Lucasfilm surprised us on Thursday morning with an announcement for a new series of shorts. Following in the footsteps of Tales of the Jedi, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire will take a journey into the Galactic Empire with six episodes. The series of shorts will follow two characters: a young Morgan Elsbeth and former Jedi Barriss Offee. Like Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire puts the focus on choice and how characters’ choices affect their destinies. And yes, Tales of the Empire confirms that Barriss Offee did indeed pursue the path of becoming an Inquisitor!
One-time Jedi and friend of Ahsoka Tano, Barriss betrayed the Jedi in the finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Disillusioned with the Jedi Order and the Republic, the Padawan bombed the Jedi Temple and let Ahsoka take the fall. The act led to Ahsoka’s false imprisonment and eventual departure from the Jedi Order. We never learned what happened to Barriss, though many fans believed she turned to the Imperial Inquisitorius. The Star Wars: Tales of the Empire trailer confirms this. We don’t know why or if she goes on to officially become an Inquisitor, but we see her working towards it, and we can’t wait to see what happens.
Then there’s a young Morgan Elsbeth turning to Grand Admiral Thrawn and asking to serve the Empire. That’s likely the beginning of their close relationship that we later see play out in Ahsoka. Morgan is carrying no small amount of anger over what happened to her Dathomirian sisters and she has a plan for revenge.
The official synopsis for Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi states:
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.
Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer. The talented voice cast includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor), and Matthew Wood (General Grievous).
When Is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire‘s Release Date?
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire will premiere on Disney+ with all six episodes on May 4 to celebrate May the Fourth Be With You. And as for Tales of the Jedi, we learned at Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2023 that a second season was in the works. Hopefully we’ll learn about that release date soon.