Tales Of The Jedi Review

The animated mini-series “Tales of the Jedi” has just been released on Disney Plus and keeps the amazing storytelling going from its animated predecessors.

Out of six animated shorts that were released, five of them were fantastic. The first one, “Life and Death”, focusing on Ahsoka as a baby felt unnecessary and a waste of time. It was clear they were trying to give three episodes each for Ahsoka and Dooku but it was as if we didn’t need to know anything about baby Ahsoka because it didn’t add anything important to her story. It was also very noticeable that the studio was recycling Grogu’s noises for baby Ahsoka. Following this was the three-episode Dooku arc which was brilliant. Over these three episodes which are spaced out over different times, we really understand why Dooku turned to the dark side and almost feel empathetic towards him. We see his dynamic with Qui-Gon Jinn and his beliefs about politics in his first episode, “Justice”, teasing how dark can be. In his second episode, “Choices” we see his opposite dynamic with Mace Windu as they try to solve a Jedi murder. This episode was the best showing of how skilled Dooku was as a Jedi and how easily he defeated his foes. Finally, the best episode of the Dooku arc was “The Sith Lord”. This episode had a lot to unpack as it took place during “The Phantom Menace” and really solidified Dooku’s struggle with the light and dark. First, we finally see that Dooku was the one who deleted Kamino from the Jedi Archives in canon. Then an older Qui-Gon Jinn appears played by Liam Neeson before his inevitable death. Following this scene, we see Dooku mourning the loss of Qui-Gon and refusing to attend the funeral because he blames the Jedi Council. It is now clear that Qui-Gon’s death was what caused Dooku to fully embrace the dark side. This reaffirms the Sith’s rule of two as both Dooku and Palpatine lost their Padawan/Apprentice at the same time so there would only remain two. The episode ends with a battle between Master Yaddle and Dooku as she discovers his betrayal and Dooku kills her. Yaddle was played by Bryce Dallas Howard and oddly enough she does not speak backwards like Yoda even though they are the same race. This makes Yoda look even weirder than before and question whether Grogu will talk like Yoda or Yaddle in the future. The following episode, “Practice Makes Perfect” was Ahsoka focused and easily the most emotional story. The whole premise was Ahsoka trying to prove herself to Anakin by training under a test exactly like Order 66. We see her fail so many times, but she always got back up and tried again out of respect for her master. The episode even progresses through time and shows her evolution as a Jedi and how she was able to survive Order 66 in the first place. The final scene ends with a part of the finale of “Clone Wars” which definitely brought back some emotions and shows that Anakin was a great Master for pushing her after all. The final episode, “Resolve” was a little basic but tied up some loose ends from the “Clone Wars” finale. It is revealed that Ahsoka was at Padme’s funeral and gained her contact post Order 66 with General Organa there. While living her secret life, she is exposed as a Jedi and an Inquisitor shows up to hunt her. The badass looking Inquisitor leads his attack and Ahsoka easily takes him out using his own lightsaber. While this may have felt a little underwhelming at first, it really demonstrates how skilled Ahsoka is. The episode ends with her joining Organa, setting up where we see her in “Rebels”. Overall this mini series was really enjoyable and gave plenty of great moments for hardcore Star Wars fans. The standout episodes were easily “The Sith Lord” and “Practice Makes Perfect”.

While fans were initially upset about the runtime of the episodes, they served the story well and there was no time where they felt drawn out or dragging. “Tales of the Jedi” is 9/10.