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RFR Q&A #194: The Thrawn Trilogy (Patreon)

Published:
2024-02-07 05:30:01
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

In 1991, STAR WARS made a grand re-entry into the world of fiction with Timothy Zahn's HEIR TO THE EMPIRE, kicking off THE THRAWN TRILOGY. This story was the first-ever continuation of the saga beyond RETURN OF THE JEDI and it kicked off a new age of Expanded Universe stories. RFR V.I.P. Ben Stein returns to the Q&A to break down the entire Thrawn Trilogy from HEIR to DARK FORCE RISING and concluding with THE LAST COMMAND. Plus, we compare the evolution of Thrawn's personality, voice, and overall threat to the New Republic, while looking back at his appearances in novels, audiobooks, animated series and live action series. 

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Comments

Mike James

Reading the first book as we speak! 😁

Kirk Leppert

My RFR cup truly runneth over this week! This was a great way to start my Wednesday morning. Thanks Ben!!

Peter Beisser

Love a good Ben Stein episode. Can't wait!

Brian Robinson

Can't wait to hear you guys tear into it.

Sean W. from Warsaw

Oh man! Ben Stein's return! Been waiting for this one since I heard he was coming back in December when I did my own episode on Thrawn. Gonna start listening now!

Sean W. from Warsaw

Also, Jimmy is on a roll with these Q&A's! Three in about a week...?

Sean W. from Warsaw

Made it about 10 minutes in already before I had to head in into work. Great stuff so far. And thanks for the shoutouts, again! Gonna make it a point to listen on my breaks today. :)

Ben P. Stein
>>129073693

Thanks, Sean! I tried not to hype it up as much as Thrawn's return, haha! I am so looking forward to hearing your thoughts and insights!

Kenny

Been awhile since I've read those books. Can't wait to jog those memories while listening to this 👍

Tanya S

I’m so glad I’m watching the full show video because JMac’s Thrawn is virtually indistinguishable from Marc Thompson’s Thrawn!!! 😳

Joe Dallas

I love the level of discussion here…. A+

Orange County Carlos

The item Luke finds was the beck and call, I believe. For a ship.

Orange County Carlos

Also absolutely love ANY book conversation, especially Thrawn related. Cheers to book reviews!

zillobeast

Cracking pod. Will have to listen again it was so deep with good points Love the "Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." Quote. That was a proper pod with 2 guys with great chemistry

zillobeast

More to the point I’m considering cancelling patreon. Jimmy mac just isn’t producing enough content this month!!!!! 😅😂😂 Cheers guys.

Ben P. Stein
>>129142360

Thanks for the kind words. So glad you enjoyed the podcast. I think the error/mistake quote captures the essence of the original Thrawn, who is very much a military officer serving the Empire.

Todd “Suds” Sedlacek

The thing I love about Ben’s episodes is the fact that I feel a lot smarter after he dispenses his wisdom. Great job as always!

Maddie G

What a great insightful Q&A! As Ben said, Thrawn was introduced in a show for a younger audience - perhaps in live action it will be a chance for him to be threatening, and a bit more ‘evil’. I’m still curious to see how much of the legends trilogy will pop up in future projects since we are getting elements already. Ive been meaning to read the legends trilogy and I think this is the sign I was waiting for!

Nathan Wenzel

Great job!! Can’t wait to listen to this in full!

Jared Cantor

Ben, your insight into how the buddy buddy relationship between the high Republic authors may be undermining the quality of the work was genius

Sean W. from Warsaw

I can't respond right now with everything I wanna say, but I finally got through the episode about two days after it got up. Sorry for the delay! But here's some thoughts I had when I was doing my own deep dive a few months ago before my daughter was born and put a stop to it. Lol

