Disney’s latest Star Wars project, Tales of the Jedi, is a phenomenally animated six-episode anthology series. It uncovers how Count Dooku went from a Jedi to becoming a Sith Lord and how Ahsoka Tano was able to fight off an army of clones during Order 66 when most Jedi got annihilated. Fare warning the next paragraphs will contain spoilers.
No one particularly asked for the overall show, but this show wasn’t created because Disney wanted the creator, Dave Filoni, to make it – which is probably why the show came out so good, despite episode one. It was created because Filoni has an affection for the Star Wars world and he did this on a whim to help time pass. Ahsoka is one of Filoni’s favorite characters and the fans love her, I’m sure he wanted to expand on her life. By doing this, the three episodes that focus on Ahsoka gave fans a before, during and after The Clone Wars timeline to add to her life.
EPISODE ONE – ‘LIFE AND DEATH’
Episode one, Life and Death, reveals Ahsoka’s journey to becoming discovered as a Jedi. This might be most fans’ least favorite episode out of the six, as some claim it was unnecessary coverage of Ahsoka’s life. It focused largely on her as a one-year-old, which felt insignificant to the rest of the series. It had little impact on other elements of the story beyond revealing Ahsoka’s culture and how her compassion and force sensitivity intertwined. Although the animation is incredible, the storyline of this episode just seemed to drag. But it sets up the start of her Jedi journey, along with the arc of Ahsoka before, during and after the Clone Wars.
EPISODE TWO – ‘JUSTICE’
Episode two, Justice, focuses on Count Dooku when he was a Jedi Knight with Qui-Gon Jinn as his apprentice. This episode was especially intriguing because it showed us what possibly started Dooku doubting the Jedi Order and shift to the dark side. It was really well done with the audience seeing Dooku’s change in perspective and attitude with Qui-Gon there reacting toward both the situation and Dooku. This was definitely something I wanted Disney to dive deeper into and expand on the earlier stages of Dooku’s life.
EPISODE THREE – ‘CHOICES’
Episode three, Choices, continues with Dooku’s story arc but dives further into the future than Justice. This episode gives fans a closer look at how Dooku joined the dark side. As much as episode two of the show gave us insight as to why, this episode expands further into Dooku’s rationale and methodology. The way Dooku acts reminds me of Anakin, and how Anakin always did what he thought was right even though it was never what the Jedi Council believed should be done. Mace Windu and Dooku’s relationship has many similarities to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin’s relationship. Windu would follow the council no matter what was going on or whether he agreed with it, while Dooku did what he thought was right and should be done. Dooku acted while Windu watched.
EPISODE FOUR – ‘THE SITH LORD’
Episode four, The Sith Lord, was a phenomenal conclusion to Dooku’s thee episode arc, taking place before the clone wars. We see him mourn the death of Qui-Gon, showing just how conflicted he was with his alliances and loyalties. The biggest turning point that pushes Dooku closer to becoming a Sith Lord is when Palpatine tells him to kill Yaddle. We finally get to see Jedi Yaddle with a speaking role, and discover that the Jedi Council is more than just their binding rules and their drive to protect the senate. This episode’s storyline is very impressive by showing us how Dooku used Sifo-Dyas’s name to make the clone army, erased information, and what he did before officially leaving the Jedi temple.
EPISODE FIVE – ‘PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT’
Episode five, Practice Makes Perfect, is a fan-favorite episode. We get to see just how much Anakin wanted to prepare Ahsoka for more than just fighting droids. He arranges for Captain Rex and other clones to fight Ahsoka and ensure that she’s prepared to take on any risks. This finally exposes to viewers how she was able to take on an entire clone army and Darth Maul during Order 66 when other Jedi got wiped out by clones. Seeing her grow through the years and become more skilled, all while seeing more of Anakin as a Jedi, was immaculate.
EPISODE SIX – ‘RESOLVE’
Episode six, Resolve, wonderfully concludes her journey in the show– while also emphasizing that her story isn’t over yet. This exquisitely showed us how Ahsoka got into the rebel fight and became Fulcrum in the TV show Rebels. This episode was a letdown with the fight scene because it contained minimal expanded action and was overall unsatisfying to watch. In Rebels during Obi-Wan and Maul’s fight, there were only three moves until Maul was killed. Although this was a great battle, viewers would want to see more climactic tension build before a character’s ultimate demise. This complaint also applies to the fight scene between an Inquisitor and Ahsoka in Tales of the Jedi. She didn’t have her lightsaber, which surely impacted the way her scenes played out– but viewers most definitely would’ve preferred a longer fight scene. Lastly, the scene of Ahsoka at Padme’s funeral was amazing to see, as it was one of the iconic movie scenes in an animation rendition with Ahsoka involved as well.
Overall, the six-episode series that combined is less than 100 minutes deserves a season two where they give the audience more of younger Dooku and Ahsoka. Tales of the Jedi deserves a round of applause with the audience shouting encore.