The Force Awakens: The Good, The Bad, and The Lack of Anything Ugly

Though my heart still beats for the Expanded Universe and is crushed by the knowledge that my favorite story arcs and characters are no longer canonical, I -- along with all other lifelong Star Wars fanboys -- got tickets to The Force Awakens and saw it at midnight opening night.  The experience was surreal, largely because I never expected to see more film installments, and furthermore, the last time I stood in line to see a Star Wars movie, I was 16.  A decade removed from that, a bigger fan now than ever before, I have much higher expectations than did my wide-eyed teenage self.  But I also went into it with far more excitement than trepidation.

With that in mind -- if you haven't seen the movie yet (you should also stop reading pretty soon, by the way) -- it should warm the cockles of your heart to know that (in my humble opinion) The Force Awakens was... excellent.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  But excellent.  The movie's high level of quality owes itself to a number of things, not the least of which is its creators'  dedication to continuing the story of the original trilogy; its solid and believable acting; and its clever, actually funny comic relief (as opposed to the slapstick, second-grade-mentality nonsense that permeated the prequels).  Now, I've certainly got complaints about the film, but I think The Force Awaken's good far outweighs its bad -- even if the latter list is longer.

I will admit up front that a number of these complaints will possibly be rectified in later films and novels.  And I'm being exceptionally picky on purpose.  Because when you love something a lot, you want it to be the best it can be.

So here's my laundry list.

By Legion of Potatoes

The Bad

Another super weapon.  Another very Death Star-esque, planet-destroying, genocidal super weapon which the rest of the galaxy apparently ignored during its construction.  Seriously, using those kind of resources is going to draw attention.  The EU had its share of these as well, like the Darksaber and the Sun Crusher, and I'd be lying if I said I missed those elements of the Expanded Universe.  To further the comparison between this new super weapon and the Death Stars, this monstrosity's interior boasts similar architecture to its predecessors, features a weakness exploitable by internal sabotage and torpedo strafing, and its timely destruction even includes a brief trench run over the space of 15 tense, in-movie minutes.  The differences this time around are small but notable: a). the weapon is also a planet with its own ecosystem and geological strata, and b). it literally eats stars to fuel its weapon system.  These are cool variables, but really Starkiller Base is still a Death Star.  A bigger Death Star with a makeover.  You'd think that, thirty years after two predecessors had been destroyed by small snubfighters, the designers would have integrated their diabolical creations with better defense systems.  The Millennium Falcon literally comes out of hyperspace in the thing's atmosphere to get past its defensive shield, because it apparently can only stop vehicles moving at sublight speeds.  In making this thing bigger and badder than the Death Stars, they apparently downgraded its defensive capabilities.  Totally a Death Star.

Another evil Empire-esque....  Wait.  Wait, no wait.  It's pretty much just the Empire again with a different name and a different icon emblazoned on its banners.  And with that, another evil Emperor-esque character.  This time, taller and with a lousy surname.  While I appreciate the prototypical black-and-white Star Wars themes, I also wish the universe would mature a bit in terms of its villains and their philosophies.  Coming from an EU perspective, it would be so delightful to see a Thrawn or a Pallaeon in a Star Wars film -- i.e. a heroic kind of villain, possessing tactical ingenuity, fueled by honor and devotion instead of craving power.  That or a cruel, purpose-driven Palpatine devotee like Ysanne Isard whose brutality is coldly, pragmatically calculated -- not the result of a burning need for revenge.  I'd favor either of these options over another power-hungry Sith, simply so that the story moving forward can remain new and refreshing.  There's nothing worse than baddies with no credibility who never learn from their predecessors' mistakes.

Weak politics.  The major conflict revolves around the First Order versus the Resistance, an underground military group which opposes the Order with the support of the Republic.  But the Republic is... where?  This interplanetary government does what when the First Order super weapon blows up an entire system of planets?  And if the Republic is the ruling governmental structure in the galaxy, why is the First Order so powerful and how are they able to accumulate the necessary resources to construct said super weapon?  And if the Republic supports the Resistance, why are they just a faction of said government?  I'm sure these constructs will be more fully fleshed out in subsequent movies and novels, but Episode VII does little to establish the feeling of a sound political order.  Of all the issues I have with this film, I'm hoping that this one in particular will be addressed.

EDIT: After a second viewing of TFA, I can now appreciate a little more the galactic political situation.  Additionally, this article lends some further clarity.  I appreciate the conscious decision to not dwell on the politics in the movie, but I still would have liked just a little more information embedded in dialogue or something.  The relationship between the Resistance and the Republic is still tenuous at best: it seems to me that the former is a misnomer for what is essentially an anti-complacency campaign.  The name would make more sense if the First Order had risen to power and destroyed the Hosnian system, and THEN the Resistance had formed.

Not enough focus on snubfighters.  I'll concede that this is probably just my preference, but I still get chills watching the Death Star attack at the end of A New Hope, and so I had hoped for more of the same in TFA.  There were plenty of X-Wing sequences, undeniably, but they were all in support of what was happening on the ground.  I suppose I'll have to wait for Rogue One for a true fighter squadron fix (maybe -- I hear it might feature more on-the-ground kind of conflict as opposed to dogfights).

EDIT: After a second viewing of TFA, I think the balance between aerial and on-the-ground sequences was actually pretty good.  However, I would have liked the in-cockpit dialogue to be a little more in the "official" vein as it was in A New Hope -- Poe, as squadron leader, issuing more orders, 

Rushed pacing.  We travel from planet to planet fast in this movie.  Long hyperspace journeys are boring, so all the Star Wars movies have moved quickly from location to location, simply to move the plot forward.  However, there's some questionably fast arrivals in this one: the First Order appears out of nowhere to destroy the Resistance hovel and capture Rey; subsequently, the Resistance is on top of the super weapon within minutes when it threatens their base.  This doesn't ruin the overall credibility of the movie's plot, but its long-distance space travel does feel somewhat less believable than the original trilogy's did.

The background cultures aren't terribly immersive.  This complaint is given somewhat hesitantly, because much of the rich lore of the original trilogy arose courtesy of the EU.  There's no explanation or backstory of every character in the Mos Eisley cantina in the films: all of this depth ultimately came from novels and games.  So when I look at all these new aliens, extras, and places in TFA and feel disconnected from them, it's largely because they don't yet have that same kind of extra-dimensional life that the EU provided for the earlier films.  So I am confident that later material will rectify this dearth and fill in some of the gaps I felt watching this movie.

The galaxy far, far away is apparently home to people from... earth?  Obviously, the snippy British personas of the First Order are appropriate, if only to continue the representation of stiff Imperial grunts that began in A New Hope.  However, the Chinese and Scottish accents -- decidedly in-your-face, earth-based accents -- exhibited by the smugglers who attack Solo and Chewie to collect their dues were decidedly out of place.  This is Star Wars, JJ, not Star Trek.

Captain Phasma.  Seriously, what an inconsequential blip on the radar.  Why even bother with such a character except to place a woman in shiny stormtrooper armor?  Furthermore, she wasn't even the only female stormtrooper: one of the grunts who reported to Kylo Ren during the hunt for Rey had a distinctly female voice.  The character of Phasma was so publicized and merchandized prior to TFA's release that her lack of any true plot-related significance made her feel -- forgive my bluntness -- like a total feminist gimmick.

Same old story.  Ultimately, the plot of TFA is virtually the same as the plot of A New Hope -- perhaps intentionally so in some ways -- but I was hoping for a more quest-based movie.  I'd envisioned a dedicated search for Luke while dodging the First Order, and discovering what had happened to drive him into isolation in the process.  Instead, TFA was very much an updated retelling of A New Hope with new characters: a droid escapes with important plans vital to the survival of an underground faction's survival against a tyrannical power, attaches itself to an orphaned major character, a climactic fight with the villain ensues which causes said central character to lean into blossoming Force abilities (admittedly, A New Hope's version of this battle was aerial), and a conflict surrounding a gigantic super weapon ensues, involving a hinged ground-and-air assault that ultimately cripples and destroys the technological terror.  The end.

But wait!  There's more!  The final, prolonged reveal of Luke Skywalker -- after the moment that felt like it should have been the movie's natural conclusion -- almost felt like the scene that would have followed the credits in any Marvel movie.  These latter moments of TFA were essentially an in-movie teaser for Episode VIII, largely hinging on R2-D2's timely awakening (THAT'S what the movie should have been called!) in order to reveal Skywalker's final location.  Contrived?  Maybe not.  Convenient?  Definitely.

By Patrick Seymour

The Good

Lots and lots of questions.  It's infuriating to think that we have to wait another two years for more answers.  IN A GOOD WAY.  It's simply good story-writing to drop viewers in the middle of the action and keep them hooked so they're desperate to know why things and characters are the way they are.  For this reason, I think a fair number of the complaints I listed above will find resolution in episodes VIII and IX, and probably in the Anthology films as well.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Episode VIII opens with flashbacks to post-Return of the Jedi events in order to fill in some gaps and launch the new story with Luke Skywalker.  Sort of the way Peter Jackson went back in time to Smeagol finding the ring and becoming Gollum at the beginning of The Return of the King, before focusing heavily on that character's role in the final installment of The Lord of the Rings saga.  Leaving the theater with a lot to talk about and ponder is a good thing -- it means the next movie will build on the foundation of this installment, and points to the probability that the story arc will span the next two installments of the trilogy, rather than simply focusing on one movie at a time.

Natural arcs in character development.  I thought this was well done.  The appearances of old faces didn't feel contrived to pacify a hungry audience: key characters appeared at important moments in the plot and maintained their former personas well.  Carrie Fisher even held up as a war-weary Leia, despite her inability to smile (or make many facial expressions at all for that matter).  In the same vein, the new faces introduced are full of life, potential, and believable chemistry.  I love Poe's sarcastic, bold, perfectly flyboy kind of character.  I love Fin's disillusionment with the First Order, which inspires intrigue into the First Order's methodology of taking children and indoctrinating them at a young age to be stormtroopers (which, ironically, is not unlike the Old Republic's Jedi Order's modus operandi).  I love Rey's gradual awakening to her Force abilities -- a trickle at first, and then a waterfall as raw necessity drives her to act on instinct, just as Kenobi instructed Luke to do decades prior.  Finally, the elimination of a certain key character (I won't mention any names juuuuust in case), shocking though it may have been, ultimately felt natural for ushering in the new generation of heroes: creating a palpable void for the up-and-coming characters to fill.

EDIT: Fin/Rey roles.  One of my favorite elements of this movie, now even more after a second viewing, is that the plot largely focuses on Fin for the first half, albeit with an elongated sequence devoted to Rey's life on Jakku.  However, the progression of events -- from Fin's conscience-driven break from the First Order, to his jailbreak with Poe, to his escape from Jakku on the Falcon with Rey, to accepting Luke's lightsaber when Rey refuses it and being the first to activate it, to his rescue/espionage mission with Han and Chewie, to the final confrontation on Starkiller Base when he duels with Kylo Ren... Episode VII altogether tricks you into thinking Fin is going to become the central character of the new saga.  However, it gradually transitions to focus on Rey's awakening to her own powerful Force awareness and ultimately concludes with her completing the quest to find Luke Skywalker.  I absolutely love the nuances of this patient bait-and-switch, and I'm eager to see whether or not she has any connections to characters from any of the previous films, or if her backstory will be entirely new.

Kylo Ren is tempted by the Light.  THIS was a unique twist on the mythos of the Force, and creates the kind of tension I think more Star Wars villains need to have: a tortured, driven, darkly sympathetic aspect.  Vader possessed this quality in Empire and ROTJ: the father who had made his choice long ago and could no longer tread the path of the light -- that is, until his final moments when his son drew out the latent good in him one last time.  In the prequels, however, he became an immature wuss in the misrepresentation of Anakin Skywalker and ultimately lost this appeal.  Kylo Ren, on the other hand, springs from the right vein: youthful, passionate, conflicted, subservient to a power he believes in, but tempted by the Light -- perhaps out of guilt or pain or longing for his family.  And, supposing he survived the destruction of the First Order's super weapon (as did Vader before him), Ren stands poised to be even more driven and twisted in Episode VIII.

EDIT: Kylo Ren is simply a raw supernova encased in a human body.  His emotions are as radical and unsteady as the symbolic lightsaber he carries.  Contrast this fear, anger, and emotional instability to Rey's purity of character and purpose: she is hopeful (waiting for her family), he is fearful (anxious that he cannot complete his mission); she is self-controlled and calm, he is reckless.  Yet, they are both full of raw potential, desperately in need of refining.  Both characters stand to grow significantly in their abilities in later chapters.

NO MIDICHLORIANS ANYWHERE.  I can't drive a stake into the ground based on just one point, but this was absolutely huge for me.  TFA presents the Force as it should always have been: an energy field that surrounds, penetrates, and binds all living things together, accessible to anyone with the devotion and the penchant.  Pure, unadulterated philosophy.

An appropriate blend of models, puppets, and CGI.  Everything in this movie looks as good as a huge-budget movie should.  And in comparison to the CGI overload of the prequels, it also manages to feel much more natural, visceral, dimensionally appropriate, and -- ultimately -- believable.  The Force Awakens blends the feel and vision of the original Star Wars trilogy with modern technology and creates a stunning visual presentation of the galaxy: alien creatures that look real; lightsabers with vibrant colors that cast significant back-glow and behave as energy weapons would; rich explosions that aren't merely for the sake of action scenes; realistic spaceship movement with physical properties.  All of this was supremely well-done, and every shot in TFA was both well-framed and positively gorgeous.

Appropriate, character-based humor.  I mentioned this earlier.  But there are no goofy, bumbling Jar Jar Binks characters.  There are no moronic battle droids.  There is no forced humor between lousy actors.  There is only the best kind of wry, situational humor: Han/Chewie banter; one-liners; C-3P0's rude interruptions; Fin's amusing, self-created predicament.  The onscreen chemistry between new actors and old was wonderful, and inspired genuine laughter and emotional response.

Chewie didn't die.  Ever since Vector Prime, I've missed the character of Chewbacca -- even if his death was noble and appropriate for re-establishing the mortality of the key characters.  EU authors did a fantastic job of taking Han and other characters through the grieving process in the aftermath, and permanently imprinted the loss on the cast even decades later in the storyline.  Certain speculations I read online prior to seeing TFA had pointed toward another heart-wrenching Wookiee death scene.  But the choice to keep the character alive and well was, in my opinion, a good one.

You might find it hard to believe that I loved The Force Awakens after reading this.  My criticism certainly outweighs my praise on paper (you know what I mean).  However, I truly see this movie as the foundation for what will be powerful, plot-driven sequels that do this enduring saga the due justice that the prequel films failed to deliver.  Actually, I don't even like the word sequels for these new installments, because the story was definitively written to be a multi-film epic with one huge climax across all episodes.  Big-picture focus is the kind of focus this new Star Wars needs to keep its integrity -- not just emphasis on churning out new, exciting films for a new generation of fans.

So far so good.

The wait for Episode VIII will be excruciating.  But I trust the payoff will once again be phenomenal.

Rogue One: Looking Backward to Look Forward

Since Thursday, I have been soaking up any details I can find about the first official spin-off movie set in the Star Wars universe (not counting The Clone Wars). [UPDATE #1: these "spin-off" movies will officially be categorized as Star Wars "Anthology" films]  Rumors abound, but what is official is that "Rogue One" will begin filming in London this summer and is slotted to be released December 16th, 2016.  The official release from StarWars.com is as follows:

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga.  Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz).  The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything.  The idea for the story of Rogue One came from John Knoll, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. [full article here]

UPDATE #2: Gareth Edwards has revealed that the film "will revolve around a rogue band of resistance fighters who unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring new hope to the galaxy." [full article here]

To some degree, I wish this news of "Rogue One" hadn't come until after Episode VII's release, simply so I could know exactly how I should feel about it.  Any excitement I feel for either of these releases is tempered by a healthy caution, although the intensity is even greater for "Rogue One," simply because Rogue Squadron is my absolute favorite aspect of Star Wars -- movies, videogames, novels, or otherwise. My criticism for this release will be perhaps even harsher than that of "The Force Awakens."

In some sectors, referencing Star Trek in a blog about
Star Wars is a violation of intergalactic law.

Putting aside my feelings for the movie itself, however, I am absolutely thrilled that Michael A. Stackpole, one of my favorite authors, was justly credited by bloggers for the instrumental role he played in creating Rogue Squadron.  His influential series of novels and comic books featured the daring Rogues in their exploits against the remnants of the Empire following the events of Return of the Jedi.  These works shifted the focus of Star Wars away from the big heroes, lightsaber battles, and tyrannical Sith Lords to center instead on the pilots in the cockpits of snub fighters.  Stackpole's characters were the everyday men, women, and aliens who comprised the ranks of the New Republic military, but each was unique and integral -- not just red-shirted drones existing for the purpose of creating the illusion of the main characters'  mortality.  It was his attention to the reality of how squadron mates would truly interact, coupled with his unique focus on the internal political strife of Imperial command in the wake of Palpatine's death, that made the X-Wing stories so memorable.  Aaron Allston's later partnership, introducing an entirely new cast of characters in the Wraiths (a misfit band of pilots dually trained in tactical espionage), further fleshed out the universe by integrating well-suited humor into his novels -- the kind of wry give-and-take that one could expect from veterans who recognize that they hold their own mortality in their hands.

Together, these men made Rogue Squadron.

It would be one thing for Disney to release another movie full of explosions and edge-of-your-seat tension (and those are elements that should certainly be included in any Star Wars movie), but it would be another for them to truly delve into this area of Star Wars lore and release a deep and revolutionary tale on par with previous forays into the exploits of Rogue Squadron.  All things considered, there are three crucial elements from the groundwork Stackpole and Allston laid that "Rogue One" absolutely must utilize if its personnel intend to meet the expectations of fans such as myself.

Realistic Space Battles

Maybe that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but hopefully you know what I mean.  I want space warfare in the vein of the Battlestar Galactica remake: I want physics and flak and tight fighter formations.  I want detailed snubfighters with technical glitches that need repairs.  I want realistic chains of command and pilots just as desperate to have their fifth kill painted on the sides of their fighters as they are to make it back to the hangar alive.

One of the things that made the space dogfights in the original Star Wars trilogy so memorable was the fact that Lucas designed his models with WWII fighters in mind and relied on actual aerial footage to stage his space battles.  This use of models added a sense of the fighters'  fragility -- the unsettling feeling that the pilot was truly in danger and that laser fire could tear his tiny fighter apart at any second if he couldn't shake the TIE Fighters on his tail.

The prequels departed from this trend by relying almost exclusively on CGI.  While the illusion of massive space battles is great, the up-close-and-personal effect that the use of models created was much more powerful.  I'm not attacking the use of CGI -- I think it can and should be used very effectively.  However, just because we have the technology to create massive backdrops of explosions, capital ships, and swarms of snub fighters against a sprawling backdrop of stars, nebulae, and planets doesn't mean that we shouldn't still focus on the up-close details of the ships themselves and plenty of in-cockpit shots of the pilots.

If "Rogue One" does X-Wings the way Episodes IV-VI did them, it will already be head-and-shoulders above the prequels' underdeveloped attempts.  Since this installment of the Star Wars saga will focus primarily on pilots in snubfighters, it's going to have to do space warfare really, really well.

Quality Original Characters (and actors!)

I know virtually nothing about "Rogue One's" writer, Chris Weitz, or the story's creator, John Knoll, but I truly hope they will take a leaf out of Michael A. Stackpole's or Aaron Allston's book(s) and introduce unique characters into this new Rogue Squadron adventure.  Of course, if Lucasfilm were to resurrect EU characters like Corran Horn or Plourr llo, I'd probably weep a little bit with joy (and then, of course, be hyper-critical of their on-screen portrayal).  But whether or not the cast of characters is all-original, my real hope is simply that they will be a mixture of real people and interesting aliens played by well-casted actors.  When it comes to Star Wars, I've grown as weary of nameless extras, CGI-ed tentacles, and unnecessarily goofy personalities as I have actors who give halfhearted performances.

Plourr and Ibitsam, Rogue Squadron pilots.

Given that "Rogue One's" main character will be played by Felicity Jones, I suppose it's unlikely that Wedge Antilles, Hobbie Kilvan, and Wes Janson will make a return for this movie, and that's certainly a disappointing prospect.  However, I'll be even more disappointed if the Rogues in this movie turn out to be lackluster and expendable characters save for the inner circle of aces (the talented daredevil, the one with a dark past, and the practical joker -- one of whom will die at a critical point in the plot).

While it's necessary for some characters to be cannon fodder, I sincerely hope that this movie won't fall into the red shirt trap and will instead follow suit after the X-Wing series.  Reading those novels, you feel every pilot's death, because whether or not a character was doomed for destruction from the beginning, he or she was still a fully-fledged member of the squadron.  The cry of "I've been hit!" is a gut-wrenching occurrence in the text -- for both the characters and for the reader.  Some of the more recent Star Wars novels (see New Jedi Order) lost that reality and simply filled cockpits with faceless characters and sometimes nameless call signs.  In fairness, the focus of those novels was really on the philosophy of the Force, the grotesque biotechnology of the Yuuzhan Vong, and the development of the surviving Jedi who made up the ranks of the Order, so the lack of detail is somewhat forgivable.  Since "Rogue One," on the other hand, will be exclusively about pilots in X-Wing cockpits, camaraderie amongst the squad and significant elements of each character's backstory will be crucial elements in establishing a believable group of elite flying aces.

Story

I'm not going to fool myself into hoping that any of Stackpole or Allston's stories from the X-Wing series might be retrofitted for this movie.  No doubt "Rogue One" will be a new story written to suit the big screen.  Sure, I'd love to see a film rendition of the Rogues retaking Courascant from the Empire and defeating Ysanne Isard, but that's simply not going to happen.  In that regard, what I hope is not that Chris Weitz borrows plot elements from the novels, but rather that he employs the integral storytelling pieces that Stackpole and Allston introduced to the Star Wars universe: things like the reality of space warfare -- what it's like for pilots to worry about fuel and resources, to practice snubfighter tactics, to mourn lost comrades; things like the intricacies of military politics, large-scale tactical offensives, and even biological warfare; things like unique alien races whose cultural and personal backgrounds are as rich as their anatomies (see Ooryl Qrgg, Elassar Targon, and Nawara Ven).

At the same time all the adventure, humor, and excitement that define the Star Wars saga is in the X-Wing series, there is also an element of gritty reality: these are men and women who have banded together, fighting for survival as well as the greater good.

I'm not asking for "mature" Star Wars.

I'm asking for Star Wars that takes itself seriously.

~*~

Since I'm a nerd, I care about these kinds of things.  But let me wrap this up by landing on just one emotion for now.  I'm excited about this new movie.  I really am.  I'm sure there will be things that I dislike.  I'm equally sure there will be things that I find really, really cool.  The bottom line is that I want to be open-minded and thrilled -- just like any other fan of Star Wars does.  I think Disney and their crew of writers, directors, and actors are all well-aware that a significant portion of the Star Wars fan base is dying to be impressed.  Being more than just casual fans themselves, they collectively want to deliver quality additions to the saga.

For that reason, I can let myself feel a little excitement.

If you're interested in Rogue Squadron, below are some quality articles you can check out for additional background reading.  I also recommend X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole, the one that got this whole thing off the ground.

"Rogue One" - Michael A. Stackpole

"'Rogue One' explained: A brief history of Rogue Squadron" - Darren Franich

"Before Star Wars: Rogue One Takes Off, a History of the X-Wing Series" - Andrew Liptak

"I've been hit!" -- The bad and the good of the Star Wars EU makeover

Anyone who has known me for any length of time probably knows that I'm a huge Star Wars fan.  I've got novels, comic books, games, t-shirts, Legos, action figures, posters, and even an unopened box set of the original series on VHS.  My parents also took me to the Star Wars exhibit when it graced the National Air and Space Museum in 1999, an experience I'll never forget, and one that also serves as further evidence of my terminal nerd-dom.

Though Star Wars boasted record success upon its original releases, it was with the release of The Phantom Menace and subsequent prequel films that the franchise began expanding beyond its nerdy fan-base and becoming something closer to mainstream, crossing generational gaps by introducing a younger demographic of fans to the series their parents had loved.  However, seriously devoted fans of any commercially successful franchise can still achieve uncommon levels of geekiness, no matter how many people have newly discovered their interest.  For fans of Tolkien, that means learning Elvish, pointing out all the flaws in the Peter Jackson film renditions, and actually making it through the Silmarillion.  For fans of Star Wars, that means soaking in the extended universe (EU): namely, the hundreds of "official" novels which fill in the gaps before, between, and following the six existing Star Wars movies.

Obligatory "It's a trap!"

In the thirty years since the initial release of A New Hope, hundreds of authors, producers, and programmers have contributed to the Star Wars chronology in the form of novels, comic books, videogames, and TV specials, all of which added original stories to the movies, including events that took place behind the scenes during the original films, during the Clone Wars, and after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi.  This was all done by permission of George Lucas and Lucas Licensing, which allowed authors the creative license to add their own imaginative content to the Star Wars universe (albeit, under the Lucasfilm stamp of approval).  However, it was all done under the caveat that, a). all material must correspond to the established films, and b). remain subject to the fully informed consent of the authorship that the "official canon" only included the films and the animated Clone Wars series.  In other words, Lucas retained the right as the creator of Star Wars to disregard anything contrary to his original idea.

Fair enough.

The reason this wasn't a problem was because the vast majority of the EU dealt with events following Return of the Jedi, and no one truly expected more movies after Episodes I-III were released.  The prequel trilogy seemed like the completion of the film saga: the origins of Darth Vader and the evil Galactic Empire in part one, and the rise of Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, who restored justice to the galaxy in part two.  A nicely bookended, full-circle story.  That left room for the EU to continue what it had been doing, with the blessing of George Lucas: adding to the other end of the story, as long as that material hailed the movies as the unwavering standard.  Besides, even if more movies were to be released, the EU remained an opportunity for fans to be creative, to write stories for and alongside a community that cared deeply about Star Wars and the continuity of the story, and to dedicate themselves to the constant expansion of the beloved universe.

With Disney's recent acquisition of the Star Wars franchise came the fateful announcement of new Star Wars movies (episodes VII-IV), directed by J.J. Abrams.  Whether or not to draw from material which had already been written or to diverge from that storyline and do something entirely new (exactly what Abrams did with his take on Star Trek) was almost a non-issue.  The great disturbance in the Force, a million voices crying out in terror only to be suddenly silenced, was that of a million EU fans sensing the obliteration of their beloved Star Wars novels and characters, and witnessing that fear become a reality.

This article was released three days ago on the official Star Wars website.  It's not a long read, and if you care anything about the Star Wars EU, it's worth taking a look.  My wife can attest to the fact that this crisis has been a major issue for me and has consumed many of our [largely one-sided] conversations in the past few days.  The official statement can be surmised in the following quote:

With an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development.

That's how I feel about it too, Harrison.

To be fair, I don't hate the idea of a unified story department.  I think that's a huge step toward establishing the enormous chronology of events that extend across movies and novels.  However, the formulation of this department also means the inevitable altering of existing EU content in order to make room for the new movies.  And if Star Wars fans know one thing about George Lucas, it's that he's not afraid to alter things...

Why this is bad

1). Many of my favorite characters are no longer real.  "Real."  You know what I mean.

My first Star Wars novel was The Bacta War by Michael A. Stackpole.  I remember the first time I picked up that paperback copy off of a Barnes and Noble shelf and saw the X-Wings and that solitary A-Wing chasing TIE Fighters and Interceptors across a backdrop of exploding Star Destroyers.  I remember the sudden feeling of absolute excitement that ran through me: the knowledge that there were Star Wars books to go along with the movies was a giddy revelation.

And so I fell in love with the heroic glamor of Rogue Squadron, led by Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu on countless daring missions against the Empire.  Joining their ranks was my absolute favorite character in the Star Wars universe: Corran Horn.  Horn, a former officer of Corellian Security (CorSec) and an ace pilot, the descendant of a Jedi Knight and - later - a master of the Force himself.  Sardonic, sarcastic, sometimes insubordinate, but ultimately level-headed and self-sacrificial, Corran became my favorite Star Wars persona.  I also fell in love with Rogue Squadron pilots Derek "Hobbie" Klivian and Wes Janson, characters found in the Star Wars films (albeit in name alone), who developed rich personalities via the pages of the X-Wing novels.  And then there was Aaron Allston's (RIP) Wraith Squadron - Kell Tainer, Garik "Face" Loran, Myn Donos, Voort "Piggy" saBinring, and others - a gangly collection of misfit pilots and criminals organized by Wedge as a covert intelligence squad who specialized as much in B&E and reconnaissance operations as they did in dogfights.  Then, of course, there were the Jedi: Ganner Rhysode; Kyp Durron; Cilghal; Kam Solusar; Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin Solo; Tahiri, Lowbacca; and Tenel Ka - just to name a few.  And who didn't love to hate Borsk Fey'lya, the power-hungry and short-sighted Bothan and Chief of State, who opposed Princess Leia in the senate at every turn yet ultimately sacrificed himself in such a heroic fashion when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded Coruscant?

The point is this.  The exclusion of existing EU novels from the newly established canon means that all of these characters, for whom I've developed a deep affinity, are suspended in limbo - at the mercy of the story group to somehow resurrect into the new canon.  It's like they never truly existed.

You know what I mean.

2). The only era of EU fiction that might still be regarded as canon are the pre-Episode I novels.

"Mesa here to make this painful for you!"

As a loyal Star Wars fan, I'm forced to accept the prequels for what they are.  I could write - and probably will someday - another lengthy post about my issues with them (namely, from a fanboy standpoint, the redefinition of the Force, the ridiculous messianic conception of Anakin, and the appalling relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan; from a film standpoint, the lack of a more prominent role for Darth Maul, the abysmal casting, the far-too-heavy reliance on CGI, and - of course - the painfully forced attempts at humor).  However, conceptually, the prequels have their undeniable place in the Star Wars continuity.  As flawed as they are, they still establish the rise of the Empire and the fall of the Old Republic, as well as introduce the need for a hero to restore good and order in the galaxy.

That being said, the Old Republic/Clone Wars era claims the least amount of my sentiment.  As I said before, I grew up with the original trilogy and primarily read the post-ROTJ novels.  The Clone Wars era has always held less interest to me because I care far more about Han Solo's exploits and the war between the Rebellion and the Empire than I do about Jorus C'baoth and ancient Sith culture.  That's not to say those aspects of the chronology aren't still fascinating to me, and regardless of my personal interest, they comprise a huge part of the overall story.  However, if I had to pick one era of EU to get the axe... well, you can take a guess.

To me, it seems unfair and strategically unsound for the larger part of the EU (the post-ROTJ material) to cease to be canon while the smaller, more legendary/less historical part should remain.  But the sad reality is simply that, because there are no plans for more movies prior to Episode I, the prequel era of Star Wars EU can remain unaffected.  Unfortunately, because all post-ROTJ novels stand in the way of Episodes VII-IV, they've found themselves on the chopping block.

Granted, the umbrella statement released by the story group is that all EU content is non-canon, but the only eras which will be disturbed by the new additions to the Star Wars family are those following Return of the Jedi.  Basically, prequel EU content can take advantage of this negligence and remain intact.

3). It changes the story.

"Wait, Jar Jar gets to stay but we don't?!"

In my head, I know how the Empire crumbled after Return of the Jedi.  I know that Luke formed a new Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, sought out Force-sensitive pupils across the galaxy, and eventually raised up a new Jedi Order.  I know that Wedge Antilles took command of Rogue Squadron, threw down Courascant and Ysanne Isard, and eventually became a distinguished General in the New Republic military.  I know how Han and Leia were married, how they took down Warlord Zsinj and had Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin - children who would all grow to become powerful Jedi and heroes of the New Republic.  I know how Mara Jade was once the Emperor's Hand but turned to the Light and married Luke.  I know that Chewbacca died valiantly to save Anakin from the Yuuzhan Vong.

And all of that is just the very tip of the EU iceberg.

Were there problems with the chronologies and moments of absurdity that you have to pretend not to remember?  Of course.  Were there misrepresentations of other authors' characters in successive books by other writers?  Certainly.  Was there a gratuitous overuse of unbeatable super-weapons akin to the Death Star, all of which seem to mysteriously appear without any previous detection and fade again into unrealistic obscurity (destroyed or otherwise)?  Unfortunately.  And were there unrealistic moments where younger, less experienced characters gave orders to older characters who severely outranked them?  Unquestionably yes (see especially: The New Jedi Order era).

I digress, but all of these problems are intrinsic to collaborative effort - and to glorified fan fiction, for that matter.  Some authors are better at detail management than others.  Some truly understand Star Wars jargon and some do not.  Some authors are, frankly, better at writing than others, and it is immediately obvious who's done the homework and who hasn't.  But the sum total of their endeavors was an ambitious, overarching plot with as many highs and lows as the films themselves.  It was a generally cohesive story that carried beloved characters beyond the undefined boundaries of the original and prequel trilogies.

This is the problem that will be the most difficult for me.  Going to see the new movies and reading the new EU novels - which I unquestionably will - is going to be an emotional roller coaster (and not the good kind), as events unfold contrary to what I know, with or without characters I love.

It's going to be difficult not to say, "That's not the way it was supposed to happen."

Why this is good

Yes, there are some good things about this transition.  Besides, I'm used to having to accept subpar aspects of the universe (see: Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 with rocket boosters, midi-chlorians, etc).   Not unlike the Force itself, there's as much a light side as a dark side to this issue, and it wouldn't be fair to discount all the positive aspects just because of my own personal bias.

1). It establishes a much more official canon.

For the last thirty years, there has existed the "G," "T," "C," and "S" levels of Star Wars canon, together forming the overall continuity across the various media types that have taken up the story.  Each ascending level typically overrides the lower ones: "G" was George Lucas' canon (AKA the films), "T" was the television canon (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), "C" was the continuity canon (novels and videogames), and "S" was the secondary canon (anything that was published which ran alternately to the films).  There was also an "N" or non-canon level that included what-if type stories and anything else directly and irreconcilably contradicted by higher canon.  No matter which way you slice it, this was a very confusing and absolutely ridiculous system (for anyone who cares, this article can explain it a little more thoroughly), yet the nature of licensing, copyright, and creative ownership demanded it exist - until the formation of this new Lucasfilm story group, that is.

[UPDATE: see Wookieepedia's new statement on canonicity and their new policy on documenting Legends material]

The existing EU timeline, with some noticeable omissions (i.e. Young Jedi Knights and Junior Jedi Knights series)

The bottom line is that a newly established chronology trims both the excess and the confusing nomenclature in order to create one officially unified storyline across all media types, effectively removing any question as to what is really part of the story.  As an additional plus, renowned EU authors such as Timothy Zhan (one of the very first to publish EU material) will be directly involved in the collaboration of this continuity, ensuring that existing materials will be given appropriate levels of respect across the board.

2). It means a fresh start.

I have to admit that I'm curious to see what the new films and novels will entail.  The concept of new Star Wars characters almost distracts from the disappointment of losing the ones I already know and love, in addition to providing a chance for the franchise to redeem itself after the less-than-satisfactory prequel trilogy.  As the official statement released by the Lucasfilm story group attests, maximum creative freedom is being extended to the filmmakers in order to "preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience," which is ultimately why Episodes VII-IX "will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe."  Unquestionably, the Star Wars universe has always encompassed unexplored territories, unlikely characters, and uncommon feats of heroism in the face of evil, all of which are bound to be elements of the new series.

One of the reasons I am thankful the prequels were released is the simple fact that they created a new generation of Star Wars fans - fans who otherwise wouldn't have had the same love (if any) for the franchise.  To young fans, the original series is not as exciting or engaging as Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  The same will be true of episodes VII-IV and the new EU novels.  A new series means a new audience won't need to start at the beginning in order to understand characters, locations, races, and technology.  They'll be drawn into the Star Wars universe where it meets them, and from there - should the interest arise - have the option to expand into the rich content which the EU has to offer.

3). Nothing is being completely discarded.

According to the Lucasfilm story group, existing EU content will not simply disappear.  Instead, it will continue to be printed under a new label: "Star Wars: Legends."  As the official statement words it:

While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe...  Demand for past tales of the Expanded Universe will keep them in print, presented under the new Legends banner.

Additionally, there has been no indication from Lucasfilm that all existing characters and stories will be relegated to the "Legends" category, which means that future novels and games may draw upon this era for material and characters - so long as it coincides with the new films.  Personally, I'm curious to know whether authors and developers will continue to release new material under the "Legends" label, or if they'll be discouraged from doing so by the story group.  Most likely, that era of the EU has closed its proverbial final chapter.

That being said, I greatly appreciate the fact that three decades' worth of stories aren't going to be removed just to make room for the upcoming films.  If we're honest about it, a huge part of the reasoning behind that decision is due to the fact that Lucasfilm doesn't want to lose the financial support of older fans of the series (such as myself) who would be greatly upset if the decision had been made to simply throw the EU out the window.  On the other hand, the members of the story group have a great amount of respect for the existing EU, a number of them have contributed to the EU themselves, and all of them want to preserve it as carefully as possible.  No one wants to see three decades of imagination disappear.

"We seem to be made to suffer.  It's our lot in life..."

Also, if we look at this from a purely philosophical standpoint, the original concept of Star Wars was that of a legend.  It takes place not a thousand years in the future, but at an undetermined time in an unspecified location - "a long long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."  In that regard, it makes sense that there would be alternate versions of the story - much in the same way that there are so many renditions of the tales of King Arthur.  Lucas drew heavily from classical mythology when he was writing Star Wars, and for that reason it is steeped in an air of myth.  Therefore, alternate tellings, overlap in chronology, and even incongruity between stories would naturally fall into that realm.  In that vein, I think it's also important to remember that, in the original series, R2-D2 and C-3P0 were the "narrators" of the story.  Let's not forget the microcosmic way R2 carried the message from Leia and the Death Star schematics, or the way C-3P0 literally retold the Rebels' exploits to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.  The entire journey was supposed to be their narrative experience, although that idea that was discarded in the prequel trilogy.  However, if we return to this original idea and consider the droids the bards of the Star Wars history, we can perhaps appreciate the fact that - considering both droids' memory wipes, damage repairs, and various traumatic experiences - it only makes sense that some details would be changed, skewed, and lost (not to mention colored by 3P0's self-piteous paranoia).  Such is the case with any storytelling: it's subject to bias and perspective, but the themes and the struggle are what matter most of all.

In sum, although this announcement has been a major disappointment to me, there's not much sense in lamenting a decision that will not be reversed.  Despite the transformation it is undergoing, the EU is neither gone nor forgotten, and for that I can be thankful.  The bottom line is that the Star Wars galaxy is a big place.  There's room for countless characters, each with rich histories and adventures, and perhaps even an alternate version of the chronology.  Though the new films and future novels will be inconsistent with the EU stories I know and love, I'll still find a way to make them all fit together on my bookshelves.

It's all Star Wars.

My interpretation of that universe is big enough to include it all.