Thrawn explains what True Friendship is - Thrawn Quotes - Star Wars Lore

Thrawn explains what True Friendship is - Thrawn Quotes - Star Wars Lore
I see many people enjoy these Thrawn short videos on my channel so here is another one :)
Be sure to check my own made tributes on my channel :D
for example: General Grievous - Kaleesh Warrior or Old Wounds - The lifelong fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul.
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Edit: I just started (13 october 2021) a Twitter account: / starwarsbengels
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[@tsarfox3462]

It's actually pretty touching to see that someone who comes off as cold and distant at almost all times has an extremely accurate and mature view of friendship. Although that's hardly surprising coming from Thrawn.

[@argo-cv1wj]

Yeah honestly never thought about that whole letting the friend choose where they want to type view, especially since the phrase is usually keep friends close and your enemies closer but yeah no I like his way putting putting that phrase better as well as his view giving real friends the freedom to choose where to be thats why he's my favorite character

[@tcstealthyfoxxo8620]

Thrawn has always fascinated me as a character, I wish I could find more of him.

[@tsarfox3462]

​@@tcstealthyfoxxo8620 Well there's the Legends comics, the novels by Timothy Zhan are excellent, and tons of youtubers have videos about him.

[@tcstealthyfoxxo8620]

@@tsarfox3462 Thanks for informing me, I’ll check them out when I can. Also it’s nice seeing you again.

[@kakon16]

It's perfect Thrawn. His analysis of you and your culture will lead him to victory in every avenue, even through your friends.

[@jedifighter665]

This tells you that even Thrawn had a better view on friendship than most characters I have seen. People can learn so much from this character.

[@peterzimmerman1114]

Even if he is cold and calculating he does seem kind of fair. Granted he works for the very oppressive empire but he's not looking for an excuse to cause more suffering than his job or orders require. Kind of a Lawful Neutral character in D&D terms. For example when there were problems with sabotage in the factory he had the workers test their products they built. It would have been perfectly safe to do so if they wern't tampered with or sabotaged to harm future imperial users of said products. People who got hurt were trying to hurt others and were therefor traitors to their employers. Meaning he only put the guilt at risk in that case and elevated the problems with sabotaged equipment. He's not a character of good that goes around trying to make everyone's lives better, he's trying to do his job and keep his people safe.

[@Nevict]

He's brutally efficient.

[@LA_HA]

@@peterzimmerman1114 Being calculating doesn't mean you're cold. I mean, not always. He valued the man who was his interpreter -- I forgot his name and I Just listened to the Thrawn audio drama comic

[@ZephyrBW]

Didn’t he have one friend

[@LA_HA]

@@ZephyrBW I think it's the guy I wrote about. I can't remember his name, but it was his interpreter when he first made contact with the Empire

[@yacoprinci3260]

When Thrawn has a more healthy outlook of friendship than the Jedi order

[@zawwin1846]

To be fair, most Jedi are brainwashed fanatics because they were literally groomed at birth to cast aside their emotions.

[@vicentediez452]

What? This is pretty much the Jedi's view of friendship and relationships. Love them for who they are, but do not become attached to them to the point of obssesion. And if they decide to leave and go on with their lives, then you must let them go. People nowadays just want to shit on the Jedi to look smart, but don't think what they're saying...

[@Gerolanfalan]

@@vicentediez452 the Jedi philosophy basically lacks individual love and focuses more on compassion for all. To subdue theur feelings and reject their humanity/mortal needs. A real life example would be the way Jesus Christ lived his life. Except the difference is that he was supposed to have truly loved everybody, even the Bible acknowledges for people embrace their emotions and take up a spouse to share the love.

[@vicentediez452]

@@Gerolanfalan or monks like Buddhists or Shaolin.... It's not impossible, but it is hard. It requires training and that's why it takes decades to become a Jedi Master

[@vicentediez452]

@Daedric Zweihander +15 so not doing evil stuff is something to shit on? Man.... I mean, wow

[@ajra6143]

If the Empire had more officers like Thrawn instead of backstabbing opportunists and incompetent bureaucrats, it would've won the GCW.

[@BungieStudios]

In trying to defeat corruption, they created a whole Empire around it.

[@GORT70]

Nope. Plot armor.

[@burger_person115]

