Grand Admiral Thrawn

Thrawn comes from outside Imperial space, from the Chiss people, and climbed the Imperial ranks on pure tactical talent. When the rebels of the Ghost start causing too much trouble, he shows up in the Rebels season 3 premiere as a Grand Admiral, tasked with wiping them out.

His method stands out right away. Instead of sending more ships, Thrawn studies the art of every culture he faces. He believes understanding what a people creates reveals how they think and where they're weak.

Commanding the Star Destroyer Chimaera, he works alongside Governor Arihnda Pryce and Agent Kallus. He speaks softly, gives praise when he thinks it's earned and almost never loses his cool. The rebels quickly learn this makes him more dangerous than any shouting officer.

On Ryloth, Thrawn sets up in Hera Syndulla's childhood home and examines a kalikori, a family heirloom of hers.

Later he takes over the Imperial factory on Lothal, where he suspects sabotage. To enforce quality standards, he makes the engineers personally test the vehicles they build. In the same episode, he figures out from the details that there's a rebel spy inside the Empire.

Thrawn scatters probe droids across the galaxy to find the rebel base. At the same time, he sets a trap to uncover the identity of the informant Fulcrum. He gets the answer: Agent Kallus, an officer of the Empire itself. With the spy exposed, Thrawn is one step away from finding the rebel hideout.

Thrawn locates Chopper Base, on Atollon, surrounds the planet and attacks. The rebels take heavy losses and only manage to escape after the Bendu, a powerful Force creature, jumps into the middle of the battle. Before that, the Bendu leaves Thrawn with a prophecy about his defeat: many arms surrounding him, in a cold embrace.

During the liberation of Lothal, Ezra Bridger turns himself over to the Empire and ends up facing Thrawn on the Chimaera. The prophecy comes true: Ezra calls the purrgil, whale-like creatures that travel through hyperspace. They wrap the Star Destroyer in their tentacles and jump to an unknown destination, taking Thrawn and Ezra with them.

Thrawn leaves the stage, but not the story. When Ahsoka Tano defeats Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth on Corvus, her question is blunt: where is Elsbeth's master, Grand Admiral Thrawn? Later, Moff Gideon's Shadow Council discusses rumors of his return.

The purrgil left Thrawn on Peridea, a planet in another galaxy tied to the Nightsisters. There he allied with the Great Mothers and built up a force with his night troopers and Captain Enoch. On the other side, Morgan Elsbeth builds the Eye of Sion, a ship capable of making the jump between galaxies.

When the Eye arrives at Peridea with Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, Thrawn receives Morgan and prepares the Chimaera for the return. Ezra is on the same planet, living with the Noti people, and Thrawn orders him eliminated along with Sabine.

When Ahsoka reaches Peridea carried by the purrgil, Thrawn is ready: he's laid mines along the final stretch of the route to the planet to stop anyone coming after him. He doesn't need to win every fight. He just needs to buy time for the departure.

Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra attack the fortress. The Great Mothers raise dead soldiers with magic, and Ahsoka kills Morgan. Even so, Thrawn pulls off his plan: the Chimaera takes off docked to the Eye of Sion and jumps back to the main galaxy. He arrives at Dathomir with the Great Mothers and his army. Ezra also makes it back, and Ahsoka and Sabine are left stranded on Peridea.

Ahsoka season 2, scheduled for January 20, 2027, hasn't premiered yet.

Thrawn was born in the books: Timothy Zahn created him in the novel Heir to the Empire (1991), now part of the Legends line. Zahn returned to the character in the current canon with the Thrawn trilogy, starting in 2017, which tells how he joined the Empire, and the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy, about his life among the Chiss.