Saga Star Wars marathon: canon vs legends version. Choose one or watch all in one marathon?

My ideal Star Wars marathon would've looked like this:

Episode I
Episode II
Clone Wars 2003 series
Episode III
Rogue One
Episode IV
Episode V
Episode VI
Episode VII
and onwards..

It would've been one perfect fluid story, but I came to realize, that you can't do it such a way, since that would be two different continuities mixed up (canon and legends). Instead you would have to choose between two options.

The canon version:
Ep I
Ep II
Ep III
Rogue One
Ep IV
Ep V
Ep VI
Ep VII
and onwards..

The legends version:
Ep I
Ep II
Tartakovsky's Clone Wars miniseries (2003)
Ep III
Ep IV
Ep V
Ep VI
End of marathon. You may go read a book to continue the story.

The thing is I enjoy Tartakovsky's series so much, I want to watch it as part of the saga and that's the correct way. If I would also want to enjoy the new canon material, then I suppose a marathon could be done like this:

First you watch the legends continuity:
Ep I
Ep II
Clone Wars miniseries
Ep III
Ep IV
Ep V
Ep VI
You would consider this the end of the story. Then you watch the other version of events (canon continuity) as a different story:
Rogue One
Ep VII
Ep VIII
and so on..

I know some fans simply imagine that the Clone Wars miniseries is part of canon, but that's just not right. Any thoughts? Do you like to watch the miniseries and how do fit it in?

 

Legends included both the miniseries and TCW. There were even a few quiet nods to the miniseries, like "Mace Windu is on Dantooine" early in TCW (the Brain Invaders episode of TCW Season 2). There's slight oddities, but the miniseries fits in with the newcanon a lot better than most Legends stuff.

If I were to watch it as part of a TCW-including marathon, I'd watch the first DVD (which contains both Season 1 and Season 2) before TCW, and the second (up to immediately after Anakin's Knighting and Padme's giving him R2 - which is chapter 21) - then watch TCW - then watch the latter half of the 2003 series (which is Chapter 22 onward.

 

A complete canon marathon would include TCW, Rebels and Forces of Destiny.

 

I echo TCF - why aren't you able to mix continuities? CW doesn't contradict anything in the other movies you mention, or even really TCW if you wanna include that. Mixing up certain favourites sounds enjoyable, if you ask me

 

The miniseries definitely provides a more fluid intro into Ep3, as we see Jedi become Knighted and we see why Grievous has that disgusting cough in Ep3 (Mace crushes his suit)

 

Of course, given that Grievous coughs all the way through TCW - watching both it and TCW can make for odd moments. Still, it didn't bother me too much.

 

Grievous cough is part of his character. It didn't require an explanation since his condition is self evident.

 

I always include Tarkovsky's miniseries. All the Anakin stuff is very insightful and very well done. Plus we get to see a Jedi knighting, and the construction of a light saber, (the crystal incantation is one of my favorite moments in SW), the kidnapping of the Chancellor. The fight with Asajj is powerful. The relationship between Anakin & Obi-Wan, the relationship between Anakin & Padmé, I could go on all day...

That's what I do.


Canon shmanon, if you enjoy something;

 

I don't count TCW as part of the Legends timeline since the show contradicts many stories and elements of the old EU

 

It contradicts some. Other elements of the EU created after TCW started airing, often draw on TCW though. There are Legends stories with Mother Talzin, or Rex, or Cad Bane, and so on.

 

I know
but it's better to leave those Clone Wars books and comics as part of the Disney canon since it is less complicated

 

Disney chose to "leave them in Legends".

 

Honestly, it's all fiction anyways, so read what you want to read and watch what you want to watch.

 

Is Legends just because Disney did not make them

 

It wasn't apparent when the micro series was made, which is why in Chapter 20, Grievous didn't cough. Lucas added it well into post production of the film, which is why the micro series had to add an explanation. Seems to me that they didn't find out until late in the production. Too far to into it to go back and redo everything in time.

No, it's because there's no way to reconcile every book, comic and video game with where the ST was going. And they weren't going to force people like Kasdan and Abrams to adapt all those things into their films. And Lucas himself said that if he did the ST, the post ROTJ EU would be tossed out. That Luke never married and Palpatine never returned.

 

The micro-series went ahead with a version of the character before it was finished.

I know why the micro-series gave an explanation. My point is that one doesn't need to watch the micro-series because it explains Grievous' cough. Grievous' cough was only explained in the micro-series because they had a version of the character without it. Without the micro-series, it is what it is. No explanation required.

 

You can make a headcanon where Grievous somehow gets the cough after his initial appearance in the micro-series and before the beginning of TCW, then gets it healed between the end of TCW and the second volume of the micro-series.

 

I rather watch just the original 6 live action films, which are the closest to canon you can get with SW.