- “The choices we make, the actions we take, moments both big and small shape us into forces of destiny”
- ―Maz Kanata
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny is an animated miniseries. The series features Rey, Ahsoka Tano, Jyn Erso, Leia Organa, Sabine Wren, and other iconic characters from the Star Wars universe. The series premiered on July 3, 2017 on the Disney YouTube Channel, and made its television debut on July 9 on the Disney Channel.
Premise
Focusing on female characters across multiple eras and installments of the franchise, the series explores how each character's decisions affect her destiny.
Cast
- Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren
- Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso
- Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata
- Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
- Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
- Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger
- Daisy Ridley as Rey
- Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla
- Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala
- Shelby Young as Leia Organa
- Gina Torres as Ketsu Onyo
- John Boyega as Finn
- Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico
- Ritesh Rajan as Tristan Wren
- David Acord as Teedo and Endor Stormtrooper
- Tom Kane as Yoda
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
- Kiff VandenHeuvel as Older Han Solo
- A.J. LoCascio as Younger Han Solo
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Episodes
Series Overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | ||
| 1 | 16 | July 3, 2017 | November 1, 2017 |
| 2 | 16 | March 19, 2018 | May 25, 2018 |
Season One (2017)
| No. in Series | No. in Season | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 01 | "Sands of Jakku" | July 3, 2017 |
| On Jakku, Rey takes BB-8 home, where BB-8 can stay until someone comes for the droid. A hungry Nightwatcher worm swallows BB-8 and disappears into the sand. Rey saves BB-8 by hitting the hidden worm with a lucky throw of her spear. She feeds the worm junk, appeasing its appetite. | |||
| 02 | 02 | "BB-8 Bandits" | July 4, 2017 |
| On Jakku, Rey and BB-8 head to Niima Outpost, hoping someone is looking for BB-8 there. Teedo and two bandits, who want BB-8, attack them. In the ensuing speeder chase, Rey causes the bandits to crash. She lures Teedo to the nightwatcher worm, which eats Teedo's speeder. She and BB-8 escape. | |||
| 03 | 03 | "Ewok Escape" | July 5, 2017 |
| Leia Organa is led through the forests of Endor by an Ewok, Wicket. They find two other Ewoks cornered by stormtroopers. Wicket traps the stormtroopers, but his plan soon goes awry. Leia rescues him. The Ewoks take Leia to their village, and they give her a dress and spear. | |||
| 04 | 04 | "The Padawan Path" | July 6, 2017 |
| Ahsoka Tano is late for a ceremony at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She hears screaming and detours to rescue civilians from a malfunctioning droid. She arrives at the temple, and Yoda praises her growth as a Padawan and gives her a bead for her Padawan braid. Her master Anakin Skywalker expresses pride in her. | |||
| 05 | 05 | "Beasts of Echo Base" | July 7 2017 |
| Leia and R2-D2 search for Chewbacca, who disappeared while digging corridors for the base on Hoth. They find he has been captured by a Wampa. Leia distracts the Wampa while Chewbacca and R2-D2 fix the door, and the three of them seal the Wampa out of the base. | |||
| 06 | 06 | "The Imposter Inside" | July 8, 2017 |
| On Coruscant, Ahsoka and Senator Padmé Amidala prepare for controversial diplomatic negotiations held over dinner. They notice that the table is set incorrectly, forcing a disguised Clawdite assassin to reveal herself. They subdue the assassin. However, the room is destroyed, and the negotiations must be postponed. | |||
| 07 | 07 | "The Stranger" | July 9, 2017 |
| Stormtroopers on Lothal attempt to confiscate a girl's pet cat, but Jyn Erso intervenes. The cat escapes, and Jyn and the stormtroopers give chase. She subdues the stormtroopers and reunites the girl with her pet. | |||
| 08 | 08 | "Bounty of Trouble" | July 9, 2017 |
| Stormtroopers escort Leia on Lothal. Sabine Wren stages Leia's kidnapping so that Leia, secretly working for the Rebel Alliance, can give Sabine a data tape of Imperial base locations. However, bounty hunter droid IG-88 attacks them for the tape. They set the stormtroopers against IG-88. Leia successfully passes Sabine the tape and returns to her escort. | |||
| 09 | 09 | "Newest Recruit" | October 1, 2017 |
