Grand Admiral Zaarin's Coup Attempt

[Lord Xizer]

Do you believe that Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin's coup attempt(as detailed in SW TIE Fighter on PC) could have succeeded or not? Zaarin was possibly one of the best Grand Admirals after Thrawn in terms of strategic and tactical ability. He was also a brilliant scientist and technician having developed both the TIE Avenger and TIE Defender respectively. He brilliantly planned his coup in secret and succeeded in duping the two remaining Sith Lords in the galaxy and nearly killing them both. He captured the Emperor above Imperial Center, had forces ambush Vader and destroyed almost all TIE Advanced production centers removing threats to his new TIE Defenders simultaneously. He was foiled due to Vader, Marek Stele and Thrawn arriving in time to save the Emperor from execution and prevent Zaarin from assuming the Imperial Throne.

Zaarin proved a wily and devious adversary though as he escaped and continued to attack high value Imperial targets and nearly assassinated the Emperor a second time. Thrawn was promoted to Grand Admiral and sent to hunt down Zaarin. It took months and Thrawn was nearly trapped and killed twice in the hunt but he eventually tricked Zaarin into killing himself through his reliance on and craving of superior technology. Thrawn arranged for Zaarin to steal a cloak equipped corellian corvette that had a tracking beacon in it and if used in conjunction with the hyperdrive would destroy the ship. Zaarin took the corvette back to his hidden base and Thrawn's forces arrived and started overwhelming Zaarin's ships. Realizing the battle was lost but thinking he still held an ace up his sleeve Zaarin boarded the corvette and fled with the cloak activated to the systems edge. There he activated the hyperdrive while cloaked and the corvette exploded, killing all on board-including Zaarin.

So again, could the man who was brilliant enough to deceive and outwit two Sith lords, one of his fellow Grand admirals for a time and stage a coup that came within a hairsbreadth of success have been Emperor?   

[Lord Xizer]

I believe Zaarin could have succeeded in killing the Emperor and Vader and installing himself as Emperor. I do not believe however that he could have held that for any length of time. The Empire woudl have fractured and anyone with a fleet or rank would attempt to become Emperor. Also I doubt a majority of the Empire would have seen Zaarin as legit in any way. He might have gained some support from the various ambitious Moffs and Admirals who hated the Emperor but those self same allies would also be rivals.
More than likely he would have killed the Emperor, seized imperial Center and been assassinated, blockaded, killed in battle or captured and executed for treason. His plan had Ambition, intelligence and timing but it lacked foresight on what to do AFTER the coup. Zaarin stayed out of court politics and was resented for the respect and favor the Emperor showed him until his coup so he would have had very few if any allies in the Imperial Court, Grand Moffs or his fellow Grand Admirals. He had a bad habit of going it alone as it were, he didn't reach out to the Rebels for assistance, made no attempt to gain political power before his coup or secure a power base to build off of. He seemed to be counting solely on his superior technology, tactical skill and the element of surprise to deliver lasting victory without any idea what victory might actually bring as he might not have been recognized or legitimized as Emperor.

[Willhelm]

I am unsure as to what wouldve happened had he succeeded in this attempt as I am unknowledgeable on the subject... however I would have thought it interesting if zaarin killed the emperor and then in turn was assassinated and perhaps Thrawn took advantage of the situation... uniting the empire and molding it into his own image.... oh I can dream

[StarWarsSupremeCommander]

Well, despite his brilliance, his coup attempt was unsuccessful, he was stupid to not check if the corvette was operating correctly or not. And if he was smart, he would know better than to try assassinate the emperor. TWICE

[Lord Xizer]

Well, despite his brilliance, his coup attempt was unsuccessful, he was stupid to not check if the corvette was operating correctly or not. And if he was smart, he would know better than to try assassinate the emperor. TWICE

To be fair, Zaarin really didn't have a choice at that point(as he said in the game) If he didn't use the cloak Thrawn's forces would have seen the corvette flee and killed it before it could reach hyperspace. Zaarin was literally doomed from the moment he brought the corvette back with it's tracking beacon. The cloak was just an extra layer of insurance in case he had an escape plan Thrawn knew since Zaarin believed Tech to be the key to victory would take the corvette with him in an escape so...boom.

[Lord Xizer]

I just wish Zahn, Alston or Stackpole would write a book about the events of TIE Fighter. Would be a best seller I know.
Could call it Star Wars TIE Fighter: Treachery

[Revanchist]

Alston and Stackpole would be the best choices for this. Zahn is all-in-all a better author, but the other two can simulate the feeling of being behind a cockpit better. Maybe a co-op between the three of them...best not to get my hopes up.

[Lord Xizer]

Perhaps if I were to request it from them...my reach is longer than one would think.

[Revanchist]

Please try. A TIE Fighter book would be awesome.

[Lord Xizer]

Indeed it would be, why there hasn't been already is beyond me.

[cjc070]

Indeed it would be, why there hasn't been already is beyond me.

The problem as I see it is that during the hieght of the Empire TIE pilots were seen as expendable.  In the second Han Solo Trilogy Mako is quoted as saying that the only reason they were not dead was because they were no longer TIE Pilots.  Unless you looked at say the 181st which was explored in the Rogue Squadron comic book series I feel there was nothing more to add.  Also remember the X-wing series explores how the Empire shows that a daring risk will never result in a reward only pain and death so really the TIE series would only result in the characters death, defection, or no change which sounds a little boring if you ask me.

In the end Zaarin would fail because he did not pocess the man power or political know how to actually fight a real war.  If he did assasinate the Emperor all that would happen is the Warlords would come out of the woodwork faster.