Literally the WORST planned battle in Star Wars History | Battle Breakdown

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We talk about Admiral Daala and her attack on Coruscant, as we examine the Worst Planned Battle in Star Wars History on today's Star Wars Battle Breakdown video.
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[@EckhartsLadder]

Thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring the video, the first 500 people to click the link will get 2 months of Skillshare Premium for FREE skl.sh/eckhartsladder5

[@tallerstond8105]

roger roger

[@Thatoneguy-bn2ti]

Thanks

[@FlowElectron]

Affirmative admiral

[@ryankwong2941]

Cool video eck

[@Sparrow9612]

She also launched the SSD Lusankya out from under the Coruscant cityscape, which killed millions of people. Is it even possible for a nineteen-kilometer ship to fly straight up like a rocket and make it into space with even a trace of fuel left? Image below: vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/7/77/Lusankya_escaping_Coruscant.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081002121704

[@jonathanle2787]

"worst commander in star wars history" I was about to mention any number of questionable commanders from either legends or canon until I heard she literally *tried to* ram an ISD into the planetary shield.

[@maximumeffort7096]

Tried to. She didn't actually get to do it, thank God XD

[@kabob0077]

@@maximumeffort7096 If she did I'd question how she survived this long. However given she was probably promoted because Tarkin liked her and then stationed at Tarkin's Toy Factory she probably wasn't promoted based on merit and thinking...

[@siegel947]

the imperial kitchen is dalaa place...

[@jakealter5504]

Jonathan Le even jarjar wouldn’t be that dumb

[@maximumeffort7096]

@@mason0450 You know people can care about fictional universes right?

[@cameronmoney5660]

"Literally yeets itself through the command bridge of the star destroyer." Well eck that is one way to put it

[@europanzer3929]

"... the Suncrusher literally yeets itself through its command bridge..." On today's episode of "Things I never thought I would hear..."

[@gabrielshadwick886]

RIGHT?

[@KillerOrca]

europanzer I MEAN IT DID

[@jarradscarborough7915]

this is one of those unique sentences that has never been used before in human history

[@Casual_Gamer_2000]

r/BrandNewSentence

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

tbh the entire trilogy was terrible. Star fighters and capital ships used without sense of tactics on both sides. A super weapon with invulnerable (because-it-sounds-cool-quantum) armor.

[@trevorp8124]

*Sees title* Never saw me play Empire at War, huh?

[@acoolnameemm]

"Dont -underestimate- overestimate my intelligence"

[@tanith117]

Allow me to introduce myself, the man who after building the deathstar, accidentlied thier own planet. Probably the worst tactical descion ever.

[@TheAnimationStationTAS]

@@tanith117 I got the death star and immediately just started blowing up planets cause it was fun Edit : it's important to note I made sure the battle took a long time, and I prevented the rebels escape when they tried retreating. When I play an RTS, I immerse myself in the world, so if I am the Empire, I will commence ruthless attacks against the enemy with overwhelming power, and revel in my victory.

[@Thepenginwalker]

My Empire at War "Strategy" usually comes down to "Me have more spaceships, me win battle, u suck haha." I aint Thrawn...

[@Charistoph]

@@Thepenginwalker, pretty much mine. "How many ISDs can I fit in to the fight again?" "You know we have other ships we can use, right?" "True, but if I have enough ISDs, I have enough capital ship and enough Ties to handle the situation. So, again, how many ISDs can we bring again?" Hey, it worked with Red Alert and the Medium Tanks!

[@ESFNinja]

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. Especially this one.

[@kabob0077]

Did it even have a chance to survive?

[@josh-kg1rb]

Maybe if coruscaunt had no shield wasn't the capital had no fleet no golans or anything and yes

[@josh-kg1rb]

If any general was told this plan they would fire her as this plan is sucide

[@highadmiraljt5853]

Gaming With Josh Even then, she would have screwed it up

[@DrX-dh6th]

i don’t think this plan was even alive to meet the enemy

[@kabob0077]

Is it just me or does Tarkin and Palpatine have an uh... _Unhealthy_ obsessions with superweapons?

[@robertnelson9599]

Compensation

[@highadmiraljt5853]

Palpatine probably has eréctile disfunction

[@retronostalgia7964]

Star Wars villains gotta Star Wars villain

[@michaeldougherty2807]

@@highadmiraljt5853 He had top of the line money and power, wouldn't be a problem. Purely over-compensating for a shortcoming.

[@bigredwolf6]

kabob 007 He likes big guns, and he cannot lie.

[@theknave1915]

And she wonders why she was passed up for promotion

[@7DeadlyJinxs]

Maybe she should have slept with the emperor instead of Tarkin.

[@ApostleOfDarkness]

@@7DeadlyJinxs so, you are saying that the Emperor cucked his Grand Admiral, seems about right

[@MobiusLeader007]

@@7DeadlyJinxs Ysanne Isard beat Daala to Papa Palpatine.

[@boobah5643]

Yeah. I'm forced to assume that the academy record is a combination of her own ego (no, really, I was an excellent student! I swear!) and Tarkin 'fixing' the record to justify promoting and then shelving her.

[@tacticaldroidtx22]

Imagine following a warlord without a mustache! This post has been made by the Zsinj gang.

[@wojtek561]

Gilad Pellaeon team cheers to that!

[@lintrichards6007]

Before he got Character Assassinated Zsinj was an Affably and Pragmatic Evil character who deserved his spot as one of the most successful Warlords.

