In Timothy Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire” trilogy, a legendary “Star Wars” character was birthed.
Zahn’s work reinvigorated the franchise’s Extended Universe (EU) by introducing antagonists that were not Sith but motivated by ambitions that did not align completely with that of the Empire.
The big bad in Zahn’s work was a tactical genius who cared about his men for pragmatic reasons and emerged as someone dangerous without wielding special sabers or Force-sensitive abilities.
We’re talking about Grand Admiral Thrawn, the blue-skinned Chiss officer who took it upon himself to dismantle the freshly-built New Republic that was still finding its footing.The key to understanding Thrawn is Zahn’s “Thrawn Ascendancy” trilogy, which serves as a prequel to “Star Wars Rebels” and takes place sometime after the events of “Attack of the Clones.” The trilogy introduces the Chiss Ascendancy, a relatively-unknown oligarchic autocracy hidden deep within the galaxy, whose…
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