Star Wars: Thrawn
Plot Summary and Credits
On a distant world, an Imperial patrol discovers an alien warrior named Thrawn, who has been exiled by his people. After demonstrating his tremendous tactical mind and knowledge of the Unknown Regions, the Emperor sees how valuable Thrawn could be and sends him to train as an officer in the Imperial Navy, with the young cadet Eli Vanto as his translator and aide. As he progresses through the ranks of the navy, Thrawn overcomes hopeless battles as well as prejudice from his peers, with Vanto’s own career put at risk by his association with the alien commander. Meanwhile, a senator’s aide named Ahrinda Pryce rises to become governor of her home planet of Lothal, becoming a valuable ally to Thrawn as he navigates the world of galactic politics. As he approaches the uppermost ranks of the Imperial military, Thrawn becomes aware of a secret project that he believes could threaten his own people, as well as the power of the Empire itself.
Jody Houser (writer), Luke Ross (artist), Nolan Woodard (colourist), Clayton Cowles (letterer)
Collects Star Wars: Thrawn #1-6
Based on the novel by Timothy Zahn
My Copy
I came across this comic completely by accident. I went to the comic shop to kill some time before I went to class, not planning to pick anything up. After browsing the intricately organised shelves grouped by publishers, characters and chronological order, I decided to take a look at the more cluttered shelves of older, mismatched titles. There, in looming blue capitals, was the name of one of my favourite characters from one of my favourite franchises, apparently based directly on the original Legends novel. Of course I wasn’t going to leave it there.
Before Reading
I’d been introduced to Grand Admiral Thrawn by watching Rebels, and the whispering blue bad guy quickly became one of my favourite parts of the show. I’d heard even better things about him in the Legends continuity, which I was a little disappointed to learn that this story wasn’t a part of. Either way, I was eager to learn about the backstory of one of my favourite villains.
After Reading
With Thrawn rising from cadet to his famous title of Grand Admiral so quickly, I was worried that this acceleration of his career would make his story feel rushed. Thankfully, this was far from the case, with his decisive victories against difficult odds coupled with his favour from the Emperor make each of his promotions feel earned.
Speaking of rapid promotions, even though the comic is called Thrawn, I’d say that Vanto is my favourite thing about the story. When we first meet him, he’s a lowly supply officer without much promise of a notable career in the navy, who is only useful because he speaks a language that Thrawn recognises. He becomes something of a pet project for his new boss, who teaches him to think tactically and lead ships into battle, setting him on a path far beyond anything he had ever imagined. There’s something a little sinister in their dynamic, especially when we learn how Thrawn’s discovery by the Empire was engineered. His main focus is the survival of his own people, and his involvement with the Empire is merely a step towards that goal, so it makes me think that he’ll abandon Vanto when the time comes.
Governor Pryce was a rather enjoyable villain in Rebels, so it was nice to see her backstory and motivation fleshed out beyond being a mean old politician. I was initially worried that including her story in conjunction with not only Thrawn’s but also Vanto’s would make the whole plot feel bogged down by just how much it has going on. Her rise to power coincides with theirs as she provides them with information and resources that help them progress, even laying the groundwork for Vanto’s long-awaited promotion. Despite the added details to her backstory, Pryce remains thoroughly unlikeable. Between screwing over her friends to get promoted and allowing her parents’ community to go up in flames, it’s clear that this is the same person who killed our favourite blind Jedi.
Even with his status as the protagonist of this comic, one thing is made absolutely clear: Thrawn is by no means a good guy. Yeah, he tries to limit casualties and used destructive tactics sparingly, but this isn’t out of the goodness of his heart. He’s a ruthless tactician whose only goal is to win a battle as quickly and efficiently as possible, and is more than willing to sacrifice whatever and whoever he needs to. When he learns about the Death Star, his apprehension towards the project isn’t about galactic genocide, but the potential misuse of Imperial resources that could be otherwise spent on spreading their military might to more than one world at a time. The story doesn’t forget this central aspect of Thrawn’s character, and kept me reminded that this is the same guy I remembered from Rebels, who at one point essentially ordered a rebel spy to kill himself while tearing sabotaged equipment. One of my all-time favourite kids’ shows.
Having enjoyed this comic so much, I just had to go and read the book that it was based on. I’ll be doing something a little different here, since a lot of my views of the comic adaptation changed after reading the original book, so it’s only fair that I make a few comparisons.
After Reading the Novel
Overall, the major points of the book are adapted pretty well, but because there’s less space to work with a lot of things had to be shortened or left out altogether. Some battles are glossed over, like an encounter with some Wookiees that’s only seen in a (very nice) piece of full-page artwork summarising Thrawn’s early period as commander of the Chimaera. Pryce’s storyline is also missing a number of details from the novel, which doesn’t affect the story too much and honestly didn’t feel all that necessary in the novel.
The scene that I definitely preferred in the novel was Vanto’s promotion, where we see his excitement for his potential new rank and his shock when he realises how far he’s been pushed ahead. He later makes a point to check in with a formerly superior officer who had talked down to him, which got a little smile out of me when I read it. The comic covers this in a couple of panels, ignoring the encounter with his superior altogether, so it doesn’t have the same impact as it had in the novel.
While I preferred the novel, it didn’t change how much I enjoyed its comic adaptation. It’s a faithful representation of a great story that made me love one of my favourite characters even more.
Closing Thoughts
In the words of another villainous leader from the Star Wars universe, Thrawn makes a fine addition to my collection. It takes a character I loved from onscreen and shows his difficult journey to his famous top spot, never letting us forget that he’s far from the hero of his wider story.
Next week I’ll be taking a look at the longest compilation I’ve reviewed thus far, where a side character from one of my favourite titles proves that you don’t need to be [title card] to be a true hero.
