^ The Kings of baffling retcons in Star Wars. Often it is simply unnecessary alterations or re-writes of other creatives’ work in the GFFA.

I recently found the following on Lucas and Filoni’s 2008’s The Clone Wars animated series; the retcons and discrepancies it has with the EU, or previous onscreen Star Wars content, so thought it could be of interest to some people on here?

More so now that Dave Filoni appears to be re-doing Heir To The Empire for a New Republic setting, and has form for making strange or unnecessary alterations to other creatives’ previous work on Star Wars, or making straight-up retcons to them:

Before the Disney era, what did the 2008 Clone Wars series retcon in the EU? - on the Star Wars EU reddit

In the above reddit thread there are two additional links to lists of 2008’s The Clone Wars retcons & discrepancies with the EU:

Why doesn’t The Clone Wars fit into the Star Wars Legends continuity? - on The Archivists quora, with interesting conclusions

The 2008 Clone Wars Retcons in chronological order - on a 5 page google document

This 2021 article from ScreenRant highlights the many contradictions TCW created to the pre-established lore and continuity:

Why The Clone Wars Doesn’t Fit Into The Star Wars Legends Continuity

A 2024 article from ScreenRant giving an informative overview and highlights George Lucas’ relationship with the EU:

10 Years Ago Today, Star Wars Made The Biggest Continuity Change In Its 47-Year History: Canon, EU, & Legends Explained

“The thing about Star Wars is that there’s one universe" - Leland Chee in 2008 (Keeper of the Holocron / continuity administrator)

^ More quotes from various high-ups at Lucasfilm stating the EU is considered canon at the SW Force 4 Continuity site.

These long-form video essays by the Sheev Talks YouTube channel were also explanatory and insightful:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Does Not Hold Up (Part 1) - 2 hours

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Still Doesn’t Hold Up (Part 2) - 2 hours 50 minutes

I then thought about some of the other retcons and alterations that Dave Filoni has made in his Star Wars projects to other creatives’ previous work in the GFFA… and I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole on this! I’ve edited in more articles and information below on just some of his retcons to… the EU, in both Legends and Canon, the Prequel Trilogy, 2003 Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, Tales of the Jedi, and also for the Ahsoka series.

• Republic Commando and other Karen Traviss content to Star Wars lore.

The retconning, or ripping up, of Karen Traviss’ previously established work in the EU for Mandalore and Mandalorians (also on clone soldiers), for George & Filoni’s 2008 The Clone Wars animated film and tv series. So much so that Traviss felt she was unable to continue with the series of stories she was telling, mainly for the Republic Commando multi media project, and quit writing for Star Wars:

End of one era, start of another… - Karen Traviss announcement on her blog, in August 2009:

“I can’t discuss the canon issues because of the standard non-disclosure agreement that all writers sign. I’m not even going to discuss the ones that are public now, and I know little of the full detail anyway. So please don’t ask me. All I can say is that I was given enough of the detail in January to realise that changes in continuity were such that I wouldn’t be able to carry on as originally planned with the storylines you were expecting to see continued in my books. It would have required a lot more than routine retcon.”

Why have you stopped writing Star Wars? - at Karen Traviss’ blog, from August to December 2009.

Exclusive Interview with Karen Traviss, The Clone Gal - at Boba Fett fan club, in 2006

The Mandalorian Question - Good, Bad, or Ugly? - at United Federation of Charles, in 2012

How Mandalorian Lore Evolved Over 40 Years of Star Wars Storytelling - at Culture Slate

• 2003 Clone Wars.

