Why Thrawn HATES Dark Jedi & Calls them Extremely Dangerous - Star Wars Explained 

To be fair, the last time Thrawn underestimated a force-wielder and let his guard down, he spent years exiled on a planet far from his own galaxy. And those years don't seem to have been kind to him. He's had his fill of Jedi of any affiliation, at this point.

I got the impression that Thrawn didn't actually know Baylan before their meeting. But I think the moment Baylan opened his mouth, saying that he was the one who brought Sabine, because he felt she could be of use, Thrawn instantly recognized that this man has his own agenda and will eventually betray him. So, he'll play nice for now, accepting Baylan into his service, until he unravels the Dark Jedi's true intentions. The fact that Ahsoka survived their confrontation, only confirms that Baylan is not someone to be trusted.

Thrawn likes predictability. Dark Jedi are rogue elements - their intentions and loyalties are unpredictable and only they know and understand what they truly want, which makes it difficult to anticipate what they'll do next. Which is ironic, because Dark Jedi often have a similar perspective on morality to Thrawn: The ends justify the means. Their commit acts of evil for what they believe to be the greater good. That's literally the whole reason why Thrawn joined the Empire, to use their resources to help defend the Chiss Ascendency from the Grysk.

Thrawn sounds like he should be a good guy. I swear he's the ideal superior to serve under.

I think this will be Thrawn’s first mistake in betraying Baylan so early. I think Baylan will sense it in both him and Morgan.

Thrawn's thoughts on the darkside are spot on. Baylan nor Thrawn trust each other at all they merely tolerate each other so long as there's a benefit. Once one side has the upper hand, the other will be betrayed.

"My position and ego are not at stake here." I've always remembered this one. This is one of the wisest things I ever read, and I'm glad other people appreciate it.

The hard part about writing a mastermind character like thrawn is the writers also have to be masterminds... kinda hard to pull off. We will see how it plays out but im not too hopeful from what i have seen so far.

I think Thrawn is right to suspect them, as they DO have an ulterior motive, their own reason for coming to the second galaxy, and I felt he sensed this. He can't have unknowns like that fucking with his plans, so I completely get him ditching Baylan right away, especially when he has the Nightsisters on his side, who he's gotten to know a good deal more.

This video makes me respect Thrawn even more.

8:22 - He didn't let Constantine die. He ordered him to return to his position in the formation and Constantine openly defied that order. After that there wasn't anything Thrawn could do to save Constantine's ship. While I'm certain that Thrawn would have dealt harshly with Constantine, if the latter had survived, I don't think he would allow the crew of imperial ship to die for disobedience of arrogant commander, if he could prevent it.

I think Thrawn’s mistrust of Baylan is slightly illogical. From what we’ve seen, he hasn’t fully embraced the dark side. From what we’ve seen, he seems to be a fairly pragmatic person, who wants to put an end to the endless slaughter and caused by force users on both sides. Baylan clearly has his own goals, and I’m not saying he’s a good person or trustworthy, but he doesn’t seem to be entirely selfish in his desire for power. I get the impression he hates Palpatine as much as anyone, and potentially still has some level of compassion in him. His interactions with his apprentice seem genuinely caring and even quite honest.

It's a shame Thrawn wasn't around during the Clone Wars, while the Jedi were morally misguided he'd of excelled in Republic's command center and could of genuinely made the difference he so desperately wanted to make, I also imagine the more militant Jedi would of loved serving with someone as intelligent as Thrawn.

I'm also wondering if Thrawn is more on an antihero than a villain. Someone who attempts to achieve virtuous ends through evil means.

