What is your personal canon? — Page 10

Jaster Mereel killed that snot-nosed clone brat and stole his identity.

It’s been a while since I have published my personal Canon list with my old account, and my personal Canon has changed since then. Right now, my Canon consists of three different timelines:

• First timeline: This timeline contains the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, and everything published in the old Expanded Universe from 1991 to 2014, minus the post-NJO novels, Dark Empire, Crimson Empire, The Force Unleashed II, the 2008 Clone Wars TV show, and every comic and novel that was related to the show. Basically, this timeline is the one I have published with my old account here.
• Second timeline: This timeline is very similar to the first timeline. However, the Old Republic MMO and its tie-in novels are eliminated, which means that Revan’s motivations for turning to the Dark Side are exactly the ones that were described by Kreia. He was not manipulated by Vitiate, he turned to the Dark Side by his own choice.
• Third timeline: This timeline is also similar to the first timeline, just like the previous one. The Force Unleashed II and the post-NJO novels don’t exist in this timeline, too. However, in this timeline the Chosen One is not a single person (Anakin), but rather it is the Skywalker family who are the Chosen One as a whole. Therefore, the Sith are able to return after Anakin’s death without contradicting the Prophecy, which means that the Dark Empire Trilogy, the Crimson Empire Trilogy and the Legacy comics happen.

I would also like to create a fourth timeline with the pre-1999 Expanded Universe and a rewritten version of the Prequels. But the truth is, I’m too attached to the Prequels, so I could never replace them entirely.

My personal canon are:

• OOT
• Classic LucasArts games that aren’t based on the PT up to Jedi Academy (so X-Wing series, Dark Forces series, KOTOR I-II, Rebel Assault I-II etc.)
• Al Williamson’s classic comics (B&W + Marvel)
• and as an epilogue but more of an addon than actual canon maybe, the Thrawn trilogy

Probably forgot something but basically most good stuff surrounding the OT without any PT or Disney tarnishing.

Well, it’s been a while since my last canon list, with a lot more new stuff out, so here I go again. This time, I’m not gonna create “tiers” of canon like I did before, and I’m just gonna focus on creating the most satisfying single timeline:

• Tales of the Jedi comic (as a distant, semi-canon prologue)
• The Phantom Menace
• Tales of the Jedi miniseries (only the Dooku episodes)
• Attack of the Clones (extended edition)
• The Clone Wars 3D (minus the dumb episodes)
• Revenge of the Sith (extended edition)
• Solo
• Andor
• Rebels (minus the dumb episodes)
• Rogue One
• A New Hope (theatrical, or Revisited when that comes out)
• Original Marvel comic (1977-1980)
• Empire Strikes Back (theatrical or Revisited)
• Original Marvel comic (1980-1983)
• Return of the Jedi (theatrical, or Revisited when that comes out)
• The Mandalorian (first two seasons only)
• The Force Awakens (first half of a distant, semi-canon epilogue)
• The Last Jedi (second half of a distant, semi-canon epilogue)

My final verdict for everything from Rebels onwards depends on how Ahsoka and Mando season 3 play out. If they turn out to be good, Rebels and the first two sequels stay in the list, with Boba and the new Mandoverse installments being added as well. But if they turn out to be bad, Rebels gets cut from the list, the Thrawn trilogy becomes canon, and the Hand of Thrawn duology replaces TFA and TLJ as the distant, semi-canon epilogue.

LexX said:

[…] but basically most good stuff surrounding the OT without any PT or Disney tarnishing.

I like your mindset. Actually that’s the one i’m trying to follow too. The one thing that lets me coming back to the Prequels from time to time is the behind-the-scenes drama (e.g. the documentaries, web-docs, etc.).

My personal Canon has changed since the last time I talked about it. The last time I talked about my personal Canon, I said:

Spartacus01 said:

It’s been a while since I have published my personal Canon list with my old account, and my personal Canon has changed since then. Right now, my Canon consists of three different timelines:

• First timeline: This timeline contains the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, and everything published in the old Expanded Universe from 1991 to 2014, minus the post-NJO novels, Dark Empire, Crimson Empire, The Force Unleashed II, the 2008 Clone Wars TV show, and every comic and novel that was related to the show. Basically, this timeline is the one I have published with my old account here.
• Second timeline: This timeline is very similar to the first timeline. However, the Old Republic MMO and its tie-in novels are eliminated, which means that Revan’s motivations for turning to the Dark Side are exactly the ones that were described by Kreia. He was not manipulated by Vitiate, he turned to the Dark Side by his own choice.
• Third timeline: This timeline is also similar to the first timeline, just like the previous one. The Force Unleashed II and the post-NJO novels don’t exist in this timeline, too. However, in this timeline the Chosen One is not a single person (Anakin), but rather it is the Skywalker family who are the Chosen One as a whole. Therefore, the Sith are able to return after Anakin’s death without contradicting the Prophecy, which means that the Dark Empire Trilogy, the Crimson Empire Trilogy and the Legacy comics happen.

