Although it was introduced in "Star Wars Rebels," fans wouldn’t learn who created the powerful TIE Defenders until now in "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire."
The second episode of "Tales of the Empire," titled "Path of Anger," reveals that Morgan Elsbeth designed the TIE Defender, further linking her to Admiral Thrawn’s origin story.
With Thrawn recruiting Morgan Elsbeth in the episode, he ties "Tales of the Empire" to "Rebels," the Timothy Zahn novels, "The Mandalorian," and "Ahsoka."