Grand Admiral Thrawnis a major villain in both of theStar Warsfranchise’s continuities and while he is best known for his leadership within theGalactic Empire, he also has a fascinating history that precedes his Imperial service. Thrawn debuted in the originalStar WarsLegendscontinuity, serving as one of the primary antagonists of Timothy Zahn’sThrawntrilogy of novels. Thrawn quickly cemented himself as a favorite villain amongStar Warsreaders, so he would, unsurprisingly, play major roles in other Legends-era properties, such as Timothy Zahn’s 2006 novel,Outbound Flight.
Following the partial reboot of theStar Warsfranchise in April 2014, Grand Admiral Thrawn was exclusive to the Legends continuity for a time, untilStar Wars Rebelsintroduced a new iteration of the iconic villain to oppose the fledglingRebel Alliance. While the new version of Thrawn retained many of the key traits of the original iteration, his history in the Imperial era differed significantly from his original incarnation, with Thrawn being marooned on an extragalactic world during the original trilogy’s timeframe. Thrawn’s new backstory, while largely handled by Timothy Zahn, would also differ slightly from the Legends continuity.
Thrawn Was A Part Of The Chiss Ascendancy
Thrawn, known by his Chiss name of Mitth’raw’nuruodo, was a commoner from theUnknown Regionsworld of Csilla who joined the Chiss Expansionary Fleet, a portion of the defensive fleet of the Chiss Ascendency. Thrawn’s servitude made him an adopted member of the Chiss Eighth Ruling Family, and he quickly demonstrated profound excellence in military leadership, becoming the youngest Chiss to ever hold the rank of Force Commander. In addition to learning Galactic Basic Standard from a human smuggler, Thrawn also engaged in controversial preemptive attacks on the Vagaari, with Chiss culture believing that military action must be exclusively defensive.
Admiral Thrawn Knew Darth Vader Was Anakin Skywalker (But He Was Too Smart To Admit It)
While Thrawn deduced Darth Vader was once the Jedi Anakin Skywalker, he was far too smart to outright reveal the truth to the Dark Lord.
There are notable differences between the two iterations of Thrawn, including their respective relationships with Mitth’ras’safis – also known as Thrass. Originally, Thrass was Thrawn’s brother, and while Thrawn would become a remarkable military leader in the Chiss Ascendency, Thrass would choose the path of a politician instead. In the Legends continuity,Thrass would criticize his brother’s taboo practice of preemptive strikes, even if the enemy in question, the Vagaari, were pirates and slavers. In the modern canon, Thrass is not related to Thrawn literally, but the two became as close as brothers during their service in the Chiss Ascendency.
The modernStar Warscanon also changes Thrawn’s homeworld from Csilla to Rentor.
Thrawn’s career in the Chiss Ascendency is explored in far greater detail in the modern canon than it was in the Legends continuity, with Timothy Zahn authoring six Thrawn-centric novels, including theThrawn Ascendencytrilogy. Fascinatingly, the modern canon hasThrawn interact with Anakin Skywalkerduring his time as a Jedi, something that the original incarnation of Thrawn never did. During the Clone Wars,Thrawn, a Senior Captain in the Ascendency at the time, briefly allied with Skywalker and the GalacticRepublic, preventing the Separatists from producingCortosis-coated B2 Super Battle Droids and acquiring deflector shield technology for the Ascendency.
Thrawn’s Work For The Chiss Caught The Empire’s Attention
Thrawn inadvertently interfered with one of Palpatine’s schemesin the years preceding the Separatist Crisis in the Legends continuity. Despite being significantly outnumbered and outclassed, Thrawn defeated a task force of Trade Federation vessels, led by Kinman Doriana, who was a close associate of Palpatine’s. Doriana brought Thrawn and Palpatine to each other’s attention, and the two became brief allies, with their shared understanding of the threat of the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong leading Thrawn to command a combined force of Chiss Ascendency and Trade Federation craft to destroy Outbound Flight, preventing the Vong from being led back to the Republic.
Thrawn’s actions against the Vagaari and Outbound Flight proved too aggressive for the rest of the Chiss Ascendency, however, and after more preemptive military actions, Thrawn was exiled. These actions were deliberate, with Thrawn wishing to rejoin Palpatine, who in turn saw Thrawn as an invaluable asset to his panned Empire. Shortly after Palpatine’s authoritarian coup, Imperial forces would encounter Thrawn on the Unknown Regions world he had been exiled to. After a brief conflict with the Imperials,Thrawn surrendered and offered his strategic expertise to the Empire. With the approval of Emperor Palpatine himself, Thrawn joined the Imperial Navy.
The modern canon tells a similar story of how Thrawn joined the Empire, only there is one key difference:Thrawn’s exile was fabricated, with Thrawn and the Chiss Ascendency using it as a ploy to lead the Imperial Military to accept Thrawn into their ranks. The plot was intended to either make the Galactic Empire a key ally of the Chiss Ascendency in their conflicts with the Grysk Hegemony or allow Thrawn to sabotage them from within, lessening their threat to the Ascendency. Emperor Palpatine, upon learning of Thrawn’s true goals, sought to absorb the Ascendency into the Empire, however.
Thrawn’s Expertise Made Him The Only High-Ranking Non-Human Imperial
The Legends continuity’s iteration of the Galactic Empire was notably prejudiced against non-humans, with the Empire’s “Human High Culture” proving to be one of the greatest obstacles to Thrawn’s career. Despite this,Thrawn’s strategic genius allowed him to quickly climb in rank, eventually becoming one of the renowned Grand Admirals of the Imperial Navy. Thrawn’s promotion had few witnesses and his rank was kept secret, as Emperor Palpatine publicly only allowed for there to betwelve Grand Admirals– with all positions filled before Thrawn’s promotion. Grand Admiral Thrawn did not participate in the Battle of Endor, however.
Grand Admiral Thrawn was stationed in the Unknown Regions while the Battle of Endor took place.
High Human culture remains in the modernStar Warscanon and, like his original incarnation, the current iteration of Thrawn also rose through the ranks of the Imperial Navy, thanks to his brilliance and in spite of the Empire’s speciesism.Thrawn’s leadership during the Batonn sector insurgency led Emperor Palpatine to promote Thrawn to Grand Admiral, though his promotion was not secret. In the modernStar Warscanon, there were only twelve Grand Admirals in the Empire, and Thrawn was among them instead of being an unofficial thirteenth holder of the rank.
June 21, 2025
Grand Admiral Thrawn
The only alien to ever ascend to the rank of Grand Admiral, Thrawn is a strategic genius who hails from an isolationist race known as the Chiss. Thrawn’s motives are enigmatic, but his tactical brilliance made him a vital asset for the Empire. Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger successfully defeated Thrawn during the Battle of Lothal, resulting in Thrawn’s exile to the distant planet Peridea in another galaxy, but the Grand Admiral has now returned.