[@tweso1499]

*cough* Thrawn *cough*

[@tweso1499]

wojtek561 Pellaeon is an amazing leader, one who took Thrawn’s teachings to heart (if not all of it), and applied it to leadership of the Imperial Remnant

[@marckrieger3277]

@@lintrichards6007 You mean in courtship of princess leia? That was his first appearance so, if some one get him wrong it was in the wraith squadron books. I still love them and their superior caracatization of zinsj compared the joke which courtship is.

[@lil_peen6778]

Imagine at the next super bowl they say “this game is brought to you by skill share”

[@DragonActual]

That or NordVPN

[@carterjenkins2525]

Or raid shadow legends

[@Wimplo86]

Or Squarespace

[@michaeldougherty2807]

NASCAR literally had an e-race this weekend.

[@bigredwolf6]

michael dougherty They’re making a left turn!

[@TallboyDave]

Judging by what I've heard, my take on Natasi Daala is that, she probably was one of those people who are genuinely brilliant, but in a narrow, specialised field- in her case, Research and Development. Outside of that speciality, she was mediocre at best, and in the case we see here, absolutely hopeless at formulating and conducting a military campaign.

[@me67galaxylife]

aka everyone ?

[@rickstevens1167]

@@me67galaxylife most people aren't brilliant at Anything.

[@me67galaxylife]

@@rickstevens1167 Only if you thinks so

[@rickstevens1167]

@@me67galaxylife I think you have a very loose grasp on statistics

[@me67galaxylife]

@@rickstevens1167 or maybe i'm not using statistics but logic

[@NexusDex]

Daala most likely would make Thrawn laugh so hard! Imagine seeing him rolling over the floor with tears in his eyes and just laughing about her and Tarkin!

[@datzfatz2368]

i honestly think he wouldnt laugh, he would just shake is head in silent disbelief and frustration

[@tylerjones7592]

@@datzfatz2368 i think he would facepalm

[@garrettgarner438]

Can the Chiss even experience laughter? I feel like joy isn’t really their thing.

[@marrqi7wini54]

@@garrettgarner438 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGibnWqsaKmkoa8

[@NexusDex]

@@garrettgarner438 so you know the German word "Schadenfreude"?

[@garrettgarner438]

She’s literally only an admiral because Tarkin was her boyfriend.

[@Mobium]

And even Tarkin ended up sending her to a remote base where he'd never need to see her again

[@MobiusLeader007]

@@Mobium Daala being isolated with literally nothing to do was the only time she didn't break anything.

[@owenneufeld4922]

the ISB would like to know your location

[@garrettgarner438]

Joshua Sharwood In short, Tarkin was a borderline simp.

[@josh-kg1rb]

@@garrettgarner438 the simp has fallen in love with dalaa

[@attilathehun5067]

Admiral Daala really be the Krell of the Empire. "Oh, we'll just charge straight at em with no backup plan and win."

[@kabob0077]

That's not a strategy, that's simple Ork Battle Doctrine.

[@anyaarvidsson3038]

Her being the imperial Krell would assume she is trying to loose her star destroyers

[@jonathanswavely7259]

At least Krell was doing it on purpose

[@attilathehun5067]

@@anyaarvidsson3038 I believe that makes her worse then.

[@kabob0077]

@@jonathanswavely7259 Doing a pretty good job of making Order 66 a justifiable contingency too.

[@Attaxalotl]

Theory: Daala's incompetence actually made her another superweapon held at the maw installation: if she gets into a high enough command position, the faction she's working for will be significantly weakened.

[@YoRHaUnit2Babe]

An in Star Wars Universe Psyop💀💀💀

[@jadonking5404]

"The Suncrusher literally YEETS itself though it's(the ISD's) command bridge" The fact that you said it in your normal calm voice made me laugh harder then I have in a while.

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

Her "friendship" with Tarkin is the only reason why she got so much influence.

[@Jarsia]

sleeping her way to the top

[@DimoB8]

Tarkin is a Simp !

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

@@Jarsia This is actually implied in the Death Star novel.

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

@Jay He gave her too much responsibility, which led to the death of Imperial soldiers.

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

@Jay That she slept her way to the top. But because Star Wars is never explicit about sexual stuff, it wasn't directly mentioned.

[@alvarohernani6645]

T-Series tactical droid: watches this video. Also T-Series tactical droid:Finally, a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary

[@thecrimsoncreep6665]

At least a tactical droid once bested an organic general. By betraying him of course, but it worked out.

[@izumishion6267]

Ive heard many stupid military plans before. But this just topped the list.

[@user-Jay178]

She really is a terrible at everything she does and how did she get elected to lead a government. Great video

[@CujoHyer]

Her mouth.

[@BloodlustLizzy]

Cujo in more ways then one 😉 😉

[@GeraltofRivia22]

Because the Empire was extremely corrupt

[@MobiusLeader007]

Because Traviss needed a character to be her self insert mouth piece of anti-Jedi ranting.

[@jhonnoilcringeincarnato8593]

She's actually a really good politician

[@atomicbuttocks]

Daala: **brilliant strategist** Also daala: **tries to attack corusant with 2 ISDs** Sumn don't add up herr

[@Linki8uu]

Also got high marks at carida

[@marshahammack4503]

How the heck did daala (a former EMPIRE adminal and lover of tarkin] get leadership of the galactic alliance?

[@kabob0077]

Didn't she kill everyone else for the position like the Star Wars equivalent of Gihren or Kycilia Zabi?

[@poymannyng1845]

@@kabob0077hell ,she even wanted to drop a ship like a colony.

[@kabob0077]

@@poymannyng1845 I wonder how far off target it would be if she managed to succeed in dropping a Star Destroyer? Also, fuck, she really IS the Star Wars equivalent of the Zabis.

[@jakealter5504]

kabob 007 mostly ghiren and kashiria, the other zabi’s (especially mineva) were better

[@kabob0077]

@@jakealter5504 Garma and Dozle were the best, and if they hadn't died maybe the post OYW period and beyond wouldn't have been so fucked.

[@vicar4236]

Let’s just throw rocks is the next strategy

[@inkfeather1152]

Thrawn already did that one. And it worked lol.

[@Seraphil1]

It worked for Thrawn, and the Ewoks too!

[@coruscant100]

It was a big rock.

[@gregoreder8205]

Don`t say that. Put a big enough rock with a hyperdrive and this worst plan would be a success. Forget turbolasers if you put a big kinetic-energy-weapon on it. www.deviantart.com/mattrhodesart/art/ILM-Art-Department-Challenge-The-Ride-Revenge-633385281

[@bushyboom1355]

You all sound like you're free Navy from the expanse.

[@LazarusJack77]

I mean to be fair Daala wasn't as inept as suggested. When she attacked the 'colony' of a few hundred people it was to send a message. The colony in question was on Dantooine and the colony was made up of Ganatoris's people who sought shelter with the New Republic as part of a deal he made with Luke Skywalker when he joined his Jedi Academy. She wanted to send a message that aligning with the New Republic would be a death sentence. Also the attack on Mon Calamari was intended to cripple the New Republic shipyards. Daala sent on Star Destroyer in to draw out the defense fleet while hiding a second one behind the moon in a sensor blind spot. Once the defense fleet had engaged with the first star destroyer the second would micro-jump in and flank the fleet. Then the Star Destroyers would be able to decimate the shipyards until New Republic reinforcements could arrive. The only reason this plan failed was because of Admiral Ackbar. He had spent time as a slave of Tarkin and recognized a pattern to the attack. He took remote control of an unfinished Mon Cal Star Cruise that was under construction and rammed it into the hidden Star Destroyer at almost light speed. As for the attack on Coruscant, Daala had more of a plan than just crash into the planet. She had two Star Destroyers remaining and wanted to cause as much damage as possible. One of the Star Destroyers had suffered some battle damage and she decided to use this one as a giant hyperspace missile. It was staffed with a skeleton crew of loyalists who were prepared to die. The plan was simple, her undamaged Star Destroyer would lead the charge and draw off any defensive forces. The second Star Destroyer was to set at the edge of the system and once given the signal was to start accelerating towards the planet, and once it had achieved sufficient momentum it was to engage its hyperdrive (with the hyperdrive safeties disabled) and crash into the planets mass shadow in hyperspace. This would have caused massive destruction to the planet, and while never explicitly stated, it is unclear if the planetary shield would have been able to block something traveling through hyperspace. As for her loss of a Super Star Destroyer, that too is not completely Daala's fault. After unifying the Imperial Warlords she planned an attack on Yavin IV where the Jedi Academy was. She sent an Imperial Fleet under Gilad Pellaeon into the system first to soften up the defenses, after which she planned on jumping in with the Super Star Destroyer Knight Hammer. Before she was able to jump in system however, all the Jedi on Yavin IV were able to enter a Jedi Trance and used the Force to push Pellaeon's fleet out of the system. Daala arrived and was about to start bombing Yavin IV when Admiral Ackbar arrived in his new MC90 flagship. He started harassing the Knight Hammer and without her support fleet she was forced to try and engage the more mobile MC90. While occupied with Ackbar and Jedi (Callista Ming, if I remember correctly) was able to infiltrate the Knight Hammer and rigged a bunch of TIE Bombers to fire their bombs into the engine bays of the ship. With the engines crippled the Knight Hammer started to fall into the gas giant that Yavin IV orbited. Daala evacuated the ship and was picked up by Pellaeon's fleet that had just been able to re-enter the system with a hyperspace micro-jump. All that being said, Admiral Daala was not the tactical genius she was touted to be in the books. However, I do not feel that she was completely incompetent as a Commander.

[@LiamCameron77]

Best thing she ever did was give away command to Pelleon

[@ricardoaymay7232]

But she didn't have to! If she used skillshare, the most advanced tactics an the most effective strategies would have been at her reach!

[@rtasvadum1810]

69th like heyooo

[@KuK137]

The idiot who took massive fleet and 1/3 of galaxy and turned it into small remnant so unimportant New Republic wasn't even interested in fighting it anymore? Please...

[@Linki8uu]

@@KuK137 he consolidated his forces making it to where the New republic had no reason to attack the empire he saved the empire not destroyed

[@getonmanuttz]

@2:23 Soooooo she slept her way to the top. Noice!

[@joshclifford6021]

This summarises her rise to power fairly well, I like that

[@BoisegangGaming]

That's pretty much every prominent female star wars character in Legends. I mean, Mara Jade wasn't intended by Zahn to be a love interest for Luke, but other authors decided to go "NOW KISS". It's still a problem with Disney Star Wars. It's like these people don't know how to write female characters that are fleshed out and stand on their own (except for Zahn). I get that white men in their late teens to early thirties were likely the primary demographic, but... really? If they're a woman in a star wars book, they've either already slept with someone, are currently sleeping with someone, or are attempting to sleep with someone. I mean, most people remember Mara as "Luke's Wife", not as "Former Emperor's Hand turned to the Light side and is now a Jedi". She was turned into an independent badass into just another one of Luke's love interests just to later be killed off for shock value.

