Saturday, January 11, 2014

Star Wars Canon About to Get Major Overhaul: What was "Real" May Not Be Much Longer

 

The news just keeps coming and if I do say so myself, it keeps getting more and more infuriating because they keep telling us things without actually telling us anything.  I just came across this article HERE that basically tells us that there will now be an "official" canon that will be followed for the movies, and a lot of what currently exists won't be included. 

In some ways, this can be a good thing.  The Star Wars universe is quite complex and between novels, graphic novels, comic books, video games, role play games, children's books, adult books, ebooks and what have you, there is an awful lot of story to keep straight.  And I'll be honest when I say that at times it seems downright annoying to try and make sure it all ties together and happened in the same universe in the same timeline.  Like, gee, how many times did Boba Fett die? 

I can't help but feel a little bit cheated, though.  It sort of makes it like all of those books I've been reading for the past 20 years have been kind of pointless.  Yes, I realize that's stupid.  And the entire point of fanfic is that we can take these people and write the things we really want to see happen, and most of my favorite stories about my favorite characters have been written by people who were never paid a dime to do so.  But I suffered through the bad parts of the EU probably partly because that was what I was told was "real" and what actually happened to these characters.  Of course I was unhappy with a lot of it but I kept reading anyway. 

My other fear, and I believe we've discussed this before, is the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.  We all have problems with the EU as it currently stands, but we've gotten used to it.  And at its core, the most important thing to any of our readers here is the notion that Han and Leia got married and had kids and 40-something years later now they still love each other and their one remaining child and their grandchild.  It actually makes my stomach hurt to think that they might change that!  Well, not the dead sons thing, but you know what I mean.  And yes, I also realize it's stupid to get wrapped up and care so much about those little facts, but I do.  And my frustration continues at the fact that after all of this time we still don't know what in the universe these movies are going to be about.  I'll care a whole lot less if I find out that the story is set 100 years later.  Then again even in that scenario I'll be annoyed if we find out that Han and Leia never got married.  Or I'm given any indication that they didn't live at least some variation of happily ever after.  Seriously, even if they aren't going to be in the movie at all either way that would bother me.  And yes, I know I have problems. 

Of course there is a chance there is a good thing.  And as of now there is no indication of exactly how much of what exists now will be taken out of official canon.  It could just be things that were already considered "lower-tier" canon (think the Glove of Darth Vader series or some comic books that contradict some other things that happened) or it could be everything that was never shown on a movie screen.  This would also leave them free to write all kinds of books in all kinds of time frames and not worry about what happened before or since.  Although I think it'd be odd if they started putting out a lot of random stand alone books that didn't really connect to anything else, so I'm not sure that really matters. 

They did say that this frees up Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter (who also happened to write ESB) to write what he sees fit as a good story without having to worry about working within a framework of convoluted plot lines spanning years that he really knows nothing about.  Again, this could be good or bad. 

My personal reaction is just heaving yet another annoyed sigh.  They keep threatening and changing things without actually telling us what they are changing it to.  We have no idea the time frame the movies will take place.  After being excited to learn that our favorite characters might be coming back we've been left hanging on any further news on that front for what now, a year?  Possibly more.  They won't confirm anything.  For a long time I assumed that if they weren't going to be in them they'd have just told us by now because it seems odd to continue to not deny but rather deflect if they know ultimately they are going to have to tell us we won't see more of Han, Leia and Luke and we'll just be disappointed.  Then again, given the screenwriter changing and shooting dates being pushed around it's also possible that they still haven't made any concrete decisions there, although I admit I'll find that hard to believe only because with all of the scheduling and planning that has to take place, they really do have to know by now.  I also fear that what they were going to do with the first screenwriter was going to be awesome and now that they've changed it's going to suck.  I don't know why I fear that, as Kasdan has written a scary amount of my favorite movies ever and you'd think we're in capable hands  but I'm so used to disappointment lately that it's just what I've come to expect. 

Apparently this is what has been going on for years in the Star Trek community, with an "official" canon and then books and things like that are sort of left free to do whatever they want without having to adhere to anything specific.  Again, I suppose this could be cool and fun but at the same time it just seems like it could get confusing. 

So, what do you think?  Confused?  Disappointed?  Nervous?  Excited?  I'm going through a cynical streak right now in general so basically I'm setting myself up for epic disappointment, but as usual, it remains to be seen.

35 comments:

  1. To be honest, I've never had any great attachment to the EU stuff. Sure, between the years of 1999-2002/03, I was wolfing down a lot of it at an alarming pace, but I never took it too seriously (Okay, wait. I totally freaked out when reading COPL, so maybe I *did* take it too seriously at points).

    But anyway, I never really thought of it as more than professional fanfic. Some of it better than others. Besides, I remember reading years and years and years ago that Lucas didn't even pay the EU any mind. And seriously, he's like the God of this universe, so if *he* didn't think of it as canon, then I didn't see why I should.

    So, anyway, I think the potential upside is great. But yeah, if the new movies come out and we find out that Han and Leia broke up years ago, or Han died in a firefight just weeks after ROTJ, then yeah, I'll be sorely disappointed. And no doubt I"ll be positively *nostalgic* for NJO angst and two dead sons. But I'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, I'm cautiously optimistic.

    Mark/Carrie/Harrison haven't denied being in Star Wars, so I still think we should expect them in it. And also, what would be the point of having Han and Leia broken up just to be forced together in the new films? Wouldn't that be just too similar to what happened with Indy and Marion in "Crystal Skull"? I think they would want to avoid that….

    Okay, I gotta clean…..damn you, procrastination bait!!!! ;-)

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    1. Hah, see, it angers and embarrasses me that this kind of thing even bothers me, but it does. Because really, it's ALL fiction. None of it is "real" even if they are now going to tell us which stuff is realer than the rest. It's still all entirely made up and I can choose to "believe" any of it that I want. But, yes, it still bothers me.

      And I totally agree that it is absolutely pointless to rip apart Han and Leia in this case. I've said it before, this is a fairy tale. And their love story really did end with ROTJ. It only makes sense that they got married and had babies and lived happily ever after. That's just how fairy tales work. There's no reason to add angst to them in the new movies, they should be just how we've seen them in recent books: still together and in love and just as good at banter as ever.

      If they now tell me that for 30 years they enjoyed relative peace and raised their kids and not much happened I'd be quite happy, actually. I'm just so used to being disappointed!

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  2. Omg this is scary as hell. I'm with you Zyra, the EU has been a great disappointment to us H/L fans over the years, but we just ignored all the bits we didn't like, and embraced the bits we did. And it's that better the devil you know scenario. What if the new canon is WORSE? And you know what I'm saying guys, if we learn that Han and Leia didn't get married, never had kids, hell, that they didn't even last a week after the end of ROTJ. Yes, it's fiction, it's not real, but I'd be absolutely gutted if the new movies took us down that road. I don't see the point in breaking them up either, it negates the whole OT love story and really craps on the "fairytale" ending. And yes splitting them up and then inevitably reconciling them in the new trilogy is completely pointless and as Stoned Rose has pointed out, a complete rehash of the Indy and Marion storyline. I must be a cynical mood today because after hearing about this I'm convinced we are heading for an epic fall. Gah, someone say something encouraging!

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  3. Seems to me that the powers that be have to realize that there are certain things that would drive fans away. Having Han and Leia NOT being together seems like it would be one of them. It would be like saying Luke didn't continue being a Jedi, and went back to Tatooine. Maybe they didn't have twins or children who would threaten to destroy the galaxy, but I don't think they could throw away the relationships that were built in the prior movies. I like to think that they are referring to villains and plot lines that may just 'go away'.

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    1. Well I'd HOPE that the powers that be within Lucasfilm have learnt from the backlash that occurred when they separated Han and Leia in the NJO. I remember the upset over that all too well and the letters that people wrote to Lucasfilm asking for better treatment for our fav couple. This is maybe the one thing that makes me think they wouldn't dare pull that kind of stunt again.