I would also like to create a fourth timeline with the pre-1999 Expanded Universe and a rewritten version of the Prequels. But the truth is, I’m too attached to the Prequels, so I could never replace them entirely.

In the end, I decided to abandon this multiple timeline system and stick with a single timeline. Right now, the timeline I stick with is the timeline I described in my previous post as the “Third timeline”. However, I decided to eliminate the Dawn of the Jedi comics, the New Jedi Order series and the Legacy comics from that timeline, and I decided that my personal Canon will end with the Young Jedi Knights series. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t despise the New Jedi Order series, I don’t hate it. But ending the universe with the Young Jedi Knights series is more satisfying, because you can imagine a bright, peaceful future for the New Republic, for Luke and for his new Order of Jedi Knights, a future that doesn’t involve another great galactic conflict and trillions of deaths. Again, I don’t despise the New Jedi Order, but Young Jedi Knights is a more joyful ending, in my opinion.

Alright, I’ve decided to commit myself to a personal canon. God have mercy on my immortal soul.

• The original unaltered Star Wars Trilogy. No bloody 97SE, 04SE, 11SE, or 19SE.
• The OT radio dramatizations.
• The OT novelizations.
• The Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson newspaper comic strip.
• The original Marvel comic – including most of the Alan Moore UK stories, excluding most of the post-ROTJ issues.
• The Tales of the Jedi comics, minus Redemption (I prefer Tom Veitch’s original concept of Ulic Qel-Droma dying unredeemed)
• The Thrawn Trilogy
• Dark Empire
• I, Jedi
• The Dark Forces novella trilogy
• Mara Jade – By the Emperor’s Hand
• Junior Jedi Knights
• Young Jedi Knights
• The Corellian Trilogy (chiefly for Leia’s boss ruby lightsaber)
• The Hand of Thrawn Duology
• Brendon J. Wahlberg’s Dark Emperor & Rise of the New Sith fanfic series

There’re various & sundry other stories in the pre-1999 EU that are compatible with my personal canon, but I exclude them for the sake of brevity.

Superweapon VII said:

Alright, I’ve decided to commit myself to a personal canon. God have mercy on my immortal soul.

Lol. May the canon gods judge us lightly.

Actually, this pretty much sums up my Pre-Prequel timeline. Though I’m still in the process of determining my personal Star Wars mythos, so far I have two that I hop between depending on my mood.

I’d like to suggest Storyteller from Star Wars Tales #19. It came out in like '05 or so but has no prequel references whatsoever and it’s just a neat little story anyway. (I recommend it to everyone who sees this comment!)

of_Kaiburr_and_Whills said:

I’d like to suggest Storyteller from Star Wars Tales #19. It came out in like '05 or so but has no prequel references whatsoever and it’s just a neat little story anyway. (I recommend it to everyone who sees this comment!)

Yeah, it’s a neat coda to the SW Universe. I generally eschew 1999+ EU, mainly because it’s a headache trying to parse through it, but there’re quite a few Tales stories which can slot in my canon with no problem.

I suppose I’m the only one who also accepts the post-1999 EU? Well, even though I still don’t like anything set after the Young Jedi Knights series. Lol.

Superweapon VII said:

Yeah, it’s a neat coda to the SW Universe. I generally eschew 1999+ EU, mainly because it’s a headache trying to parse through it, but there’re quite a few Tales stories which can slot in my canon with no problem.

I don’t blame you. It’s hard for me to reconcile all the pre-1999 and post 99’ stories too.

Spartacus01 said:

I suppose I’m the only one who also accepts the post-1999 EU? Well, even though I still don’t like anything set after the Young Jedi Knights series. Lol.

I accept quite a few post-99’ stories, such as Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, Shadows of Mindor, Kenobi (with some slight modifications to chapter 35), Genndy’s Clone Wars, The Force Unleashed (mostly for nostalgia), some Prequel-era comics like Acts of War, some stuff from Star Wars Tales, etc.

Like I mentioned above, my issue is trying to believe it all works together. Some people take the six Lucas films and six seasons of Clone Wars as primary source material, while blending in EU stuff that works for them. Some do it with just the six films. Others just stick with the OT, or even the first movie. (Something I find incredibly interesting due to the infinite possibilities.)

For me, ultimately, I’d put most if not all of my favorite EU stories as myths or Legends about the Star Wars universe. So, something like Genndy’s Clone Wars happened, but who knows if it happened exactly as shown in the series. It’s similar to the view some fans of new canon have towards Legends material- it happened, but not necessarily how the events of the story depict it. This mostly helps explain away contradictions and tonal/thematic differences between stories.

And again, this is just when I’m viewing all the Lucas stuff as the prime directive- which, to be fair, is most of the time. I have a little bubble in my mind where all, or at least a fair chunk of, the pre-99’ stuff happens and it’s “real.” And to make clear, I rarely dabble with nu-Lucasfilm era stuff. One of the exceptions I have is the Legends of Luke Skywalker Manga. It’s a fun one for me as, again, the whole premise is that its a bunch of legends and stories- who knows to what degree of truth they are. At the end of the day, they’re all stories. I’m not too worried about any sort of official canon.

Oh, and also… anything past New Jedi Order is a no-go for me… (And I’m pretty on the fence about NJO as it is.)

My personal Canon has changed again. After several months, I have abandoned my Legends purism, and I have decided to include what I think it is the best material from Disney’s New Canon. Besides, I have decided to eliminate the stories I actually never cared about in the first place. So, here’s my updated personal Canon:

• Dawn of the Jedi (comics)
• Tales of the Jedi (comics)
• Knights of the Old Republic (comics)
• Knights of the Old Republic I
• The Old Republic: Revan
• The Old Republic: Deceived
• The Old Republic (comics)
• The Old Republic (original game)
• The Darth Bane Trilogy
• Darth Plagueis (novel)
• Jedi Apprentice (series)
• Republic comics (from issue 1 to 6)
• Cloak of Deception
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Bounty Hunter (video game)
• Jango Fett: Open Seasons
• Republic comics (from issue 7 to 49)
• Rogue Planet
• Jedi Quest (series)
• Outbound Flight
• The Approaching Storm
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Republic Commando (video game)
• The Clone Wars (2002 video game)
• Republic comics (from issue 50 to 83)
• The Cestus Deception
• Star Wars: Jedi (comic series)
• Shatterpoint
• The MedStar Duology
• Secrets of the Jedi
• General Grievous (comics)
• Obsession (comics)
• Jedi Trial
• Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
• Star Wars: Brothers in Arms
• Labyrinth of Evil
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
• Kenobi (novel)
• Star Wars: Purge (comic series)
• Star Wars: Dark Times (series)
• Darth Vader and the Lost Command
• Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison
• Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin
• Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows
• Star Wars: Andor
• Star Wars: Extinction (comics)
• Star Wars: Empire (comic series)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Episode IV: A New Hope
• Star Wars: Rebellion (comic series)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Shadows of the Empire
• Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
• Tatooine Ghost
• The Thrawn Trilogy
• Dark Empire (the first comic)
• The Jedi Academy Trilogy
• The Hand of Thrawn Duology
• Star Wars: Union (comics)
• Junior Jedi Knights (series)
• Young Jedi Knights (series)
• The New Jedi Order (series)

In the end, I decided to include the New Jedi Order series into my personal Canon again, because I think the story is way too epic and too well done to be left out, though I still discount every story that takes place in the post-NJO era, both due to the reasons I have explained here and because I don’t like them in general. I have also decided to exclude Knights of the Old Republic II, because I have never really liked the story of the game that much. Not to mention, the Old Republic MMO pretty much ignores its existence and retcons it in almost every possible way, so it is not necessary to include the game to have a coherent timeline of the Old Republic era (if anything, eliminating the game from the Old Republic timeline makes it more consistent).

It’s only been a year since I did this last, but a lot can change in a year. So, I decided to take the plunge again and come up with yet another personal canon (or at least, what my personal canon would be if I gave a shit about canon):

Tales of the Jedi (the comic book)
The Phantom Menace (ideally a fanedit, but it doesn’t really matter)
Tales of the Jedi (the series, Dooku episodes only)
Attack of the Clones (ideally a fanedit, but it doesn’t really matter)
The Clone Wars (EddieDean’s Refocused edit)
Revenge of the Sith (ideally a fanedit, but it doesn’t really matter)
Solo (ideally a fanedit, but it doesn’t really matter)
Andor (either the original or EddieDean’s movie edit)
Rogue One (ideally a fanedit, but it doesn’t really matter)
A New Hope (either the original cut or Adywan’s Revisited edit)
The Empire Strikes Back (either the original cut or Adywan’s Revisited edit)
Return of the Jedi (the original cut, Revisited hasn’t come out yet)
The Aftermath trilogy
Bloodline
The Sequels (my hypothetical fanedit where Palpatine never comes back)
The Rey movie (hopefully)

I first truly got into Star Wars during the TFA/TLJ era, so that’s what my canon is naturally biased towards. I used to like the Filoniverse stuff, but the increasingly diminishing returns there have turned me sour towards the whole thing (except The Clone Wars, that’s still good).

StarkillerAG said:

The Sequels (my hypothetical fanedit where Palpatine never comes back)

Ah, that sounds interesting. Can you elaborate, please? What are your ideas to fix the Sequel Trilogy?

Spartacus01 said:

StarkillerAG said:

The Sequels (my hypothetical fanedit where Palpatine never comes back)

Ah, that sounds interesting. Can you elaborate, please? What are your ideas to fix the Sequel Trilogy?

I was hoping to do this in a separate thread in the fanedit section, but whatever. Basically, I’m cycling through a few hypothetical concepts for a radical sequel edit, all focused on removing Palpatine entirely (and thus returning the sequel trilogy to how it felt in the TFA/TLJ era):

1. TFA and TLJ are mostly the same, but TROS has been edited to have the Sith fleet be created by Kylo, and the duel on the Death Star is the final duel of the film. This is by far the simplest option (and it’s even been done by a couple other editors), but I’m worried it would leave the trilogy without a proper climax.

2. TFA is mostly the same, but Rey meeting Snoke has been cut out of TLJ entirely (meaning Snoke’s still alive by the end of the movie), and TROS has been edited to replace Palpatine with Snoke (using both AI voices and clips from 21CPeasant’s Legend of the Solo Twins edit). This is also pretty simple (especially since most of the work has been done already), but I’m worried Snoke isn’t an interesting enough villain to carry the main conflict of an entire trilogy.

3. TFA is mostly the same, but TLJ and TROS have been cut into one movie featuring the best elements of both (again, heavily inspired by 21CPeasant’s edit), with the upcoming Rey movie being the final installment of the trilogy. This is the one I’m the most passionate about (especially since it sort of mirrors Episode I being a prologue by having Episode IX be an epilogue), but it depends almost entirely on the Rey movie being good enough to fanedit in the first place (unless I’m fine with the sequels being a duology).

My personal Star Wars Canon has changed yet again. Lately, I have become much more critical of the lore that was introduced in the Prequel Trilogy, especially the lore that surrounds the Force and the Jedi. However, I still like the Prequels as movies, I’m still attached to the characters, and I really don’t have enough strength to leave the PT out of my personal Canon entirely. Therefore, I have decided to divide my personal Canon into two different timelines: the pre-Prequel timeline and the post-Prequel timeline. The post-Prequel timeline is basically the timeline I have published in my previous post in this thread, so there is no need to publish it again. On the other hand, the pre-Prequel timeline is the following:

• Dawn of the Jedi (comics)
• Tales of the Jedi (comics)
• The Han Solo Trilogy
• Soldier for the Empire (novella)
• Star Wars (1977)
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Shadows of the Empire
• Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand
• Return of the Jedi
• Rebel Agent (novella)
• Jedi Knight (novella)
• The Thrawn Trilogy
• The Dark Empire Trilogy
• The Crimson Empire Trilogy
• The Jedi Academy Trilogy
• The Hand of Thrawn Duology
• Star Wars: Union (comics)
• Junior Jedi Knights (series)
• Young Jedi Knights (series)
• The New Jedi Order (series)

As you can see, the pre-Prequel timeline contains the Original Trilogy films in their despecialized editions and a plethora of old Expanded Universe works that were created before the Prequels came out, with the exception of the Dawn of the Jedi comics and the New Jedi Order series, which were created concurrently and after the Prequels but are still able to fit with the pre-PT lore (also, I keep them in this timeline because I like the stories too much to leave them out). To be more specific, the original Star Wars film from 1977 and Return of the Jedi are the only two films that exist in their despecialized editions, as The Empire Strikes Back still exists in its latest Special Edition version, even in the pre-Prequel timeline (I keep TESB in its Special Edition version because it makes more sense, as Palpatine’s appearance is coherent throughout the films only if you take the Special Edition version). Since the pre-Prequel timeline does not need to be constrained by the lore introduced by the Prequel Trilogy and there are no such things as the Chosen One prophecy and the balance of the Force, it can perfectly contain the entire Dark Empire Trilogy and the Crimson Empire Trilogy with no repercussions, though it still doesn’t contain any work that takes place after the New Jedi Order series, because the subsequent series contain way too much Prequel references (Legacy of the Force is basically a retelling of the Prequels, and contains a lot of references to Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side as we know it from the Prequel Trilogy). Although I consider the pre-Prequel timeline and the post-Prequel timeline to be both equally Canon in different universes, right now my heart is closer to the pre-Prequel timeline, because I genuinely prefer the Jedi Order to be competent and relatable, and ambiguous concepts like the balance of the Force and the Chosen One prophecy to be left out of the picture.