[@siegel947]

even the space are limitless with thotery.....

[@getonmanuttz]

"Hi, I'm here for the intergalactic gangbang!"

[@mysteriousstranger9182]

Boisegang you forget the following characters Ashoka Leia Darth traya ventress Mission Vao Yuthura Ban Bastila Shan Visas Marr Mira Brianna Atris Meetra Surik And so on. My point is there are many strong women in Star Wars next do some research before you lie

[@sergioruiz733]

Yeah Daala really seems like a representation of an adherence to the Tarkin Doctrine in her tactics she thinks at Mon Cala or Dak in Legends that the sight of her Star Destroyers will break the will of the enemy and allow her to destroy the shipyards(From what I remember) She doesn't realize now that the Rebellion, now New Republic isn't as small and intimidated easily anymore by the presence of Imperial vessels. Its her arrogance and inability to properly assess the situation that is her downfall.

[@konstellashon1364]

IIRC, that tactic she tried on Mon Cala was taught to her by Tarkin, himself. Haven't kept up with Legends, but I keep seeing it mentioned that she showed good strategies for ground battles. Huh. I guess promoting her to Admiral, but stationing her in the least likely place to do battle was the best Tarkin could get her.

[@thedarkknight727]

The Empire’s greatest weapon turned out to be their greatest failure, PRIDE.

[@rhymenoceros3303]

Hearing her "brilliant" strategies I can't help but say: Bruh.

[@Unknown-hb3id]

Heeey. This isn't Exegol!

[@jfarrar19]

Planned battle. There was no plan there.

[@Unknown-hb3id]

@@jfarrar19 Damn. You're totally right - well, in terms of the Resistance. Palps forces had no right to be that disorganized and without a plan and at least 15+ contingencies a la Palpatine. But still, fair point.

[@uberness77]

@@illumi9044 Because Korriban is literally near Yavin 4, Mandalore and Felucia based on canon maps of the Galaxy. Not to mention it's a known world. A secret faction like the Sith Eternal would want a planet that, you know, people aren't likely to stumble on.

[@illumi9044]

@@uberness77 you right

[@RedRock22Productions]

"How bad of a leader was Admiral Daala?" Yeah, I'd be interested in that video.

[@theevildrummingsithlord1492]

Why does Dantooine always keep getting bombed? Also, it seems that Daala's isolation in the Maw must've caused her to lose her tactical genius.

[@tylerjones7592]

that because she was roommates with abeloth

[@theevildrummingsithlord1492]

@@tylerjones7592 That makes perfect sense.

[@konstellashon1364]

@@theevildrummingsithlord1492 later books like Callista trilogy imply she actually did have a knack for ground combat, so Tarkin putting her in charge of a mini-fleet was actually the wrong promotion.

[@konstellashon1364]

@@tylerjones7592 and didn't she get a head injury in the Death Star novel?

[@jacobnelson2051]

Admiral Daala is like an in-universe version of Kathleen Kennedy. No real plan, just thinks she can succeed via inertia and guts or something.

[@tylerjones7592]

daala vs holdo who is the worst commander

[@LD-oq9lx]

@@tylerjones7592 they both die, dalaa tries to ram holdo but she manages to do her version of raming first, leaving us with a safer galaxy overall.

[@BenKrav]

Most accurate comment ever! Does that make Filoni the out of universe Pellaeon? The student of the real greats and the one that should have been made in charge long ago?

[@anthonyrodriguez8788]

@@tylerjones7592 as far as we can tell, Holdo's only real flaw was not trusting her crew, Daala is just a plain dumbass. if they two had equivalent forces my money would be on Holdo.

[@thestarwarsmusiccomposer3491]

OHHHHHHHH THIS IS SAVAGE U HAVE MY LIKE MAH DUDE

[@dansparce]

I have a purely nostalgic love for Daala. The Jedi Academy trilogy were the first EU books I read and so I have a bias towards everything in those books. Also I find her ability to fail upwards to be very realistic and aspirational.

[@CynUnion-ji9uj]

The only notable legends female imperial admiral, who sucks at her job, and got that Job by romancing a man in power... Hey Legends, What The Hell.

[@Zachcraftone]

I think Daala was just suffering from a mental breakdown and wasn’t thinking straight. I mean in under a month she lost 3 ships, her facility, Tarkin, etc. Ngl I kind of feel bad for her.

[@thegreenmanofnorwich]

Plus, maybe she's really excellent, but more at the sort of technical and research elements that would be suited for the Maw Installation, rather than conquest and combat. It's kind of funny though, any target other than Coruscant, you could say "the galaxy has changed, she didn't have up to date experiences of the ships and strategies of the enemy" That doesn't work so well for Coruscant, so I think you must be right about at least not thinking clearly.

[@jonahbreen8512]

I’m so glad you are back into battle breakdowns. This is my favorite series of yours

[@GAVERR10]

How come many times sith can force choke people through holograms while they are far away but they can't just force choke someone on the other side of the galaxy whenever

[@patchworkfellow4262]

SeanPlayz that’s very possible!

[@brucejedilee5290]

You either have to see the person to do it or you have to be near them and know where they are if you don't see them. That is my guess based on my observations

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

@@brucejedilee5290 Yeah like Sidious to those mandos

[@uberness77]

It's likely that you have to see them or at the very least hear them (Since Vader choked someone on a Star Destroyer while he was planet side after only just hearing their voice.)

