Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Tales of the Empire episode 1, "Path of Fear"
Summary
- Star Wars reestablishes how fearsome General Grievous truly is with his new Tales of the Empire appearance.
- Grievous's terrifying massacre showcases his lethal combat skills with no desire for a cowardly retreat.
- Tales of the Empire brings back the truly fearsome Grievous with nods to his brutal past from the 2D Clone Wars micro-series.
Star Wars has finally remembered to truly fear General Grievous 19 years after Revenge of the Sith thanks to Tales of the Empire. Making a horrifying appearance in the new series' very first episode, Star Wars has recaptured what truly made Grievous such a frightening villain (despite his canonical cowardice). Featuring nods to his very first Star Wars appearance even before Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous is the embodiment of fear for a very important reason.
In celebration of Star Wars Day 2024, Lucasfilm released all six episodes of Tales of the Empire at the same time. While the first three chapters reveal the origins of the Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), the latter episodes finally reveal the fate of the rogue Jedi Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger) following the end of The Clone Wars. To that end, General Grievous debuts right at the beginning of the very first episode, setting an incredibly dark tone for the rest of the series with a brutal reminder that he was a major Star Wars villain to be feared.
Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire Episode Guide
Everything you need to know about 2024's Tales of the Empire, including recaps, cast and character lists, Star Wars trivia, and more!
Star Wars Has Struggled To Remember Why General Grievous Is A Threat
Cowardice Over Intimidation
As seen in 2005's Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous was introduced by George Lucas as the leader of the Seperatist droid armies. An intimidating cyborg trained in lightsaber combat by Count Dooku, Grievous possessed multiple arms capable of wielding the multiple lightsabers he'd claimed from Jedi he'd slain. However, Grievous was also established as a coward who was quite gifted in the art of retreat, leaving the battlefield the moment the odds were not unequivocally in his favor.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the sixth film in the Star Wars franchise and chronologically the third in the Skywalker Saga. Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker is tasked with keeping an eye on Chancellor Palpatine while other Jedi battle across the galaxy. In the background, however, a mysterious Sith lord begins to make their move to destroy the Jedi once and for all.
- Director
- George Lucas
- Release Date
- May 19, 2005
- Studio(s)
- Lucasfilm
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century Fox
- Writers
- George Lucas , John Ostrander , Jan Duursema
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Ahmed Best , Temuera Morrison
- Runtime
- 140 Minutes
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Sequel(s)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story , Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope , Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back , Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi , Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens , Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi , Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
- Budget
- $113 Million
Jumping ahead to 2009's Clone Wars series, Grievous' cowardice proved to be a predominant trait of his character, perhaps more than it should have been. While there were moments where the Separatist general was presented as a fearsome rival (such as The Clone Wars season 1's "Lair of Grievous"), they were few and far between. What made it even worse was his original depiction in Genndy Tartakovsky 2003's Clone Wars micro-series where he first introduced before Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place between Episodes 2 and 3 of the Star Wars film saga. The fan-favorite series expands the story of the prequel trilogy through characters including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and more fan-favorite jedi.
- Cast
- Matt Lanter , james arnold taylor , Ashley Eckstein , Dee Bradley Baker , Matthew Wood , Tom Kane , Catherine Taber , Terrence Carson , Corey Burton , Nika Futterman , Katee Sackhoff , Sam Witwer
- Release Date
- October 3, 2008
- Seasons
- 7
- Network
- Disney Channel
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Writers
- Dave Filoni , George Lucas
- Directors
- Dave Filoni
- Showrunner
- Dave Filoni
Having only been shown concept art and told that he was a "capable Jedi-killer", Tartakovsky's Grievous was exactly that. The Clone Wars micro-series' version of General Grievous was an absolutely brutal warrior without cowardice prior to his live-action debut in Revenge of the Sith, taking on five Jedi at once in his first ever on-screen debut. However, Tales of the Empire provides a rare moment where all the cards are in Grievous' favor, allowing him to enact one of the Star Wars timeline's most brutal massacres.
Tales Of The Empire Restores The Terror Of General Grievous
The Nightsister Massacre Is Now Even More Horrifying
Revisiting and expanding the Massacre of Dathomir first seen in The Clone Wars season 4, Tales of the Empire episode 1 reveals how Morgan Elsbeth survived to become part of Thrawn's inner circle during the Dark Times of the Empire. As such, the savage slaughter also features General Grievous' horrifying murder of Morgan's mother along with several fellow Nightsisters. Taunting Morgan and telling her to run as his droids force completely overwhelm the witches, Grievous continues to gloat, his laughter echoing through Dathomir's forests and haunting the young Nightsister as she flees for her life.
Matthew Wood reprises his role as the voice of General Grievous in Tales of the Empire, having first voiced the villain in Revenge of the Sith and in The Clone Wars.
Having the numbers and firepower to completely overwhelm the Nightsisters, there was no need for General Grievous to retreat or fear defeat. The odds of his victory were so incredibly high, meaning that he was able to fully display his abilities and lethal training from Count Dooku. As such, seeing Grievous as the fearsome and genuinely evil monster he can truly be is certainly a dynamic way to kick off this new Star Wars series.