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david-talks-sw · 1 year

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Where do you sorta stand in terms of "Adhering to Lucas's" vision but also like "Well Lucas isn't making it so Star Wars is open to interpretation" Like don't get me wrong I don't like Karen Travesis's take on Star Wars for a whole host of reason and I think if anyone ever did a story and said "Well the Empire is right" then you are completely doing Star Wars wrong. But if someone legit wanted to do a story having a critical eye on the Jedi Order or IDK the Republic or even coming at Star Wars in a way that George Lucas wouldn't cover it cuz they are ideologically different, IDK, how far should that go?

I think the main thing to keep in mind is that it stays consistent with the spirit of what George Lucas was trying to say, if not the letter.

You can try alternative narratives, focus on certain characters, do it in different genres, but at the end of the day the message needs to stay the same.

And if you can't do that, at least try to be fair about your criticism of that message.

Different narrative, same conclusion

You can explore and certainly argue that the Empire brought about order and peace, and that it is better than the chaos and war present during the Republic.

You can argue that maybe, if instead of a Sith Lord who rules by fear, the Emperor was a benevolent dictator who lead by example, then the Empire wouldn't be as bad.

Legends stories have done this before.

You can even argue that the Rebels are terrorists and that the attack on the Death Star was the equivalent of 9-11 for the Imperial citizens, like this guy does.

But at the end of the day, that's a fallacy.

The previously-shown Empire storyline makes it clear that Moff Trachta is ambitious and greedy, as are his fellow conspirators. They're hypocrites who tell themselves "it's for the greater good" but really it's just so they can backstab each other to have the top job.

And the war the Empire's peace replaces was one orchestrated by the Emperor himself, so the entire regime is based on a lie, because really the only thing the Empire's system runs on is greed and fear, as shown in Andor.

Finally, while some of the Rebels' methods are hard and dark in nature... it's a war. And the narrative makes it clear that at the end of the day, the enemy they're fighting are space nazis. And 90% of the stormtroopers we're shown range from bullies to extremists. That one Imp pilot saying "millions died on the Death Star" also mocked Cara Dune for the genocide of her people, seconds prior.

The smaller narrative may take some deviations, it may question some aspects, but the larger one is consistent.

The moral of the story remains the same: the Empire is evil.

Different tone & characters, same message

When George Lucas made the six films, he had a very clear idea in mind, in terms of genre and style: imitating the Saturday matinee specials (think Flash Gordon), blend them with long standing psychological motifs derived from mythology, add dash of Buddhist philosophy: you get Star Wars, a movie for kids.

But I would fully expect a horror movie about a stormtrooper being hunted by an ice spider to go "fuck this 'we're all connected, we're all symbioms' bullshit. Die you creepy bastard!"

Same goes for Andor.

It's not rated PG-18, but it's still very dark. This isn't a movie for kids, it's a movie for teens and older. It opens with the eponymous character shooting someone in the face.

In Andor (and Rogue One) we see a side of the Rebellion we hadn't seen before. A darker one. But the genre of those productions demands a darker outlook on these concepts.

Cassian lives in a world where everything is nuances of gray.

He's the perfect kind of character to tell this story.

As is Dedra Meero. She is written as an underdog in the first half of the show. You're rooting for her. But then the series reminds you that: "hey, she's as much a nazi as the rest of them". She's willing to torture people to keep her job or get a promotion. The narrative frames her as ultimately evil.

Because at the end of the day the message is the same. The Empire is evil and it takes regular people to beat the elite 1%. Greed vs compassion, fear vs hope.

Now suppose there was a series opening on a "Gray Jedi" character, juggling between the Dark and Light Side with little to no effort or repercussion, sabering someone in the face.

That fucks with the message. Because it's okay for Cassian to do it, because Cassian doesn't need to deal with space magic, he lives in an un-mystical, cold and harsh part of the galaxy where you're either evil or less bad, rarely good.

But the 6 films make it clear that for Force sensitives, things are binary. They have to be or bad shit happens.

Gray morality works in Star Wars if we're talking about non-Force sensitives. In the case of a Force user, that's a darksider waiting to happen.

Criticizing the narrative via unreliable narrators

You mentioned Karen Traviss. For all my criticism re: her stance on the Jedi philosophy and their relation with the clones, I think her definition of Boba Fett is the best one yet (probably because she actually likes that character).

As a result of this personality, an eventual Boba Fett film would have to be Jedi-critical, because if you ask him, the Jedi took his father away from him. And you can argue using logical points all you want, his pain is emotional, not rational. Him being right or wrong is irrelevant, his pain is real.

Same goes with the recent Tales of the Jedi.

Dooku's an unreliable narrator, he is a character notorious for lying to himself and to others, he's poisonous and deceitful.

Of course three short films shown through his point of view would cast him in a noble "free thinking" light and the Jedi as infuriatingly obtuse.

The problem comes in when the author steps in and sides with the unreliable character with a subjective opinion and says that character is objectively right.

Okay, so now we have a situation where you've deviated from the established narrative.

You're having someone say the Jedi are asleep at the wheel and Dooku is the only one ahead of the curb when the movies and TCW show us the Jedi being just as aware and frustrated as Dooku is.

You're having someone say the Jedi can do more than what they're already doing, when Lucas' story shows us that there's really not much more that can be done, and Lucas himself confirms as much.

Which brings me to my final point.

Being fair with the criticism.

That's what it comes down to for me.

You can criticize the Jedi Order (I do so right here). But just be fair about it. And be informed.

For example, you can question whether the Jedi's rule of non-attachment is good or not.

But first you gotta know what attachment means, in the context of Star Wars. It does not mean "emotional attachments", aka "relationships". And it's not about repression.

So if you go into it thinking either of those things then your criticism isn't really 1) informed 2) done in good faith.

Because in Star Wars, the term "attachment" is used in the Buddhist sense. It's not about depriving yourself of bonds, it's about being able to let go and move on from who/what you love, when it's time.

Other example: you can argue the Jedi "accepted" the use of a clone army bred for combat because "we don't see it in the movies"... but you'd be disingenuous.

Because Attack of the Clones takes place over a bunch of days. You're not gonna be shown every second of those days. That'd be like arguing that "we never see Mace Windu eat in athemovie, so Mace is unable to eat".