[@ahaloburnout]

Didn’t Sideus do exactly that to Dooku one time after he had screwed up. Calls him from another star system to choke him over the phone while reviewing Dooku’s failure.

[@jamiewalsh3349]

Daala: "Let's attack Coruscant with only 2 Star Destroyers." Crew member: "I don't know admiral. It sounds risky." Daala: "Don't worry I've got a foolproof plan." Crew member: "I've got a bad feeling about this."

[@drakeevans8042]

E

[@Servellion]

Commence Operation: LEEEROYYYY!!!

[@AM-kf2zt]

Admiral Daala: I will be the poster child for the worst admiral in Star Wars history. Admiral Holdo: Hold my hairspray.

[@FekLeyrTarg]

There's actually another female Admiral in Legends: Admiral Dodonna in KotOR.

[@lordfrostwind3151]

Yeah but she almost lost the entire Republic fleet too, at least if the dark side ending is to be believed

[@adamsosna7263]

I think he meant Galactic Empire's Admiral since there were a few in SWTOR on both sides.

[@joehayes9933]

@@lordfrostwind3151 tbf, that was a last ditch effort. Dodonna was in a bad situation

[@delta2372]

@@lordfrostwind3151 her almost losing the entire republic fleet was a last ditch effort to beat the sith, if she didn't and the republic played defencivly they would be eventually overwhelmed by the amount of ships the star forge can make. This is even present during the battle, for every two sith ships destroyed five more came out of the star forge to take it's place. Plus given that the republic was pretty much brain drained with all it's best commanders defecting to the enemy she was probably picked for being the most compitant commander available.

[@supergkop5678]

@@lordfrostwind3151 But the way she lost her fleet was far more understandable. The situation was if they did not attack the Starforge right then and there then the Sith would be able to overwhelm the Republic. She had to attack then and the fact she was able to keep her fleet alive long enough for Revan to do his thing when facing against not only Bastilla battle mediation and the Starforge creating more ships during the battle is honestly pretty impressive.

[@anshumansingh769]

Me : The empire's worst planning at endor and scarif Eck : NOOOOOOO!

[@scarlet_nation001]

Always loved your battle breakdowns Eck

[@thegreenmanofnorwich]

Even when the number of star destroyers was uncertain and might have been really quite low, two star destroyers vs Coruscant seemed like a very poor idea.

[@voicelesskraken7454]

Last time I was this early, snoke was plagiues. Can’t spell sorry Edit: this was not a spoiler for ROS

[@witherrose1566]

Wait what? Is that really what they went with? I haven't seen any of the movies so I have no clue the context of this

[@SouthernWolf24]

Wither Rose might be wrong, but that might’ve been just a rumor, and not an actual plot point.

[@phillyskyguy9535]

@@witherrose1566 at a comicon or some type of event they had all the cast lined up before TFA and someone asked about Plagueis. Daisy Ridley replied questionably "Is that Sn-" then JJ IMMEDIATELY interrupted with his "uuh" type of replies and turns to Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan acts like he's never heard of Plagueis. I have no doubts that was the plan

[@phillyskyguy9535]

@@witherrose1566 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH-wlaurd6eCnK8

[@attilamenyhert9464]

Daala: Attacks Mon Cala Admiral Ackbar: I’m gonna end this woman’s whole career

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

Is an ISD a carrier?

[@attilamenyhert9464]

Jack Rutledge Goembel It can function as a carrier, yes. But it’s a destroyer first.

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

@@attilamenyhert9464 Thanks!

[@benjaminfinlay829]

There's some implications in the novel Death Star that Dala /was/ a genius... At one point. In the novel, she was in an explosive decompression "accident", which led to brain damage. Tarkin thought it minor, but...

[@tylerjones7592]

or being roomates with abeloth affected her iq

[@benjaminfinlay829]

@@tylerjones7592 Fair point. Abeloth might have been pushing her towards making stupid, self-destructive decisions. That might also explain why her crews didn't mutiny.

[@konstellashon1364]

@@benjaminfinlay829 also, I see it mentioned by the Callista trilogy that she was brilliant at ground combat tactics, meaning putting her in charge of a small fleet was actually a waste of her actual talent.

[@JonStark117]

Thank You for still pumping out content Eckhartsladder...keep the videos coming cause we’re all watching!! Haha I hope you and your family are healthy and safe!!!🙏🏽

[@frozarburst6350]

"Literally yeets itself" I think that's the best description of not the Suncrusher but Daala herself

[@lightspeedvictory]

#askeck Where did Palpatine’s hatred of none humans come from? If I’m misreading things, then y did he embrace humanocentrism? Video suggestion/request: X-83 Twintail vs. Tie Defender (Legends)

[@lilthommodt]

The star wars version of racism has been a central trait of the Sith empire since it's formation, you were either a sith Pureblood, a human, or you were alien trash. That's how they see it. As far back as the ancient sith, the time of Tulak Hord, Naga Sadow and Ajunta Pall. Roughly 5000 BBY.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

@@lilthommodt then why are there so many alien sith?

[@lilthommodt]

@@GeraltofRivia22 force sensitivity knows no race. Doesn't mean other sith like it. But they can't deny a beings power. Just means there's gonna be a lot of prejudice along the way. Look at how Palpatine treated maul.

[@bigredwolf6]

He was a fan of generation tech lol

[@uberness77]

I doubt Palpatine actually gave a shit. He was a Sith Lord, literally everyone was below him. Human or otherwise. It's just that racism was prevalent with the higher ups in the Empire, and there was literally no reason to go against them for something as dumb as that.

