steveholt951
Just finished reading Outbound Flight for the first time and I must say that Thrawn is now my favorite character in the mythos. He's not evil in any sense of the word.

He still serves the Empire even after Palpatine is gone instead of switching over to the rebels, and executes subordinates on occasion (they have to be both incompetent and try and deflect responsibility, but still).

Originally posted by Q99
He still serves the Empire even after Palpatine is gone instead of switching over to the rebels, and executes subordinates on occasion (they have to be both incompetent and try and deflect responsibility, but still).

Lol I must have been tired as hell because the entire thread was a drooling "Thrawn is awesome" thread. But the guy has a legitimate purpose and it definitely appears that he's trying to put the Empire back together to prepare for the Vong. Certainly can't compare him with Palpatine or Vader, he's not looking for power.

Read Zahn's Thrawn trilogy--the guy was definitely looking for power.

I read the thrawn trilogy a few years ago. I didn't like Thrawn's thirst for "power" but his cold calculations were brilliant. At least in this novel, he seemed like a genuine good guy.

I remember making a thread a few years ago questioning Luke's destruction of Palpatine and the Empire, who were more than equipped to deal with the Vong. So the question is, did Palpatine destroy the Jedi and create the Empire because he wanted power and the Von was a convenient surprise or is it possible that he did it because he thought only his Empire could defeat the Vong? Or Both?

Originally posted by steveholt951
I remember making a thread a few years ago questioning Luke's destruction of Palpatine and the Empire, who were more than equipped to deal with the Vong. So the question is, did Palpatine destroy the Jedi and create the Empire because he wanted power and the Von was a convenient surprise or is it possible that he did it because he thought only his Empire could defeat the Vong? Or Both?
The threat was predicted by Chiss, so Thrawn did some sort of preparation and that's why he was away during rebellion, if I remember correctly.

The guy was genuinely fighting enemies, protecting slaves, etc. I wonder what happened between that and the Zahn Trilogy.

Originally posted by steveholt951
The guy was genuinely fighting enemies, protecting slaves, etc. I wonder what happened between that and the Zahn Trilogy. An overinflated ego on the author's part stoked by the praise of fanboys. His character went from a brilliant, yet flawed design (i.e. believable and interesting) in to a genius philosophical mastermind who could do no true wrong.



My arm isn't big enough to make the jerking off motion needed to represent that transition.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
An overinflated ego on the author's part stoked by the praise of fanboys. His character went from a brilliant, yet flawed design (i.e. believable and interesting) in to a genius philosophical mastermind who could do no true wrong.



My arm isn't big enough to make the jerking off motion needed to represent that transition.

hahahaha. I didn't realize the trilogy was written before Outbound.

Thrawn is great, but only in the Thrawn Trilogy. Everywhere else he blows.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
An overinflated ego on the author's part stoked by the praise of fanboys. His character went from a brilliant, yet flawed design (i.e. believable and interesting) in to a genius philosophical mastermind who could do no true wrong.



Originally posted by Lord Lucien
My arm isn't big enough to make the jerking off motion

A similar problem presents itself when I try to masturbate . excellent

After reading Outbound flight, I decided to read every book about the Vong War. Apparently there are 19 novels (insane) and I just finished Vector Prime. I liked it.

I HATE YOU STEVE. I SHALL NEVER FORGIVE SALVATORE FOR KILLING HIM!!!!!!!


Apart from that, I agree. It was a really good book. Salvatore is quite good at what he does.

I was so happy when the Wookiee died. His character never translated well to the written medium. None of the OT lot did, actually.

I was sad because it was that wookiee. I agree they never really translated well, but still.

Originally posted by steveholt951
Lol I must have been tired as hell because the entire thread was a drooling "Thrawn is awesome" thread. But the guy has a legitimate purpose and it definitely appears that he's trying to put the Empire back together to prepare for the Vong. Certainly can't compare him with Palpatine or Vader, he's not looking for power.


Oh, he's far better than Palps or Vader.

Still, he's not exactly a good guy, and there were ethically better- and arguably strategically better- ways of obtaining his goal. If he defected and joined the New Republic, they'd have retaken the Empire fragments far faster, and he'd be around to help them against the Vong. The New Republic was winning but he focused more on holding on to and rebuilding the old Empire than trying to turn them into his anti-vong weapon.





One of the things is 'genius philosophical mastermind' is an image he's purposefully trying to project in-universe. Like, the art thing. A lot of the time he'd use simple good tactics that don't require all that much special insight, but he plays it off as, "Oh, I read their mind using art," because it makes him seem even more brilliant and unstoppable.

He misreads situations repeatedly during the trilogy, generally anything non-military- He misread Jade, he underestimated Karrde, etc.. He's far from perfect, but because he presents himself as perfect, it intimidates foes and makes it easier for him to get brilliant wins.



Yea, 19 was insane. I was following them at the time and I liked 'em at first, but quit about halfway through (or a bit less) because the length wore on me and I kept waiting for the situation to change each book and it didn't.

I will, however, highly recommend the Star Wars: Invasion comic series about the invasion. It has some cool stuff and is a much quicker read.

Originally posted by Q99
One of the things is 'genius philosophical mastermind' is an image he's purposefully trying to project in-universe. Like, the art thing. A lot of the time he'd use simple good tactics that don't require all that much special insight, but he plays it off as, "Oh, I read their mind using art," because it makes him seem even more brilliant and unstoppable.

He misreads situations repeatedly during the trilogy, generally anything non-military- He misread Jade, he underestimated Karrde, etc.. He's far from perfect, but because he presents himself as perfect, it intimidates foes and makes it easier for him to get brilliant wins. Exactly, and that's why he was a more likeable character back then. Flaws and miscalculations are necessary in any characters, lest they be a Gary Stu. Outbound Flight's rendition of Thrawn is too good. He's too clever. Too farseeing. Too right. That book made the same mistake that the prequels made with Darth Vader: just because a story or character is cool and mysterious, doesn't mean we need to see what makes them so.

Outbound Flight, C'baoth, and Thrawn were interesting and exotic in the trilogy because we don't see their genesis. They're mysterious/insane/fascinatingly brilliant without an origin story, and in trying to show us both, Zahn ended up overblowing his star character and rendering the fun and mystique of the whole Outbound Flight incident boring and uninspiring. I was literally rolling my eyes when I read that book. All I could think was that this is what Drew Karpyshun wishes he could right: coherent fanfiction, instead of teenage fanfiction. But fanfiction nonetheless.