Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire Makes General Grievous Part Of Another Villain's Tragic Origins

There will be spoilers for "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" Episode 1 "The Path of Fear," so beware.

"Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" (watch the trailer here) is the follow-up to the animated "Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi" shorts from 2022. The initial series followed Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano through formative moments and turning points in their lives. This iteration of the show brings us a look at Morgan Elsbeth, a relatively new character introduced in the second season of "The Mandalorian" and Barris Offee, the Jedi Padawan who betrayed Ahsoka Tano on "The Clone Wars" and framed her for murder.

The very first episode takes us back to "The Clone Wars," in the midst of a battle we've seen before on the planet Dathomir. During "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," the Witches of Dathomir played a vital part, as did Dooku's former Sith assassin, Asajj Ventress. But thanks to revelations in "Ahsoka," we learned that Morgan Elsbeth also counted herself among the Witches of Dathomir. 

Our first meeting with Elsbeth was on the planet Corvus in the fifth episode of "The Mandalorian" season 2, where she appeared to be some sort of high magistrate, ruling with an iron fist. Morgan also had connections to Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. That's what brought Ahsoka Tano to Corvus, and the pair of them fought bitterly as Ahsoka sought information to track down Thrawn and find Ezra Bridger. It was assumed that Ahsoka had dispatched Elsbeth permanently, but when she appeared as one of the primary heavies on the "Ahsoka" show, there were many questions about her. The Witches of Dathomir had ways to cheat death, and her new background could have had something to do with her survival.

This first episode of "Tales of the Empire" explores Elsbeth's path further, and it turns out her origin features another "Star Wars" villain: General Grievous.

Known in some circles as the Massacre of the Nightsisters, the Battle of Dathomir was a conflict during the Clone Wars between the Witches of Dathomir and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This battle was first dramatized in the 19th episode of the fourth season of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," entitled "Massacre." As a villain, General Grievous plays a role in the backstories of many characters, and he is newly introduced to Morgan Elsbeth in this battle, motivating her for the rest of her life.

As one of the Nightsisters, Elsbeth fought alongside her family against the Separatist battledroids, as well as against General Grievous himself. Fighting alongside her mother, they made a valiant effort to defend against him, but history had already been written against them and the battle still turned out to be a massacre. But Grievous took things one step further and added to the tragic backstory of Morgan Elsbeth in a surprising way.

Through the battle, Morgan Elsbeth fights alongside her mother, who is brutally cut down before her very eyes by General Grievous and his stolen lightsabers. It's this loss that fuels her thirst for revenge that eventually leads her to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn back to the galaxy for the greater glory of her cause. It also put her back in touch with the people who she thought had been lost in that tragic battle.

The loss of her mother seems to be a key driver in the hate that set Elsbeth down her path. The episode titles further illustrate that: the first episode is titled "The Path of Fear" and that fear transforms into "The Path of Anger" for the second episode. And, like Yoda said, anger leads to hate, which brings us to the third episode's title, "The Path of Hate." It seems that Elsbeth certainly suffered at the end as well, completing her path to the dark side.

Seeing her fear of General Grievous at the beginning of this journey certainly adds context to her end. Coincidentally, her mother died in a battle that heavily utilized the undead, animated by the magick of Dathomir, and Elsbeth herself suffered a similar fate elsewhere in a galaxy far, far away in the first season finale of "Ahsoka."

"Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.