On May 4, the unofficial «Star Wars» Day (May the fourth be with you, ladies and gentlemen), the animated anthology series «Tales of the Empire» was released on the Disney+ streaming service. This is a collection of six short episodes lasting 11–15 minutes, which follows the course set earlier by «Tales of the Jedi» (2022) and is intended to expand the stories of certain characters, in this case Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee. In the review below, we discuss why the project loses out to its predecessor to some extent, but in general has every right to exist.
Pluses:
moderately engaging short stories that better reveal the characters; high-quality animation in the traditional «Star Wars» style; nice cameos of iconic villains
Minuses:
Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee are clearly less interesting characters than the heroes of «Tales of the Jedi» Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku; the animated series is not suitable for viewers who are not familiar with the universe of the Star Wars
«Star Wars: Tales of the Empire»
Genre animation, anthology, fiction
Author Dave Filoni
The roles were voiced by Diane Lee Inosanto, Jason Isaacs, Meredith Salenger, Rya Kihlstedt, Lars Mikkelsen, Matthew Wood
Premiere Disney+
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
While the franchise «Star Wars» cinematic lull is in full swing, its creators continue to mercilessly bombard viewers with projects for small screens. The latter, in turn, have also differentiated themselves by the scale of events. If the flagship «The Mandalorian» with its cheat Baby Yoda was conceived as a big blockbuster for the widest possible audience, the modest «Tales» is intended only for die-hard fans of the legendary universe created by George Lucas.
Previous anthology «Tales of the Jedi» told about important events in the lives of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku, and its successor, meanwhile, focuses on Morgan Elsbeth, the Dathomirian Sister of the Night and Magistrate of Kelodan, and Barriss Offee, a former student of Luminara Unduli and later Jedi.
The former was one of the key characters in last year’s «Ahsoka». The second one appeared in the animated series by the same Dave Filoni «The Clone Wars» and even appeared in the second and third episodes of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy — this is, recall, «Attack of the Clones» (2002) and revered by many for its gloom «Revenge of the Sith» (2005). The local story will tell how the fate of the one who betrayed Ahsoka Tano developed after Order 66.
Each episode lasts 11-15 minutes (including the credits) and shows a separate story that takes place in a specific timeline. That is, the time gap between the events of the episodes can be a chasm, so you need to be well versed in the nooks and crannies of this universe to not miss all the nuances.
In general, the local adventures are quite exciting, and yet so fleeting that you only have time to switch episodes. And such conciseness is definitely a good thing.
These small local stories help to better reveal the characters, understand the motives of their behavior and actions. At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the fact that compared to «Tales of the Jedi», the stakes here are much lower. After all, Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee are not as interesting and promoted as Ahsoka Tano and especially Count Dooku. If the series continues to move in the same direction, we can expect stories about characters of the caliber of Sabine Wren’s lot-cat in the future.
What’s also very impressive here is Dave Filoni diligence to keep everything canonical. The animated series is made in the traditional animation style of the franchise, and the characters have their usual voices (Kathy Sackhoff also joined the voice acting, and her Bo-Katan Krais doesn’t even appear in the frame, but only says a few words through the communication device). Such meticulousness and attention to detail simply cannot but delight.
In addition to the main characters, real heavyweight superstars will appear on the screen: General Grievous will be waving his multi-colored lightsabers, Grand Admiral Thrawn will add a blue one to the frame, and Lord Vader himself will be snoring menacingly into his shiny helmet. Oh yes, the Empire is seriously determined to destroy the hated Jedi to the last man.
In the end, «Tales of the Empire» turned out to be a nice one-off for loyal fans of a galaxy far, far away. However, it’s definitely not necessary for viewers who are not too deeply immersed in the Star Wars universe. The next stop here is — «The Acolyte», which premieres on Disney+ in just a month, on June 4. Meanwhile, have a great time Revenge of the Fifth, ladies and gentlemen.