May 4 can’t save ‘Tales’ as tangled storylines undercut ‘Star Wars’ canon

Long live the Empire! Released appropriately on May 4 in commemoration of “Star Wars Day,” as well as the same week of the poignant series finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, comes Tales of the Empire from a galaxy far, far away. Taking a look into the effects of the tyrannical institution run by a guy in a black cloak who never seems to die, the follow-up is just as bad as the Empire itself, but not in terms of evil. 

First announced simply as the second season of Tales of the Jedi in April of 2023 at Star Wars Celebration Europe, Tales is animated in a similar style to other entries such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Bad Batch. It wouldn’t be until April 4, 2024 with its first trailer release that revealed that the next installment in the Tales series would be focused on the Empire and its constituents, notably the fan-favorite ex-Jedi Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger, M.O.D.O.K.) as well as Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto, Ahsoka). 

In its predecessor, Tales of the Jedi, the shorts were similarly broken up into two parts, each focusing on a popular character from the Star Wars mythos, one part spotlighting Count Dooku before he turned to the dark side and the other part on Ahsoka Tano very early after Order 66 was passed. Tales of the Empire follows a similar strategy, showcasing the origin of one character and their turn then shifting onto another going down a different path. 

However, unlike Tales of the Jedi, the way that its successor portrays the events of the characters seems to lack the same magic or care that fans would hope for when approaching a project with so much potential. When it was first revealed that fan favorite characters like Barriss would make a return after she had been imprisoned for framing Ahsoka Tano in season five of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, fans speculated that she would be retconned into being the Inquisitor known as the Seventh Sister from Rebels, as she was the same species as the Inquisitor. Unfortunately, the path chosen with her character disappointed many with it being unexpected and a complete departure from what was set up. 

Along with this, the choice of using Morgan Elsbeth for a show about the Empire was a strange choice as well, only being in a small portion of the second season of The Mandalorian as well as dying soon after in Ahsoka. This made the choice of using her for a series that fans had been clamoring for as a missed opportunity, depriving other characters of the spotlight. The most confusing part of the decision to highlight her character was the fact that she is not truly an “Imperial” in the traditional sense that was built up over the original trilogy as well as its supplemental materials.

The strongest portion of Morgan Elsbeth’s three episode arc comes in the form of the notorious blue-skinned Chiss known as Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen, Star Wars Rebels) as he approaches Morgan with promises of Imperial support. However, even then does the timeline in which these shorts occur become more convoluted with the clashing of the supposedly canonnical 2017 Thrawn novels written by Timothy Zahn. In the animated shorts, Thrawn is shown with the rank of admiral and with his right-hand man of Gilad Pellaeon (Xander Berkeley, Air Force One) after showing up in the disappointment that was The Mandalorian season three. However, in the canon novels, Thrawn wasn’t associated with Pellaeon at the time of being an admiral, instead being accompanied by a man named Eli Vanto. In fact, his short appearance on the small screen hints that Thrawn was originally going to be the spotlight of a few of the shorts, leaving fans thirsty for more.

Although providing an experience for those who have only heard of the Star Wars franchise to turn their minds off to, Tales of the Empire disappoints regular fans in multiple ways leaving much to be desired. The series comes off more as a simple cash grab than anything made for the fans, especially when Tales of the Jedi had been the complete opposite. For a series released on May the Fourth, the Force is not with this one.

C+: Underwhelming at best, Tales of the Empire fails to even get close to the same grandeur of its predecessor, providing an unnecessary and canon convoluting entry into the Star Wars franchise.

by Evan Parfitt

Published May 20 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue VIII