I will remind you that Disney’s motivation for throwing out the Expanded Universe was for “creative freedom.” All I have seen is the deepest void of “creativity” with Disney’s Star Wars.
@@hawks5999 And yet Disney brought him back just in one movie just to die again like a bitch at least the dark empire had a explanation on how he come back through essence transfer plus it interesting to the emperor in a younger body what he can do in his prime.
Never forget: Disney decided to reveal Palpatine's return in Fortnite but refuse to make their comics and books have important plot points but rather use them as filler material. They should revive legends and be done with it.
I understand If they don't want to make more books, but what about the ones already published? Isn't It the easiest money ever made to just reprint the books and comics and just give some royalties to the authors? They have this 30+ year library with thousands of titles and they do nothing with It, It's insane to me, even more because I wanted to have this books and can't because 1) they are really old and not being published anymore, and 2) they never got to many places in the word, never being translated to other languages. So yeah, by living in Brazil I'm stuck with fucking "Alphabet Squadron" and other Cannon BS, I only know what I know about Legends because SWTOR, the Jedi Knight series and the blessed team behind the "Thrawn's Revenge" mod for Empire At War.
Shadows of the Empire was so excellent, George wanted to make it into a movie. Wish he did. The original cast still looked how they did at the end of Return.
I became a Star Wars fan around the time of the force awakens. In a way I am the fan I am today because of the Disney trilogy, but ONLY because it led me to the EU and it’s vastly superior stories! I am now more focused on the older stories about Mara jade, thrawn,Revan, Luke’s Jedi order, Jaina solo, Darth Bane and so many other characters that I love more than any that Disney created.
I wish they would finish Sword of the Jedi and allow it to be published. and the other post Crucible stories around, Allana Solo, Jaina Solo, and Ben Skywalker. Disney Star Wars is not canon. Its a waste of time, and money and energy.
@AndreNitroX To be honest, I do like to mix some stories of Disney's canon with the EU. For instance, I like to imagine Jedi Fallen Order and Manadlorian s1+2 can take place in the same universe as the Jedi Knight series. In short, headcanon mixing.
The key thing about Legends/EU is how well it reconciled all its stories, even the numerous ones which were just as dull if not worse than plenty of the Disney canon expanded material, like the 70s comics. This is because of two big reasons: there were more than enough truly great stories to elevate the expanded universe as a whole, and there was a strong commitment to maintaining continuity through stuff like an official ranking system(where the more ludicrous things get put lower in the canon hierarchy and are painted in broader strokes). Disney canon likes to pretend that there is no need for a ranking system in their continuity, and despite the fact they clearly supersede some things above others, they refuse to officially and completely adopt a system that would not only make the retcons less confusing/frustrating, but also allow more creativity. There already are parallel universes in Star Wars, and even though they are well distinguished from each other through labeling, Disney for some reason refuses to allow a single new Legends story to be made even though it would literally be just a drop in an ocean of Legends branded material.
I love the official STAR WARS atlas, which documents the galaxy's entire 30,000-year history, from the Rakatans to the new Sith Empire. They treat everything in Legends (except for the holiday special, of course) completely seriously, even the campy and juvenile stuff, and even have some beautiful new illustrations depicting everything in realistic fashion, including some of the visuals we previously saw only in the cheap 1980s cartoons. It's a must for any hardcore STAR WARS fan. It not only makes me mad but baffles me that Disney is (mostly) ignoring this treasure trove of material. Given all of the cultural phenomena they've shamelessly borrowed over the years, from the Brothers Grimm to "1,001 Nights," you'd think they'd depict established STAR WARS stories with some level of accuracy. I've been begging them to do that for years. Back in 2012, when Disney purchased the franchise, I was telling people I wanted to see a movie adaptation of Dave Wolverton's THE COURTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA, with, say, Josh Brolin as Han Solo and Sarah MIchelle Gellar as Leia. (That's right: I wanted Disney to do sequels from the Galactic Civil War era and recast the roles. I never wanted to see the original cast come back as elderly people.) And what about Steve Perry's SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE? That would easily equal any of the original trilogy's films in terms of scope! But no: Disney would rather rewrite history, and often with really awful new characters none of us care about. They were even stupid enough to insist that Chewbacca didn't get a medal at the end of the 1977 film - when, according to the Marvel Comics adaptation, he did.
To be honest, at this point I'm glad that the EU was separated off and allowed to die gracefully. Just look at some of the garbage that disney is releasing now and calling "star wars". The high republic comic has a frikkin ROCK as a character. If they gave the old EU to some of these modern woke sjw authors it'd be ruined in no time.
I blame Control Freaks and Tyrannical Narcissists that demand THEIR Vision be superior and refuse any and all legitimate competition. It happened when Marvel Destroyed it's Multiverse and similar Creative types are employed there.
The reason for cancelling Legends, I think, is simple. It's the same dirty mindset that plagues lots of companies with regard to people hired by a previous manager. If it's not done by themselves, then it's not worth investing energy in. (Excepting the bare minimum to reprint the old work and make money off it while reminding everyone that it's not the "official" continuation of the story.)
I liked Star Wars as a kid but its was the EU and the books and comics it contained that made me love Star Wars. The day Disney bought Star Wars I audibly yelled "NOOO" in a crowded cafeteria because I knew it would be the end of the books I love. Ive read several of the new cannon novels and nothing has grabbed me like the X-wing series or Crimson Empire or the Hand of Thrawn duology, not to mention the NJO, Legacy of the force and Fate of the Jedi series. And I never understood till you said it; They used to drive the story forward to new things where todays cannon is just.. fluff. And usually not good fluff.
@@AshanBhatoa Ive read probably 85% of all published EU novels. And has been stated some better than others. But the worst EU novel is probably how ive felt reading the best new cannon novels, which are probably the Thrawn series.
@@scbask2 There were some REALLY crappy EU stories. But all you have to do is compare the original Thrawn story-line to episode 7-9 (which I guess are kinda in the same timeframe) and it becomes painfully obvious the EU is FAR superior to Disney canon.
One thing about the early EU novels, the ones before Episode 1 was released, is they kept the pre purge Jedi Order pretty mysterious so that the reader would interpret them the way Luke Skywalker would perceive them, and kinda learn about them with him. It showed how ruthless and successful the Emperor's purge was, and the monumental task Luke Skywalker had undertaken to start a New Jedi Order. I just wish we got Luke's Praxeum instead of what Disney did, I would have preferred to see a new Jedi Order and New Republic trying to not repeat the mistakes of the past in the face of galactic threat.
you're probably aware by now but george's sequels wouldve lined up with the EU very well, i do think a part of why the George Sequels were dropped was because of them wanting to toss the EU or vice versa. Either way it was dumb
I've read most of the EU. Disney earned my ire when the first thing they did was cancel it. Threw the decade I spent reading, enjoying, and learning from them into the trash. I will not be reading any of the new books, but not because I think they'll all be bad, but because I want to keep those happy years still pure in my mind. Sometimes I'll still go and read books, and they help to remind me what could have been, before the darkness of the Sith clouded the franchise.
You know it was going to be mixed regardless of who owned it right? Hell it was going to be non canon had George made his Sequel Trilogy so… your talk of “purity” was out of desperation.
@@achaudhari101 Except Lucas was never going to make his third trillogy. He said so repeatedly and only handed over his drafts after Disney purchased SW. So no, it wouldn't be "mixed" regardless of who owned it
@@HonestHappyHater Actually the original idea for George was that he was going to make Episode 7 and give away the company to someone else up until his daughter was born and that changed. This was before Disney bought them out hence why the outlines were created before the sellout.
@@achaudhari101 That's all fine and dandy, but therr are a few issues: 1. Lucas did not intend to make a sequel, as you, yourself said. He did write a draft, but he chose to give it away, along with any power to enforce realisation of this draft. 2. George's draft was largely ignored by Abrams. The buyer was in no way obligated to follow through with the draft. In other words, Lucas didn't want to make the sequels and whoever bought the franchise wasn't obligated to contradict the EU, making the whole point from your first comment invalid
The EU has a huge wealth of stories waiting to be tapped into. From new worlds, large events long before the Clone Wars to after the rise of the New Republic and it even takes characters with not much story in cannon and gives them full in depth amazing stories. Thought Boba Fett was just a toy grab idea? They gave him and even Jango Fett big story lines that even go on after Boba's pit incident because he survived it. People usually counters anything good about the EU because the stories are a mess when it comes to continuity and linking up with each other, to that I say, and the new Star Wars isn't? That aside there's so much untapped potential and opportunities, from movies, to TV shows to even possible video games. You practically have all the scripts there in the story. Just gotta adapt them to be shown on screen. Only if Disney wasn't so keen on acting like the EU doesn't exist yet they take ideas from it. They do occasionally dip there toe into the EU and follow some things but they end up not following some things fully and end up changing what happens arguably making it worse.
@@vicshephard9231 like how many good fricken stories are in the EU, just waiting to be used? It's absurd how Disney just decided to turn away free stories. It's baffling
@@tannerp.4996 not entirely I mean look at the thrawn trilogy that basically got retcon by the prequels but none the less I love it and I try to see both animated Series and comics/novels as one with the clone wars
A lot of the new canon books and comics really relegate themselves to being tie in materials for movies and TV shows. The old EU was eagerly seeking to fill in the actual canon before, between, and after the movies, to tell the definitive stories of what happened. Also, even direct prequels and stories set between films sought to tell a compelling story in the Star Wars world that happened to take place at a certain point in the timeline. They didn’t always succeed, but they tried. Most of the new canon books and movies are just trying to supplement something on screen… even the good new canon stuff. “These stories help explain what Darth Vader went through leading up to…” and not “here’s a SICK story about Darth Vader.” The new canon books are pretty much functional by design. When they aren’t, it’s kind of a happy accident.
“Here’s Darth Vader literally murdering tons of people to prove that he’s the ultimate Sith, ending with him brutally fighting his rivals for Darth Sidious’s favor”
My favorite EU/Legends story is Jedi Apprentice. It fleshes out Obi-Wan's character, gives him friends, expands on Jedi culture, and thus makes his story that much more tragic. It also paints Qui-Gon as highly fallible whereas so many SW fans on Reddit think he is totally infallible and could have been the savior of Anakin and the Jedi. But since this story is Legends, it's non-canon and most people disregard it. I love that it exists even if it isn't "real" Star Wars. I still would LOVE for it to be adapted into an animated show but I know that's extremely unlikely so I cherish the books and the utter tragedy of Obi-Wan's life in this series.
Disney always writes themselves into a corner to write content for Star Wars, whatever media it is and come up with whatever will make money and if the fans don’t like it, they either ignore or retcon it and keep on going with out any plan at all
One of my favorite EU novels is Tatooine Ghost. It beautifully connects the prequel era with the post-RotJ era and gives Leia closure to who her father was while setting aside her fears of having children of her own.
I think one reason why the canceled the EU was because Disney wanted their stories to be the only thing that would happen after Return of the Jedi. That no other stories would compete with theirs. Only issue is they still exist, just canceling them doesn't me they don't exist anymore. Whats hilarious is that they would even take ideas from the EU then go one to say there's nothing that takes place after ROTJ.
Not only do those stories still exist, but Disney ordered new printings of the most popular ones because they knew there was money to be had selling them.
@@cr128 well at least they are being some one smart, but the fact they aren't using the EU to it's fullest extent is baffling. They are barely tapping into the amount of profit the EU can rack in.
It's no competition, the old EU blows this new ridiculous Disney version of Star Wars out of the water. I often go back to the now legends stuff and honestly get upset because Disney ruined what should have been something amazing. The new Mandoverse stuff helps a little, but they're still polishing a turd at this point, because we all know where Luke and the rest will end up.
YES!!! the EU is what made me dive fully into Star Wars, I read so many Books/comics, listened to so many audiobooks, and played SO MANY Star Wars video games, and then Disney trashed it all. It's made it hard for me to stomach literally any Disney star wars story when I already paid for, read, and enjoyed a BETTER story years ago. It was all connected (albeit inconsistencies corrected how they could), and I spent so much time invested in that timeline that I still want to see it continued. Where is 1313? Sword of the jedi? A sequel to the Darth Bane trilogy? If the EU was continued, people would buy it. I enjoy the Mandalorian, but the sequels and even Rogue one aren't what I'm into. Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors stole the death star plans, not Kassian andor. I still listen to the old audio dramas, and read the old dark horse comics and novels, Marvel star wars 108 is literally the only EU item we have gotten since 2014. I'm still an EU Fan, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Disney is leaving money on the table pushing their trash when there's a far better timeline that's been sitting in the dust since 2014
More than half the problems in the fanbase would be solved if they just one day declared Legends as an alternate timeline and that they're going to be creating new content (video games, novels, comics) for it starting next year. Hell, if they don't wanna take such a massive backtrack on their stupid decision, they would change the plans for the upcoming Tales of the Jedi animated series to be a faithful adaptation from the comics in Legends instead of supporting this High Republic fiasco...
@@AAhmou I'm down for them having multiple eras from Legends getting content by authors and artists that use to work on the old projects. Like, let in some young blood to keep things fresh but I don't want them sellouts currently infesting Lucasfilm and the Disney hivemind.
The Thrawn Trilogy came out when I was in elementary school and were some of the earliest "grown up" books I ever read. There was a pretty solid output of new stuff from that point on that helped make me the huge Star Wars fan I am today. I would be excited to see Thor do reviews of various books/trilogies/series from the EU.. Some of the stories I haven't read in 25+ years, so it would be exciting to relive some of them and get new perspectives on them. There have been a few good Disney books, but they just haven't gone anywhere overall.
