Did Ahsoka Episode 6 Just Introduce Star Wars' Zombie Stormtroopers?

Star Wars: Ahoska Episode 6 promised fans whole new worlds of Star Wars storytelling, and that may include a new line of zombie Stormtroopers making their debut in the franchise! 

(SPOILERS) Ahsoka Episode 6 "Far, Far, Away" indeed caught us up with Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who has been stranded on the planet Peridea in the next galaxy. Thrawn formed an allegiance with the Great Mothers, powerful witches of the Nightsisters, who settled on Peridea as their ancient homeworld. It seems to be the Great Mothers' magic that allowed Thrawn to make contact with Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), but it also seems to have given him another advantage: a legion of soldiers to command. 

Star Wars Introduces Thrawns Night Troopers

As you can see in the image above, Thrawn has his own unique set of Stormtroopers serving him with cult-like fidelity aboard his Star Destroyer The Chimera. Closed-captioning subtitles confirm they are called "Night Troopers" and their Imperial armor has had its battle-damaged tears repaired with relics from the ancient society of Peridea. More telling are the red strands woven across their white armor – the colors of the Nightsisters. Between their color scheme and name, it's clear these troopers could be empowered by the Nightsisters' magic – including the company's leader, Captain Enoch. 

While it was never directly confirmed, there were clues during his death that Morgan's dark side Inquisitor Marrok was a warrior resurrected by Nightsisters magic – powers scene in the Clone Wars animated series and Star Wars Jedi video game franchise. Now, a lot of fans are going with the theory that the "dark magic" Thrawn references having used (during the final scene of the episode) was in fact the feat of "resurrection" he also references as a similarity between both the Jedi and the Nightsisters. 

Star Wars Zombies? 

There obviously has to be some new kind of edge that Thrawn's forces bring to the table – other than being a highly organized and well-led Imperial battalion. That said, while "zombies" have appeared in Star Wars before, the idea of Night Troopers being major antagonists in this New Republic Era of Star Wars TV (The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Book of Boba Fett), would be a whole different level of experience. If Thrawn has an army of soldiers he can used as recyclable fodder, not only would it make the Grand Admiral a threat unlike any we've seen in Star Wars, but it would also make the battle sequences horrific in a way the franchise rarely ever dips into 

By the time Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni is directing his New Republic event film, a big-budget cinematic war between Star Wars heroes and undead soldiers would be pretty wild. 

Ahsoak airs new episodes on Tuesday nights on Disney+.