Ahsoka Could Be Setting up the Debut of Some Major Star War Expanded Universe Villains

Star Wars: Ahsoka appears to be loosely adapting the Thrawn trilogy of novels that served as the cornerstone of the old Star Wars expanded universe, which pits the fledgling New Republic against the Imperial Remnant led by the returned Grand Admiral Thrawn. One change to that story could be setting up another major villain who challenged the New Republic and the New Jedi Order of the expanded universe, the Yuuzhan Vong. In the original Thrawn trilogy, Grand Admiral Thrawn is somewhere off in the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars galaxy and returns when he's ready to challenge the New Republic. Simple enough.

In Star Wars: Ahsoka, the purgill took Thrawn out of the Star Wars galaxy and into one neighboring it. That's new territory for the new Star Wars canon, but an invasion from extra-galactic beings was a major, long-running storyline in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series of novels.

Who are the Yuuzhan Vong?

The Yuuzhan Vong are nomadic aliens from outside of the Star Wars galaxy. They are religious zealots whose own homeworld -- a living organism itself -- had been destroyed. They viewed mechanical technology as blasphemy, instead focusing on developing biotech such as organ grafting. They were considered masochistic, using pain as a means of worship. Throughout their lives, they'd remove their limbs and replace them with those of other creatures.

About 21 years after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the known Star Wars galaxy. The Jedi were confounded by the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong seemed to exist outside of the Force, while the Yuuzhan Vong resented the Jedi for controlling something they could not sense or use. The Yuuzhan Vong also presented an unusual enemy. Almost every conflict in Star Wars until their invasion had been some version of a civil war. The New Republic was not ready to face an unknown invading force from beyond its border, and the Yuuzhan Vong quickly marched to the core and conquered Coruscant.

The war lasted for four years, and the New Republic only managed to stem the Yuuzhan Vong tide with the assistance of the Mandalorians (led by Boba Fett) and the New Jedi Order. The war only ended when the New Jedi Order discovered a living remnant of the Yuuzhan Vong homeworld and defeated their secret leader.

Spanning all 19 books in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series published over four years, the Yuuzhan Vong storyline proved polarizing among Star Wars fans. Depending on which fans you ask, it was either the most epic Star Wars story ever told or a bloated tale that went on for far too long and turned them off from reading Star Wars novels entirely.

What could the Yuuzhan Vong mean for the new Star Wars canon?

If the Yuuzhan Vong does show up in the new canon -- and that's a big if -- I see two possible ways they can be used based on current, known plans for the franchise. The first is that the Yuuzhan Vong invasion could be the "era-defining event" planned for Dave Filoni's Star Wars movie. Perhaps Thrawn encounters the Yuuzhan Vong in this other galaxy he's stranded in, or otherwise somehow makes them aware of a nearby galaxy ripe for conquering. Once Thrawn himself is dealt with, the Yuuzhan Vong may emerge as the next major threat. If Filoni chooses to emulate highlights from the original, then Bo-Katan uniting the Mandalorians in The Mandalorian can lead to her bringing them to the New Republic's aid, as Boba Fett did in the original telling and the Yuuzhan Vong conquering Coruscant can explain why the New Republic moved its government's capital from Coruscant to Hosnian Prime by the time of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Alternatively, the Yuuzhan Vong appeared in the New Jedi Order books. Perhaps they'll be the antagonist of the upcoming New Jedi Order movie, which sees Daisy Ridley returning as Rey Skywalker. With the First Order and the Sith Eternal vanquished, seemingly ending the threat of the Empire and the Sith for good, the film will need new villains to challenge Rey. The Yuuzhan Vong could be those villains. Then again, there's nothing to say that the Empire and the Sith won't somehow return. Only time will tell.

Fan-favorite Star Wars hero Ahsoka Tano returns in the brand new series on Disney+. Rosario Dawson stars in Star Wars: Ahsoka, which premiered on August 22nd on the streamer. The series picks up after the events of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, in which we saw the former Jedi searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and helping Luke Skywalker train Grogu. Ahsoka will be joined on her new mission alongside longtime allies Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as they attempt to track down Thrawn, who was last seen disappearing to the far reaches of space after a confrontation with Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). Star Wars: Ahsoka is the latest live-action series from Lucasfilm's creative duo of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.