Star Wars is more present now than ever before. Not only did the franchise have a successful series of films, but now there are multiple television series set in a galaxy far, far away airing across Disney+. The series spans different points in the timeline and even jumps between live-action and animation. Yet the most popular Star Wars series, and likely the biggest fan favorite for many across the board, is The Mandalorian. Premiering as a launch title with Disney+, The Mandalorian follows the titular bounty hunter, whose real name is Din Djarin, as he travels across the galaxy with 'The Child,' whose real name is Grogu (though the internet has collectively agreed to name it Baby Yoda).
Created by Iron Man director Jon Favreau and longtime Star Wars writer Dave Filoni, The Mandalorian proved so successful that Lucasfilm greenlit a variety of spin-off series. The first released was The Book of Boba Fett, which premiered in December 2021. Set to air sometime after The Mandalorian season three is Ahsoka, where Rosario Dawson plays the popular character who first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars before making her live-action debut on The Mandalorian.
Disney originally announced a third spin-off, Rangers of the New Republic, but that appears to have been scrapped in favor of Skeleton Crew from Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts, that is set in the same time period as The Mandalorian and follows a group of kids trying to get home. This has become its own interconnected corner of the Star Wars franchise, and it was confirmed in 2020 that these shows would cross over into event series. No word has been given on specific details, but plot threads teased throughout The Mandalorian seem to indicate Lucasfilm might be trying to adapt one of its most popular stories and make it canon: The Thrawn Trilogy.
This is how Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, and the rest of Lucasfilm might be adapting The Thrawn Trilogy and how it could make the perfect bridge between the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy for Disney.
What is The Thrawn Trilogy?
The Thrawn Trilogy was a set of Star Wars novels by author Timothy Zahn that continued the story after Return of the Jedi. The series includes 1991's Heir to the Empire, 1992's Dark Force Rising, and 1993's The Last Command and tells the story of a new villain, the military genius Grand Admiral Thrawn, who launches a series of offensive campaigns to bring down the recently founded New Republic in a bid to restore the Galactic Empire to power. The novels were incredibly popular, and not only introduced fan-favorite characters to the series like Luke's future wife Mara Jade but also launched the Expanded Universe of the Star Wars franchise, which was for many the canonical continuation of the story until 2014, when Disney deemed all Star Wars material that was not the six movies and animated series The Clone Wars to be non-canon, now published under Legends.
While not being canon, The Thrawn Trilogy has left an incredible mark on Star Wars, and it appears the stories have fans within Lucasfilm. Thrawn was adapted into the animated series Star Wars: Rebels as the primary villain of the final two seasons. Zahn himself was asked to return to write both a new alternate canon trilogy and a prequel trilogy titled Thrawn Ascendancy. With the announcement of a Star Wars Disney+ event crossover series, and the presence of Thrawn hanging over much of the Star Wars galaxy recently, it may be the pieces being moved into place to set up the iconic story.
Are the Disney+ Series Setting Up an Adaptation
While The Mandalorian and its spin-off The Book of Boba Fett have focused on their own original stories it appears that in the background they are setting up a reimagining of the Thrawn trilogy. There are many similarities between both The Thrawn Trilogy and The Mandalorian. Both specifically take place five years after the events of Return of the Jedi as the New Republic is finding its footing and the remnants of the Galactic Empire are making their presence known. Thrawn's live-action debuted was teased during season 2 of The Mandalorian, it appears the quest to find him and the Rebels character Ezra Bridger will be the driving plot of the upcoming Ahsoka series, which is a spin-off of The Mandalorian.
The biggest difference is shifting the focus from Luke, Han, and Leia to the various heroes from the Disney+ series like Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and more. Shifting focus keeps in with the thematic development of projects like Rogue One, where the story follows a different group of heroes separate from the Skywalkers and helps show how it is a wide variety of individuals that shape the course of galactic history. It also fits in with the character development that The Mandalorian has laid out for Din Djarin and will continue to in season three, as he is constantly thrown into bigger conflicts he has no interest in.
Thrawn Story Can Bridge the Original and Sequel Trilogies
Many fans were upset not only when Disney labeled The Thrawn Trilogy non-canonical, but also that the sequel trilogy opted for an original story instead of adapting the books. There were plenty of reasons for Lucasfilm to make this decision. One was the fact that the novels took place five years after Return of the Jedi but The Force Awakens had to work around the real 32-year gap between the last time the original cast played their characters. The second being Disney wanted to be able to craft its own unique story so that audiences could have a sense of surprise; they didn't need to read anything beforehand and nobody would be spoiled going in.
However, the Disney+ series now offers a way to please fans that were disappointed that the Thrawn storyline was not the sequel trilogy as well as the fans who did love the new story elements of the sequel trilogy. The Thrawn trilogy being adapted into the Star Wars crossover event across the various Disney+ series allows it to still act as a continuation to Return of the Jedi and be a better setup for The Force Awakens, strengthening the connection between the two trilogies.
Thrawn's attempt to restore the Empire to its former glory might be the first step in laying the groundwork for the formation of The First Order. Their presence has been teased in The Mandalorian, and both it and the animated series The Bad Batch have hinted at the secret plan to clone the Emperor. This might be Disney's attempt to retcon an explanation for how Palpatine returned in The Rise of Skywalker. With Din in possession of the dark saber that could unite Mandalore, Boba Fett looking to make Tattoinnee a safer place, and Ahsoka on the quest to find a lost Jedi, the pieces could be in place for a small army to take on an emerging dark side threat, one that will lay the groundwork for the First Order to rise. The Thrawn Trilogy could find its way into the Star Wars timeline while telling its own story and uniting two trilogies.