Tales of the Jedi - TV Series Ratings

Story posted November 30, 2022 in Arts & Entertainment by Adrianna Gallucci.

Tales of the Jedi is a six-episode limited series on Disney+ created by Dave Filoni. The series focuses on the intertwined lives of Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton), with each story representing the good and bad of the Jedi Order in the Galactic Republic era.

Episode 1: “Life and Death”

The mini-series starts out with a Tano-centric episode where the viewers witness the moment Tano uses the Force for the first time. It’s a story about family, resilience and strength that build Tano’s character over the saga.

In a life-or-death situation involving a tiger-like animal, an infant Tano channels the Force to protect herself. The elder of the tribe tells her shocked parents that “Ahsoka is Jedi.”

This was a good origin story for the Jedi who is famously not a Jedi, but some parts of the episode felt slow. There wasn’t a whole lot of action, which Star Wars is typically known for.

Rating: 3/5

Episode 2: “Justice”

This is Dooku’s first episode, and from the start, his evil comes out to play.

Dooku and his former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn (Michael Richardson), are sent to resolve a kidnapping conflict involving a senator’s son. When they arrive on the planet, they realize the conditions its citizens are living in and the motives they had to take political action.

Dooku is ready to kill until stopped by Jinn, and he begins to think about the Jedi’s place in the Republic as “keepers of the peace.”

This was a great episode filled with philosophy. While characters like Anakin Skywalker had three movies for a downfall, Dooku only has three episodes, and it’s an explosive start to the journey to the dark side.

Rating: 4/5

Episode 3: “Choices”

Dooku returns alongside Mace Windu (TC Carson) in another political episode. Dooku and Windu are sent to retrieve a dead Jedi’s body, but while Windu wants to get the body and get out, Dooku is set on discovering the murderer and the motive.

Dooku’s aggressive methods get the answer to the Jedi’s death out, but a conversation he has with a guard about the perceived role of the Jedi across the galaxy leads to Dooku’s growing doubt in the peacekeepers.

This episode was riveting and a doomsday of what the viewer knows will come for Dooku. There was so much foreshadowing, from Dooku raising his lightsaber over someone’s head to the awkward tension between Dooku and Windu that you could cut with, well, a lightsaber.

Rating: 4.5/5

Episode 4: “The Sith Lord”

This was arguably the best episode on the series; one that was dark from the start and never got lighter.

The episode begins with Dooku stalking around the Jedi Archives and using the code name “Sifo-Dyas” to delete a planet from the archive, which is a great nod to Attack of the Clones. When he exits, he notices chatter and finds out that his old apprentice, Jinn, has encountered a Sith Lord on Tatooine. After a conversation with Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Yaddle (Bryce Dallas Howard), Dooku tells Jinn to be wary because the Council will ignore his concerns, anyways.

A short time-jump shows Dooku in deep contemplation after Jinn’s off-screen death in The Phantom Menace and meeting with his new boss, Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). Unbeknownst to him, Yaddle, who was concerned about him, follows Dooku into the dark and abandoned hangar.

Dooku, once again, struggles with the light/dark side debate; even though he has grown to despise the Jedi, he doesn’t understand why Jinn had to die. When Yaddle reveals herself, Sidious puts Dooku to a test to prove his loyalty.

This episode was a great tie-in to the first two prequels and documents the moment the Jedi turns to the Dark Side.

Everything that Dooku had been doubting the last two episodes culminates in blind leadership under Sidious.

Rating: 5/5

Episode 5: “Practice Makes Perfect”

Fans of The Clone Wars will love this episode, which features fan-favorites Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), Captain Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor).

Tano easily completes a training exercise using robots simulating battle droids, but when Skywalker sees the unchallenging nature of the exercise, simulates it using his 501st unit. Skywalker, aware Tano is growing frustrated with him, explains to her that she must be ready for anything on the battlefield and encourages her to continue the exercise until she succeeds.

Because this is a classic Dave Filoni production, he always has to include a nod to another one of his projects: the child in the training room is none other than Caleb Dume, who appears in Rebels. Additionally, what would be a Filoni project without an Order 66 scene?

This was a compact yet comprehensive episode showing that even though times change, habits don’t.

Rating: 5/5

Episode 6: “Resolve”

The only post-Order 66 episode is loosely based off of the Queen’s Shadow and Ahsoka novels by E.K. Johnston. At Padme Amidala’s funeral, Bail Organa (Phil LaMarr) gives Tano a commlink to stay in contact. After evading stormtroopers, Tano moves to and works on a small harvest planet where she struggles with to remain hidden while protecting people.

One of the farmers finds out about her Force abilities and turns her in to the Empire, but at a cost.

Without the context of the novels, this episode felt rushed. There wasn’t a lot of time to explain new characters, and the appearance of the Inquisitor was different from the others in franchise media. However, it was a good connection to the Fulcrum Network shown in Rebels.

Rating: 3.5/5


Adrianna Gallucci is a first-year student majoring in journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.