EU is your frriieenndd

ok, I just want to say something to all you EU haters out there. EU has alredy gone so much farther than the movies, that unless he has no respect for the fans at all, GL will not ignore it. In comlpying to my Lightsaber color topic, the EU books, comics, and games have all had different colored lightsabers, now, confusing the fans wouldn't be a good move for the big man. EU has to be LISCENSED people, if GL didn't want this stuff to come up, he wouldn't allow it to be liscensed, think about it for a sec. In the 16 years that Star Wars has dissapeared, EU was the only thing Star Wars, you people can't tell me that after the OT, you completely forgot about Star Wars. Thank you for your time

GL can blast EU to kingdom come if he wants to IMHO...as long as the movies are good...that's all I care about. Maybe we should should change Expanded Universe to Alternate Universe 😛

Ah, so, you're a hater Dim.what are you gonna do after Ep.3, forget Star Wars??

Nah, I'll have em on DVD to watch every once in a while..and be enthalled with whatever else LucasFilm decides to do...😂 Sorry Merc, I just dont' get into EU..it's just not the same.

eh, no big deal, just NEVER POST ON THIS TOPIC AGAIN!!!!!!(j/k)

Personally I think the Expanded Universe is FANTASIC. It has allowed us to really get into the bones of Star wars and to not only explore the characters we already know, but to create a whole raft of new characters.

Just think of some of the people we'd be missing without EU;

Mara Jade Skywalker
Anakin Solo
Jacen and Jaina Solo
Corran Horn and Mirax
Talon Karrde
The Yuuzhan Vong (Possibly the best threat race ever)
Kyp Durran and the 12+2
Xizor & Dash Rengar
Aurra Sing

Now, those are just a few names from off of the top of my head. There are many, many more and the universe that has been woven is so intricate and fragile that it beggars belief.

Now I'm not saying that all EU is the greatest writing but for me a lot of it is truely intriguing.

As Merc quite rightly points out, ALL EU is licenced and Lucas has set out guidelines that must be adhered to. For instance, no writer is allowed to do anything within the 10 year Episode-I/Episode-II gap.

Sure, Lucas will discount somethings or alter them, but I think Steve Sandsweets comments regarding Boba Fett were taken a little too much at face value and, when all the dust has settled, we will see that everything we knew about Fett and everything we will leanr about can live side by side.

In short, EU, whilst different and non cannon, still constitutes a part of the Star Wars universe. You can live without it quite happily, but to embrace it may give you a deeper appreciation of the Star Wars universe.

Ratcat, did you ever know that you're my hero??

WHy thank you Merc... 😂 Well, now I'm, 2 peoples hero, yippeeee!😂

Hey hey hey! I'm not knocking the EU! A lot of it is very good, I'm sure. But the fact remains that it is not canonical, so when we are arguing 'FACTUAL' information about the movies, then EU simply doesn't count- as stated by Lucasfilm's own Canon policy.

So, lightsabre colours, Jedi numbers, and so on... what the movie says, goes, and nothing else matters. We can only argue within the unknown as given by the movies- neither topic has been definitively stated on film as of yet, so we can gt some good discussion going. But as I have said elsewehre today, EU is just opinion, and nothing more, when it comes to this sort of thing.

But the last thing I want to do is split us good people into EU and non-EU camps. It simply shouldn't work like that. Merc- if you want me to shut up making comments about the EU in future, then I will do so if it will only stop this arguing. It's really not what I wanted when I started my Jedi numbers topic (heck, I just QUOTED some EU in it just a moment ago, with the population of Coruscant!).

but that's what forums are about, arguing your point.....canonical??

Um, just one small point, where can I see a copy of this cannon policy then???

You are right of course, we don't want or need to create camps of pro and anti EU. As I said earlier, Star Wars the movies is NOT the Star Wars universe, it is far too restricted in what it can represent in just athe few hours of screen time.

However, the EU can not be discounted quite so easily. The movies have borrowed elements from the EU on a number of occations.

In ANH-SE:
The Outrider leaving Mos Eisley, which directly links in to a scene in Shadows I believe.
The introdution of the Swoop bike, and EU invention, though admittedly based on early speeder bike designs.
The Shuttle that delivered the Sandtroopers to Tatooine came straight out of the EU.

In TPM:
Aurra Sing, and original EU creation. (Yes, I do know the whys and wherefores of why she wass created)

I'm sure there are ESB & ROTJ references as well but that will do for now.

