#The Empire of the Hand

[empress-violetlight]

Star Wars Legends: Empire of the Hand

One of the most interesting aspects of the original Star Wars Expanded Universe in my opinion was The Empire of the Hand, Grand Admiral Thrawn's "shadow Empire" set up in the Unknown Regions (with the full knowledge and support of Emperor Palapatine). The Empire of the Hand was basically what would happen to the Empire if Thrawn was in charge - a coalition of worlds, in a mutual alliance of support and cooperation, where actual merit, not who you knew or what Family you were part of, was what mattered.

It was supposed to serve as a bulwark against the upcoming Yuuzhan Vong (or "Far Outsider") invasion, and demonstrate to the Chiss Ascendency that cooperation with the wider Galaxy was not only possible, but necessary. I was really excited reading about it in Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn Duology and Survivor's Quest , eagerly moved to the New Jedi Order series. A major character, Jagged Fel, was from the Hand, so I thought for sure I would learn even more about this fascinating faction.

Then every author not named Zahn either completely forgot it existed, or conflated it with the Chiss Ascendency.

So I decided to explore it myself -- what would a faction formed by Thrawn, and living up to his ideals, actually be like? And what if that faction had a leader who was in every way Thrawn's equal, who could steer the Empire of the Hand to prominence, even in his absence?

What would it be like if Thrawn had an actual home, and a loving family? Poor guy certainly deserves it!

My fanfics try to answer that question, to build upon this little part of Star Wars that Timothy Zahn began. They're mostly based off of Star Wars: Legends, but I've added in some elements of Disney canon that I like. I've also written a number of world-building "support documents" as well.

Empire of the Hand fanfics (all on Ao3):

The Hand of Thrawn: Penelope

Ten years after the Grand Admiral's defeat, his Empire of the Hand lives on. How will his wife, Empress Xelarra, deal with rumours of his return? Takes place immediately after Visions of the Future by Timothy Zahn.

Nightfall of the Final Day

Two years after Grand Admiral Thrawn's defeat at Bilbringi, Stent finds himself in the office of Thrawn's wife, Governor Xelarra of Nirauan. She has a mission for the Household Phalanx -- one that will safeguard the Chiss people as a whole against a deadly enemy, and deliver much deserved justice.

Reunion

The Chiss Ascendency has suffered an attack by the Ssi-ruuk, but Fleet Admiral Ar'alani gets help from an unexpected source -- Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Empire of the Hand. She hasn't seen Thrawn, or her childhood friend Xelarra, for over 20 years. As memories of her younger days creep up on her, Ar'alani must deal with the battle at hand, the political storm Thrawn's return will cause in the Ascendency, and her never-forgotten connection to her old friends.

Seat of Command (Explicit - NSFW. Under 18 DNI)

While inspecting the bridge of a new class of Star Destroyer, Thrawn and his wife Xelarra enjoy a sexy game of "Riddle Me" while discovering just how much the new captain's chair can take.

Empire of the Hand Worldbuilding Posts

Nirauan, Capital Planet of the Empire of the Hand

Empire of the Hand Military Ranks and the Explorers

Capital Ships of the Navy of the Hand

Hyperspace Beacons - The Empire of the Hand's unique way of Navigating the Chaos

Worlds of the Empire of the Hand - Lysatra

[kensatou]

quick question: when will she ravish me.

also... the music. the little wet noises... so good...

