‘Ahsoka’: Why & How Is There a Map That Leads to Thrawn?

The first two episodes of ‘Ahsoka’ allowed us to see the overall plot of the series as Morgan Elsbeth and her allies are now on their way to rescue Grand Admiral Thrawn from an unknown part of the universe that they are now able to get to using a starmap that was hidden inside an ancient Nightsister Temple. Of course, this leads people to ask how this starmap even exists at all. So, why is there a map that leads to Thrawn?

The starmap doesn’t lead to Thrawn but to a place called Peridea, where Morgan Elsbeth believes the Grand Admiral could be. It is possible that the Imperial remnants have scoured the galaxy for Thrawn’s whereabouts but failed to find him. As such, Elsbeth may have concluded that Thrawn is in Peridea.

So, in a way, the starmap wasn’t created to find Thrawn but was created to lead anyone to the mythical place called Peridea, which may or may not be in the Star Wars galaxy. In that regard, Elsbeth thought that this starmap could be the one that could lead her to the Grand Admiral’s location as she couldn’t find him in the known galaxy. That said, let’s talk more about this topic.

The starmap existed long before Thrawn’s disappearance

In the first episode of ‘Ahsoka,’ we saw Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati breaking Morgan Elsbeth out of prison. Elsbeth told them that Ahsoka would be a problem because she knew where the starmap was.

After that, Ahsoka went to an ancient Nightsister Temple on the planet called Arcana. It was in the ruins of that temple that she could find a starmap that had been there for a very long time. Ahsoka found out about this temple when she interrogated Elsbeth after defeating her on Corvus during season 2 of ‘The Mandalorian.’

Of course, because of Sabine Wren’s hard-headedness and Shin’s efforts, Elsbeth was able to get her hands on the starmap, which she used to reveal the location of a place called the Pathway to Peridea, which Baylan described as a Jedi fairytale that he didn’t even think existed.

Peridea is a place that may or may not be in the galaxy and is a location in the universe that is impossible for anyone to reach without using the starmap. And Elsbeth believes that Thrawn is calling to her from Peridea.

In that regard, it is clear that Elsbeth wants to use the starmap and the Eye of Sion to get to Peridea and bring back Grand Admiral Thrawn so that he could lead the Imperial Remnants against the New Republic.

But the existence of this starmap has gotten fans wondering how it even exists. After all, Thrawn disappeared around a decade before the events of ‘Ahsoka.’ On the other hand, the starmap was found in the ruins of an ancient Nightsister Temple that may have been there for hundreds or thousands of years.

This all leads to the fact that the starmap was never created to reveal the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Instead, it was created to reveal the Pathway to Peridea, which is the place where Elsbeth believes Thrawn was banished when Ezra Bridger used the power of the Purrgil to send himself and Thrawn away from the galaxy.

It is possible that this starmap was created long ago to reveal Peridea’s location to whoever could find it on the map inside the Nightsister Temple. This also leads to the possibility that the Nightsisters likely made contact with the beings who live in Peridea or are actually originally from Peridea.

As such, there’s a good chance that the Nightsisters can wield the Force in a mysterious and unique way because the Force was used in the same way back in Peridea.

The Nightsisters likely learned how to use magick from the beings they interacted with in Peridea. Or if they were originally from Peridea, the original Nightsisters who went to the known Star Wars galaxy were responsible for bringing the concept of magick to the galaxy.

So, in a way, this starmap may have been created by the Nightsisters as a way for them to go to Peridea either to make contact with the people there or to return to where they may have originated. After “hearing” Thrawn’s voice from across time and space, Elsbeth simply concluded that Peridea was where the Grand Admiral was.

No one knew where Thrawn was

As mentioned, the starmap wasn’t created to show Elsbeth where Thrawn was. Instead, it was created to show where Peridea was. And Elsbeth and the other Imperial remnants likely concluded that Thrawn was banished there after scouring the galaxy for years.

Back in season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian,’ Moff Gideon questioned the Shadow Council regarding Grand Admiral Thrawn’s whereabouts, only for all of them to wonder whether or not the Chiss tactician was ever going to return to lead the Imperial remnants. This is because the Imperials likely spent years searching the galaxy for Thrawn’s whereabouts after disappearing at the end of ‘Rebels.’

The Rebels’ conclusion occurred around ten years before the events of ‘Ahsoka.’ While the Empire was busy fighting the Rebels for years, it was likely that soldiers and officers loyal to Thrawn were searching for him. This includes Morgan Elsbeth, who probably spent ten years trying to find out where Thrawn was.

Of course, Thrawn would have already resurfaced if the Purrgil banished him to the known galaxy. The Empire would have also had several agents who would have seen Thrawn in the known systems all over the galaxy.

As such, because no one knew where Thrawn was, the conclusion was that he disappeared to a location that was far beyond the reach of anyone in the galaxy at that time. And Elsbeth, who said that Thrawn was contacting her through time and space, may have concluded that the Purrgil banished him to Peridea.

This is why the starmap was important to Elsbeth, as it was the only way for her to get to Peridea, where she believed Thrawn was calling her from. That is why Ahsoka and Sabine are also positive that Ezra Bridger is also there in Peridea, as he was responsible for banishing Thrawn around ten years ago.

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