Sean W. from Warsaw

Chapter 4 divulges a great deal of characterization and his motivations on C'baoth. And a little of his history.... He was a clone of the real C'baoth made from a tissue sample shortly before his death before the Clone Wars. Killed by Thrawn himself whilst C'baoth was aboard Outbound Flight, a ship of the Old Republic's made in an effort to expand to another galaxy. The ship had six Jedi Masters aboard it--a target which the Emperor couldn't resist. Thrawn was sent to intercept. The chapter reveals that C'baoth was (likely) one of the early insane clones the Imperial Fleet warred against, as per the original conception of the Clone Wars. But no detail is given on who took the tissue sample or why; or how C'baoth was not destroyed in the war; or how he became a guardian of the Emperor's instead of the Emperor killing him: or how he came to Wayland. Or any other pertinent information that's so intriguing. The natives call him "the Guardian," but is he a guardian put there by the Emperor? It's mentioned that C'baoth killed the original guardian, whoever that was. Was the original one put there by the Emperor, then, and C'baoth was a rogue agent that found his way there somehow...? If he was cloned by the Emperor, why would he be a rogue agent? Was he set loose for some mysterious reason?

Sean W. from Warsaw

I'll try to share some more insights when I have time. Otherwise, great convo, Ben! I was thrilled especially by all the details you laid out about the anniversary book stuff from Zahn himself. I never knew a lot of it! Now I'm gonna have to get the book. :) Also, REALLY was digging the voice comparisons. I love side by side stuff like that and always wanted to hear this for the character.

Ben P. Stein
>>129259849

Sean, I'm listening to "Outbound Flight" right now (the 2023 Marc Thompson audiobook version!) and it answers many of the questions that you pose above. I don't want to spoil it but I think you'll find a lot of the happenings and fleshed-out details in that book to be satisfying.

Kenny

Thanks Ben and Jimmy! I read the trilogy years ago, and this episode just brought back all the memories,so much so I wanted to re-read the trilogy. And I have never re-read a book! I loved this discussion so,much and all the recommendations of comics and other books at the end I will have to check out. I would love to see a break down of books/comics for all of the RFR recommended reads. I'm not a huge fan of high republic, but I'd love a break down of that trilogy so I can ponder on why the heck unread them ( Ben? Suds??) Lol

Eric from Phoenix

Fantastic discussion guys! I absolutely loved these books and quickly read through them when they were first released. I also loved the comics as you got to visually see what I had only previously had it in my head. Ben, I was disappointed I wasn’t the Eric you were talking about :) Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Not sure I’ve heard that before. Great analogy. The Noghri were awesome. There’s a classic Lucasarts game called Rebellion from 1998. I loved that game and if you played as the Empire you could send Noghri on assassination missions and you could kill any of the named Rebel characters except the big three. So much fun! I agree with Ben. I thought the Ysalamiri were great. Was a great concept and would’ve loved to see them in live action.

Ben P. Stein
>>129176306

Thanks, Suds! Your episodes are always thoroughly enjoyable as well. I was excited to share my impressions after listening to the whole trilogy again. Jimmy had so much wisdom and knowledge at the ready. It was really a pleasure.

Ben P. Stein
>>129073740

Jimmy has more than made up for any lack of new Star Wars content on Disney Plus!

Ben P. Stein
>>129074900

Your Q&A was great. I feel like listening to it again just as I've relistened to the Thrawn trilogy!

Ben P. Stein
>>129135909

Glad you like the book reviews. It encourages me to maybe do another one in an upcoming Q&A!

Ben P. Stein
>>129217704

When I saw that roundtable discussion between the authors, they genuinely seemed to think each other's work was great, which is nice, but I got the impression they weren't thinking as much about us, the Star Wars fans, as they should have been. If they did, they'd have created fewer and more memorable characters, haha!

Ben P. Stein
>>129259776

I've been there, Sean. I'm an empty nester now and miss those days of raising kids. I can tell you have your priorities straight. Enjoy every moment!

