By George & Josh Bate
Star Wars fans better get ready for a crazy May this year. Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that May 4th will see the debut of a new Star Wars series – Tales of the Empire. A companion series to Tales of the Jedi, the new show will include six original shorts focusing on dark side characters.
Before we get to all of the trailer’s easter eggs and hidden details, check out the trailer below:
Check out a poster for the show below:
Now, here’s our breakdown of all of the easter eggs and hidden details from the trailer.
Several shots of the trailer feature the planet Corvus and the town Calodan, which featured in The Mandalorian Season 2 Chapter 13 – “The Jedi.” This location was controlled by Morgan Elsbeth in The Mandalorian, who was the primary antagonist in Ahsoka and who will be a main character in Tales of the Empire.
Featuring prominently in the trailer is Morgan Elsbeth. Diana Lee Inosanto returns to voice the character after playing the character’s demise in Ahsoka.
Also returning is Lars Mikkelsen, who will once again play Thrawn. Thrawn’s darker uniform is reflective of his lower status in the Empire at the time, before he achieved the rank of Grand Admiral.
Morgan Elsbeth says, “Years ago, my people were all but destroyed.” She is referring to the massacre of Nightsisters overseen by General Grievous during the Clone Wars. In The Clone Wars episode “Massacre,” Count Dooku commissions Grievous to go to Dathomir and wipe out Asajj Ventress and her witch sisters. It appears Tales of the Empire will show the massacre of the Nightsisters from Elsbeth’s perspective.
Various shots in the trailer, including the shot above, seemingly show Morgan Elsbeth during the massacre of the Nightsisters on Dathomir by General Grievous and Separatist forces.
Clone shock troopers appear in the trailer, now serving the Empire. These white and red troopers first appeared in Revenge of the Sith.
The shock troopers are accompanied by Fourth Sister, an Inquisitor formerly known as Lyn. The Fourth Sister made her first appearance in Part II of Obi-Wan Kenobi before also playing a role in the novel Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade.
At last, we finally will find out more about what happened to Barriss Offee. The former apprentice of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee played a small live-action role in Attack of the Clones before featuring prominently in one of the best arcs of The Clone Wars. In that arc, Coffee became disillusioned of the Jedi’s role in the Clone Wars and oversaw a bombing of the Jedi Temple. Offee framed Ahsoka Tano for the attack, which eventually led to Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order. Fans have long speculated that Barriss Offee’s future would somehow involve the Inquisitors, and that appears to be the case in the new show.
Overseeing Barriss’ training in the Inquisitorius appears to be none other than Grand Inquisitor. The design of the character is a translation of the character’s design from Star Wars Rebels. Returning to voice the character is Jason Isaacs, who previously voiced the character in Rebels before handing over the reins to Rupert Friend to play the character in live-action in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
This, however, isn’t necessarily the first time that Barriss Offee and the Grand Inquisitor have met. The Grand Inquisitor was once a Jedi Temple Guard and it was the Jedi Temple Guards who escorted Barriss Offee to trial in The Clone Wars. What a reunion that must’ve been.
The above shot is on the planet Corvus in the town of Calodan, which, as mentioned before, first appeared in The Mandalorian Season 2. Here, you can see Morgan Elsbeth being visited by what appears to be Governor Wing and New Republic forces. Presumably, Tales of the Empire will show how Morgan Elsbeth came to take over the town.
A clearer view of Governor Wing and New Republic forces can be seen in the above shot.
Morgan Elsbeth is reinforced by the same kind of soldiers she had in The Mandalorian Season 2 and Ahsoka.
Morgan Elsbeth wields the spear made of Beskar that eventually Ahsoka Tano wins off of her in The Mandalorian and gifts to Din Djarin, who then uses it in his battle with Moff Gideon and the darksaber.
Maybe a little shorter than we expected, but General Grievous is back! As Tales of the Empire seemingly shows the Separatists’ massacre of the Nightsisters, it makes sense to see Grievous wreak havoc on Dathomir.
The series will seemingly show the intense training prospective Inquisitors underwent. This above sequence in the trailer appears to be a trial between several applicants to become an Inquisitor.
A duel in the trailer shows a blue lightsaber-wielding individual fight the Fourth Sister. It’s unclear who is wielding this blue lightsaber, but, at a glance, this looks like it be Reva. An appearance from Reva, who made her debut in Obi-Wan Kenobi, would make sense given that she became an Inquisitor around this time.
The above shot from the trailer is particularly interesting. On the left of the image is Marrok, the mysterious dark side figure who appeared in Ahsoka as working for Morgan Elsbeth. Marrok was killed in Ahsoka, which revealed that the character was conjured using some kind of Nightsister dark Magick. It’s possible that we’ll find out more about the character in Tales of the Empire.
Next to Marrok is the unnamed Inquisitor, who made his debut in the sixth episode of Tales of the Jedi titled “Resolve.” In that episode, the Inquisitor, who was voiced by Star Wars veteran Clancy Brown, dueled with and killed by Ahsoka Tano.
The one and only Darth Vader will appear in Tales of the Empire. As Vader is the leader of the Inquisitors and can be seen training them in various comics, it’s possible we’ll see more of Vader’s hands-on roll with the dark side users in this series.
The logo at the end fades from Tales of the Jedi into Tales of the Empire. A Season 2 of Tales of the Jedi was previously announced, but it’s likely that Tales of the Empire was the series in reference when that second season was announced.
All 6 episodes of Tales of the Jedi premiere May 4 on Disney+. Stay tuned to The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron for more coverage of the new show!