[@BlackMethos]

I think Daala had two problems, one in universe, one out of universe. In universe: All the (theoretical) knowledge and skill is useless if you get no opportunity to actually use them in a (somewhat) controlled environment so of course she'd make mistakes soemone like Pelleon wouldn't have made, thanks to his actual experience. Out of universe: The writer(s) clearly wanted her to be competent (or there wouldn't have been such an emphasis on her being a prodigy), but clearly failed themselves to come up with even remotely competent/intelligent ideas on what her plans are or why they failed. In short: Bad writing imho.

[@JTeam45]

Lol Starting to think "I was always passed up for promotion because I'm a woman" is her way of coping with the fact that she sucks.

[@hughgedney3393]

A very extremely great video as always EckhartsLadder.

[@loganb7059]

Gee, I WONDER why they gave her a position as far out of the way as possible.

[@ryangale3757]

So, devil's advocate, Daala may have been a perfectly competent officer when she was a captain. However, I can see a number of factors for why she lost that competency by the time she gets in the story: 1. She was after all stuck in the Maw for some time, and without any battles or campaigns to fight and her time focused on developing super weapons, it's possible her skills could simply have atrophied from lack of use in favor of other ones. If she thought the Empire was gonna stay on top and thus superweapon development and not battlefield skills was what would get her her next promotion (and being out of communication, how could she know that wasn't the case?), that is a reasonable gamble to make, just didn't work out very well. 2. Being around super weapons for too long might have skewed her idea of what was effective. She was probably a Tarkin Doctrine devotee, and being in the Maw probably reinforced her focus on shock and awe tactics at the expense of other ideas. 3. Being stuck in the Maw also likely stagnated her knowledge of her enemy, and without updates, she probably fixated on her current knowledge of what the Rebels were, so when she reemerged from the Maw, she couldn't quickly adapt from thinking of them as easily frightened guerrilla fighters, even though their psychology had changed completely with the rise of the New Republic. 4. She may have just not been a versatile commander in general. She may have been a great commander during the rise of the Empire, when brute force and shock and awe were in line with her and the Empire's strengths, but by the time she got in the fight she was now way out of date and couldn't adapt to modern tactics. 5. Tarkin may have seen she, as an admiral, would be a better R&D leader than a battlefield leader, and tried to head off any future failures by putting her where she could do the most good. Great Star Destroyer captain, but bad battlefield admiral; overpromotion is a thing, after all. Not experiencing this failure may have then caused her to think, 'well I was a great commander as a captain, I should be great as an admiral too'. 6. She just got lazy and decided that, now that she was an admiral, she didn't need to improve any more. Since she seems to have a pretty decent ego, she might not have seen any risk to it (the old 'I can always get back into shape if I want to' argument). Not trying to excuse her clearly subpar performance, just want to give the character a bit more credit than 'she just slept her way to the top, no other redeeming qualities'. It's entirely possible she was both held back and given opportunities based on her sex.

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

So she got promoted beyond her level of competence, because she knew (and slept) with the right people?

[@gabrielmarques6595]

The first of your videos I saw was the one about The machine who hated humanity AKA I have no mouth and I must scream, and it leaved me shocked for a few days, so whenever I hear your voice Igo trough a mini PTSD... Great video tho. Keep up the good work

[@EggGuy461]

Empire: Yup. We're useless without Thrawn.

[@gabrielshadwick886]

"Litterally Yeets itself" I never thought I would hear that from EckhartsLadder. 3:40

[@phoenixshadow6633]

The Empire must have used PCs because Daala couldn't use a Mac's Command keys without screwing up.

[@spencersholden]

I just listened to the Death Star novel and Tarkin and Daala’s relationship was oddly wholesome and had me at a loss for words.

[@s.31.l50]

“Star crusher literally yeets itself across the command bridge” This is why Ecks is awesome when telling story

[@wojtek561]

Sun crusher and Palpatine clone, two, worst things in post endor era legends.

[@eezaak21]

Hey Daala, nice sun you have here....be a shame if someone "crushed" it

[@tylerjones7592]

kyp should have said that

[@KingOfStopMotion]

Love that she doesn't attempt to use any other super weapon at the Maw Installation. Not the Death Star prototype, not any prototype weapons, not trying to construct at least some ships. Nope she just Leroy Jenkins the galexy

[@tristanr7581]

3:39 "as the sun crusher literally yeeted itself through its command bridge" my favorite eck quote yet.

[@thorshammer7883]

#AskEck *Attempt 738* Remember to do the Forerunners vs the Imperium of Man faction versus video.

[@scimitar8240]

Lmao was waiting for another battle breakdown, this video was nice!

[@InventorZahran]

In her decades of isolation from the Imperial high command, Daala forgot how to admiral...

[@JustinWedekind]

Yeets through the command bridge 😂

[@nickvinsable3798]

IF I had to guess what Daala’s Imperial Academy teacher/mentor was, it’d be Ozzel who gave her the ‘Good Grades’ & such… Though I know I’m likely wrong, its still the Imperial Mind Set vs Thrawn’s…

[@dakkarnemo1094]

I never thought I'd see the day when a man of culture like Eck uses the term *"yeet."*

[@neilgillmore]

Dog at the end is awesomely hilarious......

[@tomsimpkins1211]

Me coming from Thrawns Revenge: Oh yeah Daala is a badass, she unified the warlords and managed to find a lost SSD an- Eck: *Tries to ram a Star Destroyer into Coruscant*

[@Baleur]

The question is though.. Is SHE bad (in canon), or is it simply the writer of the books / episodes / stories she's been in, that are terrible writers with no clue about military tactics?

[@GhostEchoX17]

Empire: "We have star destroyers!" Suncrusher: "YEEEET"

[@robertcbarry]

Daala was however the only one with the gall to summon all the Imperial Warlords together and demand their submission. Upon their refusal, she gassed them and simply took their assets as hers, reuniting the Empire. Arguably without her endorsement of Pellaeon, he would not have been able to later rise to be Imperial Head of State and bring an end to the First Galactic Civil War.

[@darthshipper8622]

Dalah: were gonna invade corasants planetary shield The literal 2 isds she has: ............. Me: HOW IN THE NAME OF EVERYTHING DID YOU GET PROMOTED TO ADMERIAL

[@juantafolla8683]

She would've been a perfect character for the last jedi

[@anthonyrodriguez8788]

she was in the movie, he's called General Hux.

[@thestarwarsmusiccomposer3491]

@@anthonyrodriguez8788 😂😂😂😂😂😂more like holdo haha

[@anthonyrodriguez8788]

@@thestarwarsmusiccomposer3491 hey Holdo had an actual good plan even if she didn't share it with most of her subordinates, and had an actual reason to withhold plans from the pilot whos known for charging in recklessly, meanwhile, Hux had every advantage but through his paradoxical arrogance and inability to realize just how greatly he outnumbers and outguns his enemies he manages to allow a single ship to destroy the most powerful fleet in the galaxy and severely damage the Supremacy, the very capital of the entire First Order and it cost both Kylo Ren and Phasma their respective victories. in other words, the bad guys couldn't have possibly lost without General Hux leading the charge.

[@thestarwarsmusiccomposer3491]

@@anthonyrodriguez8788 Well tbf everything in the sequels is dumb af. It defeats the purpose of star wars turning it into a comedic of a movie instead of the number 1 scifi movie that we know...

[@anthonyrodriguez8788]

@@thestarwarsmusiccomposer3491 you do know that Star Wars has always been partially a comedy right, Jar Jar, the Droids, Chewbacca getting the group caught by the Ewoks because he was hungry, everything to do with the Ewoks, how hilariously incompetent the Stormtroopers are on Endor, Boba Fett's death and more. TLJ having poorly written comedy is far from its main issue.

[@JediTempleToys]

This was one of the first Star Wars books I remember reading. As a teen I LOVED THEM.

[@tarn1135]

Thanks for the Skillshare

[@roguerifter9724]

I'm still undecided if Kevin J. Anderson is so incompetent that he thought he was doing a good job writing Daala or if he's sexist and intended her as proof that women couldn't be effective military commanders. A competent writer would have given Daala a few wins against forces strong enough to be credible threat. Anderson had her always facing the movie heroes, the Suncrusher AFAIK the most overpowered superweapon in the franchise, Jedi students pulling never before seen levels of Force power out of their asses, or enemies so weak compared to her forces that they were a joke. I find it interesting that you failed to mention that one of the reasons she was posted to the Maw was that she suffered a brain injury in a rebel attack so Tarkin assigned her to a post unlikely to face combat rather then have her discharged or demoted. Also she is far from the only Legends female admiral. Hell she isn't even the only female Imperial admiral in Legends anymore though the one other female Imperial admiral I know of had her military record expunged after she turned renegade and became a pirate in the pre-Rebel Alliance Imperial era. Finally while I agree that her Coruscant attack plan was insane I think you are far too harsh regarding her Mon Calamari attack. The only reason that attack failed was because Ackbar, who as Tarkin's former slave was uniquely qualified to recognize her plan, happened to be in postition to assume command of the defense through a series of fluke events. That's not bad tactics that's just horrible luck.

[@ARC5]

people: why aren't there more woman brass in the empire? *shows then admiral daala* people: sexism, got to be sexism.

[@sannh]

Have you not heard of Rae Sloane?

[@Robocopnik]

... okay, you DO realise that this literally is sexism right?

[@Garhunt05]

In legends it's explicitly stated that there was the huMAN act which near forbade women from military service.

[@FXIIBeaver]

I don't know. Daala is kinda proving the point.

[@quiroz441]

Sarah h . Perfect example of why they suck since it's a canon character not legends.

[@ryankwong2941]

Eckharts ladder is an amazing KZbinr

[@adamantu]

Actually, her tactics for the Battle of Mon Calamari are not bad. But they were devised by Tarkin. And since in Legends, Ackbar was a personal slave to Tarkin for quite some time before escaping and becoming an Admiral of the Rebel Alliance/ Commander-in-Chief of the New Republic, he immediatly realised the imperial Commander was using one of Tarkins battle schemes and countered it in a rather unorthodox way

[@Roboute-Guilliman]

And people say the empire were amazing...

[@maximumeffort7096]

@Palpatine McSenateFace of course you'd say that Mr. Senate

[@siegel947]

an an other anime weebo....Imperial bureau officers will attend to you briefly....

[@mysteriousstranger9182]

Himiko Toga she is the worst but we also have tarkin me Vader and you know thrawn the greatest military mind in galactic history so yes we are amazing

[@maximumeffort7096]

@@mysteriousstranger9182 Tarkin is a Mary Sue

[@tk-5268]

@@siegel947 seize her!

[@marshahammack4503]

Okay if she just attacked coruscant with her 4 star destroyers then it would be at least semi smarter. Though her attempt at getting the sum crusher was decent. Her kamikaze plan was decent.

