Tales of the Jedi

Disney Plus recently released a series of shorts chronicling the stories of two fan-favorite Star Wars characters and they grow into their character. Episodes 1 and 5-6 center around Ahsoka Tano. Episodes 2-4 are about Count Dooku. None of them are stories that I would have felt I was missing as part of the Star Wars narrative, but they add depth and insight into Ahsoka and Dooku in a way that won’t be too soon forgotten.

Episode 1 - Life and Death

First off, oh my gosh, baby Ahsoka is better than Baby Yoda or Baby Groot. This story takes place only a couple years before The Phantom Menace. While Ahsoka is featured prominently, the episode is more about Ahsoka’s mother and her love for her daughter. Maybe we’ll get to see her mother again in the Ahsoka series? Who knows? One thing I’d change about this episode is maybe including a scene where Master Plo found her and seeing how hard it was for Ahsoka’s mother to let her go.

Episode 2 - Justice

So I don’t know what I expect from the origin story of Count Dooku, but dang it got dark. I think Dooku was like any devoted person, whether to religion or politics or whatever, and when the thing he worshiped proved imperfect, he lost his faith. He must have thought very highly of the Republic to slip so far and so hard into his darkness. But that’s just the beginning…

Episode 3 - Choices

Deeper into Dooku’s downfall. It’s so intriguing to see him become disenchanted with the Senate and the Jedi Council. It kind of reminded me of Ahsoka’s story (maybe that’s why hers are the other half of the shorts) as she was betrayed by the Council. While she was on her own, she became even more disenchanted with the Jedi. But instead of turning to darkness, Ahsoka turned to something good. Too bad that’s not what Dooku did…

Episode 4 - The Sith Lord

My first thought: “Ohhhh so this is why Obi-Wan couldn’t find Kamino’s information.” This short brings up to the time of The Phantom Menace, with the initial action happening during the movie and the rest after Qui Gonn’s death. I don’t know much about Master Yaddle, but even without that knowledge… yikes. Her death hit hard. And I suppose this is when Dooku fully stepped over to the Dark Side.

Episode 5 - Practice Makes Perfect

I will always love getting more depth to Ahsoka’s relationship with Anakin. And as many have pointed out, it adds an extra layer to Ahsoka’s escape during the Clone Wars finale. It makes me wonder if Vader would be proud of his old padawan for learning his lesson or would he be upset that she survived Order 66 because of him? Also, I can’t neglect mentioning the Caleb Dume cameo; it makes me want to start my rewatch of Rebels.

Episode 6 - Resolve

It’s heartbreaking to see Ahsoka at her low point. It’s the classic reluctant hero story. Her wake-up call here basically leads straight into her role in Rebels. Only thing missing was maybe a cameo of Hera (I wondered if we’d see her when I saw the Twi'leks in this episode). Now I’m guessing that’ll be the last we see of Ahsoka before her series airs sometime next year.

Overall I enjoyed Tales of the Jedi. And if they want to give us more tales of more Jedis, I’d be very okay with that. In the meantime, may the force be with you.