It's Ironic, because the reason why Disney butchered the Expanded Universe was because of "creative freedom", yet most of their Canon stories in books, comics, games, films and etc. feel quite lacking in "creativity". Not only that but Disney's new Canon also adds characters and stories from the EU (because "creative freedom"), changing everything great about them thus ruining them in the process. While I do enjoy some parts of Disney's Canon, the Expanded Universe reigns Supreme in almost every way!
This is a great discussion on this topic. The more I delve into new canon, the more I am pushed from it. I am choosing to go fully into the EU and rely on that as my "canon." Great video!
@@achaudhari101 Nobody said all of Disney canon was bad. Not in this discussion, anyway. Trying to put words in our mouths to discredit our argument to boost yours isn’t gonna do you any good, pal.
I gave the Disney canon an honest shot. I read everything (books, comics) and watched everything up through the Solo movie release. It hadn’t been good for several months at that point. From that point it just became unreadable. I even tried their first High Republic novel and YA. There’s literally nothing of value left in the franchise. I’m fully and solely EU now.
@@hawks5999 Did you try anything with Vader in it as that's readable. You know there is value in Star Wars, otherwise you wouldn't think that it's dead like that.
the main thing that legends did was it kept the galaxy moving it wasn't just "here is the main character of this scene now everyone can begin to plot" like the darksaber plot where a hutt got their hands on the plans to the deathstar and then built the main weapon without anything else a terrifying idea but well the hutt cutting corners ended up causing the whole thing to fall apart not the new republic because they had no idea that the hutt wanted to do this until the theft and R2 and Threepio investigating the data vault security as a just incase thing after the hutt left which meant that leia and the republic military command finding out was Threepio moving as fast as he could screaming in terror yes you can laugh at that thought. beyond that everyone had character development even offscreen the antagonists improved old one off allies improved whereas canon if they aren't on screen they just sit still I'm talking about Lando fucking Calrissian sitting in a caravan for decades just wandering a desert planet looking for a sith artifact....one of the more successful people out there just fucking hell one of the worse things to happen to someone in the sequel trilogy.
Actually that would be fun to hear top ten canon books followed by top 10 legends books and than maybe a head to head to see which one truly did better.
To be fair, it’s not that “new canon” couldn’t compete… it’s that the new stuff mostly just isn’t anywhere near as good. Although Revan was at least somewhat canonized, as well as some others due to ship names in ep 9… even Thrawn hasn’t been as good and stuff. So basically, they threw out some of the greatest/favorite stories, partially re-canonized some technically but not explicitly, re-canonized others but with lower quality/less well-received stories/version, and added new characters/material that just isn’t as good, for the most part at least. Maybe there has been something new that’s good? But I haven’t heard of anyone raving about the new Revan, Thrawn, or Mara Jade or something. So basically, as far as I can tell, absolutely nothing new is even remotely as good. I mean, hell, I haven’t even heard of a new Kal Skirata or something like from the (imo underrated) Republic/Imperial Commando novels. Like, nobody is raving about anyone or anything new except I guess Din Djarin and Grogu? But literally nothing else. Oh yeah, not even a new Starkiller. I mean, people liked Jedi: Fallen Order as far as I can tell… but not Cal, really. Like, he’s fine, but they like the game more for the gameplay and EA finally giving us a GOOD Star Wars game again, and not really the character or story. So I’m quite disappointed.
There are so many aspects and characters in the EU that I am obsessed with. There is not a single thing Disney Star Wars has made that has gained my love in this way.
Timothy Zhan said he got to have lunch with Lucas when he was writing - so he was able to take all the raw thoughts Lucas had and make them come to life in his story. It was a real effort to make it as close to cannon as possible and as good a written book as possible. As far as Im concerned 'Disney' Starwars is the non cannon.
Zahn also was the one who coined the name Coruscant. He had a strong influence over Star Wars on the whole, and the Thrawn trilogy will forever be the superior sequel trilogy. And also every other novel he wrote for the EU was just as good. And there's a reason every single character he made became a staple of the EU, treated with just as much respect as the OT crew. Mara Jade, Talon Kaarde, Thrawn of course, but also Pellaeon (who is _extremely_ underrated these days but back in the EU he was treated like royalty by the other writers).
I always laugh when I see people say that the EU was bad because it's so obvious that they've never read anything in the EU. Even more funny they always used Dark Empire as an example it was bad but then disney basically uses the same story beats in TROS. And say what you will about Dark Empire but it at least explained how Palpatine came back unlike in TROS where he "somehow" returned. Disney is also using the books and comics in their timeline to fill in plotholes left by their movies which basically makes them required reading if you want to actually make sense of those terrible sequels. Also disney has already started to contradict their books with the shows they're making. The EU is and always will be superior to the disney canon regardless of what the fake fans say.
Speaking of the new canon in Star Wars, Rogue One is a prime example of what Disney is truly capable of if they just put in some love and care into the franchise
Rogue One is so underrated. I find it sad how people often don't think much of it because it was made during the Disney Star Wars era. It's honestly a masterpiece and deserves so much better than it's gotten.
I still prefer Dark Forces with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors but Rogue One is a solid well made film. Very clearly the best that has been done since the buyout.
@@TheAnimationConnoisseur People will often make downright false claims such as Boring characters, to dismiss it because it is made under Disney Ownership, truly tragic. It's a great movie, with mostly great characters.
@@slicerneons3300 Well they were only part of the theft. There are multiple stories about the plans being stolen including the X-Wing game and the original Han Solo trilogy.
I recently got done with Fate of the Jedi series and Crucible, a lot of good content, some character inconsistencies here and there but over all really enjoyable and fun to listen to, now I’m going back and starting at Thrawn trilogy and working my way back up to Fate of the Jedi
It’s so funny that you say that, yet you love CW so much when it completely destroyed the EU when it was coming out and is why it fits so perfectly in the new canon. I still really like it but as I’ve gotten into the eu lately, learning more the way the show just ignored the established EU when CW was also 100% the EU before Disney as well is kinda infuriating, and Filoni is keeping that tradition alive by contradicting this canon as well lmao.
Agreed. The Clone Wars is the reason why one of the best authors, Karen Traviss walked out and didn't continue the Republic/Imperial Commando series since it discredited her books. The Clone Wars fits perfectly into the new canon but only the original clone wars cartoon fits into old canon.
There are 3 canonized timelines; The EU, the disney schlock, and the Lucasverse. Very similar and overllaping in many places but incompatible. My mind burnt out trying to piece it all together into one consistent stream when CW first aired.
@@ridensroom6957 > Agreed. The Clone Wars is the reason why one of the best authors, Karen Traviss walked out and didn't continue the Republic/Imperial Commando series since it discredited her books. Karen Traviss does okay in her niche, but she and her mando obsession was one of the worst parts of the already dreadful LotF. As well, her Jedi bashing just got insufferable after a point
While I enjoyed the film "Solo" I didn't like some of the premises put forward in that film. I wasn't keen on the portrayal of both Han and Lando. Han especially, as he was playing the "good guy" not a scoundrel. That's his arc in the OT and I feel Lando and Han should go way back, potentially growing up as childhood friends not passing acquaintances at one time.
in legends, they knew each other in their early adult years lando actually spotted boba attempting to capture than alive and that was their first real meeting.
I can imagine a story like a Zahn trilogy happening after 10 years of episode VI.(1993-1999) Here Mark,Harrison young . Harrison acted in Fugitive in 93' and he was also fit and mascular. so no problem with a shape.. Luke is older and have more padawans. I can imagine also Tom Cruise fighting by Luke's side. Just look at him in a 'Legend'. Tom when was young also have a familiar and attractive face like Mark Hamill. It would have been interesting if the sequel episodes had been made in the early to mid-90s. With a wiser, stronger, more acrobatic, more impactful story. Where classic characters would not necessarily have carried the series, but their successors and students. In the 90s, the story could have been continued with a few talented actors. What do you think ?
Just discussed this the other day with Darth Mathu on The Praxeum Stream. This is the ONLY ip I've ever heard of where books were purchased and never ever developed further. DLF didn't just puchase the major films but everything branded Lucas, which was of great value. Dispight having hundreds of ready made source materials, they have not once adapted a story to audio or live action (though they tap heavily into the well). This still baffles me 10 years later. Now that Amazon owns the rights to the hobbit and is a short jump away from owing the rights to ALL Tolkien material, Im bracing for history to repeat itself. :(
I got into the fate of the Jedi series when Hamill, Fisher, Ford were like the perfect age to match up with their characters. It made it so fun and easy to visualize the story while reading it.
I think even fans in the EU that disliked FotJ can agree the casting lineup was at its peak for such a movie trilogy or (well funded) live-action series to be made.
Yes, I’d be interested in what books are the best in this new canon. I sorely miss EU/Legends I use to get excited when the next book would come out letting us know what was happening with our favourite characters, and even Jedi Academy. Each book grew on each other, making if you missed a few books, at the very least you would have to get it a a library to know what happened. Because they mostly kept the story line. Like I can’t remember them killing off a major character and them being alive in the next book unless that book was before they had been killed off. Why Disney can’t keep both it’s audience happy. Especially when it comes down to money. How much money has The Mouse missed out on because of this factor. And they can’t say they don’t have any, I heard from someone else that there’s at least a couple of the EU/Legends that have been written but never published because they were ready after Disney took over. And I’m sure some of the writers might have still ideas written down on what they thought might happen to the Skywalker’s, Solo’s, Tenel Ka Family, The Jedi and the Sith. And it wouldn’t take to long before they would have new stories ready for sale. And the magic of EU/Legends they don’t touch Disney’s Canon, so they won’t upset what they might think up next.
I was furious when Disney cancelled the EU in 2014, but now, I'm actually relieved. With the great awokening and the rise of hyper political correctness, the EU would have been ruined had it not been cancelled. It sucks that the EU was deleted, but it's better than Disney turning every other character gay or trans or something.
The new canon is busy trying to fix the mistakes of the sequels. The EU had to deal with the OT for the longest time and then still just the PT. They don’t have to deal with many mistakes and they actually made their own mistakes, but the vast majority of their stories were interesting and only a few had something as odd as alien bugs bunny rabbits for instance. I personally love the books like the fate of the Jedi series. Also no annoying politics. “The force is female.” Isn’t a statement that needs to be made in the EU because there are plenty of impactful characters in there that are women.
@@AndreNitroX You said it! Mon Mothma, Jaina Solo, Mara Jade, Tenal Ka, Cilghal, and the list could go on if I were to re-read all these books again. They didnt have to out of their way to say "This woman is awesome. You need to respect her." These women were strong and you respected their gangsta because all these female characters put the work in and the respect was baked right into the story. Again I totally agree.
@@AndreNitroX Satele Shan did something to my little nerdy ass when the cinematics for SWTOR dropped. Goodness she looked like a goddess in my eyes. I was so upset when I found out she wasn't a romance option when you play the Jedi Knight/Consular classes.
The EU isn't perfect, but it was made with love and respect for the films and largely wasn't incohesive to the Canon of Lucas's saga. The new Canon stuff is mostly there to retcon stuff and try to fix the failures of the sequel trilogy, attempting to force the two together. The EU added new and fresh things to the universe that were creative and exciting. Disney is more concerned with corporate shilling and political pandering than creativity and love for the franchise. And it shows.
One of the few cannon stories i liked was Tarkin. It really expands his character. Still need to finish Lords of the Sith. Started around christmas, got trough half and then just kinda stopped
I have tried to read the new cannon material but find it uninteresting. I started reading the Legends novels and have really enjoyed them. I just finished The Courtship of Princess Leai and I am currently reading Tatooine Ghost.
I loved the EU. I read most of them. I tried reading the new cannon and I remember liking bloodlines (I think that was the title) and I was halfway enjoying aftermath but the overall mess that the sequels made with their lack of planning kicked me out of any desire to keep reading. If anyone wants to suggest some content I’ll give it a try.
Alphabet Squadron is fantasic, IMO. Not quite as good as the Wraith Squadron books, but better than Rogue Squadron, if you asked me. Timothy Zahn is also still writing great books; both his new Thrawn Trilogies are absolutely worth reading, IMO.
I do believe you have a solid point. Might even be why the Mandalorian or Rogue One are some of the best stories of the new Era. Rogue one introduced a handful of new characters, sure only to be killed at the end, but a refreshing take as we didn't yet know the fate of these characters. But I feel like new characters that lead the storylines of a galaxy far far away should be just separate stories that happen in the vast dealings of the galaxy rather than always being connected to legacy characters.
Man, I miss the old feel to the expanded universe. Sure it could be confusing or rough around the edges but it always felt like there was an interesting and unique story to be told hidden in every nook of the galaxy. Sure, there were often cheap or silly references to the movie characters when visiting old favorites like Tatooine but the new planets always had a purpose and not just desert planet #35 because we wanted to be original without having to be creative. New SW (with very few exceptions) feels a sterile theme park ride where only specific aspects were carefully planned out to be inoffensive and marketable but everything became ultimately bland and shallow with anything of quality is just shamelessly stripped away from what came before.
I read some of the old stuff. Only thing that could qualify as new would be the book about Leia's young days becoming a rebel. I liked the stuff that explored side characters a bit better than stuff exploring main characters as focus characters, but the book about Leia isn't bad. It isn't great, but it isn't bad.
