Thrawn (novel)

Thrawn is a canon novel, the first in the Star Wars: The Imperial Trilogy, penned by Timothy Zahn. Del Rey published it on April 11, 2017. The book centers on the character Thrawn, who was brought back into canon in the third season of Star Wars Rebels. Zahn originally created the character in his Star Wars Legends series, specifically the Thrawn Trilogy. Marc Thompson narrated the audiobook version. In 2018, a comic book adaptation was released, written by Jody Houser and published as a six-issue series by Marvel Comics. Thrawn: Alliances, the sequel novel, also came out in 2018. ## Publisher's summary "I study the art of war. Work to perfect it." —Grand Admiral Thrawn Grand Admiral Thrawn, a figure celebrated as one of the Galactic Empire's most strategically brilliant and dangerously effective warriors, also stands out as one of the most compelling figures in the Star Wars galaxy. Ever since Timothy Zahn, a bestselling author, introduced him in the classic novel Heir to the Empire, and through his subsequent appearances in Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and other works, Grand Admiral Thrawn has achieved legendary status among the most iconic villains in Star Wars. However, the specifics of Thrawn's background and his ascent through the Imperial hierarchy have largely been shrouded in mystery. Now, in Star Wars: Thrawn, Timothy Zahn tells the story of the pivotal events that propelled the blue-skinned, red-eyed strategist and master of warfare to the pinnacle of power—and notoriety. After Imperial forces rescue Thrawn from his exile, his remarkable intellect and tactical prowess quickly gain the attention of Emperor Palpatine. Thrawn soon proves to be both essential to the Empire and highly ambitious, as dedicated as Darth Vader, the Empire's most loyal servant, and a formidable warrior who should never be underestimated. He consistently achieves victory in missions to suppress smugglers, capture spies, and defeat pirates, even though his unconventional methods often frustrate his superiors while simultaneously earning him increasing respect within the Empire. As he rapidly climbs the ranks, he mentors his trusted aide, Ensign Eli Vanto, teaching him the skills of combat, leadership, and the strategies for achieving victory. Despite his dominance on the battlefield, Thrawn still has much to learn about the political arena, where the ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce has the power to be either a valuable ally or a formidable adversary. All of these lessons will be critically important when Thrawn is promoted to admiral. He must then use all of his knowledge, instincts, and military resources to combat a growing insurgency that threatens not only innocent lives but also the Empire's control over the galaxy and his own carefully developed plans for future advancement. ## Plot summary ### First contact The novel begins with a short flashback prologue where Mitth'raw'nuruodo contemplates his supposed banishment from the Chiss Ascendancy. In the present timeline, Eli Vanto, an Imperial cadet, is part of an Imperial reconnaissance team, commanded by Colonel Mosh Barris and Captain Voss Parck, exploring an unmapped planet located in Wild Space. They come across a shelter that appears to have been recently inhabited. While investigating the area, the Imperial team is ambushed by an unknown attacker, resulting in the deaths of five Imperial Navy troopers and one stormtrooper. Upon returning to the Strikefast, a Venator-class Star Destroyer, Captain Parck deduces that the attacker has secretly boarded their transport. He orders the hangar lights to be dimmed. As anticipated, the stowaway emerges and surrenders to the stormtroopers. Eli identifies the individual as a Chiss, a blue-skinned humanoid race considered mythical on his home planet of Lysatra, which is also in Wild Space. Because Eli can speak Sy Bisti, he acts as a translator between his Imperial superiors and the stowaway, who introduces himself as Mitth'raw'nuruodo (or Thrawn, for short). During questioning, Thrawn claims he was exiled by his people for disagreeing with their policy against preemptive strikes. He also explains how he outmaneuvered the Imperial forces on the uncharted planet. Thrawn admits to attacking and killing Imperial personnel to assess the Empire's capabilities. He states that he seeks the Empire's help to protect his people from unspecified threats in the Unknown Regions. Privately, Parck praises Eli for his assistance and assigns him as Thrawn's translator. Although Thrawn understands Galactic Basic Standard, he is not fluent in it. Parck decides to take Thrawn to Coruscant, believing that the Emperor Palpatine will be interested in meeting the Chiss warrior. During the voyage, Eli uses the opportunity to get to know Thrawn and learn more about the mysterious alien. ### New opportunities Eli accompanies Thrawn and his Imperial superiors to the Imperial Palace, where they are granted an audience with the Emperor. Thrawn tells the Emperor about the threats in the Unknown Regions and offers his knowledge and skills to the Empire. He requests a guarantee of protection for his people in exchange for his service. Thrawn also expresses a desire to meet Anakin Skywalker, another of the Emperor's servants when he was still Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. The Emperor claims that Skywalker died during the Clone Wars. The Emperor accepts Thrawn's offer to serve as his advisor on the Unknown Regions. Thrawn also persuades the Emperor to permanently assign Eli as his translator, much to Eli's unease. On Lothal, an Outer Rim world, Arihnda Pryce assists her parents, Talmoor and Elainye Pryce, in managing Pryce Mining, which operates a doonium mine that supplies metals for the Imperial Navy's starships. Arihnda declines an offer from Arik Uvis, representing Governor Ryder Azadi, to purchase a 21 percent stake in Pryce Mining. In retaliation, Governor Azadi fabricates embezzlement charges against Arihnda's mother, Elainye. After consulting with her father, Talmoor, Arihnda seeks help from Senator Domus Renking. Renking agrees to drop the charges against Elainye in exchange for Arihnda signing over the mine's rights to the Empire. As compensation, Renking offers Arihnda a position at a Lothalian citizen assistance office on Coruscant. Seeking to protect her mother and experience life in the Core Worlds, Arihnda accepts Renking's offer. ### Imperial orientation With Eli Vanto only three months away from graduating from the Myomar Academy in the Expansion Region, the Emperor orders his reassignment to the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant alongside Thrawn. At the Royal Imperial Academy, Commandant Deenlark greets Thrawn and Eli with disdain, viewing Thrawn as an alien and Eli as a "backwater yokel." Deenlark, seeing Thrawn as a "fancy-face soldier," assigns him the rank of lieutenant and gives him three months to prepare before commissioning. As they settle into their new environment, Eli informs Thrawn about the xenophobia and regional biases within the Imperial military. They are both aware that the predominantly Core Worlds student body looks down on them as outsiders. Back at the Royal Imperial Academy, Thrawn faces harassment from the Imperial cadets. His only true friend is Eli Vanto. After some deliberation, they decide to accept an invitation from Cadets Spenc Orbar and Rosita Turuy to play cards at the metallurgy lab. Thrawn suspects a trap but is determined to learn about his opponents. Thrawn wins a game of cards against Orbar and Turuy before being ejected by an instructor. While teaching Eli combat moves, the two cadets are ambushed by three hooded figures. Thrawn manages to wound one of the assailants in the leg before other cadets discover the commotion. Later, Thrawn and Eli meet with Commandant Deenlark to discuss the incident. Despite evidence that Orbar and Turuy hired the attackers, Deenlark is hesitant to punish them due to their families' political influence. Based on the attackers' quick reflexes, Thrawn convinces Deenlark to reassign the three troublemakers to the Skystrike Academy, known for its starfighter program. Thrawn argues that the abrupt transfer will frighten Orbar and separate him from his gang. Privately, Thrawn and Vanto discuss Deenlark's reluctance to antagonize Orbar's family and the absence of emergency buttons on Imperial comlinks. Thrawn also reveals that he was exiled for launching a preemptive strike against nomadic pirates who preyed on defenseless worlds. Elsewhere on Coruscant, Arihnda begins her work as a civilian assistance officer. She confronts Chesna Braker, a landlady, about a water leak in one of her tenants' buildings. Senator Renking praises Arihnda for holding landlords accountable and reassigns her to manage a fifth citizen assistance office in the Bartanish Four Sector. Unlike her previous office, this one is open to all Coruscant citizens. Pryce sees this as an opportunity to advance to the Federal District. Three months later, Thrawn and Eli graduate second and third in their class from the Royal Imperial Academy, respectively. Eli tries to reassure his parents about Thrawn, but they are unable to overcome their prejudices about the Chiss. Lieutenant Thrawn is assigned as the second weapons officer aboard the Gozanti-class cruiser Blood Crow, with Ensign Eli serving as his aide. Eli is initially disappointed, but Thrawn assures him that his knowledge of Sy Bisti is valuable because the Blood Crow is assigned to border sectors where the language is spoken. ### Chasing smugglers Over the next eighteen months, Lieutenant Thrawn and Ensign Eli serve under Captain Rik Virgilio. The Blood Crow is deployed on missions to trap smugglers, assist distressed vessels, and resolve potentially dangerous situations in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim Territories. Captain Virgilio is later transferred to a more prestigious command and replaced by Captain Filia Rossi and Senior Lieutenant Nels Deyland. Thrawn persuades Captain Rossi to let him keep several Clone Wars-era artifacts, including a droideka, two buzz droids, half of a STAP, and a hyperspace ring, which he purchased with his own funds. Thrawn intends to study the technology from that era. Captain Rossi allows Thrawn to keep the artifacts until they reach Ansion in three months. She also disapproves of Thrawn having an aide. Later, Thrawn, Eli, and several crew members are sent on a shuttle to investigate the derelict freighter Dromedar, which was carrying tibanna. They encounter Nevil Cygni, who claims that his crew was kidnapped by pirates. Thrawn