Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Tales of the Empire episodes 1-6
Contents
Summary
- Episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire are not arranged chronologically, jumping around the Star Wars timeline.
- Clues from each episode help determine when it takes place, and some align closely with movies or shows.
- The final episode is the most challenging to date, with speculation about the time period it is set in.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire consists of six episodes set at various points in the Star Wars canon timeline, expanding upon and even overlapping with storylines from the movies and TV shows. Like its predecessor, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, the show is split into two storylines, with the first exploring the backstory of Ahsoka‘s Morgan Elsbeth and the second revealing what happened to former Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee after Star Wars: The Clone Wars. However, this means that all six episodes are not arranged in a strict chronological order and instead jump around the Star Wars timeline.
This can make it confusing to determine when exactly each episode takes place, but several clues reveal the answer. Some episodes are easy to place, occurring directly alongside the Star Wars movies and TV shows, while others only have slight indications of when the episode is set. A few episodes require pure speculation and could be set at multiple points in the timeline, creating questions for future stories to answer. From the prequel era to the Mandoverse, Tales of the Empire uses each episode to build off key moments in the Star Wars timeline and create an engaging overarching narrative.
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Episode 1 “The Path Of Fear”
20 BBY – Concurrently with Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 4, episode 19 “Massacre”
Tales of the Empire episode 1 is the easiest to place, as it is set during the Separatist attack on Dathomir in The Clone Wars season 4. When Count Dooku’s former apprentice, Asajj Ventress, returns to her people, he sends General Grievous to exact revenge on the Nightsisters for their attempt on his life in season 3. Following the massacre, Morgan is taken in by the Mountain Clan, who she tries to prepare for a fight against the droid army. This means she is likely still on Dathomir when Savage Oppress brings Darth Maul to be healed by Mother Talzin.
Morgan Elsbeth
Hailing from the planet Dathomir, Morgan Elsbeth’s people were almost wiped out during the Clone Wars after their leader, Mother Talzin, became a rival to Darth Sidious himself. Morgan swore loyalty to the Empire, and became a close associate of Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. When Thrawn was stranded in a distant galaxy, she spearheaded efforts to retrieve him, prompted by visions cast by the Great Mothers of Peridea. She was sacrificed by Thrawn to buy him time to escape Peridea, with Ahsoka and her allies stranded there.
Created By
Dave Filoni
Cast
Diana Lee Inosanto
Died
Ahsoka
Alliance
Empire/Dathomiri
Race
Dathomiri
Episode 2 “The Path Of Anger”
Unknown – Sometime before Star Wars Rebels season 3.
Tales of the Empire episode 2, meanwhile, is impossible to date precisely. Thrawn is still an Admiral when he approaches Morgan near the end of the episode, a promotion he received after quelling the Botajef Insurgency in Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn was later promoted to Grand Admiral just before the start of Star Wars Rebels season 3 in 2 BBY, the same year the TIE Defender Project officially began. This means the episode should take place shortly before Star Wars Rebels season 3, but the characters’ young appearances mean that it could be a few years earlier.
Episode 3 “The Path Of Hate”
C. 9 ABY – Shortly before The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5 “Chapter 13: The Jedi”
Thankfully, Tales of the Empire episode 3 is another easy one to place in the Star Wars timeline. Nadura manages to send a distress call before she is killed in an explosion, which is received by Lady Bo-Katan Kryze of Mandalore. Since the Nite Owls were busy tracking down Moff Gideon, Bo-Katan likely passed the information on to Ahsoka Tano, who worked with Din Djarin to free the people of Corvus in The Mandalorian season 2. Having Morgan kill a New Republic delegation also sets up her being arrested and transported to trial at the beginning of Ahsoka season 1.
While The Mandalorian begins in 9 ABY, conflicting reports from series creator Jon Favreau and Star Wars reference books make the show’s timeline confusing. Star Wars: Timlines dates the first two seasons of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to 9 ABY, while Favreau has stated that there is a time skip before season 3 begins. This became more confusing with Ahsoka season 1, which seemed to take place immediately after The Mandalorian season 2 but was revealed to be set after season 3. All of this makes it difficult to determine what year this episode is set.
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Episode 4 “Devoted”
19 BBY – Concurrently with and after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Tales of the Empire episode 4 begins during Anakin Skywalker’s on the Jedi Temple in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and Barriss can see the explosions from her prison cell. The rest of the episode takes place shortly after the events of the film, with Bariss and the other Inquisitors swearing loyalty to Darth Vader at Fortress Inquisitorius, which will eventually be completed by the time of Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1. This would also place the episode after Vader’s first meeting with the Inquisitors in Star Wars: Darth Vader (2017) #6 by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
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Episode 5 “Realization”
C. 19 BBY – Shortly after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Tales of the Jedi episode 5 doesn’t have a precise timeline placement, but it is likely set in the same year as Revenge of the Sith. Barriss still asks questions about the Empire, shows kindness to civilians, and attempts to reason with the Jedi rather than kill them. If the episode were set any later, the Inquisitors would have already confronted Barriss for holding back and not embracing the dark side, so it can’t have been too long since she joined their ranks. This would place episode 5 around the same time as Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1.
Barriss Offee
The Mirialan apprentice of Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee became disillusioned with the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. She ultimately betrayed the Jedi, even launching a terrorist attack on the Jedi Temple itself, and framed Ahsoka for the crime. Exposed, Barriss was imprisoned – but she was recovered by the Empire shortly after Revenge of the Sith, joining the ranks of the Imperial Inquisitors.
Cast
Nalini Krishnan
, Meredith Salenger
, Tatyana Yassukovich
Alliance
Jedi/Inquisitors
Race
Mirialan
Episode 6 “The Way Out”
Unknown – Sometime after Obi-Wan Kenobi
The final episode of Tales of the Empire is the most difficult to date, but there are few indications of its place in the timeline. Barriss appears older, implying a significant time skip, so the episode could be set around Star Wars Rebels C. 5 BBY. Darth Vader commanded the Grand Inquisitor to hunt Force-sensitive children in the Star Wars Rebels series premiere, so the child Bariss saves could have been one of the first targets. Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger also protected children from the Inquisitors in Star Wars Rebels season 2, episode 10 “The Future of The Force.”
At minimum, Tales of the Empire episode 6 must be set after 9 BBY since Lyn Rakish (the Fourth Sister) was still a member of the Inquisitorius in Obi-Wan Kenobi. This would be a fitting timeline placement, as Barriss sends the parents of the Force-sensitive child to an “old friend” who can help them, which could connect to the Hidden Path from Obi-Wan Kenobi that helped Jedi and Force-sensitives escape the Empire. It’s possible that Barriss’ contact could be Ahsoka Tano, who agreed to work with Bail Organa and the Rebellion in the final episode of Tales of the Jedi.
One possible explanation for Bariss’ aging is her Force healing which, if it involves transferring life energy like Rey, could take a toll over time.
Curiously, the Fourth Sister doesn’t seem to have aged at all compared to Barriss, who shouldn’t have aged much either. Vernestra Rwoh, another Mirialan Jedi, lived to be at least 116 years old, meaning a Force-sensitive Mirialan like Barriss could also have a long lifespan. One possible explanation for Bariss’ aging is her Force healing which, if it involves transferring life energy like Rey, could take a toll over time. Either way, there’s no concrete placement for the final episode of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, but future Star Wars releases can always clarify its place in the timeline.