Thrawn seems more willing to align with the witches who although evil go about it differently than the Sith. Next 2 episodes should be fascinating

I agree with a lot of what you said and with many of the comments. Thrawn knew about the Force because the Chiss had their own little group of Force-sensitives. They use these individuals as navigators to help their ships navigate through the chaos that existed in Chiss Space. The Chiss value their existence to the point they'll save these navigators first before saving the ship. I don't recall the Chiss name, but it translated as Sky-walkers, which was a main reason behind his interest in Anakin. He mentioned their existence to Vader when they were working together that one time, and he correctly read Vader's thoughts even if he didn't have the Force. Basically, Thrawn said, "If you're thinking about recruiting them into the Empire, forget it. Only certain females have that ability, and they generally lose it as they reach adulthood. Only 1% still have this ability in adulthood." Even if Vader told Palpatine about this, both would have realized the truth - recruiting these Chiss individuals wouldn't work. Too much effort for too little gain. As I said, he knew about the Force, but only saw how these navigators used it. Until he met Anakin, he never considered how it could be used in combat like how the Jedi wielded it. But his time with Anakin, and then later with Palpatine and Vader taught him more about the Force, and about the two sides - light and dark. I think Thrawn just thought of the Force as that - a Force with no alignments. He eventually came to understand the Force, or more accurately the dark side. He realized that while it was useful in the short term to help him achieve victory, it was far too chaotic and dangerous to his liking for prolonged use. The main distinction between Canon and Legends is the ysalamiri. Thrawn learned about them before The Thrawn Trilogy and used them primarily to block the Force so he could create clones in record time. Helping him to "control" C'Baoth was an added benefit. One of the main problems he faced with Joruus C'Baoth wasn't the dark side, but his madness caused by the combination of the individual being a clone of the original and the dark side. Thrawn thought that creating a new clone of C'Baoth under controlled circumstances in one of his strongholds in the Empire of the Hand would yield a mentally stable clone who can use the dark side and be of use to him. Not a bad idea on paper, but then again, this was before Zahn wrote a novel about The Outbound Flight Project. In that novel, Thrawn met the original C'Baoth aboard the Outbound Flight. He practically witnessed C'Baoth fall to the dark side because of his obsession over Outbound Flight and ensuring its success. I think with the events in that novel, we could see Thrawn reconsidering that idea after winning at Bilbringi and learning about both the clone's death and the destruction of the Mount Tantiss facility. The death of the clone would have been a loss, but in the long run, it would have been more a benefit than a detriment. As for Thrawn's belief the Jedi didn't know how to use the Force properly, I think that stems from how the Chiss pilots use the Force. They were practical about it. They used it for the betterment of the Chiss forces - both military and expeditionary, and for the Chiss Ascendancy as a while. I think Thrawn believes that if the Jedi interacted with the military and the public more, it might have changed his opinion more. Using the Force to heal the soldiers and the citizens - Thrawn would definitely have approved of that. Using the Force to help navigate dangerous regions of space like the Chiss pilots did - same here. Battle meditation - definitely. Using the Force to help construct buildings and ships - same here. These are all things the Jedi did or should have done. In the war of the Jedi vs. the Sith, overall I think Thrawn would have sided with the Jedi because of their constructive and beneficial uses of the Foce over the Sith and their destructive use of the Force. But he would have wanted an orderly society over the chaotic one that plagued the ending days of the Republic. He got it with the Empire of the Hand - all the strengths and order of the Empire with none of the corruption and evil that came with the Empire. That's the kind of galaxy-spanning body Mara Jade Skywalker felt like serving. She wondered what the Empire would have been like with Thrawn in charge rather than Palpatine. She considered Thrawn the most honorable individual amongst the Imperial leadership - Palpatine, Vader, Tarkin, Isard, and all the others. And personally, I think the Empire of the Hand is the best kind of galaxy-spanning political and military body to goven the Star Wars galaxy.

When I first saw Baylan I like most everyone I imagined thought he was there to fill a similar role as C’boath but his goal of "ending the cycle" means he draws more inspiration form Kreia.

The best leaders remove ego from decision making. Best idea wins. Good example of why Thron is so effective.

The fact they showed him with out his Nohgri body guards or Ysalamir around him when dealing with force users was upsetting.