asks Eli to report to Captain Rossi, requesting a full operational crew to attempt to restart the hyperdrive on this ship, or otherwise remove the tibanna cylinders. Eli expresses to Thrawn that this seems excessive, but delivers this message to the Captain nonetheless. Captain Rossi is appalled at the idea of sending a full operational crew, as Eli predicted, and is reluctant to rescue the kidnapped crew since there is a pressing situation at a Ho'Din settlement on Moltok. However, Eli convinces her to let him and Thrawn stay behind with three crew members. Ensign Barlin and the technicians Layneo and Jakeeb also volunteer to stay behind with Thrawn, Eli, and Cygni. He also brought his buzz droids aboard. When Thrawn investigates the Dromedar's cargo, Cygni reveals himself as one of the pirates. He and his pirate associates, including Angel, take Thrawn and the other Imperials prisoner. The five Imperials are imprisoned in a cage on the pirate ship with the Dromedar's crew. After Cygni and most of the pirates leave aboard the Dromedar with the stolen tibanna, Thrawn initiates his escape plan. With the technicians' help, he activates the buzz droids he brought aboard. Thrawn uses one of the buzz droids to cut through the cage. Using the broken bars, the Imperials and the Dromedar's crew overpower the pirates. The second buzz droid eliminates the remaining pirates by exposing the entrance chamber and amidships section to the vacuum of space. Despite Thrawn's efforts to rescue the Dromedar's crew and capture some of the pirates, Rossi suspends Thrawn from duty for taking risks. She also suspends Eli and leaves them at the Imperial base on Ansion. In an effort to discover where Angel and Cygni had stashed the tibanna away, Thrawn works out a deal with the pirates to give them and their fellow pirates safe passage from this sector in return for identifying the system where Cygni and Angel had taken the Dromedar to remove the tibanna. Knowing that the pirates are successors of Q'anah's Marauders, Thrawn convinces them he can be more merciful than Wilhuff Tarkin, who had brutally executed Q'anah. Thrawn's ploy works, and the pirates reveal that they smuggled the tibanna to Uba in the Barsa sector. The pirates also reveal that Angel and Cygni went to Cartherston on the planet Keitum. Thrawn's efforts please Admiral Plor Wiskovis, who dispatches Imperial forces to Uba and Keitum to recover the tibanna and catch the pirates. ### Trials by ordeal Meanwhile, during the Ascension Week celebrations leading up to Empire Day, Arihnda Pryce befriends Juahir Madras. Arihnda helped Juahir to find an apartment. In return, Juahir treated her for dinner at a restaurant. Pryce uses her position as a senatorial employee to secure her, Juahir, and another friend Driller MarDapp places at an exclusive Imperial ball at the Alisandre Hotel. At the ball, Arihnda encounters Colonel Wullf Yularen of the Imperial Security Bureau, Senior Lieutenant Thrawn, and Ensign Eli Vanto. Arihnda learns about Thrawn's recent exploits with the pirates. Senator Renking then asks Pryce to deliver a datacard to Moff Ghadi. As Pryce leaves, Colonel Yularen introduces Thrawn to the other guests. At Moff Ghadi's office, he uploads the data card onto a secure datapad. However, Pryce discovers that Renking gave her a fake card. Ghadi sprays her with polstine spice. Later, Eli attends Senior Lieutenant Thrawn's meeting with Colonel Yularen. They discuss the recent encounter with Cygni's pirates at the Dromedar. Despite the Empire's efforts, Cygni has evaded capture. The Empire also discovers that Cygni has found a way to extract tibanna from the cylinders aboard the Dromedar. Yularen praises Thrawn's conduct and tells him that he is welcome at the ISB if the Imperial Navy decides to toss him out. Meanwhile, Moff Ghadi tells Pryce that Senator Renking planted falsified data in the data card. With Pryce facing imprisonment, he blackmails her into working for him. Under Ghadi's instructions, Pryce takes Ghadi's data card to Renking's office. Due to the failure of Renking's plan, the Senator's office faces allegations of financial and corporate discrepancies. With funding levels restricted, Renking lays off several of his employees, including Arihnda. Blaming Arihnda for the predicament, Renking evicts her from her apartment. Homeless, Arihnda turns to her friends Juahir and Driller. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Thrawn is cleared of any wrongdoing by a court martial. Following the court martial, Eli is met by Moff Ghadi's aide Culper, who offers him a job as an assistant military attache for the governor of a prestigious Inner Rim system. Eli realizes that Culper is serving elements within the Imperial military hierarchy who are jealous of Thrawn's success and want to separate him from his friend. Not wanting a desk job and unwilling to leave his friend, Vanto turns down the offer. Shortly later, Thrawn is promoted to Captain of the Arquitens-class light cruiser Thunder Wasp. Eli learns that he is to serve as Thrawn's aide-de-camp. After several attempts, Pryce finds work at the Proam Avenue Citizen Assistance. ### Finding Nightswan's trail On Paklarn, Captain Thrawn, Ensign Eli, and Commander Alfren Cheno successfully captured the iridium smugglers by following a trail of grist mollusk meat and makorr to track their underwater transport. The smugglers had dumped large quantities of mollusk meat overboard in their haste to make room for the iridium, attracting the local makorr predators. Eli suggests that the smugglers could have escaped if they had strategically dumped bits of mollusk meat along their entire route. Thrawn also uncovers evidence that a mysterious figure known as Nightswan has been acquiring Clone Wars equipment and weapons for unknown purposes. Later, Thrawn studies Umbaran art before Admiral Carlou Gendling's assault on the rebellious Umbaran homeworld of Umbara. Gendling's ultimatum is met by the Umbarans deploying four hundred Vulture droids to attack Gendling's squadron, which includes the Imperial Star Destroyer Foremost, the Thunder Wasp, and two Raider-class corvettes. After analyzing the Vulture droids' attack patterns, Thrawn and Eli determine that the droids are controlled by a ground-based transmitter on a nearby moon. They inform Admiral Gendling, but he dismisses Thrawn's plan. Undeterred, Thrawn tries to convince Commander Cheno and the other Imperial officers in the squadron to bombard the moon. Admiral Gendling refuses. Thrawn instead suggests they focus their firepower in the shadows of their ships as the Vulture droids' signals become less effective in the shadows. After a long battle with half of Gendlings crew dead and his ship in bad shape, they force the Umbarans to surrender. Humiliated, Admiral Gendling chastises Commander Cheno for usurping his command and threatens a court martial. Cheno offers to protect Thrawn but he reassures him that the Thunder Wasp will answer all his suspicions. Later, Eli informs Thrawn about his discovery that the transmitter was being operated by a group of humans. They trace the insurgency to Umbara's mining districts, which extract and export doonium. Thrawn speculates that Nightswan orchestrated the uprising to provoke an Imperial nationalization of Umbara's entire mining and refining sector. Eli suggests that it is easier for Nightswan's smugglers to bribe Imperial inspectors than the Umbarans. Thrawn believes that Nightswan is trying to send a message to him. ### Infiltrating Higher Skies Meanwhile on Coruscant, Arihnda Pryce, Juahir Madras, and Driller dine at The Pinnacle, a high-end restaurant in the Federal District. Pryce learns that Juahir has left her job as a waitress to become a martial arts instructor at the Yinchom Dojo, which trains bodyguards for Imperial senators. Driller also recruits Pryce into his Higher Skies Advocacy Group, which has been monitoring the Imperial takeover of mines. She learns about Captain Thrawn's involvement in the pacification of Umbara. Pryce also moves into Juahir's apartment, located in a less desirable area of Coruscant. One evening, Pryce is riding a turbolift home when it malfunctions and descends into the dangerous Level 4120. Pryce is soon confronted by a gang of thugs. However, Juahir intervenes and drives them away. Pryce also meets Ottlis Dos, one of Juahir's martial arts students, who works as a bodyguard. A grateful Pryce treats them to dinner. Later, Thrawn and Eli discuss the High Command's decision to relieve Commander Cheno of duty. Admiral Gendling had sought revenge for his humiliation. Eli explains that Cheno took the blame to protect Thrawn. They meet with Colonel Yularen to discuss his investigation into Nightswan's activities. Yularen suspects that Nightswan is planning something bigger and decides to investigate the Federal District's combat subculture. Thrawn and Eli accompany Colonel Yularen on his tour of the Yinchom Dojo, owned by the Togorian H'sishi. Thrawn reunites with Arihnda Pryce and spars with H'sishi using sticks. He studies H'sishi's combat moves and discusses Juahir's apprehensive behavior towards the Imperials. Later, Thrawn learns that he has been promoted to Commander and given command of the Thunder Wasp. However, Eli has not been promoted. Yularen takes an interest in the Higher Skies Advocacy Group. The bodyguard Ottlis leads Pryce into a meeting with Moff Ghadi, who confronts her about the Higher Skies Advocacy Group's efforts to spy on him. Pryce does not know who hired Higher Skies to spy on Ghadi, who suspects Grand Moff Tarkin. Ghadi blackmails Pryce into spying on Higher Skies and reveals that the bodyguard Ottlis is a double agent serving him. Following Ghadi's orders, Pryce sends copies of Higher Skies' confidential files to the Moff. She also transmits a message to Commander Thrawn. She confides in Thrawn about her predicament and informs him that someone attacked one of Ghadi's doonium mines. Thrawn advises her to follow two possible attack vectors: turning the threat into an ally and then using him against the enemy; or using the threat as a lever against the enemy in order to make him an ally. Thrawn also counsels her to be ready to turn on her colleagues in order to receive Colonel Yularen's protection. Pryce also promised to use her political connections to secure Vanto's promotion. Putting her plan into action, Arihnda offers to decrypt one of Higher Skies' files on Tarkin to gain Ghadi's favor. ### The Cyphar dispute Commander Thrawn and Ensign Eli are dispatched to resolve a conflict on the planet Cyphar between the Afe clan of the native Cyphari and the human colonists. The colonists claim the Afes have been raiding their border settlements while the Afes claim they are retaliating against trespassing and border raids from the humans. Analyzing the planet's shipping records, Thrawn and Eli suspect that the dispute is a cover for the human colonists to smuggle precious metals offworld. Eli and Thrawn trace the outbreak of fighting to the discovery of a new doonium vein beneath Afe territory eight months ago; hence the colonists' sudden demand for Afe land. The two suspect that Nightswan has a hand in this. After meeting with the colonists' representatives and the Afe Chief Joko, Thrawn and Eli decide to set a trap for the human raiding parties. Imperial forces ambush and capture the

Thrawn finds that the contested area contains a vein of a material that serves as a precursor to a spice variant called scarn. To halt the ongoing incursions, Thrawn gives the order for his TIE fighters and the Thunder Wasp to execute an orbital bombardment of the disputed territory. These actions of Thrawn enrage both Chief Joko and the Imperial command, with the former protesting the destruction of farmland and the latter expressing displeasure at Thrawn's deviation from established protocols. Later, Eli encounters Gimm, one of the TIE pilots, and discovers that he was among those who attacked Thrawn at the Royal Imperial Academy. Gimm believes he outwitted Thrawn, unaware that the Chiss was actually aiding him. ### Neutralizing Higher Skies Arihnda, in the meantime, uncovers Higher Skies' scheme to spy on Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. In an effort to advance her position within the Empire, Arihnda visits Grand Moff Tarkin and reveals Higher Skies' espionage activities. She also informs him that Commander Thrawn had persuaded her to initiate a "double-thief" program to expose Higher Skies' conspiracy. Pryce, in exchange for handing over Higher Skies' files to Imperial authorities, persuades Tarkin to promote Thrawn's assistant, Eli, and to grant her the governorship of Lothal, with the intention of humiliating Governor Ryder Azadi and Senator Renking for the theft of her family's mining enterprise. Pryce, seeking the removal of Moff Ghadi, also discloses that Ghadi instructed her to obtain Higher Skies' data on Tarkin, which allows Tarkin to eliminate his political adversary. Based on Pryce's information, the ISB apprehends Driller and other members of Higher Skies. Accompanied by Colonel Yularen, Pryce goes to the Yinchom Dojo to personally arrest her friend Juahir, who has been utilizing her training position to recruit and indoctrinate high-ranking bodyguards as spies. Yularen informs them that Kaniki, one of Juahir's students, attempted to assassinate Senator Evidorn. A tearful Juahir explains that her involvement with Higher Skies began after Senator Renking dismissed Pryce and that her only intention was to improve the Empire for everyone. Juahir also acknowledges exploiting Pryce but maintains that she considered her a friend. When Juahir begs for Pryce's assistance, Arihnda informs her that she can avoid execution by cooperating with Yularen. However, Pryce convinces Yularen to spare the dojo H'sishi, citing Thrawn's opinion that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her. Yularen advises H'sishi to leave Coruscant to prevent Juahir from shifting the blame onto her. Simultaneously, Commander Thrawn is exonerated by a court martial. Subsequently, he and Eli are summoned before a panel of senior Imperial officers, including Grand Moff Tarkin. Thrawn's successes against smuggling rings and criminals lead to his promotion to the rank of Commodore. Eli Vanto also receives a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During a meeting with Thrawn and Eli, Tarkin attributes Eli's promotion to the now-Governor Pryce. Thrawn also discovers that he has been appointed captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera, and that Eli will be joining him. ### Climbing the ladder As the captain of the Chimaera, Commodore Thrawn answers a distress signal from the troop transport Sempre, which has come under attack by the frigate Castilus and two squadrons of V-19 Torrent starfighters. Commodore Thrawn and Lieutenant Commander Vanto uncover evidence indicating that the Sempre was transporting Wookiee slaves for a clandestine Imperial project. Thrawn and Eli conclude that the Sempre was attacked by Wookiees from the same tribe. Thrawn discovers that the Wookiees and their allies are assaulting the space station Lansend Twenty-Six in order to liberate more Wookiee slaves. The Chimaera arrives at Lansend Twenty-Six and suppresses the attacking force. When Eli voices moral concerns regarding the Empire's use of slaves, Thrawn, unaware of Wookiee history, attempts to justify their enslavement and assures Eli that they will be treated as "Imperial assets." One year after the dismantling of Higher Skies, Governor Pryce revisits her homeworld of Lothal and questions Maketh Tua, the Minister of industrial production, about the decline in refinery output. After learning that Pryce Mining has depleted its doonium vein, she instructs Tua to close the company. Senator Renking attempts to overturn her decision, but Pryce reaffirms her authority. Over the following months, Governor Pryce initiates a policy of seizing farmland to