Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fan-favorite character and one of Star Wars’ best villains. Here’s who he is, who might be playing him, and why he’s important to The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.
Thrawn is officially returning to the Star Wars universe and coming to live-action for the first time ever. The alien admiral is one of the most famous and beloved extended universe and book characters in Star Wars history, and after getting name checked in The Mandalorian, it seems he’ll play a pivotal role in Ahsoka Tano’s new Disney Plus series as its main villain. He even shows up briefly in the first trailer for the series, which Disney and Lucasfilm premiered at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
In case you aren’t caught up on the wider, non-movie Star Wars canon, here’s a brief introduction to Thrawn, and everything you need to know about one of Star Wars’ most beloved villains.
[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2 episode 5, as well as Star Wars: Rebels and the Thrawn novels]Why is Thrawn the “heir to the Empire”?
Grand Admiral Thrawn is an Imperial officer who was first introduced to the Star Wars universe in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. The novel and its two sequels which — later known as the Thrawn trilogy — took place shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi. Zahn’s books filled readers in on what happened to the Galactic Empire in the years after the death of Darth Vader and supposed death of Emperor Palpatine. As it turns out, Thrawn happened.
While that original trilogy of novels was decanonized when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, Thrawn was reintroduced in Star Wars: Rebels, and given a series of new novels also penned by Zahn.