Ben P. Stein
>>129260057

I think you'd love the anniversary edition, Sean, with its great annotations. Sadly there weren't ones for the other two books. I love comparing the voices of Thrawn. I didn't have time to mention it on the podcast but there were multiple voices for Thrawn before Marc Thompson did him, even sterner and more militaristic. What's funny is the first voice actor pronounces the Republic capital as "CorusCant" with the second hard "c" just as Jimmy had jokingly pronounced it. https://youtu.be/j_TUG3w6vRU?si=t7ULJLRvlrjks3r0&t=26

Ben P. Stein
>>129277157

Thanks so much Kenny for your very kind words! These were the first Star Wars novels I've listened to twice, and I enjoyed it the second time even more than I expected. I now plan to go back to some others I've enjoyed, and may do another one for a future Q&A. I am far from cracking The High Republic. I don't completely get it and I am not sure I ever will. That era is trapped in between more interesting eras. The enemies and creatures are not as menacing or interesting as the Sith or even the Krayt dragon. Starlight Beacon is not the worst concept in the world, but to me it feels like AOL in the 90s, the Republic getting off the ground with new technology, as opposed to Star Wars characters exploring new frontiers, such as the Unknown Regions.

Ben P. Stein
>>129305047

Eric, I’m so glad you enjoyed the episode. I always enjoy yours so much. I wish I had known you as far back as I have known the other Eric but look forward to future get-togethers (though sadly I have another prior obligation on May 4th so I won’t be able to make it to Bristol). :-(

Eric from Phoenix
>>129305047

Dang Ben….I thought for sure you would be there since it’s so close. Looking forward to the next time!

Kenny
>>129277157

I Will be there for those next books you re listen to. Heck let me know and I'll listen too. Love to hear you q&a about it,and would love to be all refreshed to tag along 😀

Kenny
>>129305047

I was going to come to the get together as well, unfortunately it's my trailer opening weekend. so many RFRers going too! Well,eventually we'll all get to hang and talk the wars!

Ben P. Stein
>>129195090

I'm so glad that this podcast helped inspire you to read the Thrawn trilogy!!! Thanks for your kind comments, Maddie!

Turtle Wars

Thanks for the deep dive into the Thrawn character Ben. I don’t read fiction at all. I only enjoy reading textbooks, peer-reviewed scientific articles, and resource books. My SW library is mostly “Art of”, visual guides, and memorabilia books. But I’m way overdue to at least listen to the audio books of the original Thrawn trilogy on a long car ride or something. I have to get beyond being satisfied with only reviews and synopses of good SW novels.

Ben P. Stein
>>129477430

Thanks so much for your kind words. I love your Qs and As! I’m in the science world as well reading my share of physics papers! Which is why Timothy Zahn resonates with me. I love the art of and visuals books too. I think you’ll really enjoy the audiobooks. The Thrawn trilogy is great. If I had to pick one it would be Darth Plagueis. If you do listen to some of the audiobooks I’d love to hear your impressions during one of your future Qs and As!

Matt Rashid

Really enjoyed this conversation. I loved the original Thrawn Trilogy and devoured the books each year they were published. I remember listening to the 90’s abridged later read by Dennis Lawson. I still hear his Thrawn- a deep, rich vocalization. I remember Dark Force Rising as a letdown. I was hoping the title was referring to the dark side and bringing that aspect to the fore of the story. Bummed to learn it was just the name of a fleet. Great listen. Thanks again!

Ben P. Stein
>>129756510

Matt, thanks so much for the kind words. They mean a lot especially coming from a Star Wars expert such as yourself. Yes, the earlier Thrawn voices are deep and serious, very interesting to hear samples of them. I understand your disappointment about the title Dark Force Rising. It was better for me on second listen as I knew this time that Zahn was building the Noghri to betray Thrawn. Interestingly all the titles of the original Thrawn trilogy books don’t quite mean what I had assumed at first, with C’baoth not Thrawn proclaiming himself as Heir to the Empire and The Last Command referring to the Emperor’s final order to Mara Jade. I had initially assumed that the title referred to Thrawn’s last stand!

Dr Jz

Such a good show folks. Thank you!