ST Official Sequel Trilogy / Legends / Expanded Universe discussion thread

This should be stickied.

 

well i like star wars....hey did i say i like star wars?
in all seriousness i guess if there was something i like to see is like an initial unwanted allegiance related to darth vader. Example: Leia being called lady vader by the noghri...i always did kinda like that little subplot...

 

Um no Sinbad was never in SW.

 

Ok, just got a long look at the Rebel's visual guide. However my post here is more about what in it was EU/Legends content.

First off the big change: Kessel, its now a full sized planet with a royal family vs its EU 'planetiod' broken up planet status. There is also clearly an atmosphere (yellow/brown, maybe due to all the mining) if you saw the Rebels trailer Kessel is where Kanan turned on his lightsaber. No word on the Maw or its moon, so they could or could not survive at this point. That said I didn't see the Maw in the background, but it was a very zoomed in pic... so no word on the Kessel run and the whole 12 parsecs explaination.

Next off, so far its all original characters or movie characters. No Lengends character did get confirmed here.

As to things that crossed over: well, they didn't say it clearly, being à kids book, but spice from kessel is 'medicinal' but illegal which maybe implies drug in the bad way.

Next off a few obvious thing, as many had guessed, the Phantom is a short ranged fighter that fits inside the Ghost, an idea adapted from the EU. The Ghost and phantom are 'stealthy' though never use that word, so like Slave 1 or the Sith Infiltrator but not nearly as advanced was the implcation i got, they also flatout said it couldnt cloak. The Star Destroyers of this era are Imperial 1 class (Ions where listed as part of its weaponary but never pointed to on the model, so not sure if that was just DK using old data or confirmed) as was obvious in the early release pic (only listing it here to confirm it survived production apperently) based on its sensor tower having that x shape. Wookiee slave as the trailer gave away, where sent the the spice mines of kessel. It wasn't stated when, but the wookiee homewold Kashyyyk has been taken invaded and taken over by the Empire.

Also "The empire looks down on alien species" on a seperate page talking about the imperial ranks being mostly human. So their bigotry is now canon... (and just to say it again, most stormtroopers are loyal 'but not bright' citizens not clones)

However the thing that got introduced. Disruptor weaponary and apperently its effects on living targets instead of its intended target of ships is 'grusome' and apperently it has a plot conection to one of the new cast (so I won't say anymore).

 

That is super-interesting. Thanks.

 

Oh great. There's exactly the kind of change that frustrates me. Is it really so hard to come up with an original planet in a huge galaxy?
If Kessel doesn't fit the needs of the story, just don't use Kessel. Sounds like it could have been any mining world (out of billions) other than the one who's name they appropriated.
Sigh. It may seem like a nitpick, but if these pointless, slap-in-the-face to decades of worldbuilding changes add up, it doesn't bode well for my staying invested in this universe. I don't care to spend the next couple decades re-learning juicy worldbuilding details I've known since my youth, especially in a new world where all Stormtroopers are dumb mooks, etc, etc. At that point I'd rather be on the lookout for a new Sci-Fi universe that isn't wearing a skinsuit made of one I loved.

Note: This post may be a little over-dramatic. I get that way about Star Wars, as I imagine most of us do. Of course, if it's really good I may find it worth adapting. Ask me again after 7's come out.

In any case, thanks for the info!

 

Wait a minute. I thought that they were on Lothal?

 

It may be where the story starts for the crew of the Ghost, but that doesn't mean they spend the whole first season there.

 

On the flipside, the only thing the majority of the Star Wars audience knows about Kessel is Threepio's horrified "Sent to the spice mines of Kessel!" line so that does give them a chance to explore and show a larger audience exactly what that is and not have to get bogged down in EU minutia. It's either be a slave to the EU details, make up a new planet no one would have any sort of rooting interest in, or get a chance to show Star Wars fans what Threepio was all up in arms about.

 

I think this misses the point. Rebels is intended to tie-in closely to ANH and act as a prequel-of-sorts. Kessel (and its spice mines) are mentioned twice in that film, and the writers have a real opportunity here to give greater significance to those offhand references and simultaneously weave in other elements (such as Chewie's reaction to Luke putting binders on him). If there's any reason to junk apocryphal material, this is IMHO a pretty good one.

 

Respectfully, I think you kinda missed the point of my post. I love the idea of Rebels deepening the OT for people who are unfamiliar with Star Wars beyond the films, but it's a false dichotomy to suggest that you can't both do that and make at least some effort to play within the vast, detailed sandbox of Star Wars. Shoehorning in an OT reference while bulldozing the decades-standing meaning of that reference for the convenience of a single episode of a cartoon just seems like a disappointingly lazy approach.
Maybe they have bigger plans for this version of Kessel. Maybe they're convinced it'll be a huge improvement and thus totally worth it. I'll be interested to see, but this news doesn't make me optimistic.
Wookiee slavery on Kessel and elsewhere seems totally consistent with the universe we know, that's not really an argument for making changes like the above, and it's exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping to see included in Rebels.

Example: Bothans.
I know what a Bothan is. I've known since before I can remember. I really look forward to my Star-Wars-casual friends getting to find out what Bothans are - putting a face to the name will help deepen RotJ for them. That doesn't mean I'd be happy with them choosing the most convenient new alien design they created for Rebels and just sticking the label "Bothan" on it for an easy reference to the OT. Maybe Zev's a Bothan. I don't know anymore.

 

I suspect they do have bigger plans for it beyond one episode. After all, it's infamous enough that Threepio mentions it as a real threat. It's probably some major slave/prisoner destination.

I just think it'd be a shame to lose that connection to the OT for the sake of honouring material that isn't even canon.

 

Hey George why did you let the EU get so out of hand if you had any clue EP7 might be made ???

 

"But I do try to keep it consistent"

 

He was referring to names mostly and he actually meant this. For example the name of the planet Courscant was right out of the Heir to Empire novels. GL originally had a different name in mind for the galactic capital.

He says it outright. The EU was always meant to almost be a parallel universe to his:

The way I see it there has not been any change in policy regarding what the EU is canonically speaking. GL was never beholdant to it and never intended it to be part of his vision for Star Wars. All the new policy means is that now everything going forward will be absolute cannon and consistent with the overall Star Wars saga.

 

First off, I forgot to mention Stygeon Prison from the Darth Maul, Son of Dathomir comics (based off TCW ep that never got made) is in here. Not exactly EU (or is it?)... but thought I'd mention it. Further it is seemingly a plot point after the pilot, so not going into furtherr details here. Also forgot to mention the book mentions Imperial Academies for stormtroopers and TIE pilots being only the top 10% of their class (just with little real world experiance afterr that, so they sometimes get cocky amd arrogant knowing how good they where in training)... both of which are very very close to the EU.

Two other imperials, two wookiees, and one crimelord are mentioned by name here; but I'm not trying to steal LFL's thunder here... just expect spoilers on them or better yet more character videos from Starwars.com (though none of them seemed nearly as important as Kallus or the Inquisitor, so maybe we wont get any).

I personally agree, why change it... though EU Kessel was way too dark for a kids show imho. Further bigger changes already happened to Mandalore with the Clone Wars and Kashyyyk in ep III (technically didnt Corcusant started off with a hundred story skyscrapper being impressive but quickly became a planet wide city), these planets mattered much more to me and my EU love than Kessel so I've grown thick skin here, I'm more posting here as a just brace yourself warning. Anyways for all we know George could have had some notes describing Kessel... to EU fans this matters little but as a selling point to just about everyone else its a big deal.

The plot starts there based on the based on the book, but moves off it. If you've see the spoilers of the pilot, I'll say this book backs them up nearly 100% (obviously its a guide book not a story book though). Kessel is just as Yavin was to IV, as Lothal is to Tatooine in IV. Its just the end game of the first adventure and Ezra's first journey to joining the rebellion. I doubt there will be a medal ceremony though

 

ha ha! who are you kidding?

 

I'll say conceptually I get the 'first reaction' from fellow EU fans. I will say though, the rendering of Kessel was very nice. Think polluted Corcusant (where Sidious and Tyranus meet at the end of AotC) mixed with stripminning instead of a city scape. It looked like an Eco disaster. Symbolically it did a great job alluding to Lothal's fate if the Empire gets their way there like they did with Kessel. Of course that's too deep for kids to get but that feels very Simon Kinberg to me with the subtle stuff he does for adults watching his cartoons. So yes, I feel there was a purpose to the change now that I've had time to think about it, especially since much of the early book was about how the Empire was evicting Lothal farmers from their lands for more factory space at gun point (implying Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru fates to anyone who even slightly resists).

 

Then you should hold off your rage and realize the EU already changed Kessel from a world with a breathable atmosphere to an airless world. They're only changing it back.

The Second Kessel Run - 1980
Jedi Search - 1994

I'm liking the description of Kessel as a dirty, industrial Coruscant, btw. Can't wait to see it.

 

That was EU before it was 'canon' and consistent with other EU, but you are right. It had a breathable atmosphere first.

 

Yeah, but it's fun to point out 1991-2014 wasn't some sort of holy grail for info beyond the movies. Even in that period, writers have struggled to keep consistent.

I'm liking that the next two episodes also don't take place on Lothal. Without naming names, are they EU or original locales?

 

Tzizvvt78

One is from the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comics (which are a TCW orginial idea adapted to the EU since production ended). The other is a location Luke mentioned in IV, but a location that could be on many worlds... In this case its back on Lothal. However it did a good job of setting up the Empire, with a seeming borrowed EU character plotline (one I feel has already been borrowed from by this show but now being put on a different character), is evil and showing how the rebellion gets going and Erza's role in the group beyond apprentice/padawan type role. Freely admit I could be jumping the gun with the EU character plot line borrowing, cause you know "the EU did it first therefore it must be borrowed" logic...

Both have been shown in the EU but both are really ideas from the movies or TCW.

Honestly I'm only guess its two separate episodes since the two plots I can't see lining up unless its two plots independent of each other. I will say, the location from DM:SoD alludes to an unspecified character (seems Kanan centric story) while the other one at the Lothal one shows a new character and mentions another (and Erza centric story). This to me implies Erza stories will be on Lothal, but the rest of the cast will have there stories more off world... Expect Lothal to be in a few more of the 16 EPs though but leaving there often enough too. Kashyyyk was named too, so maybe we'll get an ep there where we might finally get confirmation if its a Bonsai tree planet like in ep 3 with those swiss family robinson tree houses (Anakin was named after the swiss family Robinson's director (Ken Annakin) so not a surprise it went that way, clearly its a Lucas nod to his youth and what he watched) near the ocean or if deeper in its km high trees that make Endor appear small like in the EU which had branches big enough to hold star cruisers and while villages.

 

Ah, that sounds cool! Nice that they'll expand the universe (pun not intended), but keep Lothal a recurring location. Thanks!