Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (TV Mini Series) The Way Out (2024) User Reviews

See THIS way out

[Trey_Trebuchet · 8/10 · 5 May 2024]

I wasn't expecting something more lore-heavy. I guess we have ourselves a light-side cave (or perhaps just a force-sensitive cave) that only lets you find the way out once you've found the light side again. I didn't tho n it was totally implausible either. Why not? The Force has always been strange, and the way it's been expanded upon time and time again just continues to fascinate me.

Anyway, I thought this was a pretty satisfactory ending. Barriss grew up feeling conflicted, hurt, lied to and betrayed. Of course she would become a healer of some sort. I do definitely agree that perhaps we should have gotten more screen time with Lyn and Barriss, but I still feel Barriss is the kind of person to bring someone back to the light side out of loyalty and honesty to her true self AND the light side of the force.

I am sad that she may have died. I'm not sure her survivor or dying from her injuries makes this episode any better or worse though. I also think it's cool seeong a couple of inquisitors realizing their false ways and coming back to the right side. I don't think that's been done before?

A good finale to an arc that was quite enjoyable.

And a great series of shorts as a whole. I'd love to see more. Who doesn't want a Tales of the Sith? Or a Tales of the Rebellion? Or a Tales of the Resistance?

Season One Review

[southdavid · 7/10 · 21 May 2024]

Two years ago, "Tales of the Jedi" was a minor, if interesting exploration of some aspects of the "Star Wars" sage that hadn't been seen before. This "Star Wars Day" was marked with a new sister season, focusing on two previous existing villains, one who repents and one who does not.

Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) survives an attack by General Grievous in her youth, rises to the role of magistrate of the planet Corvus and attempts to assist the Empire. Her thwarted endeavors see her make an ally in Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). When the Empire falls, she refuses to realign with the New Republic. Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger) a jailed former Jedi is offered the chance to join the inquisitors and hunt Jedi's. She accepts but quickly becomes repulsed by the tactics employed and goes into hiding.

Utilising the same 3D animation art style as "Rebels" and "The Bad Batch", like those shows this looks great. The vocal performances are terrific, usually utilising someone who voiced the character previously or played them in a live action appearance.

They are though, as with the Jedi run, a bit slight. You can, and I did, power through them all under a two hours. It's better then to think of them as a bonus, extra but perhaps inessential back story to some characters. It's certainly easy to feel that way about them when they come out on May the fourth. Viewed through that ideology, these shows are a triumph. They are also in a more sensible order this time, than they were in the Jedi series.

It's a cool time. I wonder what we'll get in two years' time "Tales of the Rebellion", "Tales of the Sith" or my choice "Tales of the Road: With the Max Rebo Band"

Outstanding!

[xyoyytzf · 10/10 · 8 May 2024]

I've already said my piece in regard to this series as a whole. But feel compelled to add to this episode. Especially since this final one with Barriss has such poor reviews.

I haven't had a reaction to a Star Wars film or show like this since, or actually any piece of entertainment, for so long I can't remember.

This is the finest piece of story telling that Lucasfilm has put out for a long time.

The art, the setting, the music the writing is beautiful. And the character of Barriss Offee... You can tell Filoni absolutely ADORED Barriss as a character. The treatment of her in Tales of the Empire is done with absolute tenderness, it is tragic, beautiful. Absolutely Heartbreaking... I WEPT and felt totally exhausted after watching it.

That is a rare gift from a storyteller. That is Mastery! Tales of the Empire and specifically Barriss' story is the best content Lucasfilm has put out in YEARS! The last time an animated film left me feeling so utterly emotionally spent was the first time I saw Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies

This is honestly the best episode out of the entire 'Tales of' Anthology Series. And the best content put out by Lucasfilm for a long time.

Tragic, Tender, Beautiful - Outstanding!

((edit)) -

More observation for me... If we look at Barriss as a character and her purpose in TCW she is used by Filoni as a narrative 'Foil' to define and enhance the Character of Ahsoka. Ahsoka would not be the character we know and love, if not for Barris.

What Filoni has done here is Honour the character of Barriss, because of her treatment in the past. She was sacrificed by Filoni in TCW for the betterment of Ahsoka.

The episodes of Barriss here in TotE are an Apology, a Thank You, a Love Letter, an Honouring to her by Filoni for his treatment of her in TCW all those years ago. There is such subtlety and respect here, is it brilliant.

This is the most emotionally raw piece of storytelling that Lucasfilm has made since Kanan Jarris sacrificed himself for his crew in Rebels.

I'd argue, that Barriss' episodes in TotE, as short as they are - which make this even more impressive, are the most sophisticated, well written, and crafted content Lucasfilm has put out in YEARS!

Most unearned and nonsense redemption arc in SW

[sevskirita · 2/10 · 9 May 2024]

At the start of this arc, Barris is languishing in the middle of a life sentence for telling a woman to force feed her husband nano bombs, triggering said bombs inside the Jedi temple as a domestic terror attack (thus killing numerous Jedi and non-Jedi temple workers), then killing innocent clones and framing Ahsoka for this crime.

Needless to say, starting this arc as if Barris is a typical Jedi, depicting the Inquisitor having to tell her stuff like "don't be merciful" or "stop fighting like a Jedi" and her doing things like balking at attacking someone because they're unarmed or lecturing another Inquisitor on how fear is an ineffective weapon, is completely nonsensical and a deep contradiction to her established character.

To use such innocuous events as villagers lying about a Jedi's location or an Inquisitor refusing to take a Jedi into the Inquisitorious as inciting events for Barris's redemption... far falls below the standard her past actions set. Some stranger whose character we don't know at all simply lying to protect someone they care about is not even close to a profound moment showing how fear is an effective tool to a literal domestic terrorist, nor does any aspect of this arc present a reason Barris should stop believing in killing innocents for a larger political goal. Nor do we ever see her self reflecting on how these events challenge her *own* past actions, not simply the work of the Inquisitorious. Any possible allusion to her domestic terrorism is vague and could easily instead be referring to her work as an Inquisitor.

This arc was already well past the point of comical absurdity before they tried suggesting these events as ones that would change Barris's canonical beliefs.

My brain is far beyond broken by this completely oblivious writing job, but it really is a nice cherry on top for them to imply that her and Ahsoka have a relationship after her "redemption".

I honestly still don't understand how fans can ignore the complete core character 180° and consider this arc acceptable, never mind good. This might have passed for an ok arc with a pretty decent ending had this been for a different Jedi turned Inquisitor, but Barris? The domestic terrorist *before* the Inquisitorius existed? In one of the most popular and well known arcs of The Clone Wars? It's an obvious and complete contradiction. 2/10 is extremely charitable to this garbage. It may have been good if this wasn't Barris, and for that I give it a little credit, but I shouldn't even give that. And to think they had the potential to explain why Barris became a terrorist, or how a terrorist might be redeemed, but instead they broke a fan favorite character to give another lazy, generic redemption arc.

Just does not make sense

[petarvukovik · 5/10 · 5 May 2024]

Such a weird way to end off such a solid redemption arc. Why would she sacrifice her life for the fourth sister? When was it set up that they were that close or that she cared about her that much? Barriss was always a character I saw as very logical, not evil but willing to use the dark side to get her message across like in the clone wars or save herself like in episode 4. I expected her to turn after realising the wrongdoings of the empire, but not to such an extreme extent. In this episode she's suddenly this extremely spiritual character that essentially takes back all her opinions from the clone wars and begins romanticising the jedi. Her actions in this episode just strike me as very illogical, both from her character and from the writers as they're basically sacrificing a very interesting character, Barriss, for just another inquisitor in the fourth sister. That is if she even died at the end of the episode because they decided to make it ambiguous for whatever reason. Just a very odd end to a pretty good series all in all.

Confusing...

[FLaaVEn · 4/10 · 4 May 2024]

This started out really interesting but became a confusing mess. The outcome was predectiable but atleast was pretty good established in the last two episodes but how it got there was meh in my opinion. At one point you start to think that Barris would live on as the said healer.

I mean in a way she healed the fourth sister but the ending was so abrupt that you could think that she will save Barris with escaping out of the cave but not herself becoming more evil.

Why do you set up the healer aspect so much to eventually kill the main focus of the whole 3 episodes and let the end to open to even consider the fourth sister as healed. I couldnt even tell if she is or not.

A missed opportunity

[moritzherz · 3/10 · 5 May 2024]

After Barriss left the empire years go by and we see her again on a lonely ice-planet, now being sime kind of healer.

One day a family with a force-sensitive child arrives and with them Barriss' old inquisitor sister to hunt them down. Barriss, fully returned to the Jedi way wins time for the family to escape and traps the sister in an ice cave. The sister furious to escape, kills Barriss and realises her faults. She did not want to kill her, but her anger controlled her actions. She also leaves her past behind and exits the cave carrying Barriss' dead body.

Unfortunately the episode ends right there, rather abrupt. I think they could have ended her character in a much more satisfying way. If she would duel Vader once again and dies during this fight, that would have been a real highlight of the show. This is a missed opportunity, in my opinion.

Poorly written. Rushed episode

[jimaahansen · 1/10 · 5 May 2024]

This episode was serously rushed. It seemed, it was a light side cave, that Lyn ended up in. Where you have to let go of your anger and fear to get safely out again. But that is not explained. It was poorly written episode. It was too easy for Lyn to suddenly let go of the dark side. Even with the death of Barriss. Maybe Lyn should have been bombarded of good memories of old for several days in the Light side cave. Not just shortly. I would give the episode, that it was an okay start of the episode, but that is all. I expected more out it. Too short for once. And Barriss just giving her life away, what was that about to "save" Lyn. It is not a believable storyline. Though, I can see it is like Luke giving up his life to bring back Anakin. But this was no where near as effect full.

Literally every bad-guy female character gets a redemption arc

[inefekt · 1/10 · 5 May 2024]

Seriously Disney, what are you doing?

Can you not just find it in yourselves to have a woman be evil and stay evil? They have to always find their way back to being a good person?

We didn't just get one redemption arc here, we got two. This is a character who despised the Jedi, literally bombing the Jedi Temple because of her beliefs against the order. She tried to frame Ahsoka, tried to kill Anakin. She would have been a perfect antithesis to Ahsoka. It seems Kathleen Kennedy cannot help herself and probably thought it was the greatest idea ever conceived to have all force sensitive females be good people, get together to form an Avengers style gang that she is going to unleash in the Filoni Mando movie and have them save the day. I wouldn't bet against it, after all the force is female...

Same Force Move, Different Characters

[ntshnmg · 5/10 · 1 June 2024]

Why is it that every former Jedi/ Light Side Force user Disney's Star Wars develops can suddenly stop a lightsaber attack with the Force? Rey did it against Kylo in "Rise of Skywalker," Ahsoka did it in "Tales of the Jedi," Ezra did it in the live-action "Ahsoka" series, and now Barriss Offee in Episode Six of "Tales of the Empire." I'm sorry but it's a slap in the face to everything George Lucas established in the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy. Can anyone remember a time in those 6 films where a character blocked a lightsaber attack with the Force? I urge you to find one, I could be wrong. Disney's Star Wars does it way too often that it's meaningless to see happen. It's frustrating that Yoda was one of the most powerful Jedi and he had never performed that act. Making Barriss Offee a strong and sagacious Force user is so overrated and overdone at this point. It has similar elements to Ahsoka's character, Ezra's character, and what I imagine they'll turn Rey into in her live-action film still to come. Just an observation. I wish Disney's Star Wars would change it up with fresh ideas. I'm skeptically excited for "The Acolyte," but if any character in this series blocks a lightsaber attack with the Force my point will only be confirmed.