[@adamsosna7263]

Well you know, the usual defenses of coruscant were in dozens and at high points hundreds of star destroyers and at at least five times more support ships and a few drednoughts and battle cruisers. Add planet based ion and turbo laser batteries, mass drivers and shields that can outlast an SSD, attacking with 4 ISDs was even dumber since with 4 ships she could actually hold a small system in the outer rim. With essentialy 1 and a half she didn't have many options, even if the plan was not feasible.

[@marshahammack4503]

@@adamsosna7263 i didnt say it was good. I said it would be semi better

[@Flarecobra]

Clearly her time at the Maw and not seeing any actual combat dulled her tactical ability.

[@mb9484]

In the DS version of Battlefront: Elite Squadron, we see X2 pierce Mustafar's planetary shield with a comandeered Executor class SSD, without even dying in the process. So it's not entirely impossible for Daala to get through the shield.

[@snappedsquire8479]

I know I'm a few years late, but there is a MASSIVE difference between an ISD and a SSD

[@theevildrummingsithlord1492]

@@snappedsquire8479 That, and Coruscant's planetary shield will definitely be a lot stronger than Mustafar's.

[@snappedsquire8479]

@@theevildrummingsithlord1492 Oh, most definitely. The capital of the entire Galactic Empire would have had state-of-the-art everything in order to repel attackers.

[@RobinSwede]

So tragic. She was so oppressed that she got bumped straight up to admiral. I don't think sexism is why she got passed up for promotions based on this video.

[@hanzzel6086]

Somebody else said that she probably was an extremely intelligent and capable person, it is often mentioned the books, when it comes to research and development/politics (short term for that last one). And i agree with them. She did after all lead the development on the most powerful superweapon ever made (the Suncrusher and others), unite the Imperial Remnants (primarily via assignation), and greatly assist in the formation of the Galactic Alliance.

[@jayburn00]

@@hanzzel6086 she didn't do superweapon development, she just provided security. My thoughts are that she was often emotionally compromised that she suffered bouts of insanity when she actually had to fight. She was a military genius that was too emotionally vulnerable to often use that genius in real situations. Another way of putting it was that she let her emotions dictate her decisions too much. She was like a child having a tantrum where she threw her toys, with her toys being star destroyers. Her plans were sometimes good, she just was unable to adapt when things went wrong.

[@exploder5485]

"Only female admiral in legends" What about Admiral Dodonna

[@jg4902]

starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jan_Dodonna

[@ZoeMalDoran]

Daala was said to be a reasonably competent tactician when it came to ground warfare, and a lot smarter than most of the men at Carida before the OT. Originally, she was written as failing against the New Republic because she was relying on outdated tactics. She never considered that the people who beat Tarkin a decade before might actually be smarter than her... until she'd pretty much lost everything. The 'Death Star' novel later explained things by having her suffer unspecified brain damage (and get sent back to the Maw Installation before she woke up, in order to hide the fact that Tarkin had called her away from her post to help investigate sabotage of the Death Star and its support ships). Best case scenario was the loss of a few days of memory. Worst case scenario was severe impairment.

[@konstellashon1364]

good point. Ackbar knew what she was planning on Mon Cala because they both learned the strategy from Tarkin, himself.

[@alexandrebourge7137]

3:39 “as the Suncrusher literally yeet’s itself into th...” wait hold on, Suncrusher literally WHAT ?

[@jackk364]

I’m the first and I love your vid I wanted another battle breakdown thanks

[@grand_max66]

I know that they changed it later down the line, but why was the Empire sexist against women in early legends exactly? I mean, I get why they have the human superiority complex, but to cut your potential forces down even more just seems more stupid then the Empire normally is.

[@shorewall]

I'm sure it was just to match the movies, and how all the officers were men.

[@whocares427]

Because they're evil. They do most things just because they need to be the bad guys.

[@Jeffthecreepyastafan]

Ikr that's what I always found very odd about all of legends before they changed that especially that in canon

[@blackore64]

It is reflective on the era when early expanded universe and moreover, the movies were made, during which there weren't that many women in armies overall. Also sexism seems like a logical thing for xenophobic autoritarian empire based on nazis. In fact, I find it kind of hilarious, how Equal-opportunity the modern empire is for evil corrupt space empire. I quess it's mostly done because empire has such a fanbase.

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

The Empire rules through hared and fear. They need the populace to believe in rigid hierarchy to justify their tyrannical existence. Core worlds > outer rim, humans > non-humans, men > women, etc. That's how fascism does it, folks

[@ryanconrad2786]

The first book in the series has a scene where they are repairing Couruscant, and I thought they said they didn't yet have planetary shields back. But even if they did, those shields were not on continuously. If a ship comes out of hyperspace close enough and doesn't slow down, it could conceivably get through before the shield is raised.

[@meholick184]

To be as fair as possible to Daala, she WAS written by Kevin J. Anderson, who somehow has a great reputation despite being the Admiral Daala of writing in other people's universes (see also: Darksaber (no, not the good one) and his foray into Dune.).

[@ravager2-636]

But by imperial standard she performed the attack adequately.. only a imperial naval education makes u that skilled..

[@TheWingland]

What would have happened if UNSC had defeated he covenant forces and captured the forerunner fleet in Halo Wars instead of destroying the ships?. #askeck

[@BOS_C.O.]

IDK why I found "yeet itself through its command bridge" so hilarious XD

[@schitflowsdwnhil]

The amazed pause and goose honk censor @ 6:00 lolllllllll