Will Grand Admiral Thrawn Be in the Mandalorian Season 3? Here’s What We Know

We know that the trailer of The Mandalorian season 3 is now out, as it allowed us to see that the upcoming season will focus more on Din Djarin and his journey to Mandalore. But the thing that we know is that the synopsis of the third season of The Mandalorian seems to hint that the New Republic is set to face its dark history, which includes remnants of the Empire. Of course, those remnants include Grand Admiral Thrawn. So, will Thrawn be in The Mandalorian season 3?

There is no confirmation whether or not Thrawn will appear in season 3 of The Mandalorian, but there is a good chance that he will appear in a cameo scene so that The Mandalorian season 3 could set up the events of the Ahsoka series, where Thrawn will be a more prominent character.

Even though Thrawn is one of the most popular villains that we have seen in the Star Wars continuity, there is no confirmation whether or not he will appear in the events of The Mandalorian season 3. Nevertheless, the possibility is still out there because of how we’ve seen in the past how The Mandalorian was used to set up the future of the Star Wars franchise on Disney+. So, with that said, let’s look at the possibility of Thrawn appearing in The Mandalorian season 3.

Who Is Grand Admiral Thrawn, And What Happened To Him?

Back in the events of Star Wars: Rebels, which is an animated series that takes place during the early part of the Rebellion, we saw a lot of different characters that have now become part of Star Wars canon. Of course, the early part of Rebels focused on Ezra and the crew of the Ghost escaping from the Grand Inquisitor while finding a way to weaken the Empire through small acts of rebellion. In that regard, the Gran Inquisitor served as the main antagonist during the early part of the series.

Then again, the Grand Inquisitor died. His place as an overarching antagonist was temporarily filled by Darth Vader and his Inquisitors, who were vital to the storyline involving Ahsoka Tano in Rebels. But after that, Vader entrusted Grand Admiral Thrawn with the duty of searching for the crew of the Ghost and the rebels that they had already gathered up. And that’s because Vader believes that the Jedi duo of Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger are still threats to the existence of the Empire.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is a Grand Admiral of the military ranks of the Empire, and that means that he has one of the highest ranks in the entire Imperial fleet. This gave him authority over a large fleet of ships as he also obtained control over a huge chunk of the Empire’s forces during the events of Star Wars: Rebels.

But while Thrawn was a person with high authority within the Imperial military, what made him a formidable enemy was his incredible intelligence. Out of all of the different military leaders we’ve seen in Star Wars, Thrawn is quite possibly the most intelligent and strategic of them all, as he was able to predict the movements of the crew of the Ghost and was seemingly always at least a step ahead of them.

It was the fact that he was one of the most intelligent and cunning military commanders within the Empire that got him on the good side of Darth Vader, who trusted his judgment and strategic expertise. As such, Thrawn became the most fearsome enemy that the rebels faced during the events of Star Wars: Rebels as he chased after the rebel forces relentlessly.

Due to his intelligence, Thrawn was able to outsmart the rebels that were looking to bring him and his fleet down in Lothal during the final parts of Star Wars: Rebels. Thrawn was a step ahead of the plans of the rebels, as he was about to bombard Lothal to smithereens using the full force of his fleet.

However, Ezra, who surrendered himself to Thrawn, actually outsmarted the Grand Admiral for the first time. In fact, it was all a setup that allowed the forces over at Lothal to raise Lothal’s planetary shield to protect it from Thrawn’s bombardment. Meanwhile, the rebels had contacted other forces throughout the galaxy to arrive and destroy the ships that were blockading the planet in orbit. 

Then, in a last-ditch effort to save his friends, Ezra used the purrgil that the Ghost summoned to Lothal. Because purrgil are creatures capable of interstellar travel, Ezra allowed the purrgil to wrap their tentacles around Thrawn’s ship as they traveled to hyperspace. In that regard, Ezra saved Lothal and his friends while neutralizing Thrawn as a threat.

Despite the fact that Thrawn was no longer in the equation, it is believed that he is still alive as the purrgil only took his ship into unknown parts of the galaxy when they entered hyperspace. That means that he and Ezra are quite possibly alive. And the fact that Thrawn was still alive was hinted at during the events of season 2 of The Mandalorian when Ahsoka confronted the magistrate of Corvus regarding the location of Thrawn.

Will Thrawn Be In The Mandalorian Season 3?

As mentioned, Thrawn is still alive somewhere out there in the galaxy even after the fall of the Empire, as Ahsoka knew for a fact that he was still a threat to the New Republic. So, does that mean that Thrawn will be in season 3 of The Mandalorian?

There is a good chance that Thrawn will make an appearance in The Mandalorian season 3. The synopsis of the new season indicates that the New Republic is set to face a dark past in this upcoming season. Of course, this could be a hint that the New Republic is about to face several more remnants of the Empire, as we know that they are still out there in the galaxy. And one of the remnants that we know is still at large is Thrawn.

As such, Thrawn will possibly make an appearance in season 3 of The Mandalorian. Let’s not forget that The Mandalorian has become the gateway for old characters to make their reappearance in the Star Wars continuity. We saw this when the likes of Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, and Boba Fett made appearances in The Mandalorian. Of course, The Mandalorian was used as a stepping stone for Ahsoka and Boba Fett in their own spin-off series.

In that regard, if Thrawn were to appear in The Mandalorian season 3, it is probably only in a cameo scene that would reaffirm the fact that he is still alive and is still very much a threat to the peace and security of the galaxy. And his story is certainly going to carry over to the Ahsoka series, where he is likely to play a bigger role.