Why Grand Admiral Thrawn Is the Greatest Villain in the Star Wars Universe

Given that the Emperor and Darth Vader died quite spectacularly in ROTJ, Zahn needed a threat to oppose the burgeoning New Republic of his novel. Enter Mitth’raw’nuruodo, luckily better known as Grand Admiral Thrawn, an alien from a distant, little explored region of the galaxy. Once a valued officer in the Imperial Navy, he managed to gather together the scattered remnants of the Empire into a cohesive force strong enough to challenge the Republic. Though he was ultimately defeated, the trilogy set up a couple decades’ worth of territory for the Expanded Universe stories to explore, carrying the flame for the Force through those years when there were no new movies, and the even more perilous years when there were. And though them all, Thrawn loomed larger than any character who hadn’t been featured in the original trilogy, and a good deal larger than many who had.
Sadly, when it came time to clear the decks for The Force Awakens, the powers that be shoved all of that EU continuity to the side, but like a thrice-cloned Palpatine, some things never truly die. Some of the most popular elements of the EU either never left (Zahn’s name for the Imperial homeworld,Coruscant, became canon) or came back with a vengeance. Thus did Grand Admiral reappear as the big bad on the last season of Star Wars: Rebels (voiced, incidentally, by Lars Mikkelsen, brother of Mads, who played Galen Erso in Rogue One). Last month, Tim Zahn returned to the EU too, to tell the definitive, canonical story of the rise of the big blue guy in Thrawn.
The distinctive element Zahn brought to the earlier stories, and builds upon in Thrawn, is the sense that Thrawn is someone who could actually run an empire. It was always hard to imagine the cackling, megalomaniacal Palpatine actually running anything, especially when his top lieutenant, Darth Vader, has made it a habit to arbitrarily threaten and kill his finest officers. Thrawn is entirely different: frightening in his ruthless efficiency, but otherwise patient and thoughtful. If he’s got a flaw, it’s that he’s almost too good; it makes the Rebellion’s inevitable victory harder to swallow when they’re facing someone so competent.
I was reluctant to read Thrawn’s backstory, mostly because I tend not to be interested in the stories of villains, lest they lose their sense of menace. But Zahn’s Thrawn is already largely…likable. Polite to a fault, rewarding those who succeed while offering to council those who don’t. He’s even obsessed with art. He joins the Empire as an exile of his own people (there’s more to that story, it turns out, but we start there). Even though he’s been betrayed by his fellow Chiss, he desires to form an alliance with the Empire as an aid against ominous threats from outside known space. (Fans of the old EU might recognize a veiled reference to the Yuuzhan Vong, alien invaders from unknown regions who came along later in the books.; that storyline was less than universally loved, so I’d be a little surprised if that’s where we’re going.)
He shows enough potential that the Emperor indulges him, hinting Thrawn’s knowledge of distant reaches of the galaxy will make him a valuable asset. Thrawn is, then, the hero of his own book, and references to a budding rebel alliance are few—in this pre-A New Hope period, the Empire is both still consolidating power and at its peak. Though he finds the Empire lacking in the social niceties of more “civilized” parts of the galaxy, Thrawn’s patience and mastery of tactics serve the Emperor well, and make him easy to cheer for—even if he is working for the most explicitly villainous organization in pop culture history. Like I said, he’s easy to root for. Someone you’d actually want to follow, without the threat of Force-choking looming over your head.

Smartly, Zahn tells the story from both Thrawn’s point of view, and that of his aid, Eli Vanto. From a backwater of his own, Vanto is a largely unambitious young officer candidate before Thrawn takes on as an aid. The two stop smugglers and pirates, annoying and impressing the Imperial establishment with their successes. It’s easier to see the virtue of the Empire in maintaining a reasonable level of law and order, even as the two bristle corruption and inefficiency all around them. Meanwhile, we follow the rise of Arihnda Pryce from heir to an insignificant mining concern to governor of the planet Lothal. (Fans of Rebels will recognize both that world and the character as significant, though it’s not essential knowledge for the uninitiated.) Zahn’s book is a deep dive not only into the character of Thrawn, but into the inner workings of the Empire; it almost makes you feel like it wouldn’t be that bad a system to live under, if you know how to play the game. (Presumably you aren’t from Alderaan in this scenario.)
Charismatic chess-master Thrawn was a brilliant creation in 1991, and he’s lost none of his edge in the decades since. His renewed presence gives the Empire a depth we rarely see in the films, giving us a glimpse of the people behind the scenes who actually make that structure work. Star Wars is ultimately a saga of ultimate good versus ultimate evil, sans shades of grey (or blue), but Timothy Zahn’s latest had me almost rooting for the bad guys. Old EU fans have every reason to be happy about Thrawn’s return, but he’s just as fascinating for new readers looking to explore the dark side.
Star Wars: Thrawn is now available in an exclusive edition from Barnes & Noble.