Pellaeon will appear.
- Given his debut in the series finale of Rebels, we will get to see more of him in here, and Word of God has confirmed that he was Thrawn's right hand man.
- Jossed. Pellaeon does not appear, Commodore Faro is still captain of the Chimaera.
Rukh will appear.
- He did not appear in the previous book but seems to already be trusted by Thrawn by the time of Rebels' season 4. We will get to see them meet. Considering his Not His Sled moment, he may have a different backstory than his Legends counterpart though.
- Confirmed. However, he's already in Thrawn's service at the start of the book. He also holds no special respect for Vader, even though, in Legends, all Noghri revered Vader as their savior.
Thrawn's Dark and Troubled Past regarding the The Reveal is that...
Thrass was one of the Force-sensitive Chiss children and was cast aside after his ability faded. This would also kind of count as some sort of Mythology Gag, because Thrass went MIA (and really, died) while helping a Jedi. Post-Rebels, Thrawn brings Ezra
to the AscendancyGiven the revelation about Force-sensitive Chiss, It's possible Thrawn had to return to take care of important business there, and via force or agreement, brought him to Teach force-sensitives so their powers won't fade.