Timothy Zahn on Thrawn: The Challenge of Adapting the Grand Admiral and His Hopes for Future Books
Timothy Zahn explained why he thinks that Grand Admiral Thrawn is a difficult character to adapt — and why he believes that Dave Filoni is up to task to do just that with the Ahsoka series.
In an interview with CloneWeb (translated from French), Zahn talked extensively about the past, present, and future of Thrawn as a character. When asked about the start of his story (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command), noted that he wanted to create a Star Wars antagonist unlike any one previously seen, so he made an effort to emphasize Thrawn as a military leader as opposed to a dark sorcerer:
“I wanted my character to be someone his men would follow out of loyalty, unlike Palpatine or Vader who manipulate and use fear. Everyone is ready to follow him. I was inspired by historical military and we must add a touch of Sherlock Holmes for intelligence and the ability to deduce. Captain Pellaeon is his Doctor Watson, someone he can explain his thoughts to for the reader to understand.”
And it’s for this reason that Zahn believes that Thrawn is a tough character for other writers to do right; unlike many Star Wars villains, Thrawn is a tactician first and less of a physical threat, making him more difficult to write for. But he believes that Dave Filoni is up to the task for Ahsoka:
“The danger is that the screenwriters write it badly. He is a tactician, always ahead of his enemies. Dave Filoni showed in Rebels that he understood the character. So I think everything will be fine, as long as Filoni and Jon Favreau remain at the helm. And I am of course available to help them if needed. We only talked briefly about all this but Dave promised to meet the writers and discuss with them in the near future.”
Zahn previously praised Lars Mikkelsen’s casting, noting that he felt that he was perfect to take over for the role in live-action after giving the character a clear voice in Star Wars Rebels. He added that in the process of bringing Thrawn into canon, it allowed him to have a new lease to write stories with the character, a process that creatively excited him:
“Thrawn’s return was very exciting. Lucasfilm called me to show me concept designs for Rebels. At the same time, we were discussing future novels about the character. It was then eight months before the announcement of the Grand Admiral’s return, at Star Wars Celebration London in 2016. There’s not much difference between the original Thrawn and the Thrawn of this new timeline. It’s the same character, in different geopolitical conditions, surrounded by different characters, but he hasn’t changed. Lucasfilm wanted these new books to be connected to Rebels, so I tried to make as many connections as possible. They gave me the scripts for the episodes in advance, so that I was aware of the plot… The goal is for everything to fit together. The second book takes place between season 2 and season 3. And the third takes place during a period of the series where he is off camera in season 4.”
So after two canonical trilogies — The Ascendancy Trilogy and The Imperial Trilogy — some might be wondering: is Zahn facing potential creative burnout with writing his favorite alien art aficionado? It doesn’t sound like it, as he says that he’s interested in exploring the gap in the timeline between where we last saw him at the end of Rebels (spoiler alert: captured by the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger and the Purrgil who launched his ship into hyperspace) to his reintroduction in Ahsoka (where he’s not seen with Ezra and appears to be far away from any space whales):
“I would like to write more novels. And we pitch ideas to Lucasfilm. As for Thrawn, there’s a nine-year gap between the end of Rebels and the character’s reappearance in Ahsoka. There are things to do during this time. I’ll keep you up-to-date!”
Zahn’s newer Star Wars books are currently in print; some older volumes, such as his original trilogy featuring the character in the old Expanded Universe, have been reprinted as part of the Star Wars: The Essential Legends Collection line.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
