The strange universe of the 6 films + Clone Wars

If you think about what we're left with after the death of the old EU, I feel more and more that the Clone Wars sits oddly with the movies as the main body of the canon. Not necessarily in the sense of "well over here, it says TIE fighters don't have hyperdrive, but over here, it says they do." I mean more in a narrative sense. Not necessarily direct contradictions, but definitely oddities.

• We meet four characters who have received the "Darth" title: Sidious, Maul, Tyrannus, and Vader. (OK, and Bane, that one time.) The rest all had a hand in determining the fate of the galaxy; Maul basically just fights people. Of those four (OK, five), Maul is the only one not dead.
• The Clone Wars shows us this universe contains a lot of Force users: Nightsisters, the Bardottan masters, the Ones, and the priestesses. Talzin and her long and bizarre list of powers is almost like a refugee from another universe. (And speaking of other universes, where exactly is Mortis?) Yet the stories of the Jedi and Sith are completely controlled by the idea of extreme rarity: the Rule of Two and, later, Yoda's "last of the jedi" remark. If using the Force can elevate even one man to galactic importance, why are so many other Force users living in obscurity, not always even able to stay alive?
• Three people in Star Wars have been seen to fade upon death: Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Talzin (in her own "evil" way). Five people have been seen to make contact after death: Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, and Darth Bane (again in an "evil" way). Why? Every time we hear more about this Force afterlife, even in an attempt to explain it, we end up more confused.
• Boba Fett's list of accomplishments consists almost entirely of cool things he did as a child, when the time devoted to him makes his progress in life seem like an important thing. After he grows up, we see him pull off one job and then get unceremoniously finished off by a half-blind Han Solo. The end.
• Chewbacca also has a strange career. We meet him as a good fighter and mechanic in the Clone Wars, but there he calls to his own people for help, not clones or Jedi. Next, we see him working directly with Yoda in a major clone operation. Then, 20 years later, he's... first mate on a freighter? You could just put this down as an untold story, but it feels more like confusion or apathy to me. "Chewbacca matters... somehow."
• When Maul appears, his existence is considered a major national-security issue for the Jedi. The Council is immediately intent on getting him and finding answers. When Dooku shows up, a war begins. But then Ventress arrives (her origin story now gone) and she too gets in lightsaber battles with our heroes, and apparently this is just a thing that happens. She's one of like three lightsaber duellists the Separatists ever have, but she's not given any great importance by the Jedi anywhere, is she?

As I read back on this, it sounds like a whine, and it's not. I'm not saying "Clone Wars sucks." I don't know that I feel about it as I do about the films, but I certainly like it. And in one way, it's good that there are things left that the new books, games, etc. can expand on. I'm just saying the overarching story of Star Wars as it stands now has developed some strange features.

 

I'm not overly fond of TCW and it's not cannon to me but I like your post. Inconsistency is the major gripe I have against both the PT and TCW, though I still love Dooku in it. They Humanised him for two eps! Woot! I can even forgive it's not Sir Chris but Sir Chris IS Dooku for me.

 

In regards to your force sensitive remark it's probably not that they are force sensitive as to why they have a great deal of galactic importance but more a long the lines that they know the right people and were chosen by them to join an important group. Just like in the real world how successful you end up in life still has a lot to do with who you know and being attached to the right people.

 

This will be interesting to say the least.

 

So let's go over your "inconsistencies."

1) Season 6 makes it clear Mother Talzin is not a Force user. she's a mystic. She is trying to acquire the use of the Force by stealing the "essence" of the Bardottan masters. Considering we are dealing with a space fantasy whose roots stem from works like Edgar Rice Burroughs, pulp serials and comics from the 20s-40s, I fail to see how this is an issue.

2) Talzin does not "fade," by the end she's nothing more than a spectral apparition who manifests herself in a living form in the final two story arcs she appears in. Again, not an inconsistency.

3) Bane's contact with Yoda is clearly the work of the Priestesses, this is nothing more than a projection of Bane by them as another test. Even the "Force ghost" of Bane says that the Sith do not believe in an afterlife... it's all about power in the here and now. That was kind of the point of Ben's "If you strike me down" line in ANH.

4) Boba Fett... don't know what to tell you. Again, I fail to see how this is an issue. We see the beginning development of Boba as an adolescent, hell bent on revenge for the death of his father. I suspect there will be some further official Fett stories in the form of Marvel comics or books in the next few years.

5) Why would Chewie call his own people rather than Jedi??? oooooohhhh I don't know, maybe because the episode establishes Wasskah (the moon they were trapped on) was in the Kashyyk system. Call me crazy but you would probably get help faster, and as the episode established, the transmitter they were using had a limited range. Again, I fail to see a disconnect here. The official story of how Han and Chewie met will likely answer why Chewie is on freighter.

6) If you watched the show Ventress was considered a considerable threat in the beginning. However, that changed a bit following Obi-Wan and Ventress' team up to fight Maul and Opress. She clearly no longer has ties with Dooku. By the time of season 5 the Council clearly knows she is working as a bounty hunter.



Yancy

 

On this note, I'm not sure what Disney/LFL have against Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars microseries. It doesn't seem to be included on the list of Disney's new canon (much like the Droids cartoon and Ewok series/movies. At least Lucas' dislike of the Holiday Special made its exclusion understandable).

As part of a narrative structure, the Clone Wars microseries is very important. It shows Anakin being knighted, when such a big deal is made of him still being a Padawan in Episode II (Padme bluntly overrules him and tells her Naboo advisors he's still a Padawan; i.e. his security suggestions aren't valid). Now Anakin shows up as a knight in 'Cat and Mouse' and we just infer his knighting happened offscreen--even a line referencing it would have been nice (Yularen could say, "Congratulations on your knighting, General Skywalker," or something)

The microseries shows how Ventress signed up with Dooku, whereas now in TCW canon she suddenly appears in 'The Hidden Enemy' and Dooku references her need for revenge against Skywalker in TCW film without any reference to what she wants revenge for (decanonizing her defeat on Yavin by Anakin removes this motive). And it shows Palpatine's kidnapping by Grievous, which is an important part of the film narrative now that 'Labyrinth of Evil' is "Legends".

What does Disney/LFL have against the microseries? That Mace held his own against a droid army unarmed? The Nightsisters did far more absurd things in TCW.

 

The micro-series didn't have Lucas involved so is not canon. And rejecting it from canon allows them to fill in those gaps in other ways.

 

Much as I prefer to keep the EU, I will play devil's advocate and say the lack of discussing an issue in TCW doesn't mean a solution for that issue doesn't exist in the universe. We just don't have an answer for it yet (even if the answer turned out to be what the old EU said, or what the new says).

Sure, I think TCW makes more sense if you include some of the micro series events personally, and especially some of the old EU material. But the OT also referenced events that the audience never saw onscreen (That bounty hunter at ord mantell).

Besides, old continuity is more tricky than you'd think. Originally, Ventress and Anakin actually first met in the republic comics, not the microseries.

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Bottom line, either the micro series needs to be put in as canon, or they need to commission 2 TCW animated movies (maybe even straight to video or netflix) to cover the material that the micro series already established like where did Ventress come from, when/how did Anakin become a Knight, where did Grievous come from, etc. The 2nd movie should take us into the opening crawl of Episode III.

Honestly, knowing that all the books/comics are no longer canon, and if the micro series no longer is (still hoping that it is and they didn't mention it because it was just lumped in with TCW when they mentioned it), The Clone Wars simply doesn't make much sense. There is really no reasonable argument that can be made that it does. You simply can't leave it at Episode II and then suddenly have all these characters like Grievous and Ventress running around the galaxy playing pivotal roles with essentially zero backstory.

The worst part is that Lucasfilm has all but said they are done with the Clone Wars time period. So, if that's correct, this is what you get...and TCW is left as a totally uneven narrative with holes in it like swiss cheese. The Micro Series fills those holes. So, I'm considering it Canon until Lucasfilm gives us something more definitive...I have the feeling I'll be waiting a long time.

 

If the micro-series isn't canon which its not (I believe) then how does Anakin become a Jedi Knight and how does Grievous invade Coruscant?

 

I get what you're saying, but there's a huge difference between mentioning a bounty hunter or even Jango saying he was recruited by Tyranus on the moon of Bogden.

It's just hard for me to mentally reconcile how everyone knows about Ventress or Grievous when I know there's a reason for that which exists, but has just been left behind, quite possibly with Lucasfilm/Disney making an active decision never to fill in those newly created gaps for us. It's problematic.

Honestly, I think Disney's best bet would have been to define Canon as anything that's appeared on screen including the movies, TCW, The Micro Series...heck, even add the ewok movies, and Droids. Then, leave it at that. At least we'd have the Clone Wars as a complete story vs. what we may have now.

 

That's why if they are invalidating the micro series and everything else Clone Wars related that's not the CGI series, Disney flat out owes us works to fill in those gaps. But, I have no confidence they will ever do that. They just want to leave that era behind. It's obvious.

Again, I'm considering the micro series canon until they provide us a suitable in universe substitute. It's the only way the CGI series makes any sense, honestly.