More news from the Star Wars Galaxy (oh boyoboyoboy)

I've been having fun fooling around in the Star Wars galaxy. Did I mention I cannot wait for Rogue One? I've trawled the net, looking for information, listening to some talks, reading articles. And I came across one fascinating conundrum.

I suppose everyone who's interested knows that Rogue One is a stand-alone piece, a heist story (like Oceans 11 and similar) of how Princess Leia gets hold of the plans to the first Death Star. The thing is, there are no Force-users in the story – except Darth Vader, who I expect will appear toward the end, where he will leave in hot pursuit of Leia's counsellor ship and that unforgettable opening to the movie which later became known as A New Hope. (When it was first released it was just called Star Wars).

One of the many pieces I read mentioned the link between the animated Star Wars Rebels stories, and Rogue One. Rebels is set in the several years before the Death Star, and includes a number of Force users. What happened to all the Jedi in Star Wars Rebels? Why weren't any of them in Rogue One? Then I took a look at the trailer for the new season of Star Wars Rebels. Here's the link if you haven't seen it.

I think what happens to the Rebels is Grand Admiral Thrawn.

I'm fascinated to see him here, before the first Death Star. According to the Extended Universe legends, he was certainly around, having been rescued from solitary confinement on a jungle planet by the Imperial Navy. But Emperor Palpatine was not keen on non-humans and Thrawn was sent to the edges of the Empire, from where he emerged after Palpatine's death in Return of the Jedi. Here's a biography of Thrawn. And (bounce bounce bounce) Timothy Zahn, the author who introduced us to Thrawn, is writing a new book. 'Zahn is also writing a canon novel titled Thrawn about the character.^' (source) Here's a bit more about the book.

So Thrawn has been added to Star Wars canon. Perhaps when the current trilogy ends, we may indeed see the Thrawn story as told in Zahn's 1990's trilogy.

Bring it on.