Rey and BB-8 get ready for battle in the first animated short for Forces of Destiny. Image: Disney

A brand new Star Wars animated series launched today called Forces of Destiny and the first webisode takes place in the timeline of The Force Awakens.

The short features Rey (voiced by Daisy Ridley) and BB-8 fighting off a monster as they traverse the sands of Jakku. And because this show, which will continue over the next few days on the Disney YouTube channel, is canon, we can piece together that it takes place between scenes of The Force Awakens.

In under three minutes, a bunch of cool stuff is happening here. First is the thing I already mentioned, that it takes place during The Force Awakens. You can basically pause the movie anytime after Rey finds BB-8, watch this, and then go back to it.


It also counts as an early instance of Rey using the Force without knowing what the Force is. That foreshadows not just the rest of the movie, but the rest of the series. And finally, this is just the first in its own series. A new short will debut at 10 a.m. PST each day on the Disney YouTube leading up to a special on Disney Channel July 9. The show features the voices of Ridley, Felicity Jones, Ashley Eckstein, Tiya Sircar, Lupita Nyong’o and others.