Star Wars: The Argument for Canon

          Star Wars is back! When Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced a new slate of movies, fanboys and fangirls everywhere rejoiced. Since the original trilogy had been released, there have been numerous book published, comic books written, video games created and many other products that established a vast expanded Star Wars universe.  Which storylines from this universe would be explored in the new movies.

Then, Disney broke the hearts of their fans by stating that everything in the expanded universe would no longer be canon. They would be making a movie that took place after “Return of the Jedi” and would therefore nullify all expanded universe stories. All of these amazing stories would now be categorized as a separate entity called “Legends”. The new canon would consist of the movies, star wars the clone wars, and star wars rebels TV shows, as well as new books being published. While it makes sense that Lucasfilm would want to get rid of the stories in the time after the movies took place, it makes no sense to restart the entire history from before the movies. There are certain key characters and stories from the expanded universe, which took place before the movies, which need to be kept in canon.

Darth Revan

Story: The story of Revan is a long story, with many ups and downs. Starting out as a Jedi Knight, Revan’s story begins during the Mandalorian war. Unwilling to listen to the Jedi Council who were willing to be patient and not go to war, Revan and his friend and fellow Jedi Alek, started a rebel faction of Jedi called the Revanchist. After the defeat of the Mandalorians, Revan and Alek both succumbed to the dark side of the force and became Sith masters, and plotted to destroy the Jedi. After starting a new war with the Jedi, Revan was critically injured, and close to death. Saved by the Jedi, he had his mind wiped, and memories erased so he would help destroy the Sith empire, led by his former friend. After defeating the Sith master, he returns to the Jedi Order as the prodigital Jedi, a legend, and a hero.

Why it should be kept canon: Revan is definitely one of the most interesting characters in the expanded universe. He is a character who has mastered both the light side, and the dark side of the force. He left teachings for the Sith of the future via holocron, and he heavily influenced Darth Bane on how the Sith’s future should be handled.

The Darth Bane Trilogy

Story: Born as a human named Dressel during the Sith-Jedi war, the man soon to be known as Bane, started out as a soldier of the Sith army.  After catching the eye of a Sith lord, he was transferred to the prestigious Sith academy on the sith homeworld of Korriban. After having conflicts with his fellow apprentices and certain masters, Bane went out on his own to find secrets of the Sith, secrets he learned thanks to a holocron created by Darth Revan as well as a few other legendary Sith lords. After learning all the secrets Revan’s holocron was able to share, he returned to the Sith army, and deceived them into destroying themselves, along with 100 Jedi masters, thus leaving Bane as the sole survivor of the Sith Empire.

Why it should be kept canon: Darth Bane is the reason the Sith are as we know them. Darth Bane believed that having hundreds of Sith, some on equal standing made them weak. He believed that there should be only 2 Sith instead of hundreds, thus concentrating all of the power of the dark side into 2 entities. While the rule itself may still be canon, the journey that Darth Bane journeyed on, which led him to enact the rule, is still important in development of the Sith.

Darth Plagueis

Story: Born with the name Hego Damask from the planet Muunilist, he was unaware that he was created with the sole purpose of becoming a dark lord of the Sith. As a member of the international banking clan, he has a vast fortune, which he uses to help bring about his grand plan to take over the galaxy. With his apprentice Darth Sidious by his side, he will take over the galaxy, while attempting to figure out the secret to immortality.

Why it should be kept canon: This also functions as an origin story for Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine from the star wars movies. He leads an interesting life, and the life of his master is even more interesting. The book also contains the origins of Darth Maul, and the fall of Jedi Master Count Dooku to the dark side of the force. Along with  conducting research into the secrets to immortality, and manipulation of midiclorians (cells that determine Force sensitivity), Darth Plagueis helps shape Palpatine to the man who we all know from the movies, and the journey there, is just as interesting.

“Kenobi”

Story: The story takes place right after “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” Obi-Wan Kenobi has just brought little Luke Skywalker to the planet of Tatooine. While trying to blend in, and act like a local, he is drawn into trouble when he helps a settlement defend themselves from the vicious sand people.  Even though he only wants to blend in, and not draw any attention to himself, he keeps assisting the people of this settlement from the sand people, and from themselves.

Why it should be kept canon: A little bridge between the sets of sequels, this shows how Obi-Wan transitioned from Jedi Master in “Revenge of the Sith”, to a hermit in “A New Hope”. It is an interesting transition, and it is humorous how Kenobi only wants to be left alone, but he keeps being drawn into various conflicts.

          While there are definitely other major story lines in the Star Wars expanded universe, these all are very significant in the universe that Disney and Lucasfilm decided to keep canon. While some of the aspects of these stories will be kept canon, the stories themselves are very interesting, and would be great additions to the new Star Wars canon.