Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi – Season 1 review

Tales of the Jedi is basically Star Wars-flavored catnip for franchise fans who should happily gobble up every morsel of this tasty anthology series.

Fans of the Clone Wars, the essential animated companion series to the live action prequel trilogy, will especially appreciate the high-quality animation and mature themes. Maybe all that really need be said about the series is it was created by Dave Filoni aka one of the heroes that saved the Star Wars brand with Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian.

Filoni’s track record doesn’t take a hit here and is the writer for five of the six episodes.

One of the strengths of the anthology series format is it provides an avenue to further flesh out the story. The Cliff Notes version is fine, but actually seeing events only discuss play out is so much more meaningful especially in a rich story like the prequel saga.

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Each one is no more than 17 minutes though some are shorter. The six episodes are an even split between fan favorites Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton) as an exploration of their journeys towards the disparate pathways of the Force.

Ahsoka’s early backstory was pretty well covered in Clone Wars, so the first episode is easily the weakest since it looks at her infancy.

Next up is a trilogy focusing Dooku. These three episodes were a highlight since so much of his important backstory was told off camera. While many characters got more development in the Clone Wars series, Dooku was fully formed and built off his role in Attack of the Clones.

Tales of the Jedi shows in brisk, but efficient detail, how the lauded Jedi becomes Darth Sidious’ main tool throughout the Clone Wars. There’s an added bonus here with vocal performances from actors from the live action prequel saga giving this an added level of significance.

The third and final installment of Dooku’s arc hits like a gut punch and beautifully captures the emotional stakes of the Clone Wars.

This sets up a happier finale with the remaining two episodes devoted to Ahsoka leading to the end of the Clone Wars and her path beyond the series. It was nice to see some familiar faces in their glory days before the horrific fallout of Revenge of the Sith. This was a major turning point for the entire saga and this fleeting glimpse of the Republic further sets the stage for what’s to come.

Animation wise, the series looks stunning and arguably more on the level of the final four episodes of the Clone Wars than the norm for the series or its successor, Rebels. There’s clearly an obvious candidate from that series that would be an ideal fit in the Tales of the Jedi format as well.

It’s not a throwaway compliment to suggest Star Wars fans will do a little viewing order juggling in order to fit these smaller episodes into the larger story.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

Check out the Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Tales Of The Jedi Vol. 1 trade paperback on Amazon. 

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