@@BungieStudios the empire is a fascist dictatorship, and the thing about fascist dictatorships is that often, anyone high up will be trying to fight over the favour of the dictator(in this case palpatine) against any of the other high up people in the government. A good example of this is nazi germany(yes I know the most obvious one but its good for showing it cause its so obvious) where himmler, goering, goebels, and the other heads of the branches of the nazi dictatorship(not including hitler) sabatoged each others lives in attempts to gain the fuhrers favour. as for the corruption, that is just the way fascist economics and military are. once the fascists win and achieve their dreams of conquest, the military, still with an overbloated budget for no reason, becomes incompetent and corrupt as fuck. while this has never happened as the fascists lost ww2, we can assume it is what would happen. Almost all tactical knowhow or strategic knowledge would be lost to corruption and political corruption, and the high up backstabbing for the dictators favour would spread down through the high levels of the officer corps. This is what happened to the Galactic Empire, it became an incompetent police state led by a dictator slowly loosing his sanity due to being drunk on power, with an insanely overbloated military budget, and corruption on all levels of government and military. The republic had corruption which was just as bad in the senete as the empire had high up in the dictatorship and shell of a senete, but it was contained to there, even during the early parts of the clone wars. it would not spread through the ranks until the war was over, and the goals of palpatine had been reached. Thats why they lost. In the new canon books, Thrawn was close to being exiled or killed by the Emperor as he was questioning his loyalty, so what ezra pulled on lothal could have saved thrawns life. From this we can determine, that officers like thrawn may have existed in the military during and shortly after the clone wars, but as time went on, they either retired, seeing no further purpose for their service, were killed/arrested or demoted by the emperor for disloyalty, or BECAME corrupt themselves and slowly lost their tactical knowhow as a result(we see this with Grand Moff Tarkin for example, who during the clone wars was a good officer, but after the war as he got promoted higher and higher due to his loyalty he grew more and more corrupt, which lead to his incompetence by the time of his death in a New Hope). So they did not create an Empire around it to fight corruption, its just the way they formed their government CAUSED the already present corruption to multiply tenfold

[@TarsonTalon]

Ah, but see, therein lies the issue: there would have never been a GCW if there wasn't corruption.

[@burger_person115]

@@TarsonTalon exactly, as without the corruption of the republic senete, Palpatine would never have risen to power. Without the corruption of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Military would have likely been able to crush the rebellion much faster(lets be honest, they only won at endor due to plot armor). You are 100% correct. The rebellion would have ended at scarif and attolon if not for the imperial military corruption(at attolon, constantines incompetence in bringing the interdictor to the front to try to show off got it destroyed, allowing some ships to escape). there would be no need for a death star as there would be no more organized uprising, no battle of hoth(which until endor was thought to be the end of the rebel alliance) or endor, because the rebel fleet wouldnt exist anymore.

[@mrshadow4007]

The Emperor legit pointed at him and said "Send that guy into deep space because he's the only guy I can trust not to fuck everything with the Yuzhan Vong up" and without Thrawn to hold everything together the rest of the Empire just fell apart.

[@ShamblesMD]

Knowing what a massive threat they are to force users, that really says something.

[@traviskopplinger3515]

@@ShamblesMD then explain Darth Krayt

[@loganteague5805]

You ever read the original books by Timothy Zahn that introduced Thrawn? He had a great explanation for how the Empire fell apart, and his Thrawn was terrifying. (I'm talking Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command)

[@marcosramirez2278]

What are the Yuzhan Vong?

[@mrshadow4007]

@@marcosramirez2278 alien race from deep space that are immune to the force and feed on force users that the Emperor was creating the Empire to fight against.

[@chrismiller7136]

Thrawn is such a deep and wise charachter.

[@bgcvetan]

and beyond the Writing capeabilities of current SW writers.

[@larniieplayz6285]

@@bgcvetan bruh

[@JacktheMansin]

I can guarantee you palpatine knew thrawn's worth well before he even got to really know thrawn. And the limitless potential he could achieve.

[@corvus_da]

@@bgcvetan You do know that Timothy Zahn, the creator of Thrawn, is still writing SW?

[@bgcvetan]

@@corvus_da With K.K. breathing down his neck.

[@sir.mannington]

And he's supposed to be the villain. Man I really dig Thrawn.

[@somwongbulipsurt7901]

Wouldn't really say Thrawn is a villain more of....antihero maybe. After all he saw the Empire as means to end to defend against a much greater threat that could wipe out the galaxy; albiet he had the well being of the Chiss Ascendancy at the forefront in terms priotized safety, but really a safe galaxy equals a safeguarded Ascendancy.

[@sir.mannington]

@@somwongbulipsurt7901 To be completely honest, I'm not entirely familiar with Thrawn and his goals, but his association with the Empire does often cast him in an antagonistic way. But, yeah he's not just your common evil overlord, he has understandable goals, and damn to I love to watch him work. I should probably get some audio books though.

[@somwongbulipsurt7901]

@@sir.mannington You really should he's by far the best complex character in Star Wars in my opinion.

[@electricfeverx976]

@@sir.mannington his goals are rather simple at times, but his methods are what's complex. He joined the Empire because he needs to secure an allegiance with a strong ally, and the Republic wasn't that. The unfortunate reality is, Palp's Empire was a far more effective ally than the soon to be New Republic. Sure they offered Democracy but they would fall into the pitfalls of the Republic where petty Senators and politicians would scheme and plot against each other. With a strong head for both the army, and state like Palps and Vader, the Empire was the best choice for a military alliance.

[@sir.mannington]

@@electricfeverx976 Yeah, makes sense.

[@flower_girl4983]

"good day lieutenant" is all he said to eli after he came back from unknown regions. meeting each other after aa year so...

[@StarWarsBengels]

I had a laugh when I read it again in your comment xD

[@Paerigos]

Well it should have been "Good day lieutenant commander" - after all that promotion ceremony in the first book was so damn good...

[@jamienordmeyer4345]

I need to reread that book. Been a while, but enjoyed every minute of it!

[@aliboy357]

@@Paerigos strictly speaking, if there are no Lieutenants or Commanders present, addressing a subordinate Lieutenant Commander by either title is entirely acceptable.

[@shanryder]

To be fair, he was under alot of stress

[@paytonkraft7564]

"If one is remembered by a friend, they are never truly gone." Chills. Thrawn is a master of philosophy.

[@ItApproaches]

Nah, they're still gone. A memory can't be shared, can't even trust memories to be true or accurate. It's the minds best guess and what may have or could have been.

[@99thJediWarrior]

Just as it was for Anakin.

[@99thJediWarrior]

@@ItApproaches Memory is what keeps a person from truly dying. Worse than death is being forgotten.

[@sbusutton2209]

It's so heartwarming to know that someone like Thrawn continues to think of Eli Vanto fondly. In a later book, he notes that Ezra Bridger vaguely reminds him of Eli in both appearance and personality

[@l.l.3305]

which book?

[@thomassantino392]

Which one? The Ahsoka series?

[@mish375]

Zahn also weaves a parallel between Eli Vanto and Thrawn's brother Thrass. Both separately introduced Thrawn to a new world (Empire and the Mitth family), so it's apparent that Eli reminds Thrawn of his brother. I love that symbology.

[@BungieStudios]

I feel like Zahn left this bit for fans of Legends.

[@StarWarsBengels]

I agree with you

[@vao519]

Why what does it reference to?

[@tomjacklin7421]

@@vao519 if one is remembered, they’re never truly gone

[@td1559]

@@vao519 Gilad Pellaeon, The guy who ends up leading the imperial remnant after he dies and eventually allies with the new republic when the extra-galactic Yuuzhan vong invade.

[@Redheadedholmes]

Vader: Anakin Skywalker is dead! Thrawn: I know. Vader: You will never speak of him again. Thrawn: Of course. But I will always honor his legacy, for if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.

[@Sephiroth144]

Vader: Dude, we were never friends! Uh, I mean, you and Anakin were never friends...

[@donnovandalusong266]

And they say Thrawn is EVIL.

[@T.C_CR7]

People might think he is evil because he wants to destroy the rebels, something tells me that he is forced to do that

[@riccardogemme]

He's not forced. Of course he's following orders, but the Rebels are outlaws after all, despite of their noble cause. He has no personal hatred for them (unlike many others), but his goal as an Imperial Officer is to defeat them.

[@akuladoctor7355]

@@riccardogemme What Thrawn fails to see is that the existence of a rebellion is a proof of it's necessity. Instead of aiming to eliminate them with military tactics, and force. He should aim to understand their reasons, and see, if those problems can be solved. Instead of trying to cure a wound he should aim to prevent the wound's creation. Now of course this is far harder to say, than done. As the Emperor is the one responsible for it, and replacing the Emperor is anything but easy.

[@danzansandeev6033]

I don’t think he was ever painted as EVIL. Antagonistic yes, but not evil like Vader, tarkin or emperor.

[@avksmith]

@@riccardogemme yeah, his purpose for being an imperial officer though is because he wants to ensure that the empire can help the chiss against external threats though so like he isn’t just an imperial officer to be pro empire. His bad actions and serving the empire are still bad though

[@katamed5205]

Thrawn is such a compelling antagonist. Not because he’s evil for one reason or another. But because he’s smart. Wise, and very insightful. He doesn’t talk about things he knows nothing about. And what he doesn’t know he seeks to understand intimately so he won’t be caught off guard. His view on friendship is very well developed. And it prepares him for the day he might encounter someone he could consider a true friend. But that doesn’t mean he will be looking out of a window and waste time wishing he had one. He is focussed and aspires to reach the pinnacle of his ability to achieve his goals. Despite what other might think of him. Thrawn’s a character you could only wish was on your side. But then the protagonists would never encounter such a formidable adversary to overcome.

[@ottersirotten4290]

Funny thing is he has a good Friend, imperial Officer Eli Vanto but he severs now in Chiss Empire. I felt like Thrawn here was coping with the Situation that hes seperated from his (best?)Friend

[@taddad2641]

fgeel like something a lot of star wars villains lack is nuance, especially later ones. Vader had his nuances yes, an absolute brutality, a sense of honor, and when family returned to his life he began to falter. You don't need a mister freeze but you should have some level of nuance to a character. all life has loved ones.

[@garrettously3605]

Wow....this was actually kind of profound.

[@Blitzwing-ne1ru]

God I love the canon Thrawn Trilogy as much as the original Thrawn trilogy. The Thrawn and Eli Vanto dynamic from the first was the best and most touching!

[@laststand6420]

I read the original, now I might have to read the canon version. I was unaware of it's existence until now.

[@ridergilwin1494]

@@laststand6420 the book Thrawn is especially good. Alliances and Treason are good as well, but for me? Thrawn was the best of the canon stuff.

