Talk About All Things EU/Legends

At first I was upset about chewys death. It surprised me and I thought it was a mistake on their part. But I accepted it. Chewy death had meaning and it created real world situations that we could identify with.

I liked the vong as a new enemy. I’m not found of the fact they are as fast as they Jedi. I find it interesting how the vong religion is against mechanical technology. It makes for an interesting perspective of how religious beliefs cause wars.

As the books go on, you will see that they put a lot of thought into their religion.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 18, 2018, Original Post Date: Dec 18, 2018 ---

They definitely made Chewys death impact Han. It’s an interesting roller coaster of human emotions. But they do a great job with it.

I didn’t know there is an anti-EU crowd.

 

Not to an official or widespread capacity, but it exists.

I've noticed on this forum, TheForce.Net, r/StarWars and r/StarWarsSpeculation that it's very common for those in passionate defense of the new films to automatically dismiss or cast shade at elements of the Expanded Universe---not because they're inherently bad in the context in which they were written, but because it's a quick and hasty way of justifying the supposed "superior quality" of the new canon. It essentially allows them to take one or two elements that sound bad on paper or are legitimately poorly-written to consider the entire Expanded Universe of 170 novels, 100 comic series, and at least 100 games and throw it all under the rug as a necessary termination to enable the creation of the "superior" Nu-Canon.

...which is amusing considering the new Canon contains plenty of questionable plot elements and inconsistencies as well, such as:

-The new comics claiming the Death Star's construction as a secret to Vader despite ROTS literally showing him witnessing its construction from the deck of a Star Destroyer.
-The new comics depicting a planet with people eating magic blue rocks that can grant telekinetic powers
-The new novels stating that Ben Solo's reported abuse at the hands of a babysitter droid was a contributing factor to him turning evil
-The new novels stating that the New Republic's first move after spending almost a decade fighting the Empire is to completely de-militarize and disarm in perfectly-blind faith that no one will ever attack them again
-The new comics depicting Yoda communicating with a mountain that can get up, walk around, and use the Force
-The new comics showing that Palpatine shows his face on galaxy-wide public transmissions when the rest of the Nu-Canon claims he's showing a false image to the public so he doesn't alarm them (which in itself is a retcon since ROTS established that everyone knows what he looks like, and he justifies it as scars from the Jedi's attempt on his life)
-The new comics depicting a Hutt with mechanical legs
-The new comics introducing an interdimensional space Jellyfish that can take out Star Destroyers
-The new comics depicting someone called the Immortal Rur who uses the Force to upload himself to a computer (something that everyone bashes the EU for doing back in the 90's with a character named Callista, despite this very same phenomenon existing in their own canon)
-TLJ's novelization stating that Phasma's armor is made from the wreckage of Palpatine's personal Space Yacht
-Solo: A Star Wars story explaining that Han's last name isn't familial, but a name some random Imperial Officer gave him.
-TLJ's encyclopedia stating that neither Rey nor Kylo use the Force against the Praetorian Guards because they're wearing FORCE-RESISTANT ARMOR
-TLJ's novelization showing Rey with the ability to download Jedi techniques and knowledge from Kylo Ren via telepathy, rendering the entire point and purpose of training and tutelage in the Jedi/Sith Orders completely pointless
And there's plenty more.

I could easily take one or two of these elements and employ the same argument tactic the anti-EU crowd uses, and be just as effective. It's a double-standard of the most vicious kind, and it's only gotten worse with the arrival of The Last Jedi.

 

I was "kind of" anti-EU, as there were a couple of books in the 1990s (I can't remember the titles now) that were blah. Luke sounded, to me at the time, like his whiney A New Hope self. Like there was no growth. Plus, in 1996 I came across a fantasy novel promising to be part of a new series called "A Game of Thrones" (the book, not the series of books which was A Song of Ice and Fire). That kind of ruined everything else for me.

I think Disney's biggest mistake so far, and they've made plenty of mistakes, has been to de canonize the EU. Getting rid of the tiered cannon system was stupid. And their fear of the EU being compared to the new material is crazy. It seems they only got rid of it cause they didn't want the competition, yet they continue to sell the novels under the "Legends" banner. Why not have two time lines? They could make more money that way, as the old EU fans would continue to purchase that stuff.

If I were Disney, I would have simply said we will have two time lines. The old Lucas film EU timeline and then a new Disney cannon time line. I'd have brought the Clone Wars series over into the nu-cannon along with the films. In the old cannon the films would also exist, but The Clone Wars would not (that way the clashes between it and Clone Wars would no longer exist). Then I would have continued to publish material in both. I know comics do this all the time.

The next thing I would have done would be to make the new films loosely based on the New Jedi Order series from the old EU. Keep Chewbacca alive in VII and have Han die saving his own kid. Also, don't have the Solo child an only child and have him on the good side for now. Let us see him fall.

@TrumanJ : I really like the Vong. They are cool and I can't wait to read more about them. I'm starting book 2 today.

 

I don't think this can be stressed enough. Cutting out all production of the Expanded Universe novels and comics was uninspired at best. I certainly would have continued to make Star Wars purchases if those stories hadn't been killed off. Aside from a few movie tickets, I haven't spent a dime on Star Wars since the Disney Acquisition and I know for a fact that there are many others like me. We're talking about millions of dollars that Disney/Lucasfilm just says: "Nah, don't want it."

Couldn't have said it better myself. Have the PT, OT and EU in one timeline and the PT, OT, ST, standalones, tv shows and future films (along with the nu-canon novels/comics/games) in the other. With the first six films serving as the foundation for both universes, there's enough room for everyone to enjoy whatever they want but still have some common ground.

I think I'd have been cool with the nu-canon films having mostly original characters and storylines but with bits and pieces of the EU tossed in, the way Filoni did in a few episodes of Rebels. Maybe the good Ben Solo discovers Darth Revan's legacy and falls to the dark side, releasing a reconstructed Star Forge on the New Republic... Or something like that.

 

I think if Disney would’ve done that, there would be some upset fans as usual. But the backlash wouldn’t have been as big and solo would’ve made more than half a billion.

 

Disney intent to wipe the slate clean and declare all our favorite EU/Legends not canon was motivated I believe by their desire not to pay authors like Timothy Zhan for their contributions. Instead what they have done is taken a character like Jacen Solo/Darth Cadeus and renamed him Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. If we are to see our favorite Legends come to life, it will be repackaged and altered enough so that Disney won’t have to pay credits to the creators of characters and stories of the EU.

 

I couldn’t agree with you more. It all comes down to money instead of what the hardcore fans want. It’s unfortunate because there are a lot of great characters in the EU.

 

The Bane Trilogy is the best

 

I really enjoyed The Mara Jade: The Emperor’s Hand Comics. I fell in love with the spirfire redhead when she first emerged. I had the Star Wars Insider where she was featured, the Decipher trading card, and I always picked her when I played Masters of Teräs Käsi Video game (PlayStation 1).
I have become afraid that with the new canon, Mara will be swept away and made to live only in the minds of those who remember her.

 

I'm kinda glad Disney hasn't touched Mara. I dont trust them with her honestly.

I've heard great things about the new Thrawn canon novels but I cant bring myself to read them even though Zahn wrote them. I'm sure its a fine characterization of Thrawn but canonized versions of legends characters just aren't for me.

 

In a way I am glad Mara my love has been left pure and unchanged. My hope is Disney will at some point (perhaps after TRoS) allow writers to tell Legends again and without the contraints of New Canon.

 

Certain things are good in canon, and certain things are bad (bad being Resistance TV show, TLJ in my opinion). The same goes for EU.
I just think there's too much of a risk with what Disney has shown us so far to put Mara Jade in their hands.

Thrawn in Rebels was underwhelming and his combat skills were unnecessary. Thrawn uses the power of his intellect, and there is no need for him to be exemplary in hand to hand combat. I did like his final scene with Ezra and the purgill though

 

You have great wisdom. I agree, some characters should remain in old canon EU/Legends. I am curious what makes Disney decide who they will canonized in NC. Thawn got transferred, but Revan remains untouched (I wonder if it has something to do with Bioware having rights to Revan?).

 

If Disney makes a Revan film/comic/series then I hope they make it his original image. The look of the Bane ghost in TCW sucked.

 

I fear for Revan’s image. They better not cast a Hayden Christenson for Lord Revan. I want Vin Diesel (Riddick).

 

Darth bane Revan and Plagueis series for old republic, for clone wars I would recommend just republic commando, then after that the meaty stuff comes in. The essentials in my mind are first the thrawn trilogy and the hand of thrawn duology. Then there is the Jedi academy trilogy, but you can supplement that with I, Jedi, which covers the same time period more concisely. Then there is the massive NJO. It is long, so if you want to just read the first book, vector prime, and then go to star by star, and read to the end from there. Then there is the dark nest crisis trilogy, which gets boring but introduces important things, and the Legacy of the Force books come after that. They are very good, and after that comes Fate of the Jedi, which is also pretty good. yay we did it

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 2, 2020, Original Post Date: Apr 2, 2020 ---

Eh, I’ve never liked it. But at least it is better than the Crystal Star, where Luke goes crazy and there are werewolves(called wyrwolves)

 

Even though some of the characters are outdated or whatever in the old books, I still love Courtship of Princess Leia which introduced a different version of the NIghtsisters and Dathomor.

That and i just started reading the X Wing novel Wraith Squadron for the first time today.

I still think the X-Wing novel series are underrated even though they drag on in every book with ship dogfights etc.