Tales of the Jedi | |
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Also known as | Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi |
Genre | |
Created by | Dave Filoni |
Based on | Star Wars by George Lucas |
Voices of | |
Composer | Kevin Kiner |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 13–17 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | Disney+ |
Release | October 26, 2022 present | –
Related | |
Star Wars: The Clone Wars |
Tales of the Jedi, also known as Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi,[1] is an American animated anthology television series created by Dave Filoni. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, exploring different Jedi characters from the prequel trilogy era. The series was produced by Lucasfilm Animation, with Charles Murray as head writer and Filoni as supervising director, for the streaming service Disney+.
Filoni began writing the series while working on the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, and revealed the first official details about it in May 2022. The series' first season consists of six episodes split into two "paths", one following the character Ahsoka Tano and the other depicting the character Count Dooku. Ashley Eckstein, Corey Burton, Janina Gavankar, Micheál Richardson, TC Carson, Ian McDiarmid, Liam Neeson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Phil LaMarr, Clancy Brown, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, and Dee Bradley Baker provide voices for the series.
The first season of Tales of the Jedi was released on Disney+ on October 26, 2022. It received critical acclaim, with praise towards its animation, writing and musical score. A second season was announced in April 2023, which is set to be released in 2024.
Each episode of Tales of the Jedi tells a short story featuring Jedi from the Star Wars prequel trilogy era.[2] The six episodes featured in the series' first season are split into two "paths": the first following Ahsoka Tano across various points in her life, and the other depicting a young Count Dooku before his fall to the dark side of the Force.[3][4]
Yoda, Plo Koon, Tera Sinube, Saesee Tiin, Caleb Dume, Depa Billaba, and Mon Mothma appear in non-speaking cameos.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
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1 | "Life and Death" | Nathaniel Villanueva | Dave Filoni | October 26, 2022 | |
A year after her birth, an infant Ahsoka Tano is taken on her first hunting trip with her mother, Pav-ti Tano. Both are surprised by a large predatory animal, which kidnaps Ahsoka. After Ahsoka subdues the animal and has it return her to the village, the village elder realizes that she has a strong connection to the Force. | |||||
2 | "Justice" | Saul Ruiz | Dave Filoni | October 26, 2022 | |
Jedi Master Dooku and his Padawan, Qui-Gon Jinn, are sent to a dilapidated village on a planet to retrieve Senator Dagonet's kidnapped son. There, they find the corrupt senator is starving his people and refusing to step down from his position, driving them to this desperate plot. Dagonet attacks and threatens to make an example of the city, but Dooku uses a Force choke to intervene. Qui-Gon and the senator's son convince Dooku not to kill Dagonet; however, the son sides with his kidnappers, and promises the villagers that he will help them. | |||||
3 | "Choices" | Charles Murray | Charles Murray and Élan Murray | October 26, 2022 | |
Dooku and Jedi Master Mace Windu are sent to Raxus Secundus to recover the body of Jedi Council member Katri for burial. Against orders, Dooku insists on investigating the mysterious death. They discover that Senator Larik and Master Katri were attacked by Larik's own guards, who wanted to force the corrupt senator to stop draining Raxus' resources. The two Jedi subdue the guards, but not before the guards kill the senator. Following Katri's funeral at the Jedi Temple, Windu is promoted to the vacant spot in the Jedi Council instead of the older Dooku. Windu says this is likely because of Dooku's rule-breaking and aggressive methods. | |||||
4 | "The Sith Lord" | Saul Ruiz | Dave Filoni | October 26, 2022 | |
At the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Dooku secretly uses access codes that belonged to Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to infiltrate the Jedi Archives and erase all records of the planet Kamino. Shortly afterwards, Dooku is informed by Jocasta Nu about Qui-Gon's encounter with Darth Maul on Tatooine.[a] Later, Dooku reunites with Qui-Gon and Jedi Master Yaddle; the trio discuss the encounter with the Sith Lord. Dooku warns his former apprentice that the Jedi Council is unlikely to take the concerns about Maul's threat seriously. Shortly after Qui-Gon's death, Yaddle discovers that Dooku has been collaborating with another Sith Lord, Darth Sidious. She attempts to reason with Dooku, but is unsuccessful. The two engage in a lightsaber duel in the presence of Sidious. Dooku subdues and kills Yaddle in order to prove his loyalty to Sidious, thus solidifying Dooku's fall to the Dark Side of the Force. | |||||
5 | "Practice Makes Perfect" | Saul Ruiz | Dave Filoni | October 26, 2022 | |
