TV Review: ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Empire’

This follow-up to 2022’s ‘Tales of the Jedi’ fills in backstory for former Jedi Barriss Offee and powerful witch Morgan Elsbeth in a new animated series.

Morgan Elsbeth in a scene from 'Star Wars: Tales of the Empire', exclusively on Disney+.

Landing on Disney+ on –– when else? –– May the 4th, new animated limited series ‘Tales of the Empire’ aims to do for two notable Dark Side personalities what ‘Tales of the Jedi’ did for the likes of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku: fill in some of their backstory.

Yet unlike that 2022 effort, which had some connective tissues but was more of an anthology offering, this focuses on Morgan Elsbeth (as seen in the live-action ‘Ahsoka’) and ‘Attack of the Clones’/‘The Clone Wars’ Barriss Offee.

Does ‘Tales of the Empire’ do the characters justice?

General Grievous in a scene from 'Star Wars: Tales of the Empire', exclusively on Disney+.

Also overseen by Dave Filoni, whose work on the animated and now the sprawling live-action ‘Star Wars TV universe has seen him promoted to Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm, ‘Tales of the Empire’ proves to be more of a frustrating offering than its ‘Jedi’ equivalent.

Partly that’s because of the far narrower focus of the new, six-episode show, which suffers from some spotty pacing and the feeling that a thin story is being stretched across the time, even given relatively short runtimes (episodes typically run between 11 and 15 minutes each). At the same time, some episodes come across as lightweight and less than satisfying, dedicated to one incident, yet some of their time taken up with indulgently long establishing shots.

And if you’re excited to learn that Darth Vader shows up in the series, don’t expect much from the wheeze-breathing Big Bad, who appears so briefly, he might as well have been riding by on a bicycle.

‘Tales of the Empire’: Script and Direction

Grand Inquisitor and Barriss Offee in a scene from 'Star Wars: Tales of the Empire', exclusively on Disney+.

With Filoni in full charge of this one –– he’s the main executive producer/writer and director, with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck as his fellow executive producers and Josh Rimes as co-Executive Producer –– in certainly bears his hallmarks.

The dialogue and animation style will be familiar to anyone who has watched the small screen work he created prior to ‘The Mandalorian’, including ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ and ‘Star Wars Rebels.’

Here, seizing the opportunity to fill in more exposition about how the two featured characters came to be part of the wider ‘Star Wars’ galaxy, he’s both in full flow and slightly hamstringing himself with the limited series format. The storylines both feel padded and yet certain episodes also feel wanting, their particular chunk of each woman’s story not enough to justify the screen time.

Still, the result is a stylish, quality affair that offers more from the likes of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the sneering Grand Inquisitor. It also boasts some impressive lightsaber clashes and one or two effective battles, pushing the scope towards set pieces that might be a challenge even for the sophisticated current live-action series.

‘Tales of the Empire’: Performances

At the heart of the series are the vocals from Diana Lee Inosanto (who of course had the chance to bring Elsbeth to life in live-action form on ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Ahsoka’) and Meredith Salenger, who voiced Offee in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, and they are both, as you might expect, excellent, infusing Filoni’s more basic scripts with all the emotion and steel you might hope for.

It feels as though Inosanto gets more to do, Elsbeth’s storyline playing out more thoroughly from the ruination of her home world to her time as the Magistrate on Calodan. You can feel her anger seething from the screen, but Inosanto never makes her into a stock villain.

Salinger does well as Offee, the Jedi who ended up turning against her order and ends up becoming an Inquisitor (even if she’s not fully committed to their ruthless methods).

Around them, there are some entertaining performances, particularly Jason Isaacs going full upper crust baddie as the Grand Inquisitor, Lars Mikkelsen once more coldly logical as Thrawn and Matthew Wood wheezing his way through the earliest chunk of Elsbeth’s story as the multi-armed menace General Grievous. Most of the supporting cast, however, are just that, popping up for a scene or two and leaving you honestly wanting more. Who is up for a two-episode special following the Inquisitor home to his chambers, where he complains to his wife and kids about what a bad boss Vader is?

‘Tales of the Empire’: Final Thoughts

A scene from 'Star Wars: Tales of the Empire', exclusively on Disney+.

‘Tales of the Jedi’ was definitely a more satisfying look at ‘Star Wars’ lore than ‘Tales of the Empire’ proves to be. To be brutally honest, both stories might have worked better given room to breathe as separate limited series, though we can understand that Filoni might be a little bit busy to handle everything.

At this point, while both characters are worth exploring, there remains the slight whiff of a bridge too far in terms of backstories, and surely the five-episode story of how Salacious Crumb got his gig at Jabba’s palace can’t be too far behind.

Yet if you’re looking for more ‘Star Wars’ content on the biggest day of the year for the franchise, this is certainly worth your time ahead of the likes of ‘Caravan of Courage’.

‘Tales of the Empire’: receives 6 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire

"Two stories. One path to the dark side."

TV-PG1 SeasonsMay 4th, 2024

Watch Star Wars: Tales of the Empire Online

What’s the story of ‘Tales of the Empire’?

‘Tales of the Empire’ is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras.

After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy.

The choices they make will define their destinies.

Who lends their voices to ‘Tales of the Empire’?

‘Tales of the Empire’s voice cast also includes Diana Lee Inosanto, Meredith Salinger, Lars Mikkelsen, Jason Isaacs, Matthew Wood, Rya Kihlstedt and Wing T. Chao.