Followers of the franchise have been clamoring for the live-action debut of Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen in Rebels), whose legendary villain arc was kickstarted in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel, “Inheritor to the Empire.” An excellent army strategist, Thrawn’s presence appears near-inevitable within the upcoming sequence “Ahsoka,” the place the titular Jedi (performed by Rosario Dawson) could possibly be searching down her mortal enemy, as she states that she is searching for Thrawn in season 2 of “The Mandalorian.”

Thrawn’s attainable involvement in Gideon’s rescue is trickier to determine — on the one hand, he was final seen in hyperspace together with freedom fighter Ezra Bridger, therefore their fates stay unknown, and on the opposite, planting beskar armor to divert suspicion looks like a basic Thrawn transfer. The New Republic has already confirmed to be incompetent on many fronts, and planting false proof to incriminate a significant group is a strong divide-and-conquer technique. Whereas Thrawn’s involvement poses larger questions than providing clear solutions (as an example, the place the heck is Ezra?), it may give option to a grander plan and cement his covert motivations.

What drives me to contain Thrawn within the checklist of suspects is the presence of the mysterious TIE fighters who assault Din and Bo and destroy the latter’s dwelling. Might Thrawn be behind this? It’s also fascinating to notice that Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn” trilogy facilities on the army strategist’s makes an attempt to overthrow the New Republic whereas it nonetheless stands on shaky foundations, a bitter reality that has been straight alluded to within the Elia Kane/Dr. Pershing section within the newest season of “The Mandalorian.” Whereas Gideon nonetheless stays an amazing menace to the New Republic, Thrawn overseeing the revival of the Empire harkens a type of hazard like no different.