THRAWN in #StarWarsRebels!

Potential New Story Arc Rationale To Get Thrawn In Star Wars Rebels.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most prolific villains in Star Wars Legends and he should be re-canonized into the new movies and televisions shows. Created by Timothy Zahn in the “Heir to the Empire” novel trilogy, THRAWN has appeared in several novels and comics, but not in the movies and television shows.

In the Get Thrawn In Star Wars Rebels campaign, we must prove to the Disney Lucasfilm about the stories that can be told about Grand Admiral Thrawn in the timeline of Star Wars Rebels. We have to show that this character’s story arcs are consistent with the Star Wars Rebels theme for the show. We the fans, must set this up for them beyond letter-writing and demands. We have to have fun with is process. “This is where the fun begins.”

Our concept for new stories needs to show the rationale for the presence of a male Chiss species in the Empire.

What are Chiss? Chiss are humanoid species from the “Unknown Regions” of the galaxy – the part of the galaxy that was not been fully mapped. Chiss are a spacefaring race with low-level hyperdrive technology – their ships do not hyperdrives like the Star Destroyers, but their ships are handle better in aerial battle. Their colonized area of space called the Chiss Ascendancy.

Highly unique aspects of the Chiss are:

May be a human-offshoot species that its early progenitors were lost in a hibernation space-travel experiment thousands of years ago. After millennia, these “humans” adapted to their planetary environment and appear as Chiss, the blue skin and red eyes with red sclera.
Their genetic divergence helps them work in sparse food and predatory environments.
This ability makes them extremely intelligent with strategic and tactical abilities. Their military logic and strategy are unparalleled.
Their abilities are without the use of the Force. While some Chiss were Force Sensitive, their culture had no need for Force using organizations like the Jedi or the Sith, because it was purposeless in their cultural dynamic. If the members had it, they rarely used the ability, because they rarely acted on their emotion like humans who tend to be emotionally unstable (Darth Plagueis, pp 200).
Chiss are probably taught at an early age overcome emotional disabilities from a cultural perspective. That skill had a deleterious effect that causes situations not handled to gurgle into madness, which is seems to have happened to Grand Admiral Thrawn or as the Chiss would call him: Mitth’raw’nuruodo. He is aggressive and combative in the protection the Chiss Ascendency. The Aristocra, or ruling families, would not permit his actions to go unpunished despite any attack that may have occurred. He was placed on the outskirts of the Chiss space with his Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet to learn any threats to Chiss space. For a long time, there were no battles, until the slavers called Vagaari were racing away from a completely unknown species with huge biological ships (which was later learned to be the Yuuzhan Vong, which did pose as a huge threat on the galaxy). But, by the time his team investigated, he met members of the Republic in 27 BBY and his fleet was able to beat, Trade Federation Droid ships with strategy in aerial battles. (Outbound Flight, pp 266).

Story Arc Rationale

Before Order 66, the Jedi were negotiators and keepers of the peace. They used the Light Side of the Force to keep various species from war and negotiate whatever would bring beings together. However, the Jedi were seen more as a nuisance and had become selective in what they negotiated. The Battle at Naboo was seen by many outsiders as the Jedi infiltrating and forcing their point of view. One theory as to why some people hated the Jedi is because of that selectivity that harms the other group that may be protecting themselves (Ars Technica, 2010). Jedi are supposed to be apolitical and not intervene in territorial disputes, but many people saw them as an imposing force. While most of those individuals were often criminals, it does not mean that forces that could match the Jedi’s, like the Sith would not use that cover story as their basis to sway the body politic.

When the Jedi were slaughtered after Order 66 and Operation Knightfall was active with Darth Vader at the helm, the newly created Empire and its Imperial Military were of the last vestiges of the Republic. Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious), and Darth Vader as Sith Lords were not going to let years of hard work be defeated by an incompetent military. (The Rise of Lord Vader, 2011)

Several tactics were used to make the citizens of the Empire that Palpatine, Darth Vader and to some extent, Governor Tarkin had their best interest:

Protection was one of them. Several planets left from the Clone Wars had been devastated, the Empire would bring in their resources, and take away all that they needed, then leave the planets desolate. Groups of beings had to decide how to move forward. (A New Dawn, 2015 and Servants of the Empire, 2015).

Another one was propaganda to find all “evil” Jedi, that they said betrayed the Republic and the Jedi Hunters brought them to trial, and of course executed. (The Force Unleashed 1 and Star Wars Rebels Season 1). That was when sparks of Rebellion started from groups of beings that knew that it was untrue about the Jedi. The Empire had to battle non-Force users who believed in the Jedi and doubted the Empire.

The Empire used fear to bring any citizens into submission as seen in Star Wars Rebels, Call to Action Episode 11 where Grand Moff Tarkin destroyed a perfectly usable communications tower to break the morale of these “Rebels”. Then in the “Siege on Lothal” Episode 1 Season 2, where Darth Vader ordered the burning of “Tarkintown” to unleash the emotions of the Rebels. Fear is used against the Jedi because the Jedi feel all that pain and hurt through the Force, and they cannot stop the emotional scars it causes them unless they turn to the dark side. And while dark side users feel these same scars, they tend to relish in the pain like masochists and the sadist havoc they wreck on the galaxy. They will continue this psychopathy they are stopped. Most of the time, it takes more than one Jedi alone to stop such a destructive force.

Then the Imperials use a more insidious idea that breaks people’s spirits called, “High Human Culture” or Star Wars Bigotry and Racism. It is well known throughout the Star Wars Legends literature that the Imperials only liked humans. Aliens were disgusting to them. Near-humans and humanoids were acceptable to a point, but for high ranks they were not admitted, except to the Inquisitors – but one must have the Force in order to be a member of the Inquisitors (why aliens were always thought to have Force powers is a different question). Most beings in the galaxy did not have the Force, therefore, they were under the constraints of Imperial discrimination. This idea of bigotry and hatred, called speciesism, seems to have a profound effect on morale. Emperor Palpatine knew it well, and had to assuage these powers, because Sith, could also be viewed as alien.

What would Emperor Palpatine’s plan be to attenuate that much bigotry manifested in human Imperials?

The Get Thrawn In Star Wars Rebels campaign story arc design is to address the speciesism maintained by the human components as Imperials. In short, Emperor Palpatine acquiesces to the last vestiges of the Alien beings that were once part of the Republic that demanded representation. In a “token affirmative action” manner, he advances a Chiss, THRAWN to a high-level position in Imperial rank. Meanwhile Darth Vader is committing genocide on several planets, like Kashyyyk on the Wookiees (Rise of Darth Vader, 2011 and The Force Unleashed 1). Emperor Palpatine can still have his favorite son, Darth Vader, rule the galaxy, but, Palpatine must show the diversity of aliens who question the competence of these sector Moffs led by Governor Tarkin who were overwhelmingly human (Tarkin, 2015).

Moreover, Palpatine has to appease the Mandalorians, because the only way to defeat the Mandalorians is wholesale destruction of all their planets. While most Mandalorians are human, some are aliens and the the ones who are human may have tiny amounts of “Taung DNA” that renders them resistant to the powers of Force manipulation. This incident is much like other alien species, like the Yinchorri. Apparently, this resistance was evolutionarily conserved and developed as a biological protection against Force users (Darth Plagueis, pp 250). For whatever reason, during the Rise of the Empire era, the Sith do not mount a huge overrun of Mandalorians, much it was in the Old Republic wars with Darth Revan and the actions on Malachor V thousands of years earlier (KOTOR and SWTOR).

But having a non-Force user (Force blind) individual that is very smart, a strategist and cunning, would enhance the goals of Emperor Palpatine. Moreover to leave an heir to the daily operations of the Empire. Someone had to rein in Grand Moff Tarkin sudden jump in expenses for some random large weapons project with cost overruns from blowing zetamillions of credits. To have any opposing force to discover the built without a single test, would be devestating. Someone who is realistic and pragmatic that can look at intricate designs like a piece of art and tell Palpatine the truth of this design…called…the Death Star (read our example).

Who other than THRAWN to do that? He can outwit and outmaneuver the Rebels who attempt to destroy Emperor Palpatine’s grand plan for the galaxy. He is the only one with experience with the extra-galactic threat where the individuals are absent in the Force, called the Yuuzhan Vong.

Of course, the Star Wars Legends material will be eliminated or retroactively continued (retconned), but still, we have the justification we need as to why THRAWN should be in Rebels.

The question now is how?

We need assistance on that front. If interested, please join the planning group. It will be active until the new movie, Star Wars The Force Awakens airs.

READ HERE TO JOIN US

#GetThrawnIn #StarWarsRebels