Review | Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi

“Tales of the Jedi is an absolute joy to watch. This is an incredible series expanding on the stories of Ahsoka and Dooku with mesmerizing animation. Dave Filoni proves once again that he is a master at Star Wars.”

I had the chance to watch all the episodes of Tales of the Jedi last week. This is an anthology series using the same animation style as The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch. The series is composed of six episodes. Three focus on Ahsoka Tano while the rest are on Dooku.

DOOKU

The three episodes focusing on Dooku allow us to see the character in a new light. Indeed, they explore his past as a Jedi. We had never seen him as a Jedi in a visual medium before. So, this is extremely exciting to learn more about this side of him.

The episodes particularly explore his slow downfall into the Dark Side. He is quite a complex character, even more than we thought. Some of his lines of dialog from the films and The Clone Wars take a whole new meaning. These stories add so much more to who he is as a character. The experiences he lives, and his motivations, make him more compelling both as a character and as a villain.

These episodes also explore Dooku’s relationship with Qui-Gon Jinn. I love seeing how Qui-Gon was as a padawan and how Dooku was as a master. I could honestly watch a whole limited series or a film about them. On a side note, Liam Neeson returns to voice Qui-Gon. While his son Micheál Richardson voices the younger version of the character. This works brilliantly.

Furthermore, this is the first time we see Yaddle talking. Within just one episode, we learn a lot about her. She was always a mysterious member of the Jedi Council. This reminds me of the earlier seasons of The Clone Wars which had episodes focusing on different Jedi. It is always a joy to learn more about any Jedi.

AHSOKA

Just like the Dooku episodes, the three episodes focusing on Ahsoka add a lot to her character. The Mandalorian may have given us Grogu but Tales of the Jedi has given us baby Ahsoka. And she is so adorable. I think fans are going to talk about her episode for a long time.

Beyond that, the three episodes explore different significant moments of her life. They all have an impact on who she is as a character. But the most important episode for me is the one that involves the Inquisitor as seen from the trailer. It feels like a direct continuation of her story from The Clone Wars. It fills some gaps in her story between The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. And I think, there is still more to explore on that side. Speaking of the Inquisitor, this new one has a pretty cool design.

VISUALS

A scene from “STAR WARS: TALES OF THE JEDI”, season 1 exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Undoubtedly, the animation style of The Clone Wars is the best Star Wars animation. It has always been so beautiful. Over the years, they have improved it significantly to the point of season 7 and The Bad Batch where all the characters got updated designs. It is mesmerizing. And Tales of the Jedi uses this same animation. I could watch hours and hours of stories told using this animation style.

The Ahsoka shorts allow Lucasfilm Animation to update the character designs from the earlier seasons of The Clone Wars. This gives us updated Phase 1 clone troopers, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan’s first outfits. And Obi-Wan with a mullet in animation is perfection. This is something people need to talk about!

Moreover, all six episodes have this Samurai film vibe which feels like the right tone for stories about Jedi. After all, Lucas was inspired by the Samurai to create the Jedi. You can feel this vibe in the story but also the visuals. Some of the new planets have Japanese inspiration from the design of the villages to the plant life. These new planets are so beautiful.

SCORE

Ahsoka Tano from “STAR WARS: TALES OF THE JEDI”, season 1 exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

I love Kevin Kiner’s Star Wars work and it just made sense to bring him back to compose the score of Tales of the Jedi. Honestly, this is his best score yet. It gives you an epic cinematic vibe. He uses a lot of drums. Plus, sometimes it even feels Blade Runner-esque, which is great.

VERDICT

Tales of the Jedi is an absolute joy to watch. This is an incredible series expanding on the stories of Ahsoka and Dooku with mesmerizing animation. Dave Filoni proves once again that he is a master at Star Wars. I think this series is a great companion piece to the Prequels as it adds so much to both characters.

I hope that we will get a lot more episodes in the future. As an anthology series, there is a lot of potential for other stories. In fact, I would love to learn more about other Jedi and this would be the perfect medium to tell these stories. To this day, Coleman Kcaj remains one of the most mysterious members of the Jedi Council, I would love to learn more about him. Episodes focusing on Plo Koon would be great as well. Let’s be honest, I don’t think Dave Filoni would say no to this!