Summary
- Barriss Offee returns in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire as an Inquisitor, following her betrayal in The Clone Wars.
- Her sudden change of heart in the series feels unearned, conflicting with her dark past and lack of remorse.
- While the idea of Barriss turning back to the light is intriguing, the show fails to develop her character properly.
Barriss Offee makes her long-awaited return to the Star Wars franchise in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, and while the series picks up where Star Wars: The Clone Wars left off, it does so with noticeable flaws. Barriss Offee was significantly reimagined for the modern Star Wars canon in The Clone Wars, which not only made her far younger than her Legends-era incarnation but also gave her a drastically different story. While her original version was a Jedi healer who died on Felucia during Order 66, the newer version betrayed the Jedi and fell to the dark side.
Barriss’ status as a healer may be a reference to her role as a Jedi healer during the Clone Wars in the Star Wars Legends continuity. As shown in the four-part finale of The Clone Wars season 6, Barriss became disillusioned with the Jedi, blaming them for the Clone Wars. This also led her to fall to the dark side, as she bombed the Jedi Temple in protest and killed numerous Jedi, clone troopers, and civilians in the process. As shown in Tales of the Empire, the Empire recruited Offee into the Inquisitorius program, though her membership was only temporary.
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Who Is Barriss Offee, Ahsoka’s Jedi Nemesis…& Star Wars’ Newest Inquisitor
After over a decade of speculation, Barriss Offee finally returns to the Star Wars franchise in Tales of the Empire, now as an Inquisitor.
Tales Of The Empire Skipped Over The Clone Wars’ Dark Side Setup
Barriss Offee
The Mirialan apprentice of Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee became disillusioned with the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. She ultimately betrayed the Jedi, even launching a terrorist attack on the Jedi Temple itself, and framed Ahsoka for the crime. Exposed, Barriss was imprisoned – but she was recovered by the Empire shortly after Revenge of the Sith, joining the ranks of the Imperial Inquisitors.
- Cast
- Nalini Krishnan , Meredith Salenger , Tatyana Yassukovich
- Alliance
- Jedi/Inquisitors
- Race
- Mirialan
Within only a year of becoming an Imperial Inquisitor, Barriss Offee deserts the Empire during a mission to hunt down a Jedi Purge survivor. Offee is notably horrified by the Fourth Sister murdering innocents during their mission and is reluctant to kill the Jedi she is hunting, attempting to convert them to the dark side instead. When the Fourth Sister kills the Jedi, Offee turns on her and becomes a fugitive herself. While an entertaining turn for Offee, her actions clash with her characterization in The Clone Wars.
Barriss Offee was technically still a Jedi when she bombed the Jedi Temple, killing numerous innocents, including her friend Tutso Mara. Offee felt no remorse for her actions and even blamed them on another friend – Ahsoka Tano – making her sudden turn back to Jedi-like compassion feel unearned in Tales of the Empire. Offee became disgusted with the Jedi and the Republic, likening herself more to the former Sith acolyte Asajj Ventress in her final The Clone Wars appearance, so her dialogue to the Fourth Sister – which has her identify as a Jedi once again – is perplexing, to say the least.
Barriss Offee’s fate is unknown at the end of
Tales of the Empire
. Offee was impaled by the Fourth Sister’s lightsaber, but many
Star Wars
characters have survived wounds like this in recent properties.
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Star Wars Need To Build On Its Barriss Offee Retcon
While having Barriss Offee turn back from the dark side is not a bad idea intrinsically, the problem with Tales of the Empire is that it does not show the process of her growth. Of course, this may be due to the show’s limited number of episodes and run-time per episode, but with this in mind, perhaps another property would have been more appropriate for bringing back Barriss and having her regain her compassion. Star Wars: Tales of the Empire unfortunately does not give Barriss Offee the necessary time for such significant character development.
Tales of the Empire (2024)
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is an animated follow-up to 2022’s Tales of the Jedi. The series focuses on Barriss Offee, a former Jedi, and Morgan Elsbeth as they navigate their separate paths through the Galactic Empire. The series will also see the return of other iconic Star Wars characters such as General Grievous, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Darth Vader.
- Cast
- Jason Isaacs , Meredith Salenger , Lars Mikkelsen , Rya Kihlstedt , Diana Lee Inosanto , Matthew Wood , Wing T.Chao
- Release Date
- May 4, 2024
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
- Writers
- Dave Filoni
- Directors
- Dave Filoni
- Creator(s)
- Dave Filoni