Star Wars: Ahsoka – Thrawn Actor and Background Explainer

Grand Admiral Thrawn, perhaps the most iconic Star Wars villain after Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine for anyone prone to reading Star Wars novels, has finally arrived in live-action thanks to Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 6, titled Far, far away. If you’re not familiar with the character due to not having read the novels or watched Star Wars: Rebels, then this Thrawn explainer is for you.

Star Wars Thrawn actor

Thrawn actor Lars Mikkelsen brought a similar menacing and charming presence to his portrayal of the military officer as he did when he voiced Thrawn in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars: Rebels show, which featured Thrawn’s debut in the Disney canon.

This means that Mikkelsen, who is no stranger to playing antagonists, portrays Thrawn both in live-action and in animation, which is not something that’s very common for Star Wars.

Star Wars Thrawn background

This blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss – an alien race from the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars galaxy – has a special place in the hearts of many old-school Star Wars fans. He was originally created by author Timothy Zahn, who made him the centerpiece of his Heir to the Empire trilogy of novels back in the 1990s. This series of books kicked off the Expanded Universe back in the day, continuing the story of Star Wars outside of the movies.

Like most of the Expanded Universe, Thrawn fell victim to Disney taking over Star Wars and was first banished into the realms of Star Wars Legends – all the old stories that were no longer considered to be official canon. However, a character as great as him couldn’t remain in those shadows for long.

Dave Filoni worked with Timothy Zahn to bring Thrawn back as an antagonist for his animated show, Star Wars: Rebels, keeping most of his appearance, character, and background intact. Thrawn was kidnapped into the unknown galaxy we’ve now entered in Ahsoka at the end of the Rebels show, but Zahn was allowed to tell stories featuring the character set prior to what was happening in Rebels, writing a new Thrawn trilogy that fleshed out his origins.

Thrawn is, to make it short, a genius. He’s a ruthless Sherlock Holmes, a chessmaster with an analytical mind that has yet to find an equal. The Grand Admiral is especially interested in art – give him a few pieces of art or cultural artifacts to study, and he’ll use this knowledge to devise sound military plans to defeat the originators of those pieces, having analyzed their psychology and culture. While he rose to the rank of Grand Admiral in the Empire – as the only non-human to ever do so – he’s not a die-hard fanatic.

First and foremost, Thrawn is loyal to his own species, the Chiss. He joined the Empire primarily to gain access to its military forces in order to protect the Chiss Ascendancy, which is under the grave threat of a brutal alien race called the Grysk. As such, Thrawn isn’t necessarily evil in the way Palpatine is evil, but he’s more than ready to commit foul deeds to reach his goals. He's a practical man.

Of course, we don’t know what happened to him in the years he’s been stranded in the other galaxy. We don’t know if his motivations or personality has changed in any significant way.

All we know is that Thrawn wants to return – and we’ll see whether or not he makes it home in the remaining episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka on Disney+.

Related: Star Wars: Ahsoka Timeline – Here’s When The Show Takes Place