8 minutes ago, weisguy119 said:

As much as I would LOVE to see the Thrawn trilogy on the big screen, that ship sailed when Disney went in a completely different post-RotJ direction with TFA. I expect Thrawn to die by Rukh's blade in SW Rebels this season. Why else would they re-introduce that particular character back into official canon?

While I agree with your initial feeling, Rukh killing Thrawn here hasn't got the same impact as we don't know Rukh in new canon. It hasn't dramatic impact and takes away from the heroes accomplishments. I expect Rukh and Thrawn to live but suffer some dishonour in the Empire and are forced out.

10 hours ago, weisguy119 said:

That said, Thrawn, Rukh, Tarkin, Saw Gerrera,, X-wings, Rogue One references...this season is going to be awesome.

And remember, if this trailer is like other Rebels trailers prior to the start of a season, everything we've seen in this trailer happens in the first half of season 4.

21 minutes ago, LagJanson said:

While I agree with your initial feeling, Rukh killing Thrawn here hasn't got the same impact as we don't know Rukh in new canon. It hasn't dramatic impact and takes away from the heroes accomplishments. I expect Rukh and Thrawn to live but suffer some dishonour in the Empire and are forced out.

Well, that would leave them open to pursue the Thrawn/Eli Vanto/Chiss Ascendancy story line somewhere down there road. I hope you're right.

44 minutes ago, weisguy119 said:

As much as I would LOVE to see the Thrawn trilogy on the big screen, that ship sailed when Disney went in a completely different post-RotJ direction with TFA. I expect Thrawn to die by Rukh's blade in SW Rebels this season. Why else would they re-introduce that particular character back into official canon?

I dunno. I feel like it could still work.

With the Empire having surrendered a year after RotJ, the idea of Thrawn trying to take on the entire New Republic himself with comparatively limited resources works just as well in the new setting as the old.

And some of the elements, like a clone army, or a completely remotely controlled Clone Wars era fleet, almost make work even better now than they did back then with the introduction of the prequels. ****, even the Ysalamari and Vornskr make more sense when you take midichlorians into account.

As for Rukh being introduced in Rebels, Rukh had already been Thrawns bodyguard for a long time at the beginning of the Thrawn Trilogy. If they were planning to do the Thrawn Trilogy later, it would make sense to introduce Rukh now.

Only changes I would make would be to replace Niles Ferrier with Boba Fett and replace the clone of Jorus C'baoth with a clone of a Jedi people would actually recognize from TCW. Like Mace Windu.

16 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

I dunno. I feel like it could still work.

With the Empire having surrendered a year after RotJ, the idea of Thrawn trying to take on the entire New Republic himself with comparatively limited resources works just as well in the new setting as the old.

And some of the elements, like a clone army, or a completely remotely controlled Clone Wars era fleet, almost make work even better now than they did back then with the introduction of the prequels. ****, even the Ysalamari and Vornskr make more sense when you take midichlorians into account.

As for Rukh being introduced in Rebels, Rukh had already been Thrawns bodyguard for a long time at the beginning of the Thrawn Trilogy. If they were planning to do the Thrawn Trilogy later, it would make sense to introduce Rukh now.

Only changes I would make would be to replace Niles Ferrier with Boba Fett and replace the clone of Jorus C'baoth with a clone of a Jedi people would actually recognize from TCW. Like Mace Windu.

I suppose it could work but Disney had the chance to go straight to the excellent Thrawn trilogy but instead chose to rehash ANH wlth TFA. That leads me to believe it isn't in their plans.

21 minutes ago, weisguy119 said:

I suppose it could work but Disney had the chance to go straight to the excellent Thrawn trilogy but instead chose to rehash ANH wlth TFA. That leads me to believe it isn't in their plans.

Well, TFA is a movie. I'm kinda hoping the Thrawn Trilogy gets a series like TCW/Rebels.

There's enough content there to do 3 seasons of a show, no problem.

2 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

Well, TFA is a movie. I'm kinda hoping the Thrawn Trilogy gets a series like TCW/Rebels.

There's enough content there to do 3 seasons of a show, no problem.

But they'd have to make that work within the established canon of TFA and the rise of the Resistance and FO. If Snoke and Hux are leading the FO, where does Thrawn work in that mix?

