It finally happened. We finally got a look at Mitth’raw’nuruodo, better known as Grand Admiral Thrawn. When he was first introduced in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire book trilogy in the ’90s, Thrawn quickly became one of the most compelling villains in all of Star Wars, as he was a rare threat that couldn’t shoot lightning out of his fingers and didn’t wield a laser sword. He is just a guy with no powers but a big intellect and zero mercy.
This made him a perfect foil for the Rebels crew, as Thrawn represented the big, organized, ruthless machinery of the Empire, without the magic lightning powers and laser swords. Now, Dave Filoni, who brought Thrawn back into canon after Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars turned the Heir to the Empire books into “Legends” material, has brought Thrawn back once again in Ahsoka. The latest episode proves, in just a handful of scenes, why Thrawn is one of the best Star Wars villains ever.
And he arrives with much fanfare: Half of the episode feels like the proposed Dune TV series, with Thrawn arriving to greet Elsbeth and the dark Jedi like he was a God Emperor on board a semi-destroyed Star Destroyer (from the finale of Rebels) with a cool chimaera painting at its bottom. Thrawn is surrounded by an army of stormtrooper zealots, their broken armor and helmets repaired with gold and red, like kintsugi.
He is also accompanied by his right-hand man, Enoch, who has a whole golden face on his helmet like the baddest dude around — and he joins the ever-growing list of helmeted Star Wars characters whose purpose is to look cool and do absolutely nothing. Adding to the Dune vibes, Kevin Kiner introduces Thrawn with huge organ music fanfare that is reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s bagpipe sound for the Atreides. The Nightsisters speak in a Bene Gesserit–like voice. And the planet they’re on, with its massive ruins and desert fortress, also brings to mind Arrakis under the Harkonnen rule (with a bit of Minas Tirith thrown in).
Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced Thrawn in the cartoons, is fantastic in live-action, too. He effortlessly embodies the blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss, retaining the character’s menacing demeanor as well as his cold but curious charm. He greets Sabine like an old friend and actually honors Baylan Skoll’s deal by giving her provisions and directions to Ezra — while also sending Baylan to kill her the moment she finds the lost Jedi. Indeed, while this is the same Thrawn from Rebels, he is different in one key way: Where his biggest weakness used to be his underestimating of the Force, he is now allied with the surviving Nightsisters on the planet, using them to bring Elsbeth to rescue them all and even asking to use their magick to obliterate the incoming Purrgil that carries Ahsoka.
As for Sabine, she goes on a cute little fantasy quest with a semi-magical creature (an ugly horse-dog-rat thing that suddenly becomes a cute puppy dog that follows her around). It is silly, but then again, one of the strengths of Rebels was how it highlighted that animals are also connected to the Force. Things improve once Sabine finds a Noti, an extremely weird and cute sort of mutant hermit turtle Ewok. The little guy leads her to their village and a familiar face — Ezra! Space Jesus himself, now sporting a cool beard! Ezra is essentially living like a Fremen on Arrakis, and he’s even recruited the Noti to be his little band of rebels, as they all seem to worship Ezra’s Rebellion symbol. While the casting of Eman Esfandi is also great, we don’t spend much time with him, as the moment Ezra asks excitedly how Sabine found him, she evades the very awkward question.
Thankfully, they won’t be alone for long, because Ashoka is coming. While on the way to the planet, she and Huyang discuss Sabine’s decision, with Ahsoka being rather disappointed in her apprentice’s betrayal and willing acceptance of the enemy’s plan. It is Huyang that makes her see a different perspective, that maybe this was Sabine’s only choice to make. He then tells Ahsoka a tale children used to tell back at the temple about this new galaxy. The story begins, as all good stories do, with “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” which is the first time we hear that phrase uttered in-universe, and is used perfectly here. Huyang continues to be the best thing about Ahsoka, and having this millennia-old droid be the keeper of lore and stories makes sense.
While Ahsoka spells hope for Ezra and Sabine, she’ll have to hurry because Baylan has plans of his own. The Dark Jedi remains the most interesting character in Ahsoka, and we see Baylan fascinated with the new planet, reminiscing about the stories he heard while at the temple. We learn that he was but a Padawan when the Jedi Temple fell (but still a general in the army). He never heard of Ezra because he is part of a generation he calls the Bokken Jedi — those who learned outside the temple, meaning there are even more like him out there.
As we’ve seen before, Baylan seems conflicted in his feelings toward the past. He misses the idea of the Order — but not its truth or its weaknesses. He has become a boomer who thinks climate change is just a natural cycle, and he is convinced the Jedi and the Sith are just part of an endless cycle of destruction that repeats over and over — until now. He tells his apprentice that what he is looking for is not Thrawn, but a power that scares both the Nightsisters and even the Grand Admiral, a power that can end the cycle and create a new beginning.
This is alarming enough, but Ray Stevenson continues to make Baylan such a compelling character that it is hard not to be at least a bit curious to see what power he seeks and what he’ll do when he finds it. Thrawn is a welcome — but familiar — face. Baylan, meanwhile, is a complete wild card, and that is the most exciting part of Ahsoka.
The Jedi Archives
• Thrawn is bringing in three days’ worth of catacombs to the Nightsisters, so get ready for zombie Star Wars!
• When Ezra inevitably gets back to the main galaxy, what do you think will surprise him more: that Lando Calrissian is a war hero now, that the entire planet of Alderaan was destroyed, or that Darth Vader (the guy that almost murdered him several times) had a kid who grew up to be the new face of the Jedi?
• Poor General Grievous, he was such an underwhelming villain he couldn’t even fulfill his mission to genocide the Nightsisters properly.
• Making the Nightsisters come from another galaxy is a cool way of differentiating their powers from others.
• The ring around the planet Peridea is literally made out of whale bones, which is pretty metal.
