If you’ve caught any of Ahsoka, Disney+’s latest Star Wars series, you’ve likely already heard the name Thrawn. In the show, somebody name drops the mysterious villain every five minutes—which doesn’t make for the most compelling viewing, but it does make Ahsoka one of the most important series for the franchise’s near future.
With creator Dave Filoni confirming to Empire Magazine that Thrawn will be the antagonist in his upcoming Star Wars movie, Ahsoka appears to be the point at which all the disparate parts of Disney’s Star Wars catalog begins to cohere and move toward a single endpoint. Thrawn becoming Star Wars’ next Big Bad also means it might be time to get your Thrawn homework done.
If, however, you don’t have time to read six books about Thrawn and watch 75 episodes of Star Wars Rebels to get caught up, don’t worry. We let the captive nerds at The Daily Beast out of their cages to answer all your most pressing Thrawn questions.
Who even is Grand Admiral Thrawn?
Thrawn first appears in Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn’s 1991 bestseller that continues the story of Star Wars beyond Return of the Jedi. Set a few years after the fall of the Empire, the novel sets Luke, Leia, and Han Solo against the Imperial remnants under the command of Thrawn—real name, Mitth’raw’nuruodo. The fall of the Empire left Thrawn mostly unscathed, thanks to being stationed in the Outer Rim. As the New Republic pushes the Imperial remnants further and further back, however, Thrawn is able to muster and codify what’s left into a new offensive—albeit with the help of some clones—before he’s ultimately killed by his own bodyguard and his forces sent into retreat.
Though Heir to the Empire and its sequels are no longer considered canon following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, Zahn has expanded Thrawn’s story in a new, canonical book trilogy dubbed The Thrawn Ascendency. According to these books, Thrawn hails from the Unknown Regions, a vast, inhospitable tract of space on the Galactic Rim. He’s a member of the isolationist Chiss, who, in the best Star Wars tradition, are just humans painted blue and with red contact lenses. Despite his military acumen, Thrawn’s belief in striking first leads to his expulsion from the Chiss Ascendency and, ultimately, to Palpatine.
Realizing his potential, Palpatine welcomes him into the Empire. Thanks to his familiarity with the Unknown Regions, Thrawn quickly rises through the ranks. So instrumental is he in the Empire’s plans that, in one of the tie-in comics, Palpatine suggests that if he was at hand during the final stages of the Galactic Civil War he may have proven the difference against the Rebels.
Why do I know that name?
The Dave Filoni era of live-action Star Wars is built on one basic tenet: If you name drop it, they will come—as demonstrated in the Ahsoka Episode 4 cliffhanger, in which Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) just turns up. This reliance on fan service sees people—often Jedi—walking around with their arms folded, throwing out names only especially dedicated fans will care about. That’s no different for Thrawn, who got his moment in Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian. There, Ahsoka fights Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and demands, “Where is your master? Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?”
The thread is expanded in The Mandalorian’s third season when Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) meets with the Shadow Council. This group of Imperial leftovers also includes the father of General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), Brendol Hux (played by Domhnall’s younger brother, Brian Gleeson), because one name drop at a time isn’t enough anymore. Thrawn’s henchman, Captain Pallaeon (Xander Berkeley), reassures Moff Gideon that Thrawn will return to reinvigorate the fractured Imperial remnants and send them to battle against the New Republic. Gideon appears unconvinced, but given we know Thrawn is getting a film of his own, it’s all but certain.
Where have we seen Thrawn before?
After Disney exiled him from Star Wars canon, Thrawn re-emerged in the official continuity in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels, where he’s voiced by Lars Mikkelson (who also plays him in Ahsoka). Here, he’s the principal antagonist for Jedi Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) and his Ghost Crew, including Hera Syndulla (voiced by Vanessa Marshall and played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead in live-action) and Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar).
Thrawn runs into Hera on Ryloth and is influential, though not present, in the Battle for Mandalore. But the major conflict comes on Lothal, where we find Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) in the first episode of Ahsoka.
The Battle of Lothal takes place shortly before A New Hope and sees Thrawn trying to deal with the Ghost Crew once and for all, and deliver Bridger to the Emperor. Bridger, however, helped by the Force, persuades space-whales to yeet Thrawn’s flagship, the Chimaera, into hyperspace with Thrawn and Bridger on board. Where to, exactly? No one knows—except whoever drew a map and left it lying around for Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) to find. This both sets up why Thrawn wasn’t present in the Original Trilogy in canon and sets up the events of Ahsoka, in which Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Wren race to find Thrawn before he can return and revitalize the Empire.
Why does any of this matter?
Filoni’s live-action Star Wars series thus far tend to deal with the same themes over and over again. Namely, the New Republic is toothless and ripe for the rise of the Empire from within. Which is what’s going to happen, likely in the especially unstable Outer Rim; it appears ready to fall into space-fascism at any moment. All of this, it turns out, has been leading to Thrawn.
It makes Ahsoka the startpoint of an overarching narrative that sets up Filoni’s Star Wars movie. That means you’re out of luck if you’re hoping Ahsoka will have some resolution. Thrawn’s slated to appear in the show, but he’s got some heavy plot armor (and possibly clones) to make sure he’s still available later on.
This is also not good news if you found the straight copy of the Empire and Death Star found in J.J. Abrams’ First Order uninspiring. It looks like, mashed between the fall of the Empire and rise of the First Order, we’re going to have another go with Thrawn at its head. This time, however, the Empire will be facing down against The Mandalorian (whoever that refers to by then), Ahsoka, and Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) in an Avengers-style showdown.
It all feels very Disney, doesn’t it? Like with the MCU, missing one of Disney+’s Star Wars shows is now going to mean you miss a step on the way to Thrawn. With the MCU’s overarching multiversal narrative already leaving fans cold, the fan service laden road to Thrawn may be just as boring. When that road ends, however, is far from certain. The bad guys set off into hyperspace to retrieve him at the end of the latest episode of Ahsoka, and with Episode 5 heading to theaters, we might be in for a big reveal. But given the pace at which this show travels, we’re more likely to get a glimpse of the back of Thrawn’s head than actually meet him. So, maybe next week? But whatever comes next, you can be sure it all hinges on Thrawn—except Andor Season 2, that is.
