Star Wars The Last Command: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 3 recap

Thrawn attacks with the Katana fleet and clones from Mount Tantiss, using cloaked asteroids to blockade Coruscant while his hidden source continues leaking New Republic secrets. Han, Leia, Luke, Mara, and Karrde's smugglers trace the offensive to Wayland and expose the surveillance system inside the Imperial Palace. The Noghri quietly protect Leia's newborn twins and prepare to abandon the Empire. Thrawn sets a trap for the Republic at Bilbringi, but Karrde's network supplies warning. At Mount Tantiss, C'baoth takes the twins and confronts the rescue party with a clone made from Luke's severed hand. Mara kills this Luuke Skywalker, fulfilling the Emperor's command without killing Luke, and then defeats C'baoth as the cloning complex is destroyed. During the Bilbringi battle, Rukh kills Thrawn in revenge for the Empire's poisoning of Honoghr, and Pellaeon retreats. The Republic survives, the clone program ends, the Noghri are freed, and Luke gives Mara his old lightsaber as she begins a life no longer controlled by the Emperor.

Grand Admiral Thrawn has united the Imperial remnant and recovered most of the lost Katana fleet. He is crewing its dreadnaughts with clones grown at the Emperor's hidden Wayland storehouse, giving him the strength for a major offensive. Joruus C'baoth remains his unstable ally and wants Luke, Leia, and Leia's expected children under his control. Leia proved that the Empire deliberately kept Honoghr poisoned, and the Noghri clans have secretly decided to end their service while pretending loyalty. Talon Karrde has organized smugglers into an intelligence alliance against Thrawn. Mara Jade, once the Emperor's Hand, has repeatedly aided Luke but still hears the Emperor's final command to kill him. Garm Bel Iblis has reconciled with Mon Mothma and joined the New Republic, Admiral Ackbar has been cleared, and an unidentified Imperial source is still leaking information from within Coruscant.

Thrawn begins using the Katana fleet and rapidly grown clone soldiers to strike faster than the New Republic believes Imperial manpower should allow. His offensive is supported by the continuing intelligence leak from Coruscant and by C'baoth's Force coordination, though C'baoth is increasingly interested only in obtaining Leia's expected twins and dominating Luke and Mara. Leia and Han try to protect their family as the birth approaches in the middle of the war. Luke and Mara continue working on the same side despite the Emperor's unresolved command in Mara's mind. Karrde's smuggler alliance gathers information the Republic cannot obtain through military channels, while Bel Iblis and Ackbar try to infer the scale and source of Thrawn's new strength.

The Imperial offensive expands through raids and feints designed to conceal the location of the cloning center. The New Republic confirms that Thrawn's reinforcements are clones and begins looking for the production complex, making Wayland a central but still unproven possibility. Leia gives birth to Jaina and Jacen, and her alliance with the Noghri gives the family covert protectors, including Khabarakh, while the clans continue performing obedience so Thrawn will not strike Honoghr before they are ready. Mara's knowledge of the Emperor's installations helps the search, but her link to the Emperor also leaves her vulnerable to C'baoth's pressure. Within the smuggler coalition, Karrde must contend with members whose loyalty can be purchased, giving Thrawn another route into the Republic's informal intelligence network.

Thrawn escalates the attack on Coruscant by deploying cloaked asteroids around the planet. Because the objects cannot be safely tracked, the New Republic must keep its planetary shield closed, turning its capital into a blockaded world even after the Imperial fleet withdraws. Bel Iblis studies the operation for signs of deception while the government searches for a way to identify or clear the hidden rocks. Han and Leia pursue evidence connecting Imperial raids, clones, and Wayland. Karrde's coalition faces sabotage and betrayal associated with Niles Ferrier, who is cooperating with the Empire against rival smugglers. Luke and Mara recognize that stopping the clones and confronting C'baoth may require entering Mount Tantiss rather than merely defending against Thrawn's fleets.