I like LagJanson's idea that Thrawn gets dishonored and expelled. Then, Disney can follow up on the seeds laid in the new Thrawn book. Perhaps, Thrawn, Vanto and the Chiss Ascendancy could become a threat to both the Resistance and the First Order.

5 hours ago, Biophysical said:

At this point, I'm 100% excited about anything involving Saw Guerrera. I feel like we've been shorted on him so far. He's one of the most fascinating character concepts Star Wars has produced, and actually getting seeing him in his prime would be great.

I agree, but I feel that way about a lot of the characters from there. Plenty of space, if only we get to explore it!

31 minutes ago, weisguy119 said:

But they'd have to make that work within the established canon of TFA and the rise of the Resistance and FO. If Snoke and Hux are leading the FO, where does Thrawn work in that mix?

Like...10 years after RotJ? That leaves another 20 years for TFA status quo to be established.

6 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

Like...10 years after RotJ? That leaves another 20 years for TFA status quo to be established.

Didn't they cover that time period in the Aftermath trilogy with Thrawn conspicuously absent?

6 minutes ago, weisguy119 said:

Didn't they cover that time period in the Aftermath trilogy with Thrawn conspicuously absent?

No idea. Didn't read it. Those books must read like history textbooks though if they covered everything that happened in 30 years in 3 books.

Supposedly the New Republic cut its military down to 10% of its wartime levels after the battle of Jakku, and kept them at that level until their fleet was destroyed with the Hosnian System. If Thrawn had waged a campaign in the years after Jakku before the Imperial remnant fled the Galactic Core to become the FO in the unknown regions then it might fit with the admittedly limited scope of the fleet engagements in the Thrawn Trilogy. A few hundred Dreadnaughts wouldn't be all that scary to a true Galactic military power, but one that had de-armed would be hard pressed to fight such a force, especially backed up with a handful of ISDs. And if the threat that Thrawn posed was quickly dispatched as it was in the books, then the senators that advocated for the smaller military would be justified since it would appear that the military was correct in 'right-sizing' their war machine.

49 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

No idea. Didn't read it. Those books must read like history textbooks though if they covered everything that happened in 30 years in 3 books.

Honestly, I didn't read them either. I only have a cursory knowledge of their content. It just seems that an Imperial Grand Admiral would have a prominent place in that time period if he wasn't either dead or expelled. I did read the new Thrawn novel, however, and it sows the seeds of a reemergence of the Chiss Ascendancy with Eli Vanto taking the place of Gilad Pellaeon at Thrawn's side. I could see that coming into play down the line. One of the reasons they scrapped most of the old EU is because they wanted to trim the fat and only bring back the best elements of the old canon with a different spin. They don't want to simply tell the same stories again. I think they've done a good job of keeping the core of Thrawn's character intact on Rebels while making him fit in the new canon.

Edit: Apparently, Rae Sloane is the Grand Admiral leading the Imperial Remnant in the Aftermath series.

Another interesting bit of context. TFA did mention there were other Imperial Remnant factions out there besides the First Order. It gives them an opportunity to bring back Thrawn leading one of these factions, perhaps rescuing the Resistance by utilizing old "outdated" Imperial Star Destroyers and late GCW fighters (Defenders, Avengers, Gunboats, etc.) with his trademark brilliance to defeat the technologically superior First Order. Of course this would be part of a larger plan to restore the original Empire, perhaps with an aim to restore Palpatine with a clone facility located within NEw Republic territory (like Corusant). I know this this very speculation and likely won't be the case but one can hope.

Thrawn could be back among his own people after faking his own death, or suffering disgrace at the hands of the Rebellion. I've read Thrawn... I wonder what hints are in there about what fate Thrawn is going to meet at the end of Rebels.

I sincerely hope he doesn't die. Thrawn was one of the most interesting antagonists Star Wars had to lean on in what is now Legends, but they couldn't do much more with him because he was dead . That didn't stop many from trying to do something with him... even very nearly cloning him. If the fandom is trying that hard to make a dead guy come back, why kill him?

If Thrawn lives to the era of the First Order... he may not necessarily be their ally. We know little about Snoke's Motives, nor do we know how Thrawn would react to them.