[@RobertoBlake]

Thrawn is my hero.

[@Andrew-fq6zx]

Imagine the relationship he's going to have with Ezra Bridger once the Purgills dragged them into the unknown.

[@joefloggg3257]

Lol still waiting

[@Wenchework]

actualy I could see Ezra allie with him as Thrawns main goal is Chiss not empier and Yung is worse then empier realy so defenetly could see him like that also my bet is Pallion,and Vanto as well will be interedused next to Thrawn in live action,most likely just in small bits as they proberbly make a mouvie series about him regarding him returning to Chiss and it would fit with him being master of that imoerial officer chaseing Grugo to get his blod

[@KingArthur39]

Would be a pretty shocking twist for the Ahsoka series. Ezra returns as an allie to Thrawn

[@pianoman9421]

@@KingArthur39 And a clone Luke, who's the Luke of the sequels. Meanwhile real Luke goes to the World Between Worlds and winds up in the MCU. Hey, a guy can dream.

[@OhioUltimate979]

Luuke becomes canon?

[@princessirulancorrino4695]

My favorite quote from the book. And it’s vey touching and beautiful knowing that Eli is reading this from Thrawn’s diary. Thrawn left his diary to Eli, he left his memories, his advice and a testament of true friendship knowing that Eli is going to be working with the Chiss and they’re going separate ways. One of the best true friendships in the Star Wars Universe

[@Vadim_Ibragimov]

Could you remind, in which book with part about diary is? In the first one? Read it quite long ago and don't remember this scene

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

This complexity is why Thrawn is my favourite Star Wars character. He's cool, calm, and collected, a total badass. He's also smart, insightful, and holds a mature, well reasoned outlook on many things, such as the nature of friendship. So many Star Wars characters are barely two-dimensional. Palpatine is basically a smarter Scooby Doo villain. Vader was a tool. Obi-Wan was interesting at times, but too dogmatic to the immoral Jedi Code to ever be truly relatable. But Thrawn? Where other characters struggle to be two-dimensional, he's an entire dodecehedron.

[@MrKILLINOOBZ]

Thrawn and KOTOR II is honestly peak Star Wars for me.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

@@MrKILLINOOBZ KOTOR 1 is pretty good too, but in terms of the philosophy underpinning Star Wars, yeah KOTOR 2 is peak. Kraia's story is fascinating. And HK-47's little speech on how to kill a Jedi, has such an amazing breakdown of the Jedi psyche, and kinda predicted how Order 66 would eventually work. Which shows how much the game makers understood the SW universe, on the same level as Lucas and Filoni, certainly far beyond most of the people involved in the EU and Sequels.

[@reduande]

Well only their relatability is the other way around, than your claim. One can easily relate to Kenobi, because he "only" struggle to keep his faith. But you have to be a born genius to come even close to complexity of Thrawn... Conclusion, you can admire Thrawn because you have no way to reach his genius. But Kenobi makes you uncomfortable, because you are not willing to follow his moral codex... But Thrawn follows his own moral codex too.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

@@reduande I'm not willing to follow the Jedi moral codex? Thank you for that compliment. The Jedi are a sexless cult of child kidnapping space magicians who have let entire planets die because helping them would be politically damaging. (That is why Dooku left the Order, after the Council ignored his and Sifo-Dyas' warning about the threat to a planet) I'd rather not be able to follow that morality. And I think faith is a stupid thing to have. It is by definition belief without evidence, the same definiton as gullibility. So I can't relate to that at all. I can relate to aspects of Thrawn, not to the whole. I wouldn't aspire to the whole, because he's a borderline sociopath, but his logical approach to problem solving? His desire for evidence? His beliefs on friendship? I can relate to those. His abilities, such as his talent for reading people, and for discerning a person's nature through the art they make, or his martial arts skills? I can but aspire to those.

[@electricfeverx976]

@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human well not sexless, you can bang. I forgot who said or where it was written but basically, Jedi can bang but they can form any attachments to their lover. So one night stands for life. Also the whole child taking thing has an option to refuse your child for the order, but it rarely happens because most parents consider it a great virtue to have their child be a Jedi. But whether that's just their religious beliefs in the Jedi, or simply because they want their child to live a better life than they could afford depends. Also Thrawn doesn't feel like a sociopath, the dude can understand emotions(thanks to the heat vision). He just seems apathetic most of the time, to everyone he works with but shows some concern for their lives. Ultimately I still dislike how the Republic basically gave the Jedi so much power, and with so little restrictions. Plus the whole, Jedi need to be either a god of emotions or be an emotionless automaton like Ki-Adi Mundi kinda puts a damper on being a light side force user.

[@NickJohnCoop]

There were a very few people that Thrawn would have considered friends but there were a few. I get the feeling when we see him in live action Ezra will have been turned into one. Thrawn is just that magnetic

[@electricfeverx976]

Knowing how Dave treated Thrawn I'm fearing for the worst. His actions in Rebels feel like a total 180 from his book incarnation. From the moment he killed a worker to instill fear, to the point where he bombarded civilians, Dave went too far in one side for a character like him.

