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:

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:

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:

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):

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.



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