Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire Takes Us Back To A Key Location From The Mandalorian Season 2
There will be spoilers for the "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" episode "The Path of Hate," so beware.
"Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" brings us to many locations across its six episodes, new and old, familiar and alien. One planet in particular, first introduced in "The Mandalorian" during its second season, gets the spotlight in the third episode of this series, "Path of Hate." Corvus was the setting for the 13th chapter of "The Mandalorian", showing us a blackened forest and a city named Calodan under the direct control of a magistrate named Morgan Elsbeth. Since this episode was our first introduction to Elsbeth, we didn't know who she was or how she took control of the planet, only that she was still aligned with the Imperials and had some connection to Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"The Path of Hate" gives us all of that vital backstory and shows us how Morgan Elsbeth subjugated Corvus and set up in the town of Calodan, thanks to the help and support of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the show's second episode. With Imperial support, she was able rule with an iron fist and a strong voice, so she could control the people of Corvus, turn them, use them for work and resources, and continue down her path of anger and vengeance.
Ahsoka and Grogu met on Corvus
Corvus is important in the grand scheme of storytelling, as it was the place where Ahsoka first met the youngling Grogu and revealed his name to the world inside its blackened forests. That's also where she set Din Djarin and Grogu on their path to find Luke Skywalker and begin Grogu's journey to recover his memory and ultimately reject the life of the Jedi in favor of staying with his adoptive father.
It's always an important thing when two of the most popular characters in "Star Wars" meet, and Ahsoka and Grogu are no exception. The setting was quite breathtaking, with the dark forests drenched in moonlight feeling both eerie and spiritual, a perfect place where two former Jedi could commune with each other with Din Djarin watching on. It also offered the incredible imagery of seeing Ahsoka and her white lightsabers make their live-action TV debut in the charred forest, fighting against Elsbeth's stooges. Plus, Ahsoka went on to fight Morgan within Calodan as well. It was a well-designed location, and seeing it adapted into the world of "Star Wars" animation was breathtaking, especially since we see how different it was before our introduction in "The Mandalorian."
The burning of Corvus revealed
It turns out, that charred forest wasn't always charred. In "Star Wars", it's easy to assume that perhaps the trees grow like that or it's some alien landscape, but that was not the case on Corvus. When we saw this location in "The Mandalorian," the forest around Calodan was blackened and misty, unreal and creepy. Until this third episode of "Tales of the Empire," it wasn't apparent that the forest wasn't always like that. Over the course of this episode, we see Morgan Elsbeth responsible for the destruction that creates this devastation on Corvus, showing us exactly the kind of leader she is.
She's ruthless and brutal, and seeing her actions display that is important for her character. We need to know that she is willing to torch the planet under her control in order to get what she wants, even if that means destroying the diplomatic representatives of The New Republic. Her actions are evil and make her a great villain in the "Star Wars" universe, and it helps to see that story told in our return to this particular planet.
"Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.