The Path of Fear

"The Path of Fear" is the first episode of the anthology animated television series Star Wars: Tales of the Empire. The episode was directed by Nathaniel Villanueva, written by Amanda Rose Muñoz, and aired on May 4, 2024.
==Official description==
Young Morgan Elsbeth seeks revenge after losing everything.
==Plot summary==
===Massacre===
The episode opens with the Nightsisters of Dathomir retreating in the face of an overwhelming assault by the Separatist Droid Army during the Battle of Dathomir. Morgan Elsbeth takes down several advancing B2-series super battle droid with her bowcaster. Her mother Selena saves her from being killed by a super battle droid. The Nightsisters prepare to make a last stand in a clearing but are ambushed by General Grievous, who impales a Nightsister from behind with one of his green lightsabers.
The Nightsisters aim their bowcaster at the cyborg but come under fire from several BX-series droid commandos. Selena tells her daughter to stay back while she fights Grievous with two sickles that have been animated with Magick. Despite her Force powers, Selena is unable to beat Grievous, who gains the upper hand and damages her sickles with his lightsabers. During her last stand, she engages in a blade-lock with Grievous, only to stabbed in the torso by a third blade from Grievous’s left arm. In her final moments, Selena tells Elsbeth to run. A laughing Grievous then cuts down Selena with his three blades. He sees Morgan Elsbeth watching, and bellows at her to run before laughing. He then orders his droid army to wipe out the Nightsisters.
Elsbeth flees into the forest, pursued by three droid commandos. She eludes her pursuers by hiding on top of a tree. One of the droid commandos scans the trees and shoots at Elsbeth, causing her to fall off. She evades the droid's blaster bolts and kicks the blaster out of its grip. The droid attacks her with its Vibrosword, which she dodges. The droid commando grabs her by the neck but Elsbeth retrieves her dagger and stabs the droid through its head, taking it offline. Elsbeth collapses to the ground and falls unconscious, while Grievous' army completes their massacre.
===Rescued===
The following day, an unconscious Elsbeth is rescued by members of the Mountain Clan. She awakes in their cave dwelling and is greeted by the Mountain Clan Matron and an adolescent girl named Nali, who tells her she is under the protection of their clan. Elsbeth discovers that her black face paint markings are disappearing due to the waning Magick of the Nightsisters. As the Matron leads her outside the cave where she sees the Mountain Clan members and their cave dwellings.
Gazing at the horizon, Elsbeth sees smoke rising from the burning ruins of the Nightsiser village. The Matron says she is welcome to stay for as long as she wants. When the Matron touches her should, Elsbeth brushes it away. Overcome by grief, she drops to her knees and peers over the cliff, with a tear flowing down her left cheek.
===Seeking revenge===
Later, Elsbeth watches a burning log but is haunted by memories of Grievous's massacre. While the other Mountain witches fear that Grievous will attack them as well, the matron tells them not to give into fear. She invites Elsbeth to join a mountain witch named Nali for their hunt. While navigating over the rocky terrain, they crouch when several Separatist HMP droid gunships fly by.
Though Nali believes they are safe in the mountains, Elsbeth is skeptical and says that the Mountain Tribe's way of life will not be enough to protect her people. Elsbeth offers to help. Nali is reluctant but Elsbeth asks if she is prepared to let her mother die while knowing she could have done more to prevent it.
Later that night, Nali speaks with her mother, the matron, about how they would defend themselves against the Separatist droids. The matron dismisses her concerns, saying they must trust their path. After leaving the meeting, Nali finds Elsbeth walking with two other witches. They tell her that Elsbeth has found some weapons and convince her to come along. Elsbeth leads them into a munitions depot where they retrieve several weapons including tomahawks and scimitars, unaware that they are being watched by a probe droid.
===Morgan's journey===
The matron discovers that Nali and several adolescents are missing. After hearing movement above, Elsbeth and the Mountain witches rush to the surface only to encounter a droid gunship and several B1-series battle droids. The gunship deploys several super battle droids. Elsbeth and the younger witches fight back but find themselves outnumbered and outgunned. The Mountain matron arrives and summons a powerful sphere of light energy, which disables the battle droids. The droid gunship loses control, crashes and explodes.
Elsbeth helps the elderly matron to her feet. The matron tells Elsbeth not to assume that not wanting to fight means one is not capable of fighting. The matron attends to her wounded daughter Nali, who apologizes and says that their way is true. The other Mountain witch carries her wounded comrade. The matron says that Elsbeth has chosen her path and pities her for what is to come. They walk away, leaving Elsbeth behind alone.
==Development==
Artist Justin Bruce Lee did storyboard work on the scene in "The Path of Fear" in which Grievous—who Lee was excited to have the chance to work on—dueled Selena. Lee later shared those storyboard compared to the final animation on social media. Some of the CGI animation was then done by Senior Animator Greg Verreault, who later thanked Lee for his storyboards and shared reference material he had used in the CGI animating process. Verreault was also very thankful he got to work on Grievous and noted how a great deal of work went into even a brief part of the duel.
==Credits==
==Appearances==
==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
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