Disappointed with the too-simple battle simulation his Padawan Ahsoka has to train with, Anakin Skywalker devises a rigorous exercise, where she has to overcome a large group of clone troopers armed with stun guns. Over the course of the Clone War, Skywalker puts his Padawan through more training drills with the clones of the 501st Legion, under the supervision of both himself and Captain Rex. At the end of the war, Ahsoka utilizes the skills she gained during the drills to survive the enactment of Order 66 aboard the Republic cruiser Tribunal.[b] | |||||
6 | "Resolve" | Saul Ruiz | Dave Filoni | October 26, 2022 | |
On Naboo, during the funeral of Padmé Amidala,[c] Senator Bail Organa briefly catches sight of a familiar face: Ahsoka Tano. He follows her into a colonnade of the royal palace, and asks her why she came given the danger. Noticing that a clone trooper patrol is approaching, Bail leads her out of the palace, giving her a comlink in case she needs help. Some time after, Ahsoka goes into hiding and becomes a farmer. After the brother of a farmer she saved with the Force realizes her true identity and reports her to the Empire, the village she worked at is massacred and set ablaze by an Inquisitor. Ahsoka confronts and kills the Inquisitor. The day following the confrontation, she contacts Organa, who arrives to pick up the survivors of the Imperial attack. He asks Ahsoka if she is willing to join his fight against the Empire. She accepts Bail's request and joins his rebel cell.[d] |
While traveling to work on the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni began writing short stories about different Jedi characters from the franchise's prequel trilogy era. Carrie Beck, senior vice president of development and production at Lucasfilm, asked if Filoni wanted to turn these into a series, which he compared to her "find[ing] the money" for a revival of his animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the streaming service Disney+.[10]
In December 2021, the logo for Tales of the Jedi was included on holiday gifts for Lucasfilm employees alongside logos for upcoming film and television projects at the studio. This was also the name of an unrelated comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s.[11]
Lucasfilm confirmed the project in April 2022 when the company announced the schedule for Star Wars Celebration, with Filoni set to discuss the animated anthology series in a dedicated panel.[12] This was held at the end of May, and revealed that the series consists of six episodes,[3] five of which are written by Filoni and the other by The Clone Wars writer Charles Murray along with Élan Murray.[1][3] Each episode is approximately 15 minutes long.[13][14] Filoni also serves as creator, supervising director, and executive producer, with Athena Yvette Portillo and Beck also executive producers.[1]
In April 2023, during Star Wars Celebration London, Filoni announced that the series would receive a second season,[15] which will be released in 2024.[16]
Filoni described the series as exploring "two paths and two choices", with one following the character Ahsoka Tano and the other focusing on Count Dooku. Each character is explored in three different eras of their lives.[4] Comparing the series to The Clone Wars, Filoni noted that Tales of the Jedi was slower paced and like "a series of tone poems" with less dialogue and more visual storytelling. This was inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki as well as Filoni's mentor, Star Wars creator George Lucas.[2][4] Filoni's first idea for the series was to show how Ahsoka was brought to the Jedi Order by Plo Koon, but he changed this to a story about Ahsoka's first hunting trip with her mother because there had not been many stories about "moms being moms" in Star Wars.[2][17] He felt it was important that "Ahsoka's first experience with someone telling her, 'Don't be afraid,' is her mother."
Beyond the first episode, which has a happy ending and features the "adorable baby Ahsoka",[4] Filoni warned that "these aren't just fun, happy stories. It gets rough at times." He particularly felt that Dooku's life was "surprisingly tragic", and attributed some of the series' darker episodes to them being written during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] An aspect of Dooku that Filoni wanted to explore was the relationship with his padawan learner, Qui-Gon Jinn, whom Filoni described as "one of the best and, in some ways, most interesting Jedi, because of his philosophy, which is different from the Jedi Council. And where did he learn that, if not from his mentor, Count Dooku?"[4]
The final episode of the first season, titled Resolve, loosely adapts the events of the 2016 novel Ahsoka, originally written by E. K. Johnston. Speaking about the production of the episode, Filoni noted that Resolve was "based on the same outline I gave publishing for the novel" and that the two works thus told the same story.[18] Ashley Eckstein, the actress who voices Ahsoka, stated that the novel had not come into discussion while Resolve was in production and that she never asked Filoni where the episode fell in relation to the novel. She regarded the episode as "an extension of the novel" and the beginning of "that chapter" of Ahsoka's life.[19]
With the series' announcement in May 2022, it was revealed that Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn, while his son Micheál Richardson would voice a younger version of the character.[7] Matt Lanter reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker from The Clone Wars,[3] while Janina Gavankar was cast as Ahsoka Tano's mother, Pav-ti Tano.[4] In July 2022, Ashley Eckstein revealed she would be reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano.[5] A day before the series' release, Bryce Dallas Howard revealed she would voice Yaddle; Filoni approached Howard, a fan of animated Star Wars projects, to voice the character after their experience working together on The Mandalorian.[20][21]
