Thomas Storai 
“Star Wars never disappoints with animation. Tales of the Underworld is another success. With Asajj Ventress, it tells an entertaining adventure while Cad Bane’s story is a tragic and enthralling one.”
After Tales of the Empire in last year with 6 shorts about Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee, another Tales of series is coming today on Disney + for May the 4th (Star Wars Day). These 6 new shorts of Tales of the Underworld focus on Cad Bane and Asajj Ventress. Each character has 3 episodes ranging from 12 to 17 minutes.
ASAJJ VENTRESS
Ever since her return in The Bad Batch season 3, fans have been asking how is Asajj Ventress still alive after the events of Dark Disciple? Dark Disciple is a canon novel based on an unfinished arc from The Clone Wars. It ended with Ventress’ death. Obviously, there is more to her story than it appears since she is still there. These 3 episodes further expands her story and answer some questions the fans had. It’s always a pleasure to spend more time with Ventress. She had a surprising character development over the course of The Clone Wars, giving her much more depth than what it first appears. She started as Dooku’s assassin and ended up being some kind of anti-hero.
Ventress’ story in Tales of the Underworld reinforces her as someone who is able to chart her own path. She is her own character trying to make her way in this big galaxy. Her episodes bring some insanely cool action scenes but at the heart it’s all about the characters and what relationship she establishes with whom she interacts with. There are actually some poignant scenes and scenes that will make you smile too. These three episodes are an entertaining adventure with Ventress. By the end of it, you will want more stories with Ventress!
CAD BANE
Cad Bane has been fan favourite bounty hunter from the start. However, he’s always been a secondary character in The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch and The Book of Boba Fett. This time, he is the main protagonist of his own story. That’s the beauty of the Tales of series, it’s a media that can give the spotlight to characters who are usually not the leads in other projects. And for the time of a few episodes, we get to know them better. Even though, Cad Bane is loved, I am not sure a whole series about him would draw much interest. But, doing this instead perfectly works.
In a span of 30 minute-ish, we get some juicy stuff about this character. These 3 episodes are very much his origin story. Bane’s story is a tragic one and it’s all the more enthralling. We are introduced to some new compelling characters with him. You may only see them for a short time, but you care for them. That’s the power of storytelling.
VISUALS & SOUNDTRACK
The team at Lucasfilm animation keeps improving their work with every new project. It’s incredible to see what the animation of The Clone Wars looked like in the film in 2008 and how this animation style looks like now. The textures, the scenery, the skylines, the character designs, the explosions, everything has been taken to the next level. Asajj Ventress’ character design is the same as seen in the final season of The Bad Batch. While Cad Bane gets new character designs as we see him in his earlier life stages.
The creative team behind this series could have easily made the choice to bring the story to familiar planets so money could be save on animation. But no, we are introduced to several new planets in these 6 episodes. These new planets all have their own distinct identity. It’s a visual spectacle for the eyes.
Of course, since it’s Star Wars animation, the Kiner family is back for the music! As usual, the soundtrack is a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe. Because we are dealing with the underworld, the music is not as epic as in Tales of the Jedi or Tales of the Empire, this one is more grounded. There are themes you will recognize while discovering new sounds as well. The heavy use of the guitar feels appropriate for this world. There is even one track that reminded me of The Last of Us in the best of ways.
VERDICT
Star Wars never disappoints with animation. Tales of the Underworld is another success. With Asajj Ventress, it tells an entertaining adventure while Cad Bane’s story is a tragic and enthralling one. The Tales of series prove to be a great media to develop smaller stories and focus on characters who are usually not the leads in other projects.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire releases on Star Wars Day on Disney Plus.
Collectables and Anime Editor for Future Of The Force.
Star Wars expert and Japan connoisseur.
