The Mandalorian and Ahsoka are teasing a Grand Admiral Thrawn live-action debut, but Thrawn serving as the Mandoverse’s villain risks breaking the Star Wars canon. Introduced in 1991 as part of the Expanded Universe, Thrawn was the overarching villain for what became known as the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Although George Lucas never saw the Expanded Universe as part of his Star Wars canon, the Timothy Zahn Thrawn novels are part of the reason why Star Wars remained so popular between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace despite the lack of movies.
Thrawn returned to the Star Wars canon at the end of 2016 for Star Wars Rebels season 3, followed by the release of a new, canon Thrawn novel bringing back original author Timothy Zahn. The biggest difference between the now Legend Thrawn novels and the canon stories is that the latter had so far taken place mostly during the Age of the Empire whereas the former was set after Return of the Jedi. However, now that Thrawn has been namedropped in The Mandalorian and will most likely be at least referenced in Ahsoka, Star Wars is once again introducing Thrawn as a post-Return of the Jedi villain – but there’s a problem.
The Mandalorian Set Up Thrawn As The Next Big Bad (Despite The Zahn Books)
Thrawn’s last canon appearance was in the Star Wars Rebels series finale, with the villain disappearing after jumping to hyperspace without any coordinates. However, the most recent mention of Grand Admiral Thrawn was in The Mandalorian season 2 episode "The Jedi." Ahsoka’s live-action debut confirmed that the former Padawan is looking for Thrawn, which lines up with Ahsoka searching for Ezra at the end of Star Wars Rebels. The Mandoverse shows are clearly building toward something bigger, and the story that began with Din Djarin is expected to lead to a crossover event as revealed by Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy in 2020's Disney's Investor Day.
Given that Thrawn has such a rich legacy in the Star Wars universe yet has never appeared in live-action, Thrawn is the most obvious choice for the Mandoverse’s main villain. Thrawn has the skills and the established importance within lore to be the villain for what could be the franchise’s most ambitious move since the release of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, plus it would make a lot of sense for Thrawn to return now that the Empire has fallen. There are more than enough story justifications for Thrawn to be the Mandoverse’s overarching villain, except that the canon Timothy Zahn Thrawn novels don't depict Thrawn as a traditional villain at all.
The canon Thrawn books are told mostly from Thrawn’s point of view, meaning that they will necessarily present Thrawn as the hero of his own story. Still, Thrawn’s origins and motivations in the books do not point at him being Star Wars’ Thanos for something like the Mandoverse. The book version of Thrawn is more of an anti-hero, someone who was using Palpatine and the Empire to help with his own quests. Thrawn is aware that there are bigger threats in the galaxy than the conflict between the Empire and the Rebels, something that defines the character throughout his canon appearances in the novels.
Star Wars’ Thrawn Canon Problems Began In Star Wars Rebels
The debate of whether Thrawn should be a villain goes back to Star Wars Rebels season 3, which brought Thrawn back to the Star Wars canon. Thrawn was the main villain in Star Wars Rebels’ seasons 3 and 4 – someone brought in by the Empire to put an end to the rising rebel cells across the galaxy. After facing Inquisitors and Darth Vader in the first two seasons, the Star Wars Rebels characters now had to deal with Thrawn’s unmatched intellect. However, instead of the more nuanced character that would be presented a few months later in Zahn's Thrawn (2017), Star Wars Rebels’ Thrawn was more of a one-dimensional villain.
Rebels season 3 did succeed at showing how smart Thrawn is, but it also made the character “just a villain”. Given the show's serialized nature, Star Wars Rebels would often see Thrawn hunting the crew of the Ghost only to fail at the end. There was no mention of Thrawn’s true plans and motives in Star Wars Rebels other than he had the Emperor’s trust. While the Thrawn novels and Rebels covered slightly different points of the Star Wars timeline, Thrawn’s characterization in the former is too different from the latter. There were also no significant connections between Thrawn’s story in Rebels and the novels’ storylines.
Will Grand Admiral Thrawn Be The Villain In Ahsoka?
Whether Grand Admiral Thrawn will appear in Ahsoka has yet to be officially confirmed, although everything points to Thrawn being on the show. Ahsoka revealed in The Mandalorian season 2 that she is looking for Thrawn, which hasn’t changed based on the events of The Book of Boba Fett. Ahsoka left Luke and Grogu to continue her quest, suggesting that the search for Ezra and Thrawn will be one of the main storylines in the Ahsoka series. The fact that Star Wars Rebels’ Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, and Chopper are all confirmed to appear in Ahsoka also strongly suggests that Thrawn will soon make his live-action debut as part of the Mandoverse.
Despite the differences between Rebels Thrawn and book Thrawn, the former was a great villain for Star Wars Rebels. Those who knew Thrawn from the Star Wars Expanded Universe got to see and hear Thrawn for the first time while those who were not familiar with the character were introduced to a unique Star Wars villain. The Thrawn teases in The Mandalorian have also helped present the character to new audiences, meaning that there was never a better time to introduce a live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn. Ahsoka might be the closest thing to a Star Wars Rebels sequel, and that makes Thrawn an essential character for the show.
Why Thrawn Can Still Be The Mandoverse’s Villain (Without Breaking Canon)
Timothy Zahn currently has no plans of writing a new Thrawn book (via Polygon). In other words, if Thrawn debuts in live-action for the Mandoverse, it will not be tied to any ongoing storyline. Still, there are unresolved Thrawn storylines from the books that a live-action Thrawn in Star Wars would have to cover. Thrawn’s ultimate goal has yet to be achieved, whether he sees himself as a villain or not. The problem is that opposing Ahsoka Tano or the Mandalorian as if Thrawn was the next Emperor Palpatine does not really fit into how Thrawn has been written in the canon novels.
If Thrawn is to be the Mandoverse’s antagonist, then upcoming shows like Ahsoka and The Mandalorian season 3 should feel like not only a Rebels sequel but also a continuation of the Thrawn novels. There cannot be two different versions of Thrawn, as Lucasfilm has promised a consistent Star Wars canon. Obviously, every author will write a character differently, but there should not be too much of a disconnection between the Thrawn books and the Star Wars shows. The problem with Star Wars Rebels’ canon Thrawn characterization was that they were never able to show point of view. A live-action Thrawn would therefore benefit from being not just the villain but also a main character in his own right.