War. [Thrawn exhales gravely, eyes half-lidded as they dip into shadow.] Fear is a powerful motivator, and an Empress cannot ignore the suffering of her kingdom for long.

[His hands unfold, tipping upwards so that he might count off on individual fingers:] The attack on the festival, Lord Doro's estate, the skirmishes that have broken out across the border, the letter found by an abandoned campsite— none of these incidents are as one-sided as they might appear at first glance, and so no one party openly bares the brunt of the blame.

[Much has happened since that first attack, but Thrawn refuses to set aside Ren's initial warning that the attackers had likely been wearing Sea Clan colors as yet another tool for inspiring conflict.]

Do not forget, chaos is far easier to incite, and far more difficult to stop than an assassination.