[@burger_person115]

@@electricfeverx976 True but I am sure he will turn this around. He isnt an idiot, also the bombarding civillians was because he had no other choice to win. Price's incompetence and trigger happiness got him into a situation where bombarding civillians was the only option for victory remaining. Also, I am sure the New Republic bombarded civillians a few times in the last year of conflict against the empire, as sometimes doing so results in a strategic victory, though one with high costs...

[@ixkahn]

@@electricfeverx976 wdym? Thrawn bombs a good amount of planets in The Last Command pretending to have a planetary shield-piercing weapon, and he killed the officer who let Luke escape the tractor beam in front of everyone. Honestly, I too felt Rebels would do Thrawn a disservice at first, but I think Dave and the team actually gave us a great portrayal of the character. (Except for the fact that he loses, but that was inevitably going to happen, he was the bad guy on a Star Wars show)

[@electricfeverx976]

@@ixkahn in New Canon Thrawn wasnt shown to be capable of such violence against civilians. Also the killing of the officer for his incompetence I'd say is more justified since he let Luke Skywalker of all people escape, and didn't prove he was capable of adapting to the situation. There was another example where an officer failed to capture the Falcon, but since he showed he was capable of adapting to the situation and providing a unique technique to capturing the Falcon, Thrawn let him live.

[@ixkahn]

@@electricfeverx976 yeah, that's what happens when you adapt such a specific character, specially when someone else writes him. After all, I think the reason Thrawn has survived so well into New Canon is that the New Thrawn Trilogy was written by Zhan himself. Still, I didn't think it was all that out of character to bombard Lothal to get all of Phoenix Squadron and the Jedi the Emperor was telling him to get, but hey, that's just my opinion! I hope we get to see him some more in either Ahsoka, Rangers, or a Rebels sequel. And just PS, yeah, the guy you're talking about actually got promoted for trying new ways to get a tractor beam lock on Luke lmao

[@Dr3bb2]

Not going to lie Thrawn is such a great character. I've always wondered what would happen if he was with the rebellion.

[@burger_person115]

the empire would be dead in a year, remember he was able to with less than 12 ISDs almost destroy the entire new republic by himself. If he was with the rebellion it would be even easier cause unlike the new republic the empire was extremely incompetent and corrupt by the time lothal became independent, and even for a few years earlier.

[@reduande]

Thrawn considered joining them. But they had no leader capable to unite the New republic. So he stayed in service to Empire... He intends to save his motherland from looming threath and to that end he was willing to leave it and serve the Emperor... scattered new republic without strong navy wasn't able to save his Chiss ascendancy...

[@danielhaire6677]

Thrawn's preferred strategies and tactics of combined multilateral approaches across multiple vectors and targets would have worked well with the Rebellion's focus on high mobility strike and fade ops.

[@burger_person115]

@@danielhaire6677 agreed

[@revolrz22]

Kind of a silly question. The empire never did anything but lose outside of a very select few rare instances. So they would lose... more? Like, okay? Do you just not want there to be a story at all?

[@Cheese334]

Thrawn being the only good reason to join the Empire.

[@RebeccaSmith77]

the absolutely ONLY reason.

[@curtismcpsycho8212]

@@RebeccaSmith77 him and vader

[@RebeccaSmith77]

@@curtismcpsycho8212 I mean, yeah. You're not wrong, I guess.

[@curtismcpsycho8212]

@@RebeccaSmith77 I think vader only force chokes officers and anyone who sees his face so he's easy to work with I don't think he ever choked a grunt

[@RebeccaSmith77]

@@curtismcpsycho8212 You know, I've been thinking about your reply, and I have to disagree that Vader would be a reason to join the empire. When he was alive, and with the empire, he was a beast. He was awful. So, I would NOT join the empire for Vader.

[@samuraishinobi]

"For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone."

[@faceache3466]

That's actually pretty good life advice especially coming from admeral Thrawn

[@slh8505]

"If one is remembered, then they are never truly gone" WAY better said than in the bad sequel movies (which writers like Zahn are seemingly trying to make non-canon) Edit: here lies a debate trying to defend the sequel series, by those who have not looked into Ahsoka's fate in Rebels

[@shanryder]

He's not making the sequels non-canon. He's padding them out. The sequels are bad but they arent a lost cause. They just need supporting material. The goal is always to fix, not to destroy or replace. Would it have been easier to delete the prequels instead of making a 7 season animated show, hundreds of novels, & thousands of comic book issues? Yes, but they didn't and we love them now. We just gotta trust the process and wait

[@captain61games49]

@@shanryder but at least the prequels had a unifing story while the sequel trilogy is all over the place

[@TheKyrix82]

@@captain61games49 The Sequels have a unifying story too, you just didn't read it.

[@captain61games49]

@@TheKyrix82 yeah the first 2 do have a hard to follow one and then 3rd just derails

[@TheKyrix82]

@@captain61games49 No, the third follows the story just fine. Again, you didn't follow the story. They broadcast Palpatine's return as early as Aftermath, which was released before Episode 7 hit theaters. This stuff isn't a secret...

[@tylerortega7572]

This a surprisingly beautiful message from a character who seems so cold-hearted.

[@stevengreen9536]

The one guy who could have fixed the Galactic Empire. But never got to sit in the big chair.

[@k-nator1737]

That kinda hits even more when you know, he said this to Eli Vanto, his first (and probably even only) friend in the Empire before he left to work with the Chiss.

[@durzoblint6532]

A villain that can beat you through the power of friendship. At that point, a show's universe has entered a MAD doctrine for if one uses the power of friendship, the other will do so and the world would come to an end. truly the duality of man

[@plutoreturns9630]

This hits harder when my friend whose favourite villain happened to be Thrawn passed away this year.

[@Wolkebuch99]

Thrawn always seemed like a Paul Atreides to me, not truly heroic, but neither completely evil

[@jacknagel9387]

Fuck, now all i want is a video of Thrawn walking down the line of his men as the House Atreides bagpipes blast in the background.

[@Nightmare17022000]

@UCJKF6A_8inNhy0GiTEhagXQ fuck off. now I want that as well

[@jacknagel9387]

@@Nightmare17022000 It would be sooo good

[@Nightmare17022000]

@@jacknagel9387 yeeees. bagpipes standalone is already menacing. + thrawn... idk. I want a Thrawn Series anyway. but i doubt well ever get one.

[@jacknagel9387]

@@Nightmare17022000 It's the same reason why I don't think we'll ever get a Death Troopers TV show despite Star Wars Horror being VERY untapped potential in my opinion. Star Wars is more about the brand and being family friendly now. Could you imagine how gritty the Thrawn seriers would have to be? We would be getting some MSG style storyline of Thrawn growing his power and military which is something Disney will never do.

[@halfadeaty]

I love how he doesn't use contractions when he speaks. Gives him a type of wise old master feel.

[@blaster915]

English teacher vibes

[@TiddyTwyster]

He just scored a decisive victory against my feels

[@josephkush1032]

Thrawn isn't a villain but simply a amazing antagonist

[@juancabardo21]

“For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.” Man i’m starting to root for the Empire

[@badgamemaster]

And that is just another reason why Thrawn is one of the greatest Antagonists in all of western story telling.

[@rhyscallinan3727]

Man, when the bad guy can tell you how a good trait is formulated, you know he has a dangerous.

[@tonycohan1317]

I have to say that was the most wholesome thing ive ever heard thrawn say

[@k9builder]

I would gladly buy a book of the "Wisdom of Thrawn".

[@ObservingLibertarian]

A Thrawn version of Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" would be pretty badass, I could be down for that. [nod of agreement]

[@mish375]

In canon, he actually gave Eli his journal on the Art of War for safekeeping and to teach him. So he technically has a military strategy book, he's just lent it to his best friend.

[@williammiller4768]

Friendship. Real friendship has no expiration date. Nor a mile marker. It knows when to keep their company. It knows when to let them go. It spurs them on and lifts them up, those close to us. And it never tries to hold them back or snuff out their dreams. It is not goodbye. It is “Until we meet again.”

[@lasonris8934]

I believe Thrawn considered Eli Vanto a true friend

[@Ascuded]

Thrawn isn't evil, he just has plans he cannot explain cause the haters will sabotage him

[@Tyler_W]

How very Romantic of you, Thrawn, I completely agree.

[@cyrusol]

Thrawn, the true leader of the empire.

[@Thehumblehousehusband9496]

Not gonna lie I would follow admiral thrawn into any battle. He is a prime example of what a true leader should be!!

[@vulcranstorm2023]

The empire doesn't deserve the loyalty of one like Thrawn

[@DarkTider]

The most honest and heartbreaking description of true friendship, comes from a man like Thrawn. And THAT is why he is my favorite Star wars character of all time!

[@artemis_smith]

I think this is why he's a fan favorite villain: he's smart, he has a strong sense of right and wrong, he's good at his job as a military commander, he's loyal and faithful to who and what he believes in. And he's a ruthless killer working for the bad guys. If he was in the Rebel Alliance, he'd be one of their greatest war heroes and one of their greatest strategists and tacticians. But he's not. He's in the Empire, and the wise, passionate man is hellbent on the death or capture of the heroes. He's like an anti-Zuko.

[@Silverthief22]

It’s straight up criminal how underused Thrawn is by Disney the sequels would have been spectacular if he was the big bad and Thrawn’s empire was the threat facing the New Republic instead of Death Star 3.0 and Palpatine 2.0 hopefully they’ve learned from their mistakes and will make good use of him in Ahsoka and the other upcoming series

[@user-oy9fu9db8c]

Thank God they didn't use him, everything in the sequeles sucked and they would have butchered him

[@Silverthief22]

@@user-oy9fu9db8c Disney, while a massive evil blue blob, is by no means incapable of writing good stories when they hire the right people and use the right content I’m saying if they had invested enough effort (and money into hiring better writers) to have known to use thrawn the movies would have had much higher quality writing and not been a raging dumpster fire

[@hello987b]

Thank you for this teaching Grand Admiral Thrawn.

[@ladyazari2785]

I have heard many people talking about friendsip and explaining what it is. But Thrawn's expalanation is the only one I truly understood.

[@michelveilleux1275]

Deep and profound. How like Thrawn to pull such a 180 as the Emperor's greatest strategist.

[@ghrvjdev]

If I remembered correctly I think I heard someone state that the original Thrawn Trilogy potrays the main antagonist “aka Thrawn” as a complete 180 to Palpatine and Vader, he’s supposed to represent the anti-Vader or anti-Palpatine of the Empire if I’m not mistaken.

[@davido.1233]

Marc Thompson is a true master of voices, and his version of Thrawn is some of his best narrating!

[@grimmashley8422]

It’s so weird hearing a hardened Imperial Admiral have such an optimistic and nuanced view of friendship

[@darkpit37]

According to this definition, friends can technically be enemies while simultaneously being friends.

[@blackheartthedarklord6428]

If that's the case, then they would be considered a challenge compare to the enemies you have faced in the past. Even if you are on different sides, you would both be eager to know who will stand victorious.

[@TheUncivilizedNation]

That would by definition make then Rivals

[@yazan727]

I wish Eli vanto was in rebels

[@StarWarsBengels]

I was exactly hoping the same thing

[@52flyingbicycles]

Goes from cold and calculating admiral to wholesome in 15 seconds flat

[@jeko72]

Guess this explains why we sometimes can feel deeper connections with random people we meet online and never talk to again

[@gustavakerman2566]

I like to say (perhaps a bit naively), that you should keep your allies within view, your enemies within reach, but your friend watching your back. A friend has to be someone you can trust no matter what, so keeping your friend to watch your back could be a valid alternative to what Thrawn speaks of.

[@ShamblesMD]

That's easier said than expected, because assuming they will always be there to get your back can be seen more as a selfish demand at times, instead of a moral obligation. A good example of this was Han and Lando in Empire. While Lando straight-up betrayed his friend, Han still understood the situation he was put in, and because he knows his friend and his thought process so well, he probably knew Lando had something up his sleeve. Which may be why he was so calm and confident during the freezing process. To me at least, what makes people best friends is that they know one another better than they know themselves. And even if sometimes there's a falling out or if you just don't see one another for years, you know that person who is so near and dear to you is out there and they'll never change. I think that's what Thrawn was getting at.

[@daddyderrtie9256]

directly from the Timothy Zhan novel. Love those books and I love thrawn. Hope the live action does some true justice to the character

[@FireLordJohn3191]

Marc Thompson is an amazing Thrawn.

[@pottstato6811]

My favourite quote ever!! I re read thrawns books alot but this one stuck with me the most

[@kirawedderburn]

Even though Thrawn is a villain, it shows even he has respect for what it means to value connections with others. He’s more of an anti-hero as revealed in the novel: Thrawn Treason.

[@jonathanvilario5402]

Wow, that's damn authentic. Most bad guys are written as someone too good for friends or manipulative towards all relationships. It's nice to know that Thrawn is able to distinguish what to do with trust, and never take it for granted. Stuff like this is how Thrawn can be such a multilayered character

[@alexporter7379]

Sounds like Bismarck. The intellectual depth is truly unique in fiction

[@uni2713]

I actually needed to hear this. Thanks Thrawn…(never thought I’d be thanking a villain).

[@electricfeverx976]

Thrawn is more morally grey, not so much a villain per se.

[@StarWarsBengels]

I can post it on the Instagram page

[@leandroroman7053]

Antagonist, not totally a villain.

[@Rayle75]

Palleon never forgot. He honored Thrawn and his legacy, even if eventually that legacy came to an end. I wonder if Thrawn ever knew that Palleon was more than a subordinate, but a friend.

[@Grubnar]

Depends. Do you mean the original books, where he dies, or the Clone Wars, where he lives? In the first, we are never really told, but in the second ... yes, he knew!

[@kirgan1000]

I did get the impression they did have a teacher student relationship, atlest Tharwan respected Palleons Intelligence.

[@Brianna-ns7iy]

Wow the the clips that you put on this really just made it even more emotional than it already was.

[@ToaGatanuva]

Thrawn is slowly becoming my absolute favourite SW character

[@thematulaaklives249]

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

[@naterksmr]

This dude just explained friendship better in one minute than Tea did in the entire Yugioh series

[@madelinegarber7860]

I really love this outlook. Essentially he’s saying that even if you and the friend are only close temporarily, it doesn’t mean you’re not friends anymore. It just means they’re off doing their own thing gracing the galaxy with their presence and maybe you’ll reconnect one day.

[@traceedwards8946]

The guy may be an Imperial, but he's the greatest Imperial admiral who ever lived. I respect him.

[@valmid5069]

Erza: *What are you, my psychologist-psychiatrist?!*

[@MortSalazar]

Fitting that someone as particular and intelligent as Thrawn would understand and even value "true friendship" I mostly agree though - i live 1600km from my friend,no person more worthy of being called that than him to me And even if years can will pass without us meeting again i will still think of him as such

[@jonathonrodriguezthomas6457]

Little clips like this one remind me why Thrawn is someone I tend to listen to

[@Mel_the_Pirate]

I love Thrawn, he's a wonderful character (in the Zahn books, for Rebels I can't say) but wow I did not expect that. Even from him, I did not expect such a good, accurate, and uncontrolling view of friendship. I should have known with the friendships he shares with Car'das and Captain Pelleon.

[@armoroftruth3166]

I never saw quotes so accurate and wholesome at same time in my life!😭

[@nathanhough8156]

This quadrupled my respect for thrawn

[@kingskelett6265]

I like that Thrawn doesn't just drop one of the best viewpoints on friendship, he also doesn't claim that this is the one truth. He just voices his own humble opinion.

[@dad2827]

If one is remembered by a friend, one is not truly gone.

[@emperorofinception3571]

A truly beautiful quote.

[@JXEditor]

No ones ever really gone.

[@HellishSpoon]

This lesson is one i keep close to heart

[@whiskeyshaw8818]

I could listen to his voice forever

[@koelkastkkn]

This is my favorite Thrawn quote and coincidentally my life filisophy

[@SkunkFarmer420]

Is thrawn secrectly the greatest character in the star wars universe? Simply by an philosophical standpoint? This man seemed to understand more about emotions, life and people then any jedi ever has. I could only imagine if he had been a jedi or sith 😳

[@danzansandeev6033]

Thrawn and Kreia. Two philosophers of Star Wars universe

[@Rakshasaka]

@@danzansandeev6033 Exactly this.

[@lollikabosso.w.n7153]

I think Thrawns knowledge comes from the fact he is smart individual, who had time to think and learn. Jedi didnt wish to come to understand their emotions, so they forbid them. Trying to reach some sort of inner ballance, by ignoring their desires. Thise leads to inner strife, self doubt and self Questioning, where an individual will ask who is he and what does he feel. Sith on the other hand fixiate on them. They obsess over them and rely on them. But they fix themselves onto negative emotions. I dont like to say theres stuff lioe negative emotions, but in their case, it is. They obsess With hate and anger, that they loose sight of what they become, or why they are the way they are. In both cases, they dont ask why and how they feel. They obsess, or deny it. Thrawn asked, pondered, learned. He saw the good and the bad, hiding behind its polar opposites. He then picked the most pragmatic ones, putting aside thoughts not needed for a time

[@stevefrench7036]

Marc Thompson really nailed the voice of Thrawn Well... He nails kinda everything, that voice actor is a Legend

[@TheOnlyFMP]

Thrawn is like a lawful evil uncle Iroh.

[@kylemoss7941]

Thrawn had all the wisdom the Jedi and Sith thought they themselves had.

[@user-en4eo1cc4t]

When you hire capable writters:

[@nuclearsimian3281]

Dude, that legit belongs on a motivational poster in some psychologist or therapist's office.

[@whalecove1283]

Thrawn never disappoints.

[@TheAwesomeDarkNinja]

An angel on the side of the demons.

[@tamashorvath224]

My daily wisdom from the Grand Admiral.

[@arcticlaw9198]

This is surprising heart warming from someone as cold as Thrawn

[@lightningleopard8877]

Just wait until you find out how much he truly cares about people, even if it’s someone on the opposite of a conflict 😉

[@naterk9460]

Amazing that a character not known for "friendship" would give a far better speech on friendship than any kid's show I watched growing up. Take lessons, Tea Gardner.

[@czechemperortextstory2926]

Thrawn has friends but he doesn't see them so much (Ar'alani, Thrass, Eli N. Vanto).

[@Cdre_Satori]

Thrawn, the one imperial you would not mind serving under.

[@loomman5296]

How can you say that this man is evil? Does anyone ever stop and think that the Rebels may be the bad guys?

[@brucechmiel7964]

The rebels don't wear black and don't have skulls on their uniforms. I don't think they are the baddies.

[@patrickstewart3446]

It something I saw in Gundam Wing. Not all of the heroes were good (in fact, one was downright evil) and not all of the villains were evil (one of them being higher on the good scale than most of the heroes at the time.). If we’re talking Star Wars itself, the Rebel General who goes behind Mon Mothma’s back and orders Andor to outright murder Galen Erso would probably be on the evil side. But if he’s on your side he’s one of the heroes.

[@lara6568]

thrawn isn’t evil but the EMPIRE is absolutely evil and the rebels are most definitely the good guys 😐

[@electricfeverx976]

@@patrickstewart3446 Don't forget Saw who flat out murdered a large group of civilians during one his attacks on the Empire.

[@panzer1925]

@@brucechmiel7964 Imperials wear mostly white and grey and have no skulls. Only a small minority wears black. So unless you're talking about the Imperium, that description doesn't fit.

[@2ndpersonshooter713]

Thrawn has had a singular friend - who started as a translator for him.

[@joaofernandes8501]

Thrawn is a formidable and dangerous enemy. More because it is unknown whether we would have the right to face him, imprison him or kill him.