So much good stuff from content before the Prequel Trilogy films were released that I’ve forgotten:
I found this helpful thread on a rare visit to the StarWarsEU reddit: Prequels before the prequels
"A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition (1994) placed Obi-Wan and Anakin’s births at 60 and 55 BBY respectively.
The Thrawn Trilogy and various other material put the end of the Clone Wars at 35 BBY.
An obscure West End Roleplaying Game piece lists Palpatine as a former Jedi Master.
Jedi Search has Luke saying Yoda lived on Dagobah for hundreds of years.
The ESB Novelization says the Republic fought Mandalorians in the CW, and pretty much everybody agreed the Clones were the main enemy.
The main uniform of the Jedi was what Luke wore in ROTJ.
the Sith were name dropped in the ANH Novelization, but nobody knew what they actually were. Zahn wanted to to have them as what later became the Noghiri, but that was vetoed.
Palpatine came into power after the CW. Mon Mothma was a Senator at the time.
Obi-Wan had another apprentice alongside Anakin during the CW (initially Vader when he was a separate character from Ani, but that was obviously retconned. That guy later became Halagad Ventor).
Owen was Obi-Wan’s brother.
Luke and Leia’s mother stayed with the latter, and died when the twins were four.
Anakin and Obi-Wan still fought on a lava planet.
Obi was implied to be from Tatooine.
Jedi could get married.
Boba Fett’s real name was Jaster Meereel, and he was an adult during the CW.
Vader was already in the suit when the Empire began, he rose the through the ranks as damaged goods (mainly through being Tarkin’s henchman).
Leia’s adoptive father’s first name was Prestor (retconned to be his middle name).
Anakin didn’t know his wife was pregnant at all.
If I remember anything else, I’ll edit it in."
^ all in a single post by CharlieTheStrawman
I remember that old “A Guide to the Star Wars Universe” book. I’ll have to dig it out and give it another read! Then onto the Tales Of The Jedi series again, I’ve not read those fully since the Prequel films.
Pic of “A Guide to the Star Wars Universe” also found on reddit:
Edit: there is more on this, and the pre-PT era lore in general, in this new thread:
Pre-PT era lore | an OT & EU scrapbook resource | additional info & sources welcome
“Don’t tell anyone… but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories - let’s call them homages - and you’ve got a series.” - George Lucas
All of that makes a lot more sense than what we got in the Prequels.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
I’ve come across a few posts from folks who claim that K. W. Jeter’s The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy references the Clone Wars. Specifically, that the majority of Mandalorians disappeared from the known galaxy at the end of the wars, their fleet making a blind hyperspace jump into the unknown. None of them cited their sources, though, which is frustrating.
“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
These are some cool ideas I might incorporate in my Prequel rewrite.
Owen was Obi-Wan’s brother.
Then why does Owen hate Obi-Wan so much?
Vader was already in the suit when the Empire began, he rose the through the ranks as damaged goods (mainly through being Tarkin’s henchman).
When did the Empire begin? What put him in the suit before he fought Obi-Wan?
These are some cool ideas I might incorporate in my Prequel rewrite.
Owen was Obi-Wan’s brother.
Then why does Owen hate Obi-Wan so much?
Resentment over Ben leaving the family to become a Jedi + blame for Anakin’s death/fall (whichever Owen believed to be the case) + jealousy, perhaps?
Vader was already in the suit when the Empire began, he rose the through the ranks as damaged goods (mainly through being Tarkin’s henchman).
When did the Empire begin? What put him in the suit before he fought Obi-Wan?
In Heir to the Empire, Pellaeon muses on having served in the Imperial Starfleet for fifty years. 9 ABY - 50 years = 41 BBY, if we assume Pellaeon wasn’t also including time spent in the Republic Starfleet.
As for Vader being in the armour by 35 BBY, I don’t believe this is necessarily the case. The most which can be said with certainty is that he’d assumed the identity of Vader by that time, but the injuries which put him in the suit could’ve still occurred later.
“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
I’ve come across a few posts from folks who claim that K. W. Jeter’s The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy references the Clone Wars. Specifically, that the majority of Mandalorians disappeared from the known galaxy at the end of the wars, their fleet making a blind hyperspace jump into the unknown. None of them cited their sources, though, which is frustrating.
That’s the coolest idea ever. So naturally, it didn’t happen in any canonical material.
I’ve come across a few posts from folks who claim that K. W. Jeter’s The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy references the Clone Wars. Specifically, that the majority of Mandalorians disappeared from the known galaxy at the end of the wars, their fleet making a blind hyperspace jump into the unknown. None of them cited their sources, though, which is frustrating.
That’s the coolest idea ever. So naturally, it didn’t happen in any canonical material.
In one of the Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson strips, the builders of the Massassi Temples were shown to have left Yavin IV for another galaxy, leaving the Night Beast behind in stasis. As TOTJ would later reveal, the Night Beast was a mutated Massassi warrior created by Exar Kun, meaning it was his Sith followers who left for another galaxy. I can easily imagine these Mandalorian refugees ended up fleeing to that very same galaxy and encountering the descendants of Kun’s Sith, perhaps joining forces.
So many possibilities, and we end up with Jar Jar Binks and Leia Poppins.
“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Some more Star Wars Timelines from before the Prequels, just for some nostalgia and fun:
“Time Line Of Important Events In The Star Wars Galaxy”, from the 1994 book ‘A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded’:
“Star Wars Timeline from 1994”, from Star Wars Insider #23:
“Star Wars Timeline from 1997”, for the “Dark Force Rising” comics.
Edit:
The Star Wars Timeline Gold by Nathan P Butler: 5 downloadable pdf files covering different aspects of the Star Wars Timeline
https://starwarsfanworks.com/timeline (final edition was in 2018)
^ The Legends Timeline Vol. 2 is relevant here; there are 426 pages of the Timeline just to get to 100BBY. Comprehensive.
“Don’t tell anyone… but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories - let’s call them homages - and you’ve got a series.” - George Lucas
The timeline for TOTJ is interesting. Ten years between Golden Age and Fall of the Sith Empire; six years between The Freedon Nadd Uprising and Dark Lords of the Sith; three years between Dark Lords and The Sith War. Taking the comics at complete face value, a ten-year gap between Golden Age and Fall isn’t at all plausible. But perhaps this is an indicator that these stories were conceived as heavily condensed retellings of historical events rather than accurate reports. Shame the creators who came after Veitch and KJA failed to read between the lines.
“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy