Summary
It can be hard to let one’s creation go, and Thrawn creator Timothy Zahn knows this all too well. He added memorable elements to theStar Warsuniverse with his beloved novels before the big canon reset of the early 2010s. But now that Thrawn is back in the mainstream, he’s ready to make more artistically done magic.
After creatingthe intimidating Grand Admiral Thrawnfor his acclaimedHeir to the Empiretrilogy of books in the ’90s, Zahn had to look on as the now fan-favorite character returned toStar Warscanon with new writers behind him. Thrawn made his canon debut in the animated seriesStar Wars Rebelsbefore becoming one of the driving forces behind the recent first season ofAhsokaon Disney Plus. Some fans thought these appearances changed the character too much from the brilliant tactician he once was. But what did Zahn himself think?
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During a recent panel at Minneapolis' Twin Cities Con (as reported byStar WarsNews Net), Zahn spoke candidly about Thrawn and how the character has been portrayed in more recent stories. But despite the critical view from some fans, the author appeared surprisingly charitable in his appraisal of Thrawn’s seeming devotion to the Empire. According to Zahn, Thrawn’s motivations lie solely in his drive to help his government, the Chiss Ascendancy. In Thrawn’s view, the Empire would better serve that goal than the New Republic, so his motivation to help return the Empire to power remains in character.
Zahn had previously gotten to write for Thrawn again withinthe newStar Warscanon. However, he was effectively confined to a specific period sinceStar Wars RebelsandAhsokacreator Dave Filoni had locked Thrawn andRebelshero Ezra Bridger into a rigid set of events that left no space for new stories. Luckily, the first season ofAhsokachanged that when it brought both characters back. So Zahn added during his panel that he’s more than ready to finally write the Thrawn stories he wants to bring to the table. All he’s waiting for is the go-ahead from Filoni and Lucasfilm.
“It’s a 10 hour drive from my house to Lucasfilm. I would do it in eight… whatever Filoni wants, I will write it and you will like it.”
Given the current timeline of whereAhsokaseason 1 ended, there are many possibilities for where things can go from here. Fans have started speculating about the potential team-up ofexciting heroes who may join the fight against Thrawn. Bringing together several fan-favorite characters for a climactic battle is already enticing enough. But with a super-talented writer like Zahn behind it? Life Day must have come early.
Granted, Filoni most likely has concrete plans for Thrawn going forward. The creator has aMandalorianmovie coming up and possibly moreAhsoka, and Thrawn is heavily hinted as the main villain for all of that. So perhaps it’s not as open to interpretation as Zahn had hoped. Still, there’s got to be some wiggle room in there for the beloved author to stretch those cunning blue wings again.
Ahsokaseason 1 is available on Disney Plus.
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