STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD: Season One

Name: STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD: Season One
Item: STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD: Season One
Author: Review

"Tales of Tragedy and Redemption"

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

Season One of STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is an animated science fiction series on Disney Plus about two villains dealing with the political aftermath of the 2005 STAR WARS movie REVENGE OF THE SITH. After getting backstabbed by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress renounces her ways as a master assassin. She helps a Jedi boy find a new requiem. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Cad Bane seeks revenge against an old friend who wronged him in the past. Can both villains find a path to redemption?

Season One of STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is an excellent, fascinating tale of redemption and personal turmoil. Season One delves into the virtues of friendship, empathy and former STAR WARS villains redeeming themselves. The writing and voice acting are particularly strong. Season One of TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD has strong moral elements with redemptive storylines. However, Season One features a woman coming back from the dead, STAR WARS religion, a space drug trade, and strong action violence similar to the STAR WARS: CLONE WARS cartoon series. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and teenagers.

Content:

(BB, C, ACAC, Pa, O, PP, L, VV, A, DD, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements and anti-totalitarian values, plus some false pagan and occult spiritual elements, and the program features warriors who wield space magic and have heightened reflexes, an assassin’s corpse is dropped in a pool, and she chooses to return to the living, a former Separatist assassin renounces her former ways, the assassin helps a young Jedi hide from the evil Galactic Empire, the Jedi boy barters a peace agreement between space bandits and a retired Separatist general, a lone gunman feels guilt over abandoning his out-of-wedlock son, a gunman takes revenge over the death of his friend-in-crime, and plus a space alien man becomes a marshal to serve his city, and a character has a strong sense of justice;

Foul Language:

Two “d” words;

Violence:

Fantastical cartoon violence throughout, but no blood or gore, including characters engage in lightsaber duels and laser gun shootouts, a villain is stabbed twice through the chest, Stormtroopers and droids are shot in the body and head, an assassin droid’s body is sliced in half, a gunman blows up an alien candy store, the same gunman does two “cowboy” standoffs against police, and police car chase ends in a hovercraft crashing into a building;

Sex:

No onscreen sex, but a gunman has an implied intimate relationship with a female gangster, a supporting character marries the gunman’s love interest without telling him, and a gunman finds out he had an out-of-wedlock son (the gunman did not know until the end of the season);

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

A human gangster takes a sip of alcohol, and the alien deputy declines a shot of beer;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No on-screen smoking or drug use, but the gunman helps an alien mobster defeat a rival gang (a gang who’s implied to sell illegal drug spice), and an alien gunman becomes an enforcer for a space drug cartel;

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A retired Separatist general steals scarce water from desert bandits, an alien orphan abandons his friend in the heat of a police pursuit, a gunman seeks revenge over his friend’s death, two orphan aliens accept payment from an alien mobster, a police officer accidentally shoots an alien civilian during a standoff.

More Detail:

STAR WARS: TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is an animated series of short episodes on Disney Plus about two villains dealing with the political aftermath of REVENGE OF THE SITH. After getting backstabbed by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress renounces her ways as a master assassin. She helps a Jedi boy find a new requiem. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Cad Bane seeks revenge against an old acquaintance who wronged him in the past. Can both villains find a path to redemption?

TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is set between REVENGE OF THE SITH and A NEW HOPE. Season One consists of six 15-minute episodes. Episodes 1 through 3 detail the redemption of Asajj Ventress, while Episodes 4 through 6 showcase Cad Bane’s tragic upbringing.

In the “Ventress” storyline, Asajj Ventress miraculously comes back from the dead. Ventress was Count Dooku’s top assassin during ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Now remorseful for her past, Ventress goes into hiding from the Galactic Empire.

Years later, she finds a young male Jedi on the run from the Empire. Ventress agrees to shepherd the cocky Jedi to a hiding spot. Will this be enough to wash away her sins during the Galactic Civil War?

The “Ventress” storyline is a success from both a production and spiritual point of view. The action choreography, voice acting and animation are superb. The best part was Ventress’ redemption from a former villain to being an unwilling mentor to a young Jedi on the run. This story arc stresses Ventress’ guilt for her past actions, her choice to mentor a young Jedi and convincing a retired Separatist General to choose peace over war.

The only downside is the rushed “resurrection” scene. In essence, her corpse is thrown into a magic jacuzzi, she has visions of evil space witches and chooses to live again. It is done in five minutes and never brought up again.

Similar to the STAR WARS movies, TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD features New Age, pagan spiritual elements like “the Force,” the spiritual Jedi Knights, and the evil Sith warriors. Ventress tells her student, “May the Force be with you.” The first three episodes don’t explore these concepts in great detail, but they are present. That said, they get better, more redemptive and inspiring. Of course, the real source of our redemption is Jesus Christ, but TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is set “a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” in a fantasy world before Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to save us from our sins.

In the “Cad Bane” storyline of Episode 4 through 6, two alien orphan boys scavenge for food in the city. Colby and Niro come across an alien gangster, who offers them money if they do his bidding. Niro is suspicious of the deal, but a desperate Colby accepts the job. After a violent shootout between the gangsters and police droids, Niro is apprehended. Colby leaves with a huge payday but feels guilty about abandoning his best friend.

Decades later, Colby becomes “Cad Bane,” a dangerous bounty hunter who fought toe-to-toe against Boba Fett and Anakin Skywalker. Bane reunites with Niro, who’s now a deputy of their home city. However, Bane loses his girlfriend, Arin, during a standoff against city police. Smitten with grief, Bane swears revenge against Niro once and for all.

Yet, Niro harbors a secret that will change everything. Will Bane succumb to his hatred?

The “Cad Bane” arc is a fascinating study into the mind of an amoral bounty hunter. This storyline is heavily based in old buddy crime films from the 1970s but manages to add a STAR WARS spin. The voice acting, buildup and the dramatic “cowboy” duels are all well done. Cad Bane is shown to be stubborn but harbors a strong sense of justice for those who wronged him. The best part is Cad’s strained relationship with his childhood buddy Niro. They have a strong sense of comradery that ends in poetic tragedy. While this arc is stellar, it exposes some immorality from the underworld of the STAR WARS universe.

TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD features fantastical sci-fi violence and immoral acts. The “Ventress” storyline has intense lightsaber duels, a desert speeder chase and a villain gets stabbed twice in the chest. Also, a bounty hunter droid or robot is amputated and sliced in half. During the “Cad Bane” episodes, gangsters and police droids engage in laser shootouts. There are car chases, a candy store getting blown up and several alien civilians dying in gunfire. There is no blood or gore. Moreover, Cad Bane works as an enforcer for a spice/drug cartel.

[SOILERS FOLOW] In a MAJOR SPOILER, Cad Bane discovers he had a son out-of-wedlock with a female gangster. Cad kills his best friend in revenge but feels empty inside. Moreover, he abandons his son at the precinct and retreats from the scene. Being a bad father in the STAR WARS universe is predetermined at this point.

The first season of TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD is a fascinating tale of redemption and personal turmoil. The series delves into the virtues of friendship, empathy and former Star Wars villains redeeming themselves. The writing and acting are strong as well. However, it features a woman coming back from the dead, police shootouts and strong action violence as seen in other STAR WARS cartoons. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and teenagers.