AOTC is a movie about how Anakin fell in love with Padmé and lost his mother, and how Palpatine rose to power by engineering a war, a storyline shown through his and Obi-Wan's POV. The film isn't gonna stop and touch on a point that isn't directly relevant to those two storylines.

In TCW, you see the Jedi, some Senators and some civilians are the only people to treat the clones like, y'know, people. To argue the above, you'd have to deliberately ignore the 12 Jedi we're shown caring for their troops and just focus on Pong Krell.

Also, I think we've criticized the Jedi Order enough. Don't you think?

Different artists, mediums and tales have done it so much that the very clear, very obvious message of the Prequels has been twisted into something else.

If you look up any George Lucas interview between 1999 and 2021, he'll say it's about Anakin and the Senate's greed, it's about how a good kid becomes a bad man and how a democracy becomes a dictatorship. The Prequels weren't about the Jedi.

Instead of challenging the notion that the Jedi are good, which has been done baselessly for over a decade, I think it would now be fair to explore whether the Prequel Jedi were all that bad.

Oh. We're not trying to be fair? My bad then. Let's keep misinterpreting the source material because we like it more that way then say it was how it was originally intended to be.

#QnA

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savage-kult-of-gorthaur · 6 months

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PROCESSION OF POWER IN THE IMPERIAL ERA -- 0 BBY.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on a panel of Emperor Palpatine and Moff Trachta, followed by a regiment of the Emperor's Royal Guard, making ready to depart Imperial Center (formerly Coruscant), from "STAR WARS: Empire" Vol. 1 #2. October, 2002. Dark Horse Comics.

Story/script by Scott Allie

Pencils by Ryan Benjamin

Inks by Curtis Arnold

Colors by Dave Stewart

Source: www.pinterest.com/pin/668643875950336287.

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therisingdarkness · 2 years

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Made this for myself cause I deserve it

#moff trachta #trachta #star wars #star wars legends #darth vader and the ghost prison #i dont give a fuck let me dream #the feral energies this man makes me feel #i feel possessed #i want to chew on his bones #but also i want him to choke me

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umbradevore · 4 years

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@fallesto

reply to [X]

The Moff could only stare at The Inquisitor as she spoke, allowing her ability to speak despite not giving her the order to do so. If she tried to sense him through the force, it would be one of someone not amused by her words and half tempted to put her back into place.

“If you believe that being trained by vader is good enough, I would have just requested the clone troopers of Vader’s fist. But you fail to understand the point of my words Inquisitor, and you are forgiven as most require to give wrong responses to learn.”

The imperial Moff casually walked off to observe the nearest window, observing the sight of tie-fighters move through the skies to commence their routine patrol. Many would question on how this Moff was tasked with governing the Imperial center, the core worlds of the nearly limitless galactic empire.Such doubts from others were why the Emperor did not task anyone else to position.

“Do you think I earned the title of Moff by just killing for the empire? I hunted Jedi for the emperor during the clone wars when there was still a repbulic. The coward attempt to defect to the enemy and in the chase used a thermal detonator, killing my men and being the reason for these sybernetics. What you makes you falter is the ego that there is nothing else for you to do, a grave mistake would allow for a target to escape.”

He turned around to take a glance at the Inquisitor, his breathing remaining calm in his breathing device. The question of what he could offer was clearly something that got his focus back on track, knowing exactly what he could offer.

“You Inquisitors use the force, yet I demand more use for the fabled powers of the so called ‘dark side’. What I offer is a means to practice such abilities with some form of privacy, as none grow concerned on doing such things if none know it. The empire needs their skilled hunters to be stronger, for our enemies are growing in number. To keep this empire’s order and stability for years to come, we must ensure our slaughter is faster and more brutal than before.”

#fallesto #muse: Moff Trachta

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naerwenia · 2 years

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Scrape the Lacquer - A Thrawn fic

There was supposed to be smut, but maybe later. Now it’s SFW

Thrawn x female reader, 2700 words

Reader is convinced that Thrawn hates her due to some misunderstanding, and at a party she tries to change his opinion.

I’m just using the medium of fanfiction to work through my own feelings and experiences, and what was supposed to be the beginning of something more sensual, turned into dull writing with no drive. Still, wrote it, now back to work to finish my larp and all the characters.

Scrape the Lacquer

There she was, looking at the floor, getting ready to say hello to a man she had heard of a lot, and apparently had unknowingly angered the first time they met. She wasn’t sure what had done it, but the way the Grand Admiral looked at her was cold and uncaring, never saying a word to her even when they were in the same conversation. She was sure of his negative feelings towards her, even the way the tall man had to look down on her, made it clear, but at the same time, she looked up to him, hearing great things about Thrawn’s military accomplishments and his appreciation of art. Catching the Nightswan was a story that stuck to her mind, emphasising how bold yet calculated Thrawn really was, and everything had turned out exactly as he had predicted. All the knowledge he needed for the plan he had learned from art. While the young assistant was not formally trained in art or art history, she had appreciation for poetry, as words often hid another meaning. This, however, was not something she realised in social settings, only later realising the layered flirting or compliments only given as a necessity. Maybe it was the noise and the social mask she wore at events that made her forget the fact humans often hid their true meaning between the words they spoke, or she just hadn’t learned to apply her analytical skills to social situations. Whatever it was, the Grand Admiral clearly mistook her words in a way she didn’t mean them and now it had been over two years since they met and the only time they exchanged more words than the necessary pleasantries expected from both of them. Or maybe it wasn’t the words, maybe it was just her demeanour: bubbly, smiling, listening intensively and actively, and being openly sexual. She loved hugging and kissing others, dressing in low-cut dresses, enjoying the silent attention she got, and sometimes making cheeky remarks. However, most of the times she displayed the more open and free side of herself, it was in a friendly company, which is where she had met Thrawn in the first place. It might be that he saw her as just a vapid woman. Or her position as an assistant was too low to acknowledge, as it was not a military rank and so she was not a useful pawn in political games, at least when the Grand Moff Trachta, her employer, was so stubborn there was no way to get to him through her.

