History Literature / ThrawnAlliances

* BittersweetEnding: For both the plot in the past and the one in the present. For the plot in the past, [[spoiler:Anakin, Padméme, and Thrawn have successfully dealt with the Separatist threat and stopped their planned invasion, but they have left a massive amount of collateral damage in the form of a lava-spewing mine, that has completely ravaged the planet upon Thrawn's and Vader's return]]. For the plot in the present, [[spoiler:the Grysk threat has been temporarily been dealt with and the captured Force-sensitive Chiss children have been returned to the Ascendancy, but the Grysks will likely return in greater numbers (attacking the Chiss Ascendancy first) and Chiss society is now teetering on the edge of civil war, as it is revealed that some Chiss may actually be assisting the Grysks with their planned invasion.]]

It is to be released in the summer of 2018, following the release of the ''Thrawn'' comic adaptation earlier that year.

** Thrawn mentions that Force-sensitive Chiss are used as navigators, and seems surprised that Vader isn't one. [[spoiler:In ''Rebels'', he's ultimately defeated when Ezra guides the purrgil into sending the entire Seventh Fleet somewhere they never return from.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Implied. While explaining [[spoiler:the Force-sensitive Chiss children]] to Vader, Thrawn appears briefly troubled when he says that [[spoiler:the kids are cast aside after their Force-sensitivity fades away]], as if he was remembering a past event.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Averted. Vader only wants to save the [[spoiler:the Force-sensitive Chiss children]] out of PragmaticVillainy than moral standards, though Thrawn seems to not only get them back to the Ascendancy, but also to their [[spoiler:jones and families]]. Played straight with one of Thrawn's men, Kimmund, who ensures the safety of five scared Chiss girls and tries to comfort them and thinks that Thrawn would care enough.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Averted. Thrawn and Vader only want to save the [[spoiler:the Force-sensitive Chiss children]] out of PragmaticVillainy than moral standards. Played straight with one of Thrawn's men, Kimmund, who ensures the safety of five scared Chiss girls and tries to comfort them and thinks that Thrawn would care enough.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Averted. Thrawn and Vader only want to save the [[spoiler:the Force-sensitive Chiss children]] out of PragmaticVillainy than moral standards.

** Thrawn mentions that Force-sensitive Chiss are used as navigators, and seems surprised that Vader isn't one. [[spoiler:In ''Rebels'', he's ultimately defeated when Ezra sends the entire Seventh Fleet somewhere they never return from.]]

* CallForward: Palpatine senses a mysterious disturbance coming from the Unknown Regions ([[spoiler: the captured Chiss children]]), which is why he sends Thrawn and Vader together to deal with it. [[Literature/StarWarsAftermath Eventually]], he became obsessed with another disturbance from the Unknown Regions.

** The large scar across Mokivj was caused by [[spoiler:Anakin, Padméme and Thrawn ''themselves'' after their effort to destroy the Separatist cortosis mine, which ended up releasing large amounts of lava]].
** There are [[spoiler:double agents]] in Chiss society who are assisting [[the Grysks in their efforts to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire]].

* CallForward: Palpatine senses a mysterious disturbance coming from the Unknown Regions, which is why he sends Thrawn and Vader together to deal with it. As per ''[[Literature/StarWarsAftermath Aftermath]]'', he would eventually become obsessed with this power, believing it was calling out to him, to the point of making many repeated attempts to contact it.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Vader and Thrawn aren't friends. Thrawn objects to Vader's support of the Death Star project, while Vader thinks little of Thrawn after his failure on Atollon. Yet both are assigned to work with each other on the mission that Palpatine is sending them on. The subordinates of both figures aren't particularly thrilled about the alliance either, such as Captain Faro, who's used to Thrawn accepting her willingness to question his choices and is scared into absolute compliance in the presence of Vader (who views questioning orders as a sign of insubordination or incompetence).
* TemptingFate: Palpatine dismisses Kanan Jarrus as a threat. In the latter half of season 4 of ''Rebels'', [[spoiler:Kanan's sacrifice cripples the TIE Defender project and Kanan in the form of Dume warns Ezra about Palpatine's plans to control time and space, leading to Ezra thwarting them.]]

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Vader and Thrawn aren't friends. Thrawn objects to Vader's support of the Death Star project, while Vader thinks little of Thrawn after his failure on Atollon. Yet both are assigned to work with each other on the mission that Palpatine is sending them on.

* TemptingFate: Palpatine dismisses Kanan Jarrus as a threat. In the latter half of season 4 of ''Rebels'', [[spoiler:Kanan's sacrifice cripples the TIE Defender project and Kanan in the form of Dume instructs Ezra regarding the Temple, thwarting Palpatine's plans to control time and space.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: For once, the Emperor does not pull YouHaveFailedMe on Thrawn for not capturing the rebel leaders, as he couldn't have done much against the Bendu. Palpatine doesn't make a habit of being reasonable, so whatever he wants Thrawn alive for must be important.

* {{Interquel}}: The book takes place between Seasons 3 and 4 of ''Rebels'', with the events of the Battle of Atollon fresh in Thrawn's memory.

After the events of ''Thrawn'', everyone's favorite Grand Admiral continues to rise through the heights of Imperial power--and we accompany him into the past, witnessing his first encounter & subsequent [[TitleDrop alliance]] with the man who will one day become Darth Vader.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: As ''Thrawn'' ends with Thrawn & Vader meeting and Thrawn about to be assigned to deal with Phoenix Squadron, the only possible way for ''Alliances'' to take place is after the events of ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' (which at the time that ''Alliances'' was announced, the final season of ''Rebels'' was about to begin and Thrawn's fate was unknown--''Alliances'' will be released after ''Rebels'' concludes in the spring of 2018), or Thrawn and Vader were up to something during the events of ''Rebels'' Season 3 and 4. Though Thrawn also left for Coruscant midway through Season 4...
** The latter is the most likely possibility, [[spoiler:given that the [[SpaceWhale purgill]] dragged the ''Chimaera'' (with Thrawn and Ezra on board) through hyperspace to [[AmbiguousSituation parts unknown]] in the series finale.]]
* {{Flashback}}: We get to see how Thrawn and Anakin met during the Clone Wars.

** The latter is the most likely possibility, [[spoiler:given that the [[SpaceWhale purgill]] dragged the ''Chimaera'' (with Thrawn and Ezra on board) through hyperspace to parts unknown in the series finale.]]

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: As ''Thrawn'' ends with Thrawn & Vader meeting and Thrawn about to be assigned to deal with Phoenix Squadron, the only possible way for ''Alliances'' to take place is after the events of ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' (which at the time that ''Alliances'' was announced, the final season of ''Rebels'' was about to begin and Thrawn's fate was unknown--''Alliances'' will be released after ''Rebels'' concludes in the spring of 2018), or Thrawn and Vader were up to something during the events of ''Rebels'' Season 3 and 4.

!Spoilers for ''Literature/{{Thrawn}}'' will be left untagged.

After the events of ''Thrawn'', everyone's favorite Grand Admiral forms an [[TitleDrop alliance]] with Darth Vader.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: As ''Thrawn'' ends with Thrawn & Vader meeting and Thrawn about to be assigned to deal with Phoenix Squadron, the only possible way for ''Alliances'' to take place is after the events of ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' (which at the time that ''Alliances'' was announced, the final season of ''Rebels'' was about to begin and Thrawn's fate was unknown--''Alliances'' will be released after ''Rebels'' concludes in the spring of 2018), it is a case of MetaphoricallyTrue (meaning that the book is about Thrawn and ''Anakin'' meeting in their NoodleIncident mentioned in the previous book), or Thrawn and Vader were up to something during the events of ''Rebels'' Season 3 and 4.