Mitth'raw'nuruodo

"To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art."

- Thrawn

Thrawn was a Chiss male who served as an officer in the Imperial Navy, holding the rank of Grand Admiral in the years prior to the Battle of Yavin. Thrawn, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, was promoted after gaining the favor of the Emperor, Darth Sidious, following the Battle of Batonn. In its aftermath, Governor Arihnda Pryce of Lothal requested Thrawn's expertise to help eliminate the rebels who operated in her sector. Believing in the importance of understanding an enemy's culture, art, and philosophy to defeat them, the Grand Admiral set out on a strategy to destroy the growing rebellion before it could become a true threat to the Galactic Empire's reign over the galaxy.

Rise to power
Admiral Thrawn was an Imperial officer who served in the Imperial Navy in the years prior to the Galactic Civil War. Following the Battle of Batonn, Thrawn was promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral for his service in the battle. The promotion was granted by the Emperor, Darth Sidious, himself. Thrawn, a capable strategist who earned a reputation for his tactical prowess and ability to understand an enemy's culture, art, and philosophy as keys to defeating them, was the commander of the Galactic Empire's Seventh Fleet.

Fighting the rebellion
"I will pull the rebels apart piece by piece. They will be the architects of their own destruction."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn

In the years before the Battle of Yavin, a rebel cell that operated in and around the Lothal sector proved to be a nuisance to Imperial operations in the area. Governor Arihnda Pryce of Lothal requested to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, that Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet be assigned to assist with the rebel threat. Although the Sith Lord Darth Vader had dealt with one of the rebels' Jedi leaders, Commander, Ahsoka Tano, Pryce believed it was time to have the assistance of someone who could see the bigger picture&mdash;the threat of rebel cells coming together to form an organized resistance movement. Tarkin agreed.

The Grand Admiral soon arrived to begin overseeing operations against the rebels. He attended a briefing with Pryce, Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, and Admiral Kassius Konstantine where they discussed that the rebels had attacked a Mining Guild convoy at the Sereeda Waypoint, which Thrawn deduced as meaning that the rebels were planning an operation on Reklam station in the Yarma system. The Grand Admiral said he would pull the rebels apart piece by piece, ensuring that they were the architects of their own destruction. The Imperial garrison there was alerted to the potential rebel threat.

During the rebels' operations, they stole a number of Galactic Republic Y-wing starfighters that were left over from the Clone Wars. A convoy of rebel ships arrived to assist, and Thrawn allowed them to escape. While some officers, such as Admiral Konstantine, believed that these ships were the rebel fleet, both Thrawn and Pryce knew that there was a larger resistance movement growing in the galaxy and that these rebels could be the key to the Empire destroying them all.

Some time later, Thrawn fought against the Free Ryloth movement led by Cham Syndulla. The Twi'lek, who had found previous success fighting against the Imperial occupation of Ryloth, underestimated Thrawn's abilities and battle strategies. When combating the Twi'leks, Thrawn used far more precise tactics compared to other Imperial officers Syndulla had encountered. Thawn established a base of operations on Ryloth, where he spent time commanding his forces against the Twi'lek resistance fighters as well as studying their culture to better understand them.

Personality and traits
Grand Admiral Thrawn was a member of the Chiss species and possessed a calm and collected demeanor. He was a brilliant strategist, known for his anticipation of enemy attacks and his own tactical precision. Aside from that, he was also known to have a strong appreciation of art.

Behind the scenes
Thrawn is a character created by author Timothy Zahn. He was first introduced in the Star Wars Legends novel Heir to the Empire, part of The Thrawn Trilogy. He will make his first canon appearance in the third season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, voiced by Lars Mikkelsen. Zahn is also writing a canon novel titled Thrawn about the character. Executive producer Dave Filoni first expressed interest in using Thrawn in 2010, while producing Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Appearances

 * Thrawn