“Grand Admiral Thrawn, it is a pleasure to see you again! I’m sure you have met my assistant before?” her superior, Grand Moff Trachta, Headmaster of Imperial Academies, asked, already knowing the answer, yet wanting to be courteous. The Grand Admiral only replied with a nod, not even looking at her when she said “hello”. Assistant was a term given to her by Trachta, yet her work was more than just pushing papers and bringing him caf while arranging meetings for him. It was more like she was the headmaster running the academies while he was the Grand Admiral who took all the credit for running the Imperial Academies to the Emperor’s liking. It was a job that she took pride in, but often hoped someone would notice her work and how hard she worked, but having the luxury of working alone was more than enough to keep her happy in her position. Overseeing the spending and academic work as well as making sure the graduates were up to the Empire’s standards was hard enough and having someone over her managing her would have made it even harder and unnecessarily complicated.

As the gathering went on, and her eyes wandered over to Thrawn more than once, there was a certain burn in her to try talking to Thrawn, even a nod just for her would be appreciated. When she saw him by the table filled with small pastries, she knew this was her chance.

“Oh, the one with caf cream over it is delicious, even if a little bitter. Or if you prefer sweet, the one shaped like a berry is really sweet,” she said, pointing at the different foods, finding the moment both exciting and terrifying, not knowing if the Grand Admiral would even acknowledge her presence. To her surprise he smiled at her, making her smile in return, feeling a warmness fill her heart.

“I was looking for something sweet after all the bitter and dry conversations, so thank you for that,” he said, red eyes fixed on the purple berries on the pastries, looking for one to take, and she took one too, just to have a moment with him. He finally picked one, looked at her biting down on her pastry, suddenly making her very conscious of the way she was eating, and she dropped half of the sweet down to the floor, but not before having it rolling down her dress. “Oh no,” she yelped, voice higher than expected, like a little girl she scrambled to gather some paper towels to clean her dress. On the other hand, Thrawn kneeled to clean the mess the pastry made on the floor, picking it up and disposing it. As she looked down her dress, looking if she had managed to clean even a bit off, Thrawn, now back to looking down at her, says: “You should use some cold water to clean it.” Not knowing what else to do, she looked back at Thrawn who just turned away and joined another conversation that was between generals and admirals (who looked like they weren’t that pleased about Thrawn joining them). A sight escaped her lips, seeing it was in vain to try getting closer to Thrawn, but his advice on cleaning a small stain seemed logical, so she went on to the bathrooms to freshen up and see if she could get the stain off.

It worked, and soon she was back wandering around the event. While joining the Grand Moff would have been a lot more beneficial than just looking around, she just wasn’t up to standing around and looking interested with a slight smile, but rather sat down and observed the guests from the sidelines. There were so many big names and high rank officers that she might as well be a nobody, yet her position as the assistant to a Grand Moff made her in some ways almost as important, at least when she conveyed his messages and organised his plans. Trachta was a great man, a wonderful strategist and intelligent leader, even if he sometimes seemed a bit out-there with his very weird remarks or niche interests, but she loved listening to him talk, just as long as he was passionate about the topic. High Republic era Gamorrean poetry? Trachta was the one who knew everything about it! Askajian weavers and the secret messages told via wool and weaves? He could go on for hours! And that was why she enjoyed working for him, there were a lot of small things she could learn alongside the clerical and political work. There were a lot of cultural customs she got to know very quickly when she started just by observing her employer, as he made sure to know a thing or two about the culture his guest grew up in, to make them feel a bit more comfortable in the discussions, but more importantly giving Trachta a small advantage. However, Thrawn was an enigma, as Chiss were not that well known in the Galaxy, but the Grand Moff had found a mutual interest to start conversations with: art. It was not just any art, as it was usually her task to find out where Thrawn had been and where he might be going next and deliver that info to the Moff, so he could decide the way he would formulate the conversations. While it was a skill she admired and found interesting, Trachta hadn’t yet taught it to her, and she thought it might just be up to her to pick up from what she saw and heard.

A soft thud came from her left, as someone sat down quite near to her. From the corner of her eye she could see blue skin and a white uniform, and realised it must be Thrawn. Thousand thoughts flew over her head as she realised there must be something she could talk about with him, but nothing stuck to her mind, no ideas came, only self-doubt to tell her he definitely didn’t want to talk to her. She turned her head, and heard a deep sigh, seeing Thrawn just a bit tired, in the middle of a slow blink, a sigh followed by a deep breath. For a second, Thrawn had a relaxed face, yet it still looked like a frown, like he was in the middle of a thought and someone walked into the room with two stomps that were way too loud. And then he opened his eyes, red as the millaflowers of Naboo, and saw her looking at him with a surprised expression, eyes wide open. Before she could say anything, he stood up and was ready to leave, but a quick thought from the woman stopped him for a bit.

“Thank you!” she said, just a bit louder than she expected, but not too loud for the space they were in. Thrawn stopped, looked at her with slight puzzlement before realising she was talking about the pastry.

“You’re welcome,” he answered, polite as ever.

“Have you enjoyed the entertainment?” she continued, suddenly sure that she wanted to speak with him more, trying to find any thread of conversation he might answer with more than one word. He continued standing in front of her, still looking like he might just walk away any second now.

“Nothing special, if you don’t mind me saying,” he answered. This was going both horribly and better than expected, she thought, and continued pressing on.

“I heard you have an interest in the arts. Have you heard of Eshka, the Bothan poet?” she quickly thought, only realising he may not be interested in the written word, just visual arts, as she had not heard him discuss novels or plays with Trachta.

“I… have. She is widely distributed in the Mid Rim, yet not well known here. I think her poetry reflects her background as a socialite and a scholar in the Galactic Centre, yet there is sadness of someone abandoned by their clan. The new translation seems to be more accurate too, or at least it seems like there is more thought put into translating the metaphors to Aurebesh, “ he answered, and she couldn’t have been more happy. Thrawn was more than happy to answer such a specific question, even expanding on it, and she wanted to listen to him.

