10 Smartest Decisions In Star Wars History

Timothy Zahn has been a big part of the Star Wars mythos for almost three decades now, and is most famous for creating Thrawn, a tactical Chiss genius who ascended the ranks of the Empire to eventually assume command of the Imperial Remnant after Return of the Jedi.

Thrawn was wiped from the Star Wars canon when Disney decided to reboot the Expanded Universe and start anew in 2014, but his popularity meant he wouldn't lay dormant for long. Thrawn made his anticipated return in the second season of Star Wars Rebels, and Zahn was tasked once again to explore the character in a series of novels set during the Age of Rebellion.

The Thrawn of the new canon isn't quite the same as the one of yore, but he's still a ruthless customer and one of the more unique villains in the Star Wars mythos. He's also one of the most intelligent, and the fact he hails from the unknown reaches of the galaxy begets a kind of wisdom few others would be able to match.

Thrawn's time with the Empire - at least for now - doesn't end well, as he gets sucked into the unknown regions by Ezra Bridger at the end of Rebels, but few can deny just how smart he is up until that point. He joins the Empire primarily to protect the Chiss homeworld against the threats of the unknown regions, makes himself indispensable to the Emperor, and ascends the Imperial ranks by navigating the political scene with a ruthless cunning.

We may not know how it ends for Thrawn and the Chiss in the new canon, but Thrawn's tactical brilliance has been reiterated time and again.