I loved the expanded universe it was a tight narrative. characters died and state dead. They created a time line that could easily be followed. Added so much lore..... Gave the universe a decent threat not related to the sith. Those books are light years better than the sequel trilogy
the best thing I've discovered about even technically the "worst" EU stories is that they add some substantial lore to the EU that can be referenced or further supplemented in future (Post-Endor/Legacy) or even past stories (Pre/Old Republic). That's what got me hooked and absorbed into Legends.
I think you are being far too generous with Disney; they have almost completely trashed the Star Wars franchise - at Least Kennedy did. If it weren't for people like Edwards, Filoni and Favroe - Star Wars would be a total loss cause these days. Thank GOD we still have at least SOME good Star Wars material to enjoy. Anyways, I do not read any new "cannon" books for the same reason i will likely never view Rise of Skywalker or Last Jedi ever again. The one exception in books is anything written by Timothy Zahn because he is an amazing writer. Though I have yet to actually read his new Thrawn novel as of yet, I have purchased it, but it does just sit on my shelf... not really all too gun hoe to read it anytime soon; possibly a side affect of Disney Star wars malaise and annoyance. But I probably will as i enjoyed the earlier Thrawn series. Oh yes, and your video actually helps point out how STUPID Disney was to do what they did with the EU. It was just plain stupid from both a fan service sense and a business sense. Kennedy and the Disney Corporate heads who were behind this are the WORST! I so wish we could fire them. They should NOT be allowed to continue to mishandle this amazing piece of American culture.
I don’t exactly like the thought of blaming JUST Kennedy, and we need to be careful with Filoni. His obsession with cramming his characters into every story is getting agitating. I’d like a break from Ahsoka, Grogu, and Mando showing up everywhere. They’re good characters, but I’d like them to be handled like Vader outside of their respective series; minimal. It adds to the weight of their appearances. This isn’t to say that Filoni is solely to blame either. It’s a creative team issue, through and through. But they are Filoni’s characters, he has more say over when and where they appear than anyone else. He needs to put his foot down and stay disciplined. I do not need Mando or Grogu to show up in Kenobi. MAYBE Ahsoka, but it has to be done VERY carefully.
@@shaneyy__ I wouldn’t mind just mando, babe, vanth, and krsantan with the recent show but all tye stuff with grogu should have waited til season 3 of the mandalorian
I've been into the old EU almost as long as I've been into Star Wars itself: that is to say, since I was a kid about a year before AotC released. Not long after I'd first seen the films, I had some Christmas money to burn, and happened to find that a bookshop I was visiting had plentiful Star Wars material on its shelves. I was amazed, and left the store that day with Showdown at Centerpoint, Tales from Jabba's Palace, and Jedi Apprentice: the Deadly Hunter in my bag. As soon as I read them, I was hooked, never mind that two of them were adult novels while I was still a kid(!), and I INSTANTLY factored them in to my understanding of the Star Wars galaxy. Over the course of my secondary school years, I gradually collected a copy of almost every EU Star Wars novel that existed up to that point; and even after my interests started wandering to things other than Star Wars, I still carefully kept up with the novel releases all the way through to Fate of the Jedi. And while, like you say, there were certainly some dud entries - and things got convoluted towards the end - it still felt like there was always something *new* going on, and it was a lot of fun to keep on top of it all. I still go back and reread some of those novels to this day: Aaron Allston's entries in the X-Wing series, the Correlian Trilogy, Shatterpoint, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, anything by Timothy Zahn (most especially Hand of Thrawn), and the KotOR graphic novel collections being my all-time favourites. Since Disney took over, I've read... literally only three of the new canon novels. Timothy Zahn's Thrawn is as compelling as ever, naturally, but A New Dawn (which I only got because it was cheap second-hand and I was curious) just fell flat to me, especially compared to the same author's previous work in the EU; and even knowing it was a different continuity I couldn't get past the book's inconsistencies with the EU that I was familiar with. Which is to say... I really haven't bothered with the new continuity. I have nothing against Disney specifically, I'm a big fan of some of their animated movies; but I just can't bring myself to care about their version of Star Wars. I don't hate the sequels... but I just don't feel *anything* strongly about the sequels at all, and so I find myself with really no interest in discovering the rest of the world that surrounds them. For myself, I'm perfectly happy in my own little headcanon world made out of my favourite parts of the old EU instead! Sorry for rambling; I don't really get chance to talk about my love for the EU, no-one else I know reads Star Wars, so I'm super-appreciative of this video giving me the opportunity :D
The original Marvel Comics run in the 70's after A New Hope did whatever they wanted with Star Wars content introducing villains and alien species that would not carry a movie but worked well in comics and became their own thing. Like Leia's adventure on a John Carter of Mars planet, Luke having a feud with the household of Moff Tagge for blowing up the Death Star, a winged race of demon looking people swearing a blood oath to help any Skywalkers they meet because they liked Anakin so much, the introduction of the cyborg bounty hunter Valance, Jabba the Hutt being a walrus-man, Lando doing a Captain Harlock cosplay, and an actor pretending to be a resurrected Obi-Wan Kenobi hired to screw with Luke opting to lay down his life and help him because it's "what his character would do". You can do whatever you want when you don't have studio mandates telling you that it has line up with upcoming big ticket projects or it isn't "canon".
The Legends original artworks are so beautiful. It kinda makes me want to get into the books. And since I'm not watching any shows, I guess legends is the best direction? Is this correct?
I used to read the books and comics, but when I bought them and they arrived, I realized I didn't care anymore, because I just wasn't interested in reading them. Then Bad Batch retconned the Kanan comics, and that was the nail in the coffin for me. If I were to name a book where I did feel the "why was this written" mentality, it would be Heir to the Jedi, a book set shortly after ANH that shows Luke going on a mission with this girl, before (spoilers if you care) that girl dies after they form a romance. Luke also begins to learn how to use telekinesis when he moves some noodles with his mind, foreshadowing the scene in ESB when he grabs his lightsaber on Hoth. When I finished it, I genuinely thought I just wasted hours of my time. It's thankfully one of the shorter books, but man was it pointless
There’s a reason SWTOR isn’t allowed to contradict Legends nor canon as stated in a recent interview at celebration. There’s a reason there happens to be a KOTOR remake in the works at the same time that interview took place. There’s a reason that Disney decided to try and use The Rise of Skywalker to convert the sequels into a canon version of Dark Empire. There’s a reason Ahsoka is searching for Thrawn. There’s a reason Timothy Zahn has hinted at the “Grysk Hegemony” being a canon version of the Yuuzan Vong. There’s a reason fans now suddenly want a “post-sequel trilogy (10-12).” The EU will be continued soon. I’m 100% convinced that as soon as canon overwrites the bulk of Legends, they will allow both continuities to coexist.
The Sequels weirdly enough, got me into reading the EU more, originally I only read books and comics between the original Trilogy and sometime comics with Obi-Wan, but other then that, I didn't really care at all and some of the stories from efter Ep6 even sounded boring or stupid, most of it was about the kids of the main characters and the aliens from outside of the main universe just sounded really stupid, but with the Sequels sucking really badly, I started reading it and it's great, I was still reading Disney canon comics and books at the time, but when Gina got fired without even a phone call from Disney, I started only read the Original EU and I've been loving it so far.
A better choice might have been to do a 'Council of Trent' type deal. If there were issues with the stories, go through and prune, or correct the occasion issue while keeping as much as possible.
I would've preferred that. We were going to get a series called Sword Of The Jedi and it would've been about finding Mortis and the dagger to end Abeloth permanently.
I have books of the EU. I also have disney books, but haven't read them yet (finishing up a few series first). The EU is my canon and I acknowledge the mess in them and think of how it could go. There are probably some books in the disney canon that i wouldn't mind bringing into mine (we will have to see). I believe disney has written themselves into a corner (think tom cat laying out traps for jerry mouse and realizing only too late he doesn't have any freedom to move). They've got a long way to go before I delve into disney canon with excitement.
I'd definitely be interested in a list of good new canon books. I'm re-reading my old EU books, and listening to the final new canon Thrawn book on Audible.
For the last few months I dived into the EU and bought so many old books and comics. And its so awesome I totally love it. Mara Jade is one of my favorite character and I gotta say even though I love Cookies I love the Noghri more and also Wedge Antilles in general take him as an example. He plays such a bigger side role throughout so many stories. and ofc they are not perfect. Or consistent sometimes certain events are crossing with canon. I personally enjoy character and story building at the same time like in the EU books. There was one that showed 20 stories of the aliens sitting in the Cantina when Obi and Luke entere. The Story of Wuher the barkeeper, Muftak the Talk sitting in the background. and also Greeds background how he became a bounty hunter and how he had to leave Rodia because of Clan Wars, he also gets introduced to Jabba he dint even worked for him. And he also encountered Han and Chewie before on Nar Shadda and tried to steal from them. Its the stuff you don't want to know but it is interesting because every character is connected to a planet or another character. In one CW Episode we can see Greedo at Jabbas Palace when he kidnapped the Papanoiida sisters and I like this story. But Greeds story there is something else for me. Its the story I read not this story. I don't really know if someone really understands what I mean by all this, but the EU is treasure and makes it all feel more like a universe...
I loved the expanded universe. It wasn't all great but overall it told a story that did a great job keeping me engrossed in my favorite characters. They had new characters that are worth caring about and like the title says, it really expanded on what we got in the movies. I was very skeptical when Disney swept away that whole storyline. I was certainly proven right in that skepticism
I was in middle school when I really started to get into the EU books. I originally started with the Republic Commando books not too long after Revenge of the Sith released. From there, I found a bunch of the books from the 90s at my library. I read a bunch of them, like the Tales books and Shadow of the Empire. The ones that stood out the most to me were the Heir to the Empire (which I bought my own copies of) and the Rogue Squadron/Wraith Squadron books. Those were good times.
Old Eu Books, games, comics=its own movie Disney Books, Games, comics=tiptoe around events so it can be a movie later And George still respected what the books were doing and even helped out with ideas (dark empire, darth plagueis) And it says a lot about how many authors stayed and just how many left to other franchises (like halo with Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller) And Disney says everything is canon no matter what then contradicts a book in a show with Ahsoka being a good one My favourite being dave filoni wanting to bring back Assaj Ventress in resistance….. about 50 years after her death in dark disciple (Freetown being Freetown after rotj while in mando it’s 5 years after)
The first books I ever bought with my allowance in the late 1900s, was the bounty wars. I have about 50 percent of all the EU books. I was shook when they canceled. There was long term story telling. The youzan vong cameo in kotor, and in thr clone wars book the last command. Awsome. All the build up for the vong invasion in the books.
I would appreciate your list of what the good new books are. When they first started coming out, I heard nothing but complaints, saying they were all garbage or wrong in the characterizations, such as Han being a dead beat dad who sold his medals. So I never tried them. But if there are some okay ones, I'd like to know. As for these new writers being struck in what they can do, any comic or book that ever tried to expand an ongoing show has had that problem, dating all the way back to when Marvel did Battlestar Galactica comics .without having the rights to use the images of any of the actors
The best authors involved with new canon are Alexander Freed and Timothy Zahn; Freed has written Battlefront: Twilight Company and the Alphabet Squadron Trilogy, while Zahn has written two new Thrawn Trilogies.
From a huge EU reader - I have yet to purchase a new canon book. Upon the initial purchase of Lucasfilm, I was so excited to see the books that I had been reading for year be made into films. When we found out that the EU was being called legends, it immediately made me less excited for the upcoming movies. Yes, the EU had some really out there stories, but you know you'd watch a Death Troopers movie.
I became a fan and collector of EU books because I didn't like Disney's sequels. The first thing was to read the books which covered roughly the same time as SWFA. I found the books far more interesting than Disney Wars.
I loved the old EU books (never been much of a comics fan anyway) and still re-read them to this day, but I've never read anything from the new canon and I think the point you made about the books no longer driving the story is why. Why devote time and money to a story that will get thrown out when the next TV show (which I do enjoy) comes along? Looking at Rebels and The Mandalorian, they introduced a lot of new characters that weren't hamstrung by needing to fit in with the narrative as much, there are still things they can't do but they're given more freedom because they don't need to make sure that a character stays on the same path that we see them on in the sequels.
I used to get all of the cannon books now I am only getting the ones I am interested in. In the last year I only got the Thrawn books which I only finished book 1 of am behind on all of it. I also have like 3/4 of Return Of the King, and all of The Silmarillion, Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin, Kenobi (Legends), The Boys Omnibus volume 6, All of Batman Fear State, a few issues of the Star Wars and Vader comics, and a bunch of DC Graphic novels.
@@2mrwario The new trilogy is good and the Ascendancy stuff is pretty good too but I have been more interested in some of the other books over it which is why I pushed it off. Zahn's works are still great though.
@@2mrwario Me personally I loved the first Thrawn novel. I liked the second one but I did not love like the first. Thrawn: Alliances to me was a bit boring at times while having some great moments.