[turtledudeextreme16]

Literally every ninjago season in a nutshell 💀

Credit to original poster (not sure who)

[h0estar]

every now and then i look back on this GIF i have of nalu during tartaros arc and cry about how this particular scene alone solidifies the beauty of their relationship (natsu holding lucy's hand gently in the face of chaos and panic did wonders to my heart)

[floweroflaurelin]

Huevember day 13: The Dance of Storm and Sea

I had to take to a break because I am very sick but we’re back today with some Empires art! The Ocean Queen and her husband, the God of Storms 🔱🌊⛈️

[risibledeer]

I think I draw too much of him... I should really stop lol

[holyblanchett]

This scene right here, after Agatha lashes out in anger and says she never wants to see Rio again. There's a brief moment as she watches her walk away that you can see how hurt she is. Agatha's expecting Rio to put up more of a fight. I don't think she ever wanted her to agree and that's what shocked her the most. Because she knew that once Rio gave up on them it's really over. Kathryn Hahn's acting right here, the expressiveness of her eyes says all we need to know.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Holding hands

[empress-violetlight]

The Empire of the Hand is NOT a rebellion of any sort! It's a "shadow Empire", an offshoot of the Galactic Empire set up in the Unknown Regions and Wild Space, with Palpatine's full knowledge and support, (since, unlike Disney, the Legends writers knew full well you couldn't rule a Galaxy-spanning Empire by being an 80s cartoon villain. Palpatine was power hungry and cruel, yes, but he wasn't stupid).

Its purpose was to act as a bulwark against the upcoming Yuuzhan Vong invasion, protecting both the Empire proper and the Chiss Ascendency (whether or not the Ascendency wanted the protection). Both Thrawn and Palpatine knew of the Vong since before the Clone Wars.

Numerous Imperials like Voss Parck (the star destroyer captain who first discovered Thrawn in exile) and Baron Soontir Fel (the greatest TIE pilot ever, arguably the greatest non-Force sensitive pilot in the Galaxy), and the Chiss of the Rogue (Household) Phalanx, who exiled themselves from the Ascendency to join Thrawn, and several local alien races all joined the Empire of the Hand.

The real (i.e. Legends) reason why Thrawn wasn't involved during the events of the OT was because he was busy with the Empire of the Hand, and preparing the Galaxy for the most devastating war in its entire history. The Yuuzhan Vong - organic-tech using religious extremists extra-galactic aliens -- made Alderaan look like a Tuesday. They killed quadrillions of people, wiped out hundreds, if not thousands of planets, including Coruscant itself.

That's what Thrawn's priority was -- stopping, or at least mitigating what was to come. Let Vader play with the rebels. They were nothing in the grand scheme of things, and it was their "victory" that ultimately screwed the Galaxy over. Thrawn's death at the hands of Rukh *fucked* the Galaxy!

The New Republic did NOT unite with the remnants of the Empire until late into the Vong war, and the only reason they even had peace with the Remnant -- after 15 drawn-out years of fighting -- not 1 ending at Jakku -- was because Pellaeon extended the olive branch. The Galactic Civil War didn't end with a cinematic space battle, but with styluses on a datapad.

Their mismanagement and arrogance about the Vong cost untold lives. They didn't even begin to take the threat seriously until they were literally landing troops on Coruscant.

References: Novels: Choices of One, The Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past, Visions of the Future) Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight.

Short stories: Mist Encounter, Crisis of Faith

All by Timothy Zahn

The 19 book New Jedi Order series.

Sorry, but considering the Empire of the Hand is my fanfiction specialty, calling it a "rebellion" is outright insulting! It is the exact opposite of what it is in Legends!

Do your homework! At least take 5 minutes to check Wookieepedia before spewing such untruths!

I'm not the only one who thinks we need a Star Wars What If Show, right? And specifically these What If..?

What If... Anakin Skywalker didn't fall to the Dark Side?

What If... Padme Amidala was force sensitive?

What If.... Obi-Wan Kenobi became a Sith after Qui-Gon's death?

What If... Darth Vader lived at the end of Return Of The Jedi?

What If... Darth Maul left the Dark Side after Palpatine's betrayal?

What If... Padme Amidala lived in Revenge Of The Sith and raised Luke and/or Leia?

What If... Sheev Palpatine wasn't Darth Sidious?

What If... Ahsoka Tano didn't leave the Jedi Order?

