Review – Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi | Does it Stand up to its Predecessors or Fall Short into the Dark Side?
Revealed at this year’s D23 Expo, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi was teased as a promising return to the animated Star Wars universe that Dave Filoni created with The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch. Telling the story of two skilled Jedis and their roles within the galaxy, this series would open up their backstories in a way that has never been explored before in the Star Wars canon.
Finally released for Disney+, fans can check out Filoni’s latest animation offering. With such a rich history of successful animated shows and intriguing expansions of the franchise’s lore, does Tales of the Jedi stand up to its predecessors or fall short into the Dark Side?
Poster for Tales of the Jedi
Made up of six standalone episodes, this anthology series follows the backstory of Anakin’s Padawan Ahsoka and the early Jedi years of Dooku before he became the Sith Lord known in the films’ prequel trilogy. Diving into their relationships with fan-favourite characters as well as some fresh faces that have never been seen before, each episode tells its own singular story while also splicing between the events from the films and the television shows that came before it.
While Ahsoka is certainly given some great moments throughout this series such as using her Force abilities for the first time and a showdown with an Inquisitor while surrounded by flames, Dooku’s arc across the series is an entertaining and emotional one that brilliantly stands out. Being tested by the loyalty of the council he serves, his stories become far more dramatic and saddening as his journey eventually leads him to the Dark Side which is as engaging as it is heart-breaking to watch.
A young Dooku in Tales of the Jedi
As for the animation itself, it should come as no surprise that it lives up to the same level of quality and detail that The Bad Batch and the final season of The Clone Wars have offered that will please fans from those two acclaimed shows. With such brilliant use of lighting and colouring as well as the high quality of the background art, it features many of the same design choices that made those shows stand out from Disney+’s already large collection of animated content.
But what makes this a standout and memorable inclusion in the entire Star Wars franchise when it comes to animation is the new locations and character models. While its predecessors have featured many new and exciting places over the years, the ones included here really stand out here as they are unlike anything seen before from the abandoned sections of Coruscant to never-before-seen areas of the Jedi council, they are greatly diverse and memorable. As for the new character models for the younger Dooku, baby Ahsoka, and the new Inquisitor, they are given the same level of care and stand out among the familiar faces that make up a majority of the cast.
Ahsoka in Tales of the Jedi
Although it would have been great to have seen more storylines and episodes that explored other key characters, it’s just a testament to Dave Filoni and his team’s abilities that they can tell such great stories while being beautifully animated. Hopefully, Tales of the Jedi will receive a second season, but until then, Star Wars fans have another great reason to log back into their Disney+ accounts again.