I remember my grade school had a ‘graphic novels’ section and every chance I got I went there to read the Star Wars comics (I remember one where Luke disguised himself as a stormtrooper and met one of his friends from Tatooine, what was it called?) Sad to see kids won’t have the same experience with newer comics
Also a neat one where there was no Jedi, no Sith, no main characters from any of the movies, just a bunch of stormtroopers using cool battle tactics. It really made me a fan of the stormtroopers (which is why I’m disappointed with how stormtroopers are treated like comedy relief and canon fodder)
@@Pyxis10 you do realize Disney has cancelled all comics from the expanded universe, and only reprints the really famous ones right? All of the new comics need to be “canon approved”
Im so down to see what you have in your collection and what old stuff you would recommend to read. I have read the Empire run and about to hit Rebellion soon . There is a lot out there and for some one new it can be a bit hard to wear to start. Thanks again
I know I’m not alone but I’ll comment at the risk of being ostracized: but there is still a core fundamental part of my head canon where: Anakin never had an apprentice. Maul never returned, nor had a brother. A lot of the new canon, at least with regard to the clone wars is hard to accept. I specifically recall the three years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and in canon the same amount of time passes. Wasted characters, plot lines, battles were completely forgotten and even almost 20 years later it’s still my head canon. Granted, there have of course been some great new things introduced but to the few of us who actually lived month to month with the next dark horse clone wars comic, micro series, etc- it’s challenging to deal with.
A lot can happen in three years you know. And honestly it makes more sense with the Clone Wars showing it at the peak of the conflict while the other stories put together make it seem rather short for a major galactic conflict.
Ok bud that’s cool but George made all that. It’s real. Your headcanon is simply incorrect. Meanwhile anything else non George itself isn’t truly canon
I'm in agreement with you. The Clone Wars was entertaining but I don't accept it as canon. And George Lucas or not, it's fiction so no one can tell you that you cannot accept your own version of canon. The only caveat is that it can interfere with how you relate to other Star Wars fans. My personal headcanon is the old EU, minus the Clone Wars TV show, Dark Forces video game, and Dark Empire comics, plus Rogue One (because it was really good and can fit into the EU well enough).
I haven't read any of the Disney books and comics, but I got into the EU by watching Thor Skywalker. I'll admit it's not all great, but the highlights (Zahn's novels in particular) are absolutely Star Wars at its finest.
As a longtime Star Wars fan (I was 4 years old when in the theatre for A New Hope, before it was even called that) and a big fan of the EU, I cannot agree with you more. You did a wonderful job of balancing your compliments and criticisms of both the newer material, as well as, the brilliance and some shortcomings of the EU. You acheived a balance of the Force.
I loved the EU jacen solo was a favorite character but I love jaina too. Jaina was the definition of strong female and more human then Mary Ray ( Is Mary Sue mixed with Ray)
Several Years ago after reading the Thrawn Trilogy which got my started into the EU after Return of the Jedi I picked up the EU book Millennium Falcon which in my limited knowledge of that timeframe was the furthest jump into the future up until that point. Fortunately and because the Ship and the history of the Falcon were explored even jumping back to Revenge of the Sith or its construction hinting at its "nature" on the construction line it was very immersive and a good read. The Sequels of Disney SW do not have that......
Because George Lucas was a better manager than Kathleen Kennedy. She’s a good assistant producer, but some people just shouldn’t be allowed in a leadership position. Hayden Blackman would have been a great lead at Lucasfilm/Lucasarts.
Nostalgia baiting bad but thinking books from the nineties are perfect and will never be topped is good? I think we expect too much and need to enjoy the golden age of star wars we are in. Bad batch, clone wars s7, rogue one, solo, boba, mandalorian etc are all great content and very enjoyable but this channel and its fans specifically focus only on the perceived negative aspects
I remember first reading the Thrawn Trilogy and despite it being the first time I ever read any Star Wars content, so much of it rang true to the characters and the universe at large. Never in a million years would I have guessed that it would have been de-cannonized one day. It introduced new enemies, new gimmicks, new locales. It expanded on the old characters, gave new story arcs that made sense. It's true that not every part of the EU was great, but Tim Zahn's trilogy (and to a lesser degree, the Jedi Academy Trilogy) were turning points in my literary evolution. From there, I began appreciating and collecting other works like Dark Empire and the totally underrated Tales of the Jedi anthology (love those covers!). To me, this will ALWAYS be the true continuation of the Star Wars legacy.
I will cry uselessly from every mountaintop for a “What If…” Star Wars series that gives us the EU back. I can’t imagine it ever happens if for no other reason than it would highlight so many of the weaknesses of modern Star Wars but I’m not hurting anyone on my pointless quest
@@achaudhari101 Lucasverse and disney (Non)canon are two different things. I can also admit some works are less terrible than the others. Surely you have something better to do than be a poor troll.
@@achaudhari101 You misconstruimg my statements and jumping to accusations is troll levels of petty. Entirely optional on your part. If you enjoy taking L's so much, whatever. I just find such masochist behavior foreign.
@@slicerneons3300 Not all the time what I do is taking L's which if that was the case, I would be saying something retarded but I do have the history side of things to help me out dude. If you admitted that I was correct to a certain degree, it's not really trolling.
I’ve read some of the new canon, the Padmé trilogy is pretty infesting and that’s set in between and before the prequels. I’ve read some of the Leia books they have out and Brotherhood, which is set right after ATOC is a really good Anakin and Obi-Wan story. But overall I prefer the EU. My husband got me Heir to the Empire last year for our one year and I’ve been reading the EU books ever since and I can’t believe Disney was so dumb and made what they call a sequel trilogy instead of one of the AU storylines instead. Adam and Daisy would’ve been a better Jacen and Jaina instead of Ben Solo and Rey
Please keep in mind nearly nothing would have been possible with EU if it wasn't for West End Games and Star Wars d6. As a gamer in the 1980s, I fell in love with the mechanics of the Ghostbusters d6 system, which was revolutionary for its time. I said to my good friend Tim it would be amazing to use the game mechanics for something else such as sci-fi. The orbital mind-reading satellites heard me. The next year 1987 came Star Wars d6, and it was sheer genius. The first edition book captured Star Wars to a T. And I ran that game and bought every supplement for it for nearly a decade. Let's remember and give thanks to designer Greg Costikyan and editor Bill Slavicsek and many others who went on to add (with LFL approval) so much depth to Star Wars. Even Timothy Zhan used the roleplaying books as reference material and in turn his books made it into the game. When Phantom Menace came out, I sold everything ... the end of an era.
The only Disney Canon that’s actually decent is Rogue One, Clones Wars, some elements of Rebels and last but not least Fallen Order which are good stories; (for the most part) everything else from Disney’s Canon pales in comparison especially when set up with the EU.
I will say this: I never really grew up with much Legends material, so I don't have as much of an attachment to them. I honestly liked a lot of the Canon comics I read. Going to my old public library back where I used to live and reading them, was one of my favorite things to do. Moving to a place where I didn't have those anymore was very hard for me, because I got so invested in their stories. Especially the "Darth Vader" series. In my opinion, both Legends and Canon books/novels/comics have their own pros and cons, but someone shouldn't be talked down to for liking something different than someone else. Everyone has their own opinion, and that's ok.
Nope new canon is only used to justify garbage. That Vader series is highly overrated since is just basically copies EU shit anyway. It’s just a worse version of what we got with Vader before. Just like all Disney Star Wars
I've recently gotten into the books and after going from new canon to the EU, it's clear to see the difference in quality. It's the same problem I have with the shows at this point. The new canon books are about the same few characters and the galaxy just feels small. And if not that, it's to push an agenda like the high Republic. Unlike The Old Republic, which was just to tell stories of a different time period.
New canon does not interest me in the slightest. I liked the original EU, and although arcs like the New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force had their issues, I was really invested in Jacens arc, and I think overall did Anakins (at the time) and Ben Solos arcs much, much better (Anakins arc has improved over time with shows like th Clone Wars fleshing out his eventual downfall). Some of the Clone Wars era novels were fantastic as well, and I really liked the Republic Commando series.
I read one new canon book called Queen's Shadow. I wanted to like it and it seemed like it'd have more of Sabe in it, but I was highly disappointed. Not with Padme's story of becoming a senator, but more of it not meeting expectations and not being very well written. I used to read the Jedi Apprentice books and have recently started to revisit them and also started reading others like the Young Jedi Knights, the Coruscant Nights trilogy, some Clone Wars novels, and have several more of the Legends on my list.
The worst part of the EU retcon is that Disney replaced it with a lot of shit, like almost everything that is set in the Resistance era (Sequel trilogy, Star Wars Resistance, many sequel trilogy comics) I would be interested in a list of Disney canon that you like
I know this wasn't directed toward me, but I've read a good deal of the new canon. While much of it leaves a lot to be desired, I really, really enjoyed Claudia Gray's "Bloodline." It's a book about Leia. It sets up the First Order, but characters like Luke, Ben Solo, Rey, and so on are offscreen. The thing I enjoyed most about it is that we get a good look at Leia's feelings about the events of the Galactic Civil War. Losing her father and home planet, her feelings about Darth Vader, and the like. Your user name rocks, by the way. Zell's awesome.
Disney coulda just started a hundred or so years after the events of the Legacy Era and went to town but no, they had to leave their evil ass mark on the franchise and drop right into the thickest part of timeline (Clone Wars/OT/Post-Endor)...
This is not a new problem. During the late EU period, there was an EXPLICT hierarchy on who gets to do big things. In the Star Wars Legacy comics, set 100 years after the then-contemporary SW novels (themselves in the late 30s ABY), there are several Force Sensitive characters from the Fel family. The Fels of the novel period were not Force sensitive, buuuut the younger Fel was definitely interested in Han and Leia's daughter. But. Under NO circumstances were the comics allowed to confirm this. Because Jaina and Jag belonged to the world of novels, and so THEY would show and confirm it. And they did... in the very last novel of the very last book series produced under the aegis of the old EU... after Legacy had run its course. The comic writers were quite explicit about what LFL told them - "important details like that can ONLY be in the novels, not in the comic books. You stick to your little story, and the important novel writers will handle the actual lorecrafting."
Well, yeah. If those comics were to confirm Jaina and Jag had children together while other writers are in the middle of writing the actual adventures of Jaina and Jag, they'd be stepping on other authors' toes. Btw, they never did show them having kids, just that they were engaged to be married.
I will remind you that Disney’s motivation for throwing out the Expanded Universe was for “creative freedom.”
All I have seen is the deepest void of “creativity” with Disney’s Star Wars.
All they know is to milk other people's creative works, don't expect much from the mouse company
Zero creativity? No there's some, it's just hidden under all the terrible writing and plagiarism from other franchises.
I’m old enough to remember people defending the move by saying the EU had ridiculous storylines like when the Emperor came back.
It’s because Disney doesn’t want to move Star Wars forward.
@@hawks5999 And yet Disney brought him back just in one movie just to die again like a bitch at least the dark empire had a explanation on how he come back through essence transfer plus it interesting to the emperor in a younger body what he can do in his prime.
Never forget: Disney decided to reveal Palpatine's return in Fortnite but refuse to make their comics and books have important plot points but rather use them as filler material. They should revive legends and be done with it.
I don't trust them with Legends. I want the EU to stay as it is until they're competent enough to be trusted with such a thing.
@@pubcle agreed. I love the eu vut dontvtrust them to continue it compellingly if they can't even do that with new canon
@@pubcle yup, I would love to see more EU content but if all they’re gonna do is make it like canon then maybe it’s best left alone
@Sex'' Allatus Angelus Not like the Denningsverse was much better.
I understand If they don't want to make more books, but what about the ones already published? Isn't It the easiest money ever made to just reprint the books and comics and just give some royalties to the authors? They have this 30+ year library with thousands of titles and they do nothing with It, It's insane to me, even more because I wanted to have this books and can't because 1) they are really old and not being published anymore, and 2) they never got to many places in the word, never being translated to other languages. So yeah, by living in Brazil I'm stuck with fucking "Alphabet Squadron" and other Cannon BS, I only know what I know about Legends because SWTOR, the Jedi Knight series and the blessed team behind the "Thrawn's Revenge" mod for Empire At War.
Shadows of the Empire was so excellent, George wanted to make it into a movie. Wish he did. The original cast still looked how they did at the end of Return.
And they could've done it without Harrison.
I became a Star Wars fan around the time of the force awakens. In a way I am the fan I am today because of the Disney trilogy, but ONLY because it led me to the EU and it’s vastly superior stories! I am now more focused on the older stories about Mara jade, thrawn,Revan, Luke’s Jedi order, Jaina solo, Darth Bane and so many other characters that I love more than any that Disney created.
mate have you heard of Joe Schreiber's Death trooper?
I wish they would finish Sword of the Jedi and allow it to be published. and the other post Crucible stories around, Allana Solo, Jaina Solo, and Ben Skywalker. Disney Star Wars is not canon. Its a waste of time, and money and energy.
@@matthewgaudet4064 well said my friend
Have you heard of the snow trooper series? I made it up just now
@AndreNitroX To be honest, I do like to mix some stories of Disney's canon with the EU. For instance, I like to imagine Jedi Fallen Order and Manadlorian s1+2 can take place in the same universe as the Jedi Knight series.
In short, headcanon mixing.
The key thing about Legends/EU is how well it reconciled all its stories, even the numerous ones which were just as dull if not worse than plenty of the Disney canon expanded material, like the 70s comics. This is because of two big reasons: there were more than enough truly great stories to elevate the expanded universe as a whole, and there was a strong commitment to maintaining continuity through stuff like an official ranking system(where the more ludicrous things get put lower in the canon hierarchy and are painted in broader strokes).
Disney canon likes to pretend that there is no need for a ranking system in their continuity, and despite the fact they clearly supersede some things above others, they refuse to officially and completely adopt a system that would not only make the retcons less confusing/frustrating, but also allow more creativity.
There already are parallel universes in Star Wars, and even though they are well distinguished from each other through labeling, Disney for some reason refuses to allow a single new Legends story to be made even though it would literally be just a drop in an ocean of Legends branded material.