The Coruscant blockade and the clone offensive strain the New Republic on several fronts. Investigation of the Imperial leak turns toward the old palace itself: the source has continued operating despite personnel changes and security sweeps, suggesting a passive system rather than an ordinary spy. Mara's memories of Imperial methods help narrow the possibilities, while security teams reexamine fixtures inherited from the Emperor's rule. Evidence from Imperial movements also strengthens the case that Mount Tantiss on Wayland is producing Thrawn's clones. The heroes begin planning a direct strike, aware that C'baoth wants the same confrontation and is using the twins as leverage. Closing the leak and finding the cloning complex have become linked parts of the effort to deprive Thrawn of his hidden advantages.

The hidden source is exposed as the living ch'hala trees installed in the Imperial Palace during the Emperor's rule; their internal changes can transmit nearby conversations. Removing them closes Delta Source, depriving Thrawn of his privileged view into New Republic decisions, though he still holds the military initiative. He prepares an ambush at Bilbringi, anticipating that the Republic will attack the shipyards, and attempts to keep Karrde's smugglers from warning the fleet. The smuggler alliance uncovers enough of the plan to realize that a trap is forming. Luke, Mara, Han, Leia, and their companions commit to the Wayland mission to destroy the cloning facility and keep Jaina and Jacen from C'baoth. The Noghri resistance moves toward direct action, placing Rukh beside Thrawn even though the Grand Admiral does not know his bodyguard's people have learned the truth about Honoghr.

The Republic fleet heads toward Bilbringi while Karrde's people race to deliver warning of Thrawn's ambush. On Wayland, the strike team enters Mount Tantiss and finds C'baoth waiting within the Emperor's storehouse. He seizes control of the confrontation and claims Leia's twins, intending to shape their minds along with those of Luke and Mara. The complex contains not only the clone production system supporting Thrawn's war but a final weapon aimed personally at Luke: a clone grown from genetic material taken from the hand Luke lost at Cloud City. C'baoth uses this duplicate, armed with Luke's former lightsaber, to force Mara into the conflict defined by the Emperor's last command. Both the military campaign and Mara's private struggle are approaching resolution at the same time.

At Mount Tantiss, Mara kills the clone Luuke Skywalker, fulfilling the Emperor's command to kill Luke Skywalker without murdering the man who has become her ally. She then kills C'baoth, ending his attempt to possess the twins and other Jedi, and the strike team destroys the cloning complex. At Bilbringi, Karrde's smugglers get their warning to the New Republic and help turn Thrawn's planned ambush into a battle the Republic can survive. The decisive break comes aboard the Chimaera: Rukh kills Thrawn in the name of the Noghri people, avenging the Empire's deliberate poisoning of Honoghr. Pellaeon sees that the battle cannot be recovered without the Grand Admiral and orders the Imperial fleet to retreat. Thrawn's offensive collapses with both its commander and clone supply gone. The Noghri are free, Leia's family is safe, and Mara is released from the Emperor's command. Luke gives her the lightsaber that had belonged to him, acknowledging her new beginning and her place beside the emerging Jedi future.

The New Republic finds Mount Tantiss as Thrawn's forces close a trap at Bilbringi. Luke, Mara, Han, Leia, and their allies enter the Wayland complex to destroy the cloning center and rescue the twins from C'baoth. The dark Jedi confronts them with Luuke Skywalker, a clone grown from Luke's severed hand. Mara kills the clone, satisfying the literal target of the Emperor's command, and then kills C'baoth; the compulsion that has governed her life ends. The cloning complex is destroyed. At Bilbringi, Karrde's smugglers warn the Republic fleet and turn Thrawn's trap into a contested battle. Rukh then kills Thrawn in revenge for the Empire's poisoning of Honoghr. With the Grand Admiral dead, Pellaeon orders the Imperial fleet to retreat. The New Republic survives the campaign, the Noghri are free of Imperial service, and the Empire loses both its strategist and its supply of rapidly grown forces. Luke gives Mara his former lightsaber, marking her release from the Emperor and the beginning of a different path.