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Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka aren’t the only brand new shows to get the spotlight at Star Wars Celebration. Saturday afternoon hosted an arena full of Star Wars fans eager to find out more about a new Disney+ animated series titled Tales of the Jedi.

Host Amy Radcliffe introduced series creator and writer Dave Filoni, who came onstage to probably his dozenth standing ovation of the weekend. But the man deserves it considering that he’s probably responsible for almost as much beloved Star Wars canon as George Lucas himself between The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Bad Batch, and now Tales of the Jedi.

The origin of the new animated series is an unlikely one. “When I fly back and forth to work on The Mandalorian, I’d work on these little stories to pass time on the plane. I showed one to [Senior VP , Development and Production] Carrie Beck and I said, ‘Check this out.'” She said that she wanted to make it, and Filoni bluffed, “If you can find the money.” Of course she did, and then Filoni had to write more and more tales.

Tales of the Jedi allows Filoni to translate what he’s learned from working in live action on The Mandalorian and Boba Fett back into animation, where he got his start. “It requires a different type of eye when you do them, but it’s all just Star Wars to me. The team I work with in animation, I think they’ve told some of the best Star Wars stories that have ever been told.”

So, what is Tales of the Jedi? It’s a series of six animated shorts split into two halves. Three episodes will focus on Ahsoka Tano. “I chose Ahsoka of course. I’ve raised her since she was 14.” These three stories span a large portion of Ahsoka’s life, stretching from her birth into her Jedi training (we see concept art of her training at the Jedi temple) and her young adulthood (another piece of concept art shows an older Ahsoka squaring off against Darth Revan in front of a burning village).

The other character was Count Dooku, a reveal accompanied by a character design that makes young Dooku look very much like Hammer Horror era Christopher Lee. “I don’t think people grasp that Dooku was a Jedi,” said Filoni. “I think that’s so important to understanding how the politics of the prequel era unfold. Dooku does things for the right reasons, which is the trap that Darth Sidious lays.” Filoni says that Ahsoka and Dooku show two different paths that Jedi can take.

There’s another character who will be part of Dooku’s chapters: his padawan Qui-Gon Jinn. Filoni wanted to tell a story about masters and students, and that gave him the chance to explore the unexplored dynamic of Qui-Gon and Dooku. And yes, Liam Neeson will return to voice Qui-Gon as an adult, and, because Filoni loves keeping it in the family, Neeson’s own son will voice young Qui-Gon Jinn.

The panel included a screening of one Ahsoka installment, a tale of Ahsoka’s birth and a rite of passage around her first birthday. It’s a tale of Ahsoka and her mother as they take part in a traditional ritual, wherein the mother teaches the child to not fear death. This tale also hints at Ahsoka’s latent Jedi abilities and gives us insight into the unique philosophy that Ahsoka will hold dear and fans will respond to.

“I will warn you, though, as nice as that [episode] is, it’s sweet and kind,” says Filoni, “there’s a balance in the Force. There are some dark ones.” As for why he chose to write about Ahsoka’s mother at first rather than Ahsoka herself, he said, “Moms are so important, and we haven’t had a lot of mother figures in Star Wars. I wanted to show that Ahsoka’s first experience with someone saying. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ was her mother.”

He added: “We could’ve brought one with more lightsabers, but you’ll get to those.”

The panel closed with a full-length trailer for Tales of the Jedi, which included a who’s who of prequel-era Jedi — we’re talking Darth Revan, Mace Windu, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Yaddle! While a release date has not been released, it was announced that the six shorts will be released in fall 2022.