– Spoiler Review –
After her brief but memorable appearance in The Mandalorian, Lady Morgan Elsbeth became critical to the events of Ahsoka‘s first season, as she fulfilled her destiny to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn home from a nearby galaxy. Her backstory and motivations have remained a mystery, though Diana Lee Inosanto’s compelling performance of the character left me wanting more. With Tales of the Empire‘s opening three episodes, we peek into her backstory to see what drives her, revealing the decisions she makes when faced with pivotal choices on her journey, making for a solid first step into the character’s past.
“The Path of Fear”
The episode begins with General Grievous’ destruction on Dathomir, originally seen in The Clone Wars‘ season four episode, “Massacre,” and watch as Morgan, her clan sisters, and her mother all attempt to survive the assault. Her mother falls to Grievous and his laughter haunts her in the forest, while the droids decimate the rest of her clan, and while her battle with one commando droid is successful, she’s so overwhelmed by the effort and death, she passes out. She’s saved by the Mountain clan, who practice caution against provoking the Confederacy of Independent Systems/General Grievous’ ire and attention towards them, but Morgan is eager to enact revenge, the wound of her family’s destruction raw and visceral. This is where the first choice on Morgan’s road to her destiny presents itself: does she choose patience, listening to the Mountain Clan’s wise mother or does she try to make her mark, get her revenge? As these are 15-10 minutes long, one might always want more, but I felt like the conversations Morgan has with the Clan mother and Clan mother’s daughter Nali are more than enough to help show viewers Morgan’s fate/destiny was written long before it comes to fruition. Fearful what happened to her people will happen to the mountain clan, as they seem peaceful and aren’t preparing for war in any way, Morgan senses and latches onto the fears of some of the younger members, including Nali, digging into their concerns about the clan’s current attitude. It’s always an interesting discussion and one many people fall into: just because a group doesn’t look prepared or is acting like it, doesn’t mean they are, and does preparing and arming oneself more openly only feed the fears which born the need to defend oneself in the first place? The Mountain clan soon finds out the answer, as while Nali understands her mother’s point, regardless if Morgan is eager not to, she still gives into the other woman’s ideas, considering what she’s gone through, and joins a group who sneaks off to a secluded refugee of weapons from Morgan’s clan. Naturally, things go awry and the clan mother has to show off her considerable abilities to rescue the situation, but Nali dies in the process, realizing she shouldn’t have given into her fear and listened to her mother instead. Morgan’s mother Selene told her daughter to run and yet she didn’t listen either, bringing death and pain to another clan, who didn’t have to experience it until she gave into her fears and used the fears of others. I know this isn’t the focus of the episode, but it certainly makes a sharp point about how feeding into one’s fears only brings them to fruition, and/or creates a situation which both confirms the fear was valid but only because it was completely avoidable, and one could apply that to many real world issues, especially the unnecessary ownership of assault or high-powered rifles by citizens.
“The Path of Fear” is a good start, though not my favorite of Morgan’s three, yet I appreciate how it sets in motion her fear of being powerless against her enemies and what lengths she might go to prevent it ever happening again, which becomes the backbone of all she will do in the episodes and series we already met her in.
Bonus Thoughts:
- Diana Lee Inosanto has an interview with the official site, talkng about her experience voicing the character after playing her in live-action and what the character means to her and what she thinks of her journey.
- While Morgan is voiced by Cathy Ang for “The Path of Fear,” Inosanto is still in the episode, voicing the character’s mother, Selena! It’s a neat way to let her be involved with every episode of Morgan’s return!!
- The animation in each episode of Tales of the Empire is rather incredible, often looking like live-action or it was made with real-life stuff but they added animation to it later, like when Morgan grounds her hand into the dirt. There is some truth to those feelings, as Joel Aron, Director of Cinematography Lighting & FX, revealed the mountain the Mountain Clan lives on was actually built by the studio’s matte artist!!
- Speaking of the Mountain Clan, since they’ve already been canonized from The Courtship of Princess Leia in Dave Filoni’s wife’s (E. Anne Convery) short story “Bug” in The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark, is this thee Singing Mountain Clan?
“The Path of Anger”
Picking up years later, sometime during the Empire’s reign but prior to A New Hope, Morgan is not only already ruling over the village on Corvus we first meet her in during her The Mandalorian introduction, but she’s working hard to be indispensable to the Empire’s vast military efforts, presenting to a group her designs for the TIE/d “Defender” aka TIE Defenders. It doesn’t go well, with the Empire all but saying they’ll just take her resources for their own projects, though a mysterious, older Imperial (that most fans will know right away) comes in afterwards and inquires not only about the Defenders, but also why she’s even worried about having the Empire’s might on her side in the first place. He doesn’t seem satisfied by her answer, which I understand her playing it safe when he asks, but is still intrigued by the ships. There were some questions regarding her rule of the people on Corvus, how the arrangement came to be, so when she returns to them with news her Imperial contract didn’t come through, their dissatisfaction with her rule, and not following through with her promises, forces her to take refuge in her compound or high on the ramparts around the village. I liked seeing her interactions with Wing, who seems to represent the people, and some of the villagers before they are all silent or fearful of her rule by the time we first met her in The Mandalorian, as it helps explain the overall situation of the village and how/why she has such iron control over it, as she roped them into giving her control with her big dreams of prosperity through manufacturing.
As the protests against her rage, the anger of her rejection simmers, but she’s interrupted by an unlikely source: an assassin! But not just any assassin, but rather one Star Wars Rebels‘ fans, and therefore Thrawn fans, will recognize: Rukh (voiced again by Warwick Davis). Considering we didn’t see Din Djarin use the beskar staff very much in The Mandalorian, I loved seeing Morgan use it in her brief, yet considerable duel with Rukh, where she eventually gains the upper hand, only for the same older Imperial to reveal himself and call Rukh away: Captain Pallaeon (voiced by Xander Berkeley, who plays him in live-action)! Despite all the mess it creates for him to be here and working with Thrawn at this point in the timeline,* I’m intrigued in the idea Thrawn was rounding up individuals like himself, those who had ulterior motives to using the Empire’s strength. Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) is sure Morgan was lying to Pallaeon when they met earlier and he’s come to not only test her might and resilience, but the truth inside of her. She becomes faced with another choice, does she use the anger created by the rejection, taking a risk by revealing her true self to Thrawn, or let the anger of the people of Corvus win, giving up and letting the Empire take control of her resources? As is inevitable, Morgan chooses her anger, telling Thrawn of her desire for power so she can have her revenge on an unjust and chaotic galaxy, and once again is pointed towards her ultimate destiny. Could she have given up her control of the village and its resources, admitted to her failure, and chose something else, some other way? Certainly, but if there’s one thing clear with Morgan’s story by this point in her episodes, it’s that using her emotions like she does will only set into motion her destiny. “The Path of Anger” is my second favorite of her shorts, despite my issues with its timeline, as I appreciated learning more about her and the village and how her and Thrawn end up as allies.
Bonus Thoughts:
- *As always, Dave Filoni stirring up another controversy, as he once again decided to fudge some things and disregards some books; pretend to be shocked! Mass production of TIE/d “Defender” aka TIE Defenders, which Morgan Elsbeth shows off to the Imperials in this episode, doesn’t start until 2BBY (Before Battle of Yavin), and the Rebellion finds out about it thanks to the Ghost crew in Star Wars Rebels‘ season three “An Inside Man,” a show Filoni was also responsible for. Disregarding we’ve always heard the Defenders were Thrawn’s idea, which one can easily make work it was Morgan’s idea by saying something like, ‘Since Elsbeth obviously struggled to make traction with it, Thrawn claiming it as his own could help it happen,’ this means Elsbeth and Thrawn’s meeting this episode would be prior to 2BBY, especially since by 2BBY Thrawn is already a Grand Admiral, not an Admiral as he calls himself here. If this is the case, while Captain Pallaeon and Thrawn knew each other previously, Pallaeon is working for a different Grand Admiral by the time of Thrawn: Treason, which is 1BBY as it takes place between some season four episodes of Star Wars Rebels and therefore would be se after “An Inside Man” and when Morgan/Thrawn met. It’s only during the events of the book when he joins up with Thrawn, so how does it work if him helping recruit Elsbeth is supposed to happen prior to 2BBY and yet he doesn’t formally start working for Thrawn until 1BBY?! Was Pallaeon always sort of working with Thrawn, behind-the-scenes, which is the only way this whole thing could make sense, or are we once again left with Filoni, on the 10th anniversary of the “unified canon,” once again not caring about the books and comics?! Look, I wasn’t a big fan of Treason either, but I wouldn’t go overwriting things unless I started to be honest and say we’re still treating anything not on-screen as a lower-level canon, or at least saying I have a plan to make it all work.
- It wasn’t until they announced this show and they said the character of Wing would be part of it, did I found out he is played, and voiced here, by Wing Tao Chao, who is a Disney Legend and was a member of the Disney Imagineers!