It took some time for them to find a flow of conversation that suited both of them, but it didn’t stop them finding a few things they disagreed about on topics no one near them had any idea on, before moving to war and spaceships, something she wasn’t too familiar with. However, Thrawn seemed almost passionate about the topics, so she just enjoyed him speaking and went on to ask questions, partly to know more, partly to just hear him talk about something he was so knowledgeable of. When she noticed Thrawn’s demeanour change to something a bit more relaxed, she realised she was looking up to him again, eyes just above his hips, making her unexpectedly self-conscious about herself. No other time had she felt her heartbeat quicken, mouth dry, and legs clamp together, just from looking up at him. A few words from him fell on deaf ears before she remembered to ask him if he wanted to sit down, which he did, sitting back down on the sofa next to her, but leaving a few feet between them. Now his eyes were closer to her level, yet it still felt weird, like she never thought he might just sit next to her and have a normal conversation. Even when in a semi-casual environment, Thrawn gave off an aura of control, like every action happening around him was calculated, and bright red eyes seemed to analyse every move she made, sometimes stopping to watch her stutter before finding the right words. While his face had a certain callousness to it, the sculpted features exhumed a bit of brightness when talking about something he found interesting, like a bit of his interest warmed the face, letting it flash a smile at times. It felt so pure to her, yet she felt like there was no way for her to voice her intrigue, her blossoming interest, on the man, but at the same time it felt like she was projecting way too much to the small gestures he exhibited. She wanted to put her head on his lap, maybe sit on his lap, feel his hands around her, his warm breath on her skin… The train of thought was stopped as few others came to sit down on the sofa, making her instinctually move closer to Thrawn. Only when her hand touched his leg did she realise to ask if this was too close, stuttering again.

“That’s fine,” he said and put his own hand on her, “I don’t mind the closeness”. Suddenly his touch felt even hotter than before, but also softer. It felt like a feather on her skin, yet the message in the gesture suggested he didn’t want her to go. So she stayed next to him, sharing a silent moment together as neither of them knew what to do, or what the meaning of the moment was. If it was written about in a poem, both would have suggested romantic feelings, maybe even longing, between the characters, yet couldn’t see it when it was in front of them.

“May I be… a bit blunt with you?” she said, breaking the silence and the moment. Thrawn looked at her, intrigued by her inquiry, and as their eyes met, he remembered to say it aloud.

“Why do you hate me?” she asked with such innocence and genuine worry it surprised Thrawn, not the words but the hurt in her voice. With a sigh he answered, only sighing slowly to gather his words, as this conversation was not something he thought he might have to have that night.

“I do not hate you, I just thought my presence tended to bring your mood down, so it was better to distance myself,” he said, realising his behaviour might have been a bit too cold.

“You are an idiot,” she answered, quite amused by his reaction, “You didn’t even give me a chance to get to know you!”

“I thought you weren’t the type of person who would be interested in poetry, or spaceships and war,” he replied, only now realising how little he had thought about his decision to keep himself away from her as she replied with a laugh made out of nervousness and relief. Thrawn couldn’t help but smile. Her genuine interest in him as a person and the quickness of her forgiveness for his cold demeanour made him feel a certain warmness in his heart and the hand that kept her hand on his thigh. She withdrew her hand suddenly, but it found its place on Thrawn’s cheek while her other hand moved his face to face her. His face was met with a warm, heartfelt smile, meant to ease any doubt he had about the situation, any blame he had for himself.

“May I kiss you?” she asked, longingly looking into his eyes, soothing his soul with quiet acceptance of him, of his flaws and faults, expressing so many emotions with just a smile and a sincere question. Rather than answer with words, he answered with action. Closing the space between them, he took the lead, conveying his thoughts and emotions through this one simple action. Letting someone so close felt good, yet difficult, but feeling the presence of someone who wanted to be close to him was intoxicating and pulled him closer to her. A moment of simple pleasures was only a slight push of turning into a mess between duty and desire, and that was something both were afraid of, yet at that point willing to risk.

#thrawn x reader #grand admiral thrawn #x reader #fanfic

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piermanwalter · 3 years

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Army Swap AU: Were it Not for Extenuating Circumstances, All of You Would be Stanning Grand Moff Forezzi

In a galaxy where the Confederacy of Independent Systems went super into biotech instead of mass industrialisation, and the Jedi’s secret deal with the Kaminoans fell through so they had to create a different army, the Republic soldiers are droids and the Separatist soldiers are clones.

After the amazing disaster that was IG-88, the entire Plagueis strain was purged from the Imperial Sith cloning project. 4-8C survived by being proficient in mind tricks and as more and more clone strains were culled for being even worse disasters, the entire project got shut down, but not before Forezzi distinguished himself enough to get promoted to Moff and head of the Imperial Department of Redesign, an organisation responsible for researching xenobiology for the purpose of eradicating uncooperative alien species and applying the resulting knowledge to other fields such as medicine or supersoldier cybernetics.

Despite knowing who his gene template is and having some instinctive skill in mind tricks, Emperor Palpatine made no effort in cultivating his Force abilities, which is probably a good idea. Forezzi doesn’t feel stifled or stunted by that because his Imperial indoctrination from creation, successful career, and brain implants rendered him incapable of disobeying the Emperor. Serving the Emperor is the only thing that makes him happy.

Forezzi secretly rescued one clone of ancient Sith acolyte Visas Marr, B1-D4 by carbon freezing her when they were both children and thawing her out once he could no longer be challenged. Bee, shocked by how her friend had grown and changed, later escaped from Redesign and Forezzi was so focused on finding her that he made several bad decisions, which led to getting blasted to pieces by pirates, and emergency 72-Model cybernetics were installed to keep him alive. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of being an official IG assassin clone, Forezzi was previously regarded as silly and harmless despite his job. Now his terrifying facial injuries give him enough edge to use for political leverage.

He was again promoted Grand Moff of the Empty Sector, a mostly unpopulated region used for weapon testing. Since Grand Moffs are handpicked by the Emperor himself, imagine the other Moffs expecting to be promoted and then seeing this alien cyborg clone getting their spot. He’s very unpopular among upper leadership, and was later inducted into a secret coalition of high-ranking traitors including Grand Moff Trachta of Sector 1, a cyborg, Director Slick, a clone, and Moff Hissa, an alien. While they plotted to assassinate the Emperor, Forezzi sat around, waited for the plot to collapse in upon itself, blackmailed the survivors into giving up their identities to work under him in Redesign, and did cyborg experiments on what remained of the rest.

