This article contains spoilers for Tales of the Underworld.
Tales of the Underworld premiered on May 4, 2025, featuring shorts on Count Dooku's former Sith apprentice, Asajj Ventress, and The Clone Wars' most popular bounty hunter, Cad Bane. The Ventress shorts showed what happened to her following her canonical death in the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple, and gave an idea of her future.
Meanwhile, the Cad Bane shorts showed his backstory years after he was introduced as a character. So, where does Tales of the Underworld rank in the Tales anthology series?
Let's rank the Star Wars: Tales series from best to worst
1. Tales of the Underworld
Tales of the Underworld is an impressive installment of the Star Wars: Tales anthology series. The show felt more like The Clone Wars, with slightly longer shorts than previous seasons, and a singular narrative instead of several time jumps. The time jumps in Cad Bane's story felt necessary, unlike in Ahsoka's arc during Tales of the Jedi, which left many questions unanswered.
Tales of the Jedi was also criticized for straying from a canon novel about Ahsoka, whereas Tales of the Underworld didn't break canon but did a great job explaining Ventress's fate. Cad Bane's backstory added depth to his character. Overall, Tales of the Underworld was engrossing, and I'm excited to see who the series will focus on in its next chapter.
My rating: 9/10
2. Tales of the Jedi
Tales of the Jedi is where the Tales anthology started, and there are several reasons to rank it as one of the best animated shows in Star Wars. It gave fans an insight into Count Dooku's reaction to Qui-Gon's death, his disillusionment with the Jedi and the Republic, and his tragic reasons for joining Palpatine.
The animation and music in the Dooku shorts were outstanding. Tales of the Jedi also covers events in Ahsoka's life, including her infancy, and reveals that she attended Padme's funeral. The Ahsoka shorts were well done, but shorts about one year in her life, instead of several years, would've worked better.
My rating: 8.5/10
3. Tales of the Empire:
Tales of the Empire revealed Barriss Offee's fate after the fall of the Republic and Morgan Elsbeth's backstory. However, this is the weakest of the Tales anthology series. Although Morgan and Bariss are both interesting characters, their stories felt unnecessary. Morgan's life as a Nightsister and the events that forced her to choose revenge didn't add anything to her character, especially as they came shortly following her death in Ahsoka.
The Bariss Offee shorts offered a surprising take on her character, attempting to redeem her for betraying Ahsoka Tano by framing her for bombing the Jedi temple. Bariss's change of heart and her redemption didn't seem earned. I was also surprised by the lack of interaction between Bariss and Darth Vader, and it felt like a missed opportunity.
My rating: 7/10
Tales of the Underworld is streaming on Disney+.