As a fan-favorite character, Grand Admiral Thrawn had a long, storied history in Star Wars Legends, but all of that was erased when Disney acquired the rights to Star Wars. After years of nothing, his character was finally reintroduced to canon in Star Wars Rebels, but during the series finale, Thrawn disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. During the Battle of Lothal, Ezra Bridger summoned a pod of purrgil, which attached themselves to Thrawn’s Star Destroyer and hurtled it deep into hyperspace.

Since then, there has been no word on the whereabouts of the Chiss Admiral, except for a name-drop in Season 2 of The Mandalorian by Ahsoka Tano. That led many fans to believe that Thrawn will make his live-action debut as one of Star Wars: Ahsoka’s major villains, but that series is still a long way off. So, some fans might be annoyed with the writers for making Ezra spirit Thrawn away for an extended absence. However, a new Reddit fan theory from user JangoFettDidNoWrong postulates that Ezra might have actually saved Thrawn’s life in doing so.

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Before he was an admiral in the Imperial Navy, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, aka Thrawn, was a military officer in the Chiss Ascendancy’s Expansionary Defense Fleet. The Chiss, having encountered a mysterious threat deep in the Unknown Region, sent Thrawn into the known galaxy to explore and infiltrate the Empire. Either the newly formed government would become an ally against the mysterious threat, or Thrawn would weaken the Empire, making it an easier target than the Chiss Ascendency.

After being found by the Empire, Thrawn personally met with Palpatine, gave him information on the Unknown Regions and pledged himself to the Empire. Graduating from the Imperial Academy, it was clear that Thrawn’s military acumen was unparalleled. He rose through the ranks of the Imperial Navy with unnatural speed, and it wasn’t long before he was an admiral and one of Palpatine’s most effective tools.

Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance was growing, and the threat on Lothal was beginning to concern Palpatine. So, he sent Thrawn to personally handle the situation. However, when various Imperial officers threatened to coopt funding for his prized TIE Defenders project, Thrawn left Lothal to plead his case to the Emperor. That story can be found in the canon novel Thrawn: Treason, and what happened was a huge mess between squabbling officers, Imperial traitors and Thrawn making contact and assisting with one of Chiss Fleet’s military operations. However, the most important part of the story came in the very last pages of the book. Via his personal com, Palpatine told Thrawn to return to Lothal and crush the Rebels, but he also said they were going to have a “long, long talk” about Thrawn's true loyalties afterward.

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Ezra and Thrawn on Star Wars Rebels

After hearing from the Emperor, Thrawn returned to Lothal as instructed, but he failed to destroy the Rebels. Ezra Bridger got the best of him, and they both went hurtling through the unknowns of hyperspace. It was an unfortunate fate for Thrawn to go missing for such a long time, but his failure on Lothal likely saved his life. If he had successfully vanquished the Rebels, Thrawn would have returned to Coruscant and had to fully explain himself.

From the very beginning, Palpatine saw Thrawn as an asset, but he never really trusted him. Despite all of the things that Thrawn did for the Empire, it soon became increasingly obvious that he was ultimately loyal to the Chiss Ascendency. Palpatine put up with that fact for a time, but his actions during Thrawn: Treason likely pushed the Emperor over the edge.

Another thing that Palpatine told Thrawn in their conversation at the end of the Star Wars book was that “a servant with divided loyalties is no servant at all.” Palpatine didn’t put up with anyone who opposed his authority for long. So, the implications behind Palpatine’s “long, long talk” were obvious, and it would likely have ended with Thrawn’s demise. In other words, careening through hyperspace on a damaged ship, flown by purrgil, doesn’t sound like fun, but facing the wrath of Darth Sidious is the worse option by far. So, it’s a good thing that Ezra got the better of Thrawn and, unintentionally, saved his life.

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