The Thrawn Trilogy

[Winter]

I remember the commercials for it like The audio book versions

I mostly just remember the impact it had, like I said I had seen the novels cover when it was coming out but couldn't read it until years later due to my dyslexia. But I do remember Star Wars becoming huge again and from what I could gather from my parents, it was as big as it was back when Star Wars was first released.

[hammerofglass]

They're on audible. Quite good readings, too.

[Paul Walker]

And I'm all for strong female characters, I definitely feel the Last Jedi needed one or two of those. Holdo is what a mentally unbalanced militant feminist thinks a strong military leader should be. She reprimands Poe for being a maverick without sharing any battle strategy with him like a leader should. And in doing so causes more damage than good throughout the entire movie, and we are supposed to respect her because she sacrifices herself.

I think you missed the point with Vice Admiral Holdo. She was a leader who set out to save the most lives at the lowest cost.

First look at the opening. The Resistance are discovered and make an escape only for the Imperials to find them again. There are only a few ways this could happen, one of which is there being an Imperial Agent on board. We are meant to sympathis with Poe, as we know his intentions are pure. Objectively he was in the wrong. The military are always subject to operational security, and his demotion in rank by Leia likely pushed him out of the levels which would have access to the information (other than those directly involved). Note: when he did find out the plan, he immediately told Finn and Rose (I doubt he had authorisation to do that) and as a result the Empire found out about the Vice Admiral's plan. If not for Poe blabbing away publicly, the Resistance would have survived.

Second. The ramming of Snoke's Flagship was another scenario to save the most lives. She didn't do it to kill as many of the First Order as possible (though she knew it would happen), she did it to save as many of the Resistance as she could.

Vice Admiral Holdo was not only correct, she was written consistently in every one of her appearances.

[Paul Walker]

I love the Thrawn Trilogy. I think that's what everyone was hoping for with episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

Personally I prefer the Last Jedi to the Force Awakens, simply for trying new things. They didn't all work, but that's to be expected. With the Force Awakens we had A New Hope 3.

I'd love Thrawn to be Rian Johnsons primary villain. Since Thrawn has likely been skipped into the post-war timeframe due to the events of the finale in Star Wars Rebels, it is certainly reasonable to expect to see him in future films. And as he'd be "presumed dead" it would seem reasonable to give the protagonists a proper introduction to him in film format rather than being expected to know the Empire's mastermind.

I saw some people commenting on the Thrawn Trilogy acting as a spiritual successor to the prequels because of things like Coruscant etc. That's true, but I think it's only because the Thrawn Trilogy is so respected that Lucas himself used some ideas from them. Coruscant was first introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy. I can't bring myself to watch the holiday special, but even though they were at the wookie home, I don't think it was named Kashyyyk until Zahn's books either. And the name Palpatine was first released in these books too. Because until 1991, we knew next to nothing about the Emperor even when he died (which is why I'm always surprised when that complaint is levelled at Snoke...)

Anyway, I think a Disney take on this would be awesome, as long as Mr Zahn is onboard to consult with.

[FaxModem1]

And I'm all for strong female characters, I definitely feel the Last Jedi needed one or two of those. Holdo is what a mentally unbalanced militant feminist thinks a strong military leader should be. She reprimands Poe for being a maverick without sharing any battle strategy with him like a leader should. And in doing so causes more damage than good throughout the entire movie, and we are supposed to respect her because she sacrifices herself.

I think you missed the point with Vice Admiral Holdo. She was a leader who set out to save the most lives at the lowest cost.

First look at the opening. The Resistance are discovered and make an escape only for the Imperials to find them again. There are only a few ways this could happen, one of which is there being an Imperial Agent on board. We are meant to sympathis with Poe, as we know his intentions are pure. Objectively he was in the wrong. The military are always subject to operational security, and his demotion in rank by Leia likely pushed him out of the levels which would have access to the information (other than those directly involved). Note: when he did find out the plan, he immediately told Finn and Rose (I doubt he had authorisation to do that) and as a result the Empire found out about the Vice Admiral's plan. If not for Poe blabbing away publicly, the Resistance would have survived.

Second. The ramming of Snoke's Flagship was another scenario to save the most lives. She didn't do it to kill as many of the First Order as possible (though she knew it would happen), she did it to save as many of the Resistance as she could.

Vice Admiral Holdo was not only correct, she was written consistently in every one of her appearances.

No, if she had separated the fleet and had the ships scatter and rendezvous somewhere else, called in help from the New Republic for fleet support, hyperspaced to a better location to hide it out rather going straight for 18 hours, used FTL for a spot to hide to lay in ambush to pick off the First Order fleet, or a dozen other options, that would have showed priority for the fleet. Instead, she sacrificed two ships for no reason, and banked on their plan of hiding working after their entire fleet was destroyed.

Also, at no point does she mention the possibility of a mole in the film. That's a justification that might be in place in-universe, but she, or anyone else, never mentions it. Her lack of communications got two ships(eventually three), and presumably their crews, killed.

[hammerofglass]

The first time I saw it I was convinced that Holdo herself was a traitor from the first time she refused to admit she had a plan right up until the suicide ramming. She handled everything in the worst possible way.

Of course the same is also true of Hugs (no reason not to jump part of his fleet ahead of the rebels, no reason not to keep the fighter attack going once the rebel hangar and defensive turrets were out), but he's at least supposed to be an incompetent idiot.

