As the saga expands at full speed, are you right to have a bad feeling about this? Stephen A Russell is underwhelmed by Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire - Season 1
A long time ago (yesterday), in a galaxy far, far away (my study), I wrote a review of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire that was dragged down deep by the snatching, Sarlacc-like tendrils of the ever-expanding, Skywalker-adjacent saga and wound up stewing in the bowels of the canon, reading like the guttural howls of a Wookieepedia entry gone mad.
With an ever-expanding universe erupting out from George Lucas’ 1977 original—itself spun from ancient mythology, Arthurian legend, Wild West iconography, classic movies like Metropolis, Seven Samurai and more—it’s all too easy to get caught in the tractor-beam, over-explaining everything (the force meet midi-chlorians).
Hyperspace-jumping almost half a century forward from Star Wars, Disney is struggling, stooped by the weight of the worlds portrayed (as with the Marvel movies), rushing towards the heat death of the franchise sped on by a tortuous requirement to read/watch too much.
For every breath of fresh air like the Diego Luna-led Andor—a dangerously exciting prequel to the also-awesome Rogue One—there’s a slog like The Book of Boba Fett or the much-maligned resurrection of Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker.
It’s who you know
May the 4th has become a holiday for Star Wars fans, and this year Disney comes bearing gifts with six-part animated series Tales of the Empire from creator Dave Filoni.
One of the leading lights in the Star Wars house, he’s a card-carrying geek involved in everything from animated outings like The Clone Wars and Rebels, to live-action shows The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. A lot of love for the source material is no bad thing, but you have to keep your guard up to ensure you’re not bogged down in the minutiae.
I’d argue that Filoni got the balance right with his first salvo in what is now a two-part anthology series, Tales of the Jedi. It layered extra detail into reasonably well-known characters, tracing the tragic turn to the dark side of Jedi Knight Count Dooku and the rise of Ahsoka Tano, whose training was aborted by the fall of the Jedi.
Even casual fans would recognise the dastardly Dooku from the big screen prequels Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, played with villainous charm by the late, great Christopher Lee. He’s voiced here by Corey Burton, who took on the role in animated show The Clone Wars. That’s where we meet Ahsoka, first voiced by Ashley Eckstein, then played by Rosario Dawson as a guest star on the wildly popular The Mandalorian before graduating onto her solo show, Ahsoka.
A strong bridge connecting multiple mediums, it teased out the backstory of characters many folks know, with bonus support from a raft of A-leaguers including Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Qui-Gon, Leia’s future stepdad Bail Organa and his (sadly already dead) daughter Padme, all without derailing the central duo’s stories.
I have a bad feeling about this
Sadly this carefully drawn mix is stuffed up in Tales of the Empire. At first glance, it seems wise to step away from the overwrought Skywalker saga and its hangers-on, presenting a lesser-known duo and delving into the shades of grey on the dark side of the force.
Again, following a dual narrative, we have the dullest-named baddie of the Star Wars universe, Morgan Elsbeth, on one side. If your immediate response is “who?’” you’re unlikely alone.
Morgan is the witch-like character, or Nightsister, with a tattooed face who first pops up as a mean old slaver of villagers in season two of The Mandalorian, the same episode that marked Ahsoka’s live-action debut. Played with impressive menace by Diana Lee Inosanto, she also voices the character in Tales of the Empire. Morgan leads the charge to free Lars Mikkelsen’s snoozy Grand Admiral Thrawn from far-flung exile in Ahsoka.
A solid first episode portrays a young Morgan in the classic Star Wars mould: an innocent shaken by the death of their parents. Her people are wiped out by a droid army led by fan not-so-favourite—wheezing cyborg General Grievous. Only, instead of Luke’s dark side resistance, her fear turns to anger. “My world has been burning since I was a child.”
Morgan’s basically VIP compared to Tales of the Empire’s other ‘lead’ character, Barriss Offee, who admittedly sounds less like an office temp. Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted Nalini Krishan in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her turn depicting Barriss as one of several awkwardly non-speaking Jedi women in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Voiced by Meredith Salenger, who fleshed out the character in the animated series, Barriss has been languishing in jail after turning against her Jedi training. Aggressively courted by the Jedi-hunting Inquisitors, this enables a fan service appearance by a much higher profile wheezing baddie who is fast losing his menace through overkill.
While her path is more nuanced, it’s also a bit wishy-washy. As is the season’s animation, which doesn’t share the same level of painterly backdrops and detailed character designs as featured in Tales of the Jedi.
That’s not the only area where it’s lacking. Much of Tales of the Empire is little more than a clip show of what invested viewers already know from other shows, alienating them with crumbs thrown that will struggle to draw in new fans.
At roughly 90 minutes, this should have room for depth while keeping things snappy. Instead, it’s a thin retread in a galaxy rapidly running out of fresh ideas.
