7 Years After The Rise Of Skywalker, Star Wars Confirms Emperor Palpatine's Best Replacement

Published Aug 25, 2026, 3:20 PM EDT Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention. Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise. Seven years later, Emperor Palpatine's return in 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remains one of the most controversial decisions in the entire Star Wars franchise. After everything that was sacrificed and fulfilled via Darth Vader's redemption as the chosen one in the original trilogy, resurrecting Palpatine for the sequel trilogy was a hard pill to swallow, especially given its poor execution. That being said, we'll soon see a major Star Wars villain return as Palpatine's peak replacement. As seen in Star Wars' various New Republic Era projects set between the original and sequel trilogies, the franchise has been doing a much better job teeing up the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Not only has Thrawn been given a much better return story, but he's about to prove why he should have been Palpatine's replacement from the start, perhaps even serving as the overarching villain of the sequels. Thanks to the recent release of Ahsoka season 2's first trailer, it's already been proven that Thrawn's return to the Star Wars galaxy is going to blow Palpatine's out of the water. Ahsoka Season 2 Will Feature Grand Admiral Thrawn's Long-Awaited Return To The Star Wars Galaxy Across the board, Grand Admiral Thrawn's return has been one of the most significant overarching stories in the New Republic Era. As featured in the 2018 series finale of Star Wars Rebels, set just before the events of Rogue One and A New Hope, the Battle of Lothal saw Thrawn vanish from the galaxy thanks to the efforts of Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger, who also disappeared after summoning a pod of space whales to send them both to the far reaches of space aboard Thrawn's ship. This meant that one of the Empire's most effective commanders and one of the Rebellion's most powerful heroes were both absent from the Galactic Civil War. Once Lucasfilm's New Republic Era shows got going, The Mandalorian's second and third seasons established that Ahsoka Tano was searching for Thrawn, with Imperial Remnant factions anticipating his return to "herald a resurgence of their military." Finally, 2023's Ahsoka season 1 revealed that both Thrawn and his forces (and Ezra) were exiled to the extragalactic world of Peridea, effectively trapped for nearly a decade. By the season's end, Thrawn's agents, like Morgan Elsbeth, orchestrated the means for his return alongside his new Nightsister allies and their dark Force magicks (followed closely behind by Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren). Now, Thrawn and Ezra are finally back in the main Star Wars galaxy, and Ahsoka season 2's first trailer teases what that's going to look like. Grand Admiral Thrawn has indeed been positioned as the central figure of a major "Imperial Resurgence", rallying the scattered remnants of the Empire and declaring all-out war against the New Republic. As such, it very much feels like the beginnings of a canonical Heir to the Empire storyline (Thrawn's first appearance in Legends), while finally paying off the ending of Rebels at the same time. With Two Words, Thrawn's Return Is Already Better Than Palpatine's Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore Remarkably, the first Ahsoka season 2 trailer has already demonstrated why Thrawn's return feels so much more satisfying than Palpatine's was. Not only is there plenty more organic narrative build-up across multiple projects, but the trailer perfectly shows how Thrawn intends to serve as a prime Imperial successor. Shown speaking to the entire galaxy via a widely distributed holo-message, Thrawn addresses the "citizens of the Empire" before invoking his oath to protect them, declaring war on the "Rebel Alliance." Those two words alone are brilliant. Before his exile, Thrawn had been tasked with taking down the Rebel cells who'd only just formally become an official Alliance to Restore the Republic. Likewise, the Empire officially surrendered and has been shattered for years, with the New Republic having governed the galaxy for close to a decade at this point. Even so, Thrawn refuses to acknowledge either the Empire's fall or the New Republic's as a legitimate government. To him, they are still the Rebel Alliance, and his objective is to eliminate them in the name of the Empire. He genuinely believes the Empire is the rightful power and that the galaxy needs its true order restored. Overall, it feels far more compelling than "somehow Palpatine returned" in Rise of Skywalker (even if future Star Wars projects have since offered more build-up after the fact). Thrawn has a full history explaining his return beforehand and much clearer motivations. What Can We Expect From Thrawn's Imperial Resurgence In Ahsoka Season 2? Unlike Emperor Palpatine, who simply revealed this massive fleet on Exegol we'd never seen before, just waiting in the shadows, we've seen the Imperial Remnant over the course of multiple New Republic Era projects. They've just been waiting for Thrawn to fully rally them into a full Imperial Resurgent Fleet (which is definitely being teased). Additionally, the new Ahsoka season 2 trailer is teasing that the Nightsister world of Dathomir will serve as Thrawn's key base of operations, homeworld to both Darth Maul and Asajj Ventress. Promising battles on both the ground and in orbit, Thrawn will be wielding not only the former might of the Empire but also the supernatural dark powers of the Nightsisters themselves, making for a dangerously potent mix in the upcoming Star Wars show. Furthermore, Ahsoka season 2 may be only the beginning of Thrawn's triumphant return. After all, new Lucasfilm head Dave Filoni reportedly still has his major Star Wars movie in development that will culminate and bring together all the major New Republic arcs and characters into one epic storyline, most likely with Thrawn as the primary antagonist. If so, Ahsoka season 2 may simply be the prelude that sees the galaxy struggling to reconcile with the dangerous new status quo of Thrawn's return and the threat of a new Galactic Civil War on the horizon if his power continues to grow. It's all very exciting to think about as we get closer to Ahsoka season 2's release, though it does make me wonder about some alternate timeline where Grand Admiral Thrawn was chosen as the main villain of the sequels (had they been set closer to Return of the Jedi's aftermath). After all, Thrawn was literally created as Palpatine's successor in Legends, well before Disney purchased the Star Wars IP. What might have been... Ahsoka season 2 is set to begin streaming January 20th on Disney+. Release Date August 22, 2023 Network Disney+ Showrunner Dave Filoni