In preparation for the upcoming Ahsoka show, I have been reading through all of the Thrawn books since he will be the main villain. I have finally finished them and recently realized something that I think will make the Ahsoka show very interesting. In short, these two characters are an interesting match. They each have qualities that, when pitted against each other, might surprise us, or at least it should be very entertaining! Actually, today I will mention some predictions, based on the book content and some content already shown in other shows, for what will happen in Ahsoka. But before I get into that, let’s take a look at who these two highly popular characters are.
Spoiler Warning
Quick note, spoiler warning for the Ahsoka novel and the Thrawn novels, along with Star Wars, the Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi TV shows. Also, please note that I will make some predictions at the end of this post that may contain spoilers for the upcoming Ahsoka TV show. So, if you do not like TV show predictions, please read with caution. Again, please consider this your spoiler warning. While I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, if you have not at least watched the animated Star Wars shows mentioned previously and read Thrawn: Alliances, you will run into some spoilers in this post.
Who is Thrawn?
I will keep this section short as I recently wrote a whole post on Thrawn. If you have not read that post, click here and check it out. In that post, I go over some critical information on who Thrawn is and what kind of bad guy he is. However, when I wrote that post, I was just beginning to read through the Legends collection of the Thrawn books, having only read the newer trilogies. As a result, there were some things I had not yet read about. Now that I have gotten through all the books, I thought it would be a good idea to give you my updated analysis of Thrawn.
Initially, I was confused by a missing detail that wasn’t fully explained until the Hand of Thrawn duology written after the Heir to the Empire series. While I won’t tell you what that detail was, I will say that it connected the newer and older books for me. Until I read that book, I kept finding myself trying to understand the reason behind the difference between Thrawn in the first trilogy and in the newer trilogies. I once thought that the two “versions” of Thrawn were quite different. But now I see that they are not. Thrawns story is quite fluid, and his arc is one I find absolutely fascinating. That being said, there is still one thing that I don’t yet understand. What caused Thrawn to so fully dedicate himself to the ways of the Empire? In the newer books, Thrawn cares for his crew and does not act out violently to any of them. He even takes the time to console a young girl who is in tears and teach another young Chiss girl to pilot a ship. The latter can be explained as something that was necessary to his current plans. But the first displays something about Thrawn that is less obvious in the older books, his emotional side.
In the older Legends books, we see less of Thrawn’s emotional connection with people than we do in the newer books. In the older books, he even goes so far as to commit murder. In the Heir to the Empire trilogy, he actually has one of his crew killed on deck when he fails to secure someone in a tractor beam. Thrawn deemed that individual as unable to think creatively in the moment and thus terminated him while also displaying, very clearly, what he expected from his subordinates. His reasoning was purely tactical. This is the only time Thrawn kills one of his men, and he himself does not do the killing; he simply orders his bodyguard to do so. But he does not show any emotion during the event. So there seems to me to be a slight disconnect between the Thrawn in the older books and the Thrawn in the newer books. This disconnect is; what turned him cold-hearted? Whether he is purely cold-hearted or not, I am not sure. His morals are definitely a little off-kilter, but aside from that one incident, he actually seems to value life and avoid terminating others if he doesn’t need to.
The Thrawn we see in Star Wars: Rebels seems a bit more like the one in Legends, which makes sense for where that story lies in the timeline of Thrawn’s life. If you have not seen that show, there is a scene where Thrawn has one of his workers killed for sabotaging a speeder bike. He also shows a burst of anger, going so far as to grab one of his officers by the collar. At first, that seemed more like a Darth Vader move than a Thrawn move. However, if you go back and watch the scene, one could say that Thrawn had deemed that type of emotional expression necessary to get the officer’s attention and put him in a certain mental state. If Thrawn had displayed that anger too soon, he would have appeared out of control. If he had done it too late, he would have appeared desperate. His actions, if he wanted to scare his officer into thinking about things differently, did seem very well-timed. Was this out of character, or was it spot on? I am inclined to view it as the latter.
These different “stages” of Thrawn leave the writers with an interesting set of options for where to take the character in the upcoming Ahsoka show. They could stick with the older, slightly more cold-hearted Thrawn, make him a tad more aggressive like he is in Rebels, or make him more relatable and allow the audience to connect with him emotionally, as is done in the newer trilogies. Or they could do all three, as, so far, all three do seem to make up the whole of who Thrawn really is at heart. A soldier determined to protect his people no matter the cost.