| Ketsu helps Sabine steal food from the Empire on Lothal, but Ketsu is unsure she will join the Rebellion. The mission turns into a shootout with Stormtroopers, and a child is caught in the crossfire. Ketsu rescues the child, and Sabine calls Hera to airlift the three of them to safety in the Ghost. Aboard the Ghost, Ketsu makes up her mind and joins the Rebellion. | |||
| 10 | 10 | "Tracker Trouble" | October 2, 2017 |
| Rey, Han Solo, BB-8, Chewbacca, and Finn are travelling Maz's castle when the Millennium Falcon is pulled out of hyperspace. Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca search for a tracker, but they find a bomb instead. Rey and Chewbacca throw the bomb into space while Finn instructs Han to make the jump back to hyperspace. | |||
| 11 | 11 | "Teach You, I Will" | October 3, 2017 |
| At the Jedi Temple, Anakin wants to teach a frustrated Ahsoka how to use two lightsabers at once. Yoda mediates and teaches her a valuable lesson on the importance of individuality. | |||
| 12 | 12 | "The Starfighter Stunt" | October 4, 2017 |
| While Ahsoka teaches Padmé how to pilot a jet fighter, a Droid Starfighter attacks them. Padmé must use her newly learned skills in piloting to help them escape. | |||
| 13 | 13 | "Accidental Allies" | October 29, 2017 |
| Sabine helps Jyn escape a stormtrooper pursuit and Jyn helps Sabine in return. | |||
| 14 | 14 | "An Imperial Feast" | October 30, 2017 |
| Leia orders Han to bargain with fellow pilot Hera Syndulla for rations that hungry Ewoks might enjoy. | |||
| 15 | 15 | "The Happabore Hazard" | October 31, 2017 |
| Rey discovers a stubborn, unmoving Happabore sitting on the ship she's meant to tow back. | |||
| 16 | 16 | "Crash Course" | November 1, 2017 |
| Sabine reluctantly lets Ketsu borrow her favorite speeder for a covert mission. | |||
Season Two (2018)
| No. in Series | No. in Season | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 01 | "Hasty Departure" | March 19, 2018 |
| Hera and Sabine liberate an Imperial shuttle, but because Sabine was rushing, they board the wrong ship and it’s full of troopers! Chopper flies the correct shuttle and rescues his friends mid-air. | |||
| 18 | 02 | "Unexpected Company" | March 19, 2018 |
| Ahsoka joins Anakin on a mission planned for just he and Padme. Anakin, upset at the intrusion, sets a quicker flight path that puts them in the path of a Separatist blockade. The three must put differences aside to get past the blockade. | |||
| 19 | 03 | "Shuttle Shock" | March 19, 2018 |
| On their approach to Canto Bight, Finn and Rose encounter a pod of creatures in the atmosphere. When a tentacle hits the shuttle and shorts out BB-8, Finn and Rose must work together to fix BB-8 and land the shuttle safely. | |||
| 20 | 04 | "Jyn's Trade" | March 19, 2018 |
| A Chadra-Fan child snatches Jyn’s kyber crystal necklace away and Jyn gives chase. When she finally catches the kid and retrieves her necklace, she realizes the child is just hungry and gives him her piece of fruit. | |||
| 21 | 05 | "Run Rey Run" | March 19, 2018 |
| While scavenging inside a Star Destroyer, Rey is cornered by Teedo who is on the hunt for a valuable part. Rey tries to warn Teedo the removal of the part will trigger the vessel’s collapse, but he does it anyway and she must help them both escape after Teedo is knocked out by falling debris. | |||
| 22 | 06 | "Bounty Hunted" | March 19, 2018 |
| Seeking help to free Han from Jabba, Leia, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 travel to Ord Mantell to meet with Han’s old friend Maz Kanata. Maz lures bounty hunter Boushh into a firefight so Leia can obtain his helmet and armor for a perfect disguise. | |||
| 23 | 07 | "The Path Ahead" | March 19, 2018 |
| Struggling with his Jedi training, Luke is grateful for master Yoda’s offer to join him on a sojourn through the trees and swamps of Dagobah, until he learns that Yoda will be riding in his backpack! Minding Yoda, Luke learns to trust what he feels instead of what he thinks he sees. | |||
| 24 | 08 | "Porg Problems" | March 19, 2018 |
| As Rey struggles to force lift stones, a curious porg snatches her lightsaber! Rey gives chase and force lifts the porg before it can dive into the water with her saber. Rey thanks the porg for the unexpected help in her training. | |||
| 25 | 09 | "Chopper and Friends" | May 4, 2018 |
| When Chopper enlists a pair of Ewoks to help crew the Ghost, Hera is surprised to discover how resourceful the little warriors are. | |||
| 26 | 10 | "Monster Misunderstanding" | May 4, 2018 |
| After a water monster attacks the docks of Naboo, Queen Amidala discovers that poachers have been trying to steal the creature’s baby. | |||
