Warning: this article contains full spoilers for Star Wars: Tales of the Empire!
Like Tales of the Jedi before it, Tales of the Empire is more of a tasty snack than a full-size meal of new Star Wars content. This series consists of six short animated episodes, chronicling the twin journeys of Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and fallen Jedi Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger) in the era of the Galactic Empire. But though the series may be short by usual Star Wars standards, it adds a lot to the larger narrative of the saga.
In fact, Tales of the Empire is even more successful than its predecessor when it comes to filling in holes and adding new depth and dimension to these two Star Wars villains. Let’s break down what we learned in Tales of the Empire and why these episodes are essential viewing.
The Fall of the Nightsisters
The untimely cancellation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars means that many planned story arcs were left on the cutting room floor. While the Clone Wars team was later able to salvage some of those storylines for Seasons 6 and 7, when the series returned from cancellation, there’s still plenty of content that never saw the light of day.
Perhaps most frustrating is that we never got a proper follow-up to Season 5’s dramatic Darth Maul storyline. When last we see Maul in Season 5, he’s being tortured by the triumphant Darth Sidious following Maul’s takeover of Mandalore. When Maul finally returns in the climax of Season 7, he’s back to ruling over Mandalore and Death Watch, with no indication of what happened while he was captured by Sidious.
To find out what happened in between those two stories, you have to read the 2014 comic book series Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir. Son of Dathomir is one of several comics/novels that adapt canceled Clone Wars scripts. The series chronicles Maul’s escape and the escalation of his feud with Sidious and Count Dooku. It ends with a massive Separatist force attacking the Nightsisters on Dathomir and Sidious preventing the return of Mother Talzin, thereby ending the greatest threat to the Sith Lord’s grip on power.
While it remains to be seen if the full Son of Dathomir storyline will ever be adapted (maybe in a future Tales of the Sith series?), we do finally get to see part of that story play out in animated form. The first episode of Tales of the Empire showcases one battle in the Separatist army’s larger conflict with the Nightsisters. This is where Morgan Elsbeth comes in, much younger than the version seen in Star Wars: Ahsoka. We see Morgan’s tribe wiped out, including her mother. Powerful though these warriors are, they’re no match for General Grievous and his endless waves of droid soldiers.
Now we know that Maul and Asajj Ventress aren’t the only survivors of the massacre of the Nightsisters. Morgan is also one of the few to emerge from that horrific conflict, though she clearly carries the psychological scars throughout her life and her career as an Imperial Magistrate. But thanks to her, one of the lingering holes from the Clone Wars days has finally been filled.
The Rise of Morgan Elsbeth
In many ways, Morgan Elsbeth is the ideal character to feature in a series like Tales of the Empire. She previously debuted in The Mandalorian: Season 2, setting the stage for a larger role as one of the main antagonists of Star Wars: Ahsoka. But there’s so much we never learn about Morgan in those live-action series. How did she evolve from Nightsister to Imperial agent? What was her relationship with Grand Admiral Thrawn?
Tales of the Empire answers those questions and traces Morgan’s journey leading up to the events of The Mandalorian. We learn that she became the magistrate of the planet Corvus in the years following her escape from Dathomir. Thanks to Corvus’ rich natural resources, Morgan became instrumental in supplying the Empire with the starships it needed to extend its grip across the galaxy.
That said, Morgan was badly underappreciated by her superiors in the Imperial Navy. She was responsible for designing the advanced TIE Defender, the deadly ship that was such a major plot point in Star Wars Rebels. But because of its high cost, these commanders balked at the idea of commissioning a fleet of TIE Defenders, preferring the weaker but much cheaper TIE Fighters and Bombers.
This is where Morgan’s connection to Thrawn was forged. We learn that Thrawn took an interest in this elite weapons designer and dispatched his second-in-command, Captain Pellaeon, to suss out whether she could be a useful ally.
One trial by combat later, Morgan met Thrawn himself. There, she reveals her true motivations for aligning with the Empire. She doesn’t care about the glory of Emperor Palpatine. She only wants revenge for the massacre of her people. That she seems unaware of Palpatine’s own hand in the destruction of the Nightsisters makes her trajectory all the more tragic.
Now we know why Thrawn and Morgan shared such a close bond. He sees her as the rare Imperial officer who could appreciate the bigger picture, and someone disinterested in the petty back-stabbing and title-chasing that dominates so much of the Empire’s command structure. Meanwhile, she recognizes his brilliance and willingness to combat the enemy by any means necessary.
Because of Tales of the Empire, it becomes all the more clear that Morgan Elsbeth was loyal to Thrawn more than the Empire itself. That’s why she laid low following the Emperor’s death at Endor, preferring to bide her time and prepare for Thrawn’s rescue rather than align herself with any of the splintering factions of Imperials we saw in The Mandalorian: Season 3. She had no use for self-serving men like Moff Gideon or Brendol Hux, only for the one leader who shared her vision for what the Empire could be.
The Fate of Barriss Offee
Among the various loose ends left over from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, one of the most significant involves the fate of Barriss Offee. In the climax of Season 5, it’s revealed that Barriss was the one responsible for framing Ahsoka for the bombing at the Jedi Temple. This once-promising Padawan had become disillusioned by the war and the Jedi Order’s decision to embrace violence.
Unfortunately, the series never reveals what became of Barriss after her arrest. Showrunner Dave Filoni confirmed that Barriss was originally meant to die in the Season 5 finale, but he opted to save her due to having other plans for the character. It’s only now, thanks to Tales of the Empire, that we know what those plans actually involve.
We now know that Barriss was among a handful of survivors of Order 66 who were offered membership in the newly formed Sith Inquisitorius. Barriss represented the ideal recruit – a former Jedi with extensive combat experience and an established history of questioning the Order. After passing the Grand Inquisitor’s tests and killing one of her fellow recruits, Barriss was officially inducted as a Sith Inquisitor.
However, Tales of the Empire makes it clear that Barriss was no more committed to the ideals of the Inquisitorius than she was the Jedi. She quickly began to question her new Order and their mandate, preferring to recruit more Jedi to their cause rather than simply slaughter them. That puts her in direct conflict with Fourth Sister (one of the Inquisitors who features prominently in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi). Barriss ultimately betrays Fourth Sister and seemingly kills her rather than allow her to murder another Jedi in cold blood.
By the time Barriss’ story ends in Tales of the Empire’s final episode, she’s left the Inquisitorius behind and embraced the classical ideals of the Jedi, becoming a humble healer on a remote, barren world. Her quiet retirement is interrupted by a vengeful Fourth Sister, who comes looking for revenge and another Force-sensitive victim. Barriss grants her neither, but instead stalls Fourth Sister long enough for her would-be prey to escape. Fourth Sister stabs Barriss with her lightsaber, but finds herself unable to escape a cavernous maze until she finally casts aside her hatred and embraces the inner serenity Barriss has found.
Interestingly, Barriss’ final fate remains up in the air as Tales of the Empire comes to a close. We last see her unconscious body being carried out of the cave by Fourth Sister. Did she ultimately survive? What became of Fourth Sister after she too rejected the Inquisitorius? The final chapter of Barriss Offee’s story has yet to be written, but at least we know what became of her after the Clone Wars ended.
What do you think about these new Star Wars revelations? And how do you want to see the “Tales of…” format evolve next? Cast your vote in our poll and let us know in the comments below:
For more on the future of the franchise, find out how Ahsoka: Season 1 sets up Filoni’s Star Wars movie and brush up on every Star Wars movie and series in development.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
