Star Wars is celebrating the triumphant return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who made his live-action debut in Ahsoka. Played by Lars Mikkelsen, the Imperial tactician was whisked away by the star whale purrgil in Star Wars Rebels with Ezra Bridger to the extragalactic world Peridea, where he lived in exile until his rescue by Morgan Elsbeth. With Thrawn returning to the known galaxy at the end of Ahsoka, the Grand Admiral is prepared to make the next step towards resurrecting the Empire.
A short released by Star Wars commemorates Thrawn’s return to action in Ahsoka.
With the classic words “Heir to the Empire” slapped over Thrawn’s face and a bit of goofy music, the short features scenes of Thrawn’s debut on Peridea, his Night Troopers in tow. Those who may oppose him are shown worried about the Grand Admiral’s pending return, which has now become a frightening reality.
Heir To The Empire Is Surely The Name Of Thrawn’s Star Wars Movie
Star Wars isn’t being subtle about the likely title of Dave Filoni’s The Mandalorian movie. With the way “Heir to the Empire” was used throughout Ahsoka‘s marketing and the red lettering to emphasize the words again in the short, the title of Timothy Zahn’s novel is undoubtedly going headline silver screens in a few years. Thrawn is set to serve as the primary antagonist of Filoni’s film, where he’ll truly be the Heir to the Empire.
Questions of Thrawn’s actual motives still remain. While he was a warlord in the Legends continuity, Zahn has established Thrawn as a necessary antagonist seeking to protect the Chiss Ascendancy from greater threats in canon. If this interpretation of the character will be honored by Filoni remains to be seen, but Ahsoka has established that Thrawn seems to be a believer in the restoration of the Empire.
