How Disney/Lucasfilm Ruined Grand Admiral Thrawn 

Thrawn is brilliant. A writer cannot pen a character smarter than they are. This is why all the Disney Star Wars characters are idiots.

It was once said that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. Disney has single handedly gutted that concept.

This trilogy got me into reading when I was in elementary school. 30ish years later and 40+ legends novels later, and I refuse to accept Disney Star Wars as canon.

Without Mara or Luke in the story Thrawn isn't the same. I just call him Disney Thrawn or fake Thrawn.

THANK YOU! Anyone who has read the original Timothy Zahn book series would say the same thing. This is NOT Thrawn. He looks like Thrawn but he is not thrawn.

Filoni turned him into Gargamel, in Rebels.

*EU:* “You have to admire the Chiss.. they don’t just steal your technology-they make it better.” *Disney **-canon-** :* “Discount Blue Man Group.”

I’ve never enjoyed the Filoni Baloney. It’s completely foreign to the vibe of Star Wars. It’s mushy, reverent, nicey-nice.

When Thrawn turned up in "Ahsoka" overweight in a poor-fitting, wrinkled uniform, I knew Filoni & Co had phoned it in...yet again. Why not get the actor a slimming girdle and send his costume to the dry cleaners for alterations and ironing before the cameras roll. What would that cost? Maybe...$75 out of a multi-million dollar budget? Apparently, making good movies is just too darn hard.

When I initially read the Zahn books, I visualized Thrawn as Jeremy Brett, who played Sherlock Holmes in the '80s TV series.

I agree with the "Yes man" comment.

GA Thrawn, in the novels, was not a brutal, over the top villian like Vader. Thrawn was an adversary who's actions did not always seem "evil." This is an aspect that made his character compelling. As soon as I saw Thrawn in Ahsoka, I was screaming THIS IS NOT THRAWN!! Zahn must've seen that and threw up. At least, Mara Jade is still untarnished and a beloved Bad Ass.

Ok I am Nerding Out Hardcore right now! :) Elaine I love your material and seeing my comment at the start of this...just put a major smile on my face. Thank you very much!

Thrawn was an amazing character in the Timothy Zhan trilogy. Terrifyingly smart and ruthless. What Disney did to him was disgusting.

If Thrawn was in Star Trek he would win the no win scenario without cheating

This is not Thrawn. I raise you: This is not Star Wars… it’s DISNEY Star Wars.

With having been introduced to him in the new books I’d like for Zahn to be able to finish the story he wants with him…

My theory is that Thrawn knew the protagonists had plot armor and were undefeatable, and his goal was to delay them as long as possible without killing them.

For Thrawn, you need to hire very capable writers. You can’t just resort to the trope of dumbing everyone else down to make character look like a genius.

"...this is a Smurf with contact lenses and an over-inflated ego!" I reread the Thrawn trilogy at least once a year, or so and the difference between that version and this one is so striking.

The EU Thrawn was a force to reckon with. The Diznuts version is the TEMU incarnate.

Somehow, Rebels was more mature than live action Ahsoka. It was a discount Thrawn in Rebels but what we got in Ahsoka was back alley - eaten by cats - Thrawn God i miss Tony Gilroy, Aldani, Luthen, Narkina 5, Ferrix, Partagaz, Mon Mothma.

Thrawn was the least of the Asoka problems.

You can see that the writing was getting worse since the Ahsoka's episode back in Mandalorian S2, when Filoni basically stripped all the lighthearted and optimistic behavior of her character and turned into a blank wooden doll. I don't know what happened behind the scenes, if it was Kathleen Kennedy's intervention or just Filoni and Favreau being lazy, or a bit of both, but all the characters (especially the majority of the "legacy characters) became empty shells. Thrawn, specifically, is just insane. He wasn't great in Rebels, mostly because that entire show has its own bag of problems from day one, but at least Timothy Zahn came back to fix him in his own books (and I have to say, the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy is extraordinarily well written), and the both the animators and the voice actor tried their best to make the character work on his own. But the live action version has so many things wrong, it's borderline offensive. Nothing against Lars Mikkelsen, I actually think they could make his appearance work for a live action Thrawn, but aside from his voice NOTHING WORKS. Everything from the make up, the ridiculous black rig, even his clothes and the eye lens, it all looks cheap and rough at best. Like if it was all a test screen of something. The character's unique bone structure is barely noticeable even if you enhance the image yourself. This version of Thrawn is a pastiche version of Legends Thrawn, visually and characteristically. Let me explain... Legends Thrawn was written to be a villain. A very sophisticated and complex villain, but a villain nonetheless. Canon Thrawn is way more of a complicated character, more in line with a "Lawful Neutral" type given to his backstory, both with the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire, and he even looks different (very akin to his appearance in the Rebels show, skinnier, with "normal" eyes, dark blue hair and an unique bone structure in his face). He views the Empire as a means to an end, and his true loyalty lies on his people. The Rebels show even differentiates more of his trajectory in Legends, by featuring Rukh in the story and killing him, for example. So I'm not getting this whole Heir to the Empire adaptation that Filoni is going for, because the context is completely different, in a way that you just CAN'T adapt that story at all. Storytelling wise, we're getting the worse of both worlds. Also, witnessing Thrawn saying "Long live the Empire" in the show was simply disgusting.

It is Diet Thrawn

These are the EXACT complaints I've had about Thrawn since first seeing this depiction. Disney jumped at an opportunity to destroy another favorite male character and made him look like a blue nerd on the chess club instead of a brilliant military tactician who was also supposed to be very physically imposing.

Been loving your coverage of the death of Star Wars

I still think Jason Isaacs would've been a perfect Thrawn, ngl

ELAINE ALL THE WA. Can't wait for tonight's AC. Review on Pro and DA

I was very disappointed in how Thrawn was portrayed in live action and even in the animated series. They have an amazing character and 2 great trilogies from the EU to use as material to make him formidable and powerful onscreen. He could easily have his own show and I honestly believe he would be very popular. So why do they trash it and make this crap instead? Is it because the woke writers love destroying and humiliating good characters onscreen? Is it because that want to build up their Mary Sue girl bosses by downgrading their make counterparts ? Not sure but it seems Hollywood can’t write good stories anymore and they don’t make good villains, heroes or even good anti heroes anymore either that we can relate with in the audience like we did in books and films that were made years ago before everything went woke.

Same goes for the Sister Sage character on The Boys… She is supposedly a Genius..

Thank you for this. Like many long-time SW fans, I was hungry for mode SW after ROTJ. When The Heir To The Empire trilog6 came came out in 1991, we readers were ecstatic. Thrawn was such a great villain. In Ahsoka, we got a live action Thrawn that was out of shape, and his uniform showed signs of wear and tear. That's not the kind of person Thrawn is. Lars is not an actor that commands the screen. Sorry, but this was a huge miscast. I won't go into how bad his written lines were.

They've turned Thrawn into a low-talker.

Disney has literally ruined EVERYTHING about Star Wars. The galaxy which George Lucas developed is no longer what it once was. What Disney needs to do is to sell the whole Lucas Film property, and let someone who knows something about the property to repair the damage Disney did to the franchise.

That was my issue with the look of Thrawn, he looked out of shape. Thrawn is a Chiss officer. The Chiss are the most well trained military group in Star Wars fandom. It is hard to believe that Thrawn would let himself go like that.

The thing is Disney ruined Ahsoka as well. And Luke. And Han. And Lando, man they ruined him badly. Leia. All the legacy characters are different. They give us legacy characters that look like the same thing, but just aren’t. Kenobi? Omfg. Couple that with uninteresting new characters that are more like cardboard boxes that talk and you have the fire fire that is Disney Lucasfilm. Sorry for the wall of text, but this is such a huge reason why people don’t care anymore.

Disney Thrawn constantly lost to a bunch of kids and then to whales. That's all that needs to be said.

Filoni doesn't have George to bail him out anymore. And based on the Lord of the Rings references in that Asokha show I would say that Filoni wanted to leave behind Star Wars and work on Rings of Power.

If I had a daughter, I would support Elaine all the way.

I appreciate that Zahn has continued writing books about Thrawn but his stories are so constrained by the rest of the the canon now.

Cartoon Thrawn (Rebels) was actually decent. Clever, cunning, actually came across as a seriously capable bad guy.

When Clone Wars came out there was no other new Star Wars out so I watched it and enjoyed it. He sounded right, but looked too old and tubby. Being old and tubby I can sympathise...okay not that tubby but still. I still liked Star Wars back then but boy did Filoni disappoint in the end. What a gyp.

You are sleeping on the animated series. Overtime you see the value of watching it as the producers get better. Season 7 is arguably one of the most important pieces of content for the fandom.

Zahn was one of the best writers in Legends... Honestly even their worst writers were better than Disney seems to be using now.

Mark Thompson is amazing- I like his narration of The Fate of the Jedi series

I watched Rebels and I kinda liked it. As for Thrawn in the animated show, his personality was very well portraied. His interest in the culture of his opponents is there, his strategic way of thinking is there, even his different oppinon on the developement of imperial forces is there: he promoted the projet of TIE-Defender, a shield-protected fighter, which stands in a strong contrast to classic TIE. I won't lie, I had some personal issues with the "timeline" of his presence, but otherwise, he was quite good representation of Thrawn. He was working for the benefit of the Empire, but he wasn't into imperial propaganda, he had respect for his adversaries, he studied them... prety much like he did in the books. I didn't saw his live-incarnation yet, but from what I heard so far, I am not impressed.

As a long time fan, I've read the Thrawn trilogy, I've watched Rebels, and Ashoka...I didn't mind how Disney treated Thrawn in Rebels, he was cool. But in Ashoka? what was Dave Filoni smoking when he was writing him for that show? he was an idiot, an over the hill Biden-esk fool...not at all the genius we are all used to. He was inspired by Yazi General Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox...who was a creepy, thrilling, genuine genius at tactics...Disney shouldn't be anywhere near Thrawn.

The Thrawn Filoni has created has a great voice but lacks the physique, presence, and intelligence. Again I vote no confidence in Dave Filoni. I can do better Disney/ Lucasfilm. Give Hope a chance and give fans the Lucasfilm movies they deserve! Have Hope fans!

Ashoka was a disaster

How many Jems does it take to destroy the Star Wars franchise?

Dave Filoni should have let Timothy Zahn serve as an executive producer on Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka.

There's a fan project of Heir to the Empire. Much better.

There is one funny thing I noticed concerning the Disney Star Wars: ─ Live action mostly suck. Questionable decisions and/or behavior of characters, violations of the lore (Rogue One and Mandalorian are just a proverbial exception of the rule here). ─ Animated stuff is mostly decent. Rebels are nice, final season of Clone Wars is cool, Bad Batch was also quite good... And I didn't notice anything that would directly violate the canon. What I would do if I have the power to buy out Star Wars? I would lock everything disney did into a safe and throw away the combination. Except the animated stuff, Rogue One and Mando. Then I would contact Timothy Zahn to make a deal with him and make new sequel trilogy. The Thrawn trilogy (which is in my head-canon the proper sequel trilogy)

The actor they have to play Thrawn looks nothing like the artwork, more like a campy butler from a 1930s film.

There is a lot more crossover. Your bias is clouding your judgement. Not the first time

Its very ironic Disney cannot understand the character of Thrawn. Forgive me as it's been over a decade since I've read the books and I haven't been keeping up on things as Disney content isn't very 'Star Wars'. Disclaimer out of the way, Thrawn became one of the greatest leaders in the Empire despite the fact the system was xenophobic and rigged against him. He could not have succeeded in this system without being intelligent, capable, adaptable, disciplined and basically the perfect 'officer'. He literally needed to be so far above his peers there was no comparison between him and them. It should also be noted, he rose to greatness in a military environment. Thrawn had to impress people who literally hated what he was, an alien/outsider, and chose to promote him because who he was overcame what he was. Given the Disney worldview they should understand a system rigged against certain individuals and how much effort/talent is needed for these individuals to succeed in it. Unfortunately that worldview also works against them because instead of seeing Thrawn as he is, they see him as being a 'male' above all else. It truly is a shame. Disney should have been able to make an amazing series around this character and possibly even his rise through the ranks. [If Thrawn was at Endor, the rebels wouldnt have stood a chance had Thrawn been allowed to run things as he saw fit. He was just that good]

100% agree

What's worse is that aside from the EU, I think they did great with the thrawn and Thrawn ascendancy book trilogies under disney's reign. AND THEY F-ING RUINED IT. WHERE ARE THE GRYSK'S? I DONT SEE THEM ANYWHERE.

Me 2. I never watched or read the comics but there were some lovely books that came between episodes 4 and 1 of the movies

Typical Filoni, can’t have anyone upstage his creation 😂

I really hate the 3D animation style they use for the Star Wars stuff it looks so corny

BREAKING TWITTER NEWS FOR WHINERS Nerd Cookies fat shames THRAWN and feeds him insults!!!

Girls don't like Sci-Fi ? Nonsense. I've been watching/ listening to her versions of her reading Dune audio books for years to the point her voice has grown into a woman.

Zahn created a worthy successor to Vader and the emperor in Thrawn and Filoni butchered that wonderful Villain with one show. I vote no confidence in Dave Filoni. Disney/ Lucasfilm I have stores to out pace The Infinity Saga! Disney/ Lucasfilm give Hope a chance and give fans the Lucasfilm movies they deserve! Have Hope fans!

I saw a audio comic movie called "Thrawn" and I thought they did a great job with it. Did anyone else see it?

Have to agree they really turned him from what he was into a Cookie cutter boring villian

Yeah. Tbh I’ve had scary and more intelligent shits…

One big thing about Thrawn in Rebels is that he IS a smart/clever character. Its just that while Book Thrawn was a smart character written by a smart author, Disney Thrawn was written by an idiot, so he is smart in the way an Idiot thinks smart is.

Elon Data Thrawn

Why is anyone even watching Disney or Star Wars anymore? It's total crap. I think they get more hate watching than people who actually like the shows.

In Ahsoka Thrawn was written how a dumb person thinks smart people act and talk. Here is a 100% fact: a character who is a genius, clever or smart can only ever be as genius, clever or smart as the writer is. No more. Obviously Dave Falloni falls far short compared to the original author who first brought Thrawn to the EU.

I don't understand... why throw the EU into the trash and then start picking out and destroying its characters? Disney wanted diversity? the Jedi Academy trilogy was a fantastic series. They could have done endless new character spinoffs but instead we got "legends" It makes no sense and I don't care about #DisneyWars anymore. There are only 6 Films.

He looks like Elon Musk

I think you are over critical. As far as smarts. We saw nothing. The events of ashoka were barely worth mentioning to him. He didnt care. He wqsnt taking on a formidable force. He just needed to keep ashoka busy. People who read books will ALWAYS be disappointed. You cant dive into a character like that in live qction. You know him in the books because you have insight to his thoughts and what others thought of him. You have back and side stories. You have moments you will never see. Yes hes in the cartoon but the cartoon was done in a specific way that doewnt work well with the books. They did capture how different he was though. He was not like other officers. It showed him actually pretty good considering what they had to work with. For live action, this was just a set up. It WAS for people who did not need to watch the cartoon. They showed manybof his qualities he had in the books. They just couldnt go into it. It showef the audience that thrawn was very different. They showed he was strategic and tactical. They made him come across like he is someone that will cause real problems for the new republic. His meager mission was to stall ashoka as long as possible. They showed that unlike other officers, he was invested in the outcome, he appreciated his soldiers. His tactics were like keeping bugs outbof a vegetable garden. Nothing very strategic. Just hold them off. But still showed that he was thinking ahead. Not like others. It also showed what his troops thought of him. That was the most important part. It showed that they not only stayed loyal, they would die just for him. His smarts will come when strategy is required. In battle in the war against the republic. Plus, we never saw his smarts in the books either. We were just told how smart he was. The strategies in the books were written that way. Basically, the live action thrawn was cannon xactly what was needed. The actor they chose wqsnt the best looking, but he was able to paint thrawn as a thinker. Something the audience has not seen with the empire. You expected to see the thrawn from the books. That cant be done in 3 episodes. They did show that he has the potential to be that though. Its also a VERY different situation than the books. I think they showed us the first imperial that we neee to be afraid of. We thought tarkin was a big bad guy. But thrawn seems like hes on another level. Tarkin cares about himself, duty, pleasing the boss, etc. Thrawn cares about winning. He cares about his men. Tarkin might have survived the other galaxy but it would have been by force. Force his men to make sure he got back alive. Thrawn survivee by his men. To makecsure they stayed true to what they are and make sure they all got back. That is someone scarier than tarkin. Thrawns soldiers will die for him. His empire will fight for him. Even unlike the emperor. They regard the eperor as a great leader but that leader is out of touch from them. Thrawn makes soldiers feel like he is fighting with them. And for them to have mot just survived, they rebuilt and prepared to come back and fight. Live action thrawn will be a force. So that is as good as you can get bringing a book character to live action in just 4 episodes. Dont do that typical, book reader hates live action thing. Filoni has done great adding these things. You complain, but live action is a different thing. You should be happy they got it as good as they did. The kenobi show sucked. They really screwed the grand Inquisitor.

Rage Bait

I only know Thrawn from the books, but his live action casting is bad and the character is written dreadfully!

George lukas vision for things would have sucked. I think filoni did a lot to save some of the direction lukas wanted to take this.

So You’re Blaming Disney For Yourself Not Watching Rebels? You Don’t Understand Thrawn😂😂😂😂😂 Thrawn Was The Absolute Best Character In This Entire Show By Far .Ezra, ahsoka,Sabine, Hera were all shells Of The Characters they were supposed to be 💁🏽‍♀️ sounds like someone who just hates cartoons and is using any reason to hate on Thrawn . What’s up with his forehead? Yea sounds like you have nothing educated to say about him really 💁🏽‍♀️

😂 Your video is 400 days too late. And who cares if someone doesn't watch Ashoka. Is this some stupid @ss diss to Thrawn and Mikkelsen

Hi

Disney tossed the EU like it was garbage to them and is now rooting through the dumpster to find any vestige to recycle and use. Thrawn was an EU only character. Their use of him legitimizes the existence of the EU to their business model. Sadly EU was never officially canon so they can twist any characters they use in their own way.

BREAKING TWITTER NEWS FOR WHINERS Nerd Cookies fat shames THRAWN and feeds him insults!!!

BREAKING TWITTER NEWS FOR WHINERS Nerd Cookies fat shames THRAWN and feeds him insults!!!