Summary

• Thrawn and Palpatine both suffered defeat due to betrayal, with Thrawn being stabbed by his trusted assassin in Legends and Palpatine being betrayed by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.
• Thrawn's character arc was revived in the official canon through Star Wars Rebels and his live-action debut in the Ahsoka series, mirroring his return in the original Heir to the Empire novel.
• Both Palpatine and Thrawn met their demise as a result of Darth Vader's legacy, with Palpatine being killed by Vader and later Ben Solo, and Thrawn being betrayed by those indebted to Vader's service.

Grand Admiral Thrawn and Emperor Palpatine made the same fatal mistake in the original Star Wars timeline. Having returned to the official canon in recent years, Thrawn is set to receive an all-new story that could carry certain elements from his original character arc to the established continuity. As such, this could include how the Grand Admiral was similarly defeated via a betrayal (just like his Emperor).
Although the critical Imperial leader was relegated to the non-canon banner "Legends" following Disney's purchase of the Star Wars IP in 2012, Thrawn became canon once more through the animated series Star Wars Rebels in 2014. Furthermore, Grand Admiral Thrawn made his live-action debut in 2023's Ahsoka series where he finally returned from exile during the New Republic Era, mirroring his return to lead the shattered Empire first seen in the original Heir to the Empire novel by Timothy Zahn. To that end, it's possible that betrayal could befall Thrawn once more, just as it did Palpatine in Return of the Jedi.

---