Ranking the Star Wars Shows and Specials (as of May 2026)

Maul: Shadow Lord finished its first season a couple of weeks ago. Since the last time I updated this article, there have also been other projects released: Andor Season 2, Tales of the Underworld, and even Visions Season 3, the lattermost I have not seen yet. While I can’t speak on Visions well due to my heavy disinterest stemming from the first two seasons, I feel ready to speak on Maul, Andor, and Tales of the Underworld.

Here is my ranking of all the Star Wars shows and specials (excluding the LEGO shows which I may include in a separate article, vintage Star Wars media, and Young Jedi Adventures which I honestly do not care for since I’m not part of the target demographic).

16. Resistance (2018–20)

I only watched the first season of this show. It had some redeeming qualities, like trying to get a decent plot out and flesh out characters’ storylines. However, I honestly did not care about these characters other than the occasional cameos by sequel characters, like BB-8 and Poe Dameron. It doesn’t help that I am not a big fan of this time period in Star Wars either.

15. The Acolyte (2024)

Don’t get me wrong — The Acolyte is a bad show. But I think it isn’t as bad as the internet makes it out to be. I binge-watched this whole show in one sitting and the concepts in The Acolyte were not as bad as the internet was making it out to be. I found it interesting to hear the witches’ different take on how the Force works, which added depth that individuals in the main Star Wars galaxy understand the Force in different ways. Ki-Adi Mundi’s appearance I didn’t care much for — he was from a totally different species than human anyway, so he could be written off as his species having a longer life-span, and he didn’t even see that there was a Sith in play, thus not breaking canon where he said the Sith weren’t seen for over a millennium in The Phantom Menace.

I wasn’t that big of a fan of the show’s protagonists, Osha and Mae, but what they had was so much potential for its future. That is why I was so upset to learn about the cancellation of future production relating to The Acolyte towards the end of 2024. The internet was unhappy when Darth Plagueis made a cameo appearance, but I thought this was a good thing. Osha and Mae being individuals birthed from a vergence in the Force actually opened up the opportunity to explain the famous “Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise” in live-action. I saw this as a huge win — Plagueis could learn how to create life from this vergence, thus explaining how Anakin came to be. And there was a high chance that this story could be told well if it had the right team. Sadly, this will never come to be following The Acolyte’s cancellation.

Unfortunately, from Osha and Mae’s potential also came a big problem — I didn’t care about the show’s main cast. I wanted it to be about Plagueis and not Osha and Mae. That is why I have to put The Acolyte so low. Also, I do have to agree with the Star Wars fandom — that one infamous scene with the witches chanting is ridiculous, and it boggles me how that was able to make it into the final cut.

A somewhat underrated project, which I now think could be greater by including its cast members in a movie or show focused on Darth Plagueis.

14. Visions (2021–25)

I saw the first season of this show in its entirety It was clear that this was an experimental project to try out different animation and directing styles for Star Wars. It was cool, but is that something we really want a lot of? That is why I immediately got bored after watching a few episodes of Season 2. And didn’t even bother watching Season 3.

I’m honestly surprised that this show is still getting so much attention, and will receive a spinoff, Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi later this year.

13. Tales of the Empire (2024)

It’s a shame I have to put this project so low. It had a lot of potential. The first episode was a banger with General Grievous and his droid army slaughtering so many Nightsisters. Morgan’s arc just wasn’t very compelling to me though. I just felt like I was being reacquainted with the character we met in The Mandalorian and what she was up to during certain times of her Imperial activity. Sure, it was cool seeing her end up with the Empire and get acquainted with Thrawn, but Morgan was already a not-very-compelling character to me, so I didn’t much care.

Then we got to Barriss Offee who I waited YEARS to see what she was doing after her arrest in The Clone Wars. Her becoming an Inquisitor was predictable and so cool… but the execution was just not what I expected. Barriss went from literally betraying the Jedi to easily dropping her Inquisitor title and becoming a healer. Also, she succumbed to the lightsaber stab wound trend that has been happening lately in Star Wars projects, where characters end up surviving, contrary to Qui-Gon Jinn’s famous death in The Phantom Menace. I just would’ve done Barriss’s story differently.

Both arcs were meh and could’ve been done different.

12. Tales of the Underworld (2025)

Tales of the Underworld improved slightly compared to its predecessor, Tales of the Empire, but remained nowhere close to the league of Tales of the Jedi. It didn’t even take place in the criminal underworld to begin with—the first one involved Asajj Ventress developing a friendship with a young Jedi during the Republic-Imperial transition first explored in The Bad Batch, and it was hard to remain interested. The second arc was a bit more interesting, covering Cad Bane’s origins of becoming a bounty hunter, but the origin story felt cut short—I didn’t like that Bane’s friend was killed off at the end.

