Star Wars: How Does Thrawn Know Anakin Skywalker In Ahsoka?

"Ahsoka" finally introduces the titular Jedi to Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), and the Grand Admiral is left visibly shaken when he learns she was the former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). While it's clear the villain understands how that changes his current situation, some Star Wars fans may be confused about how Thrawn knows Anakin.

Thrawn and Anakin meet in Timothy Zahn's canon novel "Thrawn: Alliances." The book details the first encounter between the then senior captain in the Chiss Defense Fleet and the Jedi Knight through flashbacks, as they separately arrive at the Outer Rim planet Batuu, where Thrawn agrees to help Anakin search for Padmé. Through Anakin, who was in the midst of the Clone Wars, Thrawn learns about the ongoing conflict as the Chiss wonder whether the Galactic Republic would make a worthy ally. While adventuring in the Outer Rim, Thrawn and Anakin eventually find Padmé, dismantle a Separatist droid factory, and mutually earn the other's respect.

Although Thrawn decides the Galactic Republic's governing system is inefficient, rejecting the idea of any potential alliance, Anakin speaks highly of the Chiss captain to Chancellor Palpatine, putting Thrawn on the Emperor's radar, eventually leading to him joining the Empire.

In "Thrawn: Alliances," Timothy Zahn tells a multi-perspective story, using flashbacks to expand on the history between Thrawn and Anakin Skywalker. In the novel's present day, the Grand Admiral accompanies Darth Vader on a mission for the Empire.

The Emperor sends his apprentice and Thrawn to explore a disturbance in the Force on Batuu, prompting the Grand Admiral to reflect on the last time he was on the Outer Rim planet with Anakin. Given his keen mind and genius intellect, it doesn't take long for him to recognize the similarities between Vader and the Jedi he once called an ally. Although he, like nearly everyone in the galaxy, believed Anakin died during Order 66, Thrawn deduces that Vader and Anakin are one and the same, taunting the Sith Lord about knowing the galaxy's biggest secret throughout their mission.

Thrawn's actions in "Alliances" set him apart from most Star Wars villains. Not only is he one of the few characters to know Darth Vader's secret identity, but he comes to the conclusion naturally, using his relationship with both Anakin and Vader to figure it out. While Thrawn is in an exclusive category, as one of the few Star Wars characters to work with both the Jedi and the Sith Lord, that relationship also prompts him to uncharacteristically show fear toward Ahsoka in the Disney+ series. Having personally experienced what Anakin and Vader were capable of, he can only imagine what the Jedi-turned-Sith-Lord taught his former Padawan.