Star Wars Retconned Grand Admiral Thrawn's Canon Debut A Year After It Happened

A year after his canon debut, Star Wars retconned a key Grand Admiral Thrawn detail, and it has implications for Ahsoka and The Mandalorian movie.

Summary

• Thrawn's canon debut in Star Wars Rebels revealed his mental prowess and his ability to lead successful assaults on Rebel strongholds.
• Governor Pryce's cruel character is displayed through her indifference towards civilian casualties and her vindictive actions to maintain power.
• The revelation that Thrawn values civilian life and has noble intentions to save his people from an existential threat adds complexity to his character and may impact his role in Ahsoka and The Mandalorian movie.

Many viewers were introduced to Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka, but he actually made his canon debut in Star Wars Rebels - only for his introduction to be retconned a year later. The only alien to ascend to the rank of Grand Admiral in the Empire, Thrawn's mental prowess is unmatched. Now that he has become a key antagonist to the New Republic, understanding his character is more important than ever.

Thrawn's canon debut in Star Wars Rebels season 3 was chilling. The Lothal Rebels - including the Ghost Crew - had been causing consistent problems for the Imperial operation on Lothal. Fearing that it could be a sign of a galaxy-wide rebellion, Governor Arihnda Pryce received permission from Grand Moff Tarkin to call in Thrawn to investigate. During that introduction, the audience learned that Thrawn led an assault on a Rebel stronghold on Batonn. However, Timothy Zahn's canon book Thrawn (2017) retconned an important part of this Rebels scene.

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Pryce Was A Cruel Person

As Thrawn enters the room, the other officers are surprised to learn that he is no longer merely an admiral, but rather has been promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral. Thrawn explains that he was promoted due to his victory at Batonn. ISB Agent Kallus remarks that there were more civilian casualties than rebel ones, with Governor Pryce coolly replying these were acceptable margins. This callous reply is in line with Pryce's character; she consistently demonstrated her cruelty, even torturing Hera for her own vindictive pleasure.

Pryce's character is further fleshed out in Timothy Zahn's novel Thrawn, which reveals the lengths she will go to in order to acquire and maintain power. She endlessly social climbs without a thought to others. She blows up the fuel tanks for Thrawn's TIE Defenders in an attempt to kill the rebels out of pure vindictiveness. Even though she knows that the TIE Defender project is essential, her frustration at the rebels means she is willing to burn everything to the ground to satisfy her vendetta.

Thrawn's True Intentions Explained & How It Could Impact Ahsoka Season 2

Pryce Blew Up Civilian Homes To Hide A Murder

In Thrawn (2017), the rebel leader Nightswan takes over the Creekpath Mining and Refining Complex on Batonn, turning it into a rebel stronghold. Grand Admiral Thrawn is sent to quell the insurgency. As someone who doesn't like to kill unless necessary, Thrawn resolves to end the conflict with as few civilian casualties as possible.

Naturally, this insurgency leads to an Imperial lockdown of the surrounding area. However, Governor Pryce's parents work at Creekpath, and they are caught in the lockdown. Wanting to save her parents, Pryce talks her way into being allowed to go with ISB Agent Gudry to find the rebel weapons cache. However, she takes the opportunity to try to get her parents out rather than helping Gudry, and ultimately betrays and kills him.

Rather than risk getting in trouble for Gudry's murder, Pryce does something unbelievably selfish: she lights Nightswan's cache of explosives. She then states that Gudry died in the explosion along with many of the civilians and rebels in the blast zone. Since it was Thrawn's assault, he is given credit for the explosion. This angers Thrawn, who later confronts Pryce. However, she states that he needs her due to his political ineptitude, and tells him he can't turn her in. Thrawn reluctantly keeps his mouth shut, gaining promotion for this uncharacteristic ruthlessness.

This Changes Thrawn's Star Wars Rebels Introduction

This completely changes Thrawn's Rebels introduction. Thrawn was not happy about the civilian casualties. He tried his best to avoid them as much as possible. This context turns Pryce's comments that the civilian deaths on Batonn were within "acceptable margins" into a power move. She's framed Thrawn for murdering numerous civilians - civilians that she killed to avoid facing murder charges. Now, she is smugly and subtly throwing that fact in his face.

This makes Pryce even more evil than previously thought and shows that Thrawn isn't actually who the Rebels think he is. Yes, Thrawn is willing to take life, but only when he deems it absolutely necessary. However, Imperial higher-ups like Governor Pryce often tied Thrawn's hands when he wanted to preserve life. Unfortunately, because Thrawn was usually overseeing the battles and made sure that the plans worked despite complications from other people, he was often the one blamed.

What Does This Mean For Ahsoka And The Mandalorian Movie?

Grand Admiral Thrawn was the main antagonist in Ahsoka. The Mandalorian movie will be the culmination of several shows, including Ahsoka. As such, these will both likely focus in part on Thrawn's attempt to rebuild the Empire. Given that Zahn has proven that Thrawn actually values civilian life, his Empire could be very different from what the New Republic is expecting.

The Thrawn that was shown in Star Wars Rebels may not be the one shown in Ahsoka and The Mandalorian. Before, Thrawn was a cog in a corrupt machine. He freely admitted this to Nightswan in Thrawn (2017) but argued that, if he achieved a high enough rank, he could change the Empire from within when Emperor Palpatine died. With him in ultimate control and without other Imperials forcing him to fight dirty - or take credit for their fighting dirty - we may see a Thrawn that aligns more with the books.

According to Zahn's novels, Thrawn's ultimate goal is to save his people - and, by extension, the galaxy - from being conquered by aliens called Grysks. The Grysks are a race of aliens who use subtle and insidious means to sow discord and cause civil wars that weaken their targets. Once their target is weak enough, they swoop in and take over the planet. Thrawn - for good reason - sees these aliens as an existential threat. His whole purpose in joining the Empire was to use it to defeat the Grysks. He is using questionable means, but he has noble intentions. It will be interesting to see how Ahsoka and The Mandalorian movie handle this fact.

Star Wars Rebels is available to stream on Disney+.

Star Wars Rebels

Set between Episodes III and IV of the Star Wars film franchise, Star Wars Rebels is a canon animated series that follows a group of ragtag heroes who band together to face the Empire. In an age where the Galactic Empire is hunting down the last of the Jedi, a teenage outcast named Ezra Bridger is discovered to be force sensitive by a surviving Jedi known as Kanan Jarrus. Agreeing to join them and accept Jedi training, Ezra becomes a part of a small but growing crew of rebels determined to destroy the empire covertly.

Cast

David Oyelowo , Steve Blum , Freddie Prinze Jr. , Tiya Sircar , Vanessa Marshall , Jason Isaacs , Taylor Gray

Story By

Dave Filoni

Writers

Dave Filoni , Greg Weisman

Streaming Service(s)

Disney+

Directors

Dave Filoni

Showrunner

Dave Filoni , Simon Kinberg