"Everywhere, there is life. Value it. Honour it."
Hello everyone!
You know we all love returning to it.
There are so many stories still to tell in any era to choose from that it's remarkable how there hasn't been even MORE to sustain us, yet here we are, and Dave Filoni seems to be doing something very right yet again.
Obviously his Clone Wars went on to become a HUGE success and managed to help fill in the blanks beteween Episode II and III, but these might be even better in some aspects.
Because what released just about a week ago were stories that you might have guessed at, but never truly witnessed until now.
So it's time to dig out those lightsabers, family. Tales of the Jedi need us to be at our best!
Links to previous Star Wars-related posts can be found at the bottom of this page, as per usual.
Tales of the Jedi's first season - there's hope that there will definitely be more, considering the fact that they follow the set-up of Clone Wars AND utilize probably the most fan favourite character of them all - follows two distinct characters, with three episodes for each.
One is Count Dooku leading up to his breaking from the Jedi Order - also I would like you to know that seeing a beard-less Dooku made me sit back and blink in confusion.
Man NEEDS a beard, okay?
The second character is none other than Ahsoka Tano.
I mean, it was a given that Filoni's greatest success before Din Djarin would be making an appearance, obviously. But I'm going to start with the three episodes covering Dooku's arc before I tackle Ahsoka's, so bear with me.
While we definitely begin with a little baby Togruta, our review will start with the second episode, Justice, during which Dooku and his Padawan, a very young Qui-Gon Jinn (the visual artists capture Liam Neeson in animated form TO PERFECTION), are sent to retrieve a senator's kidnapped son.
What they discover is a planet ravaged by their own Senate representative, and its inhabitants using this as a last-resort to try and secure a better life for themselves. Once the senator himself arrives, things get heated, and only a timely intervention by Qui-Gon who frees the son prevents Dooku from killing the senator on the spot using Force choke.
It's our first glimpse that there is darkness inside Dooku, but that he's also disillusioned by what he sees. This becomes even more prominent in Choices, where he and Mace Windu investigate the mysterious death of one of their own, only to uncover a bad cover-up (did they REALLY think anything would get past two Jedi?) which forces an acknowledgment that another senator is trying to better his own life at the expense of his home planet.
Of course it's Dooku who's doing the pushing while Mace is trying to play it by the book, which results in him gaining a seat on the High Council, but there's actually some ambiguity there because it seems that Dooku was also in consideration for it, except his unorthodox methods cost him this "promotion".
This sets us up neatly for The Sith Lord, in which we see a now-adult Qui-Gon return from Naboo/Tatooine explaining that he fought Darth Maul, telling us these events run at the same time as The Phantom Menace. And we see it's then that Dooku erases all mentions of Kamino from the archives, but he isn't sneaky enough, or whatever he's giving out through the Force betrays him, especially after Qui-Gon's death.
See, Jedi Master Yaddle follows him even though most of the order is heading to Naboo for the funeral. But she's worried - or suspicious - or both, and ends up discovering Darth Sidious (who's at that point being confronted by Dooku regarding Qui-Gon's death, which was NOT in the fine print of this arrangement, thank you very much!). This leads to her ultimate demise at the hands of Dooku himself, and his fall to the Dark Side is complete.
Backtracking a little out of this deep dark pit, the episode Life and Death shows us the cute little baby Ahsoka from the moment of her birth, to the moment her mother takes her on her first hunting trip, a sacred and time-honoured ritual as the Togruta rely on hunting quite a bit.
Naturally this goes sideways when a large predator looking like a saber-tooth tiger comes out of the woodwork and, in the ensuing commotion, kidnaps Ahsoka. Joke's on the big cat though, because the kid is fearless and arrives back at the village that evening riding it, which reveals to the village elder that the child is, in fact, a Jedi.
This fearlessness continues in Practice Makes Perfect, where a MULLET ROCKING OBI-WAN KENOBI makes a guest appearance, watching Ahsoka take a test that her Master, Anakin Skywalker, is deeply dissatisfied with. He wants her to be prepared, and fighting droids isn't going to cut it - so, he devises his OWN little test, having her train with Rex and the 501s, who continuously shoot at her while she deflects the barrage.
If you were watching this thinking 'hey, this looks familiar ...', you were right.
This is how she survives Order 66 - because her Master unknowingly prepared her for it with years and years of training with the clones.
The season then wraps with Resolve, which breaks our hearts right off the bat by giving us an animated version of Padmé Amidala's funeral procession. Did we HAVE to relive it, Filoni?!?
Ahem.
A mourning Bail Organa notices Ahsoka in the crowd, and manages to give her a communicating device by which she'll be able to reach him. She doesn't want it and doesn't use it ... until, undercover as a farmer, her life goes upside-down when she instinctively saves a member of the community. This prompts said member to come to the conclusion she's a Jedi, but her idiot brother - who's very pro-Empire at this point, even though everyone around him is pointing out just how bad things have gotten - alerts the higher ups about it.
This brings an inquisitor to town, and not only does it spell the end for the farming community as a whole (massacre, say what), it also spells the end for Ahsoka's days of hiding. She reveals herself, defeats the Inquisitor, and contacts Bail to get the survivors out of there.
She then also joins the Rebellion because, f that noise, it's time to kick back.
And we all know she does, since she's shown in the series Rebels.
Short, sweet and to the point, these Tales of the Jedi take us deeper into the inner workings of what looks to be just two characters, bu in fact we're drawn into the web that was being woven back in the Prequels Era.
After all, Dooku didn't just decide one day that he was heading over to the society covered in darkness that only eats all-black Oreos. It took time, and you can see some of it and his reasoning through these short snippets of his life.
As for Ahsoka, she brings with her the delight of all our favourite Prequels and Clone Wars characters, not to mention the determination and grit she was always known for displaying.
All in all, these Tales are too short to truly encompass everything, so PLEASE, Filoni, if you can hear the internet crying for more: give us more.
10/10 recommend for any Star Wars fan. Let's rally and have more of our favourites return!
xx
*images and video not mine
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