Animated Shorts Your Favourite 'Tales Of The Jedi' Short

It's a close three way competition between the Dooku episodes for me. The Ahsoka episodes didn't seem to have as much to say about the Jedi in general, I would have preferred some more stuff with her and Barriss.

 

The first one is my favorite.

 

The Yaddle episode was the best. The Ahsoka episodes bored me to tears. Did we really need an episode about Baby Ahsoka I mean really!

 

I dunno. It's hard to pick. I loved Justice for Dooku and Qui-Gon, and the whole setting was very atmospheric, and Dooku stepping up for oppressed people was a very powerful moment, when he defied the senator. The Sith Lord is very good all around, too, for different reasons. Choices, although important, was just okay — but I loved seeing Raxus.

The baby Ahsoka, although beautifully animated and scored (like the entire show pretty much), did not do it for me. I loved the other two equally. Practice Makes Perfect has a perfect flow and editing, and cut to Order 66 at the end was great. But I view it more of an Anakin episode, than Ahsoka. As I have said in the main thread, I feel like the purpose of it was to show the continuing lineage of Dooku-Qui-Gon, that affected Anakin, and who imprated that onto Ahsoka. And it further explores more about Anakin and his relationship with Ahsoka. Although nothing new, it was interesting to see for me. The episode was perfectly paced and had quite a lot heartwarming moments. I am glad it exists. TCW did not have a lot of such moments, often being lost in the heat of anthology storytelling and never ending battles. I often wished it focused more on Anakin and Ahsoka in such quiet moments between the two of them. This episode delivered it to me. The final one was perhaps the most gorgeous one (that Naboo looked straight out of Revenge of the Sith, maybe even better), and the final short and sweet standoff with Ennio Morricone inspired music was something I enjoyed immensely. There is obviously also a lot of going on in this short, that is absolutely relevant to what it means to be a Jedi: doing what's right, standing up for those in need, abolishing fear, letting go. All central ideas and themes of Star Wars. Obviously, Dooku did that too. He tried to do what's right, stood up for those in need. But he was afraid, as he said. He could not let go. Grief over Qui-Gon was the final blow for him. It is contrasted with Ahsoka's grief for Padme (although you could argue it is not comparable, but they were close; Padme helped Ahsoka greatly to become a person she is, she helped her when she doubted herself, she helped her to see the war beyond black and white, she was the only one, besides Anakin, who stood up for her when she got framed), and Bail urging her not to give up and do her duty, just like Yaddle did with Dooku. There's a lot of poetry and mirroring going on. I'd have to rewatch it a couple of more times, there's lots of little details in such little shorts, which is neat — storytelling is actually very rich and dense. But it's clear that Ahsoka's episodes have as much purpose as Dooku ones. Both of them being the Jedi from the same Master-Padawan lineage, but only two of them actually voluntarily left the Jedi Order. Only one became a Sith Lord, and the other one didn't. It's not just "Ahsoka is in it cuz Filoni". I am pretty sure the point is to compare the characters and make a point out of it.

So I can't really pick the favorite one. I can only say that it's not the baby one, because I am tired of babies after The Mandalorian! And more babies coming our way with The Mandalorian S3, damn it I'd love to have Plo Koon discover Ahsoka instead, or an episode with Barriss, as you have mentioned.

Eh, ok. The Sith Lord, I guess. The tree scene was just really, really good.

 

Oof, tough pick, I love them all. “Practice Makes Perfect” might be the least interesting because it’s territory we saw in TCW many times, but it was still great.

I think I have to pick “Justice.” Qui-gon is one of my favorite characters, and seeing his younger self reminds me of how exciting it was to see a younger Obi-wan for the first time back in 1999. The story goes directly to the parable of the Jedi Order’s collapse. Their strength was The Force, which enabled them to make correct decisions, to see the diverging paths of the future. It’s what helped them know right from wrong. The Jedi Code was ultimately just a supplementing structure for this innate power, which both Dooku and Qui-gon understood. They knew that beyond the code was destiny, the ultimate truth.

What if Qui-gon had survived the battle of Naboo and mentored Anakin? Would he have eventually been killed by his old master Dooku? Lots to think about in this one.

 

It is really tough to choose.

I am 50-50 between "The Sith Lord" and "Resolve".

As much as I love Ahsoka, I will go with "The Sith Lord" for filling in so many blanks while being amazing in its own at the same time.

 

The Sith Lord. The conversation between Dooku and Palps was great. Surprised to see Dooku confront Palps about Qui Gon so it added more to him as a character IMO.

BDH and Yaddle were great.

The music was perfect in this one.

 

The Sith Lord is kind of the easy answer, and I think it will remain my favorite, but both Life and Death and Justice are right up there.

 

I chose Justice, even though Life and Death and The Sith Lord were also great. Choices and Resolve were good. Only one I didn't like much was the Practice Makes Perfect. All the others had something new in them, that was just well, Ahsoka training and then the scene we saw earlier in TCW season 7, that was epic back then though, but now seeing Ahsoka stunned again and again and Anakin shouting again! It was boring as heck. I get the moral of the story, keep practicing, and it was kinda nostalgic too, but it's still boring. I would have rather seen them on some adventure together. Too bad they chose to do pointless training montage instead.

If they ever do another season I want to see more Qui-Gon and Barriss. Her fall was bit abrupt in TCW.

 

I genuinely loved them all. To me, I can see some of the negatives but they are kind of nitpicky and about personal preference which is fine as opposed the story itself being bad so it is really hard to choose but for me it is Justice combined with The Sith Lord.

They basically show the before and after of Dooku's fall and as I've mentioned elsewhere, this is always something I wanted to see. Justice shows a Jedi who believes in the Jedi way basically snapping and understandably so. I would argue that when he uses the force choke, that is when he realises the power of the dark side and probably reasons that using the dark side will allow him to stamp out darkness. I wonder if he started practicing with it from there and that is how he winds up with Palpatine.

I actually feel sorry for Dooku after these because I feel like he genuinely wanted to do the the right thing as he noticed genuine problems in the Jedi order but he just went about it the totally wrong way and that is the tragedy of his story BUT also makes him an extremely compelling villain.

I mentioned the amazing juxtaposition of The Sith Lord in that all the Jedi are talking about a Sith lord but missing the other one who is effectively standing right in front of them...except for Yaddle and this, to me, elevated her story too. In many ways, she is now kind of the Sliding Doors version of Dooku. She was telling the truth to Dooku and he knew it but she wanted to go about it via the council and that was the one thing Dooku likely didn't want to hear and that coupled with Palpatine in his ear, well it was too late.

I also like how this episode set up the later meeting of Dooku and Obi-wan in Attack of The Clones. Dooku told Obi-wan the truth and now we know why, Qui-Gon had fanboyed Obi-wan to Dooku. When Obi-wan later rejected him, that was likely the last chance there ever may have been of redeeming Dooku and potentially, the Jedi order as the last bit of Qui-Gon was now also, in Dooku's eyes, corrupted.

Powerful story telling man and of course, it's like poetry it rhymes.

 

I really liked all of them.

I’m a bit surprised that Practice Makes Perfect seems to be getting a bit of a bad rep. I really liked that one; I liked the simple morality tale of it. I liked the animation, and I thought it was really clever how they managed to have the simple message of the short tie in with a dramatic event we have seen before (Order 66). Makes for a perfect episode for parents to remind their kid of when the kid feels they’re not making progress with their academic, art, or athletics practice. Plus, the use of the different Ashoka and Anakin models (including updated versions of their early models) made for a nice nostalgia run through the entire TCW series. So I was really charmed by that episode. But I don’t think it’s my favorite.

I think I’ll have to list The Sith Lord as my favorite, as well, for now anyway. Conformist sheep that I am

 

I am also torn between the three Dooku shorts, especially because they are stronger together as a singular narrative.

If I had to pick one, which I did because that is how the polls work, I would go with Justice cause I liked Dooku and Qui-gon's whole dynamic and seeing how the jedi operate outside of war.

 

I really liked Yaddle, but felt that a duel with Dooku during his meeting with Palpatine felt…lazy and unbelievable. Not to mention that as she found a Sith Lord, and Dooku’s treachery, Yaddle could have/ should have used a comlink to communicate with the rest of the Jedi Order about it. Instead she decides…duel. That level of stupidity can really undermine what could otherwise be iconic scenes.

 

One way to think about it though is that maybe she felt she had to make a choice in the moment and given her disillusion with the Jedi Council as well, she may have hastily concluded that she might have been able to reason with and save Dooku, particularly because she had just overheard Dooku express some semblance of doubt with his actions, so she likely reasoned she could help him.

Factor in also that this episode went to some pains to show that Yaddle and Dooku had something of a friendship / understanding going. Plus, she had been a part of the Jedi council that didn't take Qui-Gon's claims all that seriously, so despite Qui-Gon just dying, she had no way of knowing how they would react. Finally, she had no idea who this new Sith lord was, she didn't have the audience benefit of knowing just how powerful he was.

A poor decision can be argued for sure but it isn't necessarily a stupid one.

 

Oh fun! I will give my rankings.

1. The Sith Lord. this may have been the most gripping emotional roller coaster since "Shattered" in The Clone Wars. Much like that episode, it used what I already knew to mess with my feelings. It's not a tear-jerker but it's raw. "The Sith Lord" is dark but not in the face about it. It used Dooku's facial expressions as much as his conversations with Qui-gon and Yaddle to tell the story of a conflicted man who knows he's betraying everything. Qui-gon's death is where he falls. Yaddle admits and takes responsibility for the Jedi Council's role and takes Dooku's wrath. The metaphors are incredible. This episode was incredible.

2. Practice Makes Perfect. it may be this put a cozy nostalgia blanket on my shoulders. Loved Phase I clones in upgraded animation. But what made this stand out certainly isn't that we needed an explanation for how Ahsoka got so good and survived Order 66. I always accepted she's just freaking OP... I'm sorry I mean exceptionally skilled. She is Anakin's Padawan after all. She had many incredible feats even in season 1 of TCW. What made the episode stand out was Rex's participation in the training. Finally, a story builds the friendship between Ahsoka and Rex which TCW neglected to give screentime. It's as much their bond that saved Ahsoka as her training.

3. Choices. I didn't think the reuse of the corrupt senator plot was a problem. This happened later than the first one. In contrast to the first, Dooku is so fed up with this crap because he's dealt repeatedly with corrupt Senators making messes and plots against them getting people and Jedi pointlessly killed. He immediately jumps to the conclusion of what's going on and is dead right. Mace barely acknowledged it. He is just as frustrated by Mace's inability to bend. To think about the bigger picture and what interests the Jedi Council is working for. That Mace gets the council seat makes it worse.

4. Justice. How cool was it to see Dooku and Qui-gon? Such an awesome setting was used in this short. The petrified trees are literally as dry as the desperate town. Its a good people making bad decisions scenario. They resorted to kidnapping. That the Senator thought Jedi would just let him mow down these people was hilariously delusional. But there is enough corruption at this stage he doesn't know the Jedi aren't supposed to work for him. That they aren't supposed to let people be starved to death. Until Dooku starts choking the life out of him. Qui-gon's cool, observing things around him allows everyone to live. There is hope justice will really be served. That the Senator's son will do better than his father.

5. Resolve. The start of this episode with the funeral stood out. Bail was used to great effect. There really isn't much to say about Ahsoka's battle with the scary Plague masked Inquisitor. It lasted three seconds. Probably the dumbest Inquisitor encountered so far. And, thanks to him Ahsoka is back in the fight.

6. Life and Death. Didn't Anakin say these words in "Practice Makes Perfect"? I just didn't feel the connection. Easily the most visually stunning with soothing colors. Not much else to say about it. Baby Ahsoka performed a miracle with the force. Immediately exceptional talking a big cat out of eating her through the force. I think the Space Homotherium was more than just a predator looking for prey. It was drawn to the Kybucks distress calls like one but any normal predator would have been after the carcass, the easiest source of food. I think it was more like a lothwolf. There is rhyme to what it hunts. Ahsoka's mom warned her husband not to insult the trees.

 

Practice makes Perfect for me. It's an Ahsoka essential episode in my book.

 

Very strong across all six episodes. The animation was unbelievable throughout. I enjoyed Dooku's episodes a bit more as his story is fascinating. I wish this had been the way Anakin had fallen to the dark side. Please give Dooku a limited series!!! Cartoon or live action. The best one I think was Sith Lord. The music on the way to visit Sidious, the scene in front of the tree, wow. Lot of pressure on the writers to make a great Dooku/Sidious scene, and it ended up being pretty good. Really strong entry to the SW universe by Disney.