I am very excited to see what they choose to do with Thrawn in the Ahsoka show. The more I read about him, the more I wonder if he is more of an anti-hero, but even that detail makes him more of an interesting character in a “bad guy” role. Timothy Zahn, the creator of Thrawn, once said, “I don’t see him as evil, per se, but he’s certainly allied himself with some nasty people. But as you say, there are reasons for what he does, and while people might disagree with his methods, I think we can all understand his goals.” Thrawn, a genius military tactician allied with a morally corrupt government, fighting against rebels who seek freedom from dictatorship, with a goal to protect his own people from something much worse than Palpatine, has an endlessly fascinating story. In short, he truly is the ultimate bad guy!
Who is Ahsoka?
It has been a while since I have read Ahsoka. The book was written by E. K. Johnston and released in 2016 and, at the time, having recently had Star Wars: The Clone Wars cut short, I was desperate for more Ahsoka content. The book wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped, but I did like it and enjoyed the story. Then, when Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi came out, I was pleased to see that they gave us an episode, titled Resolve, that was very similar to the book, which made me appreciate the novel even more. While I do recommend reading the book before the show comes out, I think you could watch Resolve and pretty much get the gist of the most impactful scenes in the book. However, the book, which seems to be considered Canon, gives a great glimpse into Ahsoka’s state of mind shortly after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season seven, so it’s a great book to read with or without the show.
That being said, today, I want to focus more on who Ahsoka is as a person since this will be important for a prediction I will make at the end of this post. If you don’t know much about Ahsoka, here are some important details.
Species: Togruta
Home world: Shili
Physical description: Orange skin with white markings, blue eyes, and blue and white striped lekku (her head tails). Well-muscled and stands about five foot nine inches.
Memorable Traits: Bright blue eyes and white facial markings.
Background: Found by Jedi Master Plo Koon, Ahsoka was brought to the Jedi temple when she was about three years old and trained under Yoda and other Jedi at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She eventually became Anakin Skywalker’s padawan during the Clone Wars before leaving the Jedi after they falsely accused her of, and arrested her for, bombing the Jedi temple and killing multiple people. She was later cleared of all charges by her master, Anakin Skywalker, but the damage was done, and she felt she could no longer trust the Jedi Council, so she left.
Skills: She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and lightsaber combat. She also possesses a calm in battle that often lends itself to building confidence in those around her, and she is a great leader. She cares deeply for her troops and those she fights alongside and traffics with throughout life, even if they don’t fully treat her well.
Weaknesses: Her weakness was once overconfidence, but she overcame that specific issue as she grew in age and experience. However, that is not to say she has no flaws. Her biggest flaw towards the end of the Clone Wars was her dependence on the Jedi as a source of her self-identity. She also was blinded, as were the Jedi, to the severity of Anakin’s unmet psychological needs that would eventually lead to his downfall at the hands of Emperor Palpatine, even going so far as to believe Anakin was incorruptible.
Ahsoka’s Presence and Personal Struggles
Ahsoka is portrayed as a noble force wielder both in the shows and in the book. She is no longer a Jedi, as you may know if you have seen Star Wars the Clone Wars. But she is one of the most powerful force-wielders out there, as she was trained by Anakin Skywalker himself. But she is quite different from Anakin, almost sharing more qualities with Luke Skywalker, Anakin’s son. Ahsoka is much calmer than Anakin, finding an emotional balance and resilience based more on her experiences and connection with the force than on her overall power. Ahsoka is known for her almost gentle approach to strength. She somehow has a distinct gentleness about her, even when fighting, a mark of her well-written character arc. This unique approach to strength almost gives her more power, allowing her to maintain a calm that gives her fighting a very efficient and effective style.
Ahsoka is clearly more concerned about how she connects to the force than how strong she is, something Anakin struggled with throughout his life. She still struggles with many failures, and the trailer for the Ahsoka show gives a glimpse into those struggles and failures. One question the show writers seem to be hinting at in the trailer is whether she struggles with follow-through. She left the Jedi order because they were corrupt. But why did she leave Anakin? Could she simply not face him due to guilt? I am not sure. Maybe they will explain it in the show. But I look forward to seeing more of Ahsoka as an adult. At the end of the Clone Wars, she was only seventeen years old, and we only got to see her as an adult briefly in The Mandalorian. Thankfully, Dave Filoni, Ahsoka’s original writer and creator, wrote the Ahsoka show, so I am excited to see her again!
