The third season of The Mandalorian is now behind us, and season 1 of Ahsoka is true across the corner, so many casual Star Wars fans and newcomers are wondering about Grand Admiral Thrawn and his role throughout the Empire before the events unfolding straight away within the “Mando era” Disney Plus Star Wars shows. In the event you haven’t read Timothy Zahn’s canon novels and/or haven’t watched Rebels, this text is for you.
The Ahsoka series will essentially act as a direct continuation of Star Wars Rebels while also tying into The Mandalorian and the overarching post-Return of the Jedi narrative that can culminate in a theatrical event movie written and directed by Dave Filoni, the creator of the Togruta Jedi and Jon Favreau’s partner in shepherding this corner of Star Wars television.
In the event you need quick refreshers on more key Star Wars characters making the jump from animation to live-action, take a look at our pieces on Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze. After the Ahsoka series, we’re looking forward to Skeleton Crew as well. As for ranked lists, we’ve got all of it with our Star Wars movies and Star Wars T.V. shows ranked lists, plus the highest 10 best Star Wars video games of all time.
Who’s Thrawn?
Mitth’raw’nuruodo, also often known as Thrawn (core name), was a Chiss male officer of the Chiss Ascendancy – an aristocratic oligarchical nation of humanoids positioned contained in the Unknown Regions – and later a high-ranking member of the Imperial Navy, eventually gaining the title of Grand Admiral as a result of his sensible and ruthless strategies. Thrawn’s strongest belief was that one must know their enemy with a view to achieve victory in war. As such, he spent much of his time studying and understanding the art, philosophy, and culture of his opponents.
After serving with the Expansionary Defense Fleet of the Chiss Ascendancy and facing the Nikardun Destiny and the Grysk Hegemony (each major enemy factions lurking within the Unknown Regions), Thrawn looked for allies outside that hidden corner of the galaxy. This led to him establishing contact with and joining the Empire, ultimately seeking to form an alliance helpful to his people.
Thrawn: Early history
Widely known for his striking blue skin and red eyes, Thrawn was created by Star Wars creator Timothy Zahn as a serious antagonist for the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, the primary book of the unique Thrawn Trilogy, which was set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The character remained hugely popular for years, which prompted Dave Filoni and his team at Lucasfilm to get well him from the old Legends continuity to function the final word villain of Star Wars Rebels. This also led to 2 recent trilogies a part of the brand new canon which chronicle Thrawn’s origins and his fast rise to power as a remarkable Imperial leader.
Thrawn was a native of planet Rentor, positioned within the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, an enormous area of space that may’t be accessed by those outside through regular means. He served within the Chiss Ascendancy military and led anti-piracy operations. This was before the top of the Clone Wars, a conflict which had engulfed the remainder of the galaxy. At this point, the Grysk Hegemony began a plot to completely destroy the Ascendancy, training the Nikardun general Yiv, leader of the (also dangerous) Nikardun Destiny, to beat and intimidate nations neighboring the Ascendancy to encircle the Chiss.
These events pushed Thrawn to depart the treacherous Unknown Regions and seek for allies in known space. He unwittingly got here across Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and senator Padmé Amidala. Keeping his true mission near his chest, he helped them thwart Separatist plans on Mokivj in exchange for information that might prove useful within the fight against the Grysk and the Nikardun. Shortly after his tour, Thrawn played a key role in defeating Yiv’s fleet and eradicating the Nikardun Destiny.
Later, the Grysk agent Jixtus dispatched a gaggle of telepathic Agbui to govern Chiss officials and kickstart a Chiss civil war. This plot failed, however the Grysk’s armada superior firepower still proved difficult to beat. Ultimately, Thrawn and his allies arranged for several nations to unite and defeat Jixtus’ fleet in a climactic battle.
Thrawn throughout the Age of the Empire
After the Galactic Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire, Thrawn offered his allegiance to Emperor Palpatine. His personal goal was to make himself so useful and influential throughout the mighty Empire that Palpatine would have to just accept a proper alliance with the Ascendancy with a view to vanquish the Grysk threat, a menace that might eventually find its way into known space too.
Thrawn quickly became fluent in Galactic Basic Standard (probably the most common language within the galaxy) and graduated from the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant, rapidly earning plenty of promotions throughout the Navy and eventually receiving the rank of Grand Admiral from the Emperor himself.
A couple of years after the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, when Rebel cells began to stand up and organize, Thrawn was deployed to the Lothal sector with a view to bring order and take down the evasive cell of freedom fighters led by the Twi’lek captain Hera Syndulla. His time leading the seventh Fleet gave birth to the TIE Defender, a brand new starfighter-bomber that might put a serious dent in Rebel operations.
After an unexpected defeat on Atollon, where the Rebels were aided by the mysterious Bendu being (strong within the Force and neutral to the galactic conflict), Thrawn undertook a mission with Darth Vader, the Sith Lord he once met as Anakin Skywalker. Together, they rescued Force-sensitive Chiss women held captive by Grysk that had made it into Imperial space for reasons unknown. Later, Thrawn also uncovered a Grysk plot to try to beat Imperial space and possibly even control the Death Star.
After earning two major victories, he resumed his hunt for Syndulla and her group of Rebels. All of it culminated with a serious battle on Lothal, when the liberty fighters and the people of Lothal confronted the Empire with a view to end the occupation of the system. The battle was won by the Rebels when a flock of purrgil (space whales that may travel through hyperspace) responded to the decision of Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger and inflicted heavy damage on the seventh Fleet before surrounding Thrawn’s command ship and taking each the Chiss leader and Bridger into the unknown.
Thrawn after the autumn of the Empire
During Thrawn’s absence, the Empire fell after the death of the Emperor and Vader on the Battle of Endor. Years later, the dwindling Empire was completely defeated on the Battle of Jakku. Still, some Imperial remnants refused to give up and retreated into the Outer Rim.
As for Thrawn, rumors of his return began to flow into, and he one way or the other established a line of communication (and possibly even supplies) with Morgan Elsbeth of Corvus. His knowledge of the Unknown Regions proved essential to the regeneration of surviving Imperial remnants and the eventual creation years later of the nefarious First Order, a serious a part of the Emperor’s Contingency plan.
Nevertheless, there’s an enormous gap between the early years of the Recent Republic and the rise of the First Order. It stays to be seen what Thrawn’s ultimate plan for the Imperial remnants was, where he and Ezra Bridger ended up, and the way he tried to strike back on the Recent Republic. All that shall be revealed across the upcoming Ahsoka series, more episodes of The Mandalorian, possibly other shows, and the aforementioned event movie that can unite all of this era’s plot threads and convey beloved T.V. characters to the massive screen.