An amazing Star Wars illustration revisits Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire and honors the original Thrawn trilogy. Decades before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars released its first “Episode VII” in the form of Heir to the Empire, a novel set shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi. All of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stories are now considered Legends, non-canon entries in the Star Wars universe. Still, having concepts and locations from Legends returning in Disney’s Star Wars canon has become quite common.
Artist Siavash Paknazar (@siavashpkzr) has recently shared an incredible Star Wars art based on Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, featuring both classic Star Wars heroes and characters that debuted in Heir to the Empire.
The illustration feels like a theatrical Star Wars poster for Heir to the Empire, with Grand Admiral Thrawn serving as the main villain watching the heroes from behind the shadows. The poster also features Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo (Leia took Han’s last name in Legends), Chewbacca, Talon Karrde, dark Jedi Joruus C'Baoth, and the Emperor’s hand Mara Jade. Of all the Legends characters featured in this poster, only Thrawn returned in Disney’s Star Wars canon.
The Thrawn Trilogy Is Setting The Pattern For Star Wars Again 
The events of Heir to the Empire and the rest of the Thrawn trilogy are not canon. In fact, considering what The Force Awakens established about what happened to the original trilogy’s heroes after Return of the Jedi, a lot of things featured in the Thrawn trilogy cannot fit into the current canon. That said, the idea of a Star Wars story set shortly after Episode VI in which Thrawn, a brilliant strategist who survived the fall of the Empire, threatens the galaxy’s peace, can still be adapted.
More than 30 years after Heir to the Empire was published, the novel is setting the pattern for Star Wars again. The Mandoverse is not necessarily a Thrawn trilogy adaptation, but it is borrowing concepts and potential storylines from Thrawn’s original Star Wars story. The Ahsoka trailer, which featured the very first live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn shot, described the villain as the “heir to the Empire.”