It's possible Thrawn is testing Morgan's loyalty as that of Baylan. He knew his name, he possibly knows more about him and it's possible that he also knows more about the thing Baylan is sensing. Maybe this planetside mission is a test, or set of multiple tests. I am not sure what to think about Ezra situation, though. It seems uncharacteristic for Thrawn not to be able to eliminate him in all that time. No matter how his forces may have dwindled, he still has enough power and the allience with the Witches who hate the Jedi. If he really considered Ezra a thread, he should have been able to get rid of him years ago. And if he wasn't able to, much safer option would be guard the witch castle thing and make sure Ezra is not able to sneak into Chimera for a ride and not sending possibly unreliable mercenaries after him and few troopers so he can loot some armour and sneak in more easily. It's either sloppy writing or some deeper plot. I can imagine if Thrawn and Ezra came to some agreement beecause of a greater thread, but had to keep a token fight against each other for the sake of the witches who seem to be vital for Thrawn.

At one point baylen said "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", I think this will become relevant later, Because I think baylin will find the power that he is searching for and thrawn. And somebody else are going to have to team up against him.

It now makes sense, Sith's are particularly ambitious and unstable, then they power is not worth the risk of all of the potential backstabing and Thrawn know it. It is why he decided to get rid of Baylan Skoll instantly, he do not want to take any risks at all, and doing it in first possible moment basically guarantee surprise, because Baylan highly probably tought that Thrawn will be curious about him, and as it is true, it not stop Thrawn from eliminating threat.

This makes so much sense! This is a legendary breakdown. Basically you either have to be a Jedi or nothing. Dark Jedi or sith will get too caught up in their own ego no matter the mission.

Thrawn is rarely wrong, because he is typically regarded as an excellent judge of character, which makes him all the more effective as a strategist and more importantly, more effective as a commander and leader.

Thrawn is the Star Wars equivalent to Sun Tzu. If you read The Art of War and then read Heir to the Empire right after(which I'm currently doing), you’ll see incredible similarities between Sun Tzu and Thrawn. One of the most important lessons in The Art of War is knowing your enemy and yourself. "If you know your enemy, and know yourself you will win every battle. If you know your enemy but not know yourself, for every victory you will suffer a defeat. If you don't know your enemy and don't know yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Thrawn will never understand the Force entirely for he does not feel it himself. Therefore, he will always suffer a defeat to force users. To combat this, he is using another strategy from The Art of War, tactical retreat. To pull this off he will need to retreat back to his home galaxy while leaving his most formidable enemies behind in a foreign galaxy. Thus giving him a head start when he returns. I sincerely doubt he thinks they will be trapped forever on Peredia, he knows Jedi are an enigma to him. So he's just planning ahead to give himself the advantage.

a good leader always uses ideas from his team and it is true that dark siders do have an ego problem

Another thing with C’baoth is was he was crazy. You can’t account for crazy.

Well done! Love this and Thrawn sounds like a fantastic leader and character. Didn’t know much about him, but your video really made him come to life. I can see why he’s a very popular character in the legends series.

So your saying he is a formidable tactician but additionally he is a competent admiral who encourages self leadership and thinking. I have a feeling Thrawn will be a ferocious foe. His relationship to Baylen is interesting. See how that unfolds.

Thrawn is fundamentally a builder. He creates. The Dark Side is inevitably destructive. Belonging to the same faction doesn't make their ideals compatible.

because they ARE extremely dangerous and if Baylan thinks that Thrawn will somehow tolerates him and Shin, he must be crazy, but I think he expected that Thrawn will just use them and then kill them or abandon them in different galaxy

Thrawn's shadow empire makes it sound like his empire would be preferable to both Sidiouses empire and old and new republic

Seems to me, Thrawn probably noticed that the Sith were willing to overlook their weakness by overpowering their challenges with raw power, A show/source of their Pride as Sith. A good analogy is the Death Star itself. The undoing of "The ultimate power in the universe" was defeated by a simple, yet fatal, flaw in it's defenses. After learning of the outcome of the war, Thrawn's suppositions of the risks of the Dark Side were likely solidified.

We do need to keep in mind that this is a different Thrawn than the Legends one. In particular, his decade-long exile in another galaxy has made him more bitter. He's still very self-controlled, but it's clear that his relationship with the Great Mothers is part of some kind of deal. Hence the caskets/storage pods being loaded onto the Chimera as per his agreement with them. He doesn't trust Baylan because he's an ex-Jedi general and Shin is his apprentice. They may work for Morgan (for now), but they're not *his* henchmen and he doesn't know them personally. This makes them wild cards and he prefers that his plans be meticulous in terms of strategy.

If you take away people like Thrawn, I feel like the Empire would've fallen with or without Luke. What Sidious did to bring an end to both the Republic and the Jedi was nothing short of genius, but his Empire was a disappointment (something I believe this channel has covered). This is mostly due to the fact that almost everything Sidious did was to ensure his rule couldn't be challenged. He got rid of the elite fighting force that was the Clone Army (which, granted, was smart in some ways), armed his troops with cheap weapons and even cheaper armor, and basically encouraged his officers to stab each other in the back. In short, the reason the Empire was doomed to fall was because their enemies were working together and they weren't, something Thrawn no doubt deduced.

I love it when the channel dissects the leadership of Star Wars to an extent. I love that they bring out the *good point* of an antagonist, not outright villain to me, in Thrawn. I can't watch Ashoka, or have access to all of the extra materials, but I love the point that it's shown Thrawn is just a straight up good general and leader. You need to go and lift up your underlings, your allies. Understand their shortcomings and strengths, and apply them properly.

not even vader rejects good ideas simply because theyre not his own, but certain parts of the criminal underworld such as tyber zann do.

Id like to think that Thrawn is what happens when you take the Jedis philosophy about humility and unatachment, but remove all the empathy and humanity from it.

I wish you'd make a video about tini bionanobots that mimics midi klorians....thus giving the ordinarily receiver of that enhancement a jedi level force sensitivity....

This is why thrawn is so dangerous. He’s a good leader, strategically brilliant, and creates a a great work environment. If he wasn’t a villain he would be who we’re rooting for.

I wonder if thrawn has had enough of dark side force users, seeing them as insane megalomaniacs after years of serving Palpatine

amazing video keep it up

But Vader hated failure and incompetence, like in regards to Hoth. There's also stories like where Vader recognized a great trooper who risked his life to save Vader, even though he had his armor and the Force to protect him. Not only did Vader put orders to make sure that trooper was taken care of as best as possible, but was also put forth as a possible clone template to replace the failing Jango dna that Kamino had left (EU).

that is a REALLY GOOd thing to remind people of....Yes, Thrawn Despised the Jedi, but he also HATES the Sith with a passion, thinks the Galaxy would be a far better and Safer place without either of them around. And I'm pretty sure the ONLY Being he has EVER been afraid of was the Bendu. He is all about Strategy EVERYTHING is a 4D Chess match to him. I also think Trawn has an ACTUAL plan for the Galaxy, and not just some selfish goals. He legit juts wants to run a Galaxy of Order.

It would be an intresting and mostly unexpected development when Thrawn would ally with Akosha on a long Term.

disney writers could careless about plot. Sebine on the planet for 10 minutes and Ex Machina later, she and her eye shadow found thier long lost friend.

I love his portrayal. Is it the same actor as Rebels? Because the voice is spot on, so intimidating. His voice alone makes him a threatening villain in my eyes. So cool to see him in live action

Thrawn's thinking is very sound. A person who is very talented, but has too much pride and ambition, is ultimately a huge hindrance in a team effort. Thrawn approaches everything logically, and while I disagree with the fact that he doesn't have an ego, he is able to put it aside for what he considers the greater good. The feeling that I got from episode 6 is that instead of Baylan and Shin getting rid of Ezra and Sabine, Thrawn is hoping that the opposite happens. Of course, the best outcome for Thrawn is if they destroy each other, but I think Thrawn respects Ezra more than he does Baylan and Shin. Even though Ezra was the one responsible for his current predicament, I'm pretty sure Thrawn still admires Ezra somewhat for his conviction and loyalty to his friends and home planet. In that way, these two are similar.