“The Path of Hate”
Set sometime prior to The Mandalorian‘s “Chapter 13 – The Jedi,” Morgan’s first appearance, Corvus and the village don’t look much different than what Din Djarin and Ahsoka Tano see when they both come a-knocking, as the villagers are hiding in their homes now, not gathering in the streets and likely to dissent anymore, Morgan’s guards patrol the rooftops, always watching the citizens, while the little prisons outside Morgan’s compound are up, holding people already for unknown transgressions. The only visible difference is the forest outside the village, while cut back a ways, is still green and lively, whereas they are desiccated by the time of Djarin and Tano, and while still timid here when helps arrives, Wing is more willing and hopeful something can be done when a familiar face returns. The help for the villagers arrives in the form of a New Republic delegation, led by a character we saw in “The Path of Anger,” Nadura, a alien woman of new design, whom Wing tries to warn away, while apologizing for allowing Morgan to take over in he first place, but the optimism of the new government gives Nadura confidence. When Morgan allows Nadura and her New Republic guards, plus Wing, into the compound, she’s barely paying attention to Nadura initially, watching to the fish in the little pond outside her home. Nadura says she’s put a petition into the New Republic to have Corvus join the government as long as Morgan steps down, both Wing and Nadura pleading with the woman to go peacefully, to let her grip on these people go, and face punishment for her crimes. This is when we find out Morgan’s already had her vision, the one the Great Mothers sent to her through her dreams, and she sees her destiny in sight, choosing in this moment her hate for anything weak, timid, or those who would stand in her way from fulfilling it, and has her guards attack the New Republic delegation.
Nadura’s men are cut down quickly, but she manages to slink away, running through the village and avoiding detection, only for everyone to see her make a break for her ship at the edge of the forest. Morgan’s men shoot explosives on the ship, and while her droid on board rushes to send out a distress signal as Nadura nears, the ship explodes, the dry tinder of the forest around it instantly going up in flames. Morgan’s fear and anger led her to such hate, and while she feared watching anything burn down around her years and years before, she sees it as a necessary part of life if she’s to achieve what she desires, feeling like the crucible she was forged in was worth it to get to this point. Wing rushes out to Nadura’s side, who reveals before she dies the distress signal got out and help will be on its way, and then we hear a familiar voice over the comm, saying they got the distress signal, moments before Morgan slices the comm with her staff: Bo-Katan Kryze! Well, it’s never stated it’s her beyond the credits, but Katee Sackhoff’s voice is very recognizable, while it helps connect how she knew where Ahsoka Tano was when Din Djarin and her meet in “Chapter 11 – The Heiress,” as she might’ve told Ahsoka about the call for help, who agreed to follow-up once she knew Morgan was there (though it still doesn’t explain how Ahsoka knows Morgan knows about Thrawn).
Bonus Thoughts:
- Between Asajj Ventress return and the promise of more of her story to come and having New Republic outfits in animation for the first time ever…what is our next animated show going to be?!
While it’s a bit much to have three episodes reiterating the point of Morgan Elsbeth’s date with destiny, and I really hope any future stories will expand her character even more, but the cadence of her choices throughout her episodes of Tales of the Empire helps hammer home the inevitability of it all and explains more of why she makes the choices she does in Ahsoka. I’m still not satisfied overall she would so willingly let herself be the sacrificial lamb after everything she did to get to Peridea and rescue both Thrawn and the Great Dathomirian mothers, but it does make it crystal clear she’s willing to do all of it simply for Dathomir, for its memory and to see it prosperous again, which helps me make some peace with her death in the season one finale of Ahsoka. Before these episodes premiered, this was the one goal for her part that I had, as Morgan’s story felt like it was served in a injustice, like many other things, in the live-action series, and I figured even if Filoni was involved with both, animation would find a way to help. The writer of these three episodes, Amanda Rose Muñoz, wrote some of my favorite season three episodes of The Bad Batch and I felt like she was what helped make this series of choices for Morgan, while similar, important to ensure we understood the character’s determination and focus like never before.
Diana Lee Inosanto’s performance here felt like she was relishing the chance to be Morgan Elsbeth again, digging into more of what makes her tick and how those emotions come out in the interactions she has with those around her. With the further increase in animation quality, Inosanto’s delivery gets a matching display on her face, the emotions she’s feeling coming through in every little wrinkle or furrow of a brow, and it almost felt like we were watching her via a mo-cap performance.
For the opening half of Tales of the Empire‘s first season, Morgan Elsbeth’s story might hit a redundant seeming cadence, her path to inevitability has never felt like it’s made more sense now.
+ The inevitability of Morgan’s path
+ Slightly expanding Corvus and what happens there
+ Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth again!
+ Absolutely gorgeous animation, from Grievous’ deadly attack to Morgan standing amongst the flames of her hate
– Filoni messing with stories again
– Still leaves plenty to explain
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.