Now that we know a little more about Ahsoka, I want to take a look at Thrawn and Ahsoka side by side.
Thrawn Versus Ahsoka
When I first heard Thrawn would be the main villain in the continuation of Ahsoka’s story, I was just excited to see him again. Then I began to think about what these two would be like together. In Rebels, we saw a small taste of what this combination might offer us. However, in that show, Ahsoka seemed more focused on Ezra and Darth Vader than she was on Thrawn. But, as I thought about these two characters, I began to realize how awesome this Thrawn versus Ahsoka match-up could turn out to be. To put this in perspective, I will list some of their traits that stood out to me so you can see what I am thinking.
Thrawn – Skilled in battle tactics and military strategy.
Ahsoka – Strong in the Force and able to utilize creative problem-solving.
Thrawn – Logical rather than emotional.
Ahsoka – Calm rather than volatile.
Thrawn – A great leader.
Ahsoka – Was a great leader in the Clone Wars and has the makings to be one again.
Thrawn – Week in politics and understanding politicians.
Ahsoka - Distrust politics and politicians.
Thrawn – Does not waste resources and opportunities even if doing so compromises his reputation.
Ashoka – Empathetic to others even if it puts her reputation on the line.
Thrawn – Motivated by protectiveness toward his home world but does not allow it to control his emotions.
Ahsoka – Protective of those she cares about but does not allow it to control her emotions.
These are just a few of the parallels between these characters, but I think they are important. First of all, they are well-matched in intelligence. While Thrawn has an edge on Ahsoka in overall long-term logical thinking and military strategy, Ahsoka has a military background and a creative mind that I think can adapt to Thrawn’s plotting quite well. In addition to this, I find the similarities in their emotional control very intriguing. Ahsoka and Thrawn possess calm and thoughtful personalities, both more interested in success, or more accurately for Ahsoka, doing the right thing, than boosting their egos. Both have a roadblock in the area of politics, which could set them up for some kind of understanding at some point. In addition, the Thrawn in the newer books seems to work very well with people like Ahsoka (people who have empathetic views of those around them). In the Ascendancy Trilogy, Thrawn even seems to think that working with people who see others as people, not just assets, helps him succeed. And the icing on the cake, they both have a connection in Anakin. Ahsoka was trained by Anakin, and Thrawn briefly worked with Anakin to help him rescue Padme during the Clone Wars. This storyline can be found in Thrawn: Alliances. I won’t give away more details about that book because it is a great read. But it is important to note that in Canon, both Ahsoka and Thrawn knew Anakin before he became Darth Vader!
My Predictions
I don’t always like to put predictions out there simply because voicing them can make me attached to the ideas. But I would like to propose three potential predictions for the Ahsoka show. The first is that there is a cloning threat that Ahsoka must stop. This idea stems from a plot line from the older books. But I have noticed the concept of clones and cloning technology pop up in the new movies and the show Star Wars: The Bad Batch, so this theory, or something similar, is definitely a possibility.
Second, I constantly find myself wondering if Ahsoka and Thrawn might end up in a situation where Ahsoka makes a deal with Thrawn that helps both his people and the New Republic. For example, Ahsoka could offer to help Thrawn protect his people in exchange for him withdrawing from taking over and restarting the Empire. This could be a fun storyline to see play out, but something tells me they will probably not go this route. But we will have to wait and see.
Third, Ezra could have already made a deal with Thrawn, and he and Thrawn have something up their sleeve that we won’t know about until the very end.
One or all of these ideas could technically play out in some way, shape, or form. Or I could be completely off. But I thought these predictions were interesting in light of Thrawn and Ahsoka and their similarities and differences.
Do you have predictions for the Ahsoka show? Leave a comment below and let me know. Make sure to share this post with your Star Wars loving friends; let’s see if we can get some more predictions in the comments!
References:
Reference 1: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ahsoka_Tano
Reference 2: Timothy Zahn on Grand Admiral Thrawn: ‘He’s like an old friend who I understand completely’ - The Verge
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Photos all taken via camera or screenshot by Ondrea Keigh. Ahsoka half of two-sided photo is a screenshot from Disney+.
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