With The Mandalorian: Season 2 teasing the long-overdue live-action debut of Grand Admiral Thrawn, let's explore the colorful history of this iconic Star Wars villain.
Thrawn made his debut in 1991's Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, written by Timothy Zahn. The first chapter in the "Thrawn Trilogy," Heir to the Empire takes place five years after Return of the Jedi and shows the brilliant Grand Admiral rallying the scattered remnants of the Empire to destroy the New Republic. He nearly succeeds.
Thrawn's strategic genius stems from his love of art. He believes that by studying the art and culture of his enemies, he can understand how they think and how best to counter their soldiers in battle. The results speak for themselves.
Various Expanded Universe stories established Thrawn as a man not fully appreciated by his own colleagues. Palpatine is too xenophobic to fully trust an alien outsider, and so Thrawn was left on the sidelines for much of the Galactic Civil War.
While older Thrawn stories were rendered non-canon by Disney along with the rest of the Expanded Universe, Thrawn himself has carried over to the new Star Wars timeline. He even has a proper origin story now, with books like Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising exploring his early years as a member of the Chiss Defense Fleet.
Meanwhile, the 2017 novel Star Wars: Thrawn (and its subsequent comic adaptation) show how Thrawn came to join the Empire in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. But as readers would eventually learn, Thrawn wasn't actually exiled by his people. Rather, he's a spy sent to infiltrate the Empire and determine whether it might be an ally or a potential threat to the Chiss Ascendancy.
Thrawn regularly distinguishes himself during Palpatine's reign, even commanding the respect of men like Darth Vader. Thrawn actually met Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars, but if he knows the true identity of Palpatine's top enforcer he keeps that knowledge to himself.
Thrawn plays a heavy role in the final two seasons of Star Wars Rebels. He's tasked with ending the rebel insurgency on Lothal. Ultimately, though, he underestimates Jedi hero Ezra Bridger. The series ends with both men being dragged across the galaxy on a runaway Star Destroyer, explaining why neither character played a role in the events of the original trilogy.
Fans have always assumed Thrawn is still alive, and that much is confirmed in The Mandalorian: Season 2, where Ahsoka Tano reveals she's hunting the wayward Grand Admiral. But as for where Thrawn will appear next, that's anyone's guess.
Leave a Video Comment or Question
Comments