#omw to read thrawn alliances i guess

[autismmydearwatson]

My eighth fucking attempt at posting my highlights reel of Thrawn

A great tactician creates plans. A good tactician recognizes the soundness of a plan presented to him. A fair tactician must see the plan succeed before offering approval.

Those with no tactical ability at all may never understand or accept it.

Nor will such people understand or accept the tactician. To those without that ability, those who possess it are a mystery.

And when a mind is too deficient in understanding, the resulting gap is often filled with resentment.

"I'm like dropping hints that I think my boss is a fucking idiot. Anyway Rossi if you're out there--"

Eli winced. In general, not shooting a civilian population was a perfectly sensible approach to combat. More sensible, in fact, than he would have expected from a lot of Imperial officers.

THIS IS SO FUNNY I need a Live Eli Reaction to Thrawn bombing Lothal.

There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them.

THE HYPOCRISY. THE HUBRIS. MY BROTHER IN THE FORCE YOU ARE WORKING FOR AND COMPROMISING WITH THE EVIL

"Why do you seek high rank?"

It was a question many had asked over the years. Thrawn had asked it of himself. The answer never seemed to satisfy the questioner. "Because there are problems that must be solved. Some cannot be solved by anyone except me."

"I see." Vanto was silent a moment. "Senior Lieutenant Hammerly was able to stall them for a bit by telling them you were consulting with the local chief. But they expect you to call back."

"Of course." Thrawn said. "I will do so immediately."

"What will you tell them?"

"The truth."

Vanto had now asked the question. He was no more satisfied than anyone who had come before him.

Thrawn wondered if anyone would ever be satisfied. Or if they would ever understand.

There's so much going on here. The HUBRIS. THE WAR DOG COMPLEX. "Some cannot be solved by anyone except me" THE AUTISM. Important context: this happens after Thrawn burns down civilian farmland.

"I'm Arihnda Pryce. You probably won't remember, but we met once at an Ascension Week reception in the Alisandre Hotel, back when you were a senior lieutenant."

The fact that Arihnda and Thrawn keep inevitably coincidentally crossing paths in the 2017 book is hilarious. The Force is conspiring to draw them together through the machinations of the universe across time and space just so she can piss him off in Rebels season 4 by blowing his entire TIE Defender project to fucking smithereens the moment his back is turned

"But it does not matter. However these beings were pressed into service, they are now Imperial assets. They will be treated as such."

LIVE ME REACTION WHAT THE FUCKK😧😧😧😧😧😧😧😧😧

Through the west-facing window, the sun was beginning to set.

For a moment she watched, thinking back to the evening when her mother was arrested and their lives changed forever. At the time she'd thought how the people in big cities probably never saw the horizon or the sunset, and had wondered if they ever thought about such things. Or whether they even cared.

Arihnda had lived on Coruscant, in the galaxys ultimate big city.

And as she gazed out the window, she realized that she really didn't care.

Oogh. No thoughts, just. OOOOOOUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH

"I have read about the nightswan," Thrawn called after him. "Have you?"

Nightswan turns partially back. His face is obscured by shadow. His body stance again holds weariness, along with a quiet dread. "You refer to the fact that it sings only as night is falling?"

"Yes," Thrawn said. "You do not expect your stand to succeed, do you?"

"I know that it won't succeed." Nightswan said.

"That does not necessarily mean the end. I can give orders for you to be taken unharmed."

"They'll be ignored. Half the troops here are Batonn Defense, and Restos is determined to get rid of me."

"Then come with me now."

"A man must do what he must, Admiral Thrawn. Even if his stand is against the fall of eternal night."

HUARGHH. JUST. NIGHTSWAN. NIGHTSWAN SAVE ME NIGHTSWAN. GODDAMN. HE KNOWS HES DOOMED, HE KNOWS HE WONT SURVIVE THIS STORY, FOR ALL HIS GENIUS HE IS STILL A DESPERATE MAN. EVEN IF HIS STAND IS AGAINST THE FALL OF ETERNAL NIGHT AUGH

"Your report, Colonel, said his death was confirmed?"

"Yes, sir." Yularen said, "His body was found and identified in one of the outer areas, where the damage was less severe. He was probably checking on the perimeter." He hesitated. "Possibly preparing to stand alongside the defenders there."

"Yes." Thrawn said.

And so it was over. The path had ended. The pattern was broken.

The song of the Nightswan was silence. The galaxy would be the worse for its loss.

NOOOOOOOOOOO. FUCK. NIGHTSWAN WAS MY FAVORITE AND PROBABLY THE ONLY CHARACTER WITH A REAL MORAL COMPASS. FUCK. RIP NIGHTSWAN YOU SERVED SO MUCH CUNT THE EMPIRE HAD TO GET YOU KILLED BEFORE THE REBELLION COULD BE PUT TOGETHER

It is said that one should keep ones allies within view, and ones enemies within reach.

A valid statement. One must be able to read an allys strengths, so as to determine how best to use him. One must similarly be able to read an enemy's weaknesses, so as to determine how best to defeat him.

But what of friends?

There is no accepted answer, perhaps because true friendship is so exceedingly rare. But I have formulated my own.

A friend need not be kept either within sight or within reach. A friend must be allowed the freedom to find and follow his own path.

If one is fortunate, those paths will for a time join. But if the paths separate, it is comforting to know that a friend still graces the universe with his skills, and his viewpoint, and his presence.

For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.

I'm not one to claim Zahn is a master of prose but holy shit. Holy shit the final journal opening of the epilogue is pure art. He really put his whole Zahnussy into half a page of morally bankrupt Grand Admiral Thrawn (who uses lethal force against teenagers and commits so many war crimes he even pisses off Palpatine and can't understand the nuances of social interaction) talking about the value of having a real friend. Every lacking opportunity for poetics was given to the epilogue. Kinda. "When one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone" kinda. The platonic aspect of Thrawn and Elis bond is so deep and far-reaching that he's going to be HONEST about it for once?? For all how he loves Eli he also values him just for being there??? I'm gonf throw up. Imagine having a friend so dear to you that it forces you to be honest about it

#im just. im trying to emphasize that thrawn is a liar. you get it. but. #oh to love your friend so much that you simply have to be honest about it. #star wars #thrawn 2017 #omw to read thrawn alliances i guess