The last two episodes of Ahsoka, leading up to the finale, have taken Star Wars somewhere it has not been before – a galaxy, far, far away. In the decades since Return of the Jedi, the films, specifically the sequel trilogy, have been unable to divorce the franchise from Darth Sidious and explore something fresh (even a frozen Sith from the days of the Old Republic). While the first episodes of Ahsoka were uneventful, in episode 6, Far, Far Away, the show finally arrived in an unnamed galaxy that we learn is the home of the Dathomiri.

Far, Far Away introduced us, for the first time in live-action, to three pieces of the former timeline of the Star Wars novels before Disney bought Lucasfilm and erased the stories in favor of the sequel trilogy they made with no plan for the arc whatsoever. When the villains and their prisoner Sabine Wren arrive at their destination in the new galaxy and the planet of Peridea, they fly down to a Dathomiri temple, where they are greeted by the Nightsisters.

The Nightsisters are Zabraks like Darth Maul, and they are force users but are not followers of the Sith teachings. They wield the force similar to Sith and Jedi in how they use it for divination, and like Darth Sidious when he anoints Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith, the Sisters use the force to augment their voice. The Sisters have knowledge of dark force powers such as resurrection and travel to the world between worlds, which Ahsoka entered at the end of episode four.

Our second live-action debut came with the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn was one of the villains created in the early 1990s in the novels set after Return of the Jedi. He is a Chiss and a master strategist, and in the novels, he was the one who led the imperial remnant after the death of Palpatine. Thrawn’s return has been projected over multiple Star Wars streaming series set after the fall of the empire. The debut, the performance by Lars Mikkelsen, and the makeup did not disappoint. This was a moment that Star Wars fans have waited to see for over 30 years.

Mikkelsen’s Thrawn is emotionless. He cares little about winning last-minute victories on Peridea or revenge against old enemies. He gives Wren an animal to ride and gets her out of his way. He has one goal: return from exile. He does not see himself as good or evil. There is only the flawed and unflawed in his view. Thrawn’s calm allows him to keep his focus on the checkmate.

The third alien we see brought to life in Far, Far Away may be the most significant in the long run. The animal that Thrawn gives to Wren and the fallen Jedi to ride, which fans are calling howlers, may be a vornskr or fero xyn, and either is a red flag that the Yuuzhan Vong are not far behind.

What Is the Howler?
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The design used in Ahsoka for the howler closely resembles the force-sensing vornskr’s appearance in comic book art. However, the vornskr was from the planet Myrkr, in the galaxy that our heroes and villains have traveled from. The vornskr’s DNA was combined with the fero xyn by the Yuuhhan Vong to create the voxyn. The fero xyn was a predator from the home world of the Vong, Yuuzhan’tar in another galaxy in the pre-Disney timeline of the novels. Neither the vornskr or fero xyn had appeared on film to this point, so the creative team were free to transfer vornskr’s aesthetics over to the fero xyn; making the fero a hybrid in conceptual design in its adaptation on screen, or they may have moved the vornskr to the new galaxy.

What matters most about the howler, is what it suggests about the dominant force in this new galaxy, and what deadly creature the howler foreshadows: the voxyn. The voxyn were a bioweapon – a powerful, eight-limbed reptilian-wolf predator with the force-sense of the vornskr, which enabled them to track Jedi and kill them. The voxyn were like Star Wars’ xenomorph in that they were a living weapon that was extremely dangerous and challenging to Jedi. The presence of this new creature, whether it is a fero xyn or vornskr, either signals the existence of the Vong or is a red herring intended to misdirect hardcore fans.

Related: Ahsoka: Why These Characters Should Be the Future of Evil in Star Wars

Who are the Yuuzhan Vong?
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The Yuuzhan Vong were an invading species from another galaxy in the pre-Disney Star Wars novels that utilized biomechanical technology similar to the Engineers of the Alien franchise. The Vong were religiously opposed to non-organic technology and droids, which invaded their galaxy long ago and caused the death of their living planet. The Vong ships were living, bioengineered vessels. We know from the existence of the space whales that living creatures can access hyperspace and navigate the void between galaxies.

The Vong warriors wore a living armor called the vonduun that was like a crab-shell and capable of deflecting blasters and lightsaber strikes. The vonduun armor, as seen in the book art above, was adopted by the Jedi. While the Vong were defeated, their Guyver-like biotech armor would alter the history of the galaxy going forward and represent a dividing point in eras. Following the war with the Vong, a new Sith Lord, Darth Krayt, would rise to power wearing vonduun armor.

When Disney made The Force Awakens, they made no mention of the Vong, and instead remade the imperials as The First Order and cast them as the villains again. The appearance of the Vong in live-action, in Ahsoka, or a future film, would mean that an inevitable war is coming.

Have the Vong Been Hinted at in Ahsoka?
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The journey to another galaxy alone has stirred up anticipation that the Vong may be introduced by the end of Ahsoka’s final episode. Beyond the fero xyn, we have other clues that the Vong or some other threat is present in this new galaxy. The fallen Jedi, Baylan Skoll told his apprentice Shin Hati that there is something on this world that is calling to him. He believes that there is knowledge of the beginning on Peridea that is of greater importance than Thrawn and the Jedi. Baylan tells Shin that the Jedi had legends of Peridea, and the Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth reveals that the Dathomiri disembarked from their home galaxy from the world of Peridea, following the path of the space whales.

The Dathomiri sought to flee their own galaxy from something, and Thrawn is anxious to leave immediately after he has loaded the MacGuffins from the Dathomiri temple, which he intends to carry back with him. Thrawn’s starship has received extensive damage. The exterior is a quilt of gold patches. The same gold patching is seen with Thrawn’s stormtroopers whose armor has been broken in battle and repaired with gold in the Japanese tradition of kintsugi.

The presence of some threat is clear. Its fingerprints are all over Thrawn’s ship and soldiers. The imperials’ numbers have dwindled; which is why Thrawn is averse to risking sending more troops than he does to assist Shin in episode seven, Dreams and Madness. It is clear that Thrawn is aware of a risk to his return from exile. It is not the Jedi that worry him, and he does not care about forging an alliance with Baylan and Shin. Thrawn is not interested in lingering after the ship is loaded with its cargo because, at any point, the enemy he has been battling may appear and spoil his escape.

Related: Ahsoka: Why Grand Admiral Thrawn Is One of the Most Terrifying Star Wars Villains

A Sequel Ret-Con, or Building a Bigger Enemy?
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The six-billion-dollar question for the majority of Star Wars fans is if this is setting the table for a ret-con of the sequel trilogy. If the Vong appear, this could be the prologue to rebooting the sequels, but it could alternatively be serving up a new villain for Kathleen Kennedy’s Episode 10. It seems certain after so much building around Thrawn that he will be escaping his exile at the end of the season and serve as the central threat in Dave Filoni’s planned movie, which is expected to bring together the various factions he has helped build across The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka.

Our heroes and villains might return to their home galaxy, but the Vong or whatever else might be present in this new galaxy may remain on ice for a period set after this conflict with Thrawn, whether that is titled Episode 7 or Episode 10. Since The Rise of Skywalker, the franchise has stayed away from the sequels or linking into them with its numerous streaming series that are either set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope or shortly after Return of the Jedi.

The sequels went completely sideways, erasing Luke Skywalker’s legacy as the Jedi who rebuilt the Order and erasing the Skywalker bloodline. It is clear from the response to Luke’s return in The Mandalorian’s season two finale, the fans want today what they always wanted after Return of the Jedi: a trilogy that tells the story of Luke’s adult life, his wife and son, his battles, and his Jedi Order. Forty years have passed, and Luke’s story after the death of Darth Sidious is a question mark.

There have been rumors flying for months that Kennedy will not be remaining with Lucasfilm and Disney after her current contract ends in 2024. If Kennedy exits, the plans for Episode 10 may be no more. Kennedy’s time over Lucasfilm has seen the Star Wars fans turn on the franchise, with The Rise of Skywalker only earning half the box office of The Force Awakens. The sequel series to Willow was poorly received, and the fifth Indiana Jones, which released this summer, earned just $383 million. It is time for new leadership, or if Disney is unwilling to do what fans want, it needs to just sell Lucasfilm to a buyer (Amazon/Apple) who will boldly go there while Disney retains the use of the license for their theme parks.