Ahsoka Delivered A Major Star Wars Event More Than 30 Years In The Making
This article contains spoilers for "Ahsoka" episode 6, "Far, Far Away."
It took roughly five and a half episodes, but "Ahoska" finally delivered on one of its biggest promises with its sixth episode, "Far, Far Away." Ever since the first trailer debuted, it's been explicitly clear that Grand Admiral Thrawn was going to be a big part of the show's proceedings. At long last, the Imperial mastermind made his live-action debut after Morgan Elsbeth, Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and Sabine Wren completed the trek to a galaxy far, far away, where Thrawn has spent the last decade and change in exile. The moment was pretty epic and that felt rather appropriate, as this was a "Star Wars" moment more than 30 years in the making.
Thrawn, up until the premiere of this episode, was easily one of the most beloved characters in all of "Star Wars" that had never appeared in live-action. Even before Dave Filoni brought him back in "Star Wars Rebels," making him part of the official canon under the Disney era of Lucasfilm, Thrawn remained a cherished part of the franchise's history. Now, he's poised to become a big part of the future and make himself known to an even larger section of the fanbase. To put it very lightly, this is an immensely big deal.
In the show, it is actor Lars Mikkelsen who had the honor of bringing Thrawn to life in live-action for the first time. Mikkelsen also voiced the character in "Rebels," which helps bring a little bit of consistency to the whole thing for fans who have been following along since he made his animated debut several years back. Luckily, Mikkelsen had the right look to become the blue alien military mastermind in the flesh as well. But before talking about the character's future, we should probably talk a little bit about his rich past within the franchise.
A (very) brief history of Grand Admiral Thrawn
In the time after the original "Star Wars" trilogy concluded and before George Lucas made the prequels, there was a serious gap in storytelling within the universe. Author Timothy Zahn helped to fill that void in a big way with his "Heir to the Empire" trilogy of novels, with the first installment being published in 1991. These books served as a sequel to the events of the original trilogy, with Grand Admiral Thrawn emerging as a new threat in the wake of Palpatine's death. Luke, Han, Leia, and the rest of the former Rebellion leaders have to band together to stop Thrawn from returning the galaxy to Imperial rule.
Thrawn is wildly different from Darth Vader. For example, he is not a Force-user. Rather, it is his incredible mind that serves as his greatest weapon. Thrawn is a military genius and is known for using artifacts such as artwork to learn about his enemy. He is a member of the alien race known as the Chiss, with blue skin and red eyes, which is notable since you don't typically see many aliens working for the Empire, let alone as part of the higher command. (The Empire is a little racist that way.) Yet, Thrawn's brilliance could not be denied and he ascended the ranks anyhow. After the destruction of the second Death Star, he took it upon himself to reorganize what was left of the Empire in his own way.
The "Heir to the Empire" books are no longer canon as Disney jettisoned the former Expanded Universe, designating all of these tales as Legends. Basically, anything published before 2014 no longer counts as canon. But Dave Filoni brought Thrawn back in "Star Wars Rebels" season 3, making him officially part of the new continuity. In the years since, Zahn has returned to write two new trilogies of "Thrawn" novels as well, all of which are canon.
An heir to the Empire
Thrawn was brought in by Governor Pryce to help snuff out the Rebellion in its earliest days. Thrawn developed an intense enmity with the crew of the Ghost starship: Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, Zeb Orrelios, Sabine Wren, Chopper, and Ezra Bridger. After two seasons of war with one another, the liberation of the planet Lothal concluded with Ezra and Thrawn blasting off into the unknowns of hyperspace with the Purrgil, aka the giant space whales. That was the last we heard of them — until now, that is.
It turns out that both Thrawn and Ezra were transported to a second galaxy within the larger "Star Wars" universe, which is why they were so damn hard to find. In all of those years of exile, Thrawn had nothing to do but plot his return with what little resources he had – including his beloved Star Destroyer, the Chimaera. As of this writing, very little has been revealed regarding Thrawn's larger plans upon his return to the galaxy that is currently governed by the New Republic. Clearly, he has designs on bringing the Empire back from the brink of total extinction. With that, it seems things are going to come full circle.
Writer/director/producer Dave Filoni has made it pretty clear what he's doing, as he even had Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano refer to Thrawn as the "heir to the Empire" at one point in the show. The particulars may not be crystal clear just yet, but it seems that Filoni is plotting an adaptation, of sorts, of Timothy Zahn's original novels that birthed Thrawn in the first place. Maybe in a second season of "Ahsoka," or perhaps more likely in Filoni's upcoming "Star Wars" movie. Either way, after 32 years, this much-beloved character is finally getting a chance to shine in the spotlight. It's about time.
"Ahsoka" returns with new episodes Tuesday nights on Disney+.