This show could have been great if it focused on characters like Crimson Dawn, who we are now seeing in Maul: Shadow Lord. However, it didn’t, and its choice of execution and focus characters holds it back.

11. The Book of Boba Fett (2021)

This show suffers with the same problem as Tales of the Empire — its execution. Boba Fett is one of my favorite characters in Star Wars, so I expected a lot from this show. However, the focus trailed away from him far too much. It sucks that this show’s stellar episodes aren’t even about him — they are about a character from an entirely different show, Din Djarin. The show goes from being about Boba Fett trying to settle himself as Tatooine’s daimyo to Din Djarin getting a new ride, reuniting with Grogu, squeezing in a bunch of cameos like with Ahsoka and Luke, and doing a side quest to help Boba Fett defeat Cad Bane. Speaking of which, Cad Bane’s death was straight-up trash. I expected more from this death given the character’s past in The Clone Wars.

A show that lost its focus way too easily. No wonder fans call this The Mandalorian’s Season 2.5.

10. Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Honestly, what was the point of this show? A show about Obi-Wan Kenobi between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope sounded dope as hell because we never got anything like it before. However, once we got it, it fell flat. The show just felt like a cash-grab bringing in old actors from the prequel trilogy, reintroducing a couple familiar faces from recent Star Wars projects like the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother, and focusing the plot on rescuing young Princess Leia. This whole movie felt like a side quest that was extended for way too long, and the marketing campaign over-hyped the rematch between Obi-Wan and young Darth Vader, which ultimately was not very memorable.

This show was only a cash grab — no more, which is sad to say because Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. It is disappointing to see his own show fall in my rankings.

9. Skeleton Crew (2024)

I remember that when I first heard that Skeleton Crew was coming, I was never too interested. A show involving kids and pirates sounded cool, but with the growing Mandoverse becoming a thing through The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, I was terrified that this show was somehow going to be forced to connect to those pre-existing characters.

Thankfully, I was mistaken. Jon Watts did good with this one — the story here was self-contained, not dependent on any prior Star Wars media, and was a fun ride overall. While the target audience for this project was kids and family, and the stakes were relatively low compared to the typical Star Wars show or movie, I enjoyed watching Jod and each of the kids develop as characters.

My biggest problem with Skeleton Crew during its release was that it would not be a show I would be interested in forever. It has now been about a year and a half since Skeleton Crew and I honestly forgot this show even existed.

The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, and others just have more appealing things going on in them than Skeleton Crew. While a fun, small-stakes, and self-contained story is cool, it is tough to say how this show can connect to the bigger Star Wars universe other than to bring back its child stars for Resistance-related projects twenty years down the line, or potentially create a spin-off series involving Jod, either on At Attin or him returning to pirate jedi life. I doubt they will appear in any Mandoverse-wide collaboration project later.

I also fail to see how At Attin can survive now with its barrier being brought down, revealing its location to the entire galaxy; with the New Republic now knowing its location; and god forbid the invasions of pirate groups and the Imperial remnant. I don’t see a second season of this show coming until the child actors are much older.

Therein comes the biggest issue regarding the continuation of this show — it had less viewership than The Acolyte, which was justifiably hated by so many Star Wars fans. With The Acolyte being cancelled due to low viewership, it is hard to not view this show as likely to be cancelled too.

It is a shame that so many Star Wars projects are flopping lately, and I hope that Lucasfilm is somehow able to turn their trajectory involving their production quality around in the opposite, good direction.

8. Tales of the Jedi (2022)

The concept of this show is cool. Dividing this show into arcs, Star Wars can explain the doings of several Jedi throughout any era and any time. Dooku’s arc was great because I as an audience member saw a side of Dooku I never saw before from when he was a Jedi. Ahsoka’s arc was alright, given that it didn’t add much to her already very complex character, but I could begin to see the formula for this show and its potential for its future. However, I think this concept could get stale and repetitive easily, which is why I have to rank this project lower.

7. Ahsoka (2023–)

I grew up watching Ahsoka go through so many ups and downs in her life in The Clone Wars and Rebels. Thus, when I heard that she was going to get her own live-action show, I was very excited. I was also excited to see what was going on with the Spectres, otherwise known as the Ghost crew, given that they were set to appear in this show too.