Following the destruction of the second Death Star, Forezzi continued to serve the Emperor by facilitating Operation Cinder and restructuring the remaining Imperials into the First Order, under the identity of Supreme Leader Snoke. Only one thing could shake him from his slavish devotion. B1-D4 wanted to meet him again after a decade of living on her own. Snoke was so sidetracked that by the time he returned, the Emperor had replaced him with a strandcast parody of himself, even taller, even more disfigured.

Realising how little he meant to the Emperor, Forezzi left to join the Imperial Remnant led by Gilad Pellaeon, taking a huge demotion to Vice-Lieutenant of the Battle Clone Auxiliary and working in relative obscurity aside from the occasional “Hey isn’t that Snoke?” from the First Order, which dwindled in frequency as his memory among his former troops was replaced by the puppet organism Palpatine deemed an improvement from him.

#army swap au #star wars #snoke #grand moff forezzi #darth plagueis #graphic injuries

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geekbroll · 3 years

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Atha Prime was a character created by Kenner to be the big bad of the ongoing Star Wars action figure line after Return Of The Jedi. They had all sorts of plans for the line, but Lucasfilm turned them down. Years later Dark Horse comics used the character design as the Imperial Sentinel in the Dark Empire comic series. And then in 1998 when Hasbro was making figures based on comic characters, they made a figure of the Imperial Sentinel, finally making an Atha Prime action figure. Wookieepedia: Atha Prime, genetics master and ruler of the dark worlds, was an arbiter of the Clone Wars and a co-conspirator of Grand Moff Trachta's. He was exiled to the fringes of the galaxy by Palpatine, although the Emperor's death in 4 ABY allowed Prime to return to the galaxy and begin a campaign of conquest. With his Clone Warriors at his side and the double-decker Star Destroyer Annihilator at his command, Prime waged war with the Rebel Alliance, doing battle with its heroes, such as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. #athaprime #kenner #kennerstarwars #starwarskenner #hasbro #hasbrostarwars #starwarshasbro #imperialsentinel #starwarsactionfigures #actionfigures #toys #toysofinstagram #rebelalliance #clonewars #lucasfilm #starwars #vintagestarwars #starwarslegends #ExpandedUniverse (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPFaRtphDXq/?utm_medium=tumblr

#athaprime #kenner #kennerstarwars #starwarskenner #hasbro #hasbrostarwars #starwarshasbro #imperialsentinel #starwarsactionfigures #actionfigures #toys #toysofinstagram #rebelalliance #clonewars #lucasfilm #starwars #vintagestarwars #starwarslegends #expandeduniverse

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thrawns-backrest · 5 months

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Vader and the Ghost Prison: thoughts and random analyses

Okay this is an itch I’ve been meaning to scratch for a WHILE now so thank you @random-user753 for giving me the final push to do it. I know this will have the tiniest of audiences but I don’t care because I love this series too much.

Anyway, here’s some of the stuff I loved about Ghost Prison in no particular order (spoilers ahead, beware):

Parallels! Boy does this book know how to do parallels. And foils. Starting with the most obvious one which is Vader and Tohm, you’d think a Vader comic would have more Vader in it but Ghost Prison does a great job of exploring Vader through other characters, especially Tohm and Trachta.

It’s rare to see Vader take someone under his wing (at least in the media I’ve seen) and it’s safe to say that Vader sees a part of himself in Tohm, if not in the more obvious scarring then in the way both of them were ‘betrayed’ by their respective communities.

The hologram scene gave us a lot in terms of narrative: it was a great peek into Anakin’s character and his crumbling relationship with the order (as well as putting into perspective just how efficient Anakin was during the Clone Wars, damn), it gave us an interesting perspective on the jedi in the form of Tohm’s pov but most importantly it set a thematic throughline that connected Tohm and Vader and gave us a better understanding of why Vader keeps this kid around.

Which makes it all the more satisfying when you realize that Tohm’s end is a forewarning for where Vader’s blind loyalty to Palpatine is leading him.

Aside from the parallels between these two, it was nice to see lingering parts of Anakin in Vader, knowing how early on he is in his transition. Part of him is still the jedi who yearns for an apprentice (which makes Tohm an odd choice but the comic was pretty adamant that this is the direction it was going, according to the blurb of part 5) but it’s clear that Palpatine’s teachings have twisted his idea of what it means to be a mentor beyond recognition.

And speaking of mentorship and foils this is a great place to talk about Trachta.

This book did a great job of fleshing out Trachta’s character, compared to his pretty flat first appearance in Empire. He’s portrayed as the better leader, starting with his attempts to connect with Tohm and ending with his galvanizing speech and advocating for the freed prisoners, to the point of coming into direct conflict with Vader. All of it neatly wrapped up by the fact that he replaces Gentis as Headmaster of the Academies.

Despite his more brutal scenes, Trachta is portrayed as a more honorable and ideological type, he knows the importance of loyalty and making allies. And the series manages to add a poetic irony to his story in Empire by supplying it with that context, making the point that guys like Trachta simply can't survive in Palpatine’s Empire.

Add to that the little winks the dialogue peppers throughout the story and it makes Trachta an all the more interesting character to follow.

(Also what was my man really doing alone with the Emperor? Do you have something to tell us sir? About a failed assassination attempt mayhaps?)

To finish off the section about parallels, we also get some cool visual ones like the dual pages of Trachta and Tohm’s backstories and little subtler moments like where Tohm stares at Gentis’ ruined face after Palpatine electrocutes him.

And now it's time I talk more about Tohm because I adore him. Making him the pov character of the story, and in particular making his report to Palpatine the story’s narration, was a masterstroke imo. Thanks to that you get all kinds of cool narrative layering when you compare his report with what’s actually happening.

Sometimes he words things in a way that would make him look good in front of Palpatine and sometimes his narrative sounds suspiciously like a lie or an excuse but the cool thing about Tohm is that you never know for sure.

It’s like there’s always an extra layer of ‘taking advantage of his situation’ that’s genuinely the case for him. Often times he will reevaluate and recontextualize the situation he’s in and maybe in some cases it’s to make him look better or cover up how he really felt but often times it’s just an example of the way he melds personal motives with some kind of tactical thinking.

