Syndic Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo training academy The Syndic Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo training academy was a Chiss military school , located on the ice - locked planet Rhigar in the Rata Nebula . The academy was located in the Unknown Regions , probably within the volume of space controlled by the Chiss Ascendancy . It consisted of a single massive dome , hidden in the planet ' s frozen terrain , containing facilities like a communal refectory and hangars for Clawcraft starfighters , organized around a large central space containing an indoor forest . History . The academy was for known for teaching its cadets the controversial ideas of the exiled Syndic Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo — better known as Thrawn , Grand Admiral and Warlord of the Galactic Empire . However , the academy does not seem to have been part of Thrawn ' s personal Household Phalanx , which operated outside Chiss space in alliance with the Empire of the Hand , as the academy commandant outranked the commanding officer of the Household Phalanx . Instead , it seems that the academy was officially just one of a number of military schools within the Chiss Ascendancy . Its loyalty to Thrawn was covert , with the aim of creating a " hidden phalanx " of sympathizers within Chiss space , who would support military and political moves to further Thrawn ' s agenda — many of whom would not realize that they had been deliberately conditioned to support the coup . It is not certain whether the academy was attached to the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force , or to a specific Colonial Phalanx or Ruling Family , but in spite of its secret role in promoting Thrawn ' s agenda , senior figures within the Ascendancy clearly retained some control over the institution , or at least believed that they did . When Imperial General Baron Soontir Fel entered diplomatic negotiations with the Chiss leadership , some time before 19 ABY , his son Davin was sent to the academy as a surety for his father ' s loyalty . Davin went on to die a hero ' s death in combat , and he was replaced at the academy by his younger brother Jag . By 19 ABY , the academy commandant was a male Chiss named Gimald Nuruodo , and the cadet commander was Lieutenant Shawnkyr Nuruodo . In that year , the academy was attacked , apparently by the Cavrilhu Pirates , leading to the deaths of Commandant Gimald and seemingly also Phalanx Commander Kres ' ten ' tarthi . Jag and Shawnkyr rallied the cadets , and drove off the pirates — an event which led to Jag being appointed as cadet commander in Shawnkyr ' s place . After his academy training , Jag joined a Colonial Phalanx within the Ascendancy , before defecting to the Household Phalanx along with Shawnkyr . It is not known whether the academy continued to function after the raid and the betrayal of its location , but by 28 ABY , Jag could refer to multiple " academies " loyal to the Household Phalanx . Behind the scenes . The name " Syndic Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo training academy " is given in the novel " " . It is unlikely to be the formal name of the academy , but it is the only specific designation by which the facility has been referred to in " Star Wars " canon . There is some uncertainty about whether the attack on the academy occurred in 19 ABY or 22 ABY . The main problems with the earlier date are the assumption that Jag was born in approximately 8 ABY , which would make him just eleven at the time , rather than the fourteen that he is said to be , and the fact that Stent appears alive ( albeit in a holoprojector transmission ) in " Survivor ' s Quest " , in 22 ABY .