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Tales of the Jedi Series Review: In the endless saga of content cycle that Star Wars seems to have been becoming recently, Tale of the Jedi – like Andor – sticks out as a project that actually feels like its interested in telling a layered story with its characters. Essentially acting as an extension to Dave Filoni’s highly successful Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series by adding some much-needed lore to established characters, I was left highly impressed by the six episodes that were displayed over here. Andor Review: Diego Luna’s 'Rogue One' Spinoff Series Revels In Providing Refreshing and Intimate Take on the Star Wars Saga! (LatestLY Exclusive).
Created by Dave Filoni too, Tales of the Jedi is a series of six shorts (ranging from between 10 to 15 minutes) that puts its focus on legacy characters like Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). With three episodes given to each of them, it focuses on a specific theme from both of their lives. The Ahsoka-centered episodes mainly focus on her origins while Dooku’s showcase his waning trust in the Jedi Order and what causes him to defect from them and join the Dark Side.
What immediately strikes you out from the first episode is that Tales of the Jedi is very much focused on building out its characters. The first episode begins with the birth of Ahsoka and showcases her mother Pav-ti (Janina Gavankar) taking her out on a hunt after she turns one-year old. While seeing Ahsoka once again in animation was of course great, that “wow” factor just wasn’t there, probably due to her being so overexposed in media. However, the episodes do succeed in telling a story that showcases her origins quite well which is wrapped up in a finale featuring a really cool villain that I won’t spoil.
But the main highlight here is definitely Count Dooku. With an almost Western-like feel to his first episode that focuses on him trying to rescue the son of a high-profile figure, it’s here where Tales of the Jedi really shine. Accompanied by a young Qui-Gon Jinn (Micheal Richardson), the episode was a particular favourite of mine with his final one being a satisfying emotional capper. With Ian McDiarmid returning as Darth Sideous and Bryce Dallas Howard also voicing the character of Yaddle, there was a certain emotionality attached to Dooku’s story as he was voiced once more wonderfully by Corey Burton. It just adds a lot to this eventual pawn’s story in this huge intergalactic war.
Watch the Trailer:
While the episodes are able to pack in a specific punch to the world of Star Wars, you are occasionally left feeling that Tales of the Jedi does want to say more with its story. This is especially felt heavily in the Ahsoka episodes as well with how the story plays out, and even in some instances of Dooku’s. The time constraint does make for a limited viewing, and maybe making these episodes a traditional 20 minutes could have helped iron out some of those issues.
Tales of the Jedi also does feature some of that fan service Filoni is known for as well. Featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold-Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), it brings about that same feeling of The Clone Wars animated show. Liam Neeson also reprises his role as Qui-Gon Jinn in a later episode for a brief second, with it feeling like he did some outtakes while prepping for his cameo in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and TC Carson returns as Mace Windu too. All this can makes it feel like Star Wars: The Clone Wars lite, and while that feeling is there, it was still fun to see all these characters return once more. The animation too lends itself to that aesthetic, and it creates for a good sense of continuity that fans might appreciate. Black Adam Movie Review: Dwayne Johnson’s Anti-Hero Could Not Save This Rushed and Messy DC Film (LatestLY Exclusive).
Yet, I do feel the need to talk about the creative bankruptcy that Star Wars seems to be heading into as well. Tales of the Jedi is a very satisfying outing, I just hope that there are more stories like Dooku’s being told in this universe. A worthy adventure with a heart-breaking payoff, I hope more of the universe does lend itself to these concepts. This is why some of the Ahsoka’s episodes fell flat for me because of just how much we have seen her in Star Wars now, but overall, this was fun.
Yay!
Count Dooku’s Story
Cameos
Ties in Well With The Clone Wars
Nay!
Feels Like it Wants to Say More
Final Thoughts
Tales of the Jedi was a pleasant surprise. While there is something to be said over here about the creative safety that Star Wars seems to have embraced, these six series of shorts succeed in telling particular stories about Dooku and Ahsoka that will have many fans satisfied. Honestly, a great time to be a Star Wars fan with the streaming of this and Andor at the same time. Tales of the Jedi is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar right now.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2022 12:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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