“Tales of the Jedi” is the latest animated series developed under the banners of Lucas Films and is helmed by Dave Filoni and Charles Murray. The short series stars Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, Corey Burton as Count Doku, and Ashley Eckstien as Ashoka Tano.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Tales Of The Jedi’ Plot Synopsis: What Is The Series About?
“Tales of the Jedi” is a nonlinear show since the depicted events aren’t chronological. The show explores the rise of Ashoka Tano and masterfully showcases how Count Dooku succumbed to evil forces and betrayed and murdered his own kind.
The first episode begins on the planet Shili, where a new Togurata is born. The crowd gathers to get a glimpse of the newborn babe, and we know that the newborn is none other than Ashoka. Ashoka’s mother takes her hunting to teach her the old ways of Turguta. She arrives at the spot and aims her rifle at a terrestrial deer, pulls the trigger, and hits the deer. She then strides toward the wounded deer, and Ashoka looks away. But she says death is inevitable and the only certain truth, so face it with honor and bravery. Pavti pulls out a knife and pierces the deer’s heart to ease its suffering. But the duo isn’t alone and is being watched by a strange creature. Their mother-and-daughter moment is interrupted by the growling of the creature, and as the mother turns, her face grows pale. This clearly foreshadows what is going to happen next. A struggle ensues, but Pavti is clearly overpowered. She fires at the creature to the attention of her community; they grab their rifles and run toward the woods to help. Seeing the villagers coming towards him, the lion runs away with little Ashoka. Later, the creature tries to eat Ashoka, but she calms her down, and the creature returns the newborn to Pavti. The villagers realize that Ashoka is no ordinary girl, and Gothika, the village’s elder, tells everyone that she is a Jedi and was born with the power of force.
Count Dooku Questioning The Council
The 2nd episode features two of the greatest Jedi who ever lived, namely Qui-Gon-Jinn, voiced by Liam Neason, and Count Dooku, who later joined the dark side. The duo is tasked with investigating a hostage situation on a nameless planet. The duo arrives and requests a woman for assistance, but they are turned down. Later, they make their way to a bar and inquire about a certain child. The child also happens to be a senator’s son. The woman sitting far away asks why she should help the Jedi Knights. The Count walks towards the table and places her star saber, implying he’s there to help. The woman inquires about their knowledge of Senator Dagonetovi. Jinn answers that he is one of the most respected senators. The woman replies that her planet and people are suffering from injustice and chaos, all thanks to his policies. She says that they’re helpless and can’t even elect a new one.
The group takes them to a cottage where the Senator’s son is held and heavily guarded. The villagers have abducted the boy to send a message to the Senator that they’ll no longer obey and abide by his unjustified laws and policies. Their village is burning, and people are scared and starving while the Senator and his kin are enjoying their lavish lifestyle. The Senator arrives outside and is led by a starving woman who spills the location of the child in return for some food. The Senator orders the Jedi to step aside, saying that they’re servants of the senate. The Senator orders his men to fire and draws the first blood. Count Dooku was a great Jedi before he was corrupted. The Senator’s treatment of his people greatly angers Dooku, and he pulls his blue lightsaber and decides to end his tyranny once and for all, freeing the people in the process. The Count forces the Senator to choke with the intention of killing him, glimpsing that he’s slowly succumbing to the dark side. On the other hand, Jinn frees the child, who jumps between Dooku and the Senator just as Dooku is about to take his head off. Dooku finally sees what he is about to do and unsheathes his saber. The battle ends, and the Senator’s son promises to listen to the demands that will rectify all the wrongdoing of his father. The episode closes with Dooku thanking Jinn for preventing him from taking the Senator’s life, saying that he’s much wiser and a better Jedi than he’ll ever be.
Chapter 3 follows Jedi knights Count Dooku and Mace Windu investigating the tragic death of Master Katri’s death who died in a planned ambush. The duo is tasked with returning Katri’s remains to a proper and respectable burial. The duo arrives at the destination planet and is welcomed by Raxus Secundus, who offers his condolences on their master’s death and leads the duo to Senator Larik. After having an audience with Larik, the Knights inquire about his intention of traveling without a security detail, as well as the location where their master met their mysterious informant. Larik hesitates, but one of the guards volunteers to show them the location. As per his testimony, they dispatched a QRF as soon as they saw Katri’s distress beacon but were too late. Count Dooku senses something fishy and decides to investigate further, and makes his intentions known to Windu.
After arriving at the location, the Count begins his investigations and questions the number of attackers involved in the massacre. Seeing the transport unharmed, Dooku sees through their lies and pulls out his lightsaber. Intimidated by Dooku, Larik finally spills all the beans but is shot in the back before giving any more intel about his own security detail. The battle ensues, and the Knights emerge victorious. Dooku interrogates the last remaining soldier, who informs him that Larik was filling his own pockets by emptying their resources and luring big companies to industrialize their land. He continues that the only reason they left Larik alive was to use him for their own benefit.
The scene shifts, and we see the Jedi knights transporting the body of their fallen master. Count Dooku turns and says that it would be hard for the Jedi to maintain peace if they blindly followed the senate’s order. The scene shifts, and we see the Jedi bidding their goodbyes to their great master in the Jedi temple on planet Coruscant. The events so far are constantly testing Dooku’s patience and his decision to follow the council’s order. His rejection of the council is further strengthened when he’s informed that Windu will inherit Master Katri’s seat on the council. Doku is not able to come to terms with the council’s orders and is slowly succumbing to the dark side of the force.
Count Doku Joining The Dark Side
“Tales of the Jedi” takes a giant time leap, and Count Dooku has finally defected to the dark side, secretly entering the archive chamber and deleting all the intel related to planet Kamino. After leaving the archive room, Dooku is informed by master Jocasta that Qui-Gon has found a Sith lord on the planet “Tatooine.” Doku realizes that his apprentice is similar to him in more ways than one, but his talents are often overlooked and rejected by the council, and so are his.
Doku meets with Qui-gon and inquires about the Strange Assassin he claims to be a Sith lord. Dooku’s interest in the Sith lord prompts Master Yaddle to question his intentions, and she decides to follow him. We see Count Dooku meeting with Darth Sidious. Dooku tells him that he has blindly followed his every order and betrayed his own people, yet he has failed to earn his trust. In reality, Count Dooku was corrupted years before and had erased all the records related to Planet Kamino to safeguard the secret of Kamino’s clones. Dooku accomplished this right before fleeing and turning into the Separatist Dictator. A skilled Jedi who goes by the name Sifo-Dyas plans to manufacture the clones by going against the council’s wishes. He believes that the Republic requires a militia to deal with the impending conflict. Many in the council oppose his ideas and demand he let go of his ridiculous proposals. But Sifu-Dyas goes ahead with his plan anyway.
Darth Sidious, nonetheless, worked covertly on a plan to “take” the legion that Sifo-Dyas had organized. No one knows how he learned of the armada; however, he is a brilliant deceiver, so it is futile to distrust his skills. Count Dooku, working in tandem with Darth Sidious, orchestrated the assassination of Sifo-Dyas by paying off the Pykes. The Pykes carried out their orders and shot down the spacecraft as it passed close to Oba Diah. The Count was given Sifo-Dyas’s corpse after the accident and falsely blamed the regional dispute in Felucia for the Jedi’s untimely demise. The Count then stole the fallen Jedi’s credentials and maintained contact with the Kaminoans to get the clones for himself. The discussion is cut short by Yaddle’s interruption, which offers Dooku to surrender and make up for his wrongdoings by getting him arrested. But it is too late for Dooku, and he is ordered by Sidious to prove his loyalty by killing Yaddle. The classic saber-play ensues, and Count Dooku emerges victorious by killing Yaddle.
‘Tales of The Jedi’ Season 1: Ending Explained – What Is Order 66?
The final two episodes of “Tales of The Jedi” 5 oscillate back to adult Ashoka, who is training hard to impress his master. Anakin walks in and offers her to train with a real test, and she agrees. It takes some time for Ashoka to get the hang of the test, but she eventually nails it. The show leaps forward, and we see that the infamous order 66 has been activated. We see Ashoka, who is held at gunpoint by Captain Rex, walking towards thousands of clones. The scene shifts and we cut to Padme’s (Anakin Skywalker’s wife) funeral on planet Naboo, where everyone, along with Ashoka, has gathered to pay their respects. Ashoka blames herself for Padme’s death and her master’s succumbing to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader. The empire is hunting Ashoka and every single Jedi and has traced her to Theed. Ashoka escapes to a distant planet and divides her hours working as a farmer, but she is forced to use her Jedi powers to save a fellow farmer girl.
Ashoka’s long-preserved secret is betrayed, and a strange villain, aka “The Inquisitor,” who is tasked with hunting the last remaining Jedi, torches the village and nearly slaughters everyone. As the inquisitor is about to murder the betrayer, Ashoka interrupts and saves him. Both Ashoka and the inquisitor face each other in the battlefield, but Ashoka, being a skilled Jedi, kills the hooded figure in an instant. Realizing that they aren’t safe, Ashoka signals to Senator Organa to relocate them to Theed, where they’re safe and taken care of. The classic heroic soundtrack in the climax marks the beginning of a long war against evil and darkness. Ashoka is a skilled and great Jedi, and her master’s rigorous training saves her from Order 66. Anakin kept pushing Ashoka and encouraged her to go beyond her abilities.
If you’re an avid fan of the long-running franchise, you’ll know that Order 66 changed everything. Darth Sidious, along with Count Doku, planned to carry out their sinister attacks for decades. The aforementioned order bestowed the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) to take no prisoner and kill anyone without ever being accountable. The command was likewise encoded into the clones using an inhibitor chip. The chip was initially intended as a last resort against renegade Jedi. Nevertheless, after his death, Count Dooku hijacked his identity, and the armada reconfigured the microchip to reprogram the Clones to kill every single Jedi for being deemed enemies to the Republic. The Jedi were among the strongest and most intelligent races and posed a major threat to Palpatine’s plan, so with Order 66, he wished to take them out for good. Millions of Jedi were slaughtered, even younglings, on the order of Darth Sidious. Those who survived were forced to live their lives in hiding. Inquisitors were dispatched to every corner of the universe to locate and exterminate the last surviving Jedi. These inquisitors were once Jedi who fell to Lord Vader’s corruption.
