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Hal 9000

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Join date
14-Oct-2003
Last activity
18-Sep-2025
Posts
11,348

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Post
#702730
Topic
Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU
Time

Just taking a principle to its extreme, that's all. 

I'm still enjoying EU stories, by the way. But all the same, I'd rather read things that aren't in as immediate danger of being overruled. I won't pretend like it doesn't matter at all, but I'm not going to let it cast a shadow over the things I enjoy.

I'll find some novels to get into other than post-ROTJ or Clone War era entries. Maybe Kenobi or something. Or the Empire and Rebellion series, since the new "canon" Luke book was supposed to be #3.

Post
#702723
Topic
Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU
Time

I suppose Obi-Wan and Owen *could* be brothers. The prequels need not necessarily preclude it. Cliegg Lars moved to Tatooine some time after giving up Obi-Wan to the Jedi Order. (The difference in their last names isn't a counter-argument, because it would have been a consideration at the time of the ROTJ novelization anyway.)

Without a religious hierarchy with infallible pronouncements to interpret this for me, my computerized mind produces logical rationalizations. My mind is going. I can feel it.

Post
#702244
Topic
Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU
Time

Star Wars, at least as long as I've been around to observe it, has always had a ~two-tiered continuity. The first is ~G-canon, which comprises the theatrical films and their adaptations, as well as whatever George Lucas has directly influenced AND cares to include. (I.e., The Clone Wars is G-canon but the Holiday Special is not.)

The second level is ~C-canon, being most of the EU as we've known it. It's not at that higher level of canon, though it's still valid unless contradicted by something G-canon. There are some Star Wars works that do not even make it up to this level of canon that, to me, are outside of continuity altogether. 

This recent announcement seems, at first blush, to say that all C-canon material is now pushed down to being outside of continuity. In reality, I think it's more of a blanket statement that they are not going to go out of their way to be consistent with past EU. In other words, what was C-canon will remain such, though it's all on probation and can be erased at a moment's notice by something G-canon (or D-canon?). In that sense, it's really not anything new. 

So you can have your Darth Plagueis or Shadows Of The Empire novels, and they'll still basically be C-canon unless new material going forward contradicts it. These two examples should be relatively safe from immediate danger, whereas stuff like The Thrawn Trilogy will certainly be precluded by new content pretty quickly.

I hope I don't sound like I'm griping; this is the sort of mental exercise that is fun about a fictional universe. We're just not usually asked to engage in it with so much material all at once. 

Post
#702141
Topic
Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU
Time

Ha ha!

Well, I don't think any of us were surprised by this news. I was secretly hoping that they would err on the side of keeping some of the existing EU, perhaps even grandfathering in select works to this new ""canon.""

The "Legends" banner to me implies the same thing as the "Infinities" logo. Is it indeed all prior books that will carry such a label? Even things like KOTOR, set thousands of years before anything having to do with the films? That seems somewhat arbitrary and harsh to me. I totally get having to jettison the entire post-ROTJ EU, and perhaps even heavily pruning the rest. I'm just surprised it all had to go, even very recent publications set in prior eras.

Perhaps it's asking for too much, but I am a little disappointed they didn't put together a short list of a few key works that can be grafted into this new canon. Take something like "The Approaching Storm" for example, which was written during the production of AOTC as an official lead-in novel. Surely something like that wouldn't harm future continuity, even if other things like the various Clone Wars novels might. 

Even though I haven't done much more than dip my toes into the EU at any point, I appreciate its existence. To have that depth as a backdrop lends verisimilitude to the Star Wars universe and makes it feel like a genuine subcreation that can be explored almost endlessly. With the recent announcement, it's as if a black hole swallowed most of it up and created a vaccum of content. Are other authors going to now rewrite the various eras of the Star Wars story? Could Zahn or other others "resubmit" their books for "canonization," if they like?

Then again, I'm the sort of geek who was tickled by the Paul McGann 'Doctor' character popping up in the mini-episode of Doctor Who "Night Of The Doctor" to, among other things, bring into screen-continuity all his various audio adventure content. I like it when a franchise goes out of its way to demonstrate kindness to the continuity of its past. That care and attention to subcreation is part of what makes it fun.

All that being said, I still have questions about all this and I hope they continue to clarify what is going on. 

Post
#699392
Topic
The New Generation of Star Wars Fans
Time

I threw some 35mm film grain over my prequel fan edits in the hopes it would help everything look a little more like they're part of the same space. It might help a small amount, and mostly subliminally. 

The Hobbit: DoS looked bad to me as well. I didn't bother with the 48fps or 3D this time around, and I was really dismayed at what I saw onscreen. It looks like videogame cutscenes at times. I'm holding out for a decent fan edit of the trilogy when all this is over. And some film grain will certainly be in order. 

Post
#697781
Topic
Harmy's THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Despecialized Edition HD - V2.0 - MKV & AVCHD (Released)
Time

I was surprised when I learned that the lightsabers in ANH were recomped from their original elements; it's amazing how they can look so different. The sabers in the '04/'11 ANHSE just do not feel right to me. 

The only time in the prequels when a lightsaber felt the same way was when Yoda lopped off the clonetroopers' heads during Order 66. The blade is less defined or something.