In the Disney Era of Star Wars, since they got rid of the earlier expanded universe, it seems those in charge, specifically Dave Filoni, have taken upon the task of two things. One, curate what he feels works from the now no longer canon stories and integrate what was some of the better stuff into the new current canon. The second is fixing mistakes in the films (old and new) that make the overall story more confusing in terms of how things fit together. Now for me, I’ve stated many times I prefer Star Wars in animation, and the stuff Filoni has done with these animated series has turned me from a Star Wars hater into a person who can be entertained by Star Wars stories. As The Bad Batch wraps up, Tales of the Empire takes the time to expand the stories of characters we already know, much like the Tales of the Jedi series of shorts did last year. The series first focuses on Morgan Elsbeth, the supporting character we recently met in the series AHSOKA – as the genocide of the Nightsisters of Dathomir by the Trade Federation during the Clone Wars set her on the path of the Dark Side. The second character of focus is former Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee, the character from the later parts of The Clone Wars series who turned on the Jedi because of their change from peacekeepers to a Military force. Also, connected to the character of Ahsoka (SPOILER), she framed her for a terrorist act that led to her being kicked out of the Jedi order and essentially a ronin-like Force wielder character we see currently.
From my many other reviews, I’m pretty much a fan of this style of Star Wars show. Unlike the last anthology show, Tales of the Jedi, this show doesn’t alternate between its protagonists. They could’ve put each out as two 35-minute short films, but they chose this chapter-style setup of the stories. That’s cool if you don’t want to just binge it all at once and want to watch a small amount and return later. At a little over an hour, it’s easy just to sit down and watch it all. The characters are consistent, and the tone is darker but not too much of a turn-off. While the stories are interesting to me and probably the most Star Wars canon die-hards, it’s something that most might skip as it doesn’t have the draw of Count Dooku or Ahsoka like last year’s series. Tales of the Empire is a solid entry to the current Star Wars offerings, but it is also something that should’ve probably focused on another bigger and well-known Empire character to really make this feel like a not-miss event.
Score: C+
