Grand Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo, better known as Thrawn, is currently being set up to be the Thanos of the new Star Wars live-action shows both in terms of his morality and in regard to his widespread significance. He is perhaps the most notable officer in the Imperial Navy, or even Star Wars for that matter, and is destined for greatness and notoriety in the new canon. Revered in the expanded universe, now known as Star Wars Legends, for being the main villain of his own trilogy through the Timothy Zahn books, he has been made canon once again by a new trilogy of books, and finally appeared in animated form in Star Wars: Rebels.
Thrawn's entrance into the new canon mirrors his story in Legends, coming to the Empire to secretly work on his own agenda, to prepare the galaxy for a galaxy-wide invasion. The story so far is already proving that Star Wars can adapt the Thrawn trilogy and weave it into the new live-action shows. The potential invasion by the secretive Grysk Hegemony, a powerful species within the Unknown Regions, has been set up by Thrawn’s latest books, providing his primary motivation. Now, with the ending of Rebels, and especially since the mention of Thrawn in The Mandalorian season 2, both Ahsoka’s and Thrawn’s stories seem to be intertwined. It also seems to be the case that Thrawn is being set up to be the primary antagonist of the galaxy, much like Thanos was in the MCU, in this inter-war period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
If Grand Admiral Thrawn continues to become increasingly relevant to the goings-on of the galaxy, as he has done so far in The Mandalorian, not only is Ahsoka becoming the Thrawn era’s Luke Skywalker, but Thrawn will be the piece that connects all of the shows, Marvel style, becoming Star Wars' version of Thanos. Thanos himself was not only hinted at for years, working in the shadows of the stories of the individual heroes of the MCU movies, but became the eventual catalyst to bring all the heroes together to face the true enemy at the end. Thrawn has thus far been seemingly irrelevant to the stories of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett (as of episode 3, at least). He is yet to break out to the forefront and is most likely still pulling strings from afar, just as he was in The Mandalorian season 2, perhaps in control of an Imperial remnant faction and biding his time. Whatever he’s up to, once again Thrawn is key to Star Wars’ future.
Lurking in the background of a story is not the only thing Thrawn and Thanos have in common, however. Perhaps the most significant link between them is their self-justification and personal sense of morality. Both figures feel that their ends justify their means. Thanos believed he saved the universe from destruction despite his mass genocide, and Thrawn believes he's uniting the galaxy to fight a common foe, despite his rampant fascism. Both villains within their respective universes are much more compelling as a result. And in Legends, Thrawn’s death ultimately meant the galaxy was unprepared for the genocidal Yuuzhan Vong invasion, whom the Grysks have replaced in the new canon.
Such widespread ambitions for Thrawn means he has a threatening relevance to all Star Wars stories told in this era, regardless of whether he’s imminently relevant to the plot at hand. Ahsoka searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn in her own plotline will most likely bring the Grand Admiral into greater relevance. It is also worth noting that Thrawn is known to have a particular fascination with the Force, both in Legends as well as in the new canon books. Moff Gideon's fascination with the Force in The Mandalorian could perhaps be a teased link between the two Imperial remnants.
Grand Admiral Thrawn’s likeness to Thanos is likely a coincidence of good writing. Thrawn’s motivations make him a difficult enemy to fight and force the audience to question whether or not his ends justify his means for themselves. Only time will tell the full story, but Thrawn is sure to be front and center of the future of Star Wars.