| 27 | 11 | "Art History" | May 4, 2018 |
| While on a covert mission to free their people, Sabine and her brother risk everything to destroy an Imperial outpost that has defaced an important Mandalorian monument. | |||
| 28 | 12 | "Porgs!" | May 4, 2018 |
| After discovering that porgs have been tearing blue wiring out of the Falcon, Chewbacca goes on a mission to find the blue moss they need for their nest. | |||
| 29 | 13 | "Perilous Pursuit" | May 4, 2018 |
| In a dangerous snowspeeder chase across Starkiller Base, Rey and Finn work together to escape relentless snowtroopers. | |||
| 30 | 14 | "Traps and Tribulations" | May 4, 2018 |
| Luke and Leia help a pair of Ewoks by resetting their traps to stop a rampaging Gorax. | |||
| 31 | 15 | "A Disarming Lesson" | May 4, 2018 |
| During a lightsaber training exercise, Ahsoka encourages Ezra to find his inner strength in order to anticipate her attacks on the fly. | |||
| 32 | 16 | "Triplecross" | May 25, 2018 |
| Hondo teams up with bounty hunter droid IG-88 to capture Qi'ra, but she outsmarts both her pursuers by pitting them against each other so that she can collect the bounty on them. | |||
Press Info
Forces of Destiny aims to expand the galactic saga’s audience by highlighting its female heroes in eight new 2D animated shorts, which will debut on Disney YouTube in July, then be packaged with eight others in the fall for a pair of TV specials airing on the Disney Channel. The central figures are Princess Leia from the original trilogy era, Padmé Amidala from the prequels, Rey from The Force Awakens, Rogue One's Jyn Erso, and a trio from the animated Star Wars Rebels series: Sabine Wren, Ahsoka Tano, and Hera Syndulla. Multiple heroines are set to appear in adventures with each other, even though some of them have been separated by different timelines – but it is all official canon. "One of the opportunities here was to tell the stories in between the larger moments and imagine some of the ways our characters have crossed," says Carrie Beck, executive producer of the shorts and a member of the Lucasfilm story group braintrust. "It’s all part of the larger swath of storytelling."
Each of the Forces of Destiny shorts are about three minutes long, and they were penned by Jennifer Muro, a writer known for DC’s Justice League Action, and directed by Brad Rau, who has helmed episodes of Star Wars Rebels. Dave Filoni, executive producer of Rebels, also helped create the new storylines. Other sci-fi/fantasy franchises have created special stories to attract female fans, like DC Superhero Girls, which rounded up heroes and villains into a high school. Rather than putting its heroines into a new environment, like a galactic classroom or summer camp, Lucasfilm preferred to keep the characters within the same universe.
"We didn’t want to put them in a false social construct. They’re meeting each other on Star Wars terms," Beck tells EW. "No part of Star Wars should feel like, ‘That’s the fake Star Wars, over there.’ No matter who you are, or how young you are, you want to feel like you are sharing the same thing your dad and mom love, that your grandparents love. You want to feel like you are a part of it."
Many of the original actresses will be voicing their characters, except for Carrie Fisher (due to her passing) and Natalie Portman. Leia will be voiced by Shelby Young in the shorts, while Catherine Taber, who voiced Padmé in The Clone Wars, reprises her role. Lupita Nyong'o will narrate the shorts as Maz Kanata.
The Forces of Destiny shorts will be accompanied by a new line of Hasbro "Adventure Figure" toys that aim to blend the qualities of traditional dolls (11-inch height, rooted hair, changeable outfits) with old-school action figures (weapon accessories, battle attacks). "They all have an action motion that’s true to their character, so, for instance, Rey can swing her lightsaber," Hasbro’s Samantha Lomow tells EW, squeezing the character’s legs to make her torso swivel as her blue laser sword cuts the air.
The primary goal of Forces of Destiny was to reach novice fans – especially young girls who have not previously felt welcome in the fandom. But they are meant to also appeal broadly. "That’s really the challenge: How do we make this relevant for somebody who is new to Star Wars – and someone who has experienced all of Star Wars," Beck says. "We have these new access points for kids, but (the shorts) are not so reliant on knowing everything else that’s happened in Star Wars history."
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