Joek3rr
Master Member
10 year ago, Disney/Lucasfilm redefined the Star Wars canon. And began anew....
I remember being equally saddened and excited. At the time I had just recently finished playing Jedi Academy for the first time. And I was sad that the new continuity wouldn't have these characters I knew and loved, like Kyle Katarn or Bastilla.
But on the other hand, I was excited to see some missteps of the EU kind of corrected. Like finally Palpatine would stay dead. And Sith wouldn't return post ROTJ. (Yeah that aged like milk.) I was excited to have a new continuity that I could keep up with while it was coming out. Up to that point I had been so far behind in reading the novels and comics.
But then the continuity started to reveal itself. Rebels was immediately off putting. It looked so childish. And though I came around to it eventually,(though I still dislike the revised background lore for the Rebel fighters.) I had already begun blocking out parts of the new continuity. And was already pretty hesitant going forward.
The hype of The Force Awakens completely altered that. I loved it. And Rogue One. And, yes I loved The Last Jedi. And Solo. And I started getting into 2008s The Clone Wars, and I started to love that. I started to parrot the whole "the EU was never 'canon'." "George didn't consider it 'canon'." (yikes I cringe at my past self.)
And then came The Rise of Skywalker. And the new continuity started to fall for me. They had just repeated the same mistake that I hoped they wouldn't. The Mandalorian gave some hope. But then season 2 came out. And Book of Boba Fett. Add to that certain behind the scenes issues, which led to my wife asking me to cancel our Disney+ subscription. With Kenobi being the last show, and final nail in the coffin for me.
For a while I felt a little lost. I was looking forward to experiencing all this new Star Wars with my children and sharing the love I have for Star Wars. And then I remembered the old EU. "But it's not 'canon'!" "It was never 'canon' to George!" I argued with myself. It doesn't really count. And then I realized I had duped into thinking a certain way. That didn't matter if George saw it as "canon" or not. He certainly didn't see the new continuity as "canon." And so I came back to the EU. And it's been amazing. It felt like returning to my childhood home.
And yeah the EU isn't all good. And it's got some stinkers. And the new continuity has some genuinely good stories. But at the end of the day. I'm going to choose the continuity that has Kyle Katarn. The continuity that has the Rogue Squadron games, and the Knights of the Old Republic series. The continuity with Tales of the Jedi and the Clone Wars Multimedia project. And the Shadows of the Empire Multimedia Project.
And while I still love The Last Jedi. At the end of the day I'm going to choose the continuity where my hero Luke Skywalker was actually successful in rebuilding the Jedi Order. Where Luke Skywalker is and remains the New Hope. That is my continuity. That I will always remain "canon" to me. Regardless of what George says, or the company that owns the rights.
Long live the Expanded Universe. May we as fans continue to share it with friends, family our children and random people on the Internet.
I remember being equally saddened and excited. At the time I had just recently finished playing Jedi Academy for the first time. And I was sad that the new continuity wouldn't have these characters I knew and loved, like Kyle Katarn or Bastilla.
But on the other hand, I was excited to see some missteps of the EU kind of corrected. Like finally Palpatine would stay dead. And Sith wouldn't return post ROTJ. (Yeah that aged like milk.) I was excited to have a new continuity that I could keep up with while it was coming out. Up to that point I had been so far behind in reading the novels and comics.
But then the continuity started to reveal itself. Rebels was immediately off putting. It looked so childish. And though I came around to it eventually,(though I still dislike the revised background lore for the Rebel fighters.) I had already begun blocking out parts of the new continuity. And was already pretty hesitant going forward.
The hype of The Force Awakens completely altered that. I loved it. And Rogue One. And, yes I loved The Last Jedi. And Solo. And I started getting into 2008s The Clone Wars, and I started to love that. I started to parrot the whole "the EU was never 'canon'." "George didn't consider it 'canon'." (yikes I cringe at my past self.)
And then came The Rise of Skywalker. And the new continuity started to fall for me. They had just repeated the same mistake that I hoped they wouldn't. The Mandalorian gave some hope. But then season 2 came out. And Book of Boba Fett. Add to that certain behind the scenes issues, which led to my wife asking me to cancel our Disney+ subscription. With Kenobi being the last show, and final nail in the coffin for me.
For a while I felt a little lost. I was looking forward to experiencing all this new Star Wars with my children and sharing the love I have for Star Wars. And then I remembered the old EU. "But it's not 'canon'!" "It was never 'canon' to George!" I argued with myself. It doesn't really count. And then I realized I had duped into thinking a certain way. That didn't matter if George saw it as "canon" or not. He certainly didn't see the new continuity as "canon." And so I came back to the EU. And it's been amazing. It felt like returning to my childhood home.
And yeah the EU isn't all good. And it's got some stinkers. And the new continuity has some genuinely good stories. But at the end of the day. I'm going to choose the continuity that has Kyle Katarn. The continuity that has the Rogue Squadron games, and the Knights of the Old Republic series. The continuity with Tales of the Jedi and the Clone Wars Multimedia project. And the Shadows of the Empire Multimedia Project.
And while I still love The Last Jedi. At the end of the day I'm going to choose the continuity where my hero Luke Skywalker was actually successful in rebuilding the Jedi Order. Where Luke Skywalker is and remains the New Hope. That is my continuity. That I will always remain "canon" to me. Regardless of what George says, or the company that owns the rights.
Long live the Expanded Universe. May we as fans continue to share it with friends, family our children and random people on the Internet.
