Star Wars: Tales of the Empire

Honestly, who cares about Morgan Elsbeth.

A one off character of the MANDALORIAN who became a mainstay in AHSOKA, but even then she wasn't all that interesting. Not sure why TOTE wanted to showcase her backstory when we already know it.

The issue with Morgan's three episode arc is that it doesn't tell us anything new about her and it doesn't make any sense.

Morgan states to Thrawn that she "seeks revenge," but revenge against who?? Grievous is dead, Dooku is dead, the CIS has been defeated-everyone responsible for the destruction of her people are dead. Sooo...what vengeance is she seeking? Morgan just becomes some corrupt bureaucrat for the imperials who basically turns a random village into a hard labor camp, but why though? Why is she going out her way to mistreat these people? We don't know. She just winds up running a pyramid scheme and then murders anyone who challenges it, and again, it's never understood why she's doing any of it outside of be generic "I want power," which isn't a goal Morgan states. Again, she's somehow doing this to "get revenge," one day against people who are already dead.

So in the end, we wind up learning nothing new about Morgan and her episodes were largely a waste of time.

I just stuck around for Barris, because we get to see what happened to her post RoTS. Barris' story does what Morgan's should had, which is sbowing us things we don't know, and exploring the depth of Barris herself. It was great seeing the Fourth Sister since we didn't get anything from her out of KENOBI. I won't go into detail about Barris' story because I'd be spoiling, but I do feel that it was better handled than Morgan's.

So for the good, the visuals are done well. There are new aliens and certain elements flow well, made some decent connections and ended a question of one empirial operative.

As for the bad, some returning characters were visually revamped which I found unnecessary. A chunk of what I watched left me failing to see the characters logic and connection from pre and post empire. I get the idea but the character came off hypocritical to me. It doesn't have to be a hard negative but it would be if this is where the trail ends.

Neutral, the final episode had me wondering if it's intended to be continued or if that was it. If it is good, if not well what happens next?

Overall I found it watchable and others may enjoy it more or less than I did. There's good about it but plot wise and doesn't have the same connection or feeling of how a character got to the point they were at in other shows, like tales of a jedi did.

An animated Star Wars miniseries where the appeal lies in the fact that the protagonists are the villains.

It's entertaining but only suitable for fans. It lacks originality, and its production level is far from the highest standard of the saga.

It fulfills its purpose, but it leaves a bittersweet taste by showing much greater potential in this Sith-centered storyline. In the end, the villains are not being properly utilized in the latest series, which is unfortunate.

Of course, it features plenty of deep lore, which is always well-received by fans of the saga, making it one of its strongest points.

It's worth noting that this production consists of only six episodes, each about fifteen minutes long, so watching it in one sitting is the most common approach.

The Evil at the Center. Just as we once accompanied Anakin Skywalker on his journey to the dark side, there are now finally two more characters we get to accompany into the abyss.

The approach of the Star Wars creators is emotional and profound. The atmosphere is truly dark, rarely seen except in Andor. Now, we are actually on the side of evil. Whether Morgan Elsbeth, seemingly a supporting character, needed to be chosen as the main character remains questionable. There are certainly much more intriguing characters in the Star Wars universe. But in the end, after the story of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader, we witness another transformation into evil. And it is precisely this that makes this series so compelling in the otherwise rather cheerful Star Wars cosmos.

The most intriguing question in all of this is ultimately why they had to make the whole thing an animated series.

I'm no Filoni worshipper but I rather liked the refreshing brevity and continuity curiosity of 2022's Tales of the Jedi. This follow-up is... far less interesting and I'd hardly say The Mandalorian's Morgan Elsbeth and Clone Wars minor character Barriss Offee are of the same stature as Ahsoka and Dooku. Not only that but neither of them are particularly Empire-tastic. More... Empire adjacent. That being said, I still do like the shortness of the episodes, but it all feels very throwaway and more of an afterthought than a project in its own right or even a continuation of the first set of stories.