Why you should read ‘Star Wars: Heir to the Empire’ ahead of the ‘Ahsoka’ premiere in August

With names like Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Maul, and even Count Dooku filling its villains roster, Star Wars is certainly in no shortage of compelling antagonistic figures. And yet, all of those names — yes, even Darth Vader — would pale in comparison to the military genius and New Republic menace who is set to make his live-action debut in the Ahsoka series.

A lot of fans know Grand Admiral Thrawn from Timothy Zahn’s highly acclaimed trilogy of Star Wars books. Disney now considers all those books non-canon, but being the ultimate galaxy far, far away geek that he is, Dave Filoni just had to find a way to bring him back to the narrative.

That’s why Star Wars Rebels reintroduced Thrawn a few years ago, and against all odds, managed to capture every intriguing aspect that made the original character click as a villain. So, with Ahsoka now taking place after the animated series and bringing back almost its entire cast, it’s no wonder that the showrunners came back to the last Grand Admiral to serve as their big bad.

Thrawn is in a league of his own, no doubt, and though Dave Filoni knows exactly how to portray the real terror he poses to the New Republic’s tenuous rule, we can’t help but think about all the amazing moments the character had in Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. The Thrawn in the Disney timeline is a force to be reckoned with, but the Thrawn we saw in Zahn’s books was the character that started it all, and perhaps his story was more fascinating because he was up against a much more powerful adversary.

Heir to the Empire takes place after the Battle of Endor and features the return of our legendary Star Wars heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa. The story is about the emergence of a new threat — this so-called heir to the Empire — and why the New Republic may yet lose everything our characters fought to secure in the original trilogy.

The story of the Thrawn trilogy is in no way comparable to what you’re going to see in Ahsoka due to its sheer scale, but maybe that’s precisely why you should pick it up — if you haven’t already done so. Because in a lot of ways, the Thrawn books are the sequels that we should’ve got but never did, and here’s why.

A much preferable alternative to Disney’s sequel trilogy

Imagine if the sequels decided to tell an original story set after Return of the Jedi without all the gimmicks of the First Order or a new generation of characters. You’d have Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia, and Lando just continuing from where they left off, but with a new threat, new conflicts, and a whole new world of political schemes to maneuver through, bringing the best of both the original trilogy and the prequels to bear on an original saga.

And forget about Supreme Leader Snoke or Kylo Ren. Thrawn is the better villain by a long chalk, so who better to pit them against than the person who could single-handedly resurrect the Empire and admonish Palpatine for all his failings while he was at it?

Well, if the prospects of such a story sound exciting to you, that’s precisely what Heir to the Empire is. In this narrative, Luke is struggling with his responsibility as a mentor to Leia, while also juggling the thought of founding a new Jedi Order. Leia, meanwhile, is pregnant with twins who are both supposed to be Force-sensitive, which makes them a prized mark for the Imperial remnants. As for Han Solo, well, the smuggler-turned-general is his usual nerf-herder self, and he and Leia make an incredible power duo.

Heir to the Empire may be considered non-canon right now, but for years, even Lucas couldn’t help but acknowledge that Timothy Zahn did a wonderful job of writing a sequel to Return of the Jedi. I mean, did you know that the name Coruscant, and the fact that it serves as the capital of the Republic in the prequels, actually comes from those books? Not to mention that many iconic Legends characters like Mara Jade trace their existence to this adventure.

Everyone is looking forward to Ahsoka and many other Star Wars projects currently in the wings, but deep down, we’re all faced with a sad truth; none of these new projects will be able to revive the feeling we had as children or adolescents when we sat through Luke, Leia, and Han’s adventures in the original trilogy. Well, Timothy Zahn manages to capture that feeling again, as hard as it may be to believe.

Mara Jade herself is a more compelling character than the entire cast of the sequel trilogy combined, so at the very least, the Thrawn trilogy deserves a read-through. There’s adventure, intrigue, and strategy, and everything you’d expect from a classic Star Wars story. If, like us, you usually find yourself wondering about what could’ve been, had the Mouse House hired creatives who actually knew what they were about, then Heir to the Empire is the consolation prize you’ve been looking for all these years.

Getting to know Thrawn before Ahsoka

As mentioned numerous times, Thrawn is one of the best villains in Star Wars history, and if you want to grasp the full breadth of his genius, then reading Heir to the Empire is a must. Granted, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have probably written a compelling treatment for him in Ahsoka, but no one understands Thrawn better than the writer who came up with him in the first place.

Here, we’re essentially talking about a man who is always practical about every aspect of his fight against the Rebellion. A man who learns from his mistakes and doesn’t throw fits when things don’t go the way he expects them to. Thrawn has an encyclopedic knowledge of almost every race in the galaxy and believes that the best way to defeat an enemy is to learn their psyche. How does he do that, you ask? By learning about their culture and art. When was the last time you saw a villain like that in Hollywood?

That’s why, if you wish to understand Thrawn better or connect with him on a deeper level when he appears in Ahsoka, you should seek out the origins of the character who came very close to bringing the New Republic to heel. And not just by creating another super weapon to cripple the entire government in a matter of seconds, e.g. The Force Awakens.