Tag Archives: force awakens

Star Wars: The Trade-off of Legends

I’ve enjoyed the new Star Wars film like no other. It reinvigorated my passion for the expansive universe sci-fi series, but when the revamp was announced one thing was soon clear: There’d be a huge trade-off.

The trade-off for new Star Wars films is the reduction of the expanded universe to ‘legends’. This means,that the powers that be are in full control of reshaping, remoulding and destroying parts of the universe in favor of continuity of the films. To me that massively sucks. I’m going to be heavily speculating here about some of the key elements of the Expanded universe in my own brand of depressed analysis. Still, I draw hope from what Timothy Zahn mentioned about this all:

Bottom line: let’s all sit back and relax and see what new adventures are offered to us, both in new books and new movies. It’ll be Star Wars, and that’s what counts. – Timothy Zahn

Force Users

Zahn offers me a good bridge to an inital element of annoyance. Luke Skywalker is not necessarily the last Jedi. In fact, the complete expanded universe has been a huge contradiction of this. If not just for the current sucky situation that Leia seems to have no affinity with the force whatsoever, how about some of the most beloved characters from post-Star Wars EU stories. Ok, there is this slight hint of Leia having a slim sort of affinity to the force when she experiences loss when Han Solo is killed, but its too little, too late. In ‘The Force Awakens’, the son of the couple Ben Solo has force affinity. This is also tricky. I’ll refrain from going into this wasps nest of theory though.

How about Kyle Katarn? Does this trade-off reduce him to the history books of cool-guy-could-have-beens? I’m not saying this won’t be fixed, but there’s definitely an issue now, after declaring Luke the only force user.

source: Reddit

Key Playaz of History

The present is shaped by the past, but this situation offers a great way to really reduce history’s significance to a near zero. Though the Republic fell so easily in the films I, II and III it had stood before that fora millenia. Millenia in which the most fierce and powerful of the Sith were active. Let’s be reasonable, Darth Sidious is a pitiful bit of Sith. Manipulative, sure, but is he so strong that he could overthrow the whole Jedi order? Was Anakin that bright light?

Exar Kun, source: Star Wars Wikia.com

How could that Republic fight back the likes of Marka Ragnos and the combined power of Exar Kun and Uli Qel-Droma and this one fall under the boot of Hayden Christensen?

Expanded Universe reduced to fleeting mythology

Not only does the history seem trivial now in comparison to the film and its characters, it also has been changed from established fact to myth. At any time it can be repudiated, discarded and even erased. From the rocks that show the path of history in the Galaxy far, far away it becomes a misty, vague past with probabilities and possibilities. A vast detereoration of years of passionate work and love for the galaxy. It’s even captivated in the name: ‘Legends’.

A well, these are just my minor concerns. Don bother too much with them if you have never heard of the expanded universe. It shouldn’t bother you much.