‘Star Wars Rebels’ Rumor: Grand Admiral Thrawn (!!!) to appear on show
The Prequels left me down as futz during my adolescence, but the Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy definitely helped fill some of that hurt in my heart. When Disney announced they were submarining the entire Expanded Universe, I lamented the (potential) loss of two characters: Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Mara Jade.
It appears that list of mourning is down to one.
While the midseason trailer for “Star Wars Rebels” promised a lot of major developments and unexpected cameos in the next several episodes, one of the biggest surprises may be yet to come: a major character from “Star Wars” Legends.
Legends is the name for what used to be called the Expanded Universe, essentially those officially sanctioned stories outside of the “Star Wars” films (such as novels, comic books, video games, animated series, etc.). Following the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney, those stories were deemed no longer part of the canon — much to the dismay of many fans — and renamed Legends. It was later noted that while they’re no longer canon, some of those stories and characters could be drawn upon for new works, such as, say, “Star Wars Rebels.”
Among the characters shuffled off into Legends was Grand Admiral Thrawn, the fan-favorite Imperial officer introduced in 1991’s “Heir to the Empire,” the first novel in the “Thrawn Trilogy.” But now, according to one fan site, the tactical genius maybe making a comeback.
Making Star Wars reports the rumor that Thrawn will be reintroduced in the upcoming third season of “Rebels,” where he’ll be sent in pursuit of the Ghost crew.
The same report also contends Season 3 will see Ezra Bridger with short hair and a lightsaber similar to the second one wielded by Luke Skywalker.