Warning: SPOILERS for the Ahsoka episode “Dreams and Madness” are ahead!
Last week, Lars Mikkelsen finally made his live-action debut as Grand Admiral Thrawn on Ahsoka after having previously voiced the character in Star Wars Rebels. Some major questions about the Chiss’ exile were thankfully addressed, and in this week’s episode, “Dreams and Madness,” viewers saw more of his brilliant, tactical mind on display. That said, one particularly interesting moment involving Thrawn in this episode came when Morgan Elsbeth informed him that Ahsoka Tano had been trained by Anakin Skywalker. He was immediately able to gauge what kind of threat Rosario Dawson’s character would be and planned accordingly.
Although Thrawn never outright stated that he and Anakin Skywalker crossed paths back in the day, it was pretty clear that he’s familiar with the Clone Wars hero who would later become Darth Vader. And to be clear, this isn’t solely by reputation; these two did join forces with each other on several occasions. No, these team-ups didn’t happen onscreen, but rather within a few Star Wars books (these two also met in the Legends continuity, but that’s a topic for another time). So let’s go over how these met in the Star Wars timeline and what kind of relationship they ended up forming.
How Thrawn Met Anakin Skywalker
Although Thrawn and Darth Vader were first shown coming face to face with one another at the end of the 2017 novel Thrawn, its follow-up, Thrawn: Alliances, revealed that the Chiss had met Anakin Skywalker during The Clone Wars, specifically sometime after Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order. At this point in his life, Thrawn (whose full name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo) had already been tasked by the Chiss Ascendancy to explore the Star Wars galaxy’s main setting and find allies for the oligarchical nation, and it was above the planet Batuu that he first made contact with Anakin. The Jedi Knight was on a mission to find Padmé Amidala and a Republic spy named Duja, and Thrawn agreed to help in exchange for Anakin informing him what’s driving the Clone Wars.
You’ll need to read Thrawn: Alliances for yourself to learn how this mission unfolded (it involved blowing up a Separatist factory), but suffice it to say that Thrawn witnessed firsthand just how skilled and capable Anakin Skywalker was in battle. While Thrawn decided that the Republic wasn’t a suitable ally for the Republic, Anakin nonetheless informed Supreme Chancellor Palpatine about how helpful the Chiss had been. No doubt this later factored into the decision to welcome Thrawn into the Empire after he’d been seemingly exiled by his people.
Thrawn Worked With Darth Vader During The Empire’s Reign
Thrawn: Alliances’ contemporary storyline took Star Wars Rebels Season 3 and 4, a time when the title character had failed to capture Phoenix Cell (i.e. the group comprising Ezra Bridger, Karan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Zeb and Chopper) and was advocating for more Imperial resources to be funneled into his TIE Defender project rather than the Death Star. Emperor Palpatine orders Thrawn to investigate a disturbance in the Force with Vader that originated from Batuu.
Again, I won’t get into the specifics of what this mission entailed (although here’s another tease, it involved Force-sensitive Chiss girls), but by the end of the story, these two end their partnership on relatively respectful terms. More important, Thrawn deduced that Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker were one and the same, but because he also considered Vader was a completely separate mental personality from Anakin, he opted to keep this information to himself.
Will We See Thrawn And Darth Vader Onscreen Together?
Given that Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn were taken away by the Purrgil in the Star Wars Rebels series finale, which occurred prior to the events of Rogue One and A New Hope, it’s doubtful that he and Darth Vader ever met again. Besides, given how they were both focused on separate endeavors to increase the Empire’s might, so it’s not like there would have been a need for them to collaborate again unless the Emperor demanded it. As already mentioned, Thrawn was determined to get his TIE Defenders off the ground, and when not enforcing Palpatine’s will personally, Vader was helping Tarkin out with the Death Star.
However, that’s not to say that it’s completely impossible we’ll ever see Thrawn and Vader together onscreen. Assuming Thrawn makes it out of Ahsoka alive, perhaps another project we see him in could show a flashback adapting one of their scenes from Thrawn: Alliances., whether it be from the Clone Wars narrative or the Empire one. There wouldn’t be any need to get into the nitty gritty of their adventure together; all audiences would require is a taste of what kind of dynamic they shared, depending on the time period. I’d especially enjoy seeing a scene like this in Dave Filoni’s upcoming Star Wars movie, which connect the story threads in Ahsoka to what’s happened in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and the upcoming Skeleton Crew.
In any case, Ahsoka has now provided Thrawn the opportunity to deal with Anakin’s former apprentice, though whether or not those two will directly meet as well remains to be seen. Fortunately, there’s just one episode left for that question to be answered, as well as see if Thrawn will be able to escape that foreign galaxy and start uniting the remnant Imperial factions with the help of people like Morgan Elsbeth and the Great Mothers. That’s on top of Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati still posing a threat to Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger. In other words, there’s a lot that Ahsoka will need to wrap up in its final episode (as of this writing, it hasn’t been announced if the show will return for a second season).
Remember that in addition to Ahsoka, you can stream the Star Wars movies in order and all the other Star Wars TV series with your Disney+ subscription. You’re also welcome to consult our upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows guide to learn what this space opera franchise has slated after Ahsoka’s conclusion.
