Ah, OK...thanks for the explanation. I didn't know it originated with the games; I thought it originated in Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. One of the ways they glorified Thrawn was to say that he was a Grand Admiral even though the Emperor didn't like nonhumans.
Another way was to say that if he'd been in charge instead of "that idiot" Vader, the Empire would've won -- which really makes no sense. It was part of the whole, "Vader was a lousy tactician, Thrawn was a brilliant one" spiel. In fact, Vader was just about the only good tactician in the Empire; he was smart enough to never underestimate the Rebels, and it was usually when his suggestions weren't listened to that the Empire failed to snuff out the Rebels.
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Another way was to say that if he'd been in charge instead of "that idiot" Vader, the Empire would've won -- which really makes no sense. It was part of the whole, "Vader was a lousy tactician, Thrawn was a brilliant one" spiel. In fact, Vader was just about the only good tactician in the Empire; he was smart enough to never underestimate the Rebels, and it was usually when his suggestions weren't listened to that the Empire failed to snuff out the Rebels.