At the panel talking about Ahsoka, showrunner Dave Filoni gave some teases for what to expect from the second season of the show. One of the biggest things revealed is that Admiral Ackbar will return in this series in a bigger role – and will go head-to-head against Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Filoni shared that season two will really feature two different storylines happening simultaneously: Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylan, and Shin are on Peridia, while in the ‘main’ Star Wars galaxy there will be an all-out war against Thrawn. He shared that characters like Thrawn, Ezra, Hera, and Chopper will have much bigger roles than they did in season one.
Of course, the news that Thrawn and Ackbar will face off is a pretty significant one. It’s a key indication that we’ll see some pretty epic space conflict unfolding this season, something we haven’t seen as much of in Star Wars content recently, so that’s exciting. Since Thrawn isn’t going to be an antagonist wielding a lightsaber or anything (that will be Baylan Skoll), he’s a master tactician and strategist who has no equal in planning and orchestrating space battles. If there is someone who can rival him within the New Republic, however, it’s Gial Ackbar. Known for commanding the rebel victories at the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Jakku, Ackbar was the fleet admiral in command of the entire New Republic Defense Force as the rebellion transitioned to the New Republic. He retired at some point after the war, only to be brought out of retirement a few decades later to aid Leia Organa in forming the Resistance. But at this point in the timeline, it seems he is still the senior admiral in the New Republic.
So, with Thrawn having returned to the galaxy and posing a significant threat, it makes sense that Ackbar would be called upon to help stop him, once again aboard his flagship, Home One. In Star Wars Legends, Ackbar and Thrawn were rivals in the Thrawn crisis, and it’s really cool to see this unfolding in canon now. It sounds like the war against Thrawn will really pick up in season two, and that promises tons of great space battles to come with it – commanded by the two most well-known admirals in the galaxy.
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