This was great.

We have space whales which can navigate hyperspace. Will there be space sharks? Not nitpicking. (Farscape had to Leviathans) I was just wondering if the whales have a natural predator? I was thinking that maybe we will see a cannon version of a Sith Meditation Sphere?

I know the voice is different but when I look at Thrawn I can’t see anything but Robert Patrick with a blue face.

Thank you

So, then why have Baylan and Shin go after Erza? He knows that Baylan and shin will lose. He won't leave Erza, nor would he come willing with Thrawn. The Gateway to the World Between Worlds is still on the Chimera. I think that is what Baylan is sensing.

This channel, and star wars theory are my 2 favorite SW channels.

Obviously BENDU gotten inside of Admiral Thrawn's Head and now he's being paranoid about anybody wielding the FORCE?!

Thrawn is perfect leader. Brilliant commander and you could say good person in a way. His Empire was good for the galaxy. I think he's right for hating the dark side. He sees Jedi as overly idealistic but he despises dark side. He's completely right. Dark side only uses power. Imperial generals and commanders were useless. They fought among themselves,they wanted glory,more power. Thrawn is right for despising them. And part why he doesn't trust Baylan and Shin so much. May the Force be with you too😊

When I heard "hey whats up guys," I had to double check that this was Stupendous Wave.

This is what makes Thrawn compelling and i hope we get to see more of it actually explained in the show

I love how Thrawn is fair

Can someone explain Skoll & Morgan's association, their scene starts the whole series but no background on how they met, we know how Ahsoka and Sabine met but what about them?

Thrawn: Defeated by plot armour naturally blames Jedi Bullshit. It's IRONIC.

Cool!

Baylan is keeping Thrawn at a distance. Like the old saying goes… keep your friends close. But your enemies closer.

I can see why Thrawn seems much more “evil” here than in Rebels since he’s been in exile for a long time as well as taking no more chances when combating force sensitives, Ezra prime example. Having already battled against Ezra and Kanaan as well as having been around Sidious and Vader he now understands there more to these devilries of both Jedi and Sith than he thought. Now he’s leaving nothing to chance with the knowledge he has now.

Is that why his armor chants his name? He's the poster guy of Pride.

I really like how Thrawn was written. His character is so intelligent and has a lot of layers of depth and a character that has very complex development. It almost remindeds me of Spok from Star trek. As far as his intellec goes.

I wish Ezra and Thrawn teamed up since they could’ve worked well together, but it makes sense that Ezra wouldn’t work with thrawn

When Baylan said he sensed something very powerful on peridea, could it be the bendu?

Was going to say, is this how they're going to segue into those little force stopping critters he had in Heir to the Empire

I was kind of hoping they would bring in Benedict Cumberbatch as Thrawn. He has a perfect look, voice and mannerism for Thrawn.

Heck Yeah!

I’m beginning to like Thrawn. It seems he is the only one that could actually make the empire look good as opposed to evil.

A lot of his hate is that his childhood trauma loosing his sister & all his failures are when the force was involved in the ascendancy books he makes it clear there’s other ways

Damn, I’m about to put in my application to work for Thrawn

This is exactly the moment when Skyler became Don Eladio

Like most non Force sensitive's i feel Thrawn is scared of those who can wield the Force so Thrawn treads carefully around such individuals.

After watching the episode again and the Baylon scenes again. Baylon literally shows subtle but shows clear dislike Thrawn and doesn’t like him, he lied about being for Thrawn he just wanted to get to Peridia to answer whatever voice that was talking to him

what is the background music that starts at 3:50 called??

sounds more like he wagered having them a round would cause more danger than they're worth. and if he leaves them stranded, he will know where they're at and be able to manipulate them/use them in the future.