I love the official STAR WARS atlas, which documents the galaxy's entire 30,000-year history, from the Rakatans to the new Sith Empire. They treat everything in Legends (except for the holiday special, of course) completely seriously, even the campy and juvenile stuff, and even have some beautiful new illustrations depicting everything in realistic fashion, including some of the visuals we previously saw only in the cheap 1980s cartoons. It's a must for any hardcore STAR WARS fan.
It not only makes me mad but baffles me that Disney is (mostly) ignoring this treasure trove of material. Given all of the cultural phenomena they've shamelessly borrowed over the years, from the Brothers Grimm to "1,001 Nights," you'd think they'd depict established STAR WARS stories with some level of accuracy. I've been begging them to do that for years. Back in 2012, when Disney purchased the franchise, I was telling people I wanted to see a movie adaptation of Dave Wolverton's THE COURTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA, with, say, Josh Brolin as Han Solo and Sarah MIchelle Gellar as Leia. (That's right: I wanted Disney to do sequels from the Galactic Civil War era and recast the roles. I never wanted to see the original cast come back as elderly people.) And what about Steve Perry's SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE? That would easily equal any of the original trilogy's films in terms of scope! But no: Disney would rather rewrite history, and often with really awful new characters none of us care about. They were even stupid enough to insist that Chewbacca didn't get a medal at the end of the 1977 film - when, according to the Marvel Comics adaptation, he did.
To be honest, at this point I'm glad that the EU was separated off and allowed to die gracefully. Just look at some of the garbage that disney is releasing now and calling "star wars". The high republic comic has a frikkin ROCK as a character. If they gave the old EU to some of these modern woke sjw authors it'd be ruined in no time.
@@alaskamark4562 Im glad to. The EU doesn't deserve to be touched by the filthy hands of DIsney
I blame Control Freaks and Tyrannical Narcissists that demand THEIR Vision be superior and refuse any and all legitimate competition.
It happened when Marvel Destroyed it's Multiverse and similar Creative types are employed there.
You've got some real mental gymnastics going for that level of reality denial.
The reason for cancelling Legends, I think, is simple. It's the same dirty mindset that plagues lots of companies with regard to people hired by a previous manager. If it's not done by themselves, then it's not worth investing energy in. (Excepting the bare minimum to reprint the old work and make money off it while reminding everyone that it's not the "official" continuation of the story.)
It's an odd but common combination of pride and laziness.
I liked Star Wars as a kid but its was the EU and the books and comics it contained that made me love Star Wars. The day Disney bought Star Wars I audibly yelled "NOOO" in a crowded cafeteria because I knew it would be the end of the books I love. Ive read several of the new cannon novels and nothing has grabbed me like the X-wing series or Crimson Empire or the Hand of Thrawn duology, not to mention the NJO, Legacy of the force and Fate of the Jedi series. And I never understood till you said it; They used to drive the story forward to new things where todays cannon is just.. fluff. And usually not good fluff.
The Hand of Thrawn books are so underrated!
The two canon Thrawn trilogies are AMAZING.
What have you read?
@@AshanBhatoa Ive read probably 85% of all published EU novels. And has been stated some better than others. But the worst EU novel is probably how ive felt reading the best new cannon novels, which are probably the Thrawn series.
@@scbask2 There were some REALLY crappy EU stories. But all you have to do is compare the original Thrawn story-line to episode 7-9 (which I guess are kinda in the same timeframe) and it becomes painfully obvious the EU is FAR superior to Disney canon.
One thing about the early EU novels, the ones before Episode 1 was released, is they kept the pre purge Jedi Order pretty mysterious so that the reader would interpret them the way Luke Skywalker would perceive them, and kinda learn about them with him. It showed how ruthless and successful the Emperor's purge was, and the monumental task Luke Skywalker had undertaken to start a New Jedi Order. I just wish we got Luke's Praxeum instead of what Disney did, I would have preferred to see a new Jedi Order and New Republic trying to not repeat the mistakes of the past in the face of galactic threat.
you're probably aware by now but george's sequels wouldve lined up with the EU very well, i do think a part of why the George Sequels were dropped was because of them wanting to toss the EU or vice versa. Either way it was dumb
I've read most of the EU. Disney earned my ire when the first thing they did was cancel it. Threw the decade I spent reading, enjoying, and learning from them into the trash. I will not be reading any of the new books, but not because I think they'll all be bad, but because I want to keep those happy years still pure in my mind. Sometimes I'll still go and read books, and they help to remind me what could have been, before the darkness of the Sith clouded the franchise.
You know it was going to be mixed regardless of who owned it right? Hell it was going to be non canon had George made his Sequel Trilogy so… your talk of “purity” was out of desperation.
@@achaudhari101
Except Lucas was never going to make his third trillogy. He said so repeatedly and only handed over his drafts after Disney purchased SW.
So no, it wouldn't be "mixed" regardless of who owned it
@@achaudhari101 It was already non-canon to George. But he still allowed the creation of new material.
@@HonestHappyHater Actually the original idea for George was that he was going to make Episode 7 and give away the company to someone else up until his daughter was born and that changed. This was before Disney bought them out hence why the outlines were created before the sellout.
@@achaudhari101
That's all fine and dandy, but therr are a few issues:
1. Lucas did not intend to make a sequel, as you, yourself said. He did write a draft, but he chose to give it away, along with any power to enforce realisation of this draft.
2. George's draft was largely ignored by Abrams. The buyer was in no way obligated to follow through with the draft.
In other words, Lucas didn't want to make the sequels and whoever bought the franchise wasn't obligated to contradict the EU, making the whole point from your first comment invalid
The EU has a huge wealth of stories waiting to be tapped into. From new worlds, large events long before the Clone Wars to after the rise of the New Republic and it even takes characters with not much story in cannon and gives them full in depth amazing stories. Thought Boba Fett was just a toy grab idea? They gave him and even Jango Fett big story lines that even go on after Boba's pit incident because he survived it. People usually counters anything good about the EU because the stories are a mess when it comes to continuity and linking up with each other, to that I say, and the new Star Wars isn't? That aside there's so much untapped potential and opportunities, from movies, to TV shows to even possible video games. You practically have all the scripts there in the story. Just gotta adapt them to be shown on screen. Only if Disney wasn't so keen on acting like the EU doesn't exist yet they take ideas from it. They do occasionally dip there toe into the EU and follow some things but they end up not following some things fully and end up changing what happens arguably making it worse.
The Exar Kun time period is a gold mine. What happened to Sunrider's daughter is a series right there. Easy money.
@@vicshephard9231 like how many good fricken stories are in the EU, just waiting to be used? It's absurd how Disney just decided to turn away free stories. It's baffling
The EU was really good at continuity. It only became a mess after TCW came out.
You do know there is a series about boba fett right?
@@tannerp.4996 not entirely I mean look at the thrawn trilogy that basically got retcon by the prequels but none the less I love it and I try to see both animated Series and comics/novels as one with the clone wars
A lot of the new canon books and comics really relegate themselves to being tie in materials for movies and TV shows. The old EU was eagerly seeking to fill in the actual canon before, between, and after the movies, to tell the definitive stories of what happened. Also, even direct prequels and stories set between films sought to tell a compelling story in the Star Wars world that happened to take place at a certain point in the timeline. They didn’t always succeed, but they tried. Most of the new canon books and movies are just trying to supplement something on screen… even the good new canon stuff. “These stories help explain what Darth Vader went through leading up to…” and not “here’s a SICK story about Darth Vader.” The new canon books are pretty much functional by design. When they aren’t, it’s kind of a happy accident.
I honestly don't understand this? Various EU narratives were contained by exactly the sane premise.
“Here’s Darth Vader literally murdering tons of people to prove that he’s the ultimate Sith, ending with him brutally fighting his rivals for Darth Sidious’s favor”
My favorite EU/Legends story is Jedi Apprentice. It fleshes out Obi-Wan's character, gives him friends, expands on Jedi culture, and thus makes his story that much more tragic. It also paints Qui-Gon as highly fallible whereas so many SW fans on Reddit think he is totally infallible and could have been the savior of Anakin and the Jedi. But since this story is Legends, it's non-canon and most people disregard it. I love that it exists even if it isn't "real" Star Wars. I still would LOVE for it to be adapted into an animated show but I know that's extremely unlikely so I cherish the books and the utter tragedy of Obi-Wan's life in this series.
Jude Watson’s series are definitely some of the more underrated EU content out there, didn’t help they were aimed at children.
If only we got more of Anakin's friends, but it seems like it was done enough.
Disney always writes themselves into a corner to write content for Star Wars, whatever media it is and come up with whatever will make money and if the fans don’t like it, they either ignore or retcon it and keep on going with out any plan at all
That is why they fail
Dunno comics and novels are mostly good so far.
One of my favorite EU novels is Tatooine Ghost. It beautifully connects the prequel era with the post-RotJ era and gives Leia closure to who her father was while setting aside her fears of having children of her own.
I was trying to find that some time ago
I think one reason why the canceled the EU was because Disney wanted their stories to be the only thing that would happen after Return of the Jedi. That no other stories would compete with theirs. Only issue is they still exist, just canceling them doesn't me they don't exist anymore. Whats hilarious is that they would even take ideas from the EU then go one to say there's nothing that takes place after ROTJ.
It’s pathetic and petty what Disney did. They knew they couldn’t do better so they decided to erase the past. But we won’t let them
Not only do those stories still exist, but Disney ordered new printings of the most popular ones because they knew there was money to be had selling them.
@@cr128 well at least they are being some one smart, but the fact they aren't using the EU to it's fullest extent is baffling. They are barely tapping into the amount of profit the EU can rack in.
@@cr128 hypocrisy at its finest
It's no competition, the old EU blows this new ridiculous Disney version of Star Wars out of the water. I often go back to the now legends stuff and honestly get upset because Disney ruined what should have been something amazing. The new Mandoverse stuff helps a little, but they're still polishing a turd at this point, because we all know where Luke and the rest will end up.
We will see
YES!!! the EU is what made me dive fully into Star Wars, I read so many Books/comics, listened to so many audiobooks, and played SO MANY Star Wars video games, and then Disney trashed it all. It's made it hard for me to stomach literally any Disney star wars story when I already paid for, read, and enjoyed a BETTER story years ago. It was all connected (albeit inconsistencies corrected how they could), and I spent so much time invested in that timeline that I still want to see it continued. Where is 1313? Sword of the jedi? A sequel to the Darth Bane trilogy? If the EU was continued, people would buy it. I enjoy the Mandalorian, but the sequels and even Rogue one aren't what I'm into. Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors stole the death star plans, not Kassian andor. I still listen to the old audio dramas, and read the old dark horse comics and novels, Marvel star wars 108 is literally the only EU item we have gotten since 2014. I'm still an EU Fan, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Disney is leaving money on the table pushing their trash when there's a far better timeline that's been sitting in the dust since 2014
Cancelling the EU instead of declaring it as "non-canon" or "alternate universe" was one of the biggest mistakes Disney made.
More than half the problems in the fanbase would be solved if they just one day declared Legends as an alternate timeline and that they're going to be creating new content (video games, novels, comics) for it starting next year. Hell, if they don't wanna take such a massive backtrack on their stupid decision, they would change the plans for the upcoming Tales of the Jedi animated series to be a faithful adaptation from the comics in Legends instead of supporting this High Republic fiasco...
Ι agree
I'd have loved to see stories filling up the gap between legacy of the force and legacy eras.
@@AAhmou I'm down for them having multiple eras from Legends getting content by authors and artists that use to work on the old projects. Like, let in some young blood to keep things fresh but I don't want them sellouts currently infesting Lucasfilm and the Disney hivemind.
@@blackshogun272 I mean careful what you wish for because you just might get it considering the creative types nowadays.
The Thrawn Trilogy came out when I was in elementary school and were some of the earliest "grown up" books I ever read. There was a pretty solid output of new stuff from that point on that helped make me the huge Star Wars fan I am today. I would be excited to see Thor do reviews of various books/trilogies/series from the EU.. Some of the stories I haven't read in 25+ years, so it would be exciting to relive some of them and get new perspectives on them. There have been a few good Disney books, but they just haven't gone anywhere overall.
It's Ironic, because the reason why Disney butchered the Expanded Universe was because of "creative freedom", yet most of their Canon stories in books, comics, games, films and etc. feel quite lacking in "creativity". Not only that but Disney's new Canon also adds characters and stories from the EU (because "creative freedom"), changing everything great about them thus ruining them in the process. While I do enjoy some parts of Disney's Canon, the Expanded Universe reigns Supreme in almost every way!
Watching the sequel trilogy, you can see that they won't hesitate to steal characters or a story idea from the old EU whenever they feel like it!
This is a great discussion on this topic. The more I delve into new canon, the more I am pushed from it. I am choosing to go fully into the EU and rely on that as my "canon." Great video!
Which makes no sense to think all of the new Canon is garbage.
@@achaudhari101 didn’t say it was all garbage. Being left disappointed or dissatisfied with stories doesnt make me want to spend more money.
@@achaudhari101 Nobody said all of Disney canon was bad. Not in this discussion, anyway. Trying to put words in our mouths to discredit our argument to boost yours isn’t gonna do you any good, pal.
I gave the Disney canon an honest shot. I read everything (books, comics) and watched everything up through the Solo movie release. It hadn’t been good for several months at that point. From that point it just became unreadable. I even tried their first High Republic novel and YA. There’s literally nothing of value left in the franchise. I’m fully and solely EU now.
@@hawks5999 Did you try anything with Vader in it as that's readable. You know there is value in Star Wars, otherwise you wouldn't think that it's dead like that.
the main thing that legends did was it kept the galaxy moving it wasn't just "here is the main character of this scene now everyone can begin to plot" like the darksaber plot where a hutt got their hands on the plans to the deathstar and then built the main weapon without anything else a terrifying idea but well the hutt cutting corners ended up causing the whole thing to fall apart not the new republic because they had no idea that the hutt wanted to do this until the theft and R2 and Threepio investigating the data vault security as a just incase thing after the hutt left which meant that leia and the republic military command finding out was Threepio moving as fast as he could screaming in terror yes you can laugh at that thought.
beyond that everyone had character development even offscreen the antagonists improved old one off allies improved whereas canon if they aren't on screen they just sit still I'm talking about Lando fucking Calrissian sitting in a caravan for decades just wandering a desert planet looking for a sith artifact....one of the more successful people out there just fucking hell one of the worse things to happen to someone in the sequel trilogy.
Actually that would be fun to hear top ten canon books followed by top 10 legends books and than maybe a head to head to see which one truly did better.
I am certain I recall that back in the 90s when the Thrawn trilogy was released, it WAS acknowledged by Lucasarts to be official canon.
there are definitely sourced comments from Lucas acknowledging the canonicity of EU material, at various times
How many of the 144 adult novels did your read ?
What was your first EU novel you read and how old where you ?
Which novel impressed you the most ?
To be fair, it’s not that “new canon” couldn’t compete… it’s that the new stuff mostly just isn’t anywhere near as good. Although Revan was at least somewhat canonized, as well as some others due to ship names in ep 9… even Thrawn hasn’t been as good and stuff. So basically, they threw out some of the greatest/favorite stories, partially re-canonized some technically but not explicitly, re-canonized others but with lower quality/less well-received stories/version, and added new characters/material that just isn’t as good, for the most part at least.
Maybe there has been something new that’s good? But I haven’t heard of anyone raving about the new Revan, Thrawn, or Mara Jade or something. So basically, as far as I can tell, absolutely nothing new is even remotely as good.
I mean, hell, I haven’t even heard of a new Kal Skirata or something like from the (imo underrated) Republic/Imperial Commando novels. Like, nobody is raving about anyone or anything new except I guess Din Djarin and Grogu? But literally nothing else.
Oh yeah, not even a new Starkiller. I mean, people liked Jedi: Fallen Order as far as I can tell… but not Cal, really. Like, he’s fine, but they like the game more for the gameplay and EA finally giving us a GOOD Star Wars game again, and not really the character or story.
So I’m quite disappointed.
Don't forget they also ripped off Dark Empire for the last movie of the ST.
You think the newer Thrawn books are crap?
@@achaudhari101 muuuuuch worse than the old eu stuff. It feels like Thrawn lite
There are so many aspects and characters in the EU that I am obsessed with. There is not a single thing Disney Star Wars has made that has gained my love in this way.
@@randalthekidd7006 Debatable.
Timothy Zhan said he got to have lunch with Lucas when he was writing - so he was able to take all the raw thoughts Lucas had and make them come to life in his story. It was a real effort to make it as close to cannon as possible and as good a written book as possible.
As far as Im concerned 'Disney' Starwars is the non cannon.
Zahn also was the one who coined the name Coruscant. He had a strong influence over Star Wars on the whole, and the Thrawn trilogy will forever be the superior sequel trilogy.
And also every other novel he wrote for the EU was just as good. And there's a reason every single character he made became a staple of the EU, treated with just as much respect as the OT crew. Mara Jade, Talon Kaarde, Thrawn of course, but also Pellaeon (who is _extremely_ underrated these days but back in the EU he was treated like royalty by the other writers).
I always laugh when I see people say that the EU was bad because it's so obvious that they've never read anything in the EU. Even more funny they always used Dark Empire as an example it was bad but then disney basically uses the same story beats in TROS. And say what you will about Dark Empire but it at least explained how Palpatine came back unlike in TROS where he "somehow" returned. Disney is also using the books and comics in their timeline to fill in plotholes left by their movies which basically makes them required reading if you want to actually make sense of those terrible sequels. Also disney has already started to contradict their books with the shows they're making. The EU is and always will be superior to the disney canon regardless of what the fake fans say.
Speaking of the new canon in Star Wars, Rogue One is a prime example of what Disney is truly capable of if they just put in some love and care into the franchise
Rogue One is so underrated. I find it sad how people often don't think much of it because it was made during the Disney Star Wars era. It's honestly a masterpiece and deserves so much better than it's gotten.
I still prefer Dark Forces with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors but Rogue One is a solid well made film. Very clearly the best that has been done since the buyout.
@@TheAnimationConnoisseur People will often make downright false claims such as Boring characters, to dismiss it because it is made under Disney Ownership, truly tragic. It's a great movie, with mostly great characters.
@@kamixakadio2441 Facts.
@@slicerneons3300 Well they were only part of the theft. There are multiple stories about the plans being stolen including the X-Wing game and the original Han Solo trilogy.
This reminds me how much I enjoyed the Rogue Squadron / Wraith Squadron books and what a good series of movies or TVs shows those would've made.
I recently got done with Fate of the Jedi series and Crucible, a lot of good content, some character inconsistencies here and there but over all really enjoyable and fun to listen to, now I’m going back and starting at Thrawn trilogy and working my way back up to Fate of the Jedi
It’s so funny that you say that, yet you love CW so much when it completely destroyed the EU when it was coming out and is why it fits so perfectly in the new canon. I still really like it but as I’ve gotten into the eu lately, learning more the way the show just ignored the established EU when CW was also 100% the EU before Disney as well is kinda infuriating, and Filoni is keeping that tradition alive by contradicting this canon as well lmao.
Agreed. The Clone Wars is the reason why one of the best authors, Karen Traviss walked out and didn't continue the Republic/Imperial Commando series since it discredited her books.
The Clone Wars fits perfectly into the new canon but only the original clone wars cartoon fits into old canon.
To be fair, it was George Lucas who made most of the EU contradictions in TCW, and Filoni was an EU fan
Filoni does whatever he wants, I guess.
There are 3 canonized timelines; The EU, the disney schlock, and the Lucasverse. Very similar and overllaping in many places but incompatible. My mind burnt out trying to piece it all together into one consistent stream when CW first aired.
@@ridensroom6957 > Agreed. The Clone Wars is the reason why one of the best authors, Karen Traviss walked out and didn't continue the Republic/Imperial Commando series since it discredited her books.
Karen Traviss does okay in her niche, but she and her mando obsession was one of the worst parts of the already dreadful LotF. As well, her Jedi bashing just got insufferable after a point
While I enjoyed the film "Solo" I didn't like some of the premises put forward in that film. I wasn't keen on the portrayal of both Han and Lando. Han especially, as he was playing the "good guy" not a scoundrel. That's his arc in the OT and I feel Lando and Han should go way back, potentially growing up as childhood friends not passing acquaintances at one time.
in legends, they knew each other in their early adult years lando actually spotted boba attempting to capture than alive and that was their first real meeting.
I can imagine a story like a Zahn trilogy happening after 10 years of episode VI.(1993-1999)
Here Mark,Harrison young . Harrison acted in Fugitive in 93' and he was also fit and mascular. so no problem with a shape.. Luke is older and have more padawans. I can imagine also Tom Cruise fighting by Luke's side. Just look at him in a 'Legend'. Tom when was young also have a familiar and attractive face like Mark Hamill. It would have been interesting if the sequel episodes had been made in the early to mid-90s. With a wiser, stronger, more acrobatic, more impactful story. Where classic characters would not necessarily have carried the series, but their successors and students. In the 90s, the story could have been continued with a few talented actors. What do you think ?
Just discussed this the other day with Darth Mathu on The Praxeum Stream. This is the ONLY ip I've ever heard of where books were purchased and never ever developed further. DLF didn't just puchase the major films but everything branded Lucas, which was of great value. Dispight having hundreds of ready made source materials, they have not once adapted a story to audio or live action (though they tap heavily into the well). This still baffles me 10 years later.
Now that Amazon owns the rights to the hobbit and is a short jump away from owing the rights to ALL Tolkien material, Im bracing for history to repeat itself. :(
I got into the fate of the Jedi series when Hamill, Fisher, Ford were like the perfect age to match up with their characters. It made it so fun and easy to visualize the story while reading it.
I think even fans in the EU that disliked FotJ can agree the casting lineup was at its peak for such a movie trilogy or (well funded) live-action series to be made.
I also read it in their voices.
Yes, I’d be interested in what books are the best in this new canon. I sorely miss EU/Legends I use to get excited when the next book would come out letting us know what was happening with our favourite characters, and even Jedi Academy. Each book grew on each other, making if you missed a few books, at the very least you would have to get it a a library to know what happened. Because they mostly kept the story line. Like I can’t remember them killing off a major character and them being alive in the next book unless that book was before they had been killed off.
Why Disney can’t keep both it’s audience happy. Especially when it comes down to money. How much money has The Mouse missed out on because of this factor. And they can’t say they don’t have any, I heard from someone else that there’s at least a couple of the EU/Legends that have been written but never published because they were ready after Disney took over. And I’m sure some of the writers might have still ideas written down on what they thought might happen to the Skywalker’s, Solo’s, Tenel Ka Family, The Jedi and the Sith. And it wouldn’t take to long before they would have new stories ready for sale. And the magic of EU/Legends they don’t touch Disney’s Canon, so they won’t upset what they might think up next.
I was furious when Disney cancelled the EU in 2014, but now, I'm actually relieved. With the great awokening and the rise of hyper political correctness, the EU would have been ruined had it not been cancelled.
It sucks that the EU was deleted, but it's better than Disney turning every other character gay or trans or something.
The new canon is busy trying to fix the mistakes of the sequels. The EU had to deal with the OT for the longest time and then still just the PT. They don’t have to deal with many mistakes and they actually made their own mistakes, but the vast majority of their stories were interesting and only a few had something as odd as alien bugs bunny rabbits for instance. I personally love the books like the fate of the Jedi series.
Also no annoying politics. “The force is female.” Isn’t a statement that needs to be made in the EU because there are plenty of impactful characters in there that are women.
Some of the greatest female Star Wars characters exist in the EU and none of the Disney ones can hold a candle to them.
@@AndreNitroX You said it! Mon Mothma, Jaina Solo, Mara Jade, Tenal Ka, Cilghal, and the list could go on if I were to re-read all these books again. They didnt have to out of their way to say "This woman is awesome. You need to respect her." These women were strong and you respected their gangsta because all these female characters put the work in and the respect was baked right into the story. Again I totally agree.
@@paul46403 my favorite jedi is Nomi sunrider.
@@AndreNitroX Satele Shan did something to my little nerdy ass when the cinematics for SWTOR dropped. Goodness she looked like a goddess in my eyes. I was so upset when I found out she wasn't a romance option when you play the Jedi Knight/Consular classes.
@@blackshogun272 agreed, to me she was what a jedi should be. Badass but graceful.
The EU isn't perfect, but it was made with love and respect for the films and largely wasn't incohesive to the Canon of Lucas's saga. The new Canon stuff is mostly there to retcon stuff and try to fix the failures of the sequel trilogy, attempting to force the two together. The EU added new and fresh things to the universe that were creative and exciting. Disney is more concerned with corporate shilling and political pandering than creativity and love for the franchise. And it shows.
One of the few cannon stories i liked was Tarkin. It really expands his character.
Still need to finish Lords of the Sith. Started around christmas, got trough half and then just kinda stopped
To be honest those were both at one point supposed to be EU books, but were rewritten at the time to make them fit with the newer canon.
I have tried to read the new cannon material but find it uninteresting. I started reading the Legends novels and have really enjoyed them. I just finished The Courtship of Princess Leai and I am currently reading Tatooine Ghost.
I loved the EU. I read most of them. I tried reading the new cannon and I remember liking bloodlines (I think that was the title) and I was halfway enjoying aftermath but the overall mess that the sequels made with their lack of planning kicked me out of any desire to keep reading. If anyone wants to suggest some content I’ll give it a try.
Alphabet Squadron is fantasic, IMO. Not quite as good as the Wraith Squadron books, but better than Rogue Squadron, if you asked me.
Timothy Zahn is also still writing great books; both his new Thrawn Trilogies are absolutely worth reading, IMO.
@@Babyboss65 I loved wraith and rogue. I’ll have to check our alphabet.
Lords of the sith and tarkin are pretty good I've heard.
I do believe you have a solid point. Might even be why the Mandalorian or Rogue One are some of the best stories of the new Era. Rogue one introduced a handful of new characters, sure only to be killed at the end, but a refreshing take as we didn't yet know the fate of these characters. But I feel like new characters that lead the storylines of a galaxy far far away should be just separate stories that happen in the vast dealings of the galaxy rather than always being connected to legacy characters.
Man, I miss the old feel to the expanded universe. Sure it could be confusing or rough around the edges but it always felt like there was an interesting and unique story to be told hidden in every nook of the galaxy. Sure, there were often cheap or silly references to the movie characters when visiting old favorites like Tatooine but the new planets always had a purpose and not just desert planet #35 because we wanted to be original without having to be creative.
New SW (with very few exceptions) feels a sterile theme park ride where only specific aspects were carefully planned out to be inoffensive and marketable but everything became ultimately bland and shallow with anything of quality is just shamelessly stripped away from what came before.
I read some of the old stuff. Only thing that could qualify as new would be the book about Leia's young days becoming a rebel. I liked the stuff that explored side characters a bit better than stuff exploring main characters as focus characters, but the book about Leia isn't bad. It isn't great, but it isn't bad.
I loved the expanded universe it was a tight narrative. characters died and state dead. They created a time line that could easily be followed.
Added so much lore.....
Gave the universe a decent threat not related to the sith.
Those books are light years better than the sequel trilogy
the best thing I've discovered about even technically the "worst" EU stories is that they add some substantial lore to the EU that can be referenced or further supplemented in future (Post-Endor/Legacy) or even past stories (Pre/Old Republic). That's what got me hooked and absorbed into Legends.
Disney throwing away what, 25 years? Of good star wars storys and replacing them with rey is something I don't think I will be able to get past.
I think you are being far too generous with Disney; they have almost completely trashed the Star Wars franchise - at Least Kennedy did. If it weren't for people like Edwards, Filoni and Favroe - Star Wars would be a total loss cause these days. Thank GOD we still have at least SOME good Star Wars material to enjoy. Anyways, I do not read any new "cannon" books for the same reason i will likely never view Rise of Skywalker or Last Jedi ever again. The one exception in books is anything written by Timothy Zahn because he is an amazing writer. Though I have yet to actually read his new Thrawn novel as of yet, I have purchased it, but it does just sit on my shelf... not really all too gun hoe to read it anytime soon; possibly a side affect of Disney Star wars malaise and annoyance. But I probably will as i enjoyed the earlier Thrawn series.
Oh yes, and your video actually helps point out how STUPID Disney was to do what they did with the EU. It was just plain stupid from both a fan service sense and a business sense. Kennedy and the Disney Corporate heads who were behind this are the WORST! I so wish we could fire them. They should NOT be allowed to continue to mishandle this amazing piece of American culture.
So some mediocre EU books like NJO are “American culture”? Yeah maybe it being cancelled was a good thing if you say it like that.
@@achaudhari101 New Jedi Order was far from mediocre and it wasn’t cancelled it reached its planned start and finish.
I don’t exactly like the thought of blaming JUST Kennedy, and we need to be careful with Filoni. His obsession with cramming his characters into every story is getting agitating. I’d like a break from Ahsoka, Grogu, and Mando showing up everywhere. They’re good characters, but I’d like them to be handled like Vader outside of their respective series; minimal. It adds to the weight of their appearances.
This isn’t to say that Filoni is solely to blame either. It’s a creative team issue, through and through. But they are Filoni’s characters, he has more say over when and where they appear than anyone else. He needs to put his foot down and stay disciplined. I do not need Mando or Grogu to show up in Kenobi. MAYBE Ahsoka, but it has to be done VERY carefully.
@@shaneyy__ I wouldn’t mind just mando, babe, vanth, and krsantan with the recent show but all tye stuff with grogu should have waited til season 3 of the mandalorian
@@emberfist8347 Not many people liked it and it dragged on for too long.
Hey Thor Skywalker I’m Michael Verdon I just wanted to say I really like some of your videos
They had to gall to say there was “no source material”
I've been into the old EU almost as long as I've been into Star Wars itself: that is to say, since I was a kid about a year before AotC released. Not long after I'd first seen the films, I had some Christmas money to burn, and happened to find that a bookshop I was visiting had plentiful Star Wars material on its shelves. I was amazed, and left the store that day with Showdown at Centerpoint, Tales from Jabba's Palace, and Jedi Apprentice: the Deadly Hunter in my bag. As soon as I read them, I was hooked, never mind that two of them were adult novels while I was still a kid(!), and I INSTANTLY factored them in to my understanding of the Star Wars galaxy. Over the course of my secondary school years, I gradually collected a copy of almost every EU Star Wars novel that existed up to that point; and even after my interests started wandering to things other than Star Wars, I still carefully kept up with the novel releases all the way through to Fate of the Jedi. And while, like you say, there were certainly some dud entries - and things got convoluted towards the end - it still felt like there was always something *new* going on, and it was a lot of fun to keep on top of it all. I still go back and reread some of those novels to this day: Aaron Allston's entries in the X-Wing series, the Correlian Trilogy, Shatterpoint, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, anything by Timothy Zahn (most especially Hand of Thrawn), and the KotOR graphic novel collections being my all-time favourites.
Since Disney took over, I've read... literally only three of the new canon novels. Timothy Zahn's Thrawn is as compelling as ever, naturally, but A New Dawn (which I only got because it was cheap second-hand and I was curious) just fell flat to me, especially compared to the same author's previous work in the EU; and even knowing it was a different continuity I couldn't get past the book's inconsistencies with the EU that I was familiar with. Which is to say... I really haven't bothered with the new continuity. I have nothing against Disney specifically, I'm a big fan of some of their animated movies; but I just can't bring myself to care about their version of Star Wars. I don't hate the sequels... but I just don't feel *anything* strongly about the sequels at all, and so I find myself with really no interest in discovering the rest of the world that surrounds them. For myself, I'm perfectly happy in my own little headcanon world made out of my favourite parts of the old EU instead!
Sorry for rambling; I don't really get chance to talk about my love for the EU, no-one else I know reads Star Wars, so I'm super-appreciative of this video giving me the opportunity :D
The original Marvel Comics run in the 70's after A New Hope did whatever they wanted with Star Wars content introducing villains and alien species that would not carry a movie but worked well in comics and became their own thing. Like Leia's adventure on a John Carter of Mars planet, Luke having a feud with the household of Moff Tagge for blowing up the Death Star, a winged race of demon looking people swearing a blood oath to help any Skywalkers they meet because they liked Anakin so much, the introduction of the cyborg bounty hunter Valance, Jabba the Hutt being a walrus-man, Lando doing a Captain Harlock cosplay, and an actor pretending to be a resurrected Obi-Wan Kenobi hired to screw with Luke opting to lay down his life and help him because it's "what his character would do". You can do whatever you want when you don't have studio mandates telling you that it has line up with upcoming big ticket projects or it isn't "canon".
The Legends original artworks are so beautiful. It kinda makes me want to get into the books.
And since I'm not watching any shows, I guess legends is the best direction? Is this correct?
I used to read the books and comics, but when I bought them and they arrived, I realized I didn't care anymore, because I just wasn't interested in reading them. Then Bad Batch retconned the Kanan comics, and that was the nail in the coffin for me.
If I were to name a book where I did feel the "why was this written" mentality, it would be Heir to the Jedi, a book set shortly after ANH that shows Luke going on a mission with this girl, before (spoilers if you care) that girl dies after they form a romance. Luke also begins to learn how to use telekinesis when he moves some noodles with his mind, foreshadowing the scene in ESB when he grabs his lightsaber on Hoth. When I finished it, I genuinely thought I just wasted hours of my time. It's thankfully one of the shorter books, but man was it pointless
There’s a reason SWTOR isn’t allowed to contradict Legends nor canon as stated in a recent interview at celebration. There’s a reason there happens to be a KOTOR remake in the works at the same time that interview took place. There’s a reason that Disney decided to try and use The Rise of Skywalker to convert the sequels into a canon version of Dark Empire. There’s a reason Ahsoka is searching for Thrawn. There’s a reason Timothy Zahn has hinted at the “Grysk Hegemony” being a canon version of the Yuuzan Vong. There’s a reason fans now suddenly want a “post-sequel trilogy (10-12).”
The EU will be continued soon. I’m 100% convinced that as soon as canon overwrites the bulk of Legends, they will allow both continuities to coexist.
No
The Sequels weirdly enough, got me into reading the EU more, originally I only read books and comics between the original Trilogy and sometime comics with Obi-Wan, but other then that, I didn't really care at all and some of the stories from efter Ep6 even sounded boring or stupid, most of it was about the kids of the main characters and the aliens from outside of the main universe just sounded really stupid, but with the Sequels sucking really badly, I started reading it and it's great, I was still reading Disney canon comics and books at the time, but when Gina got fired without even a phone call from Disney, I started only read the Original EU and I've been loving it so far.
A better choice might have been to do a 'Council of Trent' type deal. If there were issues with the stories, go through and prune, or correct the occasion issue while keeping as much as possible.
I still think they should do a dual timeline, one be the EU and one be the “new canon”
I would've preferred that. We were going to get a series called Sword Of The Jedi and it would've been about finding Mortis and the dagger to end Abeloth permanently.
They are afraid of how popular the EU timeline would remain and their timeline wouldn't sell. There would be demand for EU movies
@@seanchaney3086 fr the only reason I think they still haven't gone back on that decision given how much it has, and still does piss ppl off
@@seanchaney3086And!?
So what? Money is money, and this is just cash sitting on the damn table!
I have books of the EU. I also have disney books, but haven't read them yet (finishing up a few series first). The EU is my canon and I acknowledge the mess in them and think of how it could go. There are probably some books in the disney canon that i wouldn't mind bringing into mine (we will have to see).
I believe disney has written themselves into a corner (think tom cat laying out traps for jerry mouse and realizing only too late he doesn't have any freedom to move).
They've got a long way to go before I delve into disney canon with excitement.
I'd definitely be interested in a list of good new canon books. I'm re-reading my old EU books, and listening to the final new canon Thrawn book on Audible.
For the last few months I dived into the EU and bought so many old books and comics. And its so awesome I totally love it. Mara Jade is one of my favorite character and I gotta say even though I love Cookies I love the Noghri more and also Wedge Antilles in general take him as an example. He plays such a bigger side role throughout so many stories.
and ofc they are not perfect. Or consistent sometimes certain events are crossing with canon. I personally enjoy character and story building at the same time like in the EU books. There was one that showed 20 stories of the aliens sitting in the Cantina when Obi and Luke entere. The Story of Wuher the barkeeper, Muftak the Talk sitting in the background. and also Greeds background how he became a bounty hunter and how he had to leave Rodia because of Clan Wars, he also gets introduced to Jabba he dint even worked for him. And he also encountered Han and Chewie before on Nar Shadda and tried to steal from them. Its the stuff you don't want to know but it is interesting because every character is connected to a planet or another character. In one CW Episode we can see Greedo at Jabbas Palace when he kidnapped the Papanoiida sisters and I like this story. But Greeds story there is something else for me. Its the story I read not this story. I don't really know if someone really understands what I mean by all this, but the EU is treasure and makes it all feel more like a universe...
I loved the expanded universe. It wasn't all great but overall it told a story that did a great job keeping me engrossed in my favorite characters. They had new characters that are worth caring about and like the title says, it really expanded on what we got in the movies. I was very skeptical when Disney swept away that whole storyline. I was certainly proven right in that skepticism
I was in middle school when I really started to get into the EU books. I originally started with the Republic Commando books not too long after Revenge of the Sith released. From there, I found a bunch of the books from the 90s at my library. I read a bunch of them, like the Tales books and Shadow of the Empire. The ones that stood out the most to me were the Heir to the Empire (which I bought my own copies of) and the Rogue Squadron/Wraith Squadron books. Those were good times.
Yes definitely make a list of all the good canon books and comics
Old Eu
Books, games, comics=its own movie
Disney
Books, Games, comics=tiptoe around events so it can be a movie later
And George still respected what the books were doing and even helped out with ideas (dark empire, darth plagueis)
And it says a lot about how many authors stayed and just how many left to other franchises (like halo with Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller)
And Disney says everything is canon no matter what then contradicts a book in a show with Ahsoka being a good one
My favourite being dave filoni wanting to bring back Assaj Ventress in resistance….. about 50 years after her death in dark disciple
(Freetown being Freetown after rotj while in mando it’s 5 years after)
I’ve read almost everything and really enjoy them for the most part! Would love it if you’d do a list of your favorites.
The first books I ever bought with my allowance in the late 1900s, was the bounty wars. I have about 50 percent of all the EU books. I was shook when they canceled. There was long term story telling. The youzan vong cameo in kotor, and in thr clone wars book the last command. Awsome. All the build up for the vong invasion in the books.
I would appreciate your list of what the good new books are. When they first started coming out, I heard nothing but complaints, saying they were all garbage or wrong in the characterizations, such as Han being a dead beat dad who sold his medals. So I never tried them. But if there are some okay ones, I'd like to know. As for these new writers being struck in what they can do, any comic or book that ever tried to expand an ongoing show has had that problem, dating all the way back to when Marvel did Battlestar Galactica comics .without having the rights to use the images of any of the actors
The best authors involved with new canon are Alexander Freed and Timothy Zahn; Freed has written Battlefront: Twilight Company and the Alphabet Squadron Trilogy, while Zahn has written two new Thrawn Trilogies.
As much as I disdain Disney Star Wars. I am always willing to give a fair chance to new content
From a huge EU reader - I have yet to purchase a new canon book. Upon the initial purchase of Lucasfilm, I was so excited to see the books that I had been reading for year be made into films. When we found out that the EU was being called legends, it immediately made me less excited for the upcoming movies. Yes, the EU had some really out there stories, but you know you'd watch a Death Troopers movie.
Same, I did my beat to give the bew movies a chance and 8 blew those expectations up.
That was despite how Disney was already treating us fans.
I find it funny that people say the EU was a mess.
Implying New Star Wars isn't
I became a fan and collector of EU books because I didn't like Disney's sequels. The first thing was to read the books which covered roughly the same time as SWFA. I found the books far more interesting than Disney Wars.
I loved the old EU books (never been much of a comics fan anyway) and still re-read them to this day, but I've never read anything from the new canon and I think the point you made about the books no longer driving the story is why. Why devote time and money to a story that will get thrown out when the next TV show (which I do enjoy) comes along? Looking at Rebels and The Mandalorian, they introduced a lot of new characters that weren't hamstrung by needing to fit in with the narrative as much, there are still things they can't do but they're given more freedom because they don't need to make sure that a character stays on the same path that we see them on in the sequels.
I used to get all of the cannon books now I am only getting the ones I am interested in. In the last year I only got the Thrawn books which I only finished book 1 of am behind on all of it. I also have like 3/4 of Return Of the King, and all of The Silmarillion, Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin, Kenobi (Legends), The Boys Omnibus volume 6, All of Batman Fear State, a few issues of the Star Wars and Vader comics, and a bunch of DC Graphic novels.
Is the new thrawn books good? I really love the thrawn trilogy and outbound flight but worried the new books wont be worth the cash
The one you read I meant
@@2mrwario The new trilogy is good and the Ascendancy stuff is pretty good too but I have been more interested in some of the other books over it which is why I pushed it off. Zahn's works are still great though.
@@2mrwario Me personally I loved the first Thrawn novel. I liked the second one but I did not love like the first. Thrawn: Alliances to me was a bit boring at times while having some great moments.
Some insightful replies thank you to you both.
I remember my grade school had a ‘graphic novels’ section and every chance I got I went there to read the Star Wars comics (I remember one where Luke disguised himself as a stormtrooper and met one of his friends from Tatooine, what was it called?)
Sad to see kids won’t have the same experience with newer comics
Also a neat one where there was no Jedi, no Sith, no main characters from any of the movies, just a bunch of stormtroopers using cool battle tactics. It really made me a fan of the stormtroopers (which is why I’m disappointed with how stormtroopers are treated like comedy relief and canon fodder)
They do, they are kids and for kids everything inclusing what we see as bad is new.
@@Pyxis10 you do realize Disney has cancelled all comics from the expanded universe, and only reprints the really famous ones right? All of the new comics need to be “canon approved”
@@cara-seyun I'm aware. I've also seen some kids who think rey and kylo are the greatest thing ever. It's sad.
Im so down to see what you have in your collection and what old stuff you would recommend to read. I have read the Empire run and about to hit Rebellion soon . There is a lot out there and for some one new it can be a bit hard to wear to start. Thanks again
I know I’m not alone but I’ll comment at the risk of being ostracized: but there is still a core fundamental part of my head canon where:
Anakin never had an apprentice.
Maul never returned, nor had a brother.
A lot of the new canon, at least with regard to the clone wars is hard to accept.
I specifically recall the three years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and in canon the same amount of time passes. Wasted characters, plot lines, battles were completely forgotten and even almost 20 years later it’s still my head canon. Granted, there have of course been some great new things introduced but to the few of us who actually lived month to month with the next dark horse clone wars comic, micro series, etc- it’s challenging to deal with.
A lot can happen in three years you know. And honestly it makes more sense with the Clone Wars showing it at the peak of the conflict while the other stories put together make it seem rather short for a major galactic conflict.
Ok bud that’s cool but George made all that. It’s real. Your headcanon is simply incorrect. Meanwhile anything else non George itself isn’t truly canon
I'm in agreement with you. The Clone Wars was entertaining but I don't accept it as canon.
And George Lucas or not, it's fiction so no one can tell you that you cannot accept your own version of canon. The only caveat is that it can interfere with how you relate to other Star Wars fans.
My personal headcanon is the old EU, minus the Clone Wars TV show, Dark Forces video game, and Dark Empire comics, plus Rogue One (because it was really good and can fit into the EU well enough).
I haven't read any of the Disney books and comics, but I got into the EU by watching Thor Skywalker. I'll admit it's not all great, but the highlights (Zahn's novels in particular) are absolutely Star Wars at its finest.
You're not doing your justice by just hearing other people talk about the EU to just call it not all that great.
@@mclovin4495 I've been reading it though.
As a longtime Star Wars fan (I was 4 years old when in the theatre for A New Hope, before it was even called that) and a big fan of the EU, I cannot agree with you more. You did a wonderful job of balancing your compliments and criticisms of both the newer material, as well as, the brilliance and some shortcomings of the EU. You acheived a balance of the Force.
Yes in Spanish universe is awesome. Thrawn, Darth Bane, Darth plaguies, and darth krayt make the EU Worth canonizing.
I loved the EU jacen solo was a favorite character but I love jaina too. Jaina was the definition of strong female and more human then Mary Ray ( Is Mary Sue mixed with Ray)
Several Years ago after reading the Thrawn Trilogy which got my started into the EU after Return of the Jedi I picked up the EU book Millennium Falcon which in my limited knowledge of that timeframe was the furthest jump into the future up until that point. Fortunately and because the Ship and the history of the Falcon were explored even jumping back to Revenge of the Sith or its construction hinting at its "nature" on the construction line it was very immersive and a good read. The Sequels of Disney SW do not have that......
My sincere thanks for this video, Thor.
Because George Lucas was a better manager than Kathleen Kennedy.
She’s a good assistant producer, but some people just shouldn’t be allowed in a leadership position.
Hayden Blackman would have been a great lead at Lucasfilm/Lucasarts.
Not true. Letting people public hundreds of books and comics isnt good managing its over saturation and there was no quality control
@@elijahskywalker611 and using nostalgia bait to sell a product with no creative is a better way?
@@elijahskywalker611
I would say it better than nostalgia baiting and allowed new ideas to come about than this.
@@elijahskywalker611 Over-saturation never became a problem.
Nostalgia baiting bad but thinking books from the nineties are perfect and will never be topped is good? I think we expect too much and need to enjoy the golden age of star wars we are in. Bad batch, clone wars s7, rogue one, solo, boba, mandalorian etc are all great content and very enjoyable but this channel and its fans specifically focus only on the perceived negative aspects
I remember first reading the Thrawn Trilogy and despite it being the first time I ever read any Star Wars content, so much of it rang true to the characters and the universe at large. Never in a million years would I have guessed that it would have been de-cannonized one day. It introduced new enemies, new gimmicks, new locales. It expanded on the old characters, gave new story arcs that made sense.
It's true that not every part of the EU was great, but Tim Zahn's trilogy (and to a lesser degree, the Jedi Academy Trilogy) were turning points in my literary evolution. From there, I began appreciating and collecting other works like Dark Empire and the totally underrated Tales of the Jedi anthology (love those covers!). To me, this will ALWAYS be the true continuation of the Star Wars legacy.
This is where the fun begins....
I will cry uselessly from every mountaintop for a “What If…” Star Wars series that gives us the EU back. I can’t imagine it ever happens if for no other reason than it would highlight so many of the weaknesses of modern Star Wars but I’m not hurting anyone on my pointless quest
Amen to that. Modern disney Star Wars shall always be to me Noncanon.
Hail the EU!
Yet you have praised some of the newer stuff like it was Canon.
@@achaudhari101 Lucasverse and disney (Non)canon are two different things.
I can also admit some works are less terrible than the others.
Surely you have something better to do than be a poor troll.
So me bringing up the past is a thing only trolls do despite admitting to me it’s not as bad? How hostile can you be exactly?
@@achaudhari101 You misconstruimg my statements and jumping to accusations is troll levels of petty. Entirely optional on your part. If you enjoy taking L's so much, whatever. I just find such masochist behavior foreign.
@@slicerneons3300 Not all the time what I do is taking L's which if that was the case, I would be saying something retarded but I do have the history side of things to help me out dude. If you admitted that I was correct to a certain degree, it's not really trolling.
I’ve read some of the new canon, the Padmé trilogy is pretty infesting and that’s set in between and before the prequels. I’ve read some of the Leia books they have out and Brotherhood, which is set right after ATOC is a really good Anakin and Obi-Wan story. But overall I prefer the EU. My husband got me Heir to the Empire last year for our one year and I’ve been reading the EU books ever since and I can’t believe Disney was so dumb and made what they call a sequel trilogy instead of one of the AU storylines instead. Adam and Daisy would’ve been a better Jacen and Jaina instead of Ben Solo and Rey
Expanded Universe was good cause it wasn't done by Lucas or a corporate entity. It was made by a bunch of fans.
No wonder it was better than what Lucas made
Please keep in mind nearly nothing would have been possible with EU if it wasn't for West End Games and Star Wars d6. As a gamer in the 1980s, I fell in love with the mechanics of the Ghostbusters d6 system, which was revolutionary for its time. I said to my good friend Tim it would be amazing to use the game mechanics for something else such as sci-fi. The orbital mind-reading satellites heard me. The next year 1987 came Star Wars d6, and it was sheer genius. The first edition book captured Star Wars to a T. And I ran that game and bought every supplement for it for nearly a decade. Let's remember and give thanks to designer Greg Costikyan and editor Bill Slavicsek and many others who went on to add (with LFL approval) so much depth to Star Wars. Even Timothy Zhan used the roleplaying books as reference material and in turn his books made it into the game. When Phantom Menace came out, I sold everything ... the end of an era.
The only Disney Canon that’s actually decent is Rogue One, Clones Wars, some elements of Rebels and last but not least Fallen Order which are good stories; (for the most part) everything else from Disney’s Canon pales in comparison especially when set up with the EU.
the Clones Wars is mostly not Disney but yes i do agree , i am a big fan of old republic stuff.
CW isnt even Disney
I like the mandalorian but optimistic about where they are taking it
@@callukcraft even season 7 isn’t Disney really. It was damn near done
best Canon book I've read this year was "Phasma" - you showed a pic of the cover - I was surprised with how good it was!
I will say this: I never really grew up with much Legends material, so I don't have as much of an attachment to them. I honestly liked a lot of the Canon comics I read. Going to my old public library back where I used to live and reading them, was one of my favorite things to do. Moving to a place where I didn't have those anymore was very hard for me, because I got so invested in their stories. Especially the "Darth Vader" series.
In my opinion, both Legends and Canon books/novels/comics have their own pros and cons, but someone shouldn't be talked down to for liking something different than someone else. Everyone has their own opinion, and that's ok.
Nope new canon is only used to justify garbage. That Vader series is highly overrated since is just basically copies EU shit anyway. It’s just a worse version of what we got with Vader before.
Just like all Disney Star Wars
You are wise.
@@matthewbreytenbach4483 Thank you.
@@TheAnimationConnoisseur
You're most welcome :)
I've recently gotten into the books and after going from new canon to the EU, it's clear to see the difference in quality. It's the same problem I have with the shows at this point. The new canon books are about the same few characters and the galaxy just feels small. And if not that, it's to push an agenda like the high Republic. Unlike The Old Republic, which was just to tell stories of a different time period.
New canon does not interest me in the slightest. I liked the original EU, and although arcs like the New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force had their issues, I was really invested in Jacens arc, and I think overall did Anakins (at the time) and Ben Solos arcs much, much better (Anakins arc has improved over time with shows like th Clone Wars fleshing out his eventual downfall). Some of the Clone Wars era novels were fantastic as well, and I really liked the Republic Commando series.
I read one new canon book called Queen's Shadow. I wanted to like it and it seemed like it'd have more of Sabe in it, but I was highly disappointed. Not with Padme's story of becoming a senator, but more of it not meeting expectations and not being very well written.
I used to read the Jedi Apprentice books and have recently started to revisit them and also started reading others like the Young Jedi Knights, the Coruscant Nights trilogy, some Clone Wars novels, and have several more of the Legends on my list.
The worst part of the EU retcon is that Disney replaced it with a lot of shit, like almost everything that is set in the Resistance era (Sequel trilogy, Star Wars Resistance, many sequel trilogy comics)
I would be interested in a list of Disney canon that you like
I know this wasn't directed toward me, but I've read a good deal of the new canon. While much of it leaves a lot to be desired, I really, really enjoyed Claudia Gray's "Bloodline." It's a book about Leia. It sets up the First Order, but characters like Luke, Ben Solo, Rey, and so on are offscreen. The thing I enjoyed most about it is that we get a good look at Leia's feelings about the events of the Galactic Civil War. Losing her father and home planet, her feelings about Darth Vader, and the like.
Your user name rocks, by the way. Zell's awesome.
Disney coulda just started a hundred or so years after the events of the Legacy Era and went to town but no, they had to leave their evil ass mark on the franchise and drop right into the thickest part of timeline (Clone Wars/OT/Post-Endor)...
This is not a new problem. During the late EU period, there was an EXPLICT hierarchy on who gets to do big things. In the Star Wars Legacy comics, set 100 years after the then-contemporary SW novels (themselves in the late 30s ABY), there are several Force Sensitive characters from the Fel family. The Fels of the novel period were not Force sensitive, buuuut the younger Fel was definitely interested in Han and Leia's daughter.
But.
Under NO circumstances were the comics allowed to confirm this. Because Jaina and Jag belonged to the world of novels, and so THEY would show and confirm it. And they did... in the very last novel of the very last book series produced under the aegis of the old EU... after Legacy had run its course. The comic writers were quite explicit about what LFL told them - "important details like that can ONLY be in the novels, not in the comic books. You stick to your little story, and the important novel writers will handle the actual lorecrafting."
Well, yeah. If those comics were to confirm Jaina and Jag had children together while other writers are in the middle of writing the actual adventures of Jaina and Jag, they'd be stepping on other authors' toes.
Btw, they never did show them having kids, just that they were engaged to be married.
Finally someone said it