The many needless retcons & alterations made in Lucas & Filoni’s 2008’s The Clone Wars series and film, contradicting Genndy Tartakovsky’s established and popular 2003 series. Genndy’s 2003 series was originally canon, part of the official 2002-2007 Clone Wars multimedia project, until the decision was made to do the 2008 animated theatrical film and tv series on the back of that popularity, and the original 2003 series was then de-canoned:

A Tale of Two Clone Wars: The Ravaging of EU Canon - at Escapist Magazine

How Star Wars: The Clone Wars Retconned the 2000s Clone Wars Series - at Den Of Geek

Why 2008’s The Clone Wars Doesn’t Fit Into The Star Wars Legends Continuity - at ScreenRant

10 Things From The 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars Series That Should Be Canon Again - at CBR

• Rebels animated series:

The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale Retcons a Major Star Wars Rebels Plot Thread - at MovieWeb

Star Wars Rebels Finale Reveals that Captain Rex Was in Return of the Jedi - at Den Of Geek

The problem with Dave Filoni - at Sheev Talks (a 25 minute YouTube video from a fan of Star Wars lore, in 2022). We may not agree with all the claims and conclusions in this video, yet a number of retcons made by Filoni in Rebels are featured and clearly explained.

Why does Thrawn feel inconsistent between the Books and Star Wars Rebels? - at Star Wars Explained (8 minute video, in 2021)

The Mandalorian’s Timeline Retcon Is Impossible To Fix - at ScreenRant (re events in Mandalorian & BoBF crossover)

‘The Book of Boba Fett’s Big Problem: Boba Fett Sucks - at Decider (re change in character of Boba himself)

• Prequel Trilogy films and 2012+ Star Wars canon:

Every Way The Clone Wars Retcons The Star Wars Prequels - at ScreenRant

The Clone Wars Retcons How Ahsoka Survives Order 66 - at We Got This Covered

The Clone Wars Finale Rewrites Key Parts of Star Wars Canon - at CBR

Changes to previously established facts in previous Star Wars content by 2008’s Clone Wars series - at Wookieepedia

• In general from Dave Filoni - a few articles on the possibility of more retcons, contradictions or similar issues:

The Latest Filoni Retcon? Why Heir to the Empire Should Stay a Book Title - at Strangely Awesome Games

A history of retcons involving the Darksaber - at Dork Side of the Force (a 2021 article)

Why some people are done with Dave Filoni - at Eck Clips (a 2 minute video, in 2022). More unnecessary retcons made to canon.

How Dave Filoni is Inadvertently destroying the Timeline of the Star Wars Galaxy - at Geetsly’s (a 10 minute video, in 2022). Some of the retcons by Filoni to pre-existing Legends and Canon material. A little hyperbolic in parts, yet overall is also informative.

Dave Filoni needs to stop rewriting Star Wars canon - at AIPT Comics

Star Wars Canon Is Already Meaningless, And That’s A Good Thing - at Looper

Dave Filoni Is Reluctant to Let Other People Work with His Star Wars Characters - at Bleeding Cool

• Ahsoka live action series

(beware spoilers for episodes 1 to 5. I’ll sort through these links after the Ahsoka series has ended):

3 Ways Ahsoka Is Retconning Star Wars Rebels’ Ending - at ScreenRant (from the official trailer for Ahsoka!)

9 Ways Ahsoka Retconned Star Wars Rebels’ Epilogue (Eps 1 & 2) - at ScreenRant (although some barely pass as retcons: YMMV)

Ahsoka end scene confirmed as Rebels remake (Ep 2) - at The Direct (Lucasfilm quotes on the Rebels epilogue being retconned)

Ahsoka’s White Costume Explained: History, Meaning & Retcon - at ScreenRant (Rebels finale is retconned for the Ahsoka series)

Ahsoka’s new canonically innate Force Psychometry ability - at Looper (Ahsoka retconned to now have the power of ‘Force Echo’)

Will Ahsoka Retcon the Star Wars Movies? - at CBR (article from 2022; re possibility of The WBW, time travel, and ‘reset buttons’)

^ More sources for the Ahsoka series will be added as the program progresses and if/when retcons or alterations take place.

I genuinely hope Filoni’s New Republic film and Mandoverse finale will be a success, somewhere nearing Andor’s outstanding levels of quality across the board. Although I also hope Filoni doesn’t make any more unnecessary alterations or retcons in it, or to previous Star Wars content and history, if he is indeed re-doing or revamping “Heir To The Empire” for this latest project.

As oojason and Emre both allude to in their comprehensive ‘contradictions, inconsistencies & continuity issues’ threads, in the…

‘Original Trilogy vs later Star Wars: plot holes, inconsistencies, contradictions, disconnects, mental gymnastics, + stretches etc’

…section of the ‘An Index for General Star Wars Discussion’:

Obviously, every fan has different outlooks, takes, and levels of interest depending upon each of the retcons, continuity issues, discrepancies and inconsistencies etc. For some fans, it may be a big thing, highly annoying, perplexing, or a concerning ongoing trend. For other fans, not so much, or barely registering. Maybe enjoying the different “point of view”, or alternative new take. Or even somewhere in between. YMMV.

I am a fan of Dave Filoni and his work overall. Some of the better stories in the GFFA, post-Prequel Trilogy, have been created and penned by him. Yet that doesn’t mean he has the right to effectively erase, contradict, or re-write other creators’ previous work in Star Wars. Something that Filoni has a penchant for, for a long time. All without crediting the original creators.

Most are retcons that were quite needless, superfluous, and yet also flagrant, to the point of questioning whether he is making these numerous redundant alterations or continuity issues deliberately, for some reason?

The whole “The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page” Legends/Canon idea back in 2014, was meant to keep the all the stories more consistent and interconnected in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, sitting along side with their film and television content. Yet Filoni has re-written and retconned over some of that new canon material for his projects, most of which were unnecessary to the actual stories being told.

Lucasfilm’s aim in 2014 at implementing “internal consistency” for their content, “interconnected storytelling”, “coordinating creative development”, and being a “creatively aligned program of Star Wars storytelling”; all of which appear in the linked announcement above, seems to have been either lost, ignored, or simply voided, some time ago.

Or from the 2014 Star Wars Expanded Universe: Past, Present, & Future official “Legends/Canon” announcement video:-

“We now have a story department so that there truly can be one consistent narrative - and that’s always been the dream. I think the idea of aligning the content is actually a really fantastic and exciting opportunity that no other fictional universe could really even support. We’re going to be able to bring fans a unified vision in a way that we’ve never done before. And I think it’s a also sacred trust to be invited to be a part of telling stories inside this universe because it’s so precious to people, and I understand because it’s precious to me.” - Lucasfilm VIPs.

The above 2014 video from the official Star Wars YouTube channel also includes this quote from Dave Filoni:-

“It feels real when everything is in line. And I think that is the challenge for all of us going forward with Star Wars. How are we responsible with what was? And how do we still move forward even if things become very different? I think the EU will be a legacy that is mined forever.”

Anyway, if Dave Filoni is going to continue to mine both the EU + post 2014 Canon, and then rewrite, alter, or retcon that previous material then the least he could do is start to credit the work of others he is using in his own stories. How should I put this politely?: that he is lifting from, riffing on, or paying homage to. Less politely politely?: copying from others’ work, plagiarising from, or repurposing past history and events to pass off as ‘his own’? And in doing so, pissing off many people who grew up with, and have fond memories of, some of this prior much loved content.

Start to credit the original creatives, list the original work; their books, novels, comics, games, sourcebooks, soundtracks, fanon etc. Credit them at the end of every episode in which their work is featured. Or list them up on the official site in the episode guides, so fans can easily find those original works at their leisure, and the original creatives can also be properly credited.

Maybe people will take an interest in those previous original works, go out, and purchase them. Wins and respect all around.

I am not sure what the forum policy is for bumping older threads. After searching through the Index thread for a relevant thread, this seemed the best one to post in. Sorry if this is wrong or I’ve overlooked some site rules or etiquette on here.

Edit: Sorry. I was looking in the wrong Index, and didn’t see there was a ‘Canon’ section in General Star Wars Discussion.

captainsolo said:

I think this says it all.

But I do now wonder what the broken image actually was that captainsolo posted about “I think this says it all”!

• Republic Commando and other Karen Traviss content to Star Wars lore.

• 2003 Clone Wars.

• Rebels animated series:

• The Bad Batch animated series:

• Tales of the Jedi animated series:

• The Mandalorian live action series:

• Book of Boba Fett live action series:

• Prequel Trilogy films and 2012+ Star Wars canon:

• In general from Dave Filoni - a few articles on the possibility of more retcons, contradictions or similar issues:

• Ahsoka live action series