Saturday Morning Cartoons: Celebrate Star Wars Day with Tales of the Empire on Disney+

Today, May 4, 2024, is Star Wars Day. In case you don’t know why: May the Fourth be with you. Like, “May the Force be with you.” Get it? You got it. And since it’s May The Fourth, there’s no better way to celebrate than with Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, which is now streaming on Disney+.

The six-episode series follows up on Tales of the Jedi, a similar series of six, 15 minute long animated episodes that followed two main characters in the same era as the prequel trilogy. Here, rather than focusing on the Light side of the Force, we’re headed to the Dark Side. Or more specifically, the Empire, as two very different characters head on divergent paths.

Tales of the Jedi focused on Ahsoka Tano, who is played in live-action by Rosario Dawson, but had already starred in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, voiced by Ashley Eckstein. It also featured Count Dooku, a bit more obscure but seen on screen played by Christopher Plummer, and voiced on the series by Corey Burton.

Tales of the Empire, meanwhile, features two characters who are, frankly, deep cuts for the casual fan of Star Wars. On one path, we’re following Morgan Elsbeth, a witch and member of the Nightsisters played on Ahsoka by Diana Lee Inosanto, who also voices her in the cartoon. In Tales, a younger Elsbeth “navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance,” per a press release provided by Disney. Meanwhile, we’re also following former Jedi Barriss Offee, voiced by Meredith Salenger, who appeared in Attack of the Clones and multiple episodes of Clone Wars. Offee, according to the release, “does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy.”

So will this be an insane continuity dump that caters to only the most hardcore Star Wars fans? Maybe. But the animated shows are known for their crazy lightsaber fights, fun action, and great voicework. So even if you’re like “What’s a Nightsister?” you’ll probably have fun anyway. And heck, no insult to the Rebel Alliance, but… The Empire is just cooler.

The show also features Rya Kihlstedt as Lyn aka Fourth Sister, Wing T. Chao as Wing, Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn, Jason Isaacs as Grand Inquisitor, and Matthew Wood as General Grievous. The Dave Filoni created series is streaming in full on Disney+ right now.