The series uses the same animation style as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Bad Batch.[2] Charles Murray, Nathaniel Villanueva, and Saul Ruiz serve as directors for the series.[22][1]
Kevin Kiner composed music for the series, after previously doing so for The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Bad Batch.[1] Additional music for the series is composed by Sean Kiner, Deana Kiner, David Glen Russell, Nolan Markey and Peter Lam. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack for the first season of Tales of the Jedi digitally on October 26, 2022, alongside the premiere of the series on Disney+.[23]
No. | Title | Composer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Birth of Ahsoka" | Kevin Kiner | 1:33 |
2. | "Ahsoka's Village" | Sean Kiner | 2:47 |
3. | "Sanctity of Life" | Deana Kiner | 2:45 |
4. | "Tiger" | David Glen Russell | 2:19 |
5. | "The Bond" | Kevin Kiner | 2:33 |
6. | "Ahsoka Returns" | Kevin Kiner & Sean Kiner | 2:59 |
7. | "A Real Test" | Sean Kiner | 3:28 |
8. | "Let's Go Again" | Deana Kiner | 2:19 |
9. | "Training Pays Off" | Sean Kiner & David Glen Russell | 1:36 |
10. | "Secret Mourner" | Kevin Kiner | 2:10 |
11. | "No One Is Safe" | Sean Kiner & Deana Kiner | 4:13 |
12. | "The Inquisitor" | Deana Kiner | 3:45 |
13. | "Ahsoka Is Ready" | Deana Kiner | 1:13 |
14. | "Dooku Arrives" | Sean Kiner | 2:44 |
15. | "The Kidnappers" | Sean Kiner & Deana Kiner | 2:34 |
16. | "Soldiers Are Here" | Sean Kiner | 4:52 |
17. | "No More Suffering" | Sean Kiner & Deana Kiner | 2:24 |
18. | "Murder Case" | Sean Kiner | 2:25 |
19. | "Mystery in Raxus" | Sean Kiner & Deana Kiner | 2:09 |
20. | "Dooku Investigates" | Peter Lam | 3:10 |
21. | "Dooku Contemplates" | Sean Kiner | 2:33 |
22. | "Qui-Gon and the Sith Lord" | Sean Kiner | 4:59 |
23. | "Flight Into Darkness" | Sean Kiner & Deana Kiner | 4:04 |
24. | "Dooku vs. Yaddle" | Deana Kiner & Nolan Markey | 3:16 |
25. | "Dooku's Fall" | Deana Kiner | 2:45 |
Total length: | 1:11:14 |
Filoni revealed the first details about the series at a Star Wars Celebration panel in May 2022, where a teaser was shown and the full first episode screened.[2]
Tales of the Jedi premiered on Disney+ on October 26, 2022, with all of its six episodes.[24]
According to Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, Tales of the Jedi was the 4th most in-demand streaming show in the United States during the week of October 29, 2022, to November 4, 2022.[25] According to Whip Media's TV Time, Tales of the Jedi was the 9th most streamed original series across all platforms in the United States during the week ending October 30, 2022.[26]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100%, with an average rating of 8.3/10, based on 22 reviews for the first season. The website's critics consensus reads, "Under the reliable stewardship of Dave Filoni, Tales of the Jedi is an absorbing expansion of Star Wars lore that will delight Padawan-level fans and encyclopedic Force scholars alike."[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 78 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[28]
Brian Young of /Film asserted, "These episodes are full of pathos and interesting connections to the broader Star Wars lore. The quality of work from the writers, from Lucasfilm Animation, and the music of Kevin Kiner has never been better. My hope is that these mini-episodes are popular enough to spin more Jedi into the limelight for more tales."[29] Kevin Fox Jr. of Paste gave the series a grade of 8.2 out of 10, stating, "The overall result, as overseen by Dave Filoni, is surprising and strong. Tales of the Jedi succeeds by saying exactly what it means to and then making its exit, sure to have viewers ready for more. Whether it's ultimately a one-off season or the start of something greater, it's worth Star Wars fans' time to check it out."[30]
Jamie Lovett of ComicBook.com gave the series a grade of 4 out of 5, saying, "These six Tales of the Jedi are beautiful, moving, and deceptively layered for their brevity while packing a few surprises and jaw-dropping moments along the way. Lucasfilm Animation managed to squeeze a lot of Star Wars magic into these shorts, and viewers will only be disappointed that there aren't more of them."[31] Alex Stedman of IGN gave the series a grade of 8 out of 10, writing, "Tales of the Jedi is a strong, tightly written showcase for two important characters in Star Wars lore: Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. Dooku in particular gets a good amount of meat added to his character’s bones, while the other episodes feature a welcome look into Ahsoka at different points in her life. It’s moody and methodical at times, while still managing to weave in some beautifully animated action. It may not be absolutely vital Star Wars content, but there are certainly worse ways to revisit these characters before Ahsoka gets her own series."[32]
Tales of the Jedi received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Broadcast Animation at the 2023 Golden Reel Awards.[33] It was also nominated for Outstanding Short-Form Program at the 2023 Producers Guild of America Awards.[34]