Getting back to the topic... Rebels is giving us the first examples of how the Empire customizes their fighters' flight schemes for individuals. Saber Squadron's bloodstripe was more of a unit solidarity thing, along with TIE Interceptors used by the royal guards. Vult Skettis is an ace pilot flying what looks like a personalized scheme.

So in the Empire... geometric lines are permitted on craft you're personally assigned to? TIEs are no longer highly interchangeable?

On ‎03‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 6:15 AM, Kehl_Aecea said:

He broke off from the Alliance proper and took some hardware with him, namely those X-Wings with the REALLY cool paint scheme

Possibly the other way around. After all, Neither the Massasi group nor Phoenix Squadron had X-wings at Atalon - maybe Saw is the one who actually gets X-wings and/or it's the act of getting them that results in him breaking off?

20 minutes ago, Norsehound said:

So in the Empire... geometric lines are permitted on craft you're personally assigned to? TIEs are no longer highly interchangeable?

That's always been 'a thing' for Aces, though - TIE Interceptors being given bloodstripes in the 181st, for example.

Generic TIE fighters are standard (That's not regulation), but ace units might have a standard colour deviation (Gamma Squadron's white stripe) and specific aces having a simple colour scheme is not unrealistic either. Wlll be interested to see who's flying it.... I can't imagine they'd drop Fel without spoilering him in a trailer given that they did that for thrawn - maybe the flight instructor from Skystrike again, Vult Skerris?

Edit:

Yup - looked back - Skerris had yellow stripes on his uniform; sounds likely.

7 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Generic TIE fighters are standard (That's not regulation), but ace units might have a standard colour deviation (Gamma Squadron's white stripe) and specific aces having a simple colour scheme is not unrealistic either.

Like I said above, that's a solidarity thing. Those fighters would wear those schemes for pilots that are part of an elite unit, but not a lone standout individual. Soontir Fel wears bloodstripes, but so does every other 181st pilot on their craft.

Before Skerris was sporting this scheme, the only individualization of a craft I've hard of was one of the Black Squadron pilots having painted the inside of his cockpit. The closest I can find on Wookiepedia is Mithel's description of flames around the cockpit representing kills, but that's not a thing you see in ANH.

On 9/4/2017 at 1:17 AM, Deimos said:

Another interesting bit of context. TFA did mention there were other Imperial Remnant factions out there besides the First Order. It gives them an opportunity to bring back Thrawn leading one of these factions, perhaps rescuing the Resistance by utilizing old "outdated" Imperial Star Destroyers and late GCW fighters (Defenders, Avengers, Gunboats, etc.) with his trademark brilliance to defeat the technologically superior First Order. Of course this would be part of a larger plan to restore the original Empire, perhaps with an aim to restore Palpatine with a clone facility located within NEw Republic territory (like Corusant). I know this this very speculation and likely won't be the case but one can hope.

This is exactly my hope for Episode 8. The Imperial Remnant, led by someone (Thrawn would be better, but I would take someone else) shows up at the end of the first act, when things look terrible for the New Republic (their fleet already defeated/destroyed, about to lose) and saves their bacon. Then it shows a meeting of the newly allied commanders where Thrawn(or equivalent) states that Snoke/Hux is a madman(using Starkiller Base) and that he must be stopped. There is a "Truce at Bakura"esk temporary alliance that lasts until the end of the film. That would be my ultimate fan version of Episode 8.

On 9/4/2017 at 1:17 AM, Deimos said:

Another interesting bit of context. TFA did mention there were other Imperial Remnant factions out there besides the First Order. It gives them an opportunity to bring back Thrawn leading one of these factions, perhaps rescuing the Resistance by utilizing old "outdated" Imperial Star Destroyers and late GCW fighters (Defenders, Avengers, Gunboats, etc.) with his trademark brilliance to defeat the technologically superior First Order. Of course this would be part of a larger plan to restore the original Empire, perhaps with an aim to restore Palpatine with a clone facility located within NEw Republic territory (like Corusant). I know this this very speculation and likely won't be the case but one can hope.

I love this idea so much. See above.