I do not believe that Baylan is based on Joruus C'baoth. I believe what Thrawn is affraid of in the new Galaxy will turn out to be Joruus. I believe Joruus has been calling out to Baylan and he will kill Baylan and take his apprentice as his own. Looking at the Chimaera, it clearly has had the crap beat out of it. If Joruus has aligned himself with an alien species in the new galaxy, it would explain alot of what we saw and heard in episode 6.

Thrawn has reached his final form imperial thick boy god I love his voice and acting tho

Interesting! I would like to know what general in history is Thrawn based from. Any guesses?

God i hate it that the're released weekly, if it was released all at once i'd probably not go to work just to watch it :))), but i have to admit, the expectation adds to the experience, especially episode 4 ending on that massive cliffhanger

When I saw Thrawn. I started to day Deslok,Deslok,Deslok Thrawn is a cousin of Leader Deslok of the Gamalians!!!!!

So much more i want to learn about Thrawn.

What a video game Thrawn could have if Star Wars made one specifically around Space battles!!

It would be pretty cool if Baylen was a clone of Anakin created in secret by the Jedi as a backup after his arm was severed on Geonosis! Perhaps Baylen doesn’t even know himself.

i love these new stormtroopers

Maybe its just me, but for being stranded across the galaxy, thrawn doesn't look like he has missed to many meals.

ya know, what id give to have Thrawn and Kreia meet each other(yeah yeah i know several several millennia apart)

Hello SW. I am a big Thrawn fan. He is so so smart.

I think it depends on the Sith Thrawn interacts with. I 100% agree with you regarding Sidious & Vader. I wonder had he served under someone who's ego wasn't a factor like Bane or Revan, would his opinion of Sith & Dark Jedi change.

I swear, I just saw the latest trailer for 'The Marvels' tonight And if they put a tenth of the budget they put in Marvel movies into the SW movies... We're lucky enough that Lars Mikkelsen even agreed to come back at all

So my theory is the thing calling out to Baylon is Revan’s holocron. It will tell him of the bigger galactic threat. The Rakata will replace the vong for now. We will also get a name drop of Revan’s last name Ren. All of the Knights of Ren share a look of Revan. We will also find out Sabine is his decendant. And her clan changed it to Wren to not let it known they were related to the sorcerer who destroyed their empire. She was a natural at lightsabers just saying….

Apparently Thrawn stopped working out during the exile.

I’ve always seen Thrawn as a good guy in a bad position. His enemy was and is ultimately the Grysk. It was his whole reason to enter the empire. I hate that Disney is presenting him as the new evil. He is a tactician and deep thinker not a plotter of evil. Anyone reading the books should know that. That’s why everyone was so eager for him to come into the live series.

I am not sure that pride is an automatic attribute of either Sith or Dark Jedi. There might have been some Sith in the past who would have been intelligent or disciplined enough to keep that under control. You could also say that there were many Jedi who had too much pride, even though they were influenced by the light side. I think pride might be an aspect of human (or sentient) nature whenever power is gained. I would say it might be more likely that a Sith would become prideful, but not a fait accompli.

Thrawn epitomizes the best the galactic empire could have been.

Thrawne Originally thought of ALL Force users as Dangerous and needing STRICT regulation to control them..... Check "Outbound Flight", it's basically the Story of Thrawne's first encounter with Force Users.....

Well it’s not that he hates them, he knows their loyalty isn’t to the Empire The fact Baylon is a former Jedi, he’s still part Jedi at his core, as he himself said he was loyal to what the Jedi Order was supposed to represent At the end of the day, Baylon is a mercenary with no real loyalty Thrawn’s cause, as Baylon seems to have his own agenda Thrawn is in league with the Nightsisters who use Force based magic, and his people used Force Sensitive Chiss. He’s not against the Force, he worked for Palpatine and Vader before too, and know it can be a useful tool when it’s on his side But the Jedi are not in his side, and he knows that Baylon could be Jedi enough to go agsinst him and is ready for that, as no doubt Baylon has a plan of his own agsinst Thrawn’s cause as well