May the 4th has been an early Christmas for most Star Wars fans over the past few years. We have been treated to amazing animation shorts and other Star Wars-themed shows. A few years back, Tales of the Jedi, although not a May the 4th release, showed us details of Ahsoka and Count Dooku that were unseen before but helped to explain their character so much more. Last year, Tales of the Empire had stories about Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee, which showed us the rise of Morgan and the fall of Barriss.
Generally speaking, these shorts were well received by the Star Wars fanbase at large, with minimal complaints. I mean, it’s Star Wars, and the Fandom Menace can always find a reason to complain about something. However, one of the most important aspects of these animated shorts is that they show backgrounds and missing stories about characters that we love and enjoy. Such as how and why Count Dooku left the Jedi Order and joined the Dark Side of the Force. How did Ahsoka truly survive Order 66, and where did she go after? What happened to Morgan Elsbeth to make her so angry and bent on revenge, and how did she meet Grand Admiral Thrawn? And finally, what happened to Barriss Offee after the trial of Ahsoka Tano? Was she really that hateful of the Jedi and willing to turn to the Dark Side of the Force? These shorts answered those questions.
Now, we have the release of the next installment in the series of “Tales Of” for Star Wars. Fans are excitedly waiting for Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld. You can watch the trailer here:
Let’s talk about why Cad Bane and Asajj Ventress are great choices for this animated short series.
Cad Bane, in my opinion, is one of the coolest characters that Star Wars has ever created: a Bounty Hunter with the Wild West theme and attitude. The duster jacket, the big brim hat, the toothpick, and well, just everything about him screams Wild West cowboy, gun for hire.
As I say during the intro to my podcast, nerds love a good origin story, and it would appear that in Tales of the Underworld, we will be getting some backstory on Cad Bane. Do we need a backstory? Not necessarily. In fact, for the majority of the characters in Star Wars, a backstory is inconsequential. We need very little background on them, as their entry into the galaxy far, far away at that time is exactly what and when we need it.
However, there are certain characters where more information is needed because they stand head and shoulders above the rest and grab the interest of fans. Cad Bane is that character. Since his introduction in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, he has been a fan favorite. Fans look forward to seeing him on film, and his live-action debut during The Book of Boba Fett was largely well-received. It makes sense to give the fans more information about a character who is so well-loved for being a bad guy.
I, for one, cannot wait for May the 4th this year to see more about my favorite Bounty Hunter. Where does he come from? How did he become a Bounty Hunter? Is his planet a Wild West-style planet, and if not, where did Cad Bane pick up his style? Who knows if any of those questions will be answered? Maybe all, and yet, maybe none. But I do know this: more Cad Bane is ALWAYS a good thing.
Count Dooku’s assassin. The one he leaned on so heavily during the first few seasons of The Clone Wars to attack the Jedi and take out major targets until Dooku felt that Ventress failed him one too many times and attempted to kill her.
Her response? She went back home to Mother Talzin and sided with her Nightsisters again for some time, Ventress eventually began a career as a Bounty Hunter. In The Clone Wars, we see her fall into the job as a way to pay back a life debt… because she killed someone. She’s really good at that.
When the Clone Wars concludes, we only know that Asajj is alive and that she is no friend of Dooku or his associates. The Bad Batch has one episode in Season Three where she is no longer the bald harpy, as Obi-Wan would have once called her. She has ditched the red saber from her Dark Side days and is now rocking a yellow one. She even tests Omega for Force sensitivity. This is a different Asajj than we are used to seeing in previous versions.
How did we get from being Asajj the assassin to Asajj the Bounty Hunter and now to Asajj the Light Side of the Force user? In the book “Dark Disciple” by Christie Golden, there is an answer that explains her life and change to the light, and even her eventual death. It appeared that her appearance in The Bad Batch took place after that storyline. I think that if we ever got to see more of Asajj, we would have seen the full story of “Dark Disciple” play out, especially since in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Quinlan Vos is mentioned helping younglings and those who were Force-sensitive to and through “the path,” to shield them from Darth Vader’s inquisitors as much as they could.
However, I think Tales of the Underworld will focus on her time as a Bounty Hunter and possibly lead into her relationship with Quinlan Vos, but I would be surprised if we get much more than that for her light side transformation. I am hoping that will be the case, at least. It would make far more sense for them to focus on her time dealing with bounty hunting and the criminal underworld for this series.
However, if Lucasfilm wants to give me an Asajj Ventress series where her transition from dark to light and her work on the path with Quinlan Vos is shown, I am all for that. She is a powerful force-user, and I would love to see more of her on the screen.
I am thrilled that they are including her here in Tales of the Underworld.
Star Wars Celebration is just a few days away, and we will most likely be seeing what’s coming in the next stage of development for Star Wars. Here are a few things that I hope will come to pass
We get to enjoy more Star Wars animation, which is always my favorite, and I think Star Wars, more than almost any other nerdiverse, works so very well in animation. The storylines go deeper and are willing to tackle the tough corners that sometimes get passed over for live action due to budgets or real-life limitations of the human body.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld should provide a nice holdover for us fans of the galaxy far, far away until the next big thing.
May the Force be with you!
