Star Wars: Visions was a wonderful new addition to the franchise. As an experiment, the anthology series saw different stories in animation, told by various Japanese anime studios. While not every episode was great, Star Wars: Visions Volume 1 was a success with the amazing storylines featured within the familiar Star Wars universe. With the recently released Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 the storytelling just gets better. From new animation studios all over the world, the new volume opens up the Star Wars world that much more. So here is my ranking of all the episodes of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 from worst to best!
Please note that I personally enjoyed every single episode of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2. So this ranking is through just my personal preference of which episodes resonated more with me, and not a commentary on the quality of any specific episode.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 Rank Starts With Aau’s Song
Aau’s Song is the last episode of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2. It’s a sweet story that, while seemingly doesn’t seem to connect to the larger universe, has a great payoff in the end. About a young girl’s ability to somehow invoke a reaction within these crystals her father mines. However, it’s a dangerous ability that she always had to keep under wraps. But when it became unavoidable, she discovers that her voice actually changes the crystals for the better. And the audience learns that the crystals are actually Kyber Crystals, those that power a Jedi’s lightsaber. It’s a really cool and sweet episode that shows how the Force isn’t the only power in the universe that gives people abilities.
I Am Your Mother Explores An Unexplored Star Wars Dynamic
Star Wars has always had a lot of father-son dynamics. Everything from the dynamic between a young Obi-Wan and his master in Qui-Gon, to Luke and Anakin, and later on Ben and Han Solo. Rarely have we gotten a mother-daughter story. One episode of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 changes that with I Am Your Mother.
The Wallace & Gromit-styled short is all about a young pilot embarrassed about her overbearing mother. When taking part in a race, the young girl doesn’t tell her mom about it, only for her to discover it later and take part in it. It’s a quick story where the daughter learns to take pride in her mother’s quirkiness and accept that she’s got a bit of her mom within her too. While it’s a theme we’ve seen many times, we never have in the Star Wars universe. Even the title of the episode harkens back to the reveal by Darth Vader that he is Luke’s father in The Empire Strikes Back
The Pit Is The Best Example Of The Empire’s Cruelty
One of the only stories not about any Force-sensitive people, The Pit is Star Was: Visions Volume 2’s darkest story. A group of workers dig a deep pit to mine Kyber Crystals for the Empire. The crystals power a nearby city that they are also building. Once they reach the bottom of the pit, and exhaust all the natural resources, the Empire leaves them there to die. There are kids and others on the bottom, all abandoned.
Eventually, the citizens of the city hear the cries for help and force the Empire to save those trapped below. But it’s a dark story about how the Empire uses workers to accomplish their own needs and goals. It’s startling to think about how often they must have done this, to countless other people in worlds all over the galaxy. While the episode ends on a happy note, it’s a very dark example of the Empire’s true cruelty.
In The Stars Continues The Empire’s Tyrannical Rule
One of the starkest examples of the Empire’s cruelty comes from In The Stars. In a story that directly parallels the colonization of the Americas, two sisters are alone on a planet that the Empire took over for its natural resources. With many deaths and the total destruction of their planet, the sisters have to tap into their dormant Force powers to stand up to the Empire. It’s just one story that truly feels like it’s about Native Americans and the struggles and tragedies that followed many Native cultures when colonized. Not just Native Americans, but the story could even hold true to many cultures all over the world that were colonized by various other powerful nations.
The Spy Dancers Parallels World War II in Star Wars: Visions Volume 2
Speaking of paralleling real-world ideas, comes the story of The Spy Dancer. It’s about a club that entertains the soldiers and officers of the Empire, during their occupation on their native planet. As the artists try to stay neutral and are servicing their oppressors, they are not immune to the tragedies caused by the Empire controlling their world. While openly serving them, they rebel behind the scenes trying to help the Rebellion as much as they can.
One such dancer finds out the Empire took more from her than her freedom, they took her son. Coming face to face with her son who is now an officer of the Empire, she ruins everything she built to speak to him and tell him the truth. It’s a heartwarming, if not very tense story that shows another way the Empire impacted lives all over the galaxy.
Screacher’s Reach Humanizes The Dark Side
Another thing Star Wars does really well is humanizing those that go to the dark side. They did this with 3 movies in the Prequel Trilogy, showcasing Anakin’s eventual fall to the dark side. Same with Ben Solo in the Sequel Trilogy. And now, we get a surprising short from Ireland. When a few kids go on an adventure, they realize at the end that it’s not what they expected.
Finding a ghost in a cave, the kids eventually run away, but one stays behind to face it. We find out the ‘ghost’ is actually a trapped Sith, who the young child ends up destroying. Taking her lightsaber the Sith’s people arrive to take the child away. And so she goes, leaving her friends behind to join the Sith. It’s a story that shows that not all Sith are born out of hate or fear, but some are just trying to escape their circumstances, in any way they can.
Journey To The Dark Head Symbolizes Duality Of The Force
Toul in a scene from the “STAR WARS: VISIONS, Volume 2” short by Studio Mir, “JOURNEY TO THE DARK HEAD” exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Going back to its Star Wars roots, Journey To The Dark Heads was a more typical story set in this universe. On a temple where statues representing the light and dark sides reveal prophecies in the stones below, a young girl has an idea. If they destroy the dark side statue, they might defeat the dark side altogether. A young Jedi accompanies her on this quest, but he has a dark past that comes back to haunt him. Amidst an action sequence between the Jedi and a Sith lord, the girl realizes that the statues aren’t dark or light, but have both within them.
This is a theme very familiar to Star Wars fans. Everything has a balance, and everything is light and dark. But the way this character learns of it, and the awesome action sequence that acts as the backdrop of it all, is spectacular.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 Goes To India!
The Indian short of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is my absolute favourite! The story is very unique and brings a new level of representation to Star Wars that it’s been missing. The story about Indian siblings trying to find refuge is as interesting as it is surprising. As an older brother tries to find safety for his Force-sensitive younger sister, there are challenges along the way. But eventually, she leaves him for a better life as a Jedi. The story is about Indian characters, set on a planet very much styled after Rajasthani villages of India, voiced by Indian artists told to incredible Indian background music. It’s the coming together of a culture that’s been very under-utilized in the Star Wars universe.
Sith Is The Best Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 Episode
The best Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 episode has to be the first of the series, Sith. The episode sees. Former Sith who left it all behind and trying to live a more balanced life. However, when her past catches up to her, she needs to embrace the balance of the Force, instead of choosing a side. Not only is the story great moral within the Star Wars universe, but it’s visually breathtaking. The entire episode is styled as a moving painting. It’s gorgeous and wonderful, and something that we’ve never seen before in animation.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is now streaming all episodes on Disney+.
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