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  4. I don't think they will mess with the H/L romance storyline too much. I can see Kasdan writing them much as he did in ESB with less arguing about whether or not the love each other and more banter about how they take on what ever battle, mission, fight etc they are on.

    When they got married, how many kids, and their current lives will likely be tweaked some. Although the twins is a nice foil and I could totally see H/L taking on some new threat with teen twins and Chewie in the party while Luke and some new Jedi talent he's trained are taking on a parallel plot line that intersects.

    I'm cautiously optimistic. Since I've been so unhappy with the EU outside of the Zahn books and the more recent Empire and Rebellion and Scoundrels books, I'm thinking they really can't screw it up that badly... and if Carrie, Mark, and Harrison are in the mix hopefully they will have good ideas on how those characters evolved from the earlier movies without the complete left turns that EU made of them.

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    1. That sounds like a pretty good story to me. Like that idea.

      And Carrie has joked about playing Mrs. Solo. :)

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  5. You can tell the optimists from the pessimists in these comments :)

    I know logically that it makes zero sense for them to split Han and Leia up. It would anger FAR more people than it would make happy, and as someone pointed out, if you split them up just to bring them back together again, then it's just like Indy and Marion, and we know how much Harrison hates similarities between Han and Indy, though both are super hot. I've just been so disappointed with so much of what has been done that I think I automatically jump to the worst possible conclusion.

    Of course that's silly too because in spite of a lot of notably terrible things in the EU, as things stand now Han and Leia are right where I'd want them to be. Minus the dead kids.

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    1. I'm loving that so many people are optimistic, that does make me feel a little better. Keep it up guys :)

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    2. I might need to be heavily tranquilized while watching this movie. Both for my sake and that of everyone else in the theater.
      I'll be a complete mess.
      I'm already stressing out over it. I think the not knowing is making me rather neurotic.
      This convo is calming me down slightly. Which is good. Very very good.

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    3. Lol, you and me both, Zolo. But you're so right about that, it's the not knowing that makes it worse, and we still know absolutely NOTHING, which over a year down the line is pretty poor.

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  6. I guess I am being optimistic that they will be able to build the right mix between old and new. From a business point of view, the 18-35 demographic will NOT come to see 65 - 70 year old characters getting in fights, etc. I guess I'm less worried about what is done with the big three than what are the NEW characters going to be like (which will target the 18-35 demographic) and will I enjoy them as much. I never connected with Anakin/Padme or even young Obi-wan. But I'm hopeful that the Ep. VII characters will be interesting (and can act) and I'll want to know what happens after VII.
    But I can see your point, if the story line has Han and Leia split up and never having the happily ever after (even an angsty happily ever after), then that blows all these ideas we've built up for them over the years and I'm not sure I want to know what 'canon' is. I'd rather believe that canon is my favorite FF stories and forget Ep VII ever happened.
    But I try not to think about that and just stay in my happy place (which involves me, Han, and the Millenium Falcon). I guess I'm being cautiously optimistic!

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  7. I am weirdly indifferent to the changing of canon. I think it has something to do with being a perpetually naive optimist. ;) The EU feels so complex and convoluted and so many hands were in the pot over the last few decades, that the idea of throwing it all out and starting anew is exciting to me. ~ Ivylore

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  8. Good to see you, Ivylore!

    I seriously wish this kind of thing didn't bother me. Because again, it's ALL fictional, so what does it really matter? It still bugs me, though. I do agree that it doesn't make sense for the big 3 to be the main protagonists in the new movies. Unless we could go back in time 20 years I wouldn't even want them to be. Doesn't mean I don't still want to see them kicking ass.

    Very good point about characters we can relate to. I never really thought about the fact that those are sorely lacking in the prequels. Obviously none of us are going into galactic battle anytime soon, but I think the core personalities and emotions from the OT are things a lot of us can relate to. We can all look at scenarios throughout the movies and imagine ourselves feeling as the characters do. What we saw in the prequels was so far from any normal human emotional response that it was really difficult to care about those characters.

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    1. Well, I can understand why cause it bothers me too. We've been caring and associating with these characters for 30 years. So, yeah, it's going to bug us. Darn Lucas for making scoundrels so hot!

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  9. Not terribly attached to the EU. ESB had a great script and I'm going to trust Mr. Kasdan to do the same.

    Zyra, I heartily agree that there was very little in the prequels that would provide any kind of emotional attachment. Even my granddaughter likes episodes 4, 5 and 6 better than 1, 2 and 3. I asked her why and she said she liked the people in ANH, ESB and ROTJ more. The only character she likes in the prequels is Yoda. She was sad when he died in ROTJ but she was happy that he could come back when he was needed. She also loves R2D2. I find it interesting that even at 7 years of age, the characters matter to her. She wasn't grossed out when Han and Leia kissed but she hated it when Anakin and Padme did.

    I agree with her assessments.

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  10. Loving the new background pic, Zyra!

    I'm nervous about the new movies, too. Mainly because Lawrence Kasdan didn't like either H/L or HF in ESB, so I find myself questioning the guy's judgment, and/or sanity..

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  11. I'm optimistic. I think Kasdan knows how to reach an audience, and I think he knows what he can and can't get away with. We now have in our family 3 generations of SW fans, and all prefer the OT. There has to be something for everyone, and while the target audience may be 18-35, there are a lot of us that fell in love that are now in our 50s and 60s, and there are plenty of kids under 18 that will want to see it. He'll have to be mindful of that.

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  12. Sorry about the Anonymous -am working on that (I posted a comment about Leia's love life this morning and have yet to figure out how to post with my own identity - will work on this)
    I love Lawrence Kasdan. He spoke was the speaker at my college graduation (alumni) and as a SW fan, I was thrilled. He brought Han and Leia's story together and I don't think Disney or Kasdan (or Lucas for that matter) would disregard that. They are the premier couple in SW land, and their relationship is part of the plot. ROTJ ended with them definitely together. In Indiana Jones, Marion was only in 1 of the first 3 Indy movies. I highly doubt they'd pull another "Let's have them reunite years later" ploy because these are 2 very high profile, successful movie franchises and Harrison Ford is the star of both of them - it'd be repetitive and obvious. I think cutting out the rest or most of the EU (remember, they kept Coruscant from Zahn's work in the first 3 movies) is a good idea - there's too much to keep track of, too much strategy and war stuff. And I think this means everyone's favorite Wookie is alive again! Yay! For how long depends on what is in store for us. Given the fact that the franchise has been around for 40 years, it would not be wise to upset all of the fans. In all, since they waited this long, I'm hopeful that they've let these characters have long, happy lives together after the war before they start messing with them again, unlike in the EU, where every day is a new crisis worse than the next (really, why even bother trying?) I'm sure everyone involved wants to do right by SW, especially if they want it to keep it going, so whatever happens, I'm sure they'll do it in the right way.

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  13. In the Reader's Companion, Pablo Hidalgo writes that the films and related projects directly developed by Lucasfilms are the only true canon and points out that much of the EU written before the prequels were released contain flat out contradictions to what is now considered canon. He doesn't try to reconcile all this, just points it out and explains it in terms of real-world timelines. I prefer this approach to the retcon approach that tells me that Luke and Leia encountered a Vader clone on Mimban, as if Alan Dean Foster thought up that idea in 1978 or whatever.

    Here's how I look at it: Lucas just gave me permission to ignore whatever I want in the EU, which I've been doing for years without his blessing. I started writing fan fiction long before I knew what it was for exactly this reason. I didn't like what movies or TV had done to the books I loved and I made up my own version of what happened next that made me happy.

    As far as the films go, Disney is in this for the long haul and no matter what you want to think about their methods or their attitudes... magic is what they do. They spent far too much money on this franchise to rip it apart completely just because they can. They bought a proven winner. Maybe we won't like what they do. Maybe we will. But I didn't let the prequels ruin this fandom for me. I won't let the next set of films ruin it either.

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    1. Well said jz. In the end we will all process the characters/stories in our own unique ways despite what we read or see or what is deemed official or not. What I feel the most upset about is the human element of corporate mergers,downsizing,upsizing, whatever you call it. When Disney announced Star Wars the Clone Wars was cancelled with no warning, rhyme, or reason it was very devastating to the fans. The actors only had a three day notice before the news went public. I was more upset about the human element of the people who dedicated their lives to creating the show were told thanks but no thanks, clean your desk. I should have never read those articles. James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi wrote a beautiful and moving letter that brought me to tears. I can't help feel the same way for the authors of the EU, love them or hate them. Now their work which had been widely accepted as canon, is being told in a sense "thanks but no thanks."
      I will never forget sitting in the DelRay panel at CVVI, standing room only, being surrounded by people who love the EU books. We all were excited to see and listen to the panel of authors (Zahn, Denning, Allston, etc., they were all there). The loud roar when new books were teased and announced. It was electric. What happens to those authors and their work now? Stories are important to our human soul. Some characters/stories really resonate within us. Just because it is fiction does not make it less important. I struggled for a long time and finally accepted that I love certain fictional characters and stories and greatly care about what happens to them. That being said, in the end life goes on and we will all process things in our own way like jz stated. Thank you for letting me express my thoughts. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2014.

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    2. Good to see you JZ and Seams. :)

      I'm still peeved about the whole Celebration/buy out thing. Seams is right that there was a lot of cool energy at the con and we got to see and hear about a lot of neat things. Only to come to find out it's all canceled because of the buy out. AOTC actually looked pretty cool in 3D. And what about Star Wars Detours that they made such a big deal about? They really kind of yanked the carpet out from under us and I have a hard time believing they didn't know it was coming beforehand. I don't even want to think about how it must have been for the actors and writers.

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    3. Yes I'm still peeved about Detours being shelved, that looked like a lot of fun. They say they might use it later on, but I'm not holding my breath. And you really do have to feel for the people who work on all this stuff, I Agee. I feel bad for the EU authors though. It's like Lucasfilm/Disney saying, "yeah thanks for filling the gap, but basically all your books are crap and none of that even happened". I'm kind of hoping we can at least keep Tatooine Ghost in the canon as they don't have kids yet, even if everything else is tossed. It would be a sad day to lose the best Han and Leia book ever written from the "official" timeline.

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    1. I feel like half my life has been spent worrying about people I have grown to love only to find out they might not exist. I know its stupid, but I'm seriously worried. So - fair warning - I might become (even more) delusional and pretend things have remained the same. Either that or simply create an AU/EU which I'm totes happy with. Actually - that sounds like the best option. I think I'll do that.

      PS - new Future chapter is up. Go read it. It took me months to do. ;)

      PPS - I have a few fun shorts I am working on, are we still posting guest stories on here?

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    2. New stories from you, Zolo? Bring it on! :)

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    3. We always accept guest stories :)

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  15. Anyway, on the plus side of all this at least we are not Luke and Mara shippers. Thinking about it I reckon they have a LOT more to be worrying about than we do. Our 'ship is canon, and theirs may not be much longer. If the EU is toast then I think Mara is in big trouble. Similarly though are Jacen and Jaina, which really does sadden me. Even if we get our married Han and Leia in the new trilogy I think it's probably a real stretch to think they are going to give them their EU kids. I just don't see that happening. But I'd like to think if they do have a boy and a girl, even if they aren't twins that they could keep the same names. It would just be beyond weird to have totally different kids for them after 20 years of the old ones.

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  16. I'm realizing my bigger issue is the fact that, as I stated above, they keep telling us things like this without really TELLING us anything. You know? If they would just finally let me know who this movie is going to be about and what we're getting ourselves into, I'll feel a lot better. Really, regardless of what the answers to those questions are. I think. I'll probably still be concerned but I'll at least have a clearer idea of what exactly I need to be worried about now.

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  17. I'm going to wait till June 30 to start fretting. My tenure as dept chair will have ended and I can get on with worrying about Things That Matter, like what The New Republic will be like. :)

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    1. The New Republic? What is that? I didn't think we knew what the name of the movie is and there's been fake trailers going around. Just curious.













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  18. Let me say first that guy in the article might be biased. It’s really apparent he does not like the EU. Really doesn’t. And I’ve seen another article that didn’t make it sound so scary.

    I have to agree with others that I’m not overly attached to the EU other than the basics. And certainly would love to jettison parts of it. (Bria anyone?) But I’d be really heartbroken if Han and Leia weren’t married or still married and didn’t have kids. And for that matter Luke as well. After all they went through in the movies, don’t they deserve a happy ending? And that was a really good point about it being professional fanfic. That’s about all it has amounted to and with this change, kind of how it will be now. Some of it’s been good and some of it’s been bad. On the upside at least now I probably don’t need to go back and read it all. I can just read the four and five star ones listed on the right. :)

    Claire is absolutely correct that Mara fans have a lot more to worry about than we do. She is only based in the EU. What is the likelihood they will keep her? Will she live? What about Chewie?

    I am cautiously optimistic about it. Cautiously. It is incredibly frustrating that it’s been well over a year and no new information. Cough it up already people! But ROTJ does give me hope that our lovelies will be ok even if the EU is jettisoned. Han and Leia looked ready to buy a house in Jedi. So it seems kind of a moot point to break them up now, especially since it was onscreen and “canon.” Why go to all that trouble to bring them together to just break them up? That movie ended on such a note of hope and family and togetherness that I have a hard time believing they won’t continue it into the new canon. That’s always been one of the draws of the series in the first place.

    I kind of have a theory of what might be their best approach. Or a possible way to go. Keep Zahn’s Thrawn triology and jettison the rest. That was the original EU. Zahn is a bit of a name and the grandfather of the EU. So this way you don’t step on his toes. Han and Leia stay married with kids. And you get to keep Mara. Just a thought.

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    1. You aren't wrong there, Amara, the guy that wrote that was so anti EU that it read a lot worse than it probably is. From bits I've been reading, based on Tweets from story group members the canon overhaul is basically just making sure that everything going forward will fit with forthcoming movies better than it has in the past, and they are going to try harder to make sure nothing contradicts something else. Also where necessary, existing EU may be relagates to non canon status if there is no way they can make it fit. That'sa little different from ssaying that everything post ROTJ is going to be hacked up with a chainsaw! Of course we can expect some of the EU to get made Infinities or something, but there's still the possibility some of it might be salvaged in some way.

      Some fans have suggested a semi reboot, cut off the existing EU at a certain point and the new movies fill in the rest. I agree that cutting it off after the Thrawn trilogy is a great idea. That could work, providing we still get kids named Jacen and Jaina, or at least one kid with one of those names. There could be some back story as to what happened to the other one, and it needn't be too drastic. Maybe they are elsewhere in the galaxy at the time the movies are set? And Mara fans will keep their girl in the canon, but whether she will end up married to Luke is anybody's guess.

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  19. Hello everyone! Senior in high school now and very busy :)

    I don't know if this has popped up in previous conversations yet, but as much as I hate to say it, I don't see the new trilogy going any other way but Han's death. Harrison's wanted it since the first movie, and if they're paying him what I think they're going to pay him, they're going to do what he wants. If that's the case, keeping Han and Leia apart wouldn't really make sense to me. I would think losing a spouse worse...? I don't know. I just can't invision Harrison wanting anything else but Han to DIE.

    Also, pretty much dying on the background pic. I don't know how much longer I can deal with immature teenage boys when I have him to compare everyone to ;) !

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