Who Is Grand Admiral Thrawn? Ahsoka Season 2's Villain, Explained
He's blue, he's patient, and he has already read your art history notes.
Ahsoka Season 2 arrives on Disney+ on January 20, 2027, and the teaser made one thing very clear: Grand Admiral Thrawn is ready for war, per StarWars.com. If you've only caught him in a few scenes, here's everything you need to know before the premiere.
Who is Grand Admiral Thrawn?
Thrawn is a Chiss, a blue-skinned species with glowing red eyes. He was born Mitth'raw'nuruodo in the Chiss Ascendancy and rose through the Imperial Academy to become a Grand Admiral under Emperor Palpatine, according to the official StarWars.com databank.
What makes him scary is the way he thinks. He studies an enemy's art and culture because he believes it reveals more about them than any battle can. (He's basically a museum nerd with a Star Destroyer.)
Author Timothy Zahn created Thrawn for the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. After Lucasfilm reset the canon in 2014, Thrawn became one of the first old characters to return, debuting in Star Wars Rebels Season 3 in 2016 with Lars Mikkelsen as his voice.
What happened to Thrawn in Star Wars Rebels?
Thrawn spent two seasons hunting the Ghost crew. In the series finale, Ezra Bridger surrendered as part of a bigger plan, and a pod of purrgil, which are giant space whales, dragged Thrawn's Star Destroyer into hyperspace with both of them on board. Neither of them was seen again for years, although Ahsoka asked about Thrawn in The Mandalorian Season 2.
How did Thrawn come back in Ahsoka?
Ahsoka Season 1 found Thrawn stranded on Peridea, a planet in another galaxy. There, he woke the Great Mothers, a group of Nightsister witches from Dathomir, and rebuilt his ship, the Chimaera, with help from his Night Troopers, per the databank. Morgan Elsbeth built a hyperspace ring that gave him a way home, and Ahsoka and Sabine Wren couldn't stop him from escaping back to Dathomir. Mikkelsen now plays him in live action.
What does Thrawn want in Ahsoka Season 2?
The databank calls him "the last unaccounted for Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy," and with the Empire scattered after Return of the Jedi, he's the most dangerous person left to rebuild it. The teaser shows him facing Ahsoka, played by Rosario Dawson, while Hayden Christensen's Anakin keeps pushing her. Dawson has promised the season is "massive," per StarWars.com. We also covered how the Ahsoka Season 2 cast left the Volume for real outdoor sets.
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My read is that Thrawn is the best Star Wars villain since Vader, because patience is his favorite weapon. Season 2 has to give him a real victory, though, or he's just a guy who really likes paintings. (A terrifying guy who really likes paintings.)
Is Thrawn the best villain of the new Star Wars era? Tell us in the comments.
