The Star Wars franchise should feel endlessly expansive. The galaxy far far away should provide enough stories to comfortably fill the next few decades without repeating itself too often. Unfortunately, Disney's live-action Star Wars efforts tie themselves to the characters, settings, and events that fans remember from the original trilogy. This makes Star Wars feel tiny, but Dave Filoni's animated sector of the franchise finds new stories in lesser-known figures. Tales of the Empire represents Filoni's second anthology story with some admirable results.
Dave Filoni is one of two behind-the-scenes professionals at Lucasfilm that fans can recall by name. He's broadly seen as "the good one" by those who dislike Kathleen Kennedy for some valid reasons and several less reasonable ones. Filoni broadly controls the creative direction of the animated series. Fans often ignore those cartoon shows, but they tend to deliver the most engaging elements of the ongoing franchise. Shows like Tales of the Empire demonstrate a desire to explore characters that wouldn't otherwise enjoy the spotlight.
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Tales of the Empire follows Tales of the Jedi as an anthology series focused on two characters. The series features six episodes, all of which are between 12 and 18 minutes in length. It clocks in at a little under 90 minutes when it's all said and done, falling just short of a brief feature film. That runtime feels a bit restrictive, forcing certain narrative decisions to crowd into a narrow package. The series covers two characters, devoting three episodes to each. The first trilogy follows Morgan Elsbeth, a minor antagonist from The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. The back half features Barris Offee, the disillusioned Jedi who tried to frame Ahsoka for the Jedi Temple bombing in The Clone Wars. There's a sizable gap in intrigue between the two characters that negatively affects their presentation in the show.
Morgan Elsbeth begins her tale in medias res. Her people, the Nightsisters of Dathomir, struggle against General Grievous and his droid army. Their battle sets the tone for the series. It's a visual treat with stellar music to match. Pay special attention to the lighting, captured digitally by the striking 3D animation. It's high-quality stuff behind an excellent fight scene. Unfortunately, the rest of Elsbeth's story isn't as impressive. There isn't much emotional weight behind her quest after she leaves her ruined home planet. The second episode skips ahead, leaving her the widely-despised overseer fans remember from The Mandalorian. Through her second and third outings, she enjoys a couple additional fight scenes and one or two strong dialogue exchanges, but her story isn't particularly compelling. It feels as if the show relies heavily on yet another Thrawn cameo to maintain interest. They've been treating this blue-skinned goon like Star Wars's answer to Thanos for years now, and the effect has worn off. Elsbeth's half of the show is a subpar story elevated by solid animation.
Barriss Offee's half of Tales of the Empire fares much better overall. While Elsbeth's story is a prequel to her presence in the live-action shows, Offee left The Clone Wars with some ambiguity. The series depicts her indoctrination into the ever-threatening Order of Inquisitors. Her first episode sees her undergo training with the Grand Inquisitor, exploring the fascinating process that pushed her to fully embrace the Dark Side. She entered the program as a disillusioned Jedi, suspicious of the Order and willing to believe the Empire's lies, and exited as a trained assassin hunting down her former allies. It's grim, but it leads to a change of heart that allows her to find a new path. The final episode is the best of the series. It finds an emotional heart and stands as a worthwhile entry into the franchise.
As a whole, Tales of the Empire is a light, brief, and enjoyable distraction that won't redefine anything about the Star Wars franchise. Filoni and his team could conceivably crank out dozens of these short series, exploring endless minor characters with a fun spotlight. Every character is someone's favorite, and focusing on the familiar icons has only dug Star Wars into increasingly boring holes. If Tales of the Empire proves anything, it's that no story is too small to explore. Morgan Elsbeth might not have provided the most compelling source material, but even her tale of questionable revenge could have been better. Expect future Tales series to dig deeper into every half-known name in the galaxy.
There is still so much fun to be had exploring the Sith side of the Star Wars franchise. The aesthetics, philosophy, and high drama available at every level of Team Dark Side could make for countless fascinating new series. Tales of the Empire captures a bit of the bureaucratic evil in Elsbeth's story and a touch of the arcane evil in Offee's, but there's always more to see. Tales of the Empire is a fun treat for Star Wars Day, but it should be celebrated for its animation first and its storytelling second. These Tales won't overstay their welcome, but they're not likely to convert anyone either.
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