The first of these books, simply titled Thrawn, actually adapted a Legends short story. Mikkelsen voiced the animated Thrawn when the character made his debut in Star Wars Rebels, and the Grand Admiral's backstory has been explored in a series of novels by Thrawn's creator, Zahn. Respecting Thrawn's tactical genius, Palpatine appointed him to the rank of Grand Admiral and sent him out into the Unknown Regions to protect against mysterious, shadowy threats. The blue-skinned, red-eyed alien was banished from his own people, the Chiss, due to his aggressive military philosophy. The most obvious element is Grand Admiral Thrawn, who will be played by Lars Mikkelsen in the Ahsoka Disney+ TV show. Related: Grand Admiral Thrawn Confirmed As Mandalorian Movie's 'Big Bad' Here are all the major elements of the Thrawn trilogy that have now become canon ahead of the adaptation. The character lies at the heart of Lucasfilm's plans for The Mandalorian era in current canon, which will culminate in a spectacular event movie widely expected to be called ' Heir to the Empire.' In recent interviews with Empire Magazine, Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni and The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau confirmed they've been planting seeds for their adaptation for quite some time. An alien who hailed from the Unknown Regions, Thrawn was a strategic genius who came close to destroying the New Republic. Heir to the Empire was the first book in Zahn's celebrated Thrawn trilogy, introducing a major villain Grand Admiral Thrawn as the leader of a resurgent Empire. These stories are now considered non-canon (or ' Legends'), but they continue to have a remarkable influence on the current franchise. What became the classic 'Expanded Universe' effectively relaunched in 1991, with the release of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy's Star Wars: Dark Empire comic book miniseries and Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. Star Wars has always been a transmedia franchise, with the first tie-in comics and books published well before The Empire Strikes Back. Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire relaunched Star Wars' Expanded Universe back in 1991, and gradually so many aspects of the story have become part of the Disney canon.

Heir to the empire by timothy zahn