What If... the roles were reversed? (every bad character is good and viceversa)

What If... Luke Skywalker fell to the Dark Side?

What If... Darth Vader didn't fight Ahsoka in Twilight of the Apprentice?

What If... Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul became allies in Clone Wars?

What If... Alexsandr Kallus redeemed sooner?

What If... Kanan Jarrus saved Grand Inquisitor in Fire Across the Galaxy and he reluctantly became part of the Ghost Crew -just to stay alive- until he truly became a rebel?

What If... Thrawn became a rebel instead of an imperial?

What If... the Empire fell, but Anakin Skywalker didn't, and he had to raise Luke?

What If... Thrawn and Ezra had to put their differences aside to survive after Family Reunion – and Farewell?

What If... Ezra Bridger became a Sith?

What If... the Order 66 didn't happen?

What If... the Empire and the Rebellion had to work together to stop a threat, far more dangerous than the Empire ever was?

[gremnda]

Fight against a demon

[bittersweet-nothingss]

Hand Shots (Destiel’s version)

[empress-violetlight]

For ask meme - Thrawn x Xelarra - What is something they can never agree on? How do they meet in the middle?

I've been trying to think of how to answer this for a while, because there's actually very little Thrawn and Xelarra disagree on. Especially when they're exiled -- they literally have only each other to confide in for the first 9 years they're in the Empire. They're a team, mostly because they want to be, but also out of necessity.

After forming the Empire of the Hand in 10 BBY, they have an unspoken agreement -- Xelarra never interferes in military matters, and Thrawn agrees she can run Nirauan however she sees fit. They work as a team as more planets join up with their offshoot Empire, as it grows more distinct from the Lesser Space version.

I guess one thing they do disagree on is how to deal with the Chiss Ascendency. The Ascendency stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the Hand as a government in its own right. Thrawn says it doesn't matter -- he doesn't need the Ascendency's permission anymore to protect the Chiss people, and has his forces protect them from outside the CA's space, with some cooperation from the few friendly faces in the CEDF (especially Ar'alani) when he can get away with it. Xelarra thinks they shouldn't let the CA dismiss the Empire of the Hand's non-Chiss members the way they do, and should be more strict with their dealings.

Xelarra mentioned a few times that with their superior forces, they could just annex the CA into their Empire -- for their own protection, of course. Thrawn is against that, saying the last thing they want is to make an enemy of their own people. Besides, if a dire enough threat arises (like when the Far Outsiders finally make their move), the Chiss people, if not the Ruling Families on Csilla, are likely to invite the Hand to take over when they see that the Hand can and will protect them when the Ruling Families will turn a blind eye to the threat until it's too late. They both agree that the whole Family system needs to be reformed sooner or later (if not outright demolished), so the Chiss are no longer trapped by a system that rewards those who only look out for themselves, over the Greater Good of their species as a whole.

Together, as Empress and Grand Admiral, they will make the Galaxy a better place (whether it wants it or not).

[bizarrelittlemew]

calling it right now that season 3 starts like this

[shepscapades]

In which maybe the weight of how everyone treats Jimmy is too heavy to separate between worlds, and in which Jimmy carries the weight until he can’t and decides to do something about it.

(And in which someone reminds him that he’s still loved, if only by one person.)

[teddytoroa]

the thing about joe hills of nashville tennessee is that on a server of folks roleplaying mad scientists and zombies and kings and creeper-goats and kakashi of naruto and mayors and businessmen and slimes and iskall and dungeon masters and doom guy and dwarves and elves and aliens and whatever the gigaverse is, you have Joe Hills The Regular Human Guy From Nashville (Tennessee), and yet his normalcy is frequently more bizarre somehow than whatever else is going on. and this never ever fails to enchant and delight me.

[dzasta15]

Masterpost of all my de embroidery!

I did these over the last few years for gifts and commissions!

(Empathy and Pain Threshold are for sale! DM for details!)

Bonus: