ST Official Sequel Trilogy / Legends / Expanded Universe discussion thread

maybe they could re-use characters like thrawn just change their story

 

As long as it isn't like the Clone wars EU, where you know nothing big is going to happen because its a movie tie in.

 

Well, stuff still happened in that EU. Stuff happened to certain characters who were expendable and advances were made with the characters leading into ROTS. So I wouldn't say it was a complete waste.

 

Almost though

 

That is going to be a challenge for the Story Group, but not an impossible one. They'll need to know what the film characters are like and what their backstories are. For example, a film character might have had a traumatic past, but the film doesn't have time to fill it in. The EU will be able to supplement the films with a story that shows us what happened to the character, and that means big things will happen.

In fact, the narrative style of SW films lends itself to books and TV filling in interesting background stories. The films tend to focus on the here and now and ignore character backgrounds. So I think the new EU is perfectly positioned to be a great supplement to the films.

 

I must say the difference in this thread and the one in the lit forum about this is crazy.

 

I'm right there with ya. I was just curious to see if other people actually thought this was a big deal. Apparently, the answer is "yes."

 

Are the movie novelizations of TPM through ROTJ also considered Legends?

 

I think it's silly to assume every single piece of EU ever made ever will be banished and stricken to a canon black hole to never be mentioned again. In the statement and video yesterday, they flat out say the EU will be used as "inspiration". By striking them of their Official Canon Status it means people won't be beholden to the metric ton of backstory and continuity. Which is a good thing. But it's all there to yank from.

This is probably something that will happen. Using the Old EU as basically how the MCU uses the Marvel comic books as inspiration and a resource is definitely the best way to work with the giant back catalogue of Star Wars content. Steal, steal, steal! But don't be so literal about the literature. Survival of the fittest / most Star Wars-ian EU concepts that graduate to the "Big leagues".

yeah, I do think the post ROTJ EU went too crazy and too far beyond connected to the OT and was unworkable with making new movies. What new publishing products should do is work around the framework of the movies and delve into adventures of all the new characters we see.

 

I hope they will use some ideas of the Old Republic EU in the new continuity, especially about the Great Hyperspace and the Mandalorian Wars. Those are some of the best Star Wars stories ever written imho.

 

But if that's the idea then what we end up with are "film tie-in" books, which in other films tend to be dreadful. Personally my interests in the films has always been enhanced by the fact that there's a whole world of storyline out there beyond the events on screen (I like historical fiction for basically the same reason). Without that, the new films risk just being science fiction films (losing the very 'living story' that made Star Wars films unique), existing in a story vacuum that Disney will inevitably fill with merchandising-driven dreck.

TL;DR version: they obviously couldn't keep it all (since NJO onwards covers the time period they want to make new stories in), but throwing it all out leaves the new films devoid of meaningful context.

 

Hey you're free to disagree with whatever you want. I find the notion of "canon", in this context, to be merely a merchandizing ploy that will eventually be changed with time when the current form is no longer lucrative enough. Every single other similar, lucrative franchise bears out this reality.

But noting that isn't cynical from my perspective, it's just being realistic. Because on a personal level it matters not to me what any corporation deems canonical, or not. Not one bit. I am a consumer, and as a consumer I have the power to chose what I consume...and what I do not. I'm free to shape whatever Star Wars experience I like from the current material available, and that which will become available. Disney/Lucasfilm has zero say on my own individual fan experience, which is why all these declarations ultimately mean nothing to me.

 

The Great Hyperspace War actually happened and would be in fact canon. Palpatine's office ornaments says sup:

 

I hope you aren't forgetting KOTOR, TSL, and SWTOR!!!

 

Palpatine is a Sith Lord. Sith lie about everything. Probably even in their office decorations. Hell, especially in their office decorations!

 

But without EU explanation, how do we know that the battle depicted in this piece is now even called The Great Hyperspace war?

 

Fixed

Sorry but I just don't see how you adapt a 200+ hour game featuring 8 main characters on totally seperate adveures into a movie series... At best its Netflix material... And not even imperial agent (the best of the 8) is on par with exile let alone Revan so marketing it is far trickier.

 

I don't think it was explained by EU? Back then, wouldn't there have been some official description given by some Lucasfilm employee much like how they did the same thing with Moraband/Korriban?

 

I know, but as jaqen said, you don't know if that's the hyperspace war or something completely different without the EU explanation.

Absolutely not! KOTOR is my favourite piece of EU ever. I personally like it more than the movies main plots.

 

KOTOR is what really got me into Star Wars. I hope since its time frame is so far away from the PT/OT/ST, they incorporate some elements and characters into canon in the future. Especially HK-47.

 

What’s it like over there? I’m actually quite scared to poke my head through the door.

 

I've been posting in the lit forum thread, but I'll add my 2c here as well.

THANK GOODNESS THAT THE CANON WARS ARE OVER.

There's now a clear, straightforward answer: as of right now, episodes I-VI and TCW are canon; everything else is apocryphal. Easy. No room for arguments here. And, going forward, everything published will be part of one canon.

The most significant part of the whole announcement, though, is just how focused everything is on "old school" SW: rebels, Vader, the Emperor (note: not "Palpatine" but "the Emperor"), Tarkin, Luke, etc. The Rebels series will even deliberately avoid featuring Coruscant. What's going on here is quite subtle but very important: LFL are trying to return to the feel of the OT--not just by returning to the familiar tropes but also by evoking the feel of "action on the frontier" that was the cornerstone of the OT. Real conflict, real threats, real heroes and villains.

I enjoyed the PT immensely but it was a different beast to the OT, which really defined SW for me and many others. LFL are clearly getting back to that OT aesthetic and storytelling style, and this bodes well for Ep7, IMHO.

 

Random thought: since they said Sienar Fleet Systems will carry over to Rebels its a good bet most movie ships will still have the same specs (more or less), though to keep writers options open maybe some more variants due to all the talk they had about where the door on a tie fighter was. So I expect things like KDY and Incom ship manufacturers to still exsist and carry over from the EU.

 

Very interested to see how they treat the origin of the Sith, if they ever go there. I wonder if it will resemble Lucas's vision of a much younger order (~2000 years old). I assume this also means Moraband is just...Moraband.

I'll be sad to see everything related to Tales of the Jedi and KOTOR go, as that was the stuff that drew me to the EU in the first place, but I have to admit I'm excited to have new answers to those "ancient history" questions...if they ever intend to give them. A touch of mystery in that regard wouldn't hurt, either.

 

A couple years ago I bought an old, original Xbox off a friend of mine just so I could play KOTOR and the sequel. My brother owned them years ago but I never got into Xbox. I still haven't played them yet, but looking forward to it.