Sadly, that is what holds this show back. This isn’t so much a show about Ahsoka — this is really Rebels’ unofficial Season 5 about rescuing Ezra from Peridea and stopping Thrawn’s return to the main Star Wars galaxy. The show explains that story well, and I applaud it for that, but it sadly falls flat in some areas. For example, Sabine fell victim to the surviving-a-lightsaber-wound trend in recent Star Wars projects; Sabine giving away the map to Peridea to Baylan Skoll was straight-up stupid; and Ezra got very annoying talking about wanting to go home. Also, the show failed to show a new Star Wars audience member the threat that Thrawn poses. I found Thrawn cool because I already connected with him in Rebels, but Ahsoka was tasked to reintroduce him for new fans, and it failed in that aspect.

Ahsoka is an okay show with a lot of potential for its future, explaining more about the Mortis gods and how Thrawn is going to take part in the era between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a new Star Wars fan because it seems tailored to the fans who have already been with the franchise for a while. The plot wasn’t that great either.

Hoping that Season 2 supposedly coming in early 2027 can right the wrongs of the first season.

6. The Bad Batch (2021–24)

The concept of this show is amazing — the first Star Wars project on screens to focus on the Republic’s transition into the Galactic Empire just after Order 66. This show’s pilot episode is one of my favorite Star Wars media ever simply because it covers the peak of this transition. However, while the rest of the show continues to cover the Empire’s slow change into becoming the Empire we know in the original trilogy, it begins to get stale. Only few episodes cover the over-arching narrative about Clone Force 99 keeping themselves out of the Empire’s reach and fighting for clone rights, while the rest, which are in large numbers, are side quests.

Compared to The Acolyte, I connected with the characters of this show. While the plot was slow to build, I appreciated being able to understand each of the characters and their personalities, as well as the several cameos from characters in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian. Moreover, there were plotlines covered with a lot more potential to continue building in other Star Wars media, like the projects done at Mount Tantiss, and adding more detail to the transition from clone troopers to stormtroopers, such as in through what certain clones are doing as a result of this change.

It is not the greatest Star Wars show, but it is definitely better than average in my opinion.

5. Maul: Shadow Lord (2026–)

At first, I didn’t care much about Maul: Shadow Lord’s first season due to my disappointment with The Bad Batch and the recent Tales series, but Maul easily hooked me back into Star Wars animation. I loved the updated The Clone Wars animation style which flowed so well and was becoming similar to that of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The plot was great too, covering Maul’s transition from who he was after escaping Ahsoka’s venator during Order 66, to as said to happen in the future, his old man persona afraid of the Empire as seen in Rebels.

Characters were balanced so well too—I easily got attached to Brander Lawson and his son Rylee, Devon Izara, Eeko-Dio Daki, Looti Vario, and Two-Boots, all of which were first introduced in this series. There were also lots of returning legacy Star Wars characters, like Inquisitors Marrok and The Crow, Crimson Dawn leader Dryden Vos, the TK troopers first seen in The Bad Batch, and Darth Vader of course in the Season 1 finale.

I’m really excited for Season 2 likely coming sometime in 2027. If it keeps its rate of excellence up, I could see this show surpassing The Mandalorian and possibly even Rebels.

4. The Mandalorian (2019–23)

My opinion may be biased here due to my general disappointment in what The Mandalorian’s franchise has become today, but regardless, I’m refraining from pushing it down the ranking too far.

Din Djarin is now one of the most well-known characters in Star Wars history, and he has good reason. The Mandalorian became a pop culture icon during the show’s run, first beginning with the revelation of the very cute and young Grogu who the internet dubbed as “Baby Yoda” for a very long time. Additionally, the quality of story-telling, at least at first, was very high quality. Characters were easy to connect with, and the world-building was fantastic to witness. Also, there were clearly stakes being put into the mix as a result of the main villain, Moff Gideon.

The Mandalorian continued to praise fans going into its second season, receiving the same compliments and porting various animation and legacy characters into the modern live-action, namely Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker. The finale to Season 2 could have been the legendary end of the show that broke the internet… until it wasn’t.

Season 2 of The Mandalorian sprouted several plotlines that incited the creation of what fans like to call the “Mando-verse”, which included several shows that were all pushing to the same over-arching narrative, including The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and this show. The transition to Season 3 was strange because it began in a position that it shouldn’t have as a result of some plotlines being in The Book of Boba Fett. Also, as a result of new directing, some of the plotlines felt sloppy, there were complaints about too many side quests, and Moff Gideon’s death felt cheap.

I’m not even sure if this overarching narrative will even be concluded, or if it will wrap up in Ahsoka Season 2 in a self-contained way, given that this narrative has taken a 3-year break off of television—Skeleton Crew did not address it, and it seems that The Mandalorian and Grogu releasing in a few days won’t either (speaking of which COME ON?! Years of production for this film were done… Star Wars, you had no way of flopping this hard).

The first two seasons of this show are exemplary of what Star Wars should be. However, Season 3, while exploring the very appealing topics of the Night of a Thousand Tears and retaking Mandalore from the Imperial remnant, still feels off. It is unfortunate that The Mandalorian has become a cash-grab instead of being a show with an interesting narrative, as proven by its third season and early reviews of its upcoming theatrical movie.

3. Rebels (2014–18)

So many Star Wars fans skipped this show upon its release simply because it was a “kids show” and the animation seemed different compared to the praised animation from The Clone Wars. The first season to Rebels was admittedly rocky, but slowly, I started to connect with the characters more and more. Sure, a lot of the episodes are side quests and world building, but every season has an over-arching narrative, and I slowly realized that this show was about family. Ezra being orphaned at a young age, and ending up with his newfound family in the Spectres, becoming a Jedi and freedom fighter in the process was a spectacle to see. The characters, Ghost crew and out were easily relatable, and I loved the villains from this show, specifically the Grand Inquisitor and Thrawn. I appreciated the character appearances from the original trilogy and The Clone Wars, but the real appreciation from this show was caring about the main cast and adding interesting lore to the Star Wars galaxy, which should both be main goals in Star Wars storytelling.

An underrated show which developed so much praise over time.

2. Andor (2022–25)

Remember that I said this show was over-hyped, with just my knowledge of Andor Season 1? Scrap that thought. Andor Season 2 caused my opinion on this show to take a total 180.

I do admit that Season 1 is hard to like because I don’t recall many memorable moments from it. The prison escape scene was cool, and the music and choreography were done splendidly, but as an audience member, I couldn’t connect often with what was presented to me on-screen.

Then Season 2 came along and brought forth the Ghorman Massacre, how the galaxy was reacting to it, and following that, information about the Death Star which rallies Cassian to the Rebel Alliance, and begins his mission to find Galen Erso first seen in Rogue One. Season 2 and the set-up Season 1 made to cause Season 2 to be great is what pushed Andor to become one of my favorite Star Wars TV projects ever.

I want more Star Wars projects in this mature style. Thank you to the Andor creators for creating this piece of work which is now considered by many fans to be absolute cinema.

1. The Clone Wars (2008–20)

Andor is great, but come on—you can’t beat the show which had the greatest impact of them all, The Clone Wars.

This show is peak Star Wars. While the first season was slow, it became easy to pick up on the interesting lore that this show provided on the highly-anticipated Clone Wars that fans wanted to hear about since Luke Skywalker mentioned it in A New Hope.

For me as a young kid, it helped that The Clone Wars brought in characters that I already knew from the prequel trilogy into the main cast because it helped me become easily acquainted with the new characters: Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, Asajj Ventress, and more. What was amazing about this show was that it went from being a “kids show” to having some of the darkest moments in Star Wars history that I still look back on fondly in my adulthood. For example, the Battle of Umbara featuring the clones learning to not act like droids added a lot of depth to their characters; Maul taking over Mandalore in Season 5 increased the complexity of his already strained relationship with Obi-Wan; and though being more recent, the Siege of Mandalore, featured in the revival season of The Clone Wars, was an incredible Star Wars event that captured the tragic end of the Jedi, and overlapped with the events of my favorite Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith.

It takes a lot of time to commit to this show given that it is seven seasons long, but the commitment is worth it, as many Star Wars fans agree.

Overall, my ranking of the Star Wars TV shows and specials goes as follows:

1. The Clone Wars (2008–20)
2. Andor (2022–25)
3. Rebels (2014–18)
4. The Mandalorian (2019–23)
5. Maul: Shadow Lord (2026–)
6. The Bad Batch (2021–24)
7. Ahsoka (2023–)
8. Tales of the Jedi (2022)
9. Skeleton Crew (2024)
10. Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
11. The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
12. Tales of the Underworld (2025)
13. Tales of the Empire (2024)
14. Visions (2021–25)
15. The Acolyte (2024)
16. Resistance (2018–20)

Feel free to leave your thoughts on my list! I’m excited to read any opinions. Overall though, I think I covered everything I wanted to say. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back in my next article!