Night and Day: Tales of the Empire Season 1 Review

Redmanwriter

May 18

Julien Neaves, Sci Fi Head Writer

Following on from the pretty good Tales of the Jedi in 2022 the Star Wars: Tales animated anthology series continued this past May 4 (the official franchise holiday) with Tales of the Empire. And it made for some entertaining viewing.

The new anthology again features six episodes split into two arcs. This time around we have the first half focusing on Morgan Elsbeth, the cold and cruel Imperial Magistrate of Calodan on the planet Corvus who we first met in Season 2 of The Mandalorian and who had an expanded role in Season 1 of Ahsoka, and the second half focusing on disgraced former Jedi Barriss Offee from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. With a Star Destroyer-sized SPOILER ALERT let's break down both arcs.

Part 1: The Eclipse of Elsbeth

That Morgan Elsbeth. So hot right now

In Tales of the Jedi, I really enjoyed the Count Dooku arc, but I was underwhelmed by the Ahsoka arc. I am happy to report that I enjoyed both the arcs in Tales of the Empire. Now Morgan Elsbeth wouldn't be the first character I would choose to have an expanded story — she was a decent enough villain though not exactly riveting — but I enjoyed what we got here.

The first episode, The Path of Fear, is the best as we the Nightsisters of Dathomir being massacred by General Grievous and the Separatist droid army. This is the most fearsome Grievous has been since Star Wars: Clone Wars and I loved it. The battle also gave me a huge dose of The Clone Wars nostalgia. Story-wise, it showed the trauma and survivor's guilt that would forever shape young Morgan's life.

The second episode, The Path of Anger, felt a bit filler-ish. We do learn of Morgan's technical expertise, understand her isolation from the people of Calodan and see her first meeting with Admiral Thrawn. But it was missing that "wow" factor. The Path of Hate was better as we see Morgan has fully embraced the darkness as a tyrannical ruler and has lost all concern for the lives of others. It is truly chilling and a fitting end to a cautionary tale of leaving trauma unhealed.

Part 2: The Odyssey of Offee

I sense much anger in you

Morgan's tale was good, but Barriss Offee's arc was excellent. Each of these three episodes were bangers and strong enough to stand on their own.

The first episode, Devoted, reunites us with Barriss who is still incarcerated after turning on the Jedi and attacking the Jedi Temple. But after Order 66 what few Jedi are left are on the run and Barriss is released into the Inquisitor programme. We have spent so much time with the Jedi that it was a welcome change to see the inner workings of the Inquisitors and exactly how someone becomes one. And it is as disturbing and twisted as one would imagine. Bonus points for having the Grand Inquisitor show up and the Vader cameo at the end was the icing on this Dark Side-flavoured cake.

The second episode, Realization, showed the bloody lengths the Inquisitors will go to track down the Jedi and seeing the Fourth Sister massacre almost everyone in that village has to be one of the darkest moments in the entire franchise. And I felt like cheering when Barriss turned on her to save the wounded Jedi.

The final episode, The Way Out, was simply perfection. Zen Master Barriss instantly became one of my favourite franchise characters. I loved the callback to Devoted as instead of the unarmed Grand Inquisitor sparring with Barriss we have the unarmed Barriss shrugging off the attacks of the Fourth Sister. The metaphors and the messaging of the Fourth Sister being trapped in the cave were not the most subtle, but they were still effective. And in the end, it did not matter whether Barriss survived or not (though I hope she did) as she had already saved the Fourth Sister and so many others. What a beautiful final image. Man, I loved this arc! And I am definitely looking forward to more Tales of the Empire.

Editor Jules' Score: 8 out of 10

What did you think of Tales of the Empire Season 1? And you can check out more reviews from a galaxy far, far away below:

Julien "Editor Jules" Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like "13 flavours of awesome sauce". Read more.