What to Watch Before ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’
What tales do we need to know before discovering new ones?
Tales of the Jedi is an animated Star Wars anthology series premiering on Disney+ on October 25th, 2022. It will mostly follow two Jedi: Count Dooku, while he was still a Jedi Master and training Qui-Gon Jinn, and Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s padawan who eventually left the Order and barely survived Order 66.
As such, there’s a lot of related media that not everyone may have seen. So here’s a list of the most essential episodes of The Clone Wars, prequel movies, and expanded materials for understanding Dooku and Ahsoka Tano.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
This series seems to primarily be based on the Clone Wars versions of these characters, with a similar art style and the voice actors from the show reprising their roles. Of course, The Clone Wars is seven seasons long and often told non-chronologically so if you haven’t seen it already, it can be very intimidating to start. It definitely doesn’t help that Count Dooku appears in over 70 episodes of The Clone Wars and Ahsoka Tano appears in around 58. Therefore, I will highlight certain episodes I think are important to understanding these characters.
[Not Yet Count] Dooku-Centric Episodes
For Dooku, I would suggest watching “Monster” (shows Dooku training Savage Oppress as his new apprentice), “Massacre” (shows Dooku and Grievous massacring the Nightsisters and Dooku almost dying at the hands of Mother Talzin), and two of the episodes in Yoda’s season 6 arc “Destiny” and “Sacrifice” (which show how Yoda mourns for his lost student and how despite being on opposing sides, they are still connected through the bond of Master and Apprentice).
While not Dooku-centric, the Mortis arc of season 3 may help reintroduce people to Qui-Gon Jinn, especially in animation (and voiced by Liam Neeson!).
Also, “Gungan General” is a truly hilarious episode where Dooku gets tied to Anakin and Obi-Wan and they all have to escape a hostage situation together. I doubt it will be plot relevant, but it’s a fun episode that also was the second part of Hondo Ohnaka’s debut.
Ahsoka Tano-Centric Episodes
For Ahsoka, I would suggest watching season 1 episode 19 “Storm Over Ryloth” and season 2 episodes 1-3 (which feature Ahsoka realizing her recklessness has consequences and patience is vital in leadership), her season 3 duology of “Padawan Hunt” and “Wookie Lost” (where she is kidnapped by Trandoshan hunters who kill Younglings for sport), her Season 5 “The Wrong Jedi” arc (episodes 17-20 which are about why she left the Jedi), and basically all of her episodes in Season 7 (episodes 5-8 are about Ahsoka learning about how average citizens live and episodes 9-12 are the Siege of Mandalore that leads directly into Revenge of the Sith, and all that entails).
Also, watching Season 1 Episode 7 “Rising Malevolence” and/or the introduction to the Season 5 episode “The Gathering” gives us a look into Plo Koon meeting toddler Ahsoka, who will be getting an episode where she discovers her Force Sensitivity, and will also finally introduce us to her biological family.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith
Of course, the two prequel movies that feature Count Dooku may also help brush up your awareness of the character. If you don’t have the time or energy to sit through both, I would suggest watching Dooku’s attempt at convincing Obi-Wan (his padawan’s padawan) to join him and of course, his duel in Revenge of the Sith.
The Ahsoka Novel
Some of the events of this novel were retconned by the release of Clone Wars Season 7. Still, it appears that at least one of Ahsoka’s episodes takes place after Order 66 and follows Ahsoka as she attempts to evade the Empire and faces an Imperial Inquisitor for the first time. Ashley Eckstein narrated the audiobook and the summary is on Wookiepedia (as are the summaries for just about everything Star Wars), but I do highly suggest reading the book if you have the time.
What’s your favorite piece of Star Wars media featuring Ahsoka Tano or Count Dooku? What are you hoping to learn about them in this new miniseries? Let us know in the comments.
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