One of the biggest triumphs of Lucasfilm’s streaming efforts has been its increasing roster of animated content. From The Bad Batch to Star Wars Visions, the franchise is stretching some different muscles, and its latest venture, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, continues to prove animation is a perfect medium to explore different corners of the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is an anthology of 6 episodes, all at or under 15 minutes long, in the same vein as 2022’s Tales of the Jedi (which bears no relation to the old Dark Horse Comics). This time around, we follow two ancillary characters from larger works of canon, exploring different eras of the Galactic Empire from their unique perspectives.
The first three episodes revolve around Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). This mysterious Imperial Magistrate was introduced alongside Rosario Dawson’s live-action Ahsoka in The Mandalorian season 2 and rose to a more impactful role last year in the Ahsoka series itself. Tales of the Empire shows us her journey from Clone Wars-era Dathomir to her position of power on Calodan.
“Star Wars: Tales of the Empire offers another feast of little details and allusions to satisfy Star Wars fans’ hunger this May the Fourth.”
The back half shifts focus to Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger), whom fans of The Clone Wars have been waiting to see again. Nothing has been seen of her after her role in Ahsoka’s departure from the Jedi Order in that series’ original run, but the latter three episodes put the theories to rest and show how she fits into the Imperial machine.
Along the way, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire offers another feast of little details and allusions to satisfy Star Wars fans’ hunger this May the Fourth. Both arcs are interesting in their own right, offering insight into the rise and fates of these once-background characters—but the appearance of figures like Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Inquisitors and the use of certain iconic locales from the larger franchise will draw just as much engagement.
To its credit, the anthology spans some substantial time periods. We see Morgan’s story begin in the Clone Wars-era, check in again in the early-ish years of the Empire itself, and once again in the time of the New Republic. Barriss’ tale is a little harder to pin down on timelines but nonetheless offers some new inside perspectives on enigmatic, nebulous niches of the Empire’s inner workings. This keeps the shorts engaging and offers savvy fans just enough to fill in the rest of the blanks themselves.
Their pacing is also excellent, proving that Star Wars is still an incredibly potent well of short-form storytelling. Just like the old short fiction collections like Tales From Jabba’s Palace, Tales of the Empire takes the time to delve into smaller characters and quieter moments, elevating them to the same importance as the big blockbuster characters, if only for a moment. Whereas the various studios behind each Star Wars Visions short can sometimes drag their feet a little too long, this anthology is much more efficient and goes out on a high note each episode.
That being said, the title Tales of the Empire is a bit misleading. Inosanto has been a magnetic presence in each of her on-screen appearances so far, and I’ve long wondered what ultimately became of Barriss post-Order 66, but I had hoped for a little more focus on the Galactic Empire itself. Instead, it’s the backdrop or a lesser means to an end and is barely present in each character’s third act.
Perhaps that’s the point, and there’s something poetic to be said here about the permanence of Palpatine’s grand, terrible monopoly. Either way, “Tales of the Morally Ambiguous Force Users” certainly would’ve been too wordy of an alternate title. Nonetheless, the anthology focuses on these two characters within the Empire, and fans will have to get their Easter egg baskets out and seek out the nods to larger Imperial lore. (One particular homage to Rebels and the old Windows 95 games had me pointing at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio.)
For all the quality of the product, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is probably best left to the more devoted Star Wars fans; if your spouse watches the live-action shows but has no interest in anything deeper, this probably won’t sway them to the “toon side.” This is pure enrichment for previous stories and hopefully a lead into other stories in Star Wars‘ future—and what’s better than that on May the Fourth?
