Summary
- Ahsoka on Disney+ establishes Grand Admiral Thrawn has been missing for nine years.
- The series finally revealed the inimitable villain, showing he's just as ever Star Wars fans remembers.
- There are subtle details that give hints to what happened, but Thrawn is as deadly as ever.
The following contains spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 6, "Part Six: Far, Far Away," streaming now on Disney+.
For fans of Ahsoka and Star Wars: Rebels, seeing Bokken Jedi Ezra Bridger again warmed hearts. However, the reappearance of another Rebels mainstay, Grand Admiral Thrawn, chilled them from hearts to spines. Perhaps the oldest of the Star Wars legacy characters appearing in Ahsoka, the return of Thrawn proves the Imperial Grand Admiral hasn't really changed at all. He is still poised, calm and deadly, even though everything from his ship to his uniform has seen better days.
When Ahsoka Tano first showed up in live action during The Mandalorian Season 2, the seed for the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn was planted in the mind of the fans. "Far, far away" marks his live action debut, though the character has a long history. He first showed up in a trilogy of books by Timothy Zahn in the early 1990s, books now part of the Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe. He later appeared in Star Wars: Rebels as the main antagonist for Seasons 3 and 4, along with two additional trilogies of books by Zahn, all of which are considered canon. In the books, Thrawn is the protagonist, so he's not exactly evil. Rather, he is a sympathetic character who seeks to protect his home, the Chiss Ascendancy, and the area of the galaxy controlled the Empire from a threat. In Rebels, however, he is a much more traditional villain. While he's not the worst Imperial fans have met, he's much less the patient Imperial leader with a sense of fair play. When fans meet him again, Thrawn hasn't changed, not even his outfit.
Who Is Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Canon?
With six novel-length stories of backstory, who Grand Admiral Thrawn is can be a complicated question. He is a "low born" Chiss who was elevated to the Chiss aristocracy thanks to his skill, cunning and intelligence. He was sent on a mission, posing as an exile, to infiltrate the Galactic Empire. He was meant to evaluate them as a potential ally to the Chiss Ascendancy and pit them against the mysterious Grysk Hegemony. Instead, he became a loyal servant of the Emperor. He also served with Darth Vader on a mission to Batuu, a place he visited during the clone war era with none other than Anakin Skywalker.
When Thrawn showed up in Star Wars: Rebels, he was a measured but ruthless foe. Unlike many Imperial leaders he wasn't needlessly cruel. However, he didn't suffer fools or failure. During one mission to a factory, he forced an Imperial worker to stay seated on a faulty speeder bike until it exploded, killing him. He was content to "lose" skirmishes, because each defeat gave him more information. He found the Rebels' secret base, only losing the battle thanks to the mysterious Force creature, Bendu. Eventually, he grew impatient with the Rebels constantly evading capture.
During the final battle for Lothal, Thrawn was on his star destroyer with Ezra Bridger. The young Jedi, who in a previous episode bonded with the hyperspace-traveling purrgil, called on the space whales to remove Thrawn from the equation. Unfortunately, he was trapped on the command deck of the Chimera as well. The purrgil jumped into hyperspace to, as fans know thanks to Ahsoka, Peridea, their ancestral graveyard in a distant galaxy.
How Grand Admiral Thrawn and His Legion of Stormtroopers Survived
What happened after Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger arrived at Peridea is, as Maz Kanata might say, a story for another time. Still, Ezra eventually fled the Chimera, leaving Thrawn and the remaining Imperials on board to figure out their next move. Thanks to the presence of the Great Mothers of the Witch Kingdom of the Dathomiri, he was able to contact his own Nightsister ally, Morgan Elsbeth. While he awaited her arrival, the Chimera was repaired using a gold-colored metal that resembles the Eye of Sion ship. This may just be because the new galaxy didn't have durasteel, but it may also be added to the ship so the Eye of Sion can tow it back.
More interesting than the ship itself is the state of Thrawn's troopers. He still wears the all-white uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral. However, viewers can see how ragged the seams and edges of his collar are. In the nine years he's spent in exile, he's tried to keep up appearances but nonetheless has been worn down. Similarly, the Stormtrooper's plastoid armor is dingy and dirty. The cracks in the armor are also sealed with gold metal, as well as strips of red cloth like that worn by the Nightsisters.
At the end of Chapter Six, Thrawn asks the Great Mothers "once again" for the use of their "dark magick." While he could simply be referring to whatever spell they used to communicate with Morgan Elsbeth, it might be more. Enoch, the gold-faced trooper leaded his forces, is the only one audiences hear speak. This suggests he is alive. However, much like Marrok was, some of the Stormtroopers in his cadre may be reanimated. This is something the Nightsisters of Dathomir did in both The Clone Wars series and the Jedi: Fallen Order game. The bodies of their dead may be the "cargo" Thrawn is taking back to their galaxy.
How the Ahsoka Series Reveals Thrawn Hasn't Changed Much In Exile
The return of Thrawn is one of the coolest military-style introductions in Star Wars since Darth Vader and the Emperor arrived on the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Getting outfoxed by an adolescent and stranded in a far-off galaxy didn't seem to affect Thrawn's swagger in the slightest. He maintained the stiff-backed stoicism he showed in Rebels, along with the dispassionate air of a man who has everything under control. In fact, only when facing down Sabine Wren did Thrawn seem at all unsure of himself.
Despite Thrawn admitting their numbers have dwindled in their exile, he still maintains a strict military discipline. The Chimera is still space-worthy, and he still has a legion of soldiers at his back. Not only that, the (living, at least) Stormtroopers chanted his name over and over as he walked to meet the Great Mothers. They aren't saying "For the Empire!" nor do they seem to have any loyalty left for Palpatine. Again, this makes sense. In Zahn's canon novels, Thrawn was a good leader. He listened to others' opinions and rarely displayed the sudden violence other Imperial leaders were known for.
Listening to Thrawn talk to Morgan and the other Nightsisters, he sounds just like he always did. This isn't just because of Lars Mikkelsen's performance. Rather, he's got a plan and is able to adapt his strategy even when surprises, like Sabine or the arrival of Ahsoka in a purrgil, appear. Just how formidable an opponent he remains is something Star Wars fans will have to wait and see through the last two episodes of Ahsoka and beyond.
Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 6pm PT/9pm ET on Disney+.