And there’s of course the occasional comedic effect lol.

Moving on, another interesting subplot is seeing Tohm’s ruthlessness develop in real time. Starting with him finishing off Shens and the riot survivors and bringing the story full circle with Caul’s killing and his callousness when ordering the cadets’ executions.

It’s an ongoing process with glimpses of the person he’s leaving behind (defining the riot as just ‘violence’, his visceral reaction to carrying out Vader’s orders) and I feel like Cal’s murder was the perfect way to round it off.

Poetic in the sense that Tohm, who probably saw Gentis as a replacement father figure, was the only ‘son’ who wasn’t involved in Gentis’ plans so he took his revenge by killing the only biological son Gentis had left.

But the best part by far has to be watching him process and suffer through the betrayal that pushes him over the edge. We get that sweet sweet narrative layering effect where he twists the real reason he was left out of Gentis’ plans in his report. And it all hits harder upon a second reading when you notice the hints of a separation and inherent alienation between him and his friends, made worse by the line that confirms his loyalty to Gentis would have remained true if they had just ‘asked him yesterday’. Because all Tohm wanted was to be part of Gentis’ moffs.

It all culminates in a character who feels like he’s been led on and left out all the time. Having been disrespected and underestimated, he turns to a side that promises ‘fear and respect’ that will eventually end up killing him. It’s a great little gut punch of an arc that you can’t help but sympathize with.

And finally I’m really a sucker for this series’ attention to detail. Little things like Tohm’s loose sleeve being neatly clipped up by the end of the story. His comment about bombs being a coward’s weapon which makes sense when you learn of his backstory. The way he ‘grips’ his missing arm when he’s insecure about it. Huge kudos to Alessio and Blackman for adding those finishing touches.

As for the art, there’s really no words to describe how much I love Alessio’s work. I still want to cry because this is the only SW comic he’s illustrated fully besides a few odd covers. And that’s just damn tragic. The colors and atmosphere in this series are fantastic, full of pretty gradients with tiny pops of color and sprawling cinematic panels. Alessio’s realism is the best part of it, with familiar characters looking great and very much like their live action selves.

As one reviewer put it, it’s ‘dark without being tryhard edgy’ and I absolutely agree. Some of the environments and characters look downright gothic (with an occasional pinch of punk) and it’s the perfect touch of Star Wars weirdness that I crave in my media.

All in all, I strongly recommend this series. It's got a bit of everything: great character work, superb art and dialogue, a bit of politics, a well paced engaging plot and an interesting glimpse into the Empire's early days.

There's also the fact that all three of the main cast are characters with disabilities and it's all addressed in an an unobtrusive and realistic way and I'm here for it.

#star wars comics #darth vader #vader comics #laurita tohm #grand moff trachta #vader and the ghost prison #phew I finally did a thing

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cienie-isengardu · 7 years

Photo

So kneel before us, and let the blood on your hands become a badge of honor. Let it make you loyal and brave. Let it make you fierce and unrelenting. And above all, let it make you imperial.

#star wars #darth vader #darth vader and the ghost prison #moff trachta #imperial way to recruit new people #kill half of them first #then give survivors the right talk about order #yeah that is it

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lorerunner · 4 years

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Who was the most brilliant Grand Moff? Not necessarily a good person, but someone who got results and wasn't as stupid evil as you've described Tarkin?

I couldn’t really come up with a good one so I’m going to default to my original answer; Trachta. He failed, but if only he’d succeeded...

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padawanlost · 6 years

Text

The Outer Rim Sieges

for @grand-duc. I hope it helps :)

Under the cut you’ll find all the information on the The Outer Rim Sieges during the Clone Wars available in the Star Wars Warfare guide (chapter: The Outer Rim Sieges).

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare: Star Wars by Jason Fry.

SECTOR ARMIES

The Ruusan Reformations decentralized the bulk of the Republic’s military power, establishing the Judicial Forces as a rapid-response force and giving responsibility for defending the new regional sectors to the Planetary Security Forces.

This system proved all but useless against the growing Separatist threat. In search of greater coordination and control, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine invoked ancient Republic law, appointing Governor-Generals to coordinate military action in each sector in consultation with its Senator, while answering to the Chancellor. In the final days of the Republic, this system would give rise to a permanent class of regional governors, who assumed direct control of the regional sectors when the Senate was disbanded.

The Governor-Generals greatly improved the effectiveness of the Planetary Security Forces in supporting the war effort, but they weren’t an answer to coordinating the overall strategy of the war. The Republic armed forces were divided into twenty Sector Armies, each charged with military control of a different kind of sector—known as an oversector or priority sector. (Contrary to what one might have gathered from the HoloNet, the Republic’s armies contained both clone troopers and non-clone units—some epic battles of the Clone Wars were fought without a single clone in the Republic ranks. While clone and non-clone units sometimes served side by side, coordinating the two proved difficult; with the exception of officers, most non-clone troops served in the Planetary Security Forces, which were largely used in defensive deployments, or with the Judicials.)

In the first weeks of the war, the GAR numbered the equivalent of just two Corps,but soon 3 million troops were ready, and each standard Sector Army numbered nearly 150,000 clone troopers, a number that grew dramatically as more clones were grown and entered the war.

Each Sector Army was divided into four subordinate corps, paired with four navy assault lines, each containing two Acclamator-class transports and two frigates. This formation was designed around the so-called 1/4/16/64 Plan, in which one corps acted as a mobile armored reserve while the others were divided into progressively smaller components for more local missions. In practice, one corps in each Sector Army remained largely intact as an assault division, but the others were divided into hundreds of fast-moving raiding companies, with only a dozen or so formations operating at battalion or brigade level—most of them usually drawn from the reserve corps itself.

As the war unfolded, commanding Jedi generals often led reinforcements to relieve other Sector Armies, and advances and retreats muddled territorial boundaries, leading to overlapping oversectors and commands. By the end of the war, the effective numbers of troops in some oversectors had increased many times over, while others had diminished to little more than bookkeeping formations. The major fleets also became operationally separate from the armies. The twenty army commands remained, however, and in the first days of the Empire they became power bases for a new class of regional governors—the Grand Moffs.What follows is a snapshot of the twenty Sector Armies:

“RESERVE” SECTORS

With their headquarters in the Core Worlds, these six com-mands were designated as reserves, but their roles varied.

