‘Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire’ Review – A Swift, Fan-Fueled Romp Through The Stars

Diehard Star Wars fans should absolutely love Tales of the Empire. The series carries that signature Filoni flare, presented with the same Clone Wars style animation that has become a franchise mainstay at this point. There are painstaking details that only the most loyal watchers will recognize, and all in all, the short-form series is a love letter to the thousands and thousands of people who have worked to make Star Wars what it is now.

But if you aren’t a fan, keyed in on all the information and latest strides that the universe’s stories have developed, you’ll likely drop out of this one pretty fast. Tales of the Empire, as a result, is a high-floor/low-ceiling scenario; made clearly for one echelon of viewers and, even if entertaining, hardly applicable to all others.

The series’ six episodes span just over an hour in total, all running between 10-15 minutes individually. This time around, the story is darker than usual; it’s a double-edged saber, exploring the backstory of the recently debuted Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth as well as Barriss Offee, a Jedi Padawan engaged in spiritual warfare with the dark side. The shorter pace is certainly welcome, as it has a way of ushering things along when they clearly aren’t of primary interest, even if that means cutting down on the good stuff, too.

The ability to take an hour or so and finish this series in a single afternoon is a truly compelling quality, one that the show boasts expertly through brief storytelling and a heavy focus on action. There are more than a few (necessary) character moments here that aren’t to be overlooked. Elsbeth goes from a one-time appearance in Ahsoka to a fleshed-out antagonist whose motives, just like all the best villains, are equal parts fairly coherent and terribly disagreeable. But the show is still at its best by far when lasers are flying and lightsabers are clashing together.

It’s Star Wars after all, and when push comes to shove and the starships start to fly, that’s what we want to see, and Tales of the Empire delivers at hyperspeed. The first few minutes of the first episode are likely the best example, though that isn’t any kind of knock on the rest of the series; it’s just that solid. Without spoiling anything, we get an appearance from a fan-favorite villain, who is featured in a minutes-on-end battle sequence of unbridled chaos. The scene is set with hordes of active flames below a crimson red sky; cries for help fall on deaf ears, drowned out by the sound of futuristic synth slicing through tinny old steel. If “Star-Warsy” were a term, this would define it. It’s a portrait of by-the-books Star Wars and works perfectly on those merits alone.

From there, Tales of the Jedi manages enough of the same, between bouts of relative nothingness, to come out on the other side a successful Star Wars spinoff. It joins the Clone Wars line of similar animated side stories that pull on the franchise’s most well-known attributes to create entertaining detours, answer questions, and bide time between the major releases. It may not be the best of such releases and, again, it certainly isn’t the most watchable of the bunch for everyone, but it’s pretty much exactly as advertised, which goes a long way.

If Tales of the Empire is going to work for you, you likely already have it on your list. Star Wars fans should suit up and check this one out because it’s made especially for them. For others, it could potentially serve as passable, if not a little confusing, entertainment. Chalk it up as a small win for Disney and Lucasfilm while we all look forward to the overwhelming slate of stuff set to come next.

Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire will debut exclusively on Disney+ on May 4, 2024.