On 9/4/2017 at 2:51 AM, Norsehound said:

Thrawn could be back among his own people after faking his own death, or suffering disgrace at the hands of the Rebellion. I've read Thrawn... I wonder what hints are in there about what fate Thrawn is going to meet at the end of Rebels.

I sincerely hope he doesn't die. Thrawn was one of the most interesting antagonists Star Wars had to lean on in what is now Legends, but they couldn't do much more with him because he was dead . That didn't stop many from trying to do something with him... even very nearly cloning him. If the fandom is trying that hard to make a dead guy come back, why kill him?

If Thrawn lives to the era of the First Order... he may not necessarily be their ally. We know little about Snoke's Motives, nor do we know how Thrawn would react to them.

I think that Thrawn (if still alive and caring about the Empire) would not be in favor of Snoke/Hux using a superweapon like they just did in TFA. He would reason that if it didn't work for the old Empire, it's not going to work for the First Order (especially now that it is destroyed) Effectively, right now, post TFA, Snoke/Hux are ruling a regime that is using a Tarkin era "Rule through Fear" ideology without a means to back it up. Thrawn would not like that and would oppose it. I feel like Thrawn would espouse a "The Enemy of my Enemy, is my friend" sort of mentality and side with the New Republic, even if temporarily.

On 9/4/2017 at 2:16 AM, Norsehound said:

Getting back to the topic... Rebels is giving us the first examples of how the Empire customizes their fighters' flight schemes for individuals. Saber Squadron's bloodstripe was more of a unit solidarity thing, along with TIE Interceptors used by the royal guards. Vult Skettis is an ace pilot flying what looks like a personalized scheme.

On 9/4/2017 at 2:36 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

That's always been 'a thing' for Aces, though - TIE Interceptors being given bloodstripes in the 181st, for example.

Generic TIE fighters are standard (That's not regulation), but ace units might have a standard colour deviation (Gamma Squadron's white stripe) and specific aces having a simple colour scheme is not unrealistic either. Wlll be interested to see who's flying it.... I can't imagine they'd drop Fel without spoilering him in a trailer given that they did that for thrawn - maybe the flight instructor from Skystrike again, Vult Skerris?

Hah!

Here's an obvious retcon that someone at Lucas/Disney should have jumped on a long time ago: Black Squadron rolls in gray TIEs as their elite unit marking. Regular Jerks get the blue TIEs.

Except every TIE in Rebels is grey painted?

Oh, right.

Alas.

10 hours ago, JJFDVORAK said:

This is exactly my hope for Episode 8. The Imperial Remnant, led by someone (Thrawn would be better, but I would take someone else) shows up at the end of the first act, when things look terrible for the New Republic (their fleet already defeated/destroyed, about to lose) and saves their bacon. Then it shows a meeting of the newly allied commanders where Thrawn(or equivalent) states that Snoke/Hux is a madman(using Starkiller Base) and that he must be stopped. There is a "Truce at Bakura"esk temporary alliance that lasts until the end of the film. That would be my ultimate fan version of Episode 8.

I love this idea so much. See above.

I think that Thrawn (if still alive and caring about the Empire) would not be in favor of Snoke/Hux using a superweapon like they just did in TFA. He would reason that if it didn't work for the old Empire, it's not going to work for the First Order (especially now that it is destroyed) Effectively, right now, post TFA, Snoke/Hux are ruling a regime that is using a Tarkin era "Rule through Fear" ideology without a means to back it up. Thrawn would not like that and would oppose it. I feel like Thrawn would espouse a "The Enemy of my Enemy, is my friend" sort of mentality and side with the New Republic, even if temporarily.

Makes me wonder if Thrawn will go "home" at the end of Rebels because of the Death Star. Also wonder if we'll see Eli Vanto this season.

14 minutes ago, drail14me said:

Makes me wonder if Thrawn will go "home" at the end of Rebels because of the Death Star. Also wonder if we'll see Eli Vanto this season.

Probably saw the needless destruction of the Temple at Jedha City and says, "screw you culture-less barbarians" and heads out.

On 9/3/2017 at 5:11 PM, Princezilla said:

the only things I know if set between ESB and RotJ are one LEGO series and the Moving Target short story.

What about Shadows of the Empire? That is where Dash comes from!