Originally posted by Beniboybling
Aren't they? Right, well this is canon as it's defined by Leland Chee "...continuity "C" canon which is pretty much everything else." By everything else I mean EVERYthing else. Novels, comics, junior novels, videogames, trading card games, roleplaying games, toys, websites, television. As I've mentioned earlier, any contradictions that arise are dealt on a case-by-case."Pretty sure publishers summaries would come under "everything", so yes they are part of the canon "as it's defined."
Beni,
C-canon is not literally defined as 'everything-everything'. There have been literal outlines as to what's considered canon, what isn't, and in what order of priority they're assorted in. These are structures that have been spelled-out before and after that statement was made. So please don't pretend to be stupid, and please don't pigeonhole the entire franchise with one of Chee's general comments. Similarly, I could meet your blatant sophistry with another equally foolhardy point - Seen as Chee gives us a nice list of what's considered 'C-canon' in that same excerpt you presented, where does he state publisher summaries come under that category? Or perhaps we could go with your personal view Beni - that everything is part of the 'canon'... so would that include the nutritional values written on the side of my Star Wars Easter egg? Anyway, as you rightly pointed out, Chee's responsible for holocroning. So he's the right person to cite on the matter. His additional statements make it clear that author views remain outside the continuum:
"In a nutshell, anything created by the author would be C-level. Anything in the the novels created by George Lucas (whether it comes from unpublished early script versions, unpublished author interviews with George, or George's revisions to the novelization manuscript) would be G-level unless contradicted by the films."
- Mr Chee himself
Author creations are considered c-level canon. Author summaries or their unofficial opinions are not. When it comes to personal notes, the only named authority is George Lucas himself.
Anyway I voted yes. Going by the above they should be treated as canon.
Then you shall also treat my Star Wars calendar as canon. Although, I can't see anything displaying the 'ABY' system of year-counting. Instead, the dates are displayed much like a Gregorian calendar with the current year being 2016. Seen as everything is 'canon' I suppose it must also be 2016 in a galaxy far far away.
and I personally find it hard to believe that a statement as specific as to state Caedus to be more powerful than Vader could be made arbitrarily and without consultance or at least vetting.
You are wrong. In fact, I'd argue that such a statement wouldn't have been vetted, seen as it was not detailed in a fictional creation and has no need to be. Going by LFL's policy of not wanting to hand out 'power-charts', it makes sense that the personal view of Caedus vs Vader is not written in an official work. It is not a fact and doesn't have to be taken as such. Jacen does not have to have a greater command of the force than his grandfather, and given his underwhelming feats, i'd say the opposite is true.
It also stands to reason that the publishers work closely with Lucasfilm, as is common when dealing with liscensed material, especially when that material has a monitored continuity.
...Perhaps? It simply means they have had a long time to think about these things. But then again, so have some of us. In the end, the publishers summaries are just a little extra perspective and views that may or may not be true. And that is all they are.