All 6 Episodes Of Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire, Ranked From Worst To Best

May 13, 2024, 1:30 a.m.

Movies

All 6 Episodes Of Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire, Ranked From Worst To Best

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Summary Tales of the Jedi showcases stunning animation and a tragic plot, setting the stage for Morgan Elsbeth's journey in Ahsoka.

Episode 4 brings back Barriss Offee in a gripping story that justifies her path toward redemption.

The finale of Tales of the Empire is a satisfying conclusion that hints at a possible future beyond the series.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire brilliantly expands the Star Wars saga between the movies and TV shows, making it incredibly difficult to rank each episode from worst to best. Like its predecessor, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, the animated series is split into two arcs, one focusing on Ahsoka's Morgan Elsbeth and the other continuing the story of former Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Through outstanding animation, exciting action, engaging character drama, and tragic consequences, Tales of the Empire tells a thoroughly compelling story in only six short episodes.

However, the series' limitations and the placement of certain events mean that some Tales of the Empire episodes don't have as great an impact as others. The best episodes succeed in expanding the larger Star Wars timeline, contribute to their respective arc, and manage to stand on their own merits. From the height of the Clone Wars to the reign of the New Republic, here is how all six episodes of Tales of the Empire rank from worst to best.

Related Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire Episode Guide Everything you need to know about 2024's Tales of the Empire, including recaps, cast and character lists, Star Wars trivia, and more!

6 Episode 2 "The Path Of Anger"

Mostly backstory with a welcome Thrawn appearance

Both Tales of the Empire and Tales of the Jedi are composed of episodes that fill in the gaps between the other movies and TV shows. However, the best episodes manage to tell a powerful story that can stand on its own, or at least contribute to the three-episode arc. Tales of the Empire episode 2 "The Path of Anger" has two standout moments: Morgan Elsbeth's incredible fight with Rulh and her conversation with Admiral Thrawn, which are especially great for fans of Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka.

Grand Admiral Thrawn The only alien to ever ascend to the rank of Grand Admiral, Thrawn is a strategic genius who hails from an isolationist race known as the Chiss. Thrawn's motives are enigmatic, but his tactical brilliance made him a vital asset for the Empire. Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger successfully defeated Thrawn during the Battle of Lothal, resulting in Thrawn's exile to the distant planet Peridea in another galaxy, but the Grand Admiral has now returned. Created By Timothy Zahn Cast Lars Mikkelsen First Appearance Star Wars: Heir to the Empire Alias Mitth'raw'nuruodo Alliance Chiss, Empire Race Chiss TV Shows Star Wars Rebels , Ahsoka Expand

Aside from these highlights, episode 2 is primarily backstory and exposition, ironically relegating it to a fill-in-the-gap episode of a fill-in-the-gap show. This by no means makes it a bad episode, as stories that connect various Star Wars media make the overall narrative more enjoyable. Lars Mikkelsen is always brilliant as the voice of Thrawn, and the action demonstrates the advantages of animated Star Wars storytelling, but it's still not the best the season has to offer.

5 Episode 5 "Realization"

Finally seeing Barriss Offee as an Inquisitor

Like episode 2, Tales of the Empire episode 5 "Realization" suffers from being the middle episode, wedged between a great beginning and a fantastic end to Barriss Offee's arc. It also proves that Tales of the Empire's biggest weakness is its short runtime, which also limits parts of Tales of the Jedi. Barriss Offee's becoming an Inquisitor is a fantastic story, and seeing her be redeemed is a welcome turn of events, but it's not fleshed out nearly as much as it could have been.

After bombing the Jedi Temple, killing her own accomplices, and betraying her best friend in The Clone Wars season 5, Barriss' redemption would have felt more believable if given a few additional episodes.

Barriss turning on the Inquisitors makes sense once she realizes they don't care about helping innocents, but it should have been a more gradual process. After bombing the Jedi Temple, killing her own accomplices, and betraying her best friend in The Clone Wars season 5, Barriss' redemption would have felt more believable if given a few additional episodes. Even so, Tales of the Empire episode 5 still manages to do a lot with the time allotted, culminating in another incredible lightsaber duel and Barriss' return to the light side.

4 Episode 3 "The Path Of Hate

Morgan Elsbeth's cruelty comes full circle

Tales of the Empire episode 3 "The Path of Hate" is the perfect end to Morgan Elsbeth's arc that perfectly transitions into The Mandalorian season 2 and Ahsoka. While not as visually impressive as some of the other episodes, the writers make up for this with compelling dialogue that slowly builds tension until everything erupts into violence. The needless death of so many is tragic and the stakes are clear, allowing the episode to stand on its own merits.

Of course, the episode's place in Morgan's arc and how it fits into the larger Mandoverse timeline is also impressive. Morgan's story comes full circle by having her become the very evil that destroyed her people, burning down the forest as the droid army once left her home in flames. The brief communication with Bo-Katan Kryze is a nice touch that sets up Ahsoka Tano's arrival in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5 "Chapter 13: The Jedi."

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3 Episode 1 "The Path Of Fear"

A heartbreaking and gorgeously animated origin

Tales of the Empire episode 1 "The Path of Fear" easily has the best animation of the entire series and the most tragic plot. General Grievous has never looked as good in animation as he does in Tales of the Empire, and his duel with Morgan Elsbeth's mother was perfectly choreographed. Other impressive moments include Morgan shedding tears at the sight of carnage, the Mountain Clan leader summoning a shining bubble of Force magic, and the final shot of Morgan standing in front of the flames.

While the animation is astounding, "The Path of Fear" is a perfect introduction to Morgan Elsbeth and the loss that will define the rest of her life. Her refusal to give in to grief shows her inner strength, and her desire to help others avoid the fate of her people is admirable, but her obsession with preventing further loss leads her to make rash decisions. It perfectly foreshadows how she will hurt everyone she claims to help and that her story will end with more pain and loss.

2 Episode 4 "Devoted"

The long-awaited return of Barriss Offee

Barriss Offee's return was the most highly anticipated aspect of Tales of the Empire, and episode 4 "Devoted" didn't fail to deliver. The beginning of the episode was a clever and effective parallel to Barriss' story in The Clone Wars season 5, where she denounced the Jedi Order and orchestrated a bombing at the Temple. Having Barriss sense the deaths of so many Jedi and witness the explosions at the Temple shows her initial desires carried to their natural conclusion, poetically tormenting her as she is helpless to do anything about it.

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The rest of the episode effectively covers Barriss' initiation into the Inquisitorius, highlighting her reservations about joining but justifying her ultimate decision to do so. This makes it believable when Barriss bows to Darth Vader at the end, but also sets up her redemption in the next two episodes, perfectly kicking off a compelling arc. Complemented by the return of Jason Isaacs as the voice of the Grand Inquisitor and a haunting final shot, Tales of the Empire episode 4 assures viewers that Barriss Offee's return was well worth the wait.

1 Episode 6 "The Way Out"

A perfect conclusion to Barriss Offee's arc

Tales of the Empire saved its best episode for last with "The Way Out," a perfect season finale and conclusion to Barriss Offee's story. Not only did episode 6 offer Barriss redemption, but it also returned the character to her roots as a healer in the Star Wars Legends timeline. Seeing Barriss become such a wise and enlightened Jedi feels incredibly satisfying after seeing her fall so far, especially when she tries to help redeem Lyn Raskish, the Fourth Sister.

In the original Clone Wars timeline, Barriss Offee never betrayed the Jedi and was killed on Felucia during Order 66.

Dave Filoni's Star Wars shows have excelled at creating duels where a Jedi is able to defeat by dodging and redirecting attacks to end a fight quickly, rather than engaging in drawn-out lightsaber combat. The Fourth Sisters' failed attempts to escape the cave illustrate the prison of the dark side that Barriss hopes to free her from, just as the Fourth Sister once gave Barriss a chance to leave her prison cell. While this could easily serve as the end to Barriss' story, the episode keeps it vague whether she survived, hinting at a possible return beyond Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.