Watchable on: Disney+
Viewed: 6 out of 6 episodes
Yoda once told us, “Size matters not.” So even though Tales Of The Empire—the second collection of official Star Wars animated shorts, after Tales Of The Jedi in 2022—only has six short episodes, each lasting 10 to 15 minutes, it’s still worth checking out. The Star Wars galaxy is the setting for this succinct, forceful, and snappy storytelling that connects decades’ worth of disconnected threads by latching onto underutilized characters.
The previous time, the emphasis was on Ahsoka Tano’s life turning points and the downfall of Count Dooku. In The Mandalorian Season 2, Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), a Beskar-wielding Magistrate who would later be revealed as a former Dathomir witch determined to announce Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return in Ahsoka, is the focus of the first three episodes. In them, she loses everything and finds new meaning in the Empire’s embrace. The subsequent installments delve into the destiny of Barriss Offee (portrayed by Meredith Salenger), the erstwhile Jedi Knight who, during The Clone Wars, became alienated from the Order, destroyed the Jedi Temple, and implicated Ahsoka Tano in the entire incident.
neatly stitches the far-flung galaxy’s corners closer together.
Fans of the franchise will probably be thrilled by their two paths, which span several eras and aspects of Star Wars mythology. Even though these narrative flashes are brief, they are thoughtfully chosen to include well-known characters like Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), the hissing General Grievous (Matthew Wood), and even Vader himself, in addition to shedding light on the most terrible losses and transgressions committed by Morgan and Barriss. When you include trips to Dathomir, Corvus, and the Fortress Inquisitorius, the outcome is a television series that deftly brings the disparate facets of this expansive galaxy closer together.
There’s enough here to enjoy even for those who aren’t as engrossed in the details of Lucas’ world. A hellish vision of war that draws a lost child into darkness; a disastrous attempt at intergalactic diplomacy; a desperate attempt to claim a new family in the face of complete loss; a metaphysical battle for the soul between friends turned enemies—all of these stories are succinct, archetypal fables in and of themselves. The animation used to present them is among the most exquisite and sophisticated that Star Wars has ever produced; it eschews the cartoonish flourishes of Rebels and The Clone Wars in favor of a gritty and soulful style, with stunning landscape detail and quiet moments amidst the fast-paced action. Such a complete animated Star Wars series would be a gift.
By its very nature, Tales of the Empire leaves you wanting more, and a cursory understanding of galactic history is not enough to fully appreciate what is offered. But this is incisive, clever stuff that serves a genuine, character-driven purpose in bridging narrative gaps. No, you shouldn’t judge it by its size.