New Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Promo: Enter Thrawn

“War. I have studied the art of war.”

That line alone, delivered by the blue-skinned military genius of the Star Wars universe, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is enough to elicit goosebumps and shivers of excitement from many fans. The fan-favorite character from the Legends universe makes his new canon debut in Star Wars Rebels season three, as the primary antagonist in the series. In the two-part season debut on Saturday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. on Disney XD, Thrawn will be revealed in all his glory, but this new promo released by Lucasfilm and Disney XD does a great job of teasing it.

Thrawn was announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe in July as the latest character from the Legends line to join the ranks of official canon, thanks to his move into the ongoing animated series. Legends refers to anything created outside of the first six films and two animated series before Disney purchased Lucasfilm and set a more definitive timeline with new characters and events. As Ahsoka Tano said in season two of Rebels, “There’s always truth in Legends…” offering up the doorway to more of these former Expanded Universe characters, stories, and themes to be canonized.

Grand Admiral Thrawn’s previous story took place after the events of Return of the Jedi, so we get to see a very different take on the character here. Instead of being in power at the death throes of the Empire, here he is while it’s at its absolute height. Voiced by Lars Mikkelsen, Thrawn is tasked with ending the Rebellion before it can truly begin; sure, we know that he’s ultimately unsuccessful at that, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have some major victories along the way.

To understand the importance being placed on his blue shoulders, realize that last season’s primary antagonist or “big bad” was Darth Vader himself. Putting Thrawn into that elevated of a position is a huge win for EU fans, and shows them that while those stories aren’t canon, the characters involved in them do mean a lot to Lucasfilm’s creative directors now. Throw in Darth Maul, some sort of green mystical energy, whatever dark side user is in that Sith Holocron, and the ever-looming background threat of Vader, and you have a whole lot of power on the side of evil ready to make the crew of the Ghost’s journey a difficult one.

Star Wars Rebels returns for a season three after a series of disastrous events: the apparent death of Ahsoka Tano, the blinding of Kanan, the dark side temptation of Ezra, and more capped off the second season. Check out the new trailer above, and our Star Wars Rebels topic page for all the latest news on season three.