The Expanded Universe is Dead. Long Live the EU.

    The subject of Star Wars is likely going to dominate this space come November - I strongly suspect there'll be a lead up to a certain new film coming out later this year - so I've been trying to stay off of the topic.  As a prelude, however, I wanted to spend a few minutes in mourning the passing of a long-standing science fiction companion.  (No, I'm not talking about Sarah Jane, may she rest in peace.)

    For those who don't know, for the last twenty years, Star Wars, as a franchise, has encompassed far more than the six live action feature films.  There are, or have been, three animated series, as well as countless novels, comic books, and video games which have all tied into one organized, streamlined continuity, covering main characters and blink-and-you-miss-them cameos, as well as innumerable new creations.  All this work, most of which was *not* created by George Lucas, has been labelled "The Expanded Universe" for the past couple of decades.  The understanding went that while the live action entries took precedence, unless otherwise specified, pretty much every other story was officially canonical, so you could follow just about any character from any point before, after, or behind the scenes of their appearance in film.

Mara Jade - assassin, spy, smuggler, Jedi, eventual Mrs. Skywalker, and all-around bad-ass.

   The result of all this has been a rich tapestry of stories, exploring the seminal science fiction universe, furthering the main plot, elaborating on background characters, and introducing new heroes and villains, worlds and concepts, that enriched and enhanced what the movies had to offer.  Over the years, the storyline of the Skywalker clan and the Rebel Alliance was continued, with the most recent books covering time periods over thirty years after the ending of Return of the Jedi.  Some writers chose to fill in gaps in between the movies, or even before the timeline of Episode I, and some discussed what was happening 'offscreen' during the action of the films.  While not every entry was of equal quality, there were many fine and engaging ones that quite excelled...honestly, several of them I find myself more partial to than the prequel films.

   All good things, however....

    With the announcement of Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars Universe came the disappointing news that the EU was going to be put out to pasture.  That does make sense - it would be rather limiting to make gobs and gobs of moneymoneymoney....er, new movies - if their plots already existed on your local bookstore's shelf.   But in order to carve out new territory, that which came before had to go.   So that means that the only things that remain canon are the six films, and the two animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, and Star Wars: Rebels.  (I'm actually not even sure if the non-GGI Tartakovsky Clone Wars series still counts.)  Everything else up until this point - novel, comic, game, etc., is being classified as "Star Wars: Legends", representing an alternate, unofficial timeline.  In other words, it no longer counts.  Any new works which come out from this time forward will fall into the new, official continuity.  I believe that took effect either late 2014 or early 2015 - the last EU series of novels I was reading actually ended rather abruptly, with several plot lines left adrift.

   

Grand Admiral Thrawn - AKA "When you actually want the villain to win."

   I don't mean to sound cynical - I'm as excited for the new movie as anyone.  However, I can't help but feel a little sad at the passing of the EU.  Granted, it's not like someone's going to come along and seize all the books, or claim they were never written, or anything quite so Stalinesque.  But it's a series that I invested a lot of time and energy into, which I largely enjoyed, and which bring back some fond memories.  For example, when I first began reading them, back in 1997, I used to get up early in college when the dining hall was empty, and just read over breakfast in the quiet mornings....there are several plotlines which weirdly remind me of the taste of scrambled eggs.

   I do think it's a bit of disservice to the various writers, artists and developers who put so much work into the stories, not to mention the people coordinating the continuities and guides and keeping track of all this to make sure it made sense.  There was something really nice about being able to pick a character - let's say Wedge Antilles, for example, and know what he was doing before he came on screen in New Hope, what he did in between the first three movies, and what his adventures were in the decades following the original trilogy.  Wedge is actually the main character in a whole series of novels which I greatly enjoyed, detailing how the New Republic took Coruscant back from the Empire.

Many Bothans died to bring you Borsk Fey'lya. And he'll never, EVER let you forget it.

   There will be new books, of course, and we'll get to see a completely new take on what-happened-next, with brand new characters, some of whom (Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, BB-8) are already capturing attention months before The Force Awakens comes out.  And I am looking forward to that.  But I am going to miss some of the characters I've come to know just as well as Luke, Han and Leia over the years, and who, from what I understand, will no longer be included in stories.  I haven't heard any official word on whether any of the EU elements will make their way into the new timeline, or in what capacity, but my guess is Disney's going to want to focus on the new crew.

   I'm open to the new characters, and I'm curious to learn more about them...already I've encountered several on Rebels that seem pretty interesting, and am chomping at the bit to learn about the Episode VII cast.  The first novel leading up to The Force Awakens was just released - it doesn't offer much meat in terms of filling in the details, but is starting to whet the appetite by teasing out a little bit of information at a time.  (SPOILER ALERT:  it looks like at least one EU plot line has endured, in Boba Fett's escape from the Sarlaac.)

Anakin, Jacen, and Jaina Solo.  You know what?  I'm fine with Jacen's eradication from the timeline.  Screw the little SOB.

   There are some elements of the books which I won't miss - Chewbacca is long since dead in the novels, and the Empire, after a few good years, slowly collapsed like a flan in the cupboard, to borrow a phrase from Eddie Izzard.  There were characters I had no use for - Han Solo's dipstick cousin, for example, or Han & Leia's eldest son, or this race of weirdo insectoids that tried to take over the Jedi.  But there were far more characters that felt like they belonged in the world, added just as seamlessly as Harley Quinn was inserted into the Batman universe.  In the novels, Luke starts up a new Jedi Academy, introducing dozens of fascinating new personas and races (and colors of lightsabers!).  Admiral Thrawn remains one of my favorite SW characters, and I actually use the phrase "shatterpoint" in conversation due entirely to a novel revolving around Mace Windu.   Exar Kun, Talon Kaarde, Joruus C'Baoth, Saba Sebatyne, Ysanne Isard, Admiral Daala, Gilad Pellaeon, Corran Horn....all characters I've liked, and all now out of the official story.

   Despite their retirement, I'd still encourage anyone who likes to read sci-fi and enjoys the Star Wars Universe to check out some of the entries.   A few of the standouts:

*Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn...the sine qua non of the EU, detailing the rise of Thrawn five years after the end of Return of the Jedi.

*The Han Solo Trilogy, by A.C. Crispin, revealing Han Solo's backstory and biography, up until the moment he slides into a cantina booth in Mos Eisley...

*The Courtship of Princess Leia, by Dave Wolverton, a stand-alone novel describing how the princess and the scoundrel finally tied the knot, and involving the Nightsisters of Dathomir.

*Star Wars: X-Wing: by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston, the aforementioned series revolving around Wedge Antilles and the indispensable actions of Rogue Squadron following Return of the Jedi

*Darth Plagueis, by James Luceno:  A stand-alone set before and during Episode I, it tells the tale of one of the great Sith Lords, but the book is more memorable for being an in-depth look at Palpatine, and explains all about his background, skills, and plots.

*Tales of the Bounty Hunters, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, and Tales from Jabba's Palace, by various...these are collections of short stories, each focusing on a different background character from the respective locations in the movies.  Most of them are pretty neat, and it's kind of fun re-watching the movies and knowing the names of each and every odd little alien in the place.  You'll come to know Momaw Nadon, Bossk, Ephant Mon, and Figrin D'an and the Tonal Nodes, to name but a few.  (And yes, Boba Fett too.)

The Yuuzhan Vong - they may be an unholy bloodthirsty nightmare, but at least they cook organic.

   And if you prefer your tales a bit darker, there's the quite lengthy New Jedi Order series, which gets into the invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong, an extremely savage but complex race of warriors from outside the galaxy which invades and almost conquers the entire New Republic.  Several main characters meet their end (including Chewbacca), and it's a violent, at times almost nihilistic series, but I found it riveting, picking up most of the books at the store on their release dates.

   All of this is now subject to change - we'll get a new post-ROTJ reality by the end of the year, and some authors have already begin filling in some of the gaps.  We've also got three stand-alone movies set during and between the existing films coming, in addition to the new trilogy.  Who knows, perhaps some of the EU characters may find homes in this new continuity, or we may find new characters just as resonant.  From some of the rumblings I've been hearing, it does seem like some parts of the EU may get carried forward, at least in part.

    Even so, I'm going to miss seeing what becomes of some of the EU elements.  The EU showed, as perhaps nothing else in fandom has, what can happen when a love of a concept is shared among a number of talented authors and artists, and how that can grow and ultimately benefit a franchise.  I'd wager there are probably any number of those creators who love Star Wars more than, and are certainly better writers than, George Lucas.  After all, let's not forget....twenty years of rich storytelling are being decommissioned, but this...

and this...

  
still counts as Star Wars gospel.

    So, no one ever said life was fair.

    At any rate, the EU has come to its end, at least as far as we've known it.  It was a good run, and I look forward to the future of the property.    All the same, though, I'm keeping my books.  Maybe I'll make some eggs and re-read a few of them.

   I think I'll whip up some blue milk, too...