Tales of the Underworld

Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane have kids

Tales of the Underworld, a third serving of Star Wars Tapas, another Clone Wars addenda, following Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire. It was appropriately released on May the 4th, because it’s one of those Just For Us animated specials that you would have to explain to a casual friend with red string and newspaper clippings on a bulletin board.

Meaning, these aren’t just for the fans. These are for the nutters. Like the last two Tales Of duets, this is the wonkiest of the wonky Star Wars, the height of canon-service and fiddly loose-end tying. If you’re the kind of person who wonders how Cad Bane got his hat; or how Asajj Ventress can still be alive after the events of Dark Disciple, a ten-year old novel, then this one’s for you. Bless you, you big nerds. No attempt is made to translate the meaning of any of this to a casual fan, and that’s okay. Not everything has to be for the squares and normies.

So what do we get this round? First, we get an arc about Asajj Ventress that is sort of meant to bridge the gap between her last appearance (in the aforementioned novel) to her reemergence on the small screen in The Bad Batch. I say sort-of because…it doesn’t really do that?

We do see how she comes back to life: she is zapped back to life by the Nightsisters, given a mysterious ultimatum, and that’s about it. The answer, basically, is magic, which, you know, useful to have around if you’re recently deceased. She’s basically put in a Lazarus Pit like Ra’s Al Ghoul from Batman.

Then, she’s back, we find her cobbling together a modest life. She’s a bounty hunter, sometimes just a heavy and a body guard, trying to stay off the grid. That steady, safe, and low key existence is interrupted by a young Jedi named Lyco Strata, who is on the run. She decides to help him find The Path, the Jedi Underground Railroad, because he mentions Quinlan Vos, her Jedi Romance. Along the way, she teaches the boy valuable lessons, such as, don’t trust Bounty Hunters, don’t look like such a Jedi, but do trust some adorable indigenous tribes. It’s life lesson Bonanza!

As such, it employs a familiar trope: “World Weary Warrior Befriends Kid.” The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Skeleton Crew (in their ways), The Bad Batch, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all rely on this well-worn path. You could imagine a show where Ventress, who has been softening as a character for quite some time, recovering some edge in the face of a helpless Jedi in need. Especially post-death. Especially when she is reminded of the defeat of the Separatist movement. But, to no one’s surprise, it’s the other thing: Hello Redemption My Old Friend.