Tales of the Empire Episode 6 Recap
Episode 6, the final episode of ‘Tales of the Empire’ called “The Way Out” catches Barriss Offee sometime after she returns to the Light Side, showing what happens when the Fourth Sister finally finds her again. It’s an OK episode, displaying the pitfalls of clinging to the Dark Side, drawing parallels to episode 4 of ‘Tales of the Empire’ “Devoted.”
Opening on a cold frigid planet, audiences at first follow a family as they attempt to find Offee. Plenty of time has passed since the end of “Realization.” The family are spotted by a creature native to the area, and the family explains they seek the healer. The creature promises to show them the way to Offee.
When they arrive at Offee’s camp, she looks at their child, explaining that he’s not ill. The parents explain that the Empire examined all the children in the village, taking blood samples. Something about their child frightened the Imperials, so the family fled before they could take him away. Offee explains what this means, that long ago in the era of the Jedi, they too tested her blood, and took her away to be trained and traveled the galaxy. This child would have been taken to the Temple, but the Jedi are no more.
Instead, this gift of Force sensitivity is a curse. The Empire will take the child and raise him into something worse. Offee is warned that someone is coming. Fearing the worst, Offee sends the family with the guide to her ship, to “see an old friend” who presumably is Ahsoka. To get there, they must travel through a cave. The guide and the family leave.
The Fourth Sister meets Offee in the snow, saying that, typically, she finds Offee when she isn’t looking for her. She attacks Offee, who refuses to fight back. Offee simply dodges her attacks, saying that the Dark Side has made her predictable, The Fourth Sister eventually grows tired of attacking Offee and prepares to run into the cave after the family. Offee warns her not to, saying that she doesn’t know the path, so will not come out of the cave.
This parallels very much what the Grand Inquisitor told Offee in “Devoted”, showing the parallels of the Light and Dark, that these two forces are a duality. In the cave, the guide leads the family down split paths, avoiding the Fourth Sister. The Fourth Sister grows more and more lost, and frustrated. She strikes at a wall, but it’s only a reflection. Eventually, the family makes it to the starship and escapes.
The Fourth Sister hears voices in the cave, and slashes at a wall, trying to break through in anger, but to no avail. Offee speaks through an echo, explaining that she can help the Fourth Sister leave, but her help is refused. The Fourth Sister says she’ll be punished for her failure and then strikes out, hitting nothing but air. Then, in her anger, the Fourth Sister stabs Offee.
Offee immediately forgives her and says that the Fourth Sister already knows the way out, and just has to accept it. The Fourth Sister commits to getting Offee out of the cave, leaving her lightsaber (and thus the Dark Side) behind. The Fourth Sister sheds her identity as an Inquisitor and becomes Lyn Rakish once more.
This episode has a hopeful conclusion to it, that anyone can be redeemed from the dark, and that fear is not an ally to confide in. It’s an effective conclusion to these shorts, reminding audiences that there is always a way out of evil, even if it is the Dark times.