The First and Second armies were defensive commands for the heart of the Republic, but also provided a reserve of troops for campaigns across the galaxy. The Third and Fourth armies were designed as rapid-response commands for Mid Rim and Outer Rim campaigns, with bases inside Sector 1. Sector 5 and Sector 6 were garrison commands in areas believed to be secure, used to provide training and support.

FIRST ARMY, CORUSCANT SECTOR (AZURE HAMMER COMMAND)—HQ ANAXES—MOFF TRACHTA

The First Army was the main defensive command around Coruscant, and took the Anaxes fleet base—the defender of the Core since the Azure Imperium joined the Republic—as its headquarters.

SECOND ARMY, CORELLIAN SECTOR (GREEN MANTLE COMMAND)—HQ NUBIA—MOFF VORRU

The Second Army defended the Denon and Duro hyperlane junctions, and blockaded the Neimoidian Purse Worlds.

THIRD MID RIM ARMY (STEEL BLADE COMMAND)—HQ CHANDRILA—MOFF SEERDON

The Third Army was intended as a reserve command for Mid Rim operations, and also given responsibility for patrol along the Perlemian. Its forces fought extensively alongside those of the Twelfth Army in the Clone Wars.

FOURTH OUTER RIM ARMY (WHITE CUIRASS COMMAND)—HQ ALDERAAN—MOFF PRAJI

The Fourth Army was a reserve force to support Mid and Outer Rim campaigns, and extensively reinforced the Thirteenth Army, essentially becoming an Outer Rim command as the war intensified. Sector 4 troops did see action within their own theater late in the war, blockading and then invading Neimoidia.

FIFTH DEEP CORE ARMY (SHADOW HAND COMMAND)—HQ ODIK—MOFF GANN

The Fifth Army was a reserve army garrisoning the Deep Core, and many of its assets were shifted to busier theaters in relatively short order, leaving skeleton forces behind.

SIXTH NEGATIVE REGIONS (BLACK SWORD COMMAND)—HQ PRAXLIS—MOFF WEBLIN

The Sixth Army was a reserve command dominated by repair yards and training camps. Its territory continued the half circle of Azure Hammer in the western quadrant, with an extended theater of operations intended to guard against threats from the Unknown Regions. As with the Fifth Army, many Sixth Army forces were shifted to areas of greater need, leaving the oversector thinly defended.

NORTHERN CAMPAIGN SECTORS

Systems Armies Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta divided the northern quadrant beyond the Core perimeter.

SEVENTH ARMY, IMMALIA SECTOR (GOLDEN NYSS COMMAND)—HQ BILBRINGI—MOFF WESSEL

The Seventh Army was primarily a defensive command, charged with patrolling the Namadii Corridor as far as Ansion and the broad sweep of space between Dorin and Bogden; the Seventh also stood ready to support the Fifth Army against threats from the Unknown Regions, and its forces conducted secret scouting missions beyond the frontier.

EIGHTH ARMY, ORD MANTELL SECTOR (BRIGHT JEWEL COMMAND)—HQ ORD MANTELL—MOFF VANKO

The Eighth Army focused its operations against Muunilinst and Mygeeto, and saw some of the heaviest fighting of any Sector Army. It was repeatedly reinforced by units from reserve commands.

NINTH ARMY, RELGIM SECTOR (BRAZEN PETARD COMMAND)—HQ PAARIN MINOR—MOFF WESSEX

The Ninth Army saw extensive fighting early in the war, as the Republic tried to break the Separatist lines connecting Muunilinst and the Outer Hydian.

TENTH ARMY, QUELII SECTOR (CRIMSON DAGGER COMMAND)—HQ TARIS—MOFF TANNIEL

The Tenth Army’s primary role was to defend the Outer Hydian, standing ready to reinforce the Ninth and Tenth armies while guarding against the possibility of the Separatists wooing neutral systems in the region led by Mandalore’s Duchess Satine.

ELEVENTH ARMY, GORDIAN REACH SECTOR (BLAZING CLAW COMMAND)—HQ KORPHIR—MOFF RENAU

The Eleventh Army was a military salient to prevent the Separatist enclaves on the Hydian and Perlemian from joining forces.

TWELFTH ARMY, MALDROOD SECTOR (CERULEAN SPEAR)—HQ LANTILLES—MOFF THERBON

The Twelfth Army was charged with invading and controlling the Separatist enclave on the Outer Perlemian, which included many of the Confederacy’s most productive and best-defended industrial worlds. The Twelfth advanced early from its secure rear base at Lantilles to Centares, with forces from Sector 3 reinforcing its Coreward positions. Twelfth Army forces played a major role during the Outer Rim Sieges.

SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN SECTORS

THIRTEENTH ARMY, TRANS-NEBULAR SECTOR (IRON LANCE COMMAND)—HQ ORD PARDRON—MOFF BYLUIR

The Thirteenth Army was given a sprawling theater of operations because its responsibilities included the core territories of the Hutts, where few Republic forces were deployed with the exception of the Toydaria base. The Thirteenth defended Kamino against repeated Separatist attacks, and held the line against the Separatist attempt to cut off the Republic’s Rimward forces at Christophsis. Sector 13 was extensively reinforced by the Fourth Army.

FOURTEENTH ARMY, TOLONDA SECTOR (RED TAILS COMMAND)—HQ RYLOTH—MOFF RAVIK

The Fourteenth Army deployed on the Outer Corellian Run and was primarily a defensive command intended to protect Rothana, Excarga, and the Rimward approach to Kamino. It reinforced the Thirteenth Army repeatedly, and repelled a Separatist attack in its own theater of operations at Ryloth.

FIFTEENTH ARMY, SARIN SECTOR (HOOK NEBULA COMMAND)—HQ QEIMET—MOFF KINTARO

The Fifteenth Army was envisioned as primarily a reserve force able to reinforce troops seeing combat on the Corellian Run, Hydian Way, and Rimma Trade Route.

SIXTEENTH ARMY, PALLIS SECTOR (IVORY FANG COMMAND)—HQ CHARDAAN—MOFF COY

The Sixteenth Army was an important but largely defensive command, ready to move Coreward to reinforce Corellia or Rimward up the Corellian Run, and protecting the Coreward Hydian Way and the Shipwrights’ Trace.

SEVENTEENTH ARMY, DUSTIG SECTOR (CHROME SHIELD COMMAND)—HQ VOGEL—MOFF HAUSER

The Seventeenth Army defended a salient around Malastare, and reinforced the Eighteenth Army in a number of campaigns.

EIGHTEENTH ARMY, SESWENNA SECTOR (NIGHT HAMMER COMMAND)—HQ ERIADU—MOFF TARKIN

The Eighteenth Army defended the besieged salient around Eriadu, where propaganda made Tarkin and his mix of clone army and Outland Regions Security Force troops into heroes, and saw extensive action along the Hydian and Rimma.

NINETEENTH ARMY, JAVIN SECTOR (DARK SABER COMMAND)—HQ JAVIN—MOFF SULAMAR

The Nineteenth Army was charged with defending the outer Trade Spine, and fought a number of battles as the Separatists advanced from Kinyen to Bomis Koori, retaining control of the Kriselist junction in a hard-fought campaign.

TWENTIETH ARMY, TAPANI SECTOR (EMERALD BANNER COMMAND)—HQ TALLAAN—MOFF GRANT

The Twentieth Army fought a skillful back-and-forth war on the Rimma and Trade Spine around Thyferra and Bestine, where Separatist forces maintained significant strength until Grievous stripped the region of assets for his raid on Coruscant.

The Outer Rim Sieges

By the third year of the Clone Wars, the citizens of the Republic were weary of war, and terrified of deadly Separatist incursions such as Grievous’s strike against the Core and Dua Ningo’s breakout from Foerost. The war seemed like it would drag on forever.

But the reality was different: The Republic was winning.

The Republic had finally directed a substantial proportion of its industrial might to the war effort, and its production now vastly outstripped Separatist capabilities. New laws and amendments had tamed the Republic’s tangle of competing priorities, jurisdictions, and commands, giving the Supreme Chancellor and his key ministers the ability to direct wartime production and military assets quickly and efficiently. The economic powers that had underwritten the Separatist movement were under a terrible strain, and the citizens of the Confederacy of Independent Systems no longer believed the Republic would sue for peace.

The Separatists had never controlled substantial swaths of territory outright, but for much of the war, this hadn’t mattered: The understaffed Republic military had needed to extinguish the fires of Separatism in system after system and hunt down Separatist task forces and fleets charged with launching hit-and-fade attacks throughout Republic space. The Separatists had a loose network of far-flung factory worlds, a vast fleet of warships, and millions of targets to choose from. They could be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, placing the Republic in a grim trap. It could defend its worlds against Separatist terror and incursions, giving the core Separatist territories time to crank out new warships and droid armies, or it could try to reclaim those territories while leaving Republic worlds vulnerable in the public perception.

This puzzle was never solved; instead, the Republic outgrew it, with its massive military buildup and coordination of existing forces finally allowing it to pursue both goals and begin to grind down the Separatist war machine.

By the third year of the war, the Separatists had been ejected from their bases in the Core and the Colonies and driven back to the Mid Rim and Outer Rim in the Slice. Steady pressure had cleaved Separatist-controlled regions in the New Territories into two pieces. The Separatist enclave on the Corellian Run Coreward of Ando had been reclaimed, with Confederate forces falling back to the Outer Rim in disarray. And much of the Rimma had been retaken as well, with the Separatists clinging to holdings around Xagobah and Yag’Dhul.

The main thrusts of the Outer Rim Sieges came in six theaters—dubbed Mygeeto, Serenno, Felucia, Siskeen, Yag’Dhul, and Praesitlyn after key Separatist worlds in those theaters. In what would prove to be the final weeks of the Clone Wars, Republic forces were making progress in all six campaigns and cleaning up remaining Separatist resistance elsewhere, such as within Neimoidian space.

In the New Territories, Plo Koon broke the Separatist defenses at Ywllandr, clearing the way for Ki-Adi-Mundi’s forces to assault the key InterGalactic Banking Clan world of Mygeeto. Jedi-led fleets assaulted New Bornalex and Ord Radama, attempting to clear the way to the key world of Celanon and Dooku’s homeworld of Serenno. The fiercest fighting came in the Felucian theater—home to many of the Confederacy’s key factory worlds—with pivotal battles at Kashyyyk, Boz Pity, Saleucami, and Felucia. Forces from Rothana and Excarga sought to clear the outer Corellian Run of Separatist units. And the Praesitlyn theater saw troops from Eriadu besiege worlds such as Xagobah and Sluis Van—with the Separatist leadership evacuated from Utapau to Mustafar.

Fighting was different in the Yag’Dhul theater, which the Separatists abruptly all but abandoned to supply warships for General Grievous’s daring strike at Coruscant via a secret route through the blazing heart of the galaxy. At first the strike exceeded even Grievous’s hopes: He spirited Supreme Chancellor Palpatine off the planet to captivity aboard his flagship, the Invisible Hand. This was the moment of Grievous’s greatest triumph, and the cyborg warlord waited to see Palpatine humiliated in a HoloNet broadcast and carted off to captivity and torment. But the Separatists’ ultimate master, Darth Sidious, ordered no such transmission, and bade the Invisible Hand to hold its position. Within hours Count Dooku was dead, the fleet had been shredded above Coruscant, Grievous himself had fled in an escape pod, and Anakin Skywalker had somehow landed half of a Separatist flagship intact, saving Palpatine and perhaps also the Republic.

The raid was the Separatists’ last gasp. Grievous himself would soon die on Utapau, and Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, would slaughter the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. With its droid armies deactivated, the Confederacy of Independent Systems would effectively cease to exist. But all had proceeded according to Sidious’s plan: By the time the Outer Rim Sieges ended, the Separatist cause was dead. So, too, was the Jedi Order, and the Republic it had served.

#the clone wars #sw books #sw quotes #sw meta #grand-duc #mine #padawanlost

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