Tales of the Jedi is an American animated anthology series created by Dave Filoni for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, exploring different Jedi characters from the prequel trilogy era. The series is produced by Lucasfilm Animation, with Filoni as supervising director. (Wikipedia)
Tales of the Jedi is everything that Disney Star Wars live action series have mostly been unable to achieve – stories that are imbued with the spirit of George Lucas’ Star Wars. Animated in the style of the popular Clone Wars series, this is the best kind of fan-service. Seriously, what Star Wars fans does not want more about the Jedi?
Only caveat we would have is that Tales of the Jedi is a very very short series. Six episodes that are around only 15 minutes (!) long each. But what the series lacks in quantity it makes up for with quality. The series is split into following the journeys of two prominent Jedi characters of this era viz. Ashoka Tano and Dooku (the Count prefix comes later).
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It was particularly interesting to find out how exactly Dooku turned to the dark side to become Darth Sidious’ apprentice. These 3 episodes give us some context as to why Dooku was dissatisfied with the Jedi’s role in supporting a corrupt Republic. In that respect we also get to see a younger Qui-Gon Jinn as Dooku’s apprentice in the first episode. We also catch up with Qui-Gon (voiced by Liam Neeson!) after he encountered Darth Maul on Tattooine in The Phantom Menace. We also discover the tragic fate of Jedi Master Yaddle. In addition, Mace Windu and Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) also make appearances. Brilliant!
Ahsoka’s episodes are less compelling, which is unsurprising as her story has been prominently featured in Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian. With her own series dropping next year, this was surely a good taster. That said, there was an intriguing tale of Ahsoka as a baby and also one with Anakin that tied back to a critical event in The Clone Wars. Diehard Star Wars fan will simply love this!
Tales of the Jedi is a Star Wars fans’ dream come true especially after all the disappointment of recent Disney Star Wars fare. Bring on Season 2! Highly recommended.
Watch Tales of the Jedi on Disney+.
… still there’s more …