What is Thrawn cooking? Star Wars fans are debating the Ahsoka villain's plans

Star Wars fans are debating what Grand Admiral Thrawn is planning now that he's back in the main galaxy following the events of Ahsoka.

"The Empire has been collapsed for years. He will be returning to a galaxy where he is a wanted war criminal, with just a single janky ship and some witches who are clearly just as likely to kill him as help him. Why persist in the fight? Hell, he could just stay on Peridea and make a life there as well as anywhere," questions one fan.

But everyone has ideas about what Thrawn could be planning for the galaxy. "I was hoping (and still am) that Thrawn pivots away from the Empire and takes their resources to help the Chiss – like I would expect from the newer 6 [Timothy] Zahn novels – after seeing how weak, fragmented, and leaderless (no Palps, no Vader) the remaining 'long live the Empire' crew," says one person.

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Someone else is thinking along similar lines. "It would be really strange if they went through all the trouble to write 6 new books that are supposed to be canon if they don't intend to use any of that material. His motivation all this time was to gather power in order to protect the Chiss from the Grysk. The Empire was only a means to an end for him. Protecting his people is everything," they comment. "I'm skeptical that they're going to use that in live-action though, because so far none of it has been set up in Rebels or Ahsoka for non-book readers. If you're only watching the shows, you'd think his motivation is just power for power's sake, which makes him a far less interesting character in my opinion."

But, some people think his designs are purely Imperial. "Well there's still a few years before the First Order, and there would still be a sizable, yet scattered Remnant forces like Moff Gideon's Shadow Council shown at the end of Mando," points out someone else. "He only just returned at the end of the show. He is also a big brain kind of bad guy, he would not be ok just sitting there. Kinda like Khan, who wouldn't just leave Kirk beaten, the Enterprise crippled, and go galaxy hopping in his new starship, he has plans. In whatever future for him, I am hoping there is a big meeting of squabbling commanders and Thrawn saunters in and starts taking charge."

"There is an active Imperial Remnant and they are organized much like the Alliance was during the Civil War. There is likely an Imperial Fleet and they likely have repair yards. It is frightening to think what he could do with such assets in his hands," thinks someone else.

We hopefully won't have too long to find out what Thrawn is up to – Ahsoka season 2 is in the works, though there's no release date just yet.

You can keep up to date with everything the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.