“Star Wars Forces of Destiny” Episode 3 fills in the Ewok gaps in “Return of the Jedi”

Back in April, at the Star Wars celebration in Orlando, it was announced that a new series of animated shorts featuring the women of Star Wars was in the works — and so far, the shorts have *not* disappointed.

Star Wars Forces of Destiny features moments from within the Star Wars canon that help shape the bigger picture. For example, Episode 3 — “Ewok Escape” — takes us back to the forest moon of Endor for a moment we didn’t see in Return of The Jedi.

With her Ewok ally, Wicket, Princess Leia takes down some stormtroopers using her badass girl power:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL6OPMp4IUY?feature=oembed

Leia FTW!

The series, which is being narrated by Lupita Nyong’o’s character, Maz Kanata, follows characters from all over the Star Wars canon.

Those characters include Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), and Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren). The first two episodes, which were released earlier this week, take us back to Jakku. They follow Rey and BB-8 as they escape a group of baddies and creatures looking to steal the beloved droid.

The series of shorts will be released on Disney’s YouTube channel throughout the summer.

It will lead into a two-part TV special featuring eight new shorts airing on Disney Channel sometime this fall. For our part, we love these animated shorts so much because they fit within the official canon but fill in the gaps with moments we didn’t see onscreen.

Keep your eye out for more shorts featuring some of the most badass women of Star Wars trying to protect the galaxy — one small mission at a time.