Heir to the Empire

In Heir to the Empire, the New Republic’s perspective correlates order with good, and chaos with evil, applying an ethical element to the binary. The New Republic may have defeated the Empire, but the people they have freed—and those waiting to decide whether to join them—await the reestablishment of order in the aftermath of the Rebellion. While the Empire excelled at a particular type of order, they did so by oppressing their people and enslaving other peoples—a kind of moral chaos. The New Republic must rebuild order out of the chaos created by dismantling the Empire’s oppressive regime. True order, Timothy Zahn suggests, can only be achieved in the context of an ethical and equitable society.

In the wake of their defeat, the Empire struggles to re-establish a sense of order, which, for them, is analogous to control and oppression. Pellaeon and Thrawn fight against the chaos of an army that has been left with too-young crew members and without the unifying, coordinating power of the Emperor’s Jedi presence and abilities. Thrawn condemns a man to death for a mistake that costs the Imperial army the capture of Luke, making a grim example of him for the man’s commanding officer and emphasizing the need for thorough training of all younger crew members. Pellaeon is particularly preoccupied with order as a form of control—Having been an officer before the Empire’s defeat, he sees the stark differences between military efficiency then and now:

In the old days—at the height of the Empire’s power—it would have been inconceivable for a man as young as Tschel to serve as a bridge officer aboard a ship like the Chimaera […] Now, in contrast, the Chimaera had virtually no one aboard except young men and women (4-5).

Whereas the leaders of the New Republic seek to establish order (equality and freedom from oppression) within chaos (the ongoing threat of the Empire’s desire for Power and Control), Thrawn seeks to reestablish order (oppressive control) within chaos (rebellion), which is why he recruits Joruus to use his Jedi powers and help coordinate attacks. Unlike the Emperor, however, Thrawn does not wish the military to become reliant on such power (reinforcing his perspective that true power is ever increasing in both stability and scope) and plans to use Joruus strategically, so that the Empire is not left in chaos again should Joruus die.