– Spoiler Review –
Thrawn – Alliances, written by Timothy Zahn, follows Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader tasked with hunting down a mysterious disturbance in the Force, out near the Unknown Regions, while a story in the past sees Anakin Skywalker meet Thrawn for the very first time as Padmé investigates her friend’s disappearance. More exciting and intriguing than the first novel, Alliances’ double-timeline plot keeps the pace flying and the various POVs are engaging with Padmé’s material being the best of the novel, though one era suffers slightly from drawing out its revelations, while Zahn’s unwillingness to give Thrawn any real weaknesses is detrimental to the character here.
Following two separate plotlines is one of Thrawn – Alliances greatest strengths, as the Clone Wars-era set story with Anakin, Padmé, and Thrawn obfuscates the between Rebels S3-S4-era story’s shortcomings, as the story in the past could’ve been a novel on its own, but the story in the present couldn’t have carried one as it isn’t nearly as exciting due to Thrawn’s more pronounced omnipotence. During the Clone Wars, one of Padmé’s still loyal handmaiden’s, Duja, goes dark looking into suspicious activity near the Unknown Regions, so Padmé decides to investigate her disappearance. When Padmé’s gone far longer than he’d like, Anakin takes a personal mission to find her, stumbling into a Chiss named Thrawn who agrees to help him on his quest for unknown reasons. What the three uncover is a pretty intriguing plot by the Separatists, and Darth Sidious, for turning the tide of the war, which hinges on familiar material. In the present, Palpatine sends Thrawn and Vader to check out a disturbance in the Force, but also to test each of their loyalties. For Thrawn, things turn into a personal matter, and with the ever watchful eye of Vader, he must tread carefully to help his own people while proving he’s the Emperor’s man.
The main reason I enjoyed the story set in the past is due to how Timothy Zahn writes Padmé, and also Anakin, as I felt he really captures both characters. The reason I enjoyed his take on Padmé so much is that she’s primarily alone for the entirety of the book, having to fend for herself and use her own skills, from her diplomatic negotiations, her aggressive negotiations, quick-thinking, and her ability to keep a level head in most situations. Her steadfast devotion to bringing Duja to justice, and stopping the Separatist plot she begins unraveling, really shows you how it’s not just Anakin that gave Leia her headstrong attitude, plus it proves just how well her character works without needing Anakin or Ahsoka around all the time. In fact, big bonus points to Padmé: she can smell a bad dude from a mile away, as while Anakin is basically fanboying over Thrawn almost immediately, from the instant she meets the Chiss, does not have any good vibes from him and is wary of him even after he helps Anakin and her in the final part of the book. One of the biggest highlights from her time in the novel is how she’s really the only one to question the actions the Republic, and herself on its behalf, are making in the war against the Separatists, as her time with locals on the Mokivj makes her see their interference does more harm than good, especially as she realizes the Republic doesn’t even look back when it’s through. Anakin’s actions at the end of the book really push this point home and how Zahn has her connect Anakin’s mindset for the big choice he makes here to his mindset after slaughtering the Tuskens is a frightening, almost sad moment for her, as you can tell how much she loves him here, but those little warning signs always remain in the back of her mind. Padmé really is the highlight of the novel for me because not only is she the one person in the galaxy not falling for Thrawn, but her time here alone really proves how nuanced of character she can be…good thing she’s finally getting her own damn book next year! Queen’s Shadow is out and it’s fantastic!
Thrawn is a tricky character due to his seemingly complete omnipotence, but what made that less of a crutch for the character and more of a damn good villain in Legends was how you didn’t quite know where his story was going to go next. Both Thrawn books have had issues keep Thrawn interesting because both times we’ve known the next chapter of his story, that he attempts to stop the rebels of Phoenix Squadron in Star Wars Rebels but has now gone missing from the galaxy thanks to Ezra Bridger, so his slow rise to power wasn’t too thrilling in Thrawn (which is why I loved the Pryce stuff a lot more because her path was harder) and the test of his loyalty in Thrawn – Alliances lacks an edge to it too. The conversations Thrawn and Vader have here about his loyalty to the Empire or the Chiss, or some potential middleground, are some of the best of the novel, as the tension between the two men is palpable to the point everyone else on the ships is sweating from having these two big-wigs go at it. But what takes the tibanna gas out of the tank is how he basically knows what he and Vader are hunting down the entire time but withholds the information to the point it hinders the revelation, and because he always has to be right, he’s able to spin his actions enough for Vader to act like Anakin for a second again and fanboy over Thrawn’s duplicity; one could say Vader is learning from Thrawn so he can keep his plans to take down the Emperor hidden from the Emperor, but it’s the way of the Sith so it’s not like Palpatine doesn’t know it’s coming. Anyways, at least in the past, Thrawn isn’t as omnipotent because he’s more there to learn about the greater galaxy from Anakin, like the Clone Wars and the sides involved, all the while enjoying the ride of watching the Jedi stumble through one moment to the next as he waits patiently to complete his very own, basic mission. In the end, the Thrawn at the beginning of T1 and the Thrawn at the end of T:A are basically the same character, with little to no growth besides his understanding of the Empire, and while a super Sherlock Holmes in Star Wars can be engaging, his lack of change really makes me less and less excited to read about his character. Thanks to Star Wars Rebels not being afraid to show Thrawn is fallible, from the Bendu messing up his success at Atollon a bit to Ezra’s crazy space whale plan, his failures mean the next story could give the character some room to grow, because as Yoda said, “The greatest teacher, failure is.”
Another great part of the Clone Wars-era story was Zahn’s handle on Anakin Skywalker, as his brash and boldness, how he stumbles into situations and wings it until he makes it out, really felt like the Anakin we got to see more of in The Clone Wars show, so much so I was hearing Matt Lanter’s voice when reading his parts. His desire to see his wife safe and sound again, who really didn’t need his help, causes him to look past some of the murkier aspects of Thrawn because the Chiss continues to be instrumental in his efforts to save Padmé, to the point he almost ends up as a Thrawn fanboy to some extent. As fun as Anakin was here, Zahn manages to delve ever so briefly into the darker aspects of Anakin’s psyche, which was a welcomed, nuanced way to present him because it doesn’t feel authentic if some of his less delightful tendencies are completely ignored. His final decision to collapse the cortosis mine, despite how he just disabled the armor factory and R2-D2 sabotaged the droid factory, ends up causing a chain reaction which slowly kills the planet, and it’s a dark example of how other people can get caught up in a war they have nothing to do with; However, that we don’t see the Jedi Council reprimand him for his actions, and really everyone watching, like Padmé and Thrawn, not admonish him, plus knowing he’s still going to be TCW Anakin in his next adventure, lessens the lasting impact of that moment. When Vader sees the planet later in life, he doesn’t look back fondly at his actions, but considering everything else he’s done as a Sith Lord since then, his ruminations don’t quite make his buried regret any more important to the character than the greater atrocities he’s committed. While I also enjoy Zahn’s Vader, I get a Sith must always be tested for loyalty but it felt like the only thing the whole story tests him with is his patience, as Vader basically returns to Anakin-level fanboy of Thrawn once the events of the book draw to a close, despite plenty of distrust and some great conversations between the two characters. However, Vader does have a cool new skill of navigating hyperspace with the Force, so there’s that.
Another plus in the Clone Wars-era’s story is the Separatist plot is actually one of the better ones, as battle droids and clonetrooper armor weaved with cortosis, a material which is resistant to lightsabers, could’ve really turned the tide of the war/made Order 66 more effective, while how they hid it out near the Unknown Regions and entrusted it to a select few made it one of their smarter operations. The disturbance Palpatine has Vader and Thrawn track down in the present would’ve been more interesting if we didn’t spend the whole novel in the dark about the Chiss Force-sensitives, and how they use them to navigate the tricky Unknown Regions, as while it was a pretty intriguing reveal, it was resolved so quickly afterwards it lost its narrative punch. The repercussions of Thrawn stopping another new race from the Unknown Regions, the Grysk, from stealing the Chiss’ Force-sensitives, while also preventing their efforts to hinder Imperial aide for the Chiss, was a far more interesting plot to dig into, but it’s left as a dangling thread at the end of the novel instead. The potential for a civil war in the Chiss Ascendancy, and how that ties into Eli Vanto’s* time there, is a story I’m very eager to see told, though only time will tell when and if we see it.
A portion of each era’s story takes place on the planet Batuu, which is of significance because it’ll be the planet fans will be visiting at Galaxy’s Edge, the Star Wars theme park(s), next year! Zahn spends more time building the atmosphere of Batuu’s Black Spire Station, the same location Galaxy’s Edge will be, than any other planet/location in the story, giving us a glimpse of how out of the way and rundown the planet seems to be, while revealing the bar will be a dangerous place to drink because everyone seems to be attacked when they visit. I found the reference to ancient ruins to be of interest, as I’m curious if they’ll factor into one’s time spent at the park, as maybe there will be secrets to uncover as you play out your own Star Wars story. Also with the bar, a few drinks were specifically named, so I’m wondering if that’s also a preview of the type of drinks those of age can appreciate in a galaxy far, far away. While I’ve been hoping they’d build up Batuu before we’d get to visit, this felt a little shoehorned, like Zahn had to go out of his way to put any part of the story there, instead of it being an organic location in the plot. Still happy we got the tease, but hopefully any upcoming visits in comics/novels don’t feel as contrived.
Here are a few other things:
- I can’t ding the book for this, but I definitely came away disappointed there was no follow up on the intriguing and interesting ending of the first novel where Eli Vanto, Thrawn’s at first reluctant Imperial advisor, is groomed by the Chiss as someone to send back to the Chiss Ascendancy while he remains within the Empire’s ranks. It was, for me at least, one of the more exciting things to happen in the novel, and it begs to be explored, as the Unknown Regions have picked up importance in canon, like hiding the tale of how the First Order was born from the Emperor’s Contingency Plan in its vast, uncharted regions. Hopefully we’ll get an update on Eli’s story one day.
- The whole “double vision” way of writing about the Force is more egregious to the concept of the Force than midichlorians ever were.
- Speaking of “double vision,” if you noticed Zahn used several phrases maybe a little TOO much throughout his writing, Twitter user Franklin tallied the excessive 114 uses of “perhaps” and more.
- Palpatine doesn’t always have original ideas, as Count Vidian from A New Dawn was the first canon character to weave cortosis into his armor.
- I’m really not quite sure how I feel regarding the implication that Thrawn had a daughter and she was one of the Force sensitive pilots they use until their powers run out, thus adding a fridged woman to his past for man-pain effect.
- The official site speaks with Zahn himself in a non-spoiler interview about the novel.
Thrawn – Alliances is still an engaging, enjoyable book, but its titular character needed to be a little less flawless to keep all of it worthwhile.
+ Padmé represent!
+ The Clone Wars-era story and characters
+ Good potential for future stories
– Thrawn’s perfection is a bit much
– “Present” set story
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
ALSO BY TIMOTHY ZAHN:
Thrawn (novel) | Thrawn – Treason (novel)
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Star Wars Rebels: Season Three | Season Four | Thrawn (comic adaptation)