"You are the wind beneath my wings"

I wanna say something else, GL has never actually had a conflict with EU in his movies, he just added a few things that weren't in there before. I know that with Ep2 a few conflicts will come up(Boba Fett) but do we really know anything about Boba Fett??

Oh for...

It is the OFFICIAL stated and explicit policy of the Continuity and Production Editors at Lucasfilm that ONLY the films may be considered canon (or 'gospel). The best anything else can hope to be is official. The difference? Offical just means GL approved. Canon means actually real in GLs universe, and not just a story set within.

Line of command of officiality is: Film, Screenplay, Novelization, Radio. The EU books don';t even register (though they should probably register as underneath novelisation)- but the point is, they are not AUTOMATCiALLY lies, it's just they have no canon status UNTIL they appear in the movie. Just because something is in the books does not mean it CANNOT be right, nor does it mean it does not exist. But it means it is not NECESSARILY right. Only stuff in the films get that privilege. We CANNOT debate stuff that is seen in the films- it is right, and that is an end to it (with the exception of continuity errots like the Imperial Rank Badges in ROTJ... this sort of stuff is also handled by the Continuity and Production Department). But we CAN debate stuff said by the books, and say it is wrong, because it has no more right to be correct than anything that any one of us says. Anything else- quality of the books, what charatcers/ships in the books turn up in the films, even the effect the books have on the Star Wars Universe, is totally irrelevant to that point!

Now, I tend to quote what I beleive to me correct interpretation of what we see on screen- or else I invite discussion on something that, as yet, has no definitive right or wrong. As for my interpretaions, assuming I have made no errors, they cannot be argued with, because the films are ALWAYS right! That is not a personal opinion, it is the truth. E-Mail Lucasfilm if you don't believe me, or read one of the interviews with the department.

In any case- why does it matter? When examined up close, all this stuff about canonicity is really just a technical point dealing with what is and isn't right on the screen, and a little about executive control for various reasons. It in no way impinges on the quality of the EU produce, or it's place in the hearts of fans. When I say EU stuff doesn't count in an argument, I'm not saying that EU is rubbish, I am merely being factual. If the facts were different I would argue otherwise. That's all! I'm really not trying to be hostile!

To be honest, I doubt if the Boba Fett thing will give EU enthusiasts much trouble. GL isn't seeking to annihilate the EU by overriding it at every tuern, of course. That would just be insensitive.

Well, that's all you had to say..... I would think that Novelisaytion would encompass the EU, especailly when you consider how the Official site has embrased the NJO and the Dark Horse comics.

I would ALWAY agree that the Films are definative, however I have a problem with the screenplay as it is not a generally available thing is it? Thgough I can see their point and will concede it in this instance.

My point was that "The Star Wars Universe" is so much broader than the Star Wars movies. The movies will always be the core of everything, but in 2005 they end, clear and simple. The EU, be it Book, copmic, CCG or whatever will have a life that goes beyond 2005 and at somepoint it must become canonical in some respect as the leading source of SW info that is growing and developing?

The screenplay is a litte odd, yeah, but I suppose it represents the fact that it is, at least, the direct word of Lucas.

As for opening up the canon, that's up to GL, of course. He may not like the idea of other people expanding 'canonically' on his universe, and like it or not it is HIS universe to decide about. One problem is that no EU writer writes with the sam,e sort of reasoning that GL does, in the epic-moral-allegory-style-for-kids way he does. Some people might say that it is BETTER not to write like that, but the fact remains that GL won't let it out while there is no-one just like him to take up the job!

I'd love him to open it up a bit. If they'd let me, I'd write some more Star Wars films. But I suppose it's difficult to let your best creation out of your parental hands... we will see what time brings us.

Leading source? Come on, man. Even before TPM came out, the movies were canon. The books were just innocent SW fun, to expland a little on the SW feel. I have a couple, but the movies have always been the real thing. Then again they had a lot of freedom of going wherever they wanted with the OT in hand. Now, things are different.

I agree in that respect Ush, I notice that Michael Stackpole has introduced themes and plot twists that other writers don't touch.

Also, characters like Corran Horn, who I understanbd he created, have been brought back and then sent into exile by him in Dark Tide I&II...

What I want to know is why the characters portrayed on the front covers of the EU books look no older than they did on ROJ!?!
Twenty odd years are supposed to have elapsed and they still look the same...have you seen piccies of Mark Hamill,Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher lately?
Look so old to young eyes they most definitely do!!LOL!!