Saga The OT is gonna get buried under tons of new canon

One of my first Star Wars experiences, when I was a kid, was actually KotOR II on the Xbox (which is a really weird starting place, considering its deconstruct-y nature). This was at an age when I probably wouldn't have been able to grasp the storyline of the movies, let alone something as nuanced as Kreia's philosophy (for reference, I was born in 1996). I don't know if I'd seen any of the movies before then, but either way, it was and remains one of my all-time favorite video games. When I did see the movies, I'm pretty sure I liked them, but I was probably still too young to really get them. Later on, I read the excellent Darth Bane trilogy, and played KotOR I, and played KotOR II and actually understood it.

Anyway, my point is that I'm probably a fairly rare case; rather than either trilogy or a TV show, "my" Star Wars growing up was the Old Republic of the Legends verse. But when I watched the film saga at the proper age, I loved it, and I still do. And I also love both the animated shows.

The thing to remember here is that Star Wars is good. It's really good. People who get on board with the verse somewhere other than the OT will want to see where it started, and so they will--and they'll like it, because it's really good, and it's a kind of good that doesn't fade, even over thirty years.

 

The OT won't get buried, it is the core of Star Wars. The PT is far more likely to be buried than the OT, and it is somewhat with TCW and Rebels retconing the heck out of those films.

 

I get the concern, but I'd like to think the core characters have an enduring appeal. But, yeah, if new characters are continually created and added to the canon via new films/series there is every possibility that they could become more popular than the originals.

 

Kanan's more of a shock than Ahsoka to me. She's been around since 2008. I do think the OT may have been overrun by new canon for some time, though.

Not that they'll ever go away. I think it'll just become more apparent they aren't the only SW characters now. Same thing will probably happen in next year's tournament when we see Rey and Kylo Ren and not some of the PT characters we see here.

 

For me, the new film only represents the extension of the Saga, just as the three Prequel films did between 1999 and 2005. It's just going to be "the Saga" with three more films. Why does one trilogy or the other has to be "buried" or "forgotten"?

 

If anything, the new canon is only going to raise infinitely more questions about the OT. Where did this come from, where did that come from? Why, how, when? I think the new canon and official continuation of the saga will make the OT more robust in terms of all those questions being asked and answered.

 

This. After so many years of hearing about how much cooler Revan is than Vader and how much more powerful Vitiate is than Sidious, it's a relief to have a universe where Vader is the coolest, where Sidious is the most powerful, and where Anakin actually destroys the Sith. The OT has been unearthed, and thank god for that.

 

Yep.

Consider Star Trek - the original was only three seasons, then nothing happened for years, then in the eighties you had a revival with a new TV series that spawned two of its own spin-offs, each of them lasting much longer than the original series and developing the universe to an extent the originals never had.

And yet, to the casual viewer, when you say "Star Trek," it's still most likely to be Kirk and Spock that spring to mind, not Picard or Sisko. (That's one of the reasons the Abrams reboot was in that era. Nobody else has the same following/recognition).

I'm expecting the same with Star Wars and the OT, no matter how many sequels, prequels, and spin-off TV shows they make.

 

Interesting points. I guess it's kinda like music. Elvis and the Beatles will always have their place, but there aren't a lot of 20 year olds listening to their music. Younger generations will latch on to newer characters as the Universe enters a new era of expansion.

 

For various reasons, not all SW fans will seek out every single corner of the SW universe.

There will be new generation people who do not seek out the OT, or the PT, or first generation fans who don't watch Rebels, or if they don't possess the right set of conditions to play an MMORPG, will miss out on KOTOR. Some days I feel like I'm the only person to have read the Lando Calrissian trilogy of novels.

That will happen.

No real sense worrying about it. Sometimes it is just interesting to note how people get into the Saga, and hope that your similar interests are enough for you to get along in this community.

 

There's no reason to worry about any of it. Popularity doesn't matter. All that matter is what you like. If you like Battlefield Earth and the rest of the world hates it, it shouldn't affect your enjoyment of it.

 

Not all fans will look for all of it, no. But I think among those who become Star Wars fans* (rather than, say, fans of a game or TV series), there will be a majority who wind up watching the OT, at least eventually, because that's where it all started.

And it isn't like Doctor Who, where the series today is barely recognizable as a direct descendant of what began in 1963. A lot of Doctor Who fans just can't get into the old series even if they try. The beginnings of Doctor Who are great (well...for the sake of argument I'll acknowledge it as great, since if it weren't the series probably wouldn't be around), but inherently different from the fast-paced, optimistic, child-traumatizing series that airs now. People will come to the OT because it's great in a very similar way as whatever brought them into the GFFA.

* I am absolutely NOT saying you have to like the OT to be a "true" Star Wars fan, or anything like that. Just saying that most people who get into Star Wars in general as opposed to being really into one particular thing, will probably find themselves back at the OT sooner or later.

 

I suspect that it's only a matter of time before this new generation will find itself seeking out both the OT and PT. As for the other stuff, who knows?

 

And it's right those two shows are allowed to do that either.

 

This is very disturbing to me. Exactly what are those two shows doing?

 

Well for starters TCW retconned Anakin's movie personality and made him into a likable, heroic and interesting character.

But what Slicer is likely talking about is Anakin having an apprentice, Darth Maul still being alive, Obi Wan and Anakin fighting Dooku in between AOTC and ROTS, etc.

 

There is no ret-conning going on in that sense as that is exactly who Anakin always was. The term retconning is rather invalid on several levels as for one it's all from Lucas himself anyway and TCW is set after AOTC and we see that likeable, heroic and already interesting characters in ROTS.

Is there anything that says he didn't have an apprentice or Maul came back or anything else?

No.

This is like saying the new books and comics are retconning the OT between ANH and TESB. It's simply adding layers without actually changing anything. Luke has already met Vader once and probably will again BEFORE TESB. That doen't change what happens in TESB.

 

I have the feeling Disney will reboot the canon every few years like they do with superhero movies, so it may not pile up on any of the films anyway. Then again Disney is doing some odd reboots like the new muppits being darker than the old show.

Maul's lifeless corpse halves tumbling down a deep shaft where they will splatter into goo kind of says different. I once had the displeasure of finding a poor baby toucan that had fallen out of its nest onto the ground, it wasn't a pretty sight.

 

I always felt that Anakin was simply more at ease when the universe was in turmoil, which actually made The Clone Wars series quite tragic. Sure Anakin was more likable in the TV series, but I noticed the same happy go lucky Anakin peek through a few times in Attack of the Clones (Coruscant chase) and Revenge of the Sith (rescuing Palpatine). It was sad that when he spent time with Padme in the movies, at at times in the TV series, he was moody and distraught. But in the heat of battle, with all of his power, he knew he could handle it so he was at ease and quite likable.

Think about that, Anakin is at his best when everything else is at its worst.

 

we'll see, in minutes

 

I predicted all of this in 2006 almost 9 years ago. The OT fans think their 3 movies are apex of the entire brand. The thing most OT fans fail to acknowledge is they are OLD, and getting OLDER. There are many children born AFTER 2005 that are 10 years old now, they will see the 6 films as the older 6 films. And will most likely see them all at the same time. Disney is really trying to push more female characters as well. Ahsoka is more popular than Leia and Sabine has the potential to pass them both in popularity. There will be nothing the OT fans can do to stop this. As of now I would have to say Star Wars biggest character is Anakin Vader.

 

Lol some fans treat canon like its the Holy script. If I pick up a comic or book it doesnt have to match up with the Filoniverse shows or Georges 6 films. It just has to be a great comic or book. For all I care a comic could put Vader in white armor, make 3pO a wizard or make Sabine Palpatines daughter. I would have no issue with it, because its a different genre of media. The 6 movies are the movies, the cartoons are the cartoons, the comics are the comics. None of them have to relate.

 

My impression of this was that Anakin is a man of action. He views arguing about the course of action to be a waste of time. When Palpatine gets more power, he remarks that it's good that there will be less deliberating and more action. The war is also clear for him -- he has an enemy and an objective to complete and feels he is making a difference. While when he's on Coruscant he often gets caught up in politics and (what he perceives) to be petty agendas that are largely inconsequential. The war is his time to shine, sad as it is to say.

 

As more films come out the value of each GL film could lower. As buy 6 films is cheaper than buying 32 films. Some fans are that dedicated, others not so much. Look at all the Star Wars video games, books, comics and toy released since 77. Only a few are recognized as MUST haves or classic everyone is aware of. The movies never had that because there were always only 6 films. Soon 6 will become 12, then 12 will become 18 films amd will go up from there. Fans will splinter off more into what they consider the best part of Star Wars. OT vs PT was only the beginning. There will be fans who only like the Disney trilogy and find Georges 6 film saga as boring. Then there will be fans that only like the OT after the Disney Trilogy disappoints them. We will soon see a OT versus Disney argument.

 

This was one of the reasons I liked the dissolution of the old EU. There was a lot of muddying of the waters there. I would still like to see KotOR and Darth Plagueis re-admitted, but a lot of the EU fell to the same problems superhero comics have. Overpowered heroes and villains, and continual one-up-manship. There was no controlling force keeping everything in check.

Prior to the reboots I have to disagree with this sentiment. Sisko wouldn't have, but TNG characters most certainly would have come to mind to most people just as quickly if not faster than Spock and Kirk, especially for those too young to have seen the TV show when it was new.