Forces of Destiny Review

Star Wars: The Forces of Destiny is an odd animated series when you consider that it features eight female leads across 56 years of Star Wars history. In the first four episodes alone we see Rey on Jakku, Leia on Endor, and Ahsoka on Coruscant.   If this series were aimed at adults, the audience would surely complain how confusing the timeline is. Fortunately, the series is aimed at kids, and kids don’t care about that stuff. I, as an adult, however do care and I have arranged the episodes in chronological order like some kind of OCD killjoy.

*56 Years Before The Force Awakens* - Ahsoka & Padme

Forces of Destiny gives Ahsoka fans plenty of love. Ashley Eckstein reprises her role as Ahsoka Tano, a character who doesn’t seem to go away- despite the fact that her TV series was cancelled and all her friends were wiped out in a purge.

Also reprising their characters from “The Clone Wars” are Catherine Taber as Padme Amidala , Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker and Tom Kane as Yoda.

Episodes:
-Teach You I Will (Ahsoka)
-The Imposter Inside (Ahsoka & Padme)
-The Padawan Path (Ahsoka)
-The Starfighter Stunt (Ahsoka & Padme)


*38 – 34 Years Before the Force Awakens * - Sabine, Ketsu, Jyn, Leia, & Hera

The next batch of episodes in the timeline of this show take place in the “Rebels” era and feature “Rebels” characters Sabine, Hera, and Ketsu. Although the real treat of this block of episodes is seeing Sabine’s crossover episodes with Leia in “Bounty of Trouble” and with Jyn Erso in “Accidental Allies”. 

Speaking of Jyn Erso, it just occurred to me that even though each of these episodes are about 3 minutes long, the ones with Jyn Erso feature 2 Academy Award nominated actresses. Felicity Jones (Jyn) was nominated for her role in “The Theory of Everything” and Lupita Nyong'o (Maz Kanata) won for “12 Years a Slave”.

Episodes:
-Newest Recruit (Sabine, Ketsu & Hera)
-Crash Course (Sabine, Ketsu & Hera)
-Accidental Allies (Sabine, Jyn & Hera)
-The Stranger (Jyn)
-Bounty of Trouble (Sabine & Leia)

*34 – 30 Years Before The Force Awakens* - Leia & Hera 

Leia, Han, and Chewie return for adventures and antics in these three episodes of “Forces of Destiny” which take place on Hoth and Endor. These comedic episodes are some of the best of the series.

Hera and Chopper make an appearance in “An Imperial Feast” which takes place after the Battle of Endor. So I guess that’s confirmation that at least two “Rebels” characters will survive Season 4. The interaction between Hera and Han is an especially nice treat.

Episodes:

-Beasts of Echo Base (Leia)
-Ewok Escape (Leia)
-An Imperial Feast (Leia & Hera)






* 0 Years Before The Force Awakens* - Rey

Daisy Ridley reprises her break-out character, Rey, in the final four “Forces of Destiny” episodes. There is no question that Rey is the heart of the new Star Wars trilogy and you can’t help but feel that these four episodes are the heart of this animated series. Spending a few more minutes with Rey is akin to Dewback Soup for the Star Wars soul. We also get a little bit of John Boyega as Finn in “Tracker Trouble”.

Episodes:
-The Happabore Hazard
-Sands of Jakku
-The BB-8 Bandits
-Tracker Trouble

Future of Destiny?

It isn’t clear whether there will be more episodes of this series produced. The next step for “The Forces of Destiny” seems to be a Comic Book miniseries that will be released in January of 2018. With more female characters being introduced in "The Last Jedi", there will certainly be more stories to tell.

For those who may have missed it, Maz Katana does appear in this series, though she's hard to find. Maz provides linking narration inter-spliced between each episode when you watch the Volume Collections on Youtube. Otherwise we only hear Maz's voice at the beginning of each episode.

“The Choices we Make,
The Actions we Take,
Moments Both Big and Small,
Shape us into Forces of Destiny"