Is Tales of the Jedi worth it? This is how good the new “Star Wars” series on Disney+ is

There’s a lot going on for “Star Wars” fans this Wednesday. Not only the new episode “Andor” launches on Disney+, but also a completely new animated series “Star Wars”! However, “Tales of the Jedi” is intended more as a small snack than a full meal. Over six episodes of approximately 15 minutes, there are fragmentary insights into the lives of two famous Jedi: the two fan favorites of “The Clone Wars”, Ahsoka Tano and Count Dookuwhom we only met as Sith Lord in Episodes II and III of the Skywalker saga.

›› “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” on Disney+*

Dooku’s evolution from the light to the dark side of the force, in particular, comes with a very dramatic finale that will shake Star Wars fan bases, and Ahsoka’s episodes have a few highlights too. But before we get into the critique of the individual episodes, let’s take a look at some important information about the concept of the series.

The concept of “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” explained

Tales of the Jedi is less about telling all-new stories and more about filling gaps in the previous Star Wars story and to explore certain selected Jedi in more detail by showing particularly fateful events in their lives.

Should “Tales of the Jedi” get a second season, other characters will definitely come into the picture. However, in Season 1, it is Ahsoka (episodes 1, 5 and 6) and Dooku (episodes 2, 3 and 4). The related episodes are each called a “path”. However, the sorting of the individual episodes is based on the chronological order of events in the “Star Wars” universe.

Count Dooku’s Path: Lazy build, insane finale

Although Ahsoka Tano is the much more popular character, it was the announcement of the Count Dooku episodes that caused quite a stir during the first presentation at Star Wars Celebration 2022 (we were there). After all, as one of the main characters of The Clone Wars and thanks to later appearances in The Rebels, The Mandalorian and Boba Fett, Ahsoka is already one of the Star Wars characters we’ve seen the most. Count Dooku’s story before he became a Sith has been a blind spot in the movie and series cosmos until now.

So expectations were all the higher that “Tales of the Jedi” explores the nature of the Force user who has fallen from faith in an exciting way. The new Disney+ series lives up to these expectations in at least one respect, but also leaves potential behind.

So the first two episodes of The Dooku Path are used to show Count Dooku (original voice: Corey Burton) on relatively routine Jedi missions with the dark side of the Force flashing within him. In episode 2 he is with his young padawan Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson’s son Micheál Richardson), in episode 3 with fellow Jedi Mace Windu (TC Carson). The first two episodes of the Dooku Path are hardly worth talking about in their own right, telling generic short stories like we’ve seen a number of times in The Clone Wars.

It’s understandable if you’re disappointed after these two episodes and wondering if it’s worth watching. But be careful: it’s worth staying tuned! Episode 3 of the Dooku Path (so episode 4 in total) lets go of everything that the other episodes have built up. It comes to a very emotional finale with voice comebacks from Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. In addition, the “female Yoda” Yaddle, who has so far led a shadowy existence in “Star Wars”, finally gets her chance to shine.

So for the Dooku path, if you have a little patience and survive the mediocre first two episodes, you’ll be rewarded with a heartbreaking finale that is among the best in a Star Wars animated series. Anyone interested in Dooku’s transition from Jedi to Sith should listen here!

Ahsoka’s Path: Just solid, but really worth watching for Ahsoka fans

Ahsoka’s path is less exciting than Dooku’s as it mainly involves filling in small gaps in Ahsoka’s previously known CV. Episode 1 shows her as a baby in her native village. While the episode is visually very neat and qualifies as a poetic animated short, it doesn’t add much to the Star Wars universe as a whole.

Episode 5 is much more interesting. Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) excels at regular Jedi training, but her master, Anakin (Matt Lanter), can only smile wearily. He gives her a much more difficult task that seems almost sadistic, but which really only serves to prepare Ahsoka for the real thing.

On the surface, Episode 5 seems relatively trivial at first. It’s entertaining for sure, but it doesn’t show anything more than the teacher-student relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka, which was already covered extensively in “The Clone Wars”.

But what’s so brilliant about this short story is that it explains how Ahsoka survived Order 66, and she only made it because Anakin prepared her for such an event! After that, it’s worth re-watching season 7 of The Clone Wars. There’s a scene where Ahsoka uses the skill she so painstakingly learned here.

The finale of Ahsoka’s Path (eps. 6) is also worth watching, albeit a little underwhelming. It’s about how the Jedi, who went into hiding after Order 66 and lives on a farm, finally found the courage to fight evil again. The highlight is the appearance of a new Inquisitor, who looks really extremely scary, but is then dealt with fairly quickly and unobtrusively in the fight.

All in all, the Ahsoka trail is definitely a must for fans of the Togruta Jedi and anyone who likes animated “Star Wars” in general. But if you usually avoid animated series, you probably won’t get excited about this one either.

Summary of “Tales of the Jedi”

Tales of the Jedi is not a must-read for Star Wars fans, but it does give a glimpse into the lives of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku who at least add something to the franchise. Precisely because of the short running time of the season of just over an hour in total, you can’t go far wrong with these Disney+ snacks.

Unfortunately, not all episodes are on the same level as episode 4, which is the undisputed highlight. In addition, the series suffers from the very limited running time of the episodes. Dooku’s change, in particular, is processed too quickly and is not given the space it would have needed to unleash his full emotional power.

Finally, the music deserves praise. Above all, the respective finales of the Dooku and Ahsoka paths (episodes 4 and 6) offer compositions that give the episodes a concise character of their own, fresh yet sounding like “Star Wars”.

Anyone who likes animated “Star Wars” and wants to shorten the wait time for the second season “The Bad Batch”, which comes out in January 2023, will get a welcome intermediate course with “Tales of the Jedi” with at least one moment that will be in the history books. of Star Wars will continue to burn. However, if you’re otherwise only watching live-action movies and series, the Dooku trail at least gives you a good chance to get a taste of the animation area, but you have to be prepared that only the finale is really worth it. is.