John Doom said:
Well, the idea is to start from the OT dialogues and then expand with pre-PT EU canon stuff, as long as it fits. After all, even if Star Wars's canon changed throughout the trilogy, its dialogues present no evident retcon. But it's not an easy task :D
I just noticed that if, according to the Guide, Anakin is 55 in ANH, and the Clone Wars ended 35 years before ANH, how could he've taken part in war being him only 20? :\
Does the Guide mention why and when did Obi-wan change his name to Ben? When did he served the Organas?
It makes no mention of his name, but it does say;
"When the Clone Wars erupted, Kenobi became a general, fighting alongside Bail Organa of Alderaan and the young pilot Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan and Anakin became good friends, sharing many adventures as they battled to protect the galaxy. In fact, Kenobi recognized Anakin's natural Force talents and decided to train him to be a Jedi."
The rest is as we've already heard in the film; he wasn't an adequate teacher, Anakin was ambitious, seduced by Palpatine's power, turned evil, etc, etc.
It's interesting however that it suggests that they fought in the Clone Wars before Anakin became his apprentice. So Anakin could have been a teenage pilot whom Obi-Wan gradually took under his wing until he eventually decided to train him as a Jedi. Anakin turning to evil, choosing the easier path, could have to do with him having been targeted by Palpatine very early in his training, hence he was much more vulnerable when it happened.
I also looked up Bail Organa, but it literally says no more than that he fought alongside Obi-Wan and "the other heros of the period," beyond what we know from the films.
Mon Mothma's entry has few vaguely interesting details in it;
It says that she was a senator when Palpatine rose to power, that she was the only person suspicious of his rise to power, and that she even opposed to his election to presidency. It also says that she formed an early version of the Rebel Alliance some time before Palpatine formed the Empire, which to me supports what I mentioned earlier that Palpatine's New Order probably existed for quite a while before Palpatine eventually made himself Emperor. This would suggest that the last years of the Old Republic, not to mention the political environment during the Clone Wars involved a conflict between the more liberal, but corrupted Republic and Palpatine's fascist New Order promising peace and control.
I kind of like the implications of that. Perhaps the story of Anakin's fall ot the dark side isn't just a matter of him turning to the dark side of the Force, but also the dark side of Politics. It kind of implies him eventually joining the New Order and eventually helping Palpatine's rise to power. This kind of makes sense when you consider his dialogue in the OT. He tries to overthrown Palpatine, and wish to "rule the galaxy" alongside Luke "like father and son." His ideals are clearly militaristic and dictatorial. So it's possible that the original ideas behind Anakin's rise and fall was a lot more blatantly political.
And if you might think that this is a bit to political for something as simple as Star Wars you should look up COMPNOR on Wookieepedia. It's one of the few articles that have very little post-PTA influence is basically taken directly form the guide book, as well as a standalone book about the Empire from the late 80's. It's quite the elaborate description of the political structure and fascist ideals of the New Order/Empire, and it bears heavily similarities to the real-life Nazi party.
Anyway, if there's another character, place, or event that you would like me to look up in the guide, just send me a message and I'll post the answer if there's anything interesting.