Ahsoka theory speculates that Thrawn has an army of zombie stormtroopers

Thrawn in Ahsoka episode 6 — (Image credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 6! Turn back now if you haven't seen the new episode yet!

Ahsoka episode 6 brings back Grand Admiral Thrawn in a chilling, epic re-entrance for the Imperial. As he walks through his star destroyer, he's surrounded by rows and rows of disturbing-looking stormtroopers. Their broken armor (which features a Kylo Ren Easter egg) could be concealing a terrifying truth, though – one convincing theory suggests the squad is actually made up of zombies.

Yep, just when you thought Thrawn couldn't get any scarier, it turns out he potentially has an army of the undead at his beck and call.

Thrawn's zombie stormtroopers theory explained

Thrawn and stormtroopers in Ahsoka episode 6 — (Image credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

On Reddit, one Ahsoka fan writes: "Do you think that they all are reanimated? While Thrawn and his contingent of stormtroopers definitely were on rough times, I don't think every one of them died and were brought back. Maybe the ones with the messed up armor/heavily-repaired are the re-animated troopers, while the others are just the survivors."

When Morgan Elsbeth, Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and Sabine Wren arrive on the planet Peridea, they're greeted by three Nightsisters of Dathomir – AKA magick using witches. It's within the Nightsisters' sinister powers to reanimate the dead to create an army (it's happened before in The Clone Wars) and it looks like Morgan did a similar thing to the mysterious Inquisitor Marrok, who turned to green smoke when killed by Ahsoka Tano.

"Some people have pointed out that the subtitles called them 'Night Troopers.' I think after seeing what Morgan did with Marrok, reanimated or at least possessed stormtroopers is a strong possibility," agrees one fan.

"I'm guessing they're all reanimated corpses. That's why they took great pains to show us broken and cracked armor seemingly put together with red ribbon or tape. These are not living beings anymore. They are animated by the Nightsisters. Remember Thrawn says that he has to ask for the assistance of their magic again," adds another person. "It also seems pretty clear that Thrawn and the Nightsisters have a deal. They help him restore his forces and get back to the Star Wars galaxy. And he takes them and their sarcophaguses of tricks with him. Maybe they've convinced him they're not interested in galaxy domination but merely resettling Dathomir."

But, the Nightsisters are also able to enhance or possess living people with their magick, which could be what's happening here instead. "Thrawn specifies they're low on numbers so unless bodies can only come back once I believe they're alive," points out another fan. "If they were dead and can be reanimated I do not understand why Thrawn would have concerns about numbers."

"I liked the idea of the Lothal survivors developing a cult-like obsession with Thrawn as he led them during their exile. If it's revealed they're all just zombies, then that'd be less interesting to me," says someone else.

"Here is a question: If Thrawn is experiencing losses of troops throughout the exile, what have they been fighting?" asks another person – a particularly worrying question, considering it's possible there's something worse than Thrawn lurking on Peridea.

We'll have to wait and see to find out just what's going on with the stormtroopers on Thrawn's ship, but it's looking like the next episode of Ahsoka will be another big one: Snips and Huyang are en route to Peridea in the mouth of a purrgil, while Sabine – after some help from some adorable little guys – has finally found missing Jedi Ezra Bridger.

Ahsoka is streaming on Disney Plus now. For much more on the show, check out our deep dives on: