The staying power of Thrawn, and his immersion into the mainline Star Wars continuity (further enforced by Jedi Ahsoka Tano seeking him out in the second season of the excellent television series The Mandalorian), clearly highlights how powerful the medium of books can be when truly enhancing stories as well as characters. New novels diving deeper into the backstory of the enigmatic Chiss were released in the last decade, of which Thrawn: Alliances (Del Rey, 2018) remains a notable highlight, showcasing the first meeting between the novel namesake and Anakin Skywalker, as well as his team-up with his transformed (and more well-known) alter-ego, Darth Vader. Moreover, Thrawn's impact cannot be overstated considering that even after Disney bought out the franchise's intellectual property and rendered the EU books as 'Legends' (read: non-canon), his popularity and the dynamism of his encounters with the Rebel Alliance forced the powers-that-be to reintroduce the character back into canon status by inserting him into the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. The character's inherent cool factor is actually more profound in how his methodical observations aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera always keep him one step ahead of the protagonists. Discovering that shade of grey in a fictional world which, up until then, dealt in absolutes of Light and Dark sides of the Force, really opened up the possibilities for the narrative. While Thrawn is obviously on the 'bad' side of the spectrum, he is not overtly villainous in any of his appearances.

The character highlighted the benefits of continuing this space-faring narrative in a creative manner with a contrasting yet formidable foe even after the biggest threat had seemingly been vanquished in Return of the Jedi (1983) ( Rise of the Skywalker (2019) notwithstanding). The character of Thrawn outsmarting the heroes we grew up watching on the screen (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, etc.), with his strategic decision-making and intellect to revive the Empire five years after Palpatine's defeat, truly broadened the horizons of where Star Wars could go in the future. The original Thrawn trilogy is by far my favourite book series associated with Star Wars, and not only because my oldest friend gave me the first two while my girlfriend gifted me the third as a birthday gift.

Admiral thrawn trilogy