Thrawn: Alliances to Include Clone Wars!

So twice today I have heard someone mention that Timothy Zahn's Thrawn and Thrawn: Alliances are part of a trilogy. And while I am quite desperate to believe it, no sources were cited.

I went to Wookieepedia to try to find answers, but the Thrawn novel page didn't tell me, so I moved on to the Thrawn: Alliances one. And while it did not specify whether it's part of a trilogy or not, it did claim to have information from an official blurb from the Penguin Random House website!

I followed the link and found this:

"The sequel to New York Times bestseller Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances will continue to follow the rise of Grand Admiral Thrawn to the heights of Imperial power—and accompany him into the past, witnessing his first encounter with the man who will one day become Darth Vader."

We're going to get to see the time Thrawn met Anakin that was mentioned in Thrawn!

I am absolutely delighted. I am ridiculously excited. More Clone Wars era content, and a meeting I've wanted for a long time. And since it will dabble in two eras, we get to see both Anakin and Thrawn interact... and Vader and Thrawn.  

Episode VIII Ridiculous Theory

So while I was watching a new The Last Jedi TV spot, I had a sudden thought. I don't think it is actually what's happening, but it might make for a fun AU sometime.

Snoke says, "Dark rises, and the Light to meet it." What if he facilitated Ben's fall to the dark side not because he needed a powerful darksider, but because he needed the light user who would come out of the woodwork to face Kylo?

After all, didn't Han tell Kylo that Snoke was simply using him as a means to an end and would discard him when done?

If I just went overboard with my imagination, I'd like to dovetail that into the idea that Snoke is from the Unknown Regions, part of the ancient threat that Thrawn has been trying to build a defense against for so long.

Perhaps there's an artifact that can only be accessed through strong use of the light? Or maybe Snoke's power is limited by some ritual performed by ancient Force Wielders of a caliber similar to his, with the idea that only a champion of the light could return him to his full, devastating potential, and so he has to lure one in, and trick them into freeing him the rest of the way?

Rey could trick Kylo into thinking she wants to join him, only to try to fight Snoke in the Throne Room. Snoke reveals his true designs, informs Kylo he's nothing, and attacks Rey. In a rage over his own naivete and the fool he's been made to appear, Kylo attacks Snoke, surprising him, but that is not enough to turn the tide.

In strides Luke, who duels Snoke so that Rey and Kylo can escape. Luke is presumed dead- either really is, or is locked away somewhere- and the film ends with Rey and Kylo agreeing to team up for real this time to take out Snoke.

Which they do in Episode IX, and maybe relocate the thought-to-be-dead Luke Skywalker in a very nasty dungeon somewhere. Maybe on Mustafar, because I really want to see Vader's castle some more.

I look forward to December, when I'll be able to look back at this and laugh over how far off the mark I was!

The Snoke Theory I Hope Is True

For the most part, I am content with waiting to find out the answers to the questions about future movies instead of backing one theory or another, but this past week I ran into a Snoke theory I actually like.

It runs something like this.

Snoke is a brand-new character, but a very old one. And the Force-important mysterious something buried on Jakku (first brought up in the Aftermath trilogy) is actually Snoke.

That the battle of Jakku disturbed his prison and freed him from where he'd been trapped, watching the events of the past decades but unable to interfere.

This theory appeals heavily to the Goth in me, the idea of an ancient menace awakened by unsuspecting mortals.

This one I think might actually be likely, as opposed to the theory my brother and I cobbled together while reading Thrawn.

What if, instead of the EU's Yuuzhan Vong, we have Snoke's people? What if, all along, Thrawn has been trying to prepare to fight against the threat from outside the galaxy... the threat of Snoke?

I love that idea, but I doubt Thrawn is considered that important in the new canon, so I'm going to hope for the You-Woke-The-Ancient-Evil-Thing theory instead.