establish new factories and military installations. As a concession, the Imperial authorities offer the displaced farmers employment in factories and mines. While many embrace the jobs and prosperity brought about by the new Imperial development, a minority opposes the Imperial efforts. Upon learning that Kintoni is vying with Lothal to host an Imperial naval presence, Governor Pryce tasks Minister Tua with ensuring that Lothal secures the bid. She then departs for Coruscant to continue her lobbying efforts. Commodore Thrawn also pledges to provide data to support Lothal's bid to host the Imperial Navy. Subsequently, Governor Pryce persuades Senator Renking to convince Governor Sanz of Kintoni to withdraw her proposal. Following a hearing, the Imperial High Command awards the contract to expand Imperial naval facilities to Lothal. Senator Renking is soon apprehended by ISB Agent Major Hartell for bribing Governor Sanz. When Renking attempts to shift the blame onto Pryce, she retorts that she never instructed Renking to bribe her and provides the recording as evidence. Before departing for Lothal, Pryce's receptionist informs her that Juahir, who is incarcerated at the Oovo 4 detention center, has been petitioning her for help. Arihnda refuses to assist her former friend. Thrawn leads an Imperial task force to quell an uprising on the planet Botajef. Commodore Thrawn conducts an open tactical consultation meeting with the Chimaera's bridge officer corps, including Lieutenant Commander Vanto, Commander Faro, and Senior Lieutenant Pyrondi. Pyrondi shares her knowledge of the Jefies people with her fellow officers, emphasizing their loyalty to their leaders. During the journey, Thrawn discusses his concerns regarding the Empire's allocation of substantial funds to mega projects with Eli. They also analyze a recording of Governor Quesl's declaration of independence thirty hours prior, paying particular attention to the artwork displayed behind him. Upon arriving at Botajef, the Chimaera is greeted by two CR90 corvettes and several squadrons of V-19 Torrent interceptors commanded by Governor Quesl. While Commodore Thrawn distracts Quesl with a fabricated law, Senior Lieutenant Yve dispatches TIE fighters to eliminate the turbolaser emplacements at the Governor's palace. Thrawn also activates the Chimaera's tractor beam, immobilizing the corvettes. Thrawn's actions reveal Governor Quesl's scheme to provoke the Imperials into destroying his palace and the Jefi art collections in order to conceal his plan to escape offworld with the stolen art. Utilizing his understanding of Jefi psychology, Thrawn is able to use this revelation to undermine Quesl's legitimacy and compel his surrender. ### Crisis on Batonn Following the events on Botajef, Thrawn is promoted to the rank of Admiral. He and Governor Pryce attend a high-level meeting of Imperial admirals and governors to discuss the Batonn sector insurgency. Five days prior, the Batonn insurgents had overwhelmed and seized control of the Imperial garrison on Scrim Island. The insurgents had taken approximately one hundred hostages, including Imperial Navy troopers, technicians, and some civilian workers. They also control the island's energy shield, its shoreline defenses, and three of its ion cannons. Thrawn is assigned the task of resolving the Scrim Island hostage crisis. Thrawn desires to further assess the situation, but Fleet Admiral Donassius is impatient. Admiral Durril advocates for a swift assault and is granted command of the mission. While Thrawn dispatches Commander Faro to lead the Ninety-Sixth Task Force in addressing the insurgents on Sammun, he and Vanto embark on an undercover operation on Batonn. They travel to Batonn aboard the captured freighter Slipknot and discover Admiral Durril's One Oh Third Task Force in disarray. After observing the movements of eight freighters above, Vanto contacts one of the freighters. Impersonating the weapons smuggler Horatio Figg, Eli obtains the coordinates for a meeting with arms dealers to purchase weapons. Eli follows these coordinates to a Nomad starship, which serves as a base for the Batonn insurgents. While Thrawn conceals himself aboard the Slipknot, Vanto is taken by the insurgents to Nevil Cygni, who identifies himself as Nightswan. Nightswan informs Eli that he intends to overthrow the Empire and views the competent Thrawn as an impediment to achieving this goal. Nightswan has been monitoring Thrawn's career and tells Eli that Thrawn collaborated with the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. Thrawn creates a radiation leak aboard the Slipknot, enabling Eli to escape Nightswan. After escaping on the freighter, Thrawn reveals to Eli that he sent him to gather information about Nightswan. Thrawn also discloses that he had hidden himself in the escape pod cowling while the freighter was being searched. After triggering the explosion, he had ejected himself in the escape pod. Later, Thrawn convenes with his fellow Imperial Admirals to discuss their operations against insurgent activities. Admiral Kinshara and Commander Faro report that the Imperial operations on Denash and Sammun have been successfully pacified. Thrawn informs Fleet Admiral Donassius about his successful intelligence gathering operation on Scrim Island. With Admiral Durril's ships