This weekend Star Wars: Rebels released its trailer for the third season, and among the surprises was the appearance of a fan favorite: Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Timothy Zahn trilogy that I read when I was going to college in the early nineties.
Heir to the Empire was a fantastic book, and it hit at just the right time as I was getting heavily involved in the Star Wars RPG that was published by West End Games (I should have held onto my books). Aside from being very well written, Grand Admiral Thrawn was this evil, calculating, military genius that studied alien civilizations through their art and culture, and then figured out how to defeat them. Additionally, Zahn also introduced an alien called an ysalamiri that could create a bubble that pushed away the force, effectively neutralizing it. This is very useful stuff when you have to deal with Jedi and Sith on a regular basis.
Ever since reading that trilogy, I'd wondered if Grand Admiral Thrawn would ever make it to some kind of movie or television series. And now (it appears) that he's canon, although whether or not he will follow the plotline outlined by Zahn's narrative remains to be seen (as Grand Admiral Thrawn survived the destruction of the Death Star and would be more in the timeline of "The Force Awakens"). So seeing him in Star Wars: Rebels makes me think that Disney liked the ideas behind the character, but has something else in store for him that has nothing to do with the extended universe stuff.
Anyway, if you haven't seen the trailer yet (and you're a Star Wars fan) hit play below.
With Thrawn in it I might have to watch a couple episodes. You'd speculated it would be him and you were correct!
ReplyDeleteI was very excited to see Thrawn.
ReplyDeleteDisney has said that starting with season three, Rebels is going to have a more direct tie in with the movies.
I haven't gotten into this but I admit it looks compelling.
ReplyDeleteMakes me wish I had that channel.
ReplyDeleteI had that first book once upon a time. Never did read it, but I held onto it for a long time. (I may still have it someplace.)
ReplyDeleteYou know me, Mike -- I don't watch this series of Star Wars. But I gotta say last week I saw the one-hour special on the making of Star Wars - The Force Awakens and really enjoyed it. But I'm still bummed about Hans Solo, never mind that Harrison Ford thought his death was necessary for the story.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who enjoys Star Wars but isn't exactly an expert I'm just hearing about Grand Admiral Thrawn. He intrigued me in the trailer last week but reading your post Mike has turned up my excitement for him sky high. I already loved the trailer!
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