is set during the reign of the Empire. The main story line follows Grand Admiral Thrawn a "brilliant strategist" and the "ruthless enforcer" Darth Vader on a mission to investigate a threat to the Empire on a planet called Batuu, which resides at the edges of the Unknown Regions. This is the same planet that many years previously Thrawn, then an officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths with General Anakin Skywalker, flashbacks to this encounter tells of their "uneasy alliance" while facing several dangers. A third novel, Thrawn: Treason, was released on July 23, 2019. Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy (2020–2021) At the 2019 New York Comic Con, a new trilogy from Timothy Zahn was announced, to be entitled Thrawn: The Ascendency Trilogy, or simply the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy, to launch with Book I: Chaos Rising in May 2020. After being delayed twice, the first novel was ultimately released on September 1, 2020. In the novel, it was revealed that Thrawn was born as Kivu'raw'nuru (core name Vurawn) before being adopted by the Mitth family, changing his name to Mitth'raw'nuru (core name Thrawn). The novel also covered more of Thrawn's backstory alongside other Chiss characters, such as Ar'alani, that also appeared in Thrawn: Treason, the previous novel by publication order. A sequel to Chaos Rising, titled Greater Good, was released on April 27, 2021. The third book of the trilogy called Lesser Evil, was released on November 16, 2021. The Mandalorian (2020) Grand Admiral Thrawn is mentioned by Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian in episode "Chapter 13: The Jedi", as the master to the Magistrate of Corvus. Other works Thrawn is mentioned in the 2017 Chuck Wendig novel Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End as the source of the information about the Unknown Regions which Palpatine uses in his Contingency plan. This plan results in the creation of the First Order. Video games Thrawn appears as a playable character in the 2017 real-time strategy mobile game Star Wars: Force Arena, and was later introduced to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a turn-based role-playing game, that summer, as both a special event boss and playable character. He is a bonus playable character in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, available in the Star Wars Rebels character pack sold as downloadable content Reception In 2016, Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly called Thrawn a "fan favorite" and "one of the most significant characters to ever