Between The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Tales of the Jedi, we got 31 episodes of Star Wars content on Disney+ in 2022! That’s an incredible number, and it’s fun to think about all the stories we saw in the past year.
With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to think about the best of those episodes. Here, I rank my eight favorite episodes from Star Wars in 2022. What about you?
8. The Book of Boba Fett episode 8: “The Tribes of Tatooine”
The Book of Boba Fett was the most inconsistent of the Star Wars shows, but when it hit, it was really good. In the second episode, we were still being filled in on Boba’s backstory by seeing flashbacks to his time with the Tusken Raiders. He continues to grow and become a part of the tribe, so much so that he teaches the Tuskens how to ride speeder bikes “like a bantha” and leads an attack on the Pyke train that’s stealing from them. It ends with Boba in a strange dream sequence induced by a lizard, embracing his past and the way it bound him. This episode focuses on Boba Fett better than any of the others, showing us where he’s at and capturing the major themes of the series really well.
Read my review of “The Tribes of Tatooine” here.
7. Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a series best taken as a whole story, with six episodes telling one story. As such the individual episodes can be a bit harder to measure, but Part 5 of the series was a definite high point. The episode centers around Obi-Wan Kenobi fighting alongside a band of rebels to fend off an Imperial attack commanded by Darth Vader, trying to hold out long enough to escape. But as it tells that story, we get flashbacks spread throughout of a training session between Obi-Wan and Anakin years earlier, which explains how these two familiar foes know each other so well – and how Obi-Wan is able to use Anakin’s weakness against him to escape. It’s a brilliant bit of storytelling, using the past to inform the present interaction between these two iconic characters.
Read my review of Obi-Wan Kenobi Part 5 here.
6. Andor episode 12: “Rix Road”
The season finale of Andor easily makes the list. Many of the season’s threads converge on Ferrix for Maarva Andor’s funeral, with both the Empire and the rebels lying in wait for Cassian’s presumed return home. He does, but it’s Maarva who sparks a fight, with a fiery funeral message riling up the people to fight back against the Empire. It wraps up the season remarkably well, featuring some truly great moments – including Maarva’s speech, and Nemik’s speech we hear via voiceover.
Read my review of “Rix Road” here.
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 6
Another finale on the list, Obi-Wan Kenobi Part 6 brings the series to a close with the climactic lightsaber duel between Kenobi and Vader. Unlike the previous duel in the series, this one pits the two legends evenly against each other, with Kenobi proving he’s still the master. He shows a remarkable display of the Force, and his conversation with Vader – mask shattered and Anakin’s voice breaking through – is one of the best moments in the whole saga. Top it all off with the events on Tatooine, with Owen and Beru fighting to protect Luke, and the heartwarming ending with Obi-Wan meeting with Leia, Luke, and Qui-Gon are all great.
Read my review of Obi-Wan Kenobi Part 6 here.
4. Tales of the Jedi episode 4: “The Sith Lord”
In the world of animation we got just six shorts this year, but they were great. Tales of the Jedi told stories about both Dooku and Ahsoka, two Jedi who left the Order, and while there was a lot to love about the other episodes, episode 4 stood head and shoulders above the rest. It wasn’t just the best of the series, but one of the best episodes of the year, period. “The Sith Lord” picks up during The Phantom Menace, as Qui-Gon Jinn has reported a confrontation with a Sith foe. Dooku, in the Jedi Temple to erase Kamino from the archives, is upset that the Council isn’t convinced of Jinn’s report. After Jinn is killed by Maul, Dooku mourns the death of his apprentice, and Yaddle tries to comfort him… but winds up tracking him to a meeting with Sidious. Yaddle heroically fights the fallen Jedi Master but is killed in the end, cementing Dooku’s descent to darkness.
Read my review of “The Sith Lord” (and the other Dooku episodes) here.
3. Andor episode 10: “One Way Out”
Andor had many great moments, but none of them were better than this episode, which wrapped up the penultimate arc of the season. Riding high on the thrilling ending of the previous episode (when Kino Loy finally answered Cassian’s question, saying, “never more than twelve” guards on a floor), we see the elaborate plan put into place. Cassian, Kino, and the others launch a prison riot against the oppressive Imperial guards, and they wind up taking the prison. Kino gives an impassioned speech to all the prisoners, calling them to climb to freedom, saying that there is “one way out.” It’s great, but as if that wasn’t enough, the episode ends with Luthen Rael’s incredible monologue about all he’s given up for the cause of rebellion. The whole episode, from start to finish, is about as good as it gets.
Read my review of “One Way Out” here.
2. The Book of Boba Fett episode 5: “Return of the Mandalorian”
This was the strange episode of The Book of Boba Fett in which Boba Fett never appeared, but it didn’t matter – because we saw the return of Din Djarin. It really felt like The Mandalorian season two and a half, and we caught up with what Djarin’s been up to since parting with Grogu. He’s wielding the darksaber and back to bounty hunting. He trains with the Armorer. But he’s banished by her for having removed his helmet. In all of this, we see glimpses of what happened on Mandalore, and then we see Mando building – and testing – his new ship. It’s an episode that hits all the right beats, and it reminds us why we came to love Mando in the first place.
Read my review of “Return of the Mandalorian” here.
1. The Book of Boba Fett episode 6: “From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
The Book of Boba Fett episode 5 is a really, really hard one to top. So much so that in my year-end awards, I had these top two episodes tied for the best. But if there’s any episode that could dethrone episode 5 of the show, it’s episode 6. Again, it deals very little with Boba, but it includes so many other great characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Cobb Vanth, and Cad Bane. It’s amazing. tosee Luke training Grogu, passing on what he has learned. It’s amazing to see Luke and Ahsoka interacting. It’s amazing to see Luke giving Grogu a choice of what to do. It’s amazing to see Cobb Vanth again, and to see Cad Bane in live-action for the first time. In short, it’s a practically perfect episode of Star Wars television.
Read my review of “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” here.
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