Grand Admiral Thrawnwill battle a famousStar Warsmilitary leader for the first time in the forthcomingAhsokaseason 2. Thrawn debuted in theStar WarsLegends continuitywhich, before April 2014, was the officialStar Warscanon. Thrawn, like many other elements of the Legends continuity, gained a counterpart in the modern canon.
Ahsokaseason 1 gave Thrawn his live-action debut, setting him up for a major role in futureStar Warsproperties. Season 2 will see Thrawn battle Admiral Ackbar, who led Rebel naval forces at the Battle of Endor inReturn of the Jedi. As revealed in Star Wars Celebration 2025,Ahsokashowrunner Dave Filoni is excited to pit these two famed officers against one another.
Both Thrawn and Ackbar are among the most renowned naval leaders in their respective factions, and the two have an interesting history as potential rivals in the original Legends continuity. Thrawn and Ackbar engaged in only one conflict in Legends, yet their modern canon counterparts have yet to meet. In Filoni’s words:
Even though a lot has been shaken up over the years, there are certain kinds of pillars that I like to stick to. So bringing Thrawn into this era isn’t anything clever by me. It’s just something that always was. And so where we are during this time period, Thrawn is that guy. And Ackbar obviously got introduced as its main leader, so I wanted to see that happen. Part of it’s just selfish. I want to see it happen.
While Ackbar had an unceremonious demise in the modern canon, his forthcoming battle with Thrawn could redeem his current iteration.
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Admiral Ackbar Was One Of The Few Military Strategists Thrawn Feared
Admiral Ackbar was one of the few military leaders who Grand Admiral Thrawn considered to be a genuine threat. Thrawn is known as one of the Star Wars franchise’s greatest tacticians, but he is not infallible. Thrawn’s greatest strength is not only his exceptional intelligence but also his ability to extrapolate the weaknesses of opponents by studying the artwork of their species.
Thrawn gains an astounding amount of insight about a species through their artwork, learning about their culture, psychology, and behaviors, allowing him to find and exploit their weaknesses. Of course, Thrawn was more than competent without this ability. One of the few times this ability was useless to Thrawn was when he battled the Kaleesh leader Bentilais san Sk’ar
Thrawn struggled to understand Kaleesh art, and he simply resorted to typical Imperial brute force tactics, resulting in a victory that nevertheless disappointed him. Thrawn is not known to have any difficulty understanding Mon Calamari art, however, yet Thrawn was still apprehensive about engaging Admiral Ackbar in battle. This strongly implies thatAckbar’s sheer skill as a naval leader was great enough to challenge Thrawn, even with any insight Thrawn might glean from Mon Calamari artwork.
How Thrawn Tried To Deal With Ackbar In Legends
In the original Legends continuity,Grand Admiral Thrawn tried to avoid a direct battle with Admiral Ackbar, with the Chiss officer engineering a scandal just to prevent the two from clashing. As shown in Timothy Zahn’sDark Force Rising, Thrawn orchestrated the planting of falsified evidence that framed Ackbar as a traitor to theNew Republic, resulting in the Mon Calamari officer’s arrest.
This only temporarily took Ackbar off the board, however, as his name was eventually cleared. The two would finally battle at the end of the Thrawn campaign, as shown in Timothy Zahn’sThe Last Command. Despite his attempts to avoid a battle with Ackbar, Thrawn set an effective trap for New Republic forces at the Battle of Bilbringi.
Thrawn maintained control for most of the engagement, seemingly proving to be the superior strategist. The New Republic would ultimately prevail at Bilbringi, but the victory was owed to the betrayal of Thrawn by his bodyguard, Rukh, in response to the revelation that Thrawn and the late Darth Vader had been exploiting the Noghri for their warriors.
We’re About To See The Thrawn-Ackbar Battle For Real
Thrawn and Ackbar have never met, let alone battled, in the modern canon, soAhsokaseason 2’s promised confrontation will providea new take on their dynamic as well as the first one depicted in a live-action property. Dave Filoni appears to be setting up a loose adaptation of Timothy Zahn’sThrawntrilogy in the modern continuity, so he might include Thrawn’s aversion to potentially facing Ackbar, even if Thrawn is the better strategist. In any case, a new version of their rivalry inAhsokawill be an intriguing new addition to theStar Warsfranchise.
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