damaged, Admiral Thrawn is entrusted with pacifying the Batonn insurgents. Returning to Scrim Island, Thrawn orders the Ninety-Sixth Task Force's Imperial light cruisers Shyrack, Flensor, and Tumnor to bombard the deflector shield surrounding the island. Thrawn and Eli discover that Nightswan has deployed a turbolaser cannon, which inflicts damage on the cruisers. Unable to directly disable the ion and turbolaser cannons, Thrawn orders the damaged light cruisers and the Chimaera to enter Batonn's atmosphere and bombard the waters around Scrim Island, generating tsunamis that disable the ion cannons, turbolasers, and shield generator. The insurgents on Scrim Island surrender, bringing an end to the hostage crisis. While the Imperials have secured victory in the battle, Thrawn cautions that the Batonn insurgency is far from over. ### The Pryce factor Governor Pryce and Colonel Yularen arrive aboard the Chimaera in a corvette. Pryce has traveled to Batonn because her parents are among the 30,000 civilians within the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex outside Paeragosto City on Batonn's main continent. The Batonn insurgents have established their primary stronghold within the mining complex. In response, the Empire and the Batonn Defense Force lay siege to the complex. Thrawn reluctantly permits Pryce to go undercover with the ISB Agent Gudry into the Creekpath complex. Commander Vanto also briefs Colonel Yularen on Thrawn's strategy to use the three disabled light cruisers as bait to lure any Batonn insurgent ships into a trap. The Chimaera has been strategically positioned to intercept any insurgent vessels. Going undercover, Arihnda succeeds in locating her parents. She discovers that her father, Talmoor, is sympathetic to the Batonn insurgents due to the corruption of the planetary Governor Restos. Posing as "Matai Daw," Gudry convinces Talmoor to assist him and Pryce in finding his "friend," who he claims is within the mine. Meanwhile, Admiral Thrawn establishes contact with Nightswan using a radio frequency he had acquired from the stolen freighter. Thrawn arranges to meet with Nightswan at a field northeast of the Creekpath facility. Pryce's father, Talmoor, manages to guide the group through the mine's outer perimeter. At the mine, Pryce cuts short her father's visit by using her mother's comm to feign illness. Concurrently, Thrawn meets with Nightswan, who reveals that he has been tracking the Empire's diversion of precious metals for an undisclosed project. Nightswan admits to orchestrating the tibanna smugglers, the Cyphar dispute, and the Higher Skies advocacy. Nightswan also informs Thrawn of his plan to unite the various insurgent and rebel factions. Nightswan questions Thrawn about his reasons for joining the Empire despite being aware of its tyranny, ruthlessness, and corruption. Thrawn views the Empire as a stabilizing force in a galaxy threatened by chaos. Thrawn attempts to offer Nightswan a position in the Chiss Ascendancy, revealing that his supposed exile had been a deception for his true mission to establish an alliance with the Empire. Unable to reconcile their differences, the two part ways. Colonel Yularen reprimands Thrawn for meeting with the enemy and informs him that they have lost contact with Governor Pryce. Elsewhere, Agent Gudry confronts Pryce at her parents' home and criticizes her for not aiding his mission. Gudry is willing to evacuate Pryce but not her parents, as they would attract the insurgents' attention. When Pryce objects, he attempts to shoot her, but Pryce retaliates. Following a struggle, she shoots him dead and evacuates her parents to safety. Meanwhile, Thrawn dispatches Imperial troops to rescue Governor Pryce and her parents. With insurgent ships approaching the disabled light cruisers, Thrawn orders the ground commanders to harass the Creekpath insurgents. Pryce manages to force her and her parents' way out of the mining complex to the Imperial lines. To prevent the Imperial troops from discovering Gudry's body, she uses Gudry's comm to ignite Nightswan's cache of explosives, which destroys the insurgents' stronghold and the civilian homes surrounding the mining complex. Pryce's parents are horrified, but Pryce blames the insurgents. In space, Nightswan's attacking fleet bypasses the three disabled light cruisers and heads towards the Chimaera. Thrawn realizes that Nightswan has replicated his tactic and intends to attack his Star Destroyer. Thrawn dispatches repair barges from the light cruisers, which deploy TIE fighters that neutralize the attack force. ### Denouement Following the conclusion of the siege, Colonel Yularen and Admiral Thrawn confront Governor Pryce regarding the high civilian casualties and the deaths of the Imperial personnel sent to rescue her. Pryce manages to conceal her involvement in the explosions by claiming that Gudry triggered it after being trapped by the insurgents. Yularen also reports the recovery of Nightswan's body, who perished during the explosion. With Nightswan neutralized, the Emperor requests a meeting with Thrawn. In private, Pryce offers her services to Thrawn as his political advisor, which he accepts. She persuades him to assume command of the Seventh Fleet in order to address the escalating insurgency in the Lothal sector. Before departing for Coruscant, Thrawn