Bingowings:

When it comes to doing special editions surely the canon goes out of the window.

Sorry, I disagree with that 100%.

Canon truth is not immune to its own evolution. And anyway, my point was that the films are fundamentally superior to our own tastes when it comes to determining what is or is not canon within that universe. If Lucas issues Special Editions and decrees that they succeed previous versions, then so be it. Besides, it's not as if the Special Editions really change very much. I think people's reactions to the SEs on almost every level is disproportionate. No, I don't like some of the changes - some of them are dreadful - but are there any actual changes of events? Save for the SE2 of Empire including the rotten dialogue changes, there are no fundamental changes to the SW Universe. So canon is intact, either way you look at it.