[Enterprising]

I've not read the posts incase of spoilers, as I'm actually looking to get the Thrawn Trilogy on kindle, but there seems to be more than one edition of it, so it's a but hard to see which one is best to buy.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Winter]

Defiantly get the Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition, though I'm not sure if Dark Force or The Last Command have a 20th Anniversary Edition but even if they don't get them as well. I also recommend picking up the comic adaptations of the books, even if they are condensed to Hell, just for the visuals they provide.

[Karha of Honor]

I love the Thrawn Trilogy. I think that's what everyone was hoping for with episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

Personally I prefer the Last Jedi to the Force Awakens, simply for trying new things. They didn't all work, but that's to be expected. With the Force Awakens we had A New Hope 3.

I'd love Thrawn to be Rian Johnsons primary villain. Since Thrawn has likely been skipped into the post-war timeframe due to the events of the finale in Star Wars Rebels, it is certainly reasonable to expect to see him in future films. And as he'd be "presumed dead" it would seem reasonable to give the protagonists a proper introduction to him in film format rather than being expected to know the Empire's mastermind.

I saw some people commenting on the Thrawn Trilogy acting as a spiritual successor to the prequels because of things like Coruscant etc. That's true, but I think it's only because the Thrawn Trilogy is so respected that Lucas himself used some ideas from them. Coruscant was first introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy. I can't bring myself to watch the holiday special, but even though they were at the wookie home, I don't think it was named Kashyyyk until Zahn's books either. And the name Palpatine was first released in these books too. Because until 1991, we knew next to nothing about the Emperor even when he died (which is why I'm always surprised when that complaint is levelled at Snoke...)

Anyway, I think a Disney take on this would be awesome, as long as Mr Zahn is onboard to consult with.

Hell no, Zahn writes the script and they respect it. Animated please.

[Winter]

I saw some people commenting on the Thrawn Trilogy acting as a spiritual successor to the prequels because of things like Coruscant etc. That's true, but I think it's only because the Thrawn Trilogy is so respected that Lucas himself used some ideas from them. Coruscant was first introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy. I can't bring myself to watch the holiday special, but even though they were at the wookie home, I don't think it was named Kashyyyk until Zahn's books either. And the name Palpatine was first released in these books too. Because until 1991, we knew next to nothing about the Emperor even when he died (which is why I'm always surprised when that complaint is levelled at Snoke...)

Anyway, I think a Disney take on this would be awesome, as long as Mr Zahn is onboard to consult with.

The issue with there be no information about Snoke vs The Emperor was that the cast and crew kept building up the mystery as to who he was. Abrams saying how Snoke was more like Yoda then Palpatine, (which we never see as he spends most of the films yelling and knocking his own allies around) raising questions on how he was able to turn Ben to the Dark Side, who was Snoke and where did he come from and why was such a threat? All these questions went completely unanswered, for now, as Johnson was more interested in subverting expectations then answering these questions.

With Palpatine you didn't really have any questions, you know who he is the moment you see him, he's Vader's boss and the only person who Vader fears, which means he's a powerful Force User and in Return of the Jedi we learn that he turned Vader to the Dark Side and shows his cunning by revealing that he was the one who allowed the Rebels to know the location of the second Death Star. The cast and crew didn't spend two to three years building up the mystery behind him or trying to give him characters traits that we never see. The Emperor is exactly who he appears to be, the Evil Over Lord that is the final obstetrical to Luke Redeeming his father and the head of the snake that needs to be severed in order to kill the Empire.

Keep in mind with Thrawn and C'baoth we never actually learn that much about the former and is one of the characters we never see a view point from and with C'baoth we learn a bit about who he was before he got cloned but in the all we need to know is presented in the books we're reading now.

That another thing with the resent films there's a lot of information locked away in supplementary material. Want to know how Phasma escaped Starkiller Base and wasn't charged with betraying the First Order, read her tie in comics. Ever wondered how Leia knows and trusts Holdo, read Leia's tie in novels. Want to know more about Snoke, go read this book that delves a little bit more into his back story and hints at where he comes from.

With The Original Trilogy, The Prequel Trilogy, The Clone Wars, Knights of the Old Republic and The Thrawn Trilogy you could pick up each one with needing to know much about Star Wars and enjoy them on their own. Not so with The Last Jedi. You want to know more you have to not only be familiar with the Original Trilogy, The Prequels, The Clone Wars AND the no longer canon EU but several tie-ins to the most resent film itself.

As for TTT being a spiritual sequel to The Prequels because of things like Coruscant etc. for me what is the real selling point for TTT being a spiritual sequel to the Prequels and what helps tie all three Trilogies together, continuity errors not withstanding, is the Journey of Mara Jade and how it contrasts with Anakin's journey in the Prequels. Mara starts off as a villain, of sorts, how hates the Jedi and wants to bring a end to the New Republic. Anakin starts off as a wide eyed innocent who hero worships the Jedi and protect the Old Republic. But as their journeys unfold they end up taking very different paths. Mara comes to see the best of the Jedi and saw Palpatine for what they really were and came to join the Jedi and befriend the very man she swore to kill while Anakin came to hate the Jedi for holding him back and helped in bringing a end to the Old Republic.

And that's why I feel Palpatine's lack of backstory was less frustating then Snoke's and why I feel that TTT is a spiritual sequel to the Prequels. But that's just me and I'm just a viewer with an opinion.