Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Legends

"This one is constantly thinking, analyzing, strategizing. He showed no fear, but was curious, studying me in turn."

- Emperor Palpatine

Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name Thrawn, was a male Chiss military officer and an Imperial Grand Admiral.

A brilliant military strategist and the last great military commander of the Galactic Empire, Thrawn led the remnants of the Imperial Navy in a campaign of victories against the New Republic in the years after the disastrous Battle of Endor and reign of Ysanne Isard.

Early life


"I do not need [ the Chiss' ] permission to fight on their behalf."

- Thrawn

Reports current during the last years of the New Republic claimed that Thrawn was a high-born son of the Nuruodo bloodline, one of the Ruling Families of the Chiss Ascendancy. However, it appears that the truth was rather different. Thrawn was born a commoner, and gained status by pursuing a military career; on earning his commission in the Expeditionary Fleet, he became a merit adoptive of the Eighth Ruling Family&mdash;the Mitth Family, not the Nuruodo.

In broad terms, this was a standard part of a military career path; but whereas most Chiss officers lost their Family affinity on leaving the military, Thrawn was designated as a Trial-born of the Eighth Family. This additional status, apparently awarded in recognition of his personal ability, offered him a chance of permanent adoption into the family&mdash;a course already taken by his older brother, Syndic Mitth'ras'safis (also know by his core name, Thrass).

By 27 BBY, Thrawn was the youngest ever Force Commander in the Expansionary Fleet, commanding Picket Force Two based at Crustai on the Ascendancy's frontier; while here, he became convinced that the long-term threat from the piratical Vagaari required more aggressive action than was countenanced under the rules of engagement laid down by the Defense Hierarchy.

During this time, Thrawn intervened in a skirmish between Progga the Hutt and the Corellian smuggling ship Bargain Hunter; destroying the Hutt ship, he impounded the Bargain Hunter and her crew: Captain Dubrak Qennto, his partner and co-pilot Maris Ferasi, and navigator Jorj Car'das. Over the next few months, the three Corellians remained largely with Thrawn aboard his command ship Springhawk, their status somewhere between that of prisoners of war, strategic pawns, and an unofficial cultural exchange. In this time, Car'das and Thrawn formed what seems to have been a lasting friendship, while there were some hints of romantic feelings between Thrawn and Ferasi.

Thrawn's provocative actions fell under scrutiny from the Defense Hierarchy, the Mitth Family, and also the Chaf Family; however, Thrawn willingly went against Chiss protocol as he seized a gravity-well generator from the Vagaari fleet besieging the Geroon homeworld. He was injured in the battle; his life saved by Maris.

When he had recovered, Thrawn took his full picket force (consisting of only twelve small ships) to investigate the arrival of an unknown taskforce within the patrol area: these turned out to be a powerful Trade Federation battle squadron, sent by Darth Sidious to intercept and destroy Outbound Flight. Thrawn decimated the fleet, leaving only the flagship Darkvenge intact, at which point the expedition's leader, Kinman Doriana, sued Thrawn for parlay. Doriana told Thrawn of his mission, giving a negative account of the Jedi, and also warning Thrawn of Sidious' concern that the expedition could fall into the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. This caught Thrawn's attention, as the Chiss had already turned back an incursion by the invaders.

Thrawn lured Outbound Flight into conflict with the Vagaari, although in the chaos of the battle, all but fifty-seven of the 50,000 personnel aboard Outbound Flight were killed, and a remnant of the Vagaari were able to escape. A standoff then developed among the Chiss, with Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Chaf Family, Syndic Thrass, and Admiral Ar'alani of the Hierarchy, which was resolved when Thrass and Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler took Outbound Flight to lightspeed. In spite of protestations from Chaf'orm'bintrano, Ar'alani ensured that Thawn escaped with only informal censure, and also that the Hierarchy acquired the Vagaari interdictor technology.

However, if the Ascendancy's disapproval was expected to discourage Thrawn, they were sorely disappointed. Doriana had reported back to Sidious, who made several overtures to the capable commander. Thrawn could not honorably leave his post, so he decided to engineer his own downfall, continuing to press for pre-emptive strikes. Around 17 BBY, after attacking an enemy ground installation that was manufacturing weapons, Thrawn was sentenced to the traditional Chiss punishment of exile on an uninhabited world.

