Warning! This post contains SPOILERS from Ahsoka
Grand Admiral Thrawn is set to make his return from exile, and a new Star Wars theory suggests how he’ll massively change the galaxy while also setting up the sequel trilogy. As revealed in Ahsoka, Thrawn has been trapped on the extragalactic world of Peridea, thus explaining his absence from the events of the original trilogy. Now, Thrawn is preparing to make his dynamic return which could very well include the destruction of an iconic Star Wars planet.
As seen in Ahsoka, Thrawn has been found by his agents with a means of finally making it back to the known galaxy. The expectation is that the former Imperial leader will indeed make his return to bolster the might of the Imperial Remnant as “Heir to the Empire” and subsequently start a war with the New Republic. To that end, there’s a very strong theory that Thrawn’s return could have dire implications for the ecumenopolis known as Coruscant, a critical planet that’s long been the center of the Star Wars galaxy.
Coruscant Is The Galactic Capital In Ahsoka
As seen in Ahsoka as well as in other shows set in the same era such as The Mandalorian, Coruscant serves as the galactic capital for the New Republic government that was put in place after the fall of the Empire. To that end, the planet-wide city has long been the center of power in the galaxy, having been the capital for thousands of years. During the reign of the Empire, it became known as Imperial Center and became the throneworld of Emperor Palpatine who used the fallen Jedi Order’s temple on Coruscant as his palace.
Currently, the New Republic has taken control of Coruscant, and both Ahsoka and The Mandalorian have shown that the government is hard at work establishing a new order and rule of law throughout the known galaxy. Not only have they been decommissioning what remains of the Empire’s war machine, but they’ve also been reintegrating former Imperial sympathizers back into society through the New Republic Amnesty Program. However, this has also bred spies and loyalists to the Imperial Remnant within the program as seen in The Mandalorian season 3. Now, Ahsoka has confirmed that the New Republic is still based out of Coruscant.
The New Republic Senate Has Left Coruscant By The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
What makes Coruscant and its role so significant during the Mandalorian era is that the New Republic does end up leaving the world by the time of the sequel trilogy. For some reason, the New Republic decided to relocate to Hosnian Prime, another big city ecumenopolis. Located at the edge of the Core Worlds rather than the more central Coruscant, Hosnian Prime was the planet destroyed by the First Order after it had constructed Starkiller Base with its deadly superlaser capable of destroying entire systems at once.
Interestingly enough, there’s never been an exact in-universe reason as to why the New Republic relocated from Coruscant in the first place. In truth, J.J Abrams and Bad Robot Productions wanted to destroy Coruscant as the New Republic center during the development of The Force Awakens, though Lucasfilm was hesitant toward the idea. As such, Hosnian Prime became the compromise as another city-wide planet purely created so that the First Order could destroy it and the New Republic, leaving the Resistance on its own. However, the true reason for the New Republic’s decision could be coming very soon thanks to Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Theory: Thrawn’s Star Wars Movie Shows Him Attack Coruscant
Coruscant still serves as the galactic capital in Ahsoka prior to Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return. As such, it’s possible that Thrawn himself could be responsible for the New Republic’s relocation once he makes it back, perhaps even forcing them out during what will likely be a brand-new conflict between the New Republic and Imperial Remnant. This could even be quite similar to Legends’ Thrawn trilogy where both the Grand Admiral and Coruscant itself were first created by author Timothy Zahn.
In the non-canonical trilogy of novels, Thrawn laid siege to Coruscant while the New Republic was still based on the city planet. Despite his limited resources and firepower, Thrawn’s genius as a tactician earned him a major victory with the Imperial Remnant retaking the galactic center, forcing the New Republic to evacuate after suffering heavy casualties. However, infighting among the warlords of the Imperial Remnant resulted in large-scale devastation to the world. Likewise, it’s possible that Thrawn could completely destroy Coruscant in the canon, much like the Yuzhan Vong eventually did in the Legends timeline.
To that end, an adaptation of such a major conflict from Legends could certainly happen in Dave Filoni’s upcoming Mandalorian-era movie. After all, the movie is expected to feature Thrawn as the primary antagonist, and an attack on the city world would explain why it’s become so prominent in recent years. Also, the potential to have Thrawn as the explanation for the New Republic’s relocation to Hosnian Prime is darkly perfect and works within the existing canon quite well, seeing as how the new world didn’t become the galactic capital until the Star Wars timeline gets much closer to the sequels (around 28 ABY).
An Attack On Coruscant Would Make Thrawn’s Star Wars Movie Matter
An invasion and/or destruction of Coruscant would be huge for Filoni’s Mandalorian movie. Having served as a major part of both the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars, Coruscant is one of Star Wars’ most iconic and beloved planets. There’s no better way for Grand Admiral Thrawn to establish himself as a major threat to the galaxy and shake up the entire galactic status quo than by either taking over the world for the Imperial Remnant or destroying it completely. It would instantly give the movie massive significance in the overall Star Wars canon, while also justifying the movie’s existence as the culmination of all the Mandalorian-era shows.
While much of this new Star Wars theory is conjecture, Grand Admiral Thrawn could indeed become the perfect answer for why Coruscant stopped being the galactic capital as it had been for thousands of years in the timeline. The New Republic moving to Hosnian Prime has always been strange and largely a mystery. Now, it’s possible that Lucasfilm may finally be ready to destroy one of the most iconic planets in the Star Wars galaxy, arguably giving its demise even more of an impact and resonance than it would have had if it had been destroyed in the sequels.