and Commander Vanto share their suspicions that Pryce was partially responsible for the events at Creekpath mine. Despite the absence of direct evidence implicating Pryce, Thrawn remarks that "there is often a symmetry to such things." Vanto ventures into the Creekpath mine to search for groundside data. At the Emperor's throne room, Thrawn is promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral. Thrawn also questions the Emperor about the Death Star project and advises him against diverting excessive resources from the Imperial Navy. The Emperor assures him that he harbors no ill intentions towards the Chiss Ascendancy and asserts that the Death Star will eliminate all opposition. Despite assisting the Empire in mapping the Unknown Region's hyperspace routes, Thrawn has withheld the location of Chiss worlds and bases. The Emperor then introduces Thrawn to his apprentice and chief enforcer, Darth Vader. Later, Eli reads Thrawn's journal while traveling into the Unknown Regions to rendezvous with Admiral Ar'alani of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. Eli establishes contact with Ar'alani and reveals that Thrawn has sent him to assist the Chiss in return for his services to the Empire. ## Development The initial announcement of Thrawn occurred at Celebration Europe 2016, coinciding with the revelation that Grand Admiral Thrawn would be featured in the third season of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Timothy Zahn, the author of the novel and the creator of the original character from Star Wars Legends, made the novel's announcement in a video. Shortly after the announcement, Zahn disclosed on his Facebook page that he had completed the first draft of the novel and would be submitting it to Del Rey and Lucasfilm Ltd. for their feedback. ## Continuity Thrawn spans several years, commencing with Thrawn's initial encounter with the Galactic Empire and concluding just before the commencement of Star Wars Rebels Season Three. In an interview with StarWars.com, Zahn revealed that he would incorporate subtle references to his previous Legends stories involving Thrawn, but nothing overly conspicuous. The first chapter and a portion of the second were adapted from the Legends short story Mist Encounter, originally published in 1995. There are two primary distinctions: firstly, the character of Booster Terrik is omitted from the novel, although Captain Parck still mentions pursuing smugglers as their justification for investigating the planet; secondly, the character of Eli Vanto is introduced. Vanto serves as the point-of-view character instead of Colonel Barris and provides translations for Thrawn's Sy Bisti instead of Thrawn immediately speaking Basic. ## Legacy In February 2018, Marvel Comics published a six-issue comic book adaptation written by Jody Houser. Thrawn: Alliances, the novel's sequel and the second installment in the Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy, was released on July 24, 2018. ## Media ### Editions - ISBN 9780345511270 ; April 11 , 2017 ; Del Rey ; US hardcover [3] - ISBN 9780425287071 ; April 11, 2017; Del Rey; Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition [15] - ISBN 9780425287088 ; April 11, 2017; Del Rey; Signed edition [16] - ISBN 9780345542847 ; April 11, 2017; Del Rey; US eBook [4] - ISBN 9781780894843 ; April 11, 2017; Century; UK hardcover [17] - ASIN B01LC0V3TS; April 11, 2017; Cornerstone Digital; UK eBook [18] - ISBN 9780425287095 ; [19] April 13 , 2017; Del Rey; Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017 Limited Edition [5] - ISBN 9780525478805 ; December 12 , 2017; Del Rey; Mass market paperback [20] - ISBN 9781784752958 ; December 14 , 2017; Arrow; UK paperback [21] - ISBN 9781101967027 ; January 30 , 2018 ; Del Rey; US paperback [6] - ISBN 9780606412148 ; February 20 , 2018; Turtleback Books; School and library binding edition [22] - ISBN 9780593872765 ; February 20, 2024; Random House Worlds; Trade Paperback [23] #### International - ISBN 9789634973980 ; June 28 , 2017; Szukits Könyvkiadó; Hungarian paperback [24] - ASIN B076T3TC4X; October 19 , 2017; Editora Aleph; Brazilian eBook [25] - ISBN 9788576573852 ; October 30 , 2017; Editora Aleph; Brazilian Portuguese paperback [26] - ISBN 9785389135901 ; January 23 , 2018; [27] Азбука; Russian hardcover ( Звёздные Войны. Траун ) [28] - ISBN 9783734161384 ; February 19 , 2018; Blanvalet; German paperback [29] - ISBN 9783641214555 ; February 19, 2018; Blanvalet; German eBook [30] - ISBN 9782266283588 ; February 22 , 2018; Pocket; French paperback [31] - ASIN B079J6NFZ8; February 22, 2018; 12-21; French eBook [32] - ISBN 9788025243336 ; August 13 , 2018; Albatros; Czech paperback [33] - ISBN 9788576574323 ; November 30 2018; Editora Aleph; Brazilian Star Wars Villains set (With Tarkin, Darth Plagueis and Shadows of the Empire) [34] - ISBN 9786070753749 ; November 15 , 2018; Planeta; Spanish paperback [35] - ISBN 9786070753701 ; November 15, 2018; Planeta México; Mexican paperback [36] - ASIN B07HS2XDYW; November 15, 2018; Planeta México; Mexican eBook [37] - ISBN 9788491736820 ; January 15 , 2019 ; Planeta deAgostini Cómic; Spanish paperback [38] - ISBN 9788804704874 ; April 2 , 2019; Mondadori; Italian paperback [39] - ISBN 9788328068247 ; November 13 , 2019; Oroboros; Polish paperback [40] ### Cover gallery