Imperial command
"All thoughts are worth listening to, whether later judged to be of value or not."

- Thrawn

15 or 14 BBY, Captain Voss Parck of the Star Destroyer Strikefast discovered Thrawn on a remote planetoid at the edge of the Outer Rim near the Unknown Regions. After disabling Colonel Barris' force with primitive tools and traps, Thrawn impressed Parck. Thrawn insisted he return to his people to protect them, but was convinced by Parck that by offering his service to the Empire, he may be better equipped to do so. He even hinted that Palpatine may one day send Thrawn back to the Unknown Regions with the advanced technology and capabilities of the Empire. Convinced, Thrawn joined him and was brought to Coruscant. Upon arrival, Parck presented Thrawn to Emperor Palpatine, who was most pleased to have the commander responsible for Outbound Flight's destruction before him.

Parck began training Thrawn, but the student quickly surpassed the master, and Thrawn engaged in a long period of private tutoring with the Empire’s greatest minds. Thrawn climbed through the ranks of the Imperial Navy, much to the chagrin and in spite of the xenophobia exhibited by many of its human officers.

Thrawn rapidly attained command rank, appearing in public with Palpatine and other high-ranking dignitaries at significant events such as the commissioning of Executor, and serving as captain of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vengeance. Palpatine stationed Thrawn there in order to "babysit" the ambitous Force-user High Inquisitor Jerec, who often used the Vengeance, and who Palpatine suspected might be trying to atain the position of Emperor. Thrawn also found time to pursue his own interests, and almost perished in the S’krrr incident that destroyed Vengeance.

However, few in the Empire guessed at Thrawn's true importance. Palpatine was using his most able commander to explore the Unknown Regions and nullify or exploit any potential threats he encountered. Moreover, at some stage before 3 ABY, he received a secret promotion to the rank of Grand Admiral, although this was known only to his direct subordinates and a few of Palpatine's most trusted agents, most notably Mara Jade, who served as the sole witness to the ceremony.

High command
3 ABY was a busy year for Thrawn. He returned from the Unknown Regions with his flagship Admonitor, to assist Darth Vader in his campaign against Prince Xizor and Black Sun. Demonstrating his range of capabilities, he first undertook a secret mission on Corellia disguised as a Mandalorian bounty hunter, and then worked with Vader in planning the Battle of Derra IV. As a reward for his assistance, Vader gave him control of the Noghri.

After a further brief sojourn in the Unknown Regions, Thrawn returned once again shortly after the Battle of Hoth, this time with the ostensible rank of Vice Admiral, and a fleet including three Imperial-class Star Destroyers and the flagship Grey Wolf. Tasked by Navy command with the duty of pacifying the Pakuuni system, an area plagued with Rebel Alliance and pirate activity, Thrawn conducted the campaign with typical style, decisively crushing the Alliance forces in the system and overseeing the construction of NL-1 to ensure continued Pakuuni obedience. Thrawn also dabbled in Imperial research and development, and was essential in the design of the XM-1 Missile Boat. As a result, he received a public promotion to the rank of full Admiral.



Before long, Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin engaged in open rebellion against the Emperor, using many of the technologies he had developed for the Navy against loyal forces. Thrawn used the forces at his command to crush Zaarin’s forces and the Alliance fleet that attempted to aid him. For his actions, Thrawn was finally given a public promotion to Grand Admiral by the Emperor in the Eva-T system.

Thrawn subsequently stayed on Coruscant and engaged in the politics that accompanied his new rank as vigorously as any battle. He took quickly to appearing in the Emperor’s Court and standing alongside the Emperor and Darth Vader at publicized events. This inevitably brought Thrawn into conflict with Rufaan Tigellinus, a power hungry fellow Grand Admiral. Vader’s departure to accompany Death Squadron to the Outer Rim removed Tigellinus’ primary concern, allowing him to focus on Thrawn. Despite Tigellinus’ efforts, Thrawn continued to climb the ranks of Coruscant society without the aid of strong political factions. The apex of his ascent came on 1:13 of 3 ABY, when Thrawn was inducted into the elite Order of the Canted Circle by the Emperor’s personal invitation and support. Thrawn became a trusted commander in Palpatine’s fold, even going so far as to refuse orders to engage in battles he deemed impossible to win on several occasions. On each of them, Palpatine stripped Thrawn of his rank and sent another commander in his stead, but saw his loyal commander reinstated when the Imperial force was destroyed as Thrawn had predicted.

Unknown Regions
Thrawn's time on Coruscant was short lived. As Tigellinus and other Imperial courtiers closed in on Thrawn, the Chiss and Palpatine hatched a plot to satisfy both their long desire to bring the Imperial Starfleet to the Unknown Regions. Thrawn feigned defeat in the political battles and was sent away by Palpatine. He was given Captain Niriz's Admonitor alongside the formally downgraded Parck and set out on his mission.

The exact extent of Thrawn's activities in the Unknown Regions is unknown, but it would appear that he mapped out large swathes of the region and defeated local threats like the Ebruchi, founding a command-post at the ancient fortress known as the High Tower on Nirauan, and forging a network of alliances and colonies which would develop into the neo-Imperial hegemony known as the Empire of the Hand. The Empire of the Hand was based in a vast information complex known as the Hand of Thrawn which had been established by Thrawn even before his promotion to Vice Admiral.

Some of the members of this Empire were Baron Fel, and Thrawn's old comrade, Voss Parck, who was an Admiral at the time. Many Chiss flocked to the Empire of the Hand in order to receive protection from many of the threats in the Unknown Reigons. As well as standard tools of Imperial power, such as Star Destroyers and stormtroopers, Thrawn rallied local forces to his cause, most notably the Chiss warriors of his personal guard, the Household Phalanx. This new faction crushed the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium and prepared for many more dire threats, which possibly included the Yuuzhan Vong.

Final campaign
"History is on the move, Captain. Those who cannot keep up will be left behind, to watch from a distance. And those who stand in our way will not watch at all."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn

The death of the Emperor saw the New Order spiral into chaos&mdash;but Thrawn appeared to have remained in the Unknown Regions, although he must have been kept appraised of the ongoing situation, as Ysanne Isard transferred officers such as Baron Soontir Fel and Major Wortin to his command.

Four years after the Battle of Endor, following Isard's defeat in the Bacta War, Thrawn finally reemegred in the Empire proper. He transferred his flag to the venerable Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, named Captain Gilad Pellaeon as his second in command and gathered a small but skilled command armada. After a number of successful early raids, the Council of Moffs gave official control of the Imperial Military to Thrawn.

In the early stages of his campaign, he traveled to Wayland, where he acquired three items from Mount Tantiss, an Imperial Storehouse. These items were a cloaking device, a mad Jedi clone named Joruus C'Baoth, and a "trivial piece of technology"&mdash;a full suite of Spaarti cloning cylinders.

Joruus C'Baoth was the clone of the Jedi Jorus C'Baoth who perished in Thrawn's destruction of Outbound Flight. In exchange for fighting for Thrawn, this mad Jedi demanded that Thrawn capture the unborn Solo twins so that he could raise them as his apprentices.

Thrawn used the Spaarti cylinders to clone elite warriors by the tens of thousands, bolstering the conscripts on which the Empire was now forced to depend for much of its manpower. At the same time, he worked to replace the losses in materiel that the military had suffered in the years since Endor. Although he was thwarted in his attempt to capture a large number of New Republic ships from Sluis Van, Thrawn's leadership saw the Empire's own shipyards increase production once again, and he was able to rediscover 178 of the 200 Dreadnaught cruisers of the Katana fleet.



Thrawn used his tactical skills to effectively employ his forces in a series of decisive victories, causing a deep wound to the New Republic. The successes of Thrawn’s campaign bolstered waning Imperial morale and temporarily ceased the squabbling of Imperial warlords, a problem that had plagued the Empire since the death of Palpatine. Using his cloaking device to good effect, Thrawn blockaded Coruscant with cloaked asteroids and scored victory after victory.

Thrawn, acknowledging the potential for his defeat, also sent a single Spaarti cylinder to his facility on Nirauan to produce a single, unaccelerated clone of himself.

Thrawn died during the climactic Battle of Bilbringi at the hands of his Noghri bodyguard, Rukh, who had discovered the duplicitous oppression of Honoghr of which Thrawn was responsible. Rukh snuck up behind Thrawn as he was sitting in his command chair and stabbed him through the chest from behind the chair.

Thrawn's final death


The single clone of Thrawn, which was being grown at the Hand of Thrawn complex, remained undisturbed for almost ten years. In the event of his death, Thrawn had prophesized that he would return ten years after his death to rule the Empire once again. Instead of the true Thrawn taking control of the Imperial fleet, a pretender named Flim was hired by Moff Disra in order to put off the peace talks with the New Republic.

Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade heard rumors of Thrawn's return and eventually discovered the Hand of Thrawn complex on Nirauan. Admiral Parck, Baron Fel, and many Chiss soldiers had spent the previous decade continuing Thrawn's fight against threats from the Unknown Regions.

It appeared that Thrawn was once again ruling the Empire but the Jedi uncovered Disra’s plot. As they entered the cloning complex and saw the fully mature clone still in the cloning cylinder. Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade destroyed the complex walls and flooded the cloning facility, destroying everything inside, including the incubating clone of Thrawn.

Ten years after his actual death, the career of Mitth'raw'nuruodo finally came to a close.

Command style


Appalled by the “Vader style” of command that so many of his contemporaries supported, Thrawn preferred to promote creativity in his crew, rather than merely punish their failures. This was perhaps best exemplified in a pair of incidents surrounding the tractor beam control pit. During his campaign against the New Republic, a tractor beam operator aboard Chimaera responsible for allowing Luke Skywalker to escape capture, was, by his order, executed at his post in a rather brutal fashion by Rukh. On the other hand, when Skywalker escaped a similar trap again, he rewarded the new tractor beam operator, Rejlii Mithel, with a promotion to Lieutenant, because he had employed creative thinking in his attempt. In addition, Thrawn encouraged his senior officers to express their own ideas and gave them reasoned consideration rather than ignore any outside ideas, as many an Imperial commander had done during the height of the Empire. The sharp contrast between Thrawn's style and that of megalomaniac and sadistic Imperial leaders heightened Thrawn's ability to lead.

Thrawn’s command boosted the morale of his crew through victories, but also through his clear dedication to the Empire. Officers and crewmen serving under Thrawn admired his lack of concern for personal glory, only the defeat of the Empire’s enemies and the establishment of order. It was later postulated that Thrawn did not support the Empire per se, but rather wanted to establish order in the known Galaxy in preparation to combat as-yet-unknown threats he had discovered during his time in the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy.

Finally, Thrawn was willing to admit defeat. Rather than stand proud and fight a losing battle, Thrawn knew when it was time to retreat, although those instances were few and far between.

Technique


While a master of military tactics, Thrawn was more than an adept commander. His use of knowledge and intelligence in conjunction with stunning tactics proved Thrawn to be one of the Galaxy’s most remarkable military commanders.

The precise application of intelligence allowed Thrawn to win countless victories over a numerically superior force. Thrawn believed that he could understand the psychological and tactical limitations of his adversaries through the examination of their art, and thus exploit their weaknesses.

An attention to small details also played a major role in Thrawn’s technique. By scouring large collections of data and intelligence, Thrawn was able to piece together small details that alone were merely trivia, but together formed a powerful variable. Additionally, his collection of information and near encyclopedia knowledge of topics gave Thrawn an eerie aura of omniscience. At least once, however, he made mistakes thanks to trying to over-predict his enemies. He assumed they knew something they didn't, and it damaged his plans.

Finally, Thrawn laid out complex campaigns in advance of his attacks. By following a carefully planned campaign, Thrawn was able to keep his enemies guessing. In the time it took his enemies to understand one phase of his plan, Thrawn had already moved on to the next. In this, Thrawn was always a step ahead of his foes.

Behind the scenes

 * Grand Admiral Thrawn first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the first book of the Thrawn Trilogy that was named for the Grand Admiral. The trilogy marked the dawn of a new era in the Expanded Universe, and Thrawn's character is considered a contributing factor.


 * Artistic renditions of Thrawn during his final campaign often picture him with a ysalamir.


 * Thrawn was voiced by Tris King in Star Wars: TIE Fighter.

Appearances

 * Outbound Flight
 * Mist Encounter in Star Wars Adventure Journal 7
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Rebellion
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Swarm
 * Galaxies
 * TIE Fighter
 * Side Trip in Tales from the Empire
 * X-Wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel (flashback)
 * Command Decision in Star Wars Adventure Journal 11
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Red Sky, Blue Flame in Star Wars Gamer 7
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Survivor's Quest
 * Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast