Tales

Tales^[1] is an animated Star Wars anthology series created by Dave Filoni. The first installment, Tales of the Jedi, explores different Jedi characters from the prequel trilogy era, while the second, Tales of the Empire, explores characters close to the Galactic Empire. Each installment consists of six short episodes that explore different characters from the Star Wars franchise. The series was produced by Lucasfilm Animation, with Charles Murray as head writer and Filoni as supervising director. Tales of the Jedi was released on Disney+ on October 26, 2022, while the second installment was released on May 4, 2024.^[2]

Premise[]

Each episode of Tales of the Jedi tells a short story featuring Jedi. The six episodes are split into two "paths": the first following Ahsoka Tano across various points in her life, and the other depicting a young Count Dooku before his fall to the dark side of the Force. The second installment, Tales of the Empire, is set in different eras of the Star Wars timeline, with one path following a young Morgan Elsbeth and the other following former Jedi Barriss Offee.

Cast[]

Tales of the Jedi[]

• Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
• Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
  • Micheál Richardson as Young Qui-Gon Jinn
• Janina Gavankar as Pav-ti
• TC Carson as Mace Windu
• Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Yaddle
• Ian McDiarmid as Darth Sidious
• James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Phil LaMarr as Bail Organa
• Dee Bradley Baker as Rex, Jesse
• Clancy Brown as Inquisitor
• Mark Rolston as Senator Dagonet
• Josh Keaton as Dagonet Junior
• Sunil Malhotra as Nak-il
• Toks Olagundoye as Gantika
• Brian George as Ki-Adi-Mundi
• Flo Di Re as Jocasta Nu
• Terrell Tilford as Semage
• Theo Rossi as Senator Larik
• Andrew Kishino as Guard and Hanel
• Noshir Dalal as Villager
• Vanessa Marshall as Village Elder
• David Shaughnessy as Old Man
• Bryton James as Village Brother
• Dana Davis as Village Sister
• Meg Marchand as Jedi Temple Archive Voice

Tales of the Empire[]

• Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth
• Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee
• Rya Kihlstedt as Lyn Rakish/Fourth Sister
• Wing T. Chao as Wing
• Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn
• Jason Isaacs as The Grand Inquisitor
• Matthew Wood as General Grievous

Production[]

Development[]

While traveling to work on the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni began writing short stories about different Jedi characters from the franchise's prequel trilogy era. Carrie Beck asked if Filoni wanted to turn these into a series, which he compared to her "find[ing] the money" for a revival of his animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the streaming service Disney+.

Lucasfilm confirmed the project in April 2022 when the company announced the schedule for Star Wars Celebration, with Filoni set to discuss the series in a dedicated panel. This was held at the end of May, and revealed that the series would consist of six episodes, five of which written by Filoni and the other by The Clone Wars writer Charles Murray along with Élan Murray. Each episode is approximately fifteen minutes long. Filoni also serves as creator, supervising director, and executive producer, with Athena Yvette Portillo and Beck also executive producers.

In April 2023, the show was renewed for a second season during the Star Wars celebration in Europe. The second season is set to be released in 2024.^[3] It was announced a year later as Tales of the Empire, focusing on the characters Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee.^[2][4]

Writing[]

Filoni described the series as exploring "two paths and two choices", with one following the character Ahsoka Tano and the other focusing on Count Dooku. Each character is explored in three different eras of their lives. Compared to The Clone Wars series, Filoni noted that Tales of the Jedi was slower paced and like "a series of tone poems" with less dialogue and more visual storytelling. This was inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki as well as Filoni's mentor, George Lucas. The first idea for the series was to show how Ahsoka was brought to the Jedi Order by Plo Koon, but the story was changed to being Ahsoka's first hunting trip with her mother because there had not been many stories about "moms being moms" in Star Wars. Filoni felt it was important that "Ahsoka's first experience with someone telling her, 'Don't be afraid,' is her mother."

Beyond the first episode, which has a happy ending and featured a baby Ahsoka, Filoni warned "these aren't just fun, happy stories. It gets rough at times." He particularly felt that Dooku's life was "surprisingly tragic". Filoni also wanted to explore Dooku's relationship with his padawan learner, Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he described as "one of the best and, in some ways, most interesting Jedi, because of his philosophy, which is different from the Jedi Council. And where did he learn that, if not from his mentor, Count Dooku?"

The final episode of the first season loosely adapts the events of the 2016 novel Ahsoka, originally written by E. K. Johnston. Speaking about the production of the episode, Filoni noted that "Resolve" was "based on the same outline I gave publishing for the novel" and that the two works thus told the same story.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

Promotional[]

Screenshots[]

Trivia[]

• There is also a comic book series that shares this title under the "Legends" label.
• Micheál Richardson, who voices a young Qui-Gon Jinn, is the son of Liam Neeson.
• Yaddle from The Phantom Menace appears in one of the shorts.
• Bryce Dallas Howard who directed some episodes from The Mandalorian voices Yaddle in one of the shorts.
• Yaddle's fate is different in both continuities:
  • In the "Legends" continuity, Yaddle died protecting others,
  • Here in the "The Sith Lord", she is killed by Count Dooku when she discovered that Dooku had joined the dark side.
• The series uses the same style as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
• This is the first Star Wars show since Star Wars Resistance to not receive any Funko figures.
  • This is the first Star Wars show since Star Wars: Visions to not receive any LEGO sets.
• This show marks the return of Barriss Offee, who was last seen in The Clone Wars episode "The Wrong Jedi".
  • Barriss' fate also differs in both continuities:
    • Barriss was killed during Order 66 in "Legends".
    • Here, Barriss was trained to be an Inquisitor, but later defected and went on to become a healer before she succumbed to an uncertain fate at the hands of Fourth Sister.
• Due to Tom Kane retiring from voice acting after suffering health problems, Yoda doesn't have dialogue in any of the shorts he appears in.

References[]

External links[]

• Tales of the Jedi (TV series) on Wikipedia
• Tales on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
  • Tales of the Jedi on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
  • Tales of the Empire on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki