Who Is Grand Admiral Thrawn? The Complicated History of ‘Ahsoka’s Villain
In The Mandalorian Season 2’s “The Jedi,” there comes a point in Ahsoka Tano’s (Rosario Dawson) battle with Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) where a built-in, nearly fourth-wall-breaking pause is all but palpable. Holding the corrupt Magistrate at lightsaber-point, Ashoka demands to know the location of Elsbeth’s master: “Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?” At that point, Mandalorian viewers split into two camps—those who filled the pause with cheers, screams, or yells, and those who spent it wondering, “Who is Grand Admiral Thrawn?”
There’s no shame in belonging to the latter category. Thrawn, who we now know will be played in live-action by his original Rebels voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen, holds a both venerated and complex station in Star Wars canon. Here’s what you should know about one of the galaxy’s most formidable Imperials, before he appears in this summer’s Ahsoka.
An Unusual History
If you’re scratching your head and wondering how you missed a whole antagonist in the Skywalker saga, there’s no reason to fret. Thrawn doesn’t appear in Episodes I through IX. Instead, his first appearance came in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. The book offered a continuation of Luke (Mark Hamill), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Han (Harrison Ford) and the larger Rebellion’s story after the good guys won the battle of Endor.
Amidst political infighting (always a Star Wars staple), the good guys discover the presence of an Imperial remnant led by a being with working knowledge of the Force, and ultimate designs on stealing the Rebellion’s fleet to lead the Empire to reclaim the galaxy. That being is, of course, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Zahn followed that novel with two more, all of which featured Thrawn as a central villain. Those books were no longer canon after Disney acquired Lucasfilm and told its own stories in the Sequel era. That said, there are now two canon trilogies about Thrawn written in the Disney era: Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn, Alliances and Treason) and Thrawn: Ascendancy (Chaos Rising, Lesser Evil and Greater Good).
Thrawn, Ahoska, and Star Wars: Rebels
A good chunk of younger Star Wars fans likely didn’t first meet Thrawn in a book. He served as a primary antagonist for seasons three and four of the animated Star Wars Rebels, where the Ghost crew wound up in his sights. They battled back and forth episode after episode, and in the show’s series finale, young Padawan Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray) sacrificed himself to send Thrawn and his ship, the Chimaera, into the Unknown Regions. He does this with the help of some space whales called Purrgil, which made a brief cameo appearance early in The Mandalorian’s third season. So, Ezra and Thrawn both vanish to… well, no one knows where. Hey, that’s why it’s the Unknown Regions!
Dank ferrik, what does this have to do with Ahsoka? Well, Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) played a major role in Rebels, too, and joined the Rebels on the Ghost as they fought back against both the Empire and the Sith. During the events of the show she was both nearly killed during a duel with her old master, Anakin Skywalker (by the time of their duel, Darth Vader), and brought back when Ezra pulled her from the World Between Worlds. The World Between Worlds could be its own article—all non-animation fans need to know is that it’s a Force-based, seriously cool-looking plane of existence where every moment in time is visible through a series of doorways. There, Ezra saved Ahsoka by removing her from her duel with Vader before he had the chance to kill her. As such, Ahsoka owes her life to Ezra, and a major piece of the plot of her show will likely involve her and the rest of the Ghost crew trying to track down their missing family member. This, in theory, might pit her against—ding ding ding—Grand Admiral Thrawn. If he’s back and up to no good, then where is Ezra?
What Makes Thrawn So Dangerous?
If you know a Legends fan or a Rebels fan, they’ve probably spoken highly of the Grand Admiral. There’s good reason for that; Thrawn is a far cry from the bumbling, inept Imperials oft serving as little more than chum for Vader’s strangulating ill moods. Thrawn is calculating and contemplative to the extreme, a true chess master playing against the Rebels. His belief is that one must fully understand and even empathize with an enemy if one is to destroy them, a sentiment he exercises by studying art pieces from each civilization he intends to exterminate, or foe he intends to beat. (If we’re lucky, we might see what remains of Thrawn’s gallery in live-action in Ahsoka.)
He approaches lost battles differently from Vader and other Imperials, too. Rather than simply killing any officer who errs, Thrawn sees opportunity to be seized in failure and uses it to learn and evaluate his strategies. In addition, he comprehends that losing a single battle is often the correct course of action when attempting to win a war, and he’s usually planning at least ten steps ahead in at least ten different directions. Like Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) or Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), he’s an Imperial who thinks first and pulls out a blaster second, and that’s what makes him terrifying—long before he lays his red eyes on you, he has you beaten.
…So, Why Is He Blue?
As with all things Thrawn, there’s a sort of complex reason. Thrawn’s real name is actually Mitth’raw’nuruodo. As a member of the Chiss species, he served in the Chiss Ascendancy’s military. He was eventually exiled, which is how the Empire found him. Hoping to stave off a threat to his people lurking in the Unknown Regions, he became an Imperial officer with the intent to form a Chiss-Imperial alliance. His species all share the same blue skin and red eyes.
Ahoska, Premieres August 2023, Disney+
