Ahsoka has been hearing whispers of Thrawn’s return from the distant exile we saw him receive at the end of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. The Jedi are all but extinct in the Galaxy. Perhaps it is time to begin again.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is the heir to the empire — a huge easter egg for Timothy Zahn fans. The new series appears to draw heavily from the events in Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy.

Star Wars Celebration 2023 is under way in London, England as we speak, and the new revelations have only just begun. On the very first day, we have the new teaser trailer for Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson. The new series on Disney+ appears to have a solid foundation in the animated seris Star Wars Rebels. We see several characters from that series in their live action versions for the first time, including the Twi’lek pilot Hera Syndulla at the helm of the Ghost, Sabine Wren, and even Chopper. We even get an ominous view of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Ahsoka is a spinoff of the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian. Hayden Christiansen is set to reappear as Darth Vader, and other members of the crew of the Ghost appear as well. Natasha Lui Bordizzo is cast as Sabine Wren, and Eman Esfandi is Ezra Bridger.

Ahsoka Tano’s first appearance in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was in the pilot episode, “Ambush”, which aired on October 3, 2008.

Thrawn first appeared in the Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends novels in the early 1990s, specifically in the book “Heir to the Empire” by Timothy Zahn. The character quickly became a fan favorite and appeared in several subsequent novels, comics, and other media.

However, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, they declared that the Expanded Universe/Legends material was no longer canon. As a result, Thrawn was reintroduced to the Star Wars universe in the animated series Star Wars Rebels in 2016, where he became an important antagonist for the show’s final two seasons. Despite his appearing in books first, his current canonical story arc is established in the animated series.

The first episode is set to air in 2023, but there is as yet no set release date.

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Gene Turnbow

President of Krypton Media Group, Inc., radio personality and station manager of SCIFI.radio. Part writer, part